The camel caravans which crossed the great dunes of the Sahara Desert began in antiquity but reached their golden period from the 9th century CE onwards. In their heyday caravans consisted of thousands of camels travelling from North Africa, across the desert to the savannah region in the south and back again, in a hazardous journey that could take several months. Stopping along the way at vital oases, the caravans were largely controlled by the Berbers who acted as middlemen in the exchange of such desired commodities as salt, gold, copper, hides, horses, slaves, and luxury goods. The trans-Saharan trade brought with it ideas in art, architecture, and religion, transforming many aspects of daily life in the towns and cities of a hitherto isolated part of Africa.

          穿越撒哈拉大沙漠的骆驼商队始于古代，但从公元9世纪起逐渐达到黄金时期。在全盛时期，商队由成千上万的骆驼组成，从北非出发，穿过沙漠到南部的大草原地区，然后再返回，这个充满危险的旅程可能需要几个月的时间。商队沿途在重要的绿洲停留，这些绿洲主要由柏柏尔人控制，他们在盐、金、铜、皮、马、奴隶和奢侈品等商品的交换中充当中间人。跨撒哈拉贸易带来了艺术、建筑和宗教方面的思想交融，改变了当时非洲与世隔绝的地区的城镇日常生活的许多方面。

骆     驼

Although North Africa had once possessed a camelid animal, the Camelus thomazi, this had become extinct during the Stone Age. The dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), the one with a single hump, was perhaps introduced from Arabia into Egypt in the 9th century BCE and in the rest of North Africa not before the 5th century BCE (although the precise dates are disputed amongst historians). Camels still did not become common, though, until the 4th century CE. Caravans of horses and donkeys had crossed parts of the Sahara in antiquity but it was the hardy camel which allowed ancient peoples to carry more goods across the inhospitable Sahara and do it faster, reducing both costs and risks. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History has the following summary regarding the advantages of camels as transport:

          The value of the camel is not only confined to its high adaptation to severe desert conditions and its regulation of heat and water via its sweat glands: its ability for long-distance travel of about 48 km per day and its high carrying capacity (240 kg) make it a “ship of the desert,” in comparison with the load capacity of horses, donkeys, and mules at roughly 60 kg. Indeed, the camel's life span of 50 years surpasses that of the donkey (30-40 years) and the horse (25-30 years). (1281)

         尽管北非曾经拥有一种骆驼类动物，即Camelus thomazi，但在石器时代（更新世中早期）就已经灭绝了。单峰骆驼（Camelus dromedarius），即有一个驼峰的骆驼，可能在公元前9世纪从阿拉伯引入埃及，并在公元前5世纪之前引入北非其他地区（尽管历史学家之间对准确日期仍有争议）。不过，直到公元4世纪，骆驼仍然没有达到普及程度。在古代，马匹和驴子的商队曾穿过撒哈拉的部分地区，但正是骆驼的坚韧性，使古代人能够携带更多的货物穿越荒凉的撒哈拉，而且速度更快，这减少了成本和风险。《古代历史百科全书》对骆驼作为交通工具的优势有如下总结：

          骆驼的价值不仅限于它对严峻沙漠条件的高度适应性，它通过汗腺对热量和水的调节：每天约48公里的长途旅行能力和高承载力（240公斤）使它成为“沙漠之船”，而马、驴和骡子的承载力大约为60公斤。事实上，骆驼的寿命为50年，超过了驴子（30-40年）和马（25-30年）的寿命。(1281)

From the 8th century CE, the Moroccans were successfully breeding camels on a huge scale and they even created a cross-breed between the dromedary camel and the two-humped Bactrian camel of Asia (Camelus bactrianus). The result of these experiments produced two variants of dromedaries: a sleek, fast-running camel useful for messenger services and a heavier, slower camel that could carry more weight than the pure dromedary.

          从公元8世纪开始，摩洛哥人成功地大规模繁殖骆驼，他们甚至创造了单峰骆驼和亚洲双峰骆驼（Camelus bactrianus）的杂交品种。这些实验结果产生了两种单峰骆驼的变种：一种是毛皮光滑的、能够快速奔跑的、对信使服务有用的骆驼；另一种是比纯种单峰骆驼还重、速度更慢的骆驼，但它可以承载更多的货物。

古代的商队

Long before the great trans-Saharan caravans of the medieval period, there was a more localised trade between nomadic desert peoples and the tribes of the savannah region south of the Sahara, often called the Sudan region. Rock salt from the Sahara itself, which was badly needed in the salt-impoverished savannah, was exchanged for cereals (e.g. rice, sorghum, and millet), which could not be grown in the desert.

