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60-554: The Grand Erg Oriental is a desert, a natural region receiving very little rainfall. It is the largest Erg in Algeria, the next in size being the much smaller Grand Erg Occidental ('Western Sand Sea'). The largest erg of the Sahara is probably As-Sahra al-Libiyah , which straddles the inland border of Libya and Egypt. Erg is a Tamachek Berber word, and also a geographic term of art . The Grand Erg Oriental used to be associated with

120-542: A much smaller scale. The spread of Islam increased the number of nodes in the network and decreased its vulnerability. The use of Arabic as a common language of trade and the increase of literacy through Quranic schools , also facilitated commerce. Muslim merchants conducting commerce also gradually spread Islam along their trade network. Social interactions with Muslim merchants led many Africans to convert to Islam, and many merchants married local women and raised their children as Muslims. Islam spread into Western Sudan by

180-718: A particular place. The term is particularly useful where there is no corresponding or coterminous official region. The Fens of eastern England , the Thai highlands , and the Pays de Bray in Normandy, are examples of this. Others might include regions with particular geological characteristics, like badlands , such as the Bardenas Reales , an upland massif of acidic rock, or The Burren , in Ireland . Trans-Saharan trade Trans-Saharan trade

240-467: A road "traversed ... in forty days", it became by his time an important land route facilitating trade between Nubia and Egypt , and subsequently became known as the Forty Days Road. From Kobbei , 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of al-Fashir , the route passed through the desert to Bir Natrum, another oasis and salt mine, to Wadi Howar before proceeding to Egypt. The Darb el-Arbain trade route

300-456: Is trade between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa that requires travel across the Sahara . Though this trade began in prehistoric times , the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century CE. The Sahara once had a different climate and environment . In Libya and Algeria , from at least 7000 BCE, pastoralism (the herding of sheep and goats), large settlements and pottery were present. Cattle were introduced to

360-629: Is now Niger . The eastern trans-Saharan route led to the development of the long-lived Kanem–Bornu Empire as well as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires, centred on the Lake Chad area. This trade route was somewhat less efficient and only rose to great prominence when there was turmoil in the west such as during the Almohad conquests. The trans-Saharan slave trade , established in Antiquity , continued during

420-536: Is now served by an international airport. A desert road going east from Hassi Messaoud continues through the Grand Erg , passing by a well named Bordj Sif Fatima ["Fatima's River Tower" perhaps], on its way to the small but ancient settlement of Ghadames at the Libyan frontier. Another and better road from Hassi Messaoud goes south, also crossing the grand erg where it passes a well called Hassi Tartrat , before reaching

480-616: Is situated directly adjacent to the Grand Erg's southeast edge. Tuareg Berbers (a people sourced in the central Sahara) compose the majority in Ghadames. This oasis was known by ancient Egypt , and later by Carthage and by Rome , as Cydamus. A Libyan road from Tarabulus on the Mediterranean coast now leads to present-day Ghadames. The historic Saharan architecture found in its Old Town has received international recognition . In Algeria Oued Irara Airport at Hassi Messaoud (located in

540-581: Is worthwhile only when exceptional circumstances cause the expected gain to outweigh the cost and the danger. Trade was conducted by caravans of camels . According to Maghrebi explorer Ibn Battuta , who once traveled with a caravan, an average one would amount to 1,000 camels, but some caravans were as large as 12,000. The caravans were guided by highly-paid Berbers , who knew the desert and could ensure protection from fellow desert nomads . The caravans' survival relied on careful coordination: runners would be sent ahead to oases for water to be shipped out to

600-503: The foggara . Early records of trans-Saharan slave trade come from ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BCE, who records the Garamantes enslaving cave-dwelling Egyptians in Sudan. Two records of Romans accompanying the Garamantes on slave raiding expeditions are recorded - the first in 86 CE and the second a few years later to Lake Chad . Initial sources of slaves were

660-565: The Aurès mountains, then salt lakes by the city of Biskra . Next the road skirts the western edge of the erg. After about 500 km. in all, it reaches the ancient oasis of Ouargla [Wargla]. Since late antiquity Wargla was a stop for the Saharan trade , being situated along a caravan route of several thousand kilometers, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Sahel . In the process such caravans crossed

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720-479: The Fezzan , giving origin to a theory that the Garamantes or some other Saharan people had created chariot routes to provide Rome and Carthage with gold and ivory. However, it has been argued that no horse skeletons have been found dating from this early period in the region, and chariots would have been unlikely vehicles for trading purposes due to their small capacity. The earliest evidence for domesticated camels in

