Tataouine

Etymology

The name Taṭaouine means 'water springs' in the Berber language. It is sometimes transliterated in European languages as Tatahouine, Tatahouïne, Tatawin or Tatooine. The names "Tataouine", "Tatahouine" and "Foum Tatahouine" all appeared in the postcards portraying the city in the 1920s.

The city used to be called Fum Taṭāwīn (فم تطاوين), alternatively spelled Fumm Tattauin, Foum Tatahouine, Fum Tatawin, or Foum Tataouine, which means 'mouth of the springs'.

History

From 1892 to 1951, Tataouine was the garrison town of the French penal military unit known as the "Battalion of Light Infantry of Africa". After the French established the town, a mosque (built in 1898) and homes were built in Tataouine.

On June 27, 1931, a meteorite of unusual achondrite type and green color impacted at Tataouine; about 12 kg of fragments were found. The meteorite consists largely of the mineral enstatite, and is of the rare Diogenite type.

Tataouine became the inspiration for the name of planet Tatooine after Tunisia was chosen as a filming location for exterior scenes of the desert planet in the Star Wars film series.

In March 2015, it was reported that ISIL was using Tataouine as a military base, but these claims were denied by the Tunisian government.

In September 2016, a new oil field was found south of the town by the Italian company Eni.

Climate

|Jan record high C = 26.6 |Feb record high C = 36.2 |Mar record high C = 38.7 |Apr record high C = 40.3 |May record high C = 45.6 |Jun record high C = 47.2 |Jul record high C = 48.6 |Aug record high C = 47.4 |Sep record high C = 45.0 |Oct record high C = 42.8 |Nov record high C = 36.8 |Dec record high C = 31.5 |year record high C = 48.6 |Jan record low C = 1.0 |Feb record low C = -1.8 |Mar record low C = 2.0 |Apr record low C = 4.2 |May record low C = 8.4 |Jun record low C = 9.4 |Jul record low C = 16.1 |Aug record low C = 17.8 |Sep record low C = 12.8 |Oct record low C = 8.2 |Nov record low C = 5.3 |Dec record low C = 1.0 |year record low C = -1.8

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191219211209/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/9e1ed3a1-69f5-4ef9-a05e-daa8126fdb7c/resource/acf0d32e-92b3-4247-9281-1b3a1587d23f/download/normales_1981_2010.txt | archive-date = 19 December 2019 | access-date = 25 January 2020}}{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191221032155/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/c8d4b465-056c-41e2-a666-05160d19784e/resource/3d38ac83-8a3c-4207-b327-9684131292b3/download/normales_1961_1990.txt | archive-date = 21 December 2019 | access-date = 25 January 2020}}{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191221032448/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/b19bf5d3-5f47-43a3-befc-80a4f4f1d267/resource/0f4ff280-9f86-4e4f-bc18-29df886c2a30/download/extremes.txt | archive-date = 21 December 2019 | access-date = 25 January 2020}} | access-date = 18 September 2018}}

Culture

The Ksour Festival () is an annual festival held in Tataouine in March. In Tataouine some people speak a Berber dialect.

Tataouine in scientific names

Meteorite (Tatahouine)

On June 27, 1931, at 1:30am, a meteorite of a weight currently estimated of ca 50 kg fell 4 km North of the city. Due to a transcription error, it is recorded in the Meteoretical Society international database under the name Tatahouine (with an added h). It is a rare diogenite originating from 4 Vesta in the asteroid belt.

Bacteria (''Ramlibacter tataouinensis'')

On observing fragments of the Tatahouine meteorite, researchers noticed rod-like structures. Upon further investigation, those turned out to be a kind of bacteria which was named Ramlibacter tataouinensis (from Raml meaning sand in Arabic, bacter meaning bacteria in Latin, and the adjective referring to the town of Tatatouine) and which survive in the desert soil of the region despite harsh conditions. This bacteria and another closely related one which was named Ramlibacter henchirensis (from Henchir meaning in Tunisian dialect a field surrounded by stones or antique ruins) have the peculiar feature to be spherical during the day (forming a microbial cyst with a thick wall protecting them from desiccation, the extreme heat and the sun's UV) and become rod-like during the night when they need less protection, thus becoming able to move and colonize even the smallest cracks in rocks. The discovery and research around Ramlibacter tataouinensis is scientifically significant because it demonstrated that rod-like structures observed in another meteorite, the ALH 84001 discovered in Antartica, and thought for a time to be of extraterrestrial origin, could actually be terrestrial bacteria from the ground which had contaminated and then colonized the sample.

