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Antique Tunisia / Tunisie Antique
At the beginning of recorded history, Tunisia was inhabited by Berber tribes. Its coast wa...
published: 28 Sep 2008
author: elvanino
Antique Tunisia / Tunisie Antique
At the beginning of recorded history, Tunisia was inhabited by Berber tribes. Its coast was settled by Phoenicians starting as early as the 10th century BC. The city of Carthage was founded in the 9th century BC by settlers from Tyre, now in modern day Lebanon. Legend says that Dido founded the city in 814 BC, as retold in by the Greek writer Timaeus of Tauromenium. The settlers of Carthage brought their culture and religion from the Phoenicians and other Canaanites. After a series of wars with Greek city-states of Sicily in the 5th century BC, Carthage rose to power and eventually became the dominant civilization in the Western Mediterranean. The people of Carthage worshipped a pantheon of Middle Eastern gods including Baal and Tanit. Tanit's symbol, a simple female figure with extended arms and long dress, is a popular icon found in ancient sites. The founders of Carthage also established a Tophet which was altered in Roman times. Though the Romans referred to the new empire growing in the city of Carthage as Punic or Phoenician, the empire built around Carthage was an independent political entity from the other Phoenician settlements in the Western Mediterranean. Tunis Zitouna Great MosqueA Carthaginian invasion of Italy led by Hannibal during the Second Punic War, one of a series of wars with Rome, nearly crippled the rise of the Roman Empire. Carthage was eventually conquered by Rome in the 2nd century BC, a turning point which led to ancient Mediterranean <b>...</b>
3:03
LORDS OF WAR
Algeria has been inhabited by Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least 10000 BC. After 1000 B...
published: 14 Oct 2007
author: madotram
LORDS OF WAR
Algeria has been inhabited by Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least 10000 BC. After 1000 BC, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia. In 200 BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century. Having converted the Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt. They left Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals; when the latter rebelled and adopted Sunnism, they sent in a populous Arab tribe, the Banu Hilal to weaken, initiating the Arabization of the countryside. The Almoravids and Almohads, Berber dynasties from the west founded by religious reformers, brought a period of relative peace and development; however, with the Almohads' collapse, Algeria became a battleground for their three successor states, the Algerian Zayyanids, Tunisian Hafsids, and Moroccan Marinids. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Spanish Empire started attacking and subsuming many <b>...</b>
10:02
TUNIS Tunisia
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and the political, commercial and cultural centre of the c...
published: 29 Jun 2010
author: TravelVideoStore
TUNIS Tunisia
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and the political, commercial and cultural centre of the country, the Paris of North Africa and a metropolis with a long history. The centre of the city is the medina, the Arabic old town. Surrounded by the market streets of the souks towers the large mosque of Ez-Zitouna, 'Mosque of the Olive'. Apart from the Mosque of Sidi Oqba of Kairouan, this noble building is the most important religious sanctuary in Tunisia. The central market quarter dates back to the Hafsid Dynasty and Early Christian period and the leisurely ambience of the Moorish coffee houses still exists today. The tall, octagonal minaret of the Sidi Youssef Ben Ali Mosque is the earliest Syric building style in Tunisia. Next to the mosque are the securely guarded government buildings that incorporate the architectural styles of the old town. In the labyrinth of souks, there is a tiny square with red-green pillars, the former slave market in which human captives were sold for profit. The 18th century mausoleum of Tourbet El Bey contains the tombs of the Husseinites Dynasty. Its stucco walls and marble pillars highlight the influence of Italian Renaissance. Even today, the medina of Tunis enchants all those who experience it and it is one of the oldest and most constantly populated areas of the Mediterranean that is as evocative as an oriental fairytale.
26:04
TUNIS Tunisia
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and this 'Paris' of North Africa is a metropolis w...
published: 09 Jan 2010
author: TravelVideoStore
TUNIS Tunisia
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and this 'Paris' of North Africa is a metropolis with a long history. In the centre of the medina, the domed roof of the souk encircles the Olive-Tree Mosque, the spiritual centre of the old town. The central market district dates back to the Hafsid and Early Christian period. Here, there's something for everyone, many of the goods being skillfully crafted under the watchful eye of prospective purchasers. While strolling through the markets, it's like being part of an Arabian fairy-tale with all the magic of the One Thousand and One Nights. The tall, octagonal minaret of the Sidi Youssef Dey Mosque is an example of Tunisia's earliest Syric building design and opposite is the Dar-el-Bey, former palace of the Turkish monarchs. Dar Ben Abdallah is a splendid palace that dates back to the 18th century and since 1975, has incorporated a folklore museum that is well worth a visit. A large cool courtyard is dominated by a central marble fountain that is surrounded by both residential and official rooms. The lavish lifestyle of the 19th century is on full display in numerous rooms with precious furniture and crystal chandeliers, as well as beautifully attired life-size dolls. Today, Bardo is an elegant suburb of villas but in the 19th century, the Turkish Beys built their palace district within it. The former harem today contains the majestic Bardo Museum. Tunis has all the wonderful atmosphere of this region's historic and colorful past.
0:46
Response to a comment
Edit: I wanted to show some information on the number of pilgrims that went every year Per...
published: 08 Jan 2010
author: markellion
Response to a comment
Edit: I wanted to show some information on the number of pilgrims that went every year Perry Noble books.google.com (quoting Reclus) "Muhammadanism (In Africa) enjoys more material cohesion than in Asia . . . Their common belief tends everywhere to diffuse the social ideas, habits, usages and speech of the Arab . . . At Mecca the most zealous pilgrims, those subject to most frequent fits of religious frenzy, are the Negroes of Wadai and Bornu and the inhabitants of northwest Abyssinia. Notwithstanding the difficulties of the journey, thousands [14000?] of Takrurs [Negroes from West Africa] undertake the pilgrimage every year" This is dealing with the two bellow comments "As for the quote veiled people and matters of government it refers to mostly Tuaregs and berbers who lived near or whitin black run empires. Precolonial black Africa of Check Anta Diop gives details about these." "One of the things is that capital is that Berbers settled in small numbers in areas of sub-saharan Africa or where blacks had control." These comments completely disregard the fact that these empires conquered northward. Ibn Khaldun wrote that Takedda "is subject to the sultan of Mali of the Sudan as is the case at present with the rest of the desert regions known as [the land of] the veiled people... " It is a sickness to twist this and try to divide Africans between those north and south of the Sahara. "The veiled people" were the important link in trans-Saharan trade and large numbers of <b>...</b>