Khaznadar was born into a wealthy family tied to the
Tunisian ruling elite. His father,
Mustapha Khaznadar, originally from the Greek island of
Chios, had risen to become a leading figure in the Tunisian court. Muhammad received an education in
Paris, where he was exposed to European culture, history, and archaeology. In Paris, he was a student of
Ernest Desjardins. After returning to Tunisia in 1865, Khaznadar became involved in the exploration and collection of antiquities. He was the first Tunisian to conduct modern archaeological excavations at
Carthage, starting in 1866. His efforts led to the formation of a significant collection of antiquities, including
Roman and Punic inscriptions, mosaics, and sculptures. Khaznadar established connections with European scholars and institutions. He communicated his discoveries to the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in
Paris. However, his growing collection also led to tensions with foreign archaeologists and the
French colonial authorities. Parts of his collection were exhibited at the
Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris and the
1873 Vienna World's Fair. One of Muhammad Khaznadar's key achievements was his role in the founding of what would later become the
Bardo National Museum. In 1866, he proposed the creation of a museum to house Tunisia's antiquities, to be located at the
Manouba Palace, the residence of the Tunisian
bey. The collection that Khaznadar amassed, including the
Khaznadar inscriptions, a notable
Bacchus statue, and other significant artifacts, formed the core of the museum's early holdings. German traveller
Heinrich von Maltzan described the excitement that had developed around the museum in the late 1860s, describing that it: "in its specialty, Phoenician and Carthaginian antiquities, surpassed every other museum in the world": {{text and translation von Maltzen noted that the museum contained more than 120
Punic inscriptions (2/3 Punic and 1/3 neo-Punic) found during Khaznadar's excavations in three different points around the ruins of Carthage. He complained about the limited public access to the museum, such that it had “acquired the mysterious reputation of containing the greatest rarities of pagan and Christian literature”. Khaznadar's refusal to allow scholars to copy the inscriptions was attributed to a concern that "the value of his museum could be damaged by premature publication of his inscriptions".
Taher Ghalia, Chief Curator of the Bardo, wrote that the foundation of the modern national museum by decree, on 25 March 1885, followed from the 1876–1877 “patrimonialization” policy of
Hayreddin Pasha, who had succeeded Mustapha Khaznadar as Prime Minister. Hayreddin Pasha regulated archaeological work and ordered “the seizure of Mhammed Khaznadar’s private collection which was acquired fraudulently”. ==Gallery of his collection==