On November 8, 2005, the Center for Maghrib Studies in Tunis (CEMAT), the American overseas research center in Tunisia, signed a formal protocol with the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), an agency of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture which deals with all aspects of Tunisian cultural heritage. The INP manages monuments, archaeology and archaeological sites, museums, and folkloric resources in Tunisia. The protocol calls for exchange and programmatic development of cooperative endeavors between the USA and Tunisia with CEMAT serving as the intermediary between American academics and others in relevant fields and the INP. The protocol was signed by Mr. Mohamed Beji Ben Mami, Director General of the INP, and Dr. James Miller, Director of CEMAT. CEMAT’s role as an academic hub for American researchers in North Africa dates to its founding in Tunis by the American Institute of Maghrib Studies (AIMS) in 1985. CEMAT is one of nineteen overseas research centers belonging to the world-wide network organized by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). Tunisia’s location in the fertile Maghrib and the central Mediterranean harbors a cultural heritage that goes back deep into pre-history and reveals a layered development of culture through Berber, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and more recent colonial eras. Its land and people display a deep heritage of many cultures and the protocol will bring American researchers and research techniques and technologies to participate in the exploration of Tunisia’s outstanding cultural resources.