The camel caravans

 

The camel caravans which crossed the great dunes of the Sahara desert began in antiquity but reached their golden period from 9th Century CE onwards. In their heyday caravans consisted of thousands of camels travelling from North Africa, across the desert to the savannah region in the south and back again, in a hazardous journey that could take several months. Stopping along the way at vital oases, the caravans were largely controlled by the Berbers who acted as middlemen in the exchange of such desired commodities as salt, gold, copper, hides, horses, slaves, and luxury goods. The trans-Saharan trade brought with it ideas in art, architecture, and religion, transforming many aspects of daily life in the towns and cities of a hitherto isolated part of Africa. Long before the great trans-Saharan caravans of the medieval period, there was a more localised trade between nomadic desert peoples and the tribes of the savannah region south of the Sahara, often called the Sudan region. Rock salt from the Sahara itself, which was badly needed in the salt-impoverished savannah, was exchanged for cereals (e.g. rice, sorghum, and millet), which could not be grown in the desert. Greek historian Herodotus, writing in 5th Century BC (Histories, Bk 4. 181-5), noted a camel caravan route which went from Thebes in Egypt to Niger (although Memphis  is more likely to have been the starting point). Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) noted in his Natural History (5.35-8) that the caravans were managed by the Garamantes, probably ancient Berbers, who lived south of Libya. The Garamantes, in control of the date-palmed oases at Fezzan, acted as middlemen between the peoples of North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. This arrangement would continue throughout the history of trans-Saharan commerce because those who controlled the desert, who knew the secrets of meeting its formidable challenges, also controlled the trade. Roman Tripolitania (modern Libya) was supplied with gold, ivory, ebony, cedarwood, and exotic beasts destined for the circuses, while olive oil and luxury goods like fine ceramics, glassware, and cloth were sent south in the exchange. Further east, there were also camel caravans linking Darfur in northwest Sudan to Assiut on Nile at least from 1st Century CE. Known as the Darb al-Arbein ('Road of 40 Days') it brought ivory and elephants from Africa's interior and thrived into Late Antiquity. Salt was the major commodity going south which was exchanged for gold, ivory, hides, and slaves (acquired from African tribes conquered by the sub-Saharan empires). Goods were gathered up from across the entire West African region and channelled along the Niger and Senegal Rivers to trading 'ports' like Timbuktu. As the Sudan region saw new and richer empires rise like the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE) and Songhai Empire, so a wealthy elite sought evermore exotic and expensive goods from North Africa and the wider Mediterranean. Besides salt, caravans transported southwards glazed pottery (luxury vases, cups, oil lamps, and incense burners), precious and semi-precious stones (especially garnet and amazonite), cowrie shells and copper wire to be used as currencies, copper ingots, horses, manufactured goods, fine cloth, beads, coral, dates, raisins, and glassware (cups, goblets, and perfume bottles). As Sudan empires spread their influence and new powers rose such as  Hausaland, so this brought in new goods to the trans-Saharan trade like kola nuts (a mild stimulant), ostrich feathers, perfumes, and tobacco. © National Geographic