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Trans-Saharan Camel Caravan Routes

Type Object Region North Africa Time 501–600

A trans-Saharan camel caravan system formed in North Africa and the Sahel in the sixth century, using dromedaries to cross chains of desert oases, tr…

Timeline

  1. 501–550Around the Taghaza salt mines · MauritaniaDromedaries were already widely used in North Africa by late Roman times; by the sixth century caravans had established fixed stopping points between salt mines such as Taghaza and oases toward Timbuktu, exchanging salt blocks for West African gold.
  2. c. 560–600Carthage · Byzantine North AfricaCaravans brought gold and ivory to North African ports such as Carthage, from where they entered Byzantine and later Arab trading networks by Mediterranean sea transport; the camel routes became a land bridge linking the Saharan interior with the maritime economy.

Sources