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6 - Pre-Islamic Oasis Settlements in the North-Western Sahara

from Part II - Oasis Origins in the Sahara: A Region-by-Region Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

By
Martin Sterry ,
David J. Mattingly  and
Youssef Bokbot
Edited by
Martin Sterry  and
David J. Mattingly
Martin Sterry
Affiliation:
University of Durham
David J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the northern oases of the Western Sahara Fig. 6.1). As with the Northern Sahara, the North-western Sahara has also too often been dismissed as wholly nomadic before the development of Arab trading networks. There have been only limited attempts to view the region as a whole, as opposed to restricted studies of the different oasis groups. In this chapter we start with the western end of the Saharan Atlas and move west towards the Atlantic through the Wadi Gir, Wadi Saoura, Tafilalat, Wadi Draa and Wadi Noun. We conclude with a diversion to some outlying oases to the south, Gourara and Tuwat at the southern end of the Wadi Gir and Tabalbala c.300 km to the west of Tuwat. This broad zone also needs to be considered in relation to the south-western Saharan sites that are presented in Chapter 7.

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Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond , pp. 239 - 276
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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