Jusqu’à Iᵉʳ siècle
Sahara
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The adoption of the camel transformed movement across the Sahara. Rock paintings place its first appearance toward the end of the horse period, while Roman documentary evidence suggests that camels were being used in the Sahara around the beginning of the Christian era. North African nomads adopted the animal rapidly, and trans-Saharan traffic subsequently increased considerably.
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Le récit
The camel is absent from earlier periods of Saharan rock painting and first appears toward the end of what the passage calls the horse period. The exact date of its introduction cannot be fixed from the paintings alone. Roman documentary evidence, however, places the first use of camels in the Sahara around the beginning of the Christian era.
Once North African nomads became familiar with the camel, they adopted it rapidly. Its suitability for arid conditions gave desert travelers a more effective means of crossing long distances than horses, which were poorly adapted to Saharan conditions and offered limited mobility.
The introduction of the camel increased traffic between the Maghrib and the Sudan. This change connected the desert’s northern and southern margins more intensively and helped reshape the balance between nomadic mobility and sedentary settlement.
Jusqu’à Iᵉʳ siècle
Sahara
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The adoption of the camel transformed movement across the Sahara. Rock paintings place its first appearance toward the end of the horse period, while Roman documentary evidence suggests that camels were being used in the Sahara around the beginning of the Christian era. North African nomads adopted the animal rapidly, and trans-Saharan traffic subsequently increased considerably.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The camel is absent from earlier periods of Saharan rock painting and first appears toward the end of what the passage calls the horse period. The exact date of its introduction cannot be fixed from the paintings alone. Roman documentary evidence, however, places the first use of camels in the Sahara around the beginning of the Christian era.
Once North African nomads became familiar with the camel, they adopted it rapidly. Its suitability for arid conditions gave desert travelers a more effective means of crossing long distances than horses, which were poorly adapted to Saharan conditions and offered limited mobility.