Borj Gourbata was an ancient Roman-Berber town in Qafşah, Tunisia. It is located at latitude 34°16'22.01", longitude 8°32'56" and 135 meters above sea level.[1][2] The town is in the Sahel region of Tunisia, but at the junction of the Oued ech Cheria and the Oued el Jemel Wadis,[3] making it an important oasis in the Sahara. It is situated between Gafsa and Chott el Jerid.[citation needed]
In Roman times the town[4][5] was on the Roman Limes in the Roman Province of Africa proconsularis and latter Byzacena.[6] The town was known as Castellum Thigensium or just Thiges.[7] As the name suggest it was a fortification,[8] and was probably the first fort on the limes being built in 75AD.[9]
The town appears on the Tabula Peutinger and was also the seat of a Christian bishopric, which survives today as a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.[10] The current Bishop is Stanislaw Gębicki of Poland.[11][12]
In the middle ages the town was known as Tgiws[13]
The French excavated ruins s in the 19th century[14]
The town was taken in the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in 647AD,[15] though Roman and Berber populations remains the majority till the 9th century when there were revolts in the area.