780-595: The French invasion of the Sahel in the 1890s and subsequent construction of railways to the interior. A railway line from Dakar to Algiers via the Niger bend was planned but never constructed. With the independence of nations in the region in the 1960s, the north–south routes were severed by national boundaries. National governments were hostile to Tuareg nationalism and so made few efforts to maintain or support trans-Saharan trade, and

840-551: The Grand Erg Oriental . In addition to oil in Wargla and Hassi Messaoud (see above), other Algerian hydrocarbon sites include In Salah , a city (pop: 44,000) to the erg's southwest, yielding natural gas , and also El Adeb Larache, Edjelé, Tingentourine, and Zarzaïtine (south of the erg, close to Libya). One of Algeria's largest field of natural gas is near Ghardaïa , west of Touggourt. Gas pipelines have been constructed north to

900-611: The Lake Chad area. These stretches were relatively short and had the essential network of occasional oases that established the routing as inexorably as pins in a map. Further east of the Fezzan with its trade route through the valley of Kaouar to Lake Chad, Libya was impassable due to its lack of oases and fierce sandstorms. Several trade routes became established, perhaps the most important terminating in Sijilmasa ( Morocco ) and Ifriqiya to

960-717: The Malinke of the south, who later founded the Mali Empire . Unlike Ghana, Mali was a Muslim kingdom since its foundation, and under it, the gold–salt trade continued. Other, less important trade goods were slaves, kola nuts from the south and slave beads and cowry shells from the north (for use as currency). It was under Mali that the great cities of the Niger bend—including Gao and Djenné —prospered, with Timbuktu in particular becoming known across Europe for its great wealth. Important trading centers in southern West Africa developed at

1020-528: The Middle Ages . The slaves brought from across the Sahara were mainly used by wealthy families as domestic servants, and concubines. Some served in the military forces of Egypt and Morocco. For example, the 17th century sultan Mawlay Ismail himself was the son of slave, and relied on an army of black slaves for support. The West African states imported highly trained slave soldiers. It has been estimated that from

1080-570: The Roman Empire , especially for mining. The Darb al-Arbaʿīn trade route, passing through Kharga in the south and Asyut in the north, was used from as early as the Old Kingdom for the transport and trade of gold , ivory , spices , wheat , animals and plants. Later, Ancient Romans would protect the route by lining it with varied forts and small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Described by Herodotus as

1140-616: The Sénégal River , and the Taghaza Trail , from the Niger River, past the salt mines of Taghaza , north to the great trading center of Sijilmasa , situated in Morocco just north of the desert. The growth of the city of Aoudaghost , founded in the 5th century BCE, was stimulated by its position at the southern end of a trans-Saharan trade route. To the east, three ancient routes connected

1200-548: The Toubou people , but by the 1st century CE, the Garamantes were obtaining slaves from modern day Niger and Chad . In the early Roman Empire , the city of Lepcis established a slave market to buy and sell slaves from the African interior. The empire imposed customs tax on the trade of slaves. In the 5th century CE, Roman Carthage was trading in black slaves brought across the Sahara. Black slaves seem to have been valued in

1260-546: The Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s and Algerian Civil War further disrupted these routes, closing many. Traditional caravan routes are largely void of camels, but the shorter Azalai routes from Agadez to Bilma and Timbuktu to Taoudenni are still regularly—if lightly—used. Some members of the Tuareg still use the traditional trade routes, often traveling 2,400 km (1,500 mi) and six months out of every year by camel across

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1320-595: The factories established on the coast since 1445, and trade with Europeans became of prime importance to West Africa. North Africa had declined in both political and economic importance, while the Saharan crossing remained long and treacherous. However, the major blow to trans-Saharan trade was the Battle of Tondibi of 1591–92. In a major military expedition organized by the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur , Morocco sent troops across

1380-497: The great desert ( Ar : aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra). Wargla was the capital of late medieval M'zab , an Ibadi political entity descended from the earlier Rustamid polity. Wargla is today a mid-sized modern city ( pop : 129,000) and provincial capital, with a focus on the oil industry. The above north-south Algerian road from Constantine passes through other oases . North of Wargla [Ouargla] lies Touggourt [Tuggurt, Taghit] (pop: 153,000), where date palms are grown commercially. Touggourt

1440-496: The 10th to the 19th century some 6,000 to 7,000 enslaved people were transported north each year. Perhaps as many as nine million enslaved people were exported along the trans-Saharan caravan route. The rise of the Ghana Empire , in what is now Mali , Senegal , and southern Mauritania , accompanied the increase in trans-Saharan trade. Northern economies were short of gold but at times controlled salt mines such as Taghaza in

