ancient city of Hippo Regius, today Annaba See Hippo Regius for Classical and Ecclesiastical history The vicinity of Annaba has yielded evidence of very early hominid occupation at Ain el
ancient city of Hippo Regius, today Annaba
See Hippo Regius for Classical and Ecclesiastical history
The vicinity of Annaba has yielded evidence of very early hominid occupation at Ain el Hanech, near Saïda (c. 200,000 B.C.), including artefacts that show remarkable tool-making craftsmanship. Other archaeological finds include tools in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles produced by humans (Homo sapiens)[citation needed] well before 100,000 years ago, similar to those in the Levant. According to some sources, prehistoric Algeria was the site of the most advanced development of flake-tool techniques in the Middle Early Stone Age (Middle Paleolithic). Tools from this era, starting from at least as early as 85,000 BC, are called Aterian after the site Bir el Ater south of Annaba.[citation needed] These tools are marked by a high standard of workmanship, great variety, and specialization. See Prehistory of Central North Africa. Annaba, which was called Hippo Regius during Roman times, was probably founded by the Phoenicians in the 12th century BC. It was a centre of early Western Christianity and was the site of many Christian synods, one of which was central in canonizing the current books of the New Testament Augustine of Hippo was bishop here from 396 until his death in 430.[2]The city has buildings from its Roman, Christian, and Muslim eras.
During French rule, the city was known as Bône. It was one of the main European settlements, having a sizeable pied-noir minority. One famous pied-noir from Bône was Alphonse Juin, a Marshal of France and a former NATO Central Europe Commander