Culture of Tunisia - Cultural Diversity

Cultural Diversity

The Encyclopédie 360 describes Tunisia as a country that "did not develop truly original art" but is "strongly marked by various influences and is engrained with monuments which illustrate the various stages of its history ". In his thesis study on Cultural Policy in Tunisia, Rafik Said has mused that, "this relatively small area has produced estates, overlapping of cultures, and a confrontation of morals and doctrines throughout its history. Janice Rhodes Deledalle has referred to Tunisia as "cosmopolitan" and has said that "Tunisia cannot be considered in the category of as other colonies", because of the diversity of cultures embedded in Tunisia's heritage throughout the ages.

Tunisia's cultural life dates to prehistoric times, as illustrated by dolmens near Bou Salem and rock carvings of the Tunisian Sahara. The Hermaïon of El Guettar, discovered near the city of El Guettar in the south, is the oldest extant religious display discovered.

The dawning era of Tunisian cultural history was shaped by Carthaginian influences including Phoenician, Greek. There is much evidence of Phoenician and western artwork and glass work found in Punic tombs, notably in masks which the Phoenician used to drive out evil spirits or demons of death with their decorations, such as the lotus motifs found on many objects or in the artistic design buildings. The paintings and sculptures of the lids of sarcophagi from the necropolis of Carthage and El Alia, the architecture of the mausoleum of Dougga are characterized by the combined influence of Greece and Egypt. In addition, we find a trace of Hellenic influences overlapping Roman and Punic culture. In sculpture found in Tunisia, there has been a distinct, almost symbolic evolution towards a style which is a representative, idealized perfection of a body, state, etc. Greek pottery is also emulated, and it is a fact that potters from Greece were employed to produce objects in Carthage.

The works of Roman Tunisia do not differ greatly from those of Europe. Among those handed down to us are Thuburbo Majus, Gigthis, the amphitheater of El Jem, the capital of Dougga, the Baths of Antoninus and the Triumphal Arch of Caracalla. Subsequently, when Christianity was founded in Carthage, numerous monuments were erected. The Church in Africa, having been illustrated with famous martyrs such as St. Cyprian of Carthage or bishops as Saint Augustin d'Hippone, grew quickly in prestige. Many Christian monuments are erected including the catacombs of Sousse or the Makthar baptistery. Basilicas in multiple aisles, like St. Cyprian, were built based on the Syrian influences. However, the Church suffered persecution under a long reign of the Vandals who confiscated some of its properties. The arrival of the Byzantines lead to the disappearance of the latter and the restoration of a dense network of Orthodox bishops. During this period, many hills were crowned with Byzantine fortifications, such as in Kélibia.

With the Arab conquest, specifically during the reign of the dynasty Aghlabids, Kairouan became a renowned intellectual center, attracting many scholars. In played an important role in translation and research, particularly in the dissemination of medical science knowledge. In mathematics, contributions to computational algorithms were also made in Kairouan. The Arabs then erected buildings specific to Islamic architecture. While some retain a Byzantine essence, such as Three Doors Mosque in Kairouan (built in the ninth century) or ribat Sousse, many of the ancient columns are purely Arab such as the great Zitouna Mosque of Tunis (ninth century) and the Great Mosque of Mahdia in Kairouan (tenth century).

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, poets, scholars, historians increased in number in Tunisia. Zitouna Mosque, in the medina of Tunis housed the first Islamic university, and replaced Kairouan as an active center of intellectuals that included doctors and scholars, such as Ibn Zaïtoun, Ibn Al Abhar, Ibn Al Gafsi and Ibn Arafa. Thanks to scholars like Ibn Khaldun and writers such as Abou el Kacem Chebbi, Tunisia for centuries became a major cultural center in the Arab-Muslim world and Mediterranean.

During the Turkish conquest in the sixteenth century, mosques, such as that of Sidi Mahrez Mosque in Tunis were erected in a manner to those in Constantinople, although the Zaouias generally retain their north African style in Kairouan.

The French protectorate in turn left its mark on local architecture by adding a new urban style that can be found in the construction of a new city plan juxtaposed against the old medina of Tunis. Heavily influenced by Paris, with the Avenue Bourguiba, the style is known as "Rococo Tunisian ".