Tunisia · Sacred / Ritual / Religious Craft Objects (cosmetic-preparation craft with protective and spiritual function)
Al khôl or al khôl al 'arbi; the traditional storage container is called a makhala
The preparation of Arabic kohl, a fine black powder made from natural ingredients and applied as eyeliner by people of all genders across Tunisia and the wider Arab world, serving simultaneously as cosmetic, physical protection against wind, sand, and sunlight, and spiritual/healing remedy. Prepared mainly by women at home or in communal gatherings, with recipes and ritual knowledge transmitted to daughters and granddaughters, kohl is stored in decorative containers called makhala that are themselves passed down as family keepsakes carrying identity and heritage significance. Tunisia was among nine Arab countries whose joint UNESCO nomination secured the practice's inscription in December 2025, Tunisia's newest and tenth recognized element.
Risk level: Stable · Inscribed December 2025 (20.COM 7.B.43) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as 'Arabic Kohl' (file 02261), a joint nomination by the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Oman, State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates; this is Tunisia's tenth and most recently inscribed UNESCO intangible cultural heritage element
Hand-knotted pile carpets (zerbia) and short-nap flatweaves (mergoum, klim) woven by women in Kairouan, Tunisia's oldest and most renowned carpet center.
A lightweight woven carpet technique unique to Tunisia, positioned technically between a classic knotted pile carpet and a plain woven kilim, produced through a weft-substitution flatweave method inherited by Berber tribes of southern…
Silver jewelry-making historically concentrated within Djerba's Jewish community, centered on the two Jewish enclaves of Hara Kebira and Hara Seghira, and distinguished by fine filigree work and, historically, enamel decoration considered…
Wheel-thrown terracotta pottery produced in Guellala, a village on the southern coast of Djerba island built directly atop rich clay deposits.
The production of the chechia, Tunisia's national brimless, cylindrical felted-wool cap, dyed vermilion red, through an extraordinarily distributed six-stage supply chain spanning multiple named towns and cities, each responsible for one…
The carving and joinery of olive wood into furniture, kitchenware, utensils, and small everyday objects by carpenters of Sfax, whose historic carpenters' market, Souk El Najjarine, is specifically distinguished from other North African…
The making of Bandol wine — the most age-worthy rosé and one of the most powerful red wines in France — from the Mourvèdre grape grown on the limestone terraces above the Var coast.
The cultivation and harvesting of the black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) — the 'black diamond' of French gastronomy.
The seasonal mountain transhumance of sheep flocks between the Provence lowlands (winter pasture) and the high Alps (summer estive — mountain pasture above 1500 meters), and the management of the Sisteron lamb breed on aromatic mountain…
Dry-cured ham from the Adour basin, salted exclusively with sel de Bayonne (Adour salt), air-dried in the Pyrenean winds for 7 months minimum.
The pressing of Provence olive oil from the region's heritage olive varieties (salonenque; aglandau; grossane; tanche) using cold-extraction methods.
The harvesting of frankincense resin from Boswellia trees native to Socotra, a Yemeni island renowned for exceptional botanical endemism, historically the direct economic foundation of the ancient South Arabian kingdoms of Qataban, Saba…