Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
V. Leitch , University of Leicester
C. N. Duckworth , University of Newcastle upon Tyne
A. Cuénod , University of Leicester
M. Sterry , University of Leicester
F. Cole , University College London, Qatar
Looking for an examination copy?
This title is not currently available for examination. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact collegesales@cambridge.org providing details of the course you are teaching.
$164.00
USDSaharan trade has been much debated in modern times, but the main focus of interest remains the medieval and early modern periods, for which more abundant written sources survive. The pre-Islamic origins of Trans-Saharan trade have been hotly contested over the years, mainly due to a lack of evidence. Many of the key commodities of trade are largely invisible archaeologically, being either of high value like gold and ivory, or organic like slaves and textiles or consumable commodities like salt. However, new research on the Libyan people known as the Garamantes and on their trading partners in the Sudan and Mediterranean Africa requires us to revise our views substantially. In this volume experts re-assess the evidence for a range of goods, including beads, textiles, metalwork and glass, and use it to paint a much more dynamic picture, demonstrating that the pre-Islamic Sahara was a more connected region than previously thought.
- Re-unites separate traditions of archaeological and historical study of the Sahara and its neighbouring regions
- Proposes a new model of origins of Saharan trade networks
- Presents new scientific evidence and techniques that may help resolve questions about provenance and directionality of trade in ancient Sahara
Reviews & endorsements
'This groundbreaking work bridges the scholarship of North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa through a focus on ancient trade networks within the Sahara. … Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond is an innovative anthology in which all scholars of Northern, Saharan, and Sub-Saharan Africa can find material that will inform their future research and their appreciation of the interrelations between these regions.' Matthew Thomas Finnie, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Product details
January 2018Hardback
9781107196995
466 pages
255 × 183 × 25 mm
1.12kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface D. J. Mattingly
- 1. The Garamantes and the origins of Saharan trade: state of the field and future agendas D. J. Mattingly
- Part I. Connectivity and Networks:
- 2. The invisible pastoralists: camel-herding, raiding, and Saharan trade and settlement Judith Scheele
- 3. What made Islamic trade distinctive, as compared to pre-Islamic trade? Anne Haour
- 4. The Trans-Saharan trade connection with Gao during the first millennium AD Mamadou Cissé
- 5. Ships of the desert, camels of the ocean: Indian ocean perspectives on Trans-Saharan trade Mark Horton, Alison Crowther and Nicole Boivin
- 6. The economies and cultures of the Trans-Saharan gold trade from pre-Islamic times to the modern era Sam Nixon
- 7. Saharan exports to the Roman world Andrew Wilson
- Part II. Trade in Organic Materials:
- 8. Early Saharan trade: the organic evidence D. J. Mattingly and Franca Cole
- 9. Textiles and textile trade in the first millennium AD: evidence from Egypt Lise Bender Jørgensen
- 10. Circulation and trade of textiles at the southern borders of Roman Africa Stéphanie Guédon
- Part III. Trade in Inorganic Materials:
- 11. Early Saharan trade: the inorganic evidence V. Leitch, C. N. Duckworth, A. Cuénod, D. J. Mattingly, M. Sterry and F. Cole
- 12. Can we speak of pottery and amphora 'import substitution' in inland regions of Roman Africa? Michael Bonifay
- 13. Pottery and trade in North Africa and the Sub-Sahara Anna Leone
- 14. Track and trace: archaeometric approaches to the study of early Trans-Sahara trade Sonja Magnavita
- 15. Glass beads in Trans-Saharan trade Laure Dussubieux
- 16. Concluding discussion D. J. Mattingly, V. Leitch, C. N. Duckworth, A. Cuénod and M. Sterry.
