The Bardo National Museum (; ) or Bardo Palace is an arts and North African history

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in Le Bardo,

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. It is one of the most important museums in the Mediterranean region and the second museum of the African continent after the Egyptian Museum of Cairo by richness of its collections. It traces the history of Tunisia over several millennia and across several

civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

s through a wide variety of archaeological pieces. First proposed in the 1860s by Muhammad Khaznadar, the son of the

Prime Minister of Tunisia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

, the museum is housed in an old beylical palace since 1888, it has been the setting for the exhibition of many major works discovered since the beginning of archaeological research in the country. This historic building also serves as the seat of the

Assembly of the Representatives of the People The Assembly of the Representatives of the People ( ', ; ARP) is the lower house of the Parliament of Tunisia. The Assembly replaced the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia, Constituent Assembly and was first Tunisian parliamentary election, 2014, e ...

Lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

. Originally called Alaoui Museum (), named after the reigning bey at the time, it takes its current name of Bardo Museum after the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of the country even if the denomination is attested before that date. The museum houses one of the largest collections of Roman mosaics in the world, thanks to excavations in various archaeological sites in the country including

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

Hadrumetum Hadrumetum, also known by #Names, many variant spellings and names, was a Phoenician Phoenician colonies, colony that pre-dated Carthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa before Vandal Kingdom, Vandal and Uma ...

, Dougga and Utica. Generally, the mosaics of Bardo, such as the

Virgil Mosaic The Mosaic of Virgil is a mosaic found on the site of the ancient Hadrumetum and currently preserved in Bardo National Museum (Tunis), Bardo National Museum in Tunis, where it constitutes one of its key pieces. It is currently the oldest portrait ...

, represent a unique source for research on everyday life in

Roman Africa Roman Africa or Roman North Africa is the culture of Roman Africans that developed from 146 BC, when the Roman Republic defeated Carthage and the Punic Wars ended, with subsequent institution of Roman Empire, Roman Imperial government, through th ...

. From the Roman era, the museum also contains a rich collection of marble statues representing the deities and the Roman emperors found on different sites including those of Carthage and Thuburbo Majus. The museum also houses pieces discovered during the excavations of Libyco-

Punic The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people who migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' ...

sites including Carthage, although the National Museum of Carthage is the primary museum of the Carthage archaeological site. The essential pieces of this department are grimacing masks,

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

statues and

stelae A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of major interest for Semitic

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, and the stele of the priest and the child. The museum also houses Greek works discovered especially in the excavations of the shipwreck of Mahdia, whose emblematic piece remains the bust of

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

in marble, gnawed by the sea. The Islamic Department contains, in addition to famous works such as the Blue Qur'an of Kairouan, a collection of

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

from the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. In order to increase the reception capacity and optimize the presentation of the collections, the museum is the subject of a vast operation which was to be completed initially in 2011 but was not finished until 2012 due to the Tunisian Revolution. The work concerns the increase of the exhibition surfaces by adding new buildings and redeploying the collections. The project aims to make the museum a major pole for a quality cultural development, so that the visitor can appreciate the artistic pieces deposited. On 18 March 2015, an Islamist terrorist group attacked the museum and took tourists hostage in the building. The attack, which killed 22 people including 21 foreign tourists, was claimed by

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Location and description

The Bardo National Museum building was originally a 15th-century

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

palace, located in the suburbs of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. The Bardo is one of the most important museums of the Mediterranean basin, and the second largest on the African continent after the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

. It traces the history of

over several millennia and through many civilizations through a wide variety of archaeological pieces. Being in the former palace, it offers many major works discovered since the beginnings of archaeological research in the country. Originally called Museum Alaoui (المتحف العلوي), the name of the reigning bey at the time, it has had its current name of Museum of Bardo only since the country's independence. In addition to famous works such as the Blue Koran of

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...