          早在中世纪出现庞大的跨撒哈拉商队之前，沙漠游牧民族与撒哈拉以南的大草原地区（通常称为苏丹地区）的部落之间就存在着贸易。来自撒哈拉本身的岩盐，在盐分贫乏的大草原上是生活必需品，它被用来交换谷物（如大米、高粱和小米），这些谷物在沙漠中是无法种植的。

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BCE (Histories, Bk 4. 181-5), noted a camel caravan route which went from Thebes in Egypt to Niger (although Memphis is more likely to have been the starting point). The Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) noted in his Natural History (5.35-8) that the caravans were managed by the Garamantes, probably ancient Berbers, who lived south of Libya. The Garamantes, in control of the date-palmed oases at Fezzan, acted as middlemen between the peoples of North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. This arrangement would continue throughout the history of trans-Saharan commerce because those who controlled the desert, who knew the secrets of meeting its formidable challenges, also controlled the trade.

          希腊历史学家希罗多德在公元前5世纪记载道（《历史》第4章第181-5节），他注意到一条从埃及底比斯到尼日尔的骆驼商队路线（尽管孟菲斯更可能是起点）。罗马作家老普林尼（公元23-79年）在他的《自然史》（5.35-8）中指出，这些商队由加拉曼特人（他们很可能是来自撒哈拉沙漠的铁器时代柏柏尔部落的后裔）管理，他们可能是古代柏柏尔人，居住在利比亚南部。加拉曼特人控制着费赞的枣树绿洲，在北非和撒哈拉以南非洲之间充当中间人。这种做法将贯穿整个跨撒哈拉商业史，因为那些控制沙漠的人，知道如何应对来自沙漠的巨大挑战，也控制着该地区的贸易。

Roman Tripolitania (modern Libya) was supplied with gold, ivory, ebony, cedarwood, and exotic beasts destined for the circuses, while olive oil and luxury goods like fine ceramics, glassware, and cloth were sent south in the exchange. Further east, there were also camel caravans linking Darfur in northwest Sudan to Assiut on the Nile at least from the 1st century CE. Known as the Darb al-Arbein ('Road of 40 Days') it brought ivory and elephants from Africa's interior and thrived into Late Antiquity.

          罗马的黎波里塔尼亚（现代利比亚）为马戏团提供黄金、象牙、乌木、雪松木和异国野兽；而橄榄油和奢侈品，如精美的陶瓷、玻璃器皿和布匹也会被卖到南方。再往东，至少从公元1世纪开始，还有骆驼商队将苏丹西北部的达尔富尔与尼罗河畔的阿西特连接起来。它被称为Darb al-Arbein（“40天之路”，是南北跨撒哈拉大贸易路线中的最东端，通过一连串的绿洲将贸易商品，牲畜和奴隶从非洲内陆运输到尼罗河畔，然后再运送到尼罗河的其他地方），从非洲内陆带来了象牙和大象，这条贸易线一直繁荣到古代晚期。

跨越撒哈拉的贸易路线

The really large camel caravans that travelled the minimum 1000 kilometres (620 miles) to cross the entire Sahara Desert really took off from the 8th century CE with the rise of Islamic North African states and such empires as the Ghana Empire of the Sudan region (6th-13th century CE). Routes would shift over the centuries like the sand dunes of the desert as empires rose and fell either side of the Sahara and as new resources were discovered that could be exploited in the trade that never ceased.

          从公元8世纪开始，随着北非伊斯兰国家和苏丹地区的加纳帝国（公元6-13世纪）等帝国的崛起，真正的大型骆驼商队开始行走至少1000公里（620英里），穿越整个撒哈拉沙漠。几个世纪以来，随着各个帝国在撒哈拉沙漠两侧的兴衰，以及在从未停止的贸易中重新发现了可以利用的新资源，贸易路线会像沙漠中的沙丘一样不断发生变化。

