COVER N. 552 - TUNISIA

Postmark: Le Bardo 04.11.2024

Posted on the 4th November 2024; Received on the 15th January 2025

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It has been a while since I received a cover from Tunisia, so today I had the pleasant surprise of getting one in my letterbox. Un grand Merci, Mohamed.

A great and diverse collection of stamps on this nice cover, embellished with a Season's garland topped by some snow, something which one would not immediately associate with the northern African country, although, as far as I could read, the white flakes are not that an uncommon sight in the mountains of the Tunisian North West.

Left to right:

2003 was declared the National Year of the Book in Tunisia. Celebrating this fact, Poste Tunis on 23APR2023 issued a 390 milim stamp featuring an open book from which all sorts of characters emanate, in a clear allegory of the power of the humble book as a vector for culture and development.

On 21OCT2000 Tunis Poste issue a five stamp set (110; 200; 2 x 250; 500 milim) themed on Flowers. One of the 250 milim stamps, illustrated with a beautiful ceramic  vase graced with a bouquet of all the flowers that are represented in this particular issue, features on the cover. 

The desert Rose, is an amazing  barite or gypsum crystal and sand formation which is quite common in Tunisia around the area of the Chott el Djerid salt lake. Although fragile these formations if carefully protected from bumps and will last forever .

This peculiar formation was chosen to illustrate the 250 milim stamp issued on 29NOV1997, on the cover.

Raptors of Tunisia was the theme chosen for a four stamp set (2 x 0,75; 0,9 and 4 Dinar) issued on 26SEP2022. The 0,9 dinar stamp on the cover is illustrated with an image of a Barn Owl (Tyto alba), a species that is distributed in almost all the African with the exception of the Sahara desert and all Europe.

The last stamp on the cover features another common sight in the place where I live: the Red Admiral, Vanessa Atalanta, a butterfly species of the Nymphalidae family. which has a very wide distribution, for it can be found in North Africa, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and island regions of Hawaii, and the Caribbean.

The postmark indicates that the letter was mailed at Le Bardo a city in the metropolitan area of Tunis, the country's capital.

COVER N.166 - TUNISIA

Postmark: 2090 Mornag 01-09-2022  
Posted on the 1st September; received on the 28th September 2022
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My second cover from Tunisia flew intercontinental from Mornag, a town not far from Tunis or the blue waters of the Mediterranean, located in one of the most fertile region of the country, known for its two main products, both fit for gods: wine and olive oil.

Thank you so much Mejri, for this cover that, in itself, is a mini-collection of Tunisian stamps!

Stamps, left to right, top to bottom:

Forts of Tunisia was the theme chosen by La Poste Tunisienne (Tunisian Post) for a four stamp set (0,75; 0,9; 1; 3 dinar)  issued on 10SEP2021showcasing some of the country's historic military fortifications.  Kélibia Fort, a byzantine  citadel overlooking the Mediterranean,  dating from the XVI century located in the city of Kélibia, illustrates the 0,75 dinar stamp on the cover.

The 0,25 dinar stamp with a photograph of a painted comber (Serranus scriba), a fish of the Serranidae family, common in the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black sea, is part of a 4 stamp souvenir sheet (0,25; 075; 0,9; 1 dinar) issued on 012JUN2021, celebrating Tunisia's Marine Biology.

On the 24th November 2015, twelve members of the Tunisian Presidential Guard were killed in Tunis when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a bus that was transporting the military. The bomber was a 26 year old hawker from Tunis and the action was later claimed by the ISIS.

Honoring the fallen, on 24NOV2018, la poste Tunisienne issued a single 0,5 Dinar stamp with the legend "Hommage aus martyrs de la Sécurité Présidentielle" and an image of a squad in action poses.

Amnesty International. Salazar, the Portuguese dictator, without knowing it, helped found it. It seems that having read about two portuguese students who had been sentenced to jail for toasting freedom in public - such was the absurd nature of the regime - was the trigger to setting up, in 1961, an organisation devoted to the worldwide defense of human rights by Peter Benenson, a lawyer.

Over the years many have been the campaigns that have borne the mark of AI, and as it would be expected given the visibility status that the organisation has achieved over the years - Nobel Prize for peace in 1977 - controversy has also rubbed shoulders with it. 

Irrespective of that, I'm sure that a world without Amnesty International and also other smaller NGOs that daily strive to ensure that those that have no voice can still be heard, would be an even easier run for the sad characters that in so many corners of the ellipsoid contribute to make life harder for so many members of our own species.

The Tunisian Section of Amnesty International was founded in 1988.  To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the organization, La Poste Tunisienne, on 12APR2018 issued the 0,11 dinar stamp on my cover, illustrated  with the numeral 30, drawn up in such a way that the 0 evoques both the world and the map of Tunisia, encompassing the Organisation 's logo.

On 26MAR2002, La Poste Tunisienne issued a four stamp set (250; 350; 600; 600 millim) dedicated to archaeological sites and monuments of Tunisia.

The Amphitheatre of Oudna, a Roman dwelling established near Tunis, is the subject of the stamp on my cover and the place where in much later times (2001) "Murder in Mesopotamia", an episode of the famed Poirot TV series based on Agatha Christie's novels, was filmed.

The postmarks are quite difficult to read but I managed to conlude that the cover had been sent from Mornag.

COVER N.70 - Tunisia

Postmark: Le Bardo 18JAN22
Posted on the 18th January; received on the 4th February
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Thanks a lot,  Mourad, for a nice Euromed cover from Tunisia! Another country box ticked!

Stamps left to right

500 milimes stamp, part of a 2stamp set (130 and 500 milimes), dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Republic of Tunisia. A French protectorate since 1881, The Republic of Tunisia gained its independence in 1957, thus materialising the dream of Habib Bourguiba, the country's first President, and founder of the Neo-Destour, a political party that fought for an independent and secular Tunisia. The stamp depicts an airplane and flowers, probably as an alegory for progress and peace. the other stamp in the set showcases Tunisia's coat of arms with a self-explanatory "40" numeral.

the 1 and 0,75 Dinar stamps are Tunisia's 2019 Euromed emission, dedicated to the theme of typical costumes of the Mediterranean, and were issued on 05SEP2019 . They depict, respectively, a masculine costume from the city of Kairuan and a feminine one from the city of Douz. Detailed information on both can be found at the very informative Euromed site.

The postmark tells us that the letter was posted in the city of Le Bardo.