Dinosaur (''Tataouinea hannibalis'')

Numerous fossils, including vegetal, trees, animals, and dinosaurs footprints have been found in the region, several being exhibited at the local Museum of Earth Memory. Among dinosaurs, Tataouinea is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaurs with avian-like bone structures described in 2013. Additional fossil material was described in 2015. The generic name, "Tataouinea", references the city of Tataouine, while the specific name, "hannibalis", honors the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca.

Popular culture

• Star Wars: Tataouine's name became famous worldwide when George Lucas, who shot the original Star Wars film in various locations in Tunisia, named Luke Skywalker's fictional home planet Tatooine.
• X-Files: Tataouine appeared in the end of the film The X-Files as Foum Tataouine, where an extraterrestrial viral experiment facility was located.
• The Amazing Race: Tataouine appeared in the fifth episode of The Amazing Race 1.

Image gallery

Ksar_Ouled_Soltane_01.jpg Une Route à Tataouine.jpg Tataouine.png Tataouine-stegop-19.jpg Siège de Radio Tataouine.jpg Tribunal de première instance de Tataouine 2017.jpg

References

Notes

References

2. (2001). "The Rough Guide to Tunisia". [[Rough Guides]].
3. Jacques Sicard, page 46 "Les Bataillons d' Infanterie Legere d'Afrique et leurs insignes, 1832-1972", Militaria Magazine Septembre 1994
4. "Météorite Achondrite Tataouine".
5. (31 August 2000). "Catalogue of Meteorites Reference Book with CD-ROM". Cambridge University Press.
6. (25 March 2015). "Tataouine, town in Tunisia that inspired Star Wars, becomes Isis waypoint – reports".
7. (27 March 2015). "Star Wars sets are safe from Isis, say Tunisian officials".
8. (21 September 2016). "A New Hope: Oil Found in Tataouine".
9. . (5 July 2021). ["60772: Tataouine (Tunisia)"](https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=60772&ano=2021&mes=7&day=5&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30). *[[OGIMET]]*.
10. "Réseau des stations météorologiques synoptiques de la Tunisie". Ministère du Transport.
11. "Tunesien: Neues, altes Land".
12. "Tunisia".
13. (2016). "Tatahouine".
14. (5 July 2020). "Tatahouine".
15. Thierry Heulin, Mohamed Barakat, Richard Christen, Maurice Lesourd, Laurent Sutra, Gilles De Luca, Wafa Achouak. (2003). "Ramlibacter tataouinensis gen. nov., sp. nov., and Ramlibacter henchirensis sp. nov., cyst-producing bacteria isolated from subdesert soil in Tunisia". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
16. Philippe Gillet, Jean-Alix Barrat, Thierry Heulin, Wafa Achouak. (March 2000). "Bacteria in the Tatahouine meteorite: Nanometric-scale life in rocks". Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
17. Fanti, F.; Cau, A.; Cantelli, L.; Hassine, M.; Auditore, M.. (2015). "New Information on ''Tataouinea hannibalis'' from the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia and Implications for the ''Tempo'' and Mode of Rebbachisaurid Sauropod Evolution". PLOS ONE.
18. Federico Fanti; Andrea Cau; Mohsen Hassine & Michela Contessi. (2013). "A new sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia with extreme avian-like pneumatization". Nature Communications.
19. "Star Wars location spotting in Tunisia {{!}} LosApos".
20. (2002). "Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes (Platinum Level)". Prentice Hall, Inc..
21. (16 May 2016). "The X-Files Newbie Recap: "The End" & The X-Files Movie".
22. Castro, Adam-Troy. (2006). "My Ox Is Broken!: Roadblocks, Detours, Fast Forwards and Other Great Moments from Tv's 'the Amazing Race'". [[BenBella Books]].