The Sahara: A Cultural History

287 Pages·2011·5.51 MB·English

by  Eamonn Gearon

The Sahara
Landscapes of the Imagination
The Alpsby Andrew Beattie
Provence by Martin Garrett
Flanders by André de Vries
The Thames by Mick Sinclair
Catalonia by Michael Eaude
The Basque Country by Paddy Woodworth
Andalucía by John Gill
Patagonia by Chris Moss
The French Riviera by Julian Hale
The Andes by Jason Wilson
The West Country by John Payne
The Cotswolds by Jane Bingham
Siberia by A. J. Haywood
The Ionian Islands and Epirus by Jim Potts
The Loireby Martin Garrett
The Danubeby Andrew Beattie
The Saharaby Eamonn Gearon
ii
THE SAHARA
A Cultural History
EAMONN GEARON
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Copyright © 2011 by Eamonn Gearon
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Co-published in Great Britain by Signal Books
Illustrations: All illustrations Wikipedia Commons, except: Siemens.com, p. 151;
tinariwen.com, p. 240; Michelle Brehm, p. 242
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gearon, Eamonn.
The Sahara : a cultural history / Eamonn Gearon.
p. cm. — (Landscapes of the imagination)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-986196-5 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-0-19-986195-8 (paperback)
1. Sahara—History. 2. Sahara—Civilization. 3. Sahara—In literature.
I. Title. II. Series: Landscapes of the imagination.
DT333.G37 2011
966—dc23 2011028276
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
A Quick Tour of the Sahara xi
Flora and Fauna (xviii)
Part One: Landscapes
Chapter One
Whales in the Desert 3
The Green Sahara (7)
Chapter Two
Rock Art 11
Iconography and Graffiti (15)
Chapter Three
Saharan Urban 21
Oasis-Towns (24)
Part Two: History
Conquests and Empires
Chapter Four
From Ancient Egypt to the Arab Invasion 29
Land of the Dead (29); The Phoenicians (32); Persian and Ptolemaic
Dynasties (34); The Romans (39); The Garamantes (41);
Camels (45); Christian North Africa (49); The Vandals (55); The
Armies of Islam (57)
v
THE SAHARA
Chapter Five
Travellers, Chroniclers, Geographers 63
Gilded Empires (70); Timbuktu (73)
Part Three: History
Exploration, Imperialism and Independence
Chapter Six
European Forays: The African Association
and Napoleon 85
Hornemann (94); Egyptomania (97)
Chapter Seven
Further Horizons: Exploration and the European Land
Grab 101
Caillié, Barth and Rohlfs (104); Algeria and Abd al-Qadir (110);
The Scramble for Africa (113)
Chapter Eight
War and Peace and War 117
Motors, Maps and Planes (121)
Chapter Nine
The Second World War 131
Desert Warfare (136)
Chapter Ten
Heaven and Hell: Independence and Since 141
The French Legacy (146)
Part Four: Imagination
Chapter Eleven
Classical Inspiration 155
Riddle of the Sphinx (160)
vi
Contents
Chapter Twelve
Poetic Muse 163
“The Brutish Desert”: War Poets (169)
Chapter Thirteen
A Brilliant Palette 173
Fromentin and the Orientalists: “Dangerous Novelties” (176)
Chapter Fourteen
Oriental Delights, Strange Worlds and Spy Stories 185
Tales of the Legion (190); Desert Espionage (192)
Chapter Fifteen
Silver Screen Sahara 197
Beau Geste(201); Desert Epics (206)
Part Five: Encounters
Indigenes and Visitors
Chapter Sixteen
Men with a Mission 211
Professionals (216); Missionaries (219)
Chapter Seventeen
Literary Travellers and Tourists 225
Early Observers (226); Wilfred Thesiger (232); Adventure Tourism
(234)
Chapter Eighteen
People of the Sahara 237
The Tuareg (238); Toubou and Sahrawi (241); Two Incomers: Isabelle
Eberhardt and Paul Bowles (244)
Further Reading 249
Index of Literary & Historical Names 251
Index of Places & Landmarks 258
vii
THE SAHARA
For my late father, upon whose knee I first learnt about the Sahara;
My mother, for not telling me how much she worried when I first entered
the Sahara;
And to Osama, Ibn Kelb and Baby, my camels, who made it possible for
me to explore the Sahara, thereby exchanging dreams for memories.
viii
Preface and Acknowledgments
My own relationship with the Sahara stretches back over two decades, and
my love of the place grows every year. While I have lived, worked and
walked in the Great Desert, I have been lucky to learn many lessons from
its inhabitants that I would never have found in any library. Foremost
among this knowledge was that gained from the Bedouin, which has
allowed me to pursue solo, camel-powered expeditions.
Cecil Beaton put the case neatly in a 1942 diary entry, when he wrote
from the Egyptian Sahara, “I see that human existence in the desert has not
the proportion of the surroundings.” It is hard to imagine a place more
replete with history, myths and legends. The Sahara is justly a land of su-
perlatives: the world’s largest hot desert, with the highest recorded tem-
peratures on earth; it is driest, wildest, most dangerous in its immensity,
most beguiling.
It is also one of the most starkly beautiful places on earth and has long
captured the imagination of those who have come into contact with it,
from the earliest inhabitants to contemporary tourists. From its prehis-
tory, countless generations have been moved to record their impressions of
the Sahara. Thankfully, many committed their thoughts to stone, paper,
canvas and film, allowing us to share in these experiences.
The plethora of accounts written by those who spent time in the
Sahara means that tough choices have been made in selecting who and
what to include and exclude. This is no encyclopaedia but it is at least
hoped that it will be of service in guiding readers through the literal and
imaginary landscapes of the Sahara, its history, cultures and a portion of
the creative work it has inspired.
Those who have passed through the Sahara have been as diverse as the
landscapes found there. Innocent traveller, prospector and trader, solo ad-
venturer and conquering soldier, writer, poet and painter, ethnologist, bi-
ologist, legionnaire or hermit, each account has its place, enjoying some
share of that common thread of the story of the desert that inspired them.
Whatever reason one might have for being in the Great Desert, the expe-
rience leaves no one untouched. The Sahara does not allow a neutral re-
sponse; its mystery breathes life into even the stoniest of hearts that
confronts the desert’s vastness, terrible beauty and immeasurable silence.
ix