Visiting the Tunisian Catacombs - Unedited Book Excerpt

After visiting the Sousse Archeological Museum, we have decided to head to the catacombs.  I have wanted to visit these ever since this summer when I realized they existed!  I am sure that it can only be so exciting considering these are dead people, but I want to see them anyway.
 
We have been asked by a guide to take a German woman with us since she wants to visit and is still waiting for a taxi to come after having called some time ago.  Her English is not very good, and my German is terrible, so we managed to do a lot of laughing rather than talking. In true American style, I talk louder.
 
This poor German woman very much fit the stereotype of a Germany long ago.  She was definitely a good “German grandmother” figure with an ample (not large!) form and a grinning personality.  I asked her if she were travelling alone and she indicated that today she was, but that her “school friend” was at the hotel relaxing and didn’t want to join her on her excursion.  I find Germans to be an interesting bunch.  They are considered the best tourists in the world because they spend money and are polite in other people’s countries.  They do their best to say at least a few of the local words – the woman actually said “aslemah” when she first saw us, thinking we were Tunisians (which we are, I guess).
 
“My English is not good,” she cackled in the back of the car.
 
I pondered if I should sing her my German song: Ich bin Auslander und sprechen nicht gut Deutch to the tune of Comin’ Round the Mountain but decided against it.  She must already be slightly intimidated by getting into a car with strangers and then losing her guide in traffic.
 
Moez and I manage to find our way to the museum (that is to say, Moez finds it, although I did spot the sign) and she gleefully hops out.  Feeling delighted, she thanks us profusely for bringing her: “You are so kind! Bringing me to the museum! You don’t even know me.”  She then becomes pleased to no end when she learns that we are to follow her inside.
 
After parking, Moez and I leave the vehicle.  The guide starts speaking Tunisian to me, and I keep myself from drooling from stupidity.  I think he realizes at some point that I don’t speak Arabic, so he leaves me alone and I wander into the ticket office.  It is quite smoky in there; the man behind the counter not in the slightest concerned with antiquity.  Again, Moez and I get into the museum for free and wander outside to descend into the depths of the earth (dramatic enough?).
 
Moez is being silly.  He is not into high adventure (like this is) or into graves.  So he pretends to be scared, grabs my hand and shakes like he is terrified.  I manage to shake him off to get a few photos and then descend into the tunnels.
 
I’m not sure why the tunnels are so dark, unless they are trying to save lighting or perhaps are using it as an effect.  Moez and I both have iPhones and flashlight apps, so we just light up to see anything that is too dark.
 
As it turns out, there is a tiny portion open to the public while the rest of the site is closed.  Apparently, people can get (have gotten?) lost in the tunnels.  The part that is open to visitors is about 1.6 kilometers and is circular.  It is called Le bon Pasteur or the Good Pastor.  Inside is a bit cramped and contains some 6000 graves in just that particular area.
 
Moez and I wander around by ourselves, while our guide is subjected to the emphatic yet kind German lady – who I will from now on call GL.  Obviously in need of different conversation, the guide offers to take all of us down a closed tunnel.  He takes a candle and hands one to GL.  He offers us one, but we turn it town in favor of our iPhones.
 
As the guide swings the locked gate open, and the darkness gapes at us from the other side, he gesturs for us to please enter.  Everyone kind of looks at him, and he at us, so I just plough my way through.  I move through and then realize I was facing a left or right road.  “Aleeyasar ou aleeyameen?” I call back (left or right).
 
“Hold on,” he advises. Moez calls uncomfortably for me, and I realize that he doesn’t appreciate being left in the dark with these two strange people.  So I turn around and go back.  The guide then leads the way followed by Moez, GL and me taking up the rear.  How did I get back here?
 
I snap only a few pictures because I quickly become attached to GL.  She either lost or had put out and pocketed her candle in favor of our bright flashlights.  So I need to hold my phone out to so she can take a snap shot.  Not the slightest bit concerned about her current surroundings, GL is often be left behind by her guide (who I learn has basically been carting her around everywhere and is now putting up with her and humoring her as best as he can while still maintaining his sanity).
 
The ceilings are very low, so even I had to crouch down to move forward.  That coupled with the rising heat quickly gives Moez an excuse to exit.  His back no longer permits him such luxuries of knuckle walking; he cannot abide the heat; and he really doesn’t want to be there anyway.  However, his exiting doesn’t permit me to take any more pictures since I am the main source of light.
 
The guide leads us down several tunnels, showing us several things.  We see the differences between the actual tunnels and the renovated portions, which had been given additional support.  We also see an area where a garden is growing and the roots of the plants are hanging down and dripping sap (not sure if plants drip sap, or if that is just for trees?).  I think I am most impressed by the fact that the guide speaks at the very least a little of four languages, and the fact that I could understand some of what he was speaking to GL.
 
At one point, he starts to walk away while GL is still taking pictures.  I hesitate, grinning stupidly as I usually do, and keep shining my light on her as we walk away.  He realizes what is going on and says: “Hold on, let me get her” and moves past me to return and drag her with us.  At another time, she can’t seem to get her camera to take proper pictures, and he finally snatches it away from her and tells her to let him handle it because he knows how to take pictures.  He does it in a nice but authoritative way, and I start to get really tickled with this relationship, realizing they should travel the world together and film it.  Who knows how many millions they could make?
 
We finally make our way back to the exit, where I find Moez gleefully cleaning his car and attacking a fly.  About the catacombs, I pretty much learn the following:
 
The catacombs were first uncovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the French Army.  Just like Rome, these catacombs were hideouts for persecuted Christians who endured all sorts of atrocities under 400 years of Roman rule.  The guide said that the Christian community did everything here in the catacombs, including eating, sleeping, burying, etc.  However, I am not sure that is accurate.  The websites I have read seem to indicate these areas were for burying people (since it was prohibited to bury Christians under Roman rule, much like present day Nepal) and participating in religious activities.
 
I saw the children’s graves, which were quite small.  The graves in the walls have been excavated and some of them have been left with glass so the visitors can see the skeletal remains.  The other graves that have been excavated are covered up with regular stone.  Most individuals were buried after being dipped in calcium rich lime, wrapped in a shroud and then tucked into the side of the wall with some personal belongings.  The grave was then closed and covered with a mosaic that included the family name.  These personal items and mosaics have wisely been removed and are currently sitting around in a museum.
 
The catacombs themselves continue for 5.5km, and have a total of 15,000 graves that housed at least 25,000 people.  Additionally, the Sousse catacombs aren’t the only ones in existence.  They also have some in Lamta and Salakta, other coastal cities in the area.  Unfortunately, excavation has come to a halt due to people building their homes on top of the archeological site, and also due to a lack of funding.  The former dictator apparently put more emphasis on building giant mansions than in building his country’s history, and the current recession isn’t making continued progress possible.
 
Moez and I finally exit and he pays the guide.  We ask him if he wants us to take GL somewhere else, but he just shruggs.  “Leave her,” he says. “This is the 10th time she’s seen the archeological museum, so who knows how long she’ll want to stay here.”  He rolls his eyes good-naturedly.
 
We laugh and move on to find lunch and enjoy the old city.
 
Websites consulted:
http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/04/07/unearthing-the-catacombs-of-sousse/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tunisia/central-tunisia/sousse/sights/landmarks-monuments/catacombs
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