Unreached

Chapter XII: Golden Buzz Tunisia

In an ancient history fully-funded with dictatorship, anarchy and auto-claimed authorities across ages of time, the northernmost point of the african continent has always been that exclusive land to uprise, distinguish itself, and teach the world how to live your golden era multiple times through history, whether a modern democratic republic, a gigantic mediterranean empire or a prehistoric civilisation.

A spectacular cultural spectrum that made an oath for generations of proud people, to acquire a massive diversity that influences different life fields and contributes to the cognitive stock of humanity. Tunisia's Derja, the people's spoken language, is maybe the intangible proof of this nation's cosmopolitanism and cultural coexistence, due to its beautiful mix of Arabic, Amazigh, Latin and Ottoman Turkish. This diversity is the fruit of multiple cross-civilization, emerging to the heart of the Mediterranean since forever.. Tunisia, as it is nowadays a destination known for pristine beaches, golden deserts, breathtaking landscapes, and unique palaces, fortifications, old towns and ancient archaeological ruins. History.. heritage.. tradition.. and more history.

Tunisia counts eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites on its land and thirteen on the tentative list, allowing it to be ranked as the second country with highest number of significant and important landmarks in North Africa and Middle East Region, fourth on the African scale, and the world's thirty-ninth.

"Tunisia is a Mediterranean jewel, a small country with a 3,000-year history that includes ancient Carthage, the Romans and the Muslim world. It is a diverse and westernized Arab democracy that is cosmopolitan, multiethnic and peaceful." The Washington Times.

Today, Tunisia is a sovereign semi-presidential republic with a high human development index, and rated as a free democracy, by the Freedom House organization, making it one of only ten free African countries, and the only Arab state to receive such rating. A nation known for privileging human rights and consecrating freedom of expressions and belief. it is a nation where the elected president loses a lawsuit against a citizen. It is a nation where Muslims, Jews and Christians live in a harmonic correlation and exclusive conformity. Such exhibition of values and civic achievements is certainly a result of great struggle and multiple efforts of those who lived before us, and here stands our gold-written history requesting us to investigate it, to discover it and examine its facts, to look for what we are ought to be taught, for what is built through time, forged by justice and strengthened by aspiration.

There's no better era to start the history filter than with our ancestor's prehistoric age. Some of the members of the genus Homo are believed to habitate in North Africa since the Old Stone Age, around two million years ago, as fossils of Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus were found in El-Guettar, Gafsa, and El-Kef.. These early Hominins used stone tools, racloirs, cleavers and palaeolithic hand axes, some of these are magnificently preserved and are exposed in Bardo National Museum, an ex-beylical residence of the Husainid dynasty, and now home to the world's largest mosaic collection. Lots of evidences were found spread in the Tunisian land, marking the presence of millennial civilizations, cultures and archaeological industries, such as the Capsian (2 500 Years BC), The Iberomaurusian (25 000 Years BP), the Aterian (150 000 Years BP), and The Mousterian (160 000 Years BP).

Our next stop is a remarquable one, The Empire of Carthage ; founded in 814 BC, by Queen Dido as the legend says, and here is Golden Era #1, Carthage had quite fun enlarging its territory, expanding its trading lines and building a gigantic six-century-long empire spread across continents, controlling at its peak Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands to the north, on the west Spain's Sagunto, Cartagena and Cadiz, and Morocco's Tangier.. and all the southern coasts of the Mediterranean until Utica and the capital Carthage. The mighty empire saw prosperity, wealthiness and justice, how? Qart-Hadast was known for its various economic activities, bilateral commercial hyper-expansion, and unique governing system based on law and a political regime decorated by democracy. YES. DEMOCRACY! The Carthaginians made sure to establish flourishing institutions and thriving governments for durability, justice and opulence.