Tunis/Tunisia — Archaeological excavations conducted by teams of the National Heritage Institute (INP) in Sidi Mahdi, in the city of Gabes, have discovered the remains of a wall and a tiled floor dating from the Roman era.

In a post published Monday on social media, the Institute announced a discovery that is quite important and constitutes a rare archaeological testimony for this city, southeast of Tunisia, which is cited in many sources of antiquity.

Pending the full results of the excavations, the INP has advanced the probability of a Roman temple and a monument that was part of the public domain.

The excavations in question were directed by Professors Ali Drine and Sami Ben Tahar with the participation of researchers and curators of the INP-Gabes.

According to the INP website, the Regional Heritage Inspectorate consists of a territorial district comprising several governorates. Gabes belongs to the regional inspection of the Sahel-South (Sfax, Gabes, Medenine and Tataouine) which has its headquarters in the city of Sfax.

The other regional inspectorates are divided between the North-East (Tunis, Ariana, Ben Arous, Zaghouan, Nabeul, Bizerte and Manouba), the Sahel (Sousse, Monastir and Mahdia), the North-West (Kef, Jendouba, Béja and Siliana), the Centre-West (Kairouan, Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine) and the South-West (Gafsa, Tozeur and Kébili).

The INP is a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. This scientific and technical institution is responsible for establishing the inventory of cultural heritage, archaeological, historical, civilisational and artistic, its study, its safeguard and its development, says the site of the Institute.

The preservation, safeguarding and restoration of archaeological sites, historical monuments and traditional urban ensembles are among its main missions. The INP organises and undertakes research, excavation, inventory and survey in the fields of archaeological, historical and civilisational heritage through the different periods.