The first route seems to have been between Wadi Draa (southern Morocco) and the Ghana Empire (southern Mali) in the mid-8th century CE and passed through an area of the Sahara controlled by the Sanhaja Berbers. Within 50 years two more major routes had been established which passed through Saharan territory controlled by the Tuareg, an offshoot of the Sanhaja. These were from western Algeria to the Songhai kingdom on the bend of the Niger River and from Libya to Lake Chad (a route blessed by many small oases and a very large one, Kawar). In the mid-11th century CE, a major route went between the Almoravid towns of Sijilmasa north of the Sahara and Awdaghost in the south. In the next century, with the rise of the Almohads in North Africa, Walata would replace Awdaghost at the southern end of the route. Walata was further to the east and so in a better position to act as a collecting point following the discovery of new gold fields. Gao and Timbuktu on the Niger River were also now attracting enough trade to be an end destination for caravans setting off from what is today Tunisia and southern Algeria. The great North African cities of Marrakesh, Fez, Tunis, and Cairo were all important starting or destination points for the trans-Saharan caravans.

          第一条路线似乎是在公元8世纪中叶在瓦迪德拉（摩洛哥南部）和加纳帝国（马里南部）之间建立的，并通过了由桑哈贾柏柏尔人控制的撒哈拉地区。在50年内，又有两条主要路线被建立起来，穿过由桑哈贾部落的一个分支图阿雷格人控制的撒哈拉领土。这两条路线是从阿尔及利亚西部到尼日尔河畔的桑海王国（15至16世纪时统治西萨赫勒地区的国家，桑海为西非历史上黑人原住民最后的帝国），以及从利比亚到乍得湖（这条路线上有许多小绿洲和一个很大的绿洲，即卡瓦尔）。在公元11世纪中叶，一条主要的贸易路线出现在撒哈拉以北非锡吉勒马萨的穆拉比特（又译阿尔摩拉维德）城镇和南部的Awdaghost之间。在12世纪，随着阿尔摩拉维德王朝在北非的崛起，瓦拉塔将取代Awdaghost成为这条路线的最南端。瓦拉塔离东部更远，因此在发现新的金矿后，这里成为一个集散点。尼日尔河上的加奥和廷巴克图也吸引了商队的眼球，成为从今天突尼斯和阿尔及利亚南部出发的商队的最终目的地。马拉喀什、摩洛哥非斯、突尼斯和开罗等北非大城市都是跨撒哈拉商队的重要起点或目的地。

From around 1450 CE Portuguese ships were sailing down the Atlantic coast of Africa and offering an alternative to the trans-Saharan caravan routes. From 1471 CE, these ships were accessing the aptly-named Gold Coast in the south of West Africa. However, the rise of the Songhai Empire (1460 - c. 1591 CE) ensured that there was still a huge market and supply of goods for Saharan traders to exploit in the savannah region.

          公元1450年左右，葡萄牙船只沿着非洲的大西洋海岸航行，为横跨撒哈拉的商队路线提供了一个替代方案。从公元1471年起，这些船只开始进入西非南部的黄金海岸——这个名字很恰当。然而，桑海帝国（1460-约1591年）的崛起确保了撒哈拉商人在大草原地区仍有巨大的市场。

在撒哈拉沙漠中旅行

A typical caravan could have 500 camels but some of the annual ones had up to 12,000 camels in them. These great caravans usually travelled in the best season for travel, winter. To avoid the heat of the midday sun, caravans typically set off at dawn to the call of horns and kettledrums, then rested in the shade of tents during the middle of the day, and moved on again in the late afternoon, continuing until well after dark.

          一个典型的大篷车商队可能带有500头骆驼，但一些年度大篷车商队中的骆驼数量高达12,000头。这些大篷车通常在旅行的最佳季节——冬季旅行。为了避开正午的烈日，大篷车通常在黎明时分在喇叭和小鼓的呼唤声中出发，然后在中午时分，人们在帐篷的阴凉处休息，并在下午时分再次出发，一直到天黑。

The journey across the Sahara could take at least from 40 to 60 days, and it was only made possible by stopping at oases along the way, but even with these water stops, the journey was brutal and hazardous. That there were established routes, and that Arab medieval writers were so particular in mapping them, is strong evidence that any improvised deviation, the taking of shortcuts or the missing of the next oases through poor navigation or a sandstorm, was very likely to bring disaster. Other dangers included bandits, venomous snakes, scorpions, and the supernatural demons desert people often believed haunted certain parts of the Sahara.