, the Islamic Department contains a collection of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The Bardo brings together one of the finest and largest collections of Roman

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s in the world thanks to the excavations undertaken from the beginning of the 20th century on archaeological sites in the country including

, Dougga, or Utica. The mosaics represent a unique source for research on everyday life in

. The museum also contains a rich collection of marble statues representing the gods and Roman emperors found on various sites including those of Carthage and Thuburbo Majus. The Bardo has also rich pieces discovered during the excavations of Libyco-

sites including mainly

, although the Carthage National Museum also possesses an important collection. The main parts of this department are grimacing masks, terracotta statues and stelae of major interest for the Semitic epigraphy, the stele of the priest and the child being the most famous. The museum also houses

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

works discovered in particular in the excavations of the ship of Mahdia, whose iconic piece is a marble bust of Aphrodite. The museum underwent a major refurbishment, completed in 2012, that was interrupted due to the Tunisian revolution. The expansion, which added 9,000 square meters to the complex, was designed by SCPA Codou-Hindley (France) and Amira Nouira (Tunisia). Considerable funding came from the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Collections

It contains a major collection of

Roman mosaic A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during the Roman period, throughout the Roman Republic and later Empire. Mosaics were used in a variety of private and public buildings, on both floors and walls, though they competed with cheaper frescos for the ...

s and other antiquities of interest from

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, and the

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

period. The

displays objects ranging from pre-historical artifacts to modern

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

2015 terrorist attack

On 18 March 2015, 24 people were killed in a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war a ...

when three terrorists in civil uniform attacked the Bardo National Museum in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis, and took hostages. Twenty-one people, mostly European tourists, were killed at the scene, while an additional victim died ten days later. Around fifty others were injured. This attack took place after the famous Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris where many journalists were killed Death toll rises to 23
msn.com; accessed 19 March 2015. Two of the gunmen, Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed by police, while the third attacker is currently at large. Police treated the event as a

. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Tunisian history; surpassing the 2002 Ghriba synagogue bombing, which killed nineteen people, most of whom were also European tourists, and injured more than thirty others.

Gallery

"Carthaginian art"

File:Amphore anthropomorphe Musée Bardo.jpg, Anthropomorphic amphora File:Baby bottle from Carthage.jpg, Carthaginian baby bottle. Painted decoration: eyes; palmettes; Tanit....... 3rd century BCE File:Baal Hamon Bardo.JPG, Statue of Baal Hammon sitting on a throne File:Bardo National Museum tanit.jpg, Statue of Tanit leontocephalus File:Bijoux puniques au Musée du Bardo.jpg, Punic jewelry File:Carthaginian armor from Ksour es-Saf Bardo Museum.jpg, Carthaginian armor from Ksour es-Saf File:Bottle sign Bardo National Museum.jpg, Bottle idol on a stele File:Diosa tanit cartago.jpg, Stele of Tanit (Carthaginian goddess of fertility) File:Estatuapunica.jpg, Punic statue File:Galet Bétyle Bardo Museum.JPG, Carthaginian granite pebble with figure of deity. 5th century BCE File:Naiskos Bardo Museum.JPG, Miniature Punic chapel (naïskos) File:Prêtre à l'enfant Musée Bardo.jpg, Priest's stele, discovered in Carthage in 1921. (3rd century BCE. J.-C.). File:Punic jewellery in Bardo Museum.jpg, Punic jewellery File:Statue of Demeter in Bardo Museum, inv. 3493.jpg, Statue of Demeter File:Statuette tambourin Bardo.jpg, Coroplath statuette holding a tambourine File:Statue of goddess with a lion's head AvL.JPG, Punic figure of the goddess Tanit with a lion’s head. CE 1st century File:Steles puniques Bardo.JPG, Punic stelae File:Stèle Tophet Bardo.jpg, Stele of the tophet of Salammbô File:Túnez, El Bardo 1992 01.jpg, Sculpture of Tanit goddess File:Urna.jpg, urn to the Bard, "naïskos" File:Masque féminin punique (Musée du Bardo, Tunis) (49817569613).jpg, Egyptian style Female mask found in a tomb, known as Protomé Necropolis of Carthage, late 6th - 5th century BCE.

"Famous mosaics"

File:Dionysus at Bardo National Museum.jpg, Detail of the Ulysses Mosaic File:Tunis, Museum Bardo,A bottle of wine (2. Jhdt.n.Chr., El Jem-Thysdrus) (41133727914).jpg, Mosaic of a bottle of wine (2. Jhdt.n.Chr., El Jem-Thysdrus) File:Bardo(js)015(js).jpg, Ulysses Mosaic File:Neptune_Roman_mosaic_Bardo_Museum_Tunis.jpg,

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

Roman Mosaic File:A mosaic BardoMuseum (13)-edit.JPG, Zodiac mosaic File:La proprietà del signore Giulio proveniente da Cartagine conservata al Bardo di Tunisi.jpg, Seignor Julius mosaic, CE 5th century, Carthage File:Carthage museum mosaic 1.jpg, Matron at her toilet, CE 4th century, Carthage File:GiorcesBardo40.jpg, Mosaic of a Wild boar and dog. CE 3rd century File:GiorcesBardo42.jpg,

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

seated between Clio and Melpomene (from Hadrumetum

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...