1500-541: The Central Sahara ( Ahaggar ) between 4000 and 3500 BCE. Remarkable rock paintings (dated 3500 to 2500 BCE) in arid regions portray flora and fauna that are not present in the modern desert. As a desert, the Sahara is now a hostile expanse that separates the Mediterranean economy from the economy of the Niger River Basin . As Fernand Braudel points out, crossing such a zone, especially without mechanized transport,

1560-496: The Garamantes. Shillington states that existing contact with the Mediterranean received added incentive with the growth of the port city of Carthage . Founded c. 800 BCE, Carthage became one terminus for West African gold, ivory, and slaves. West Africa received salt, cloth, beads, and metal goods. Shillington proceeds to identify this trade route as the source for West African iron smelting. Trade continued into Roman times. Although there are Classical references to direct travel from

1620-488: The Mediterranean as household slaves for their exotic appearance. Some historians argue that the scale of slave trade in this period may have been higher than medieval times due to high demand of slaves in the Roman Empire. Herodotus wrote of the Garamantes hunting Ethiopian Troglodytes from chariots ; this account was associated with depictions of horses drawing chariots in contemporary cave art in southern Morocco and

1680-575: The Mediterranean port of Bourgie, and later northeast through Tunisia. Along the north rim of the Grand Erg Oriental , both the physical ecology and the human culture surviving there since ancient times are said to form a continuum. From Biskra (pop: 200,000) in Algeria by the Aurès mountains, this region extends east to the Djerid of Tunisia. It is a low-lying area of chotts (salt pans), and occasional oases, where exists intensive cultivation of date palms in

1740-538: The Mediterranean to West Africa (Daniels, p. 22f), most of this trade was conducted through middlemen, inhabiting the area and aware of passages through the drying lands. The Legio III Augusta subsequently secured these routes on behalf of Rome by the 1st century CE, safeguarding the southern border of the empire for two and half centuries. The Garamantes also engaged in the trans-Saharan slave trade . The Garamantes used slaves in their own communities to construct and maintain underground irrigation systems known as

1800-485: The Sahara and attacked Timbuktu, Gao and some other important trading centres, destroying buildings and property and exiling prominent citizens. This disruption to trade led to a dramatic decline in the importance of these cities and the resulting animosity reduced trade considerably. Although much reduced, trans-Saharan trade continued. But trade routes to the West African coast became increasingly easy, particularly after

1860-467: The Sahara trading in salt carried from the desert interior to communities on the desert edges. The African Union and African Development Bank support the Trans-Sahara Highway from Algiers to Lagos via Tamanrasset , to stimulate economic development, and the latter noted an increase in traffic at the border with Chad due to exports to Algeria crossing Niger. The route is paved except for

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1920-478: The Sahara, whereas West African countries like Wangara had plenty of gold but needed salt. Taghaza, a trading and mining outpost where Ibn Battuta recorded the buildings were made of salt, rose to preeminence in the salt trade under the hegemony of the Almoravid Empire . The salt was mined by slaves and purchased with manufactured goods from Sijilmasa. Miners cut thin rectangular slabs of salt directly out of

1980-637: The Wadi Igharghar, a mostly dry and buried river with a sizable network of tributaries which, should it possess any water, would flow north into the erg from the Ahaggar mountains of the central Sahara . Yet such dry, anciently-made river beds, lying seemingly useless beneath the desert sands, can preserve the infrequent rain water, by carrying it off underground and so rescue the moisture from an otherwise "intense and almost instantaneous" evaporation. A buried river bed "not only serves in certain cases to carry into

2040-409: The caravan when it was still several days away, as the caravans could usually not carry enough to make the full journey. In the mid-14th century CE, Ibn Battuta crossed the desert from Sijilmasa via the salt mines at Taghaza to the oasis of Oualata . A guide was sent ahead, and water was brought over a four-day journey from Oualata to meet the caravan. Culture and religion were also exchanged on

2100-592: The cultures of the eastern Mediterranean to the east. Many trading routes went from oasis to oasis to resupply on both food and water. These oases were very important. They also imported obsidian from Senegal to shape blades and other objects. The overland route through the Wadi Hammamat from the Nile to the Red Sea was known as early as predynastic times; drawings depicting Egyptian reed boats have been found along

