Since its Phoenician origins, the city of Carthage has met with different fortunes. At its majestic heights, the city was a bustling port and metropolis, a centre of trade and culture in the Mediterranean world. At its lowest, it was pillaged and dismantled, buried from sight and memory. Sites of new cultures and civilizations were built upon the old as this terrain became repeatedly occupied. Throughout its history, these different cultures and civilizations have left their material inscriptions on the terrain in the form of archaeological, architectural, and cultural remains. These inscribed landscapes are places of meaning and memory. They are the physical recordings of the multiple histories of their previous occupants and stand as testaments to the resplendent heights Carthage reached during its glorious periods, but also as reminders of darker times characterized by transgression, occupation, and violent erasure. They form an important component of Tunisia’s heritage and national identity, as well as illuminating the cultural development of a broader humanity.

Byrsa Hill, as a place of memory, is as rich and diverse as the history of Carthage itself. Recognizing its cultural importance, our vision for the new National Museum of Carthage is to give expression and form to the site’s complex history while adding a new cultural layer. It will be a place where historical artifacts of Tunisia’s past are displayed and safeguarded, forming part of a collective memory that continues to be excavated and revealed. Located in the heart of significant archaeological sites, this Museum will capture the imagination of visitors through an immersive and engaging experience of the past. At the same time, the Museum complex and its surrounding landscape will constitute a new meeting place and cultural hub for Tunis, where knowledge of the past will foster contemporary thinking and creative practice.