). CE 3rd century. File:GiorcesBardo67.jpg, Mosaic of a hunting scene. CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo34.jpg, Roman Christian mosaic of bricklayers at work. CE 4th century File:GiorcesBardo37.jpg, Roman mosaic of "Crescentinus diaconus", dating from the CE 4th century. The inscription translates: "The host of the angels, the count of the martyrs, and breathing a peaceful life, may he go to you in a holy manner. Our memory, with the gracious piety with which the deacon Crescentinus is accustomed, returned in peace the 3rd Augustus Kalends." File:GiorcesBardo38.jpg, A Roman Christian mosaic called "Daniel among the Lions". CE 4th century

"Famous sculptures"

File:GiorcesBardo2.jpg, Roman commemorative sculpture, in which the deceased is dressed as Hercules. CE 3rd century File:GiorcesBardo4.jpg, Minia Procula, Roman sculpture. CE 2nd century. File:GiorcesBardo5.jpg, Roman sculpture of Minerva. CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo6.jpg, Roman sculpture of Suturn. CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo7.jpg, Roman sculpture of Ceres Diademea, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo9.jpg, Roman sculpture of Apollo leaning on the Delphic tripod. CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo10.jpg, Venus and Eros, Roman sculpture of Venus and Eros, CR 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo22.jpg, Sculpture of Venus Pudica, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo11.jpg, Sculpture of Ganymede, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo12.jpg, Colossal head, Sculpture of Jupiter, CE 3rd century File:GiorcesBardo18.jpg, Jupiter Serapio, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo30.jpg, Sculpture of Jupiter, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo15.jpg, Sculpture of Bacchus, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo27.jpg, Sculpture of Dionysus as a child, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo16.jpg, Sculpture of Empress Faustina II statue, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo21.jpg, sculpture of Hercules, CE 2nd century File:Hercules drunk - Bardo National Museum (photo by Giorces).jpg, Sculpture of Drunken Hercules, CE 2nd century File:GiorcesBardo24.jpg, Sculpture of Abundance, CE 3rd century File:GiorcesBardo25.jpg, Sculpture of Concordia Pantea, CE 2nd century

"Pieces in the ground floor"

Image:Tunis Musée Bardo 2.jpg, The early Christian room with baptistery in the centre Image:Bardo Museum exit.JPG, Museum entrance Image:Bardo Museum entrance.JPG, Hallway of sarcophagi full with visitors. Image:Bardo Palace door decoration-1.JPG, Access door on the first floor

"Fresco and Roof of Althiburos Room"

File:Bardo fresque.jpg, Fresco on interior balcony File:متحف باردو - سقف قصر الباي 7.JPG, Roof of the Bey Palace

"Roofs of Oudna Room"

Image:Bardo P6202366.jpg, Painted ceiling of the Oudna Room. Image:Bardo P6202322.jpg, Painted wooden ceiling. Image:Bardo P6202352.jpg, Painted and gilded ceiling of the Room Althiburos.

"Roofs of Sousse Room"

File:Bardo Mosaic Hall Ceiling.jpg, The domed ceiling of the mosaic hall File:Coupole salle de Sousse.JPG, Parts of the Bardo Palace before CE 1870, Le Bardo

"Roofs of Virgil Room"

File:Bardo Palace decoration.jpg, Roofs decorated with stucco File:Tunis, musée du Bardo, salle de Virgile 04.jpg, Ceiling of the Virgil room File:Tunis, musée du Bardo, salle de Virgile 01.jpg, Apartments of the

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

, room called

, after the name of the mosaic of

that was exposed until the extension of the years CE 2010

Technologies

Starting from June 17, 2014, the museum offers visitors a digital guide in English, French, and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Developed by Orange Tunisia using

Near-field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the boots ...

technology, it comes in the form of a free downloadable application for

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s and visitors can also borrow a free smartphone at the museum entrance. It offers audio commentaries, photo slideshows, and a historical and geographical perspective of the displayed works.

References

Literature

* * *

External links

The National Bardo Museum
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Tunis Moorish architecture Archaeological museums in Tunisia National museums Museums of ancient Greece Museums of ancient Rome Palaces in Tunisia Royal residences in Tunisia Tunisian monarchy Tourist attractions in Tunisia Museums established in 1888 1880s establishments in Tunisia 1888 establishments in Africa