august 2000
The current capital of Tunis is located on a lake at the end of the gulf of Tunis in the northeast of the country. It was founded by the Libyans around 200BC and became one of richest Islamic cities under the Almohad and Hafsid dynasties. Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries it was both a major centre for trade with Europe and also a renowned haunt of Mediterranean pirates. It retains a strong stamp of later Turkish and French occupations and, in that sense, reflects the melting pot that is modern‑day Tunisia: being partly Arab, partly African and partly European. The new town has many smart squares with fountains and colonial era buildings. It surrounds the central medina which comprises a dense and tangled network of covered alleyways leading variously to mosques, mausoleums and madrasas. There are a few gaudy strips more obviously catering for tourists but it does otherwise remain very much a working market. Traditionally, the “cleaner” professions (like foodstuffs) have their souks nearer the mosques while the “uncleaner” (like metalwork) are farther away. The principal mosque of Zitouna is named after the olive tree in its courtyard which its founder is reputed to have taught under. Particularly before the coming of universities, mosques have always been important centres of learning in Islamic countries. The Tunisia of today is however remarkably free of religious fundamentalist influence, despite being sandwiched between much larger and more troubled neighbours, Algeria to the west and Libya to the east. The first president of the Tunisian republic, Habib Bourguiba, spent thirty years advancing secular reforms; he banned polygamy, legalised divorce, outlawed the hijab as an injunction, promoted women’s equal rights, invested in modern infrastructure and implemented compulsory education.
Carthage, which sits on the eastern side of the lake across from Tunis, has a long history as a powerful city state. Having originally been settled by Phoenicians from Tyre, we know that by 509BC its control extended as far as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia because it signed a commercial treaty with Rome that year which delineated their respective spheres of influence. Merchants from Carthage would likely have visited most of the major ports around the Mediterranean and Carthaginian society was, in consequence, unusually cosmopolitan for the time. Carthaginian politics were based on the model of constitutional oligarchy much like Rome. The state religion was based on the worship of Ba’al and Astarte but it also hosted deities imported from Egypt and Greece; a small site has been preserved, incongruously located in one of the more salubrious suburbs of the modern city, which contains an array of small stone plinths thought to mark the remains of child sacrifices. Growing hegemony ultimately brought Carthage into conflict first with Greece, primarily over who controlled Sicily, and then, when influence switched to them, with imperial Rome. The first Punic War (from 264BC to 241BC) was primarily about naval supremacy. The second (from 218BC to 202BC) saw Carthage’s greatest general, Hannibal, cross both the Alps and the Pyrenees to conquer Roman territory throughout Italy, Gaul and Spain. The third ended in 146BC when Roman forces overwhelmed the city, burned it to the ground and salted the ruins so that nothing could ever grow there again. Present day Carthage is really a descendant of the Roman city that grew up on an adjacent site which was an important centre for early Christianity. Their ideological schism with the Catholics (over whether Roman collaborators should be forgiven) inclined them to yield easily to the invading Vandals in the fifth century. The Byzantines recaptured the city in 533AD but when the advancing Arabs armies conquered it in the seventh century this effectively brought the era of European influence to an end.
Sidi Bou Said is a stunningly picturesque village perched atop cliffs overlooking the bay of Tunis. It is painted in a colourful patchwork reminiscent of Andalusia and, indeed, it absorbed many Spanish Jews and Moors fleeing the inquisition during the fifteenth century. The buildings are all whitewashed (to reflect the burning sun) and trimmed along their shutters and balconies with a deep azure blue (intended to repel the flies, which see the coloured surfaces as water). The houses that line its maze of narrow serpentine streets and stepped side‑alleys typically have filigree window bars and elaborately studded doors with decorative iron knockers. The cobbled main thoroughfare winds uphill towards a square at the summit where the cafes put on traditional music and dance for the tourists. Although a popular haunt for day‑trippers, the village does manage to retain its charm and has a relaxing atmosphere before and after the crowds come and go. Local legend has it that the town is actually named for King Louis IX of France, who ostensibly died in Egypt during the eighth crusade but is reputed by Tunisians to have survived, fallen in love with a Berber princess, converted to Islam and lived out the rest of his days in the town.
While Tunis and Carthage both face the Mediterranean on the country’s northern coast, Sousse faces it on the east. An important military port and junction for overland communications, Sousse was part of Tunisia’s coastal defence system. While the town’s medina is relatively small it does contain a well preserved medieval ribat. The Aghlabid’s built around 800 of these structures, which are part fortress and part Islamic monastery, but very few survive today. The warrior monks that they would have accommodated are thought to have been the model for the Christian knightly orders. The skyline of Sousse is dominated by the much larger, if rather overly restored, citadel or kasbah. It contains a madrasa and a museum housing mainly roman artefacts. Modern Sousse incorporates the resort of Port El Kantaoui, whose endless beachfront hotels, marinas and sidewalk cafes stretch the whole way to the dismal tourist haunt of Monastir.
The region known as the Maghreb refers to all of those countries where Berber tribes can be found (including Mauritania and Morocco as well as Algeria, Tunisia and Libya). It means the lands of the setting sun, as distinct from the Mashriq or lands of the rising sun which refers the Middle East proper. Kairouan, which lies inland from Sousse, is the principal Islamic holy city of the Maghreb and was the capital of the Aghlabid emirs from the time of the ninth century. It was a strategic location, protected from seafaring forces by the hostility of its arid surrounds, from which they could send out armies to put down Berber tribal resistance. Kairouan was renowned for its activities in science, literature and art and it has a rich architectural heritage which is austerely beautiful. It was left largely untouched by the French as a mark of religious respect. The medina, which is surrounded on all sides by an intact rampart, stood in for Cairo in scenes filmed for “The Raiders of the Lost Ark”. It is the most important carpet centre in the country, the quality and expense of its products being judged by the density of their intricate knot‑work. It is also famed for its artisan trade in brass and leather. The central mosque in Kairouan has the oldest standing minaret in the world, the masonry for which was brought from the ruins of Carthage.