          穿越撒哈拉的旅程至少需要40至60天，而且需要在沿途的绿洲短暂停靠，但即使有这些补水点，旅程也是残酷且危险的。当时有既定的贸易路线，而且阿拉伯中世纪作家对这些路线的绘制非常重视，这有力地证明了任何即兴的偏离、走捷径或因导航不当或沙暴而错过下一个绿洲，都很可能带来灾难。其他危险包括土匪、毒蛇、蝎子和沙漠中的超自然恶魔，沙漠中的人们常常认为撒哈拉的某些地方有恶魔出没。

The biggest problem, of course, was water. A person needs a minimum of one litre of water a day in the desert under optimum conditions but this would barely achieve survival. The typical consumption is 4.5 litres a day. Fortunately, camels need not drink anything at all for several days, although when they do reach a water source they drink prodigiously. The chief limit on a caravan, then, was how much water it could carry and how quickly it could get to the next water source along the route.

           当然，最大的问题是水。在最佳条件下，一个人在沙漠中每天至少需要饮用一升水，但这几乎无法实现生存，通常的消耗量是每天4.5升。幸运的是，骆驼在几天内根本不需要喝任何东西，尽管当它们到达水源时，它们喝得非常多。当时，对大篷车的主要限制是它能携带多少水，以及它能多快地到达沿途的下一个水源地。

As well as camel drivers and slaves to do the basic menial tasks, the caravan might have certain officials such as a scribe to record transactions, specialist guides for particular areas of the route, messengers, and an imam to lead daily prayers. Most important of all was the caravan leader, called the khabir, who exercised total authority en route. As with most positions of power, so too came grave responsibilities, and the khabir was liable for any losses and accidents (unless he could demonstrate he was not to blame for them). The historian H. J. Fisher describes the many qualities a good khabir needed:

He knew the desert routes and watering places, and he was able to find his way by the stars at night, or if need be by the scent and touch of the sand and vegetation. He had to understand the proper rules of desert hygiene, remedies against scorpions and snakes, how to heal sickness and mend fractures. He had to know the various chiefs of towns and tribes with which the caravan had to deal along the way, and in this respect a responsible khabir might consolidate his position by strategic marriages in several localities, or into several tribes. (Quoted in Fage, 267)

          除了骆驼驾驶员和从事基本琐事的奴隶外，商队还可能有一些官员，如记录交易的抄写员、路线上特定区域的专业向导、信使和领导日常祈祷的阿訇。最重要的是商队领袖，称为Khabir，他在商队旅途中行使全部权力。与大多数权力职位一样，Khabir的责任也很重大，他要对任何损失和事故负责（除非他能证明自己没有责任）。历史学家H.J.Fisher描述了一个好Khabir所需要具备的品质：

          他要知道沙漠中的路线和可靠的水源地，他能够在晚上通过星星找到正确的路，如果需要的话，也可以通过沙子和植被的气味和触觉来寻找路线。他必须了解正确的沙漠卫生规则，做好蝎子和蛇攻击的补救措施，并指导如何治疗一般疾病和骨折。他必须了解商队沿途必须与之打交道的各个城镇和部落的首领，在这方面，一个负责任的Khabir可能会通过在几个地方或几个部落的联姻来巩固自己的地位。(引自Fage, 267）。

Besides the stars and the smell of the sand and vegetation, a desert Berber, as today, used many other indicators of direction such as the height of the sun and moon, the lay of the land, mountains on the horizon, the shadows of the dunes, wind direction, the spray of sand blown from the peaks of dunes, ancient eroded gullies, the distribution of rocks and pebbles, the presence of mirages, and the position of camel dung, which is pointed in shape with the point always in the direction of the next water source.

          除了星星和沙子及植被的气味，沙漠中的柏柏尔人和今天一样，也使用许多指示方向的指标，如太阳和月亮的高度、土地的布局、地平线上的山脉、沙丘的阴影、风向、从沙丘山顶吹来的沙雾、古代被侵蚀的沟壑、岩石和卵石的分布、海市蜃楼的存在，以及骆驼粪便的位置，骆驼粪便形状是尖的，点总是在下一个水源的方向。

Carrying oneself across the desert, then, was certainly a challenge, guiding camels loaded down with slabs of rock salt was difficult enough, too, but if slaves were being transported, it became a voyage of attrition for everyone, as one 11th-century CE writer noted in his description of the problems of a caravan leader mid-journey:

