Etymology
First known by the name of Sicca during the Carthaginian era, then later Sicca Veneria during the rise of Roman domination, the city has carried numerous names throughout its history: Colonia Julia Cirta, Cirta Nova, Sikka Beneria, Shaqbanariya and finally El Kef since the 16th century.
Ancient times
El Kef has been since ancient times the principal city of High-Tell and of the Tunisian northwest of which it constitutes, until recently, the political center, the most important religious center, and the dominant stronghold.
In the early 5th Century Apiarius of Sicca was a priest here, and instigated a feud between Carthage and Rome on the rights of the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Africa to manage their affairs after he appealed his excommunication to by Bishop Urbanus to the Pope.
Umayyad conquest
In 688 AD, the city was raided during the Umayyad conquest of North Africa.
In the 17th century, a fort was built to house a permanent garrison (ujaq); the construction was completed by the addition of fortified ramparts in 1740. This did not however prevent the taking and pillaging of the city by the Algerians in 1756, nor the occupation by the French military from 1881, following the partial collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
On July 8, 1884, the authorities of the new French Protectorate declared El Kef a municipality, one of the first in the country.
Contemporary
In 1973, there was a summit meeting here between the Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba and the Algerian president Houari Boum�di�ne. The latter proposed a constitution for a Tunisian-Algerian union which Bourquiba declined in favor of the development of economic cooperation between the two countries
