Tocra

Tocra توكرة
Town

Tocra Location in Libya
Coordinates: 32°31′56″N 20°34′20″E / 32.53222°N 20.57222°E / 32.53222; 20.57222
Country	Libya
Region	Cyrenaica
District	Marj
Elevation ^[1]	46 ft (14 m)
Population (2004)^[2]
• Total	23,164
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
License Plate Code	52

Tocra, Taucheira or Tukrah, is a town on the coast of the Marj District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya, founded by Cyrene. It lay 200 stadia west of Ptolemais. Today it is a coastal town 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Marj.

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History

Founded by the Greeks and considered by some to be part of the Pentapolis of Cyrenaica, at a later period it became a Roman colony (Tab. Peut.), and was fortified by Justinian I. (Procop. de Aed. vi. 3.) Taucheira was particularly noted for the worship of Cybele, in honour of whom an annual festival was celebrated. (Synes. Ep. 3.)

In the city fortifications from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods have been found.^[3]

Name

Taucheira, Teucheira, Tauchira or Teuchira (Greek: Ταύχειρα,^[4] Τεύχειρα,^[5]). Under the Ptolemies it obtained the name of Arsinoe (Arsinoë) (Greek: Ἀρσινόη), after Arsinoe II of Egypt, named by her brother and husband, Ptolemy Philadelphus.^[6] Later it became known as Tocra or Tukrah or Tokara, and then Al Quriyah or El Agouriya in Arabic.

It is the same town erroneously written Τάριχα by Diodorus (xviii. 20). It is still called Tochira.^[7]

Agouriya is the name given to the city by the deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, in reference to the Agouri tribe. The town's largest tribe is the Barghathi tribe, who claim the town their own. There are tribal rivalries with the Abdali tribe. Both the Barghathi and Abdali tribes belong to the larger "umbrella" Agouri tribe. The renaming of the town by Gaddafi was to play on the rivalry between the two tribes. After the 17 Feb revolution, inhabitants of the town went back to the old name, Tokara.

Agriculture

On a relatively small scale, residents of the town grow watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, almonds, and tomatoes; but it is most famous for its figs.

Notes

^ "Tukrah - Wolfram|Alpha".
^ " Al `Āqūrīyah" GeoNames
^ The Hellenistic and Byzantine Defences of Tocra (Taucheira)
^ Herod. iv. 171
^ Hierocl. p. 732; Plin. v. 5. s. 5
^ Strab. xvii. p. 836; Mela, i. 8; Plin. l. c.
^ Cf. Della Cella, Viagg. p. 198; Pacho, Voyage, p. 184.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Arsinoe". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.