Dougga's history is best known from the time of the Roman conquest, even though numerous pre-Roman monuments, including a necropolis, the mausoleum, and temples have been discovered during archaeological digs. These monuments are an indication of the site's importance before the arrival of the Romans.
Origins
According to Gabriel Camps, the Numidian name for the city is TBGG, which derives from the Libyan word TBG (to protect). This toponym evidently derives from the site's location atop an easily defensible plateau.
The city appears to have been founded in the 6th century BCE. Some historians believe that Dougga is the city of Toka�, which was captured by a lieutenant of Agathocles at the end of the 4th century BCE; Diodorus Siculus described that city as "a city of beautiful grandeur".
Dougga was in any case an early and important human settlement. Its urban character is evidenced by the presence of a necropolis withdolmens, the most ancient archaeological find at Dougga, a sanctuary dedicated to Ba'al Hammon, neo-Punic steles, the mausoleum, architectural fragments and a temple dedicated to Masinissa, the remains of which were found during archaeological excavations. Even though our knowledge of the city before the Roman conquest remains very limited, recent archaeological finds have revolutionised the image that we had of this period.
The identification of the temple dedicated to Masinissa beneath the forum disproved Louis Poinssot's theory that the Numidian city stood on the plateau but that it was separate from the newer Roman settlement. The temple, which was erected in the tenth year of Micipsa's reign, 139 BCE, is 14 metres long and 6.3 metres wide. It proves that the area around the forum was already built upon before the arrival of the Roman colonists. A building dating to the 2nd century BCE has also been discovered nearby. Similarly, Dougga's mausoleum is not isolated but stands within an urban necropolis
