The Tunisian authorities announced on Tuesday that they would be investigating the exit from the country without permission of heritage objects from the Bey era, including manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries, put up for auction in Paris.
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One hundred and fourteen pieces of "great historical value were released in the second half of March 2020, without any official authorization and in full confinement in the country," Faouzi Mahfoudh, director of the Institute, told AFP on Tuesday national heritage. These objects "do not belong to any state museum" : they are "private property" belonging to the descendants of a beylical dignitary, he said.
Under the title “Collection of a dignitary of the Court of the beylicale” , they are put up for sale by a Parisian auction house on June 11 via the auction site of Drouot, an institution of the art market. Formal outfits from the beginning of the 20th century, religious and poetry manuscripts, official correspondence: these objects are those of Lahbib Djellouli (1857-1957), former Minister of the Pen and Justice for the bey, the Tunisian sovereign, transmitted to his son Ahmed, who died in 2011. There is notably a Koran that belonged to Mohamed el-Moncef Bey (1881-1948), bey of Tunis dismissed in 1943 and penultimate representative of the Husseinite dynasty. There is also the original copy of a reference work on this dynasty, "Ithaf Ahl al-zaman bi Akhbar muluk Tunis wa 'Ahd el-Aman" ( "Present of men of our time. Chronicles of the kings of Tunis and of fundamental pact ” ), written by Ahmed Ibn Abi Dhiaf, a Tunisian historian and politician (1804-1874).
"I will not sell these items for all the money in the world"
"The (Tunisian) authorities must do what is necessary to stop this sale, because these objects are invaluable and are part of the country's history , " said Faouzi Mahfoudh. According to him, the Tunisian service to combat archaeological trafficking launched an investigation on Tuesday, and the National Heritage Institute, which was alerted on this case on Sunday, will "soon" file a complaint with the general prosecutor of Tunis. The management of this institute alerted the Tunisian ambassador to Unesco, Ghazi Ghrairi, Tunisia having been without an ambassador to France for several months. "I will not sell these objects for all the money in the world," said Faouzi Mahfoudh.