The Glory of Carthage!

Yesterday the OSU group went on our first of several day trips to Carthage, a neighborhood of Tunis. At it's peak, Carthage was an empire that extended across Northern Africa and included the Southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily. Then Rome decided that enough was enough and destroyed it during the Punic Wars, although Carthage, lead by Hannibal Barca, put up a valiant fight in the second. After the Punic Wars it took Carthage about 100 years to recover from the salting of their farmlands. At this point the Romans extended their empire to enclude it and set to work building a Roman city there. For the most part, all Punic ruins from the glorious days of Carthage are gone, but many, many Roman ruins exist on the site.

Our first stop was at the Carthage Museum and it's nearby ruins. The view from the hill that the Museum was on was absolutely breathtaking. Priceless peices of statues and pottery dotted the yard that overlooked the Mediterranean and the mountains on the other side of Tunis. The pictures I took really don't do it justice.
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We wandered around the ruins for a while before heading into the museum to look at artifacts dug up during the excavation of the site. There were many mosaics, pottery, coins, sculptures, etc. It made me remember my days working as a museum guard at the Oriental Institute.


Our next stop was even more impressive. The Antonin Baths, also in Carthage, are even more complete ruins than the ones we were previously at. We could still see the channels where water ran underneath the floors of the baths and some mosaics were still visible on the ground. The area around the baths was once the playground of rich Tunisians. The ruins of the more upscale schools, churches (yes, a Roman Catholic church, not a mosque), and living areas were also there for us to explore. I guess that I should mention that Carthage is STILL the playground of the rich and famous. The President's palace butts up against the Antonin Baths. Tall white walls surrounded the Palace as well as numerous guard booths filled with guards and guns. Though it doesn't seem to be an ideal situation, putting the president's palace right next to an extremely tourist filled site, after I thought about it for a second I realized that were I the president I would want my palace looking out over the ruins. That way I would remember how rich the history my country was and would be inspired to live up to the past.


Following the baths, we headed to the American Battleground Memorial Cemetery. Everyone had different reactions to the Cemetery. First off, I need to explain that it was all VERY American. Manicured lawns, Arlington style white crosses, patriotic music playing every hour or so for the tomb of the unknown soldier. There were some touches of Northern Africa-- mosaics depicted the movements of the American and British forces and where battles were held, Tunisian style fountains were on the lawn, etc-- but that being said, it still didn't feel like we were in Northern Africa. Karim told us that it is probably the best maintained place in all of Tunisia. I believe him. It was really a fitting tribute for the men and women who lost their lives in Northern Africa. If I had family members buried there I would be happy to know that they were so well taken care of. I hope that the overseas graveyards where my relatives lie are similar to this one. Some members of our group were unsettled, feeling that this was just a little too weird, a little too American. Others felt really comforted and at home just being in a place with English on the walls and an American flag in the sky.

Our final stop was very rushed. 30 minutes in beautiful Sidi Bou Said. Sidi Bou is a white and blue town (the richest in the Tunis area) on the top of a hill on the coast. Tons of tourists everywhere, tons of souvenir shops and cafes. Still, in my opinion, despite the touristy nature of the area, it was really beautiful and certainly worth a second, third, and fourth trip. I can imagine how awesome it'd be to sit in a cafe on the top of the hill and drink tea as the sun sets. I think we'll go back sometime very soon.

I took tons and tons of pictures of yesterday. I promise to get them up on Flickr sometime today or tomorrow. Today begins our little vacation for Eid. Since we don't know whether Eid (the festival at the end of Ramadan) is Tuesday or Wednesday yet (we need to look at the moon on Monday night) we are just getting Monday through Thursday off of school to cover our bases. Most of us OSU students have decided to stay in a resort in Hammamet, a big beach town, for a night or two. I'm in the group that has opted for one night in a three star hotel for 37 dinars (includes two meals) instead of two nights in a five star hotel. I'm pretty excited.