          He was exhausted with his slave men and women. This woman had grown thin, this one was hungry, this one was sick, this one had run away, this one was afflicted by the guinea worm. When they encamped they had much to occupy him. (Quoted in Fage, 639)

           Khabir穿越沙漠对他自己来说当然是一种巨大的挑战，引导满载岩盐的骆驼已经足够困难了，但如果运送的是奴隶，那就成了每个人的消耗之旅，正如一位公元11世纪的作家，他在描述一个商队领袖在旅途中的问题时指出：

          Khabir和他的男女奴隶们一起疲于奔命。这个女人瘦了，这个人饿了，这个人病了，这个人跑了，这个人被麦地那龙线虫病折磨了。当他们安营扎寨的时候，他们有很多事物要Khabir来处理。(引自Fage, 639）。

Herodotus described caravans stopping every 10 days at a known oasis, the lifelines of the desert. Some of these oases could be mere wells and a few houses but others, like Awdila, the Fezzan group, and the Kufra group (all in Libya), were great spreads of luxuriant greenery, a sight indeed for sore desert traveller's eyes. Here there were date palms, lemon trees, and fig trees, as well as wheat and vines cultivated using irrigation canals. On the other hand, many oases over time simply disappeared under the shifting sands or their waters dried up and they were abandoned to the next sandstorm. Stopping for resupply at an oasis did not come for free either as the tribes that controlled them exacted a tax on the passage of goods through their territory. In order to ensure no outsiders muscled in on the lucrative management of the caravans, Saharan peoples would often cover the smaller desert wells with sand to hide them.

           希罗多德描述了商队每10天在一个已知的绿洲停靠一次，绿洲是沙漠的生命线。其中一些绿洲可能只有水井和几间房屋，但其他绿洲，如阿维迪拉、费赞群和库夫拉群（都在利比亚），则是大片繁茂的绿色植物，这的确是沙漠旅行者眼中的美景。这里有枣树、柠檬树和无花果树，以及利用灌溉渠种植的小麦和葡萄。另一方面，随着时间的推移，许多绿洲在不断变化的沙地上消失了，或者水干涸了，被遗弃在下一场沙暴中。在绿洲停留补给也不是免费的，因为控制绿洲的部落会对通过其领土的货物征税。为了确保没有外人介入利润丰厚的商队管理，撒哈拉人往往会用沙子覆盖沙漠中的小水井，以隐藏它们。

There were attempts to make the journey less inhospitable by increasing nature's meagre offerings along the way. Abd al-Rahman, the governor of Maghrib (r. 747-755 CE), ordered a series of wells to be dug on a route from southern Morocco to the Sudan region. Water was drawn up from such wells using camel-haired ropes and leather buckets, pulled by a camel walking away from the well in a straight line.

           人们曾试图通过增加沿途大自然的微薄供给来使旅程不那么荒凉。马格里布总督阿卜杜拉赫曼（Abd al-Rahman）（公元747-755年）下令在从摩洛哥南部到苏丹地区的路上挖掘一系列的水井。人们用骆驼毛制成的绳索和皮桶从这些井中汲水，由骆驼拉着绳索从井边沿着直线走，将水桶从井中提出。

贸易货物

What exactly was worth all the bother of transporting over large distances very much depended on the particular rich elites in the north and south of the desert, something which changed not only because of tastes and fashion but also the rise and fall of states and their access to goods which could be exchanged.

          究竟什么东西值得大老远地运输，在很大程度上取决于沙漠南北的特定富有的精英们，这不仅因为品味和时尚的不断变化，也因为国家兴衰和他们可以用于交换的货物。

Salt was the major commodity going south which was exchanged for gold, ivory, hides, and slaves (acquired from African tribes conquered by the sub-Saharan empires). Goods were gathered up from across the entire West African region and channelled along the Niger and Senegal Rivers to trading 'ports' like Timbuktu. As the Sudan region saw new and richer empires rise like the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE) and Songhai Empire, so a wealthy elite sought evermore exotic and expensive goods from North Africa and the wider Mediterranean.

