Rusaddir

RUSADDIR (Melilla) Morocco.

An ancient city mentioned by Pliny (5.18), Ptolemy (4.1.12) and the Antonine Itinerary. A necropolis at the Cerro de San Lorenzo shows traces of occupation dating at least to the 2d and 1st c. B.C., during which period the city minted its own coins, with a neo-Punic legend. Scattered remains, now gone, show that the Roman settlement extended W of the Old Spanish city, which no doubt held the original Punic settlement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

R. Fernández de Castro, Melilla prehispánica (1945); M. Tarradell, Marruecos púnico (1960) 63-73.

M. EUZENNAT