ABSTRACT
In 1881, the Mission de Tunisie was charged by the French government, to undertake the excavation of ancient cities and in particular on the site of Carthage; scholars had to research, draw and describe all antique monuments, from prehistory to the Roman conquest, and record all inscriptions anterior to the Arab conquest. This chapter tells a story of urban heritage conservation in Tunis focusing on the articulation of imported and home-grown knowledge practices in the creation of Tunisian legislation and institutions for the sauvegarde et mise en valeur du patrimoine culturel. Under the Ottoman rule of Tunisia, the Habous charitable trust fulfilled a pivotal role in the maintenance of a large number of properties in Tunis and its countryside. Tunis was founded by Arab tribes who settled, around the seventh century AD, in the north coastal plains of Tunisia. The site had a long history dating back to Punic and Roman civilisations in nearby Carthage.