2160-445: The desert floor, and caravan merchants transported them south, charging a transportation fee of almost 80% of the salt's value. The salt was traded at the market of Timbuktu almost weight for weight with gold. The gold, in the form of bricks, bars, blank coins, and gold dust went to Sijilmasa , from which it went out to Mediterranean ports and in which it was struck into Almoravid dinars . The spread of Islam to sub-Saharan African

2220-463: The desert near Murzuk before turning north to pass between the Alhaggar and Tibesti Mountains before reaching the oasis at Kawar . From Kawar, caravans would pass over the great sand dunes of Bilma , where rock salt was mined in great quantities for trade, before reaching the savanna north of Lake Chad . This was the shortest of the routes, and the primary exchanges were slaves and ivory from

2280-405: The east and southeast slopes" toward Ghadames at the Libyan border. Winds over time will sweep desert sand into heaps which, given enough sand, form into a series of hills. In some types of dunes the slope on the windward side is gradual, on the leeward steep, and such dunes may "roll" forward being blown in the direction of the wind is taking. These dunes tend to be perpendicular to

2340-429: The edge of the Grand Erg Oriental . 30°00′N 6°00′E  /  30.000°N 6.000°E  / 30.000; 6.000 Natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography , geology , and climate . From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and fauna of

2400-536: The end of the 10th century , into Chad by the 11th century , and into Hausa lands in 12th and 13th centuries . By 1200, many ruling elites in Western Africa had converted to Islam, and from 1200 to 1500 saw a significant conversion to Islam in Africa. The Portuguese forays along the West African coast opened up new avenues for trade between Europe and West Africa. By the early 16th century, European trading bases,

2460-430: The erg's far side. Further south lies the Ahaggar mountains. The cities of Wargla and Touggourt lie outside the western limits of the erg. Nearby, within the accepted boundaries of the Grand Erg Oriental , the landscape is described as being "practically free from [sand] dunes" evidently due to strong, persistent winds. Petroleum and other hydrocarbons have been extracted in Algeria , from areas in and surrounding

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2520-426: The erg) serves a few international flights and also national flights. Ouargla Airport (OGX) has limited international and national flights. North of the erg Guemar Airport , 20 km. from El Oued , has only national flights. In Libya Ghadames Airport schedules only national flights. In Tunisia Djerba – Zarzis Airport (DJE/DTTJ) serves international and national flights, it being over 100 km. north of

2580-607: The fruits of "some buried wadi". To the north of the erg, the Aurès mountains provide abundant runoff. These waters feed the artesian aquifer of the Jerid , despite its surface covering of salt lakes . These geographic conditions lie adjacent to the Grand Erg Oriental. Here grow "the finest dates of all the Maghrib ". In winter, winds blow from the northwest and the north. The Grand Erg Oriental "appears to have been pushed forward on

2640-449: The heart of the desert the waters of distant rains which have fallen outside the desert domain, but in it the waters of the local storms are concentrated and carried swiftly to the alluvial basins where they are imbibed by the lighter earth and form lasting reserves within its depths. The result is that what vegetation survives is localized along the wadi beds or in their basins; in fact the words wadi and pasturage are interchangeable in

2700-469: The language of the nomads , who habitually reside in such places." For these and similar reasons concerning the desert ecology of water, the geographer and historian of the Sahara E.-F. Gautier once wrote referring to the Grand Erg Oriental as "the great Igharghar Erg". Accordingly, surface moisture, seasonal pastures, and wells may reflect unseen conditions beneath the sands. What appears as an entirely inhospitable erg can elsewhere, in stark contrast, offer

2760-528: The north. There, and in other North African cities, Berber traders had increased contact with Islam, encouraging conversions, and by the 8th century, Muslims were traveling to Ghana. Many in Ghana converted to Islam, and it is likely that the Empire's trade was privileged as a result. Around 1050, Ghana lost Aoudaghost to the Almoravids , but new goldmines around Bure reduced trade through the city, instead benefiting

2820-541: The path dating to 4000 BCE. Ancient cities dating to the First Dynasty of Egypt arose along both its Nile and Red Sea junctions, testifying to the route's ancient popularity. It became a major route from Thebes to the Red Sea port of Elim , where travelers then moved on to either Asia , Arabia or the Horn of Africa . Records exist documenting knowledge of the route among Senusret I , Seti, Ramesses IV and also, later,

2880-502: The region are likely to be influenced by its geographical and geological factors, such as soil and water availability , in a significant manner. Thus most natural regions are homogeneous ecosystems . Human impact can be an important factor in the shaping and destiny of a particular natural region. The concept "natural region" is a large basic geographical unit, like the vast boreal forest region. The term may also be used generically, like in alpine tundra , or specifically to refer to

