A brief item from El Khabar, an Algerian daily:
A group of foreign archaeologists have rung the alarm of the destruction of the tomb of Massinissa, the first King of Numidia (c. 240 or 238 BC – c. 148 BC), situated at El Khroub municipality, Constantine eastern province, a reliable source told El Khabar.
According to the same source, a study conducted by the foreign experts, for Ministry of Culture, has revealed that local authorities have changed the archaeological site through the installation of a power distribution network inside the fence surrounding the protected site.
The same study has recommended removing the water tank that had been constructed on an area estimated at 300m of the archaeological site.
However the study has stressed that facilities and reshaping works carried out by the local authorities did not respect international standards into force. To recall, the aforementioned works had been suspended following the controversy erupted between both Ministry of Culture and local authorities in Constantine, in view of protecting the national and international archaeological sites.
Wow … I didn’t even know that Massinissa‘s tomb existed. Not really much on the web about it other than photos; does anyone know if the identification is secure?
No, the identification is not secure. The inventory of the tomb dates probably to the years 130-110 (cf. the catalogue of the exhibition “Die Numider”, Bonn 1979), Massinissa died in 148.