Southeast of Kairouan lies the roman amphitheatre at El Djem which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, making it the third largest of the roman empire after the Coliseum. The parched climate means that the honey-coloured stone architecture is well preserved. There are dark underground passageways leading from cells where the gladiators and animals would have been kept before being brought out into the searing sunlight of the arena. The amphitheatre is located beside what is now a small and sleepy village that is slowly being eaten by the drifting sands but the site was formerly an important crossroads for desert caravans. It was built therefore primarily to impress visitors, as a testament to the grandeur of imperial Rome. Its construction, during the third century, was ordered and overseen by the then African proconsul Gordian. He led a revolt in 238AD against the tyrannical emperor Maximinus Thrax (who had murdered the prior emperor Alexander Severus to seize the throne). Gordian was initially successful and when the senate confirmed him and his son as co-emperors they marched into Carthage but were confronted there by veteran legions loyal to Maximinus and his son was killed in the battle. Having only reigned for thirty-six days Gordian took his own life.
The Berbers indigenous to Tunisia, unlike those of Morocco and Algeria, had few mountains in which to seek refuge during the Arab invasion and so largely became assimilated. Most modern‑day Tunisians are of mixed ethnic descent and some even have striking red hair or blue eyes, inherited from European slaves and prisoners of war. Retaining traditional Berber lifestyle and dress has unfortunately become synonymous with illiterate peasantry but as you travel further south some of the desert towns are genuine cultural enclaves. Gabes, famous for its palm wine, is unusual in being a coastal oasis. It has a vibrant fishing community and the government has attempted to bring some industrial activity to the area, albeit with mixed results and some unfortunate pollution problems along the beach. Matmata, to the southwest of the oasis at the foot of the Jebel Dahar mountains, is named for its local Berber tribe and is famous for the underground homes in which many of them still live (despite official attempts at resettlement). The troglodyte way of life offers protection from the heat of the searing sun in what is otherwise a bleak and lunar landscape. Typical dwellings consist of circular craters with conspicuously whitewashed interiors; a central courtyard sunk fifteen metres or so into the earth with steps to rooms on two storeys for living-in and for the storage of food and animals. The area sees a surfeit of tourists and an accompanying glut of guides, all of them eager to point out exactly where which scenes from “Star Wars” were filmed, and it can consequently all feel a little too mercenary at times. Being charged to enter homes is one thing but being asked to pay for taking pictures is quite another.
The great salt lake of Chott el Djerid runs from Gabes towards the Atlas Mountains and marks the beginning of the Sahara. It is an ancient geological depression which was filled by a sea that dried out. Seasonal rains evaporate to create a shimmering blue‑white crust. Underground fossil water reserves irrigate the oases along the deserts northern edge and parts of the lake are the springtime breeding grounds of flamingos. It is an other‑worldly environment, whipped by dust storms and spotted with multicoloured crystal deposits known as desert roses. Mirages, caused by light being refracted through unevenly warmed layers of air, are disorientatingly common. The Bedouin migrated here from the deserts of Arabia. The Fellahin Bedouin are those that settled on the margins of the desert but there are still many true nomads who move between the interior oases, shepherding camels and goats, and following a fully traditional way of life. The oasis of Douz is known as the gateway of the Sahara. It is a popular place to hire guides (usually from the Saharaoui tribe) for a trek out into the Grand Erg Oriental, one of the great sand seas of the desert. The towering dune systems change colours as the sun moves but the powder‑fine sand seems almost transparent as you let it run through your fingers. It you spend the night in the desert you may be fortunate enough to see a fennec, a small desert fox which has distinctively oversized ears. Douz is Tunisia’s largest oasis and its date palmerie, which contains almost half a million trees, makes for an arresting sight against the backdrop of the burning sands. It is a fairly sleepy town, only coming alive towards evening when the baking heat subsides. It holds an important weekly market which the Bedouin nomads attend to trade livestock. The soil is fantastically fertile and the town streets are lined by gardens overflowing with citrus fruit, pomegranates, apricots and figs. Given such abundance, it is easy to forget that existence here is incredibly precarious but the many fences, screens and walls testify that encroaching desertification is a constant concern.
Moving up into the Atlas brings you to Tamerza, the largest of the mountain oases. Reaching it requires a trip in a rugged four-wheeler and surviving that requires air‑con and black curtains to block out the blinding haze. The area consists of a complex of gorges and gullies carved out by ancient watercourses. They end in shadowed basins which are seasonally filled by waterfalls that create cooling pools, perfect for swimming in. Scenes from “The English Patient” were filmed here. The locals are Touareg, a people native to the Sahara who can be found living in the desert as far west as Niger and Mali. The abandoned old town is interesting to explore for its crumbling mud‑brick architecture and whitewashed marabouts marking the tombs of Muslim saints. The lush palm trees of Tamerza make everywhere for a stark contrast against the bone‑dry rock. It is quite remarkable that the Touareg have been able to fashion such an apparent idyll out of such apparent inhospitability; all the more so since archaeological evidence suggests that they have been living here for almost three thousand years.