12th century BCE – 5th century BCE
Western Sahara and the western Sahel
A route marked by chariot paintings crossed the Western Sahara from the oases of Figuig toward Goundam near the Niger. It passed through Zemmour, the Mauritanian Adrar, and Dhar Tichitt-Walata, with branches toward the Atlantic coast between Saqiyat al-Hamra and Agadir. The route is associated with early desert movement and possible gold exchange.
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The Story
A line of chariots represented in rock paintings is used to trace a route across the Western Sahara. It began at the oases of Figuig, south of Oran, and continued through Zemmour, the Mauritanian Adrar, and along Dhar Tichitt-Walata before reaching Goundam near the Niger. The route connected inland oases, desert zones, and the western Sahel.
Several branches extended from this main corridor toward the Atlantic coast. They ranged from Saqiyat al-Hamra in the south to Agadir in the north, suggesting a network rather than a single unbroken road. The route’s reconstruction depends on the distribution of chariot rock paintings and therefore remains an interpretive historical geography.
The Atlantic coastal sector may have been involved in a “silent barter” in gold attributed to the Carthaginians by Herodotus in the fifth century B.C. The pages connect this possibility with Punic coastal activity and with the broader question of how gold from the western African interior reached North Africa.
12th century BCE – 5th century BCE
Western Sahara and the western Sahel
A route marked by chariot paintings crossed the Western Sahara from the oases of Figuig toward Goundam near the Niger. It passed through Zemmour, the Mauritanian Adrar, and Dhar Tichitt-Walata, with branches toward the Atlantic coast between Saqiyat al-Hamra and Agadir. The route is associated with early desert movement and possible gold exchange.
Continue exploring
The Story
A line of chariots represented in rock paintings is used to trace a route across the Western Sahara. It began at the oases of Figuig, south of Oran, and continued through Zemmour, the Mauritanian Adrar, and along Dhar Tichitt-Walata before reaching Goundam near the Niger. The route connected inland oases, desert zones, and the western Sahel.
Several branches extended from this main corridor toward the Atlantic coast. They ranged from Saqiyat al-Hamra in the south to Agadir in the north, suggesting a network rather than a single unbroken road. The route’s reconstruction depends on the distribution of chariot rock paintings and therefore remains an interpretive historical geography.
The Atlantic coastal sector may have been involved in a “silent barter” in gold attributed to the Carthaginians by Herodotus in the fifth century B.C. The pages connect this possibility with Punic coastal activity and with the broader question of how gold from the western African interior reached North Africa.