2940-516: The region dates from the 3rd century. Used by the Berbers , they enabled more regular contact across the entire width of the Sahara, but regular trade routes did not develop until the beginnings of the Islamic conversion of West Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries. Two main trade routes developed. The first ran through the western desert from modern Morocco to the Niger bend, the second from modern Tunisia to

3000-430: The slope being steep on both sides. Seif dunes generally form long rows whose parallel ridge lines follow the wind's direction. There are other types of dunes , as well as "complex" dunes. Saharan winds are also known to clear an area of sand altogether, leaving bare rock ( hamada ) or gravel (reg). The Grand Erg Oriental is accessible overland by an Algerian road, which goes south from Constantine . It passes through

3060-601: The south for salt. One early 20th century researcher wrote of the Tripoli-Murzuk-Lake Chad route , "Most of the [trans-Saharan] traffic from the Mediterranean coast during the last 2,000 years has passed along this road." Another Libyan route was Benghazi to Kufra to the lands of the Wadai Empire between Lake Chad and Darfur. The western routes were the Walata Road past present-day Oualata, Mauritania , from

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3120-512: The south to the Mediterranean. The herdsmen of the Fezzan of Libya , known as the Garamantes, controlled these routes as early as 1500 BCE. From their capital of Germa in the Wadi Ajal, the Garamantean Empire raided north to the sea and south into the Sahel. By the 4th century BCE, the independent city-states of Phoenicia had expanded their control to the territory and routes once held by

3180-507: The tens of thousands. Between Biskra and the Djerid, but a little to the south, lies El Oued , a mid-sized Algerian city (pop: 139,000), graced with domes and arches of Saharan architecture. Also an oasis, it's located about 100 km. east of Touggourt and by the northern frontier of the erg. The thirst of El Oued is quenched by a subterranean river . South of the Tunisian sea port of Gabès , in

3240-611: The trans-Saharan trade routes. Many West African states eventually adopted Arabic writing and the religion of North Africa, resulting in these states' absorption into the Muslim world . Ancient trade spanned the northeastern corner of the Sahara in the Naqadan era. Predynastic Egyptians in the Naqada I period traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the Western Desert to the west, and

3300-418: The transitional zone between the forest and the savanna; examples include Begho and Bono Manso (in present-day Ghana) and Bondoukou (in present-day Côte d'Ivoire ). Western trade routes continued to be important, with Ouadane , Oualata and Chinguetti being the major trade centres in what is now Mauritania, while the Tuareg towns of Assodé and later Agadez grew around a more easterly route in what

3360-532: The vicinity of the Grand Erg's northeast edge, there are a number of Berber villages, among them Tataouine . From here a bleak Tunisian paved road leads south along the Libyan border, by sand dunes of the Grand Erg's eastern limits, terminating at Borj El Khadra, an oasis, near Ghadames. The ancient oasis town of Ghadames (pop: 7,000) in Libya is located by where the frontiers of Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya meet. The city

3420-404: The wind's direction. Vegetation does not survive in such spreads of hot dry sand. Only in rare areas where moisture can endure is there life. Common in the Sahara desert are seif dunes : here the air currents form sand dunes parallel to the prevailing direction of the wind. These dunes have long, sharp ridge lines. Cross-winds, however, may alter the height or width of such lengthy dunes, with

3480-432: Was formerly a medieval Sultanate and a northern oasis on a Trans-Saharan trade route. South of Wargla on this road, lies Hassi Messaoud ["blessed well"], which is located within the Grand Erg . Until recently Hassi Messaoud was a small Saharan village, but has grown substantially on account of the local discovery of oil in 1956. An oil refinery has since been built, and the city (current population estimated at 60,000)

3540-506: Was linked to trans-Saharan trade. Islam spread via trade routes, and Africans converting to Islam increased trade and commerce which increased the trade's population. Historians give many reasons for the spread of Islam facilitating trade. Islam established common values and rules upon which trade was conducted. It created a network of believers who trust each other and therefore trade with each other even if they do not personally know each other. Such trade networks existed before Islam but on

3600-640: Was the easternmost of the central routes. The westernmost of the three central routes was the Ghadames Road , which ran from the Niger River at Gao north to Ghat and Ghadames before terminating at Tripoli . Next was the easiest of the three routes: the Garamantean Road, named after the former rulers of the land it passed through and also called the Bilma Trail . The Garamantean Road passed south of

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