A History of Tunisia

Ancient Tunisia

Tunisia's strategic position has ensured it an eventful history. The Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans and French have all ruled the region at one point. The earliest humans to set foot here were probably a group of Homo erectus who stumbled onto the place a few hundred thousand years ago as they journeyed northwest across the Sahara from East Africa. It's believed that in those days what is now arid desert was covered in forest, scrub and savanna grasses, much like the plains of Kenya and Tanzania today. The earliest hard evidence of human inhabitation was unearthed near the southern oasis town of Kebili and dates back about 200,000 years.

The Phoenicians arrived in Tunisia at Utica in 1100 BC, using it as a staging post along the route from their home port of Tyre, in modern-day Lebanon, to Spain. The port that looms largest in history is Carthage, arch enemy of Rome. It became the leader of the western Phoenician world in the 7th century and the main power in the Western Mediterranean in the early 5th century. The city's regional dominance lasted until the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, which began in 263 BC and ended in 146 BC with Carthage utterly razed and its people sold into slavery.

The Tunisian territory became Roman property after the war. The emperor Augustus reconstituted Carthage as a Roman city in 44 BC, naming it the capital of the Province of Africa Proconsularis. Agriculture became all-important, and by the 1st century AD, the wheat-growing plains of Tunisia were supplying over 60% of the empire's requirements. The Romans went on to found cities and colonies across Tunisia's plains and coastline. Today, they're Tunisia's principal tourist attractions.

Vandal Tunisia

By the beginning of the 5th century, the Vandals took Carthage as their capital. Their exploitative policies alienated them from the native Berber population, who in turn formed small kingdoms and began raiding the Vandal settlements. The Byzantines of Constantinople, who took the territory from the Vandals in 533 and kept it for the next 150 years, fared no better.

Islamic Tunisia

Islam arrived in the 7th century, when the Arab armies swept out of Arabia, quickly conquering Egypt. The Arabs had taken all of North Africa by the start of the 8th century, and, with Kairouan as its capital, the region became a province of the fast-expanding Islamic empire controlled by the caliphs of Damascus.

The Berbers adopted Islamic religious teachings readily enough, but they riled under their harsh treatment by the Arabs. Their uprisings continued until 909, when a group of Berber Shiites, the Fatimids, glommed together disaffected Berber tribes and took North Africa back from the Arabs. The unity of the Berbers was to be short-lived. When some of the tribes returned to the Sunni mainstream, a civil war started and North Africa was slowly reduced to ruins.

Conflicts arose again when North Africa was caught in the middle of the rivalry between Spain and the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 16th century. Tunis changed hands half a dozen times in some 50 years, before the Turks took it in 1574 and it became an Ottoman territory. Ottoman power lasted through to the 19th century, when France became the new power in the western Mediterranean and Tunis came under increasing pressure to conform to their European ways.

World War and Modern Tunisia

Tunisia became on of the great battlefields of World War Two when Field Marshal Rommel’s Afrika Korps, reeling from its defeat at El Alemain, made a last stand against the British forces under Montgomery pushing from the East, and the American forces moving from the west under General Patton.

The French granted independence to Tunisia in 1956, and Habib Bourguiba, who led the Independence movement, became the first Tunisian president. In accordance with the pattern prevailing across the developing world in that era, the liberator turned dictator. His style was marked by a strong anti-Islamic fundamentalist stance. He was finally ousted from power in a coup by Zine el-Abadine ben Ali in 1987 on grounds of senility.

Tunis

The historical heart of Tunis is the Medina, built in the 7th Century, it still retains the ambiance of a Muslim town of centuries ago. Enclosed by ramparts, with gates, narrow, winding streets will take one past small shops laden with such goods as brass, olive wood, leather, colored garments, antiques, jewelry, carpets, and pottery. Also, nearby, is the Ez Ziutouna or Mosque of the Olive Tree, also dating from the 7th Century; one can admire the mosque’s courtyard from a fenced off walkway. Along the walls of the mosque is the Souk of the Perfumes, with its almond, spice, and traditional clothing shops. Tunisia's most renowned museum, the Bardo, is located in a former royal palace. The Bardo palace used to house the Turkish sovereigns, known as the "beys" who ruled Tunisia from the 16th through the 20th century. After Tunisia achieved independence, the splendid rooms were emptied of their furniture and then packed from floor to ceiling with ancient artifacts — the most important or valuable material recovered from archaeological sites throughout Tunisia. The Bardo Museum is most famous for its collection of Punic statues and jewelry, as well as Roman mosaics.

Carthage

Founded in the 8th Century BC, Carthage was destroyed by the Romans during the Third Punic War in the middle of the 2nd Century BC. It was later rebuilt as a Roman city under Caesar Augustus. Today, the ruins of both civilizations lay open for visitors. Places of interest in the ancient city include Byrsa Hill, the Antonine baths, the Punic ports, the Roman amphitheatre and the Sanctuary of Tophet. The baths are the most notable ruins to visit, a huge complex of public baths built in the second century AD. One of the columns that held up the frigidarium or cold pool still stands to give an idea of the overall grandeur. Rising to 15 meters, eight such columns were necessary to support the massive vaulted roof. In addition to the cold room, there was a warm room or tepidarium and hot room or calidariu. Bysra Hill, where the city was first founded, is crowned by the Cathedral of St. Louis, dating from French colonial times, and a museum filled with Punic antiquities. The Roman amphitheatre is still used today for cultural events. The Tophet, now located in a grassy square, is said to have been the place where Carthaginian children were sacrificed to Baal Hammon. The ruins of the two Punic Ports are also impressive. One was used for trade, the other for military vessels.

El Jem

El Jem, known in ancient times for its olive groves, has one of the largest extant Roman amphitheatres in the world. Built in the 2nd Century AD for gladiatorial combats and beast spectacles, the amphitheatre is now used for classical music concerts. El Jem also has a museum, built in the manner of a Roman house, containing Roman antiquities.

Sousse

Sousse dates back to the Carthaginian era. The Great Mosque of Sousse is worth a visit. Like so many of the monuments of Sousse, it was built in the ninth century by the Aghabid Arab residents, specifically the Emir Abou Al Abbes Mohamed. Also like so many monuments in Sousse, it looks distinctly like a fortress. Carpets of many colors littered the floor of the prayer area, where the non Muslim is permitted just a peek, around the bases of a thick forest of orderly columns. There’s a museum and some Christian catacombs, part of which is open to the public.

Dougga

Dougga is all that one dreams a Roman site should be. Grandiose temples and theaters, forum and markets stand in remarkable repair on a mountainside overlooking wheat fields and valley. Some 20 to 30,000 persons lived here and their shops, stores and baths, latrines, wash room and gymnasiums bring them to life. Stone streets bear the grooves of chariot wheels and in the silent, wind swept afternoon one can almost hear their clatter. Dougga was a prosperous city even before the coming of the Romans. A Lybico or Punic tower from the 2nd century BC stands 21 meters high at the edge of the town, once ornamented by a stele bearing the names of its builders and Numidian princes were believed to have resided here.

Visiting Tunisia

Tunis and Carthage are serviced by an international airport. Most towns in Tunisia can be explored on foot. Rail and road travel between towns in Tunisia is available.