AMPSAGA
AMPSAGA (
Ἀμψάγα, Ptol.:
Wad el Kebir, of
Sufjimar, and higher up
Wadi Roumel), one of the chief rivers of N. Africa, not large, but important as having been (in its lower course) the boundary between Mauretania and Numidia, according to the later extent of those regions (see the articles and
AFRICA).
It is composed of several streams, rising at different points in the Lesser Atlas, and forming two chief branches, which unite in 36° 35′ N. lat., and about 60° 10′ E. long., and then flow N. into the Mediterranean, W. of the promontory Tretum (
Ras Seba Rous, i. e.
Seven Capes).
The upper course of the Ampsaga is the eastern of these two rivers (
W. Roumel), which flows past
Constantineh, the ancient Cirta; whence the Ampsaga was called Fluvius Cirtensis (Vict. Vit.
de Pers. Vand. 2); the Arabs still call it the
River of Constantineh, as well as
Wadi Roumel. This branch is formed by several streams, which converge to a point a little above
Constantineh. Pliny (
5.2. s. 1) places the mouth of the Ampsaga 222 Roman miles E. of Caesarea. (This is the true reading, not, as in the common text, cccxxii., see Sillig.) Ptolemy (
4.3.20) places it much too far E.
A town, Tucca, at its mouth, is mentioned by Pliny only; its mouth still forms a small port,
Marsa Zeitoun. (Shaw, pp. 92, 93, folio ed. Oxf. 1738,
Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, vol. vii. p. 357.)
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