One cold morning I galumphed over a Tunisian hill and found myself facing the Mausoleum of Ateban. This 21-meter tower of stone, on the edge of the ancient site of Dougga, was erected in 146 BC. It was dedicated to a North African prince named Ateban or Ativan.
A bilingual inscription on the tomb (written in Numidian and Punic scripts) was the key that allowed scholars to crack the Numidian language. Numidian is an extinct tongue (related to Berber), spoken in the centuries just before and after the time of Christ.
Unfortunately/fortunately, that inscription was removed from the monument (causing serious destruction in the process) by the British consul in 1842. It was shipped to the British Museum where it remains out of sight to this day.
