Pupput, also spelled "Putput", "Pudput", "Pulpud" and "Pulpite" in Latin, sometimes located in Souk el-Obiod ou Souk el-Abiod, is a Colonia in the Roman province of Africa which has been equated with an archaeological site in modern Tunisia. It is situated on the coast near the town of Hammamet, between the two wadis of Temad to the north and Moussa to the south. Much of the Pupput is buried under modern holiday developments which have been built over the major part of the site.
History
Classical antiquity
This agricultural region, densely occupied in classical antiquity, has probably been inhabited since the 5th century BC by the Berbers and Carthaginians. There is a sanctuary and inscription at the ancient Punic city of Thinissut, located at modern Bir Bouregba, but no Punic remains have been identified on the site of Pupput itself. A settlement existed here as early as the 1st century BC, and this may have been of Berber-Punic origin. It was a simple vicus in Carthaginian territory at the time of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. The Roman politician Salvius Julianus is thought to have been born in the village and it may be due to him that Pupput became an honorary Colonia under the Emperor Commodus. At this time the city was probably a satellite town of its neighbour Neapolis. The earliest documentary record of the city was in 168 when it was promoted to the status of a municipium governed by an elected council. It appears to have gained in importance during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when it expanded considerably and a significant number of public monuments were built. According to an inscription preserved in the Bardo National Museum in Tunis which was dedicated to the 4th century Emperor Licinius, the Roman name of the city was "Colonia Aurelia Commoda Pia Felix Augusta Pupput".
In the Middle Ages, following the Vandal period, Pupput became a part of the Byzantine Empire, and a citadel was built to defend it. After the Arab conquest at the end of the seventh century, the whole of Tunisia passed under Arab domination and the city was renamed Qasr Zaid. The urban center then moved further north-east, to where the city of Hammamet was founded, near the baths, on the site of the medina. The ancient buildings of Souk el-Obiod seem to have been abandoned following this final relocation. Pirates from the Spanish Kingdom of Aragón captured and destroyed the city in 1303, leaving it in ruins. The Pupput area was subsequently settled by charcoal burners from Hammamet.
Remains
Historical sources mention the existence of a Capitol, a theatre and amphitheatre, of which no traces exist today. It was not until the late 19th century that the site was rediscovered by accident when an area was being levelled for construction. Some of Pupput's remains were partially unearthed in the early 20th century by battalions of the French army, but in the late 1960s the site was endangered by the development of hotel complexes along the Tunisian coast. Rescue archaeology revealed part of a Roman necropolis, which at 300 meters is the largest in Roman Africa. Additionally a large residential quarter was found including houses, thermae which gave nearby Hammamet its name, and a water supply network including aqueduct parts and cisterns. Grave goods and decorative architectural elements were also found, including mosaic flooring that indicates high-status buildings. The residential quarter and baths were preserved as an archaeological park, but the remains of the central complex of monuments and the public buildings were buried beneath hotel foundations. The ancient town and bishopric of Puppi has been tentatively identified with this site at Souk el-Abiod.
