Bilta
Baltha, Bilthensis
Henchir Bahaia
Country Tunisia
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
Archaeology map of Tunisia

Bilta also known as Balta or Balţah, is an antique town in northern Tunisia, close to Mateur in today's Bizerte governorate. Its name comes from the Numidian language (Lybico-Berber) root BLT, meaning, filled with water.[1]

An inscription in the nearby fundus Aufidianus contains the name of the place: Agricolae in spl(endida) (vel spl(endidissima)/re p(ublica) Bihensi Bilt[a](vel Belt[a])[2].

During Vandal and Byzantine times, bishops are attested: in 256 AD, a Caecilius is episcopus in Bilta (or Biltha, or Belta), in 411, a donatist named Felicianus is in Viltensis[1] and in 646, a bishop Theodorus in Biltensis signs a letter sent to the Lateran Council of 649.[3]

The town is a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.[4]

It is not to be mistaken for the modern town of Balta-Bou Aouene in the Jendouba governorate.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Peyras, J. (1991-12-01). "Biha Bilta". Encyclopédie berbère (in French) (10): 1494–1516. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1755. ISSN 1015-7344.
  2. ↑ Peyras, Jean (1975). "Le Fundus aufidianus : étude d'un grand domaine romain de la région de Mateur (Tunisie du Nord)". Antiquités africaines (in French). 9 (1): 181–222. doi:10.3406/antaf.1975.978.
  3. ↑ "I PBE: Theodoros 340". www.pbe.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  4. ↑ Cheney, D. M., Bilta (Titular See), The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, accessed 30 October 2022
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