          盐是南下的主要商品，用来交换黄金、象牙、皮革和奴隶（从被撒哈拉以南帝国征服的非洲部落获得）。货物从整个西非地区聚集起来，沿尼日尔河和塞内加尔河输送到廷巴克图等贸易集散地。随着苏丹地区新的和更富有的帝国的崛起，如马里帝国（公元1240-1645年）和桑海帝国，一个富有的精英阶层逐渐从北非和更广泛的地中海地区寻求更多的异国情调和昂贵商品。

Besides salt, the caravans transported southwards glazed pottery (luxury vases, cups, oil lamps, and incense burners), precious and semi-precious stones (especially garnet and amazonite), cowrie shells and copper wire to be used as currencies, copper ingots, horses, manufactured goods, fine cloth, beads, coral, dates, raisins, and glassware (cups, goblets, and perfume bottles). As the Sudan empires spread their influence and new powers rose such as Hausaland, so this brought in new goods to the trans-Saharan trade like kola nuts (a mild stimulant), ostrich feathers, perfumes, and tobacco.

            除了盐，商队还向南运输釉面陶器（豪华花瓶、杯子、油灯和香炉）、宝石和半宝石（特别是石榴石和亚马逊石）、牛肝菌壳和用作货币的铜丝、铜锭、马、制成品、细布、珠子、珊瑚、枣、葡萄干和玻璃制品（杯子、高脚杯和香水瓶）。随着苏丹帝国影响力的扩大和新势力的崛起，如豪萨诸国，这给跨撒哈拉贸易带来了新的商品，如可乐坚果（一种温和的兴奋剂）、鸵鸟羽毛、香水和烟草。

后果与影响

The major and most immediate consequence of the trans-Saharan trade was that it gave states tremendous power in their respective regions as they came to possess goods which were highly valued by their own populations and those of competitor states. These goods could be consumed to enhance the prestige of the ruling class or traded on or taxed which made ruling elites even richer than before and, through the payment of armies, left them in an even more dominant position over subjugated tribes and smaller states. More subtly, there was another kind of baggage besides the trade goods which came with the merchants who crisscrossed the Sahara. Ideas, technology, and religion all spread, too.

          跨撒哈拉贸易的主要和最直接的后果是，它使各国在各自的地区拥有巨大的权力，因为它们拥有自己人口和竞争国人口都高度重视的商品。这些商品可以被消费以提高统治阶级的声望，也可以被交易或征税，这使得统治精英们比以前更加富有，并且通过支付军队薪资，使他们对被征服的部落和小国处于更加有利的地位。更微妙的是，除了贸易货物外，还有另一种货物，它们随着纵横交错的撒哈拉沙漠的商人而来——思想、技术和宗教也都在传播。

Although the extent of either direction's cultural influence is difficult to gauge precisely, we do know that Islam was introduced into the Sudan region via northern traders from the 9th century CE. Mosques and Islamic town planning began to be seen in Sudan towns. The adoption of precise scales using accurate glass weights was adopted in some Sudan cultures, almost certainly in response to the need to accurately measure gold dust. However, some things did not seem to catch on. For example, the import of Mediterranean pottery had little effect on the production of traditional Sudan pottery shapes and designs. So, too, better kilns capable of higher firing temperatures have been revealed by archaeology in the north but were not adopted in the Sudan. In the other direction, the technique of mud-rubble to fill wall cavities may have been adopted in the north from Sudan practices.

           虽然任何一个方向的文化影响程度都很难准确衡量，但我们确实知道，从公元9世纪开始，伊斯兰教就通过北方商人传入苏丹地区。清真寺和伊斯兰城镇规划开始在苏丹城镇出现。历史学家在一些苏丹文明中发现，当时的人们会使用带有精准玻璃砝码的精确天平，几乎可以肯定是为了满足精确测量金粉的需要。然而，有些东西似乎并没有流行起来。例如，地中海陶器的进口对苏丹传统陶器形状和设计的生产没有什么影响。同样，在北方的考古中发现了能够提高烧制温度的更好的窑炉，但在苏丹没有被采用。在另一个方向，用泥浆填充墙体空隙的技术可能是在北方采用了苏丹的做法。

The caravans, albeit on a much smaller scale than in their heyday, are still going today. Saharan salt from Taoudenni is still transported by Tuareg camel caravans, the 90-kilo slabs now ultimately destined for the refineries of Bamako in Mali. Four-wheel drive vehicles and satellite phones may be of enormous value to modern desert travellers but the camel still remains one of the most dependable ways to reach and transport goods in the remoter parts of the Sahara.

          尽管与全盛时期相比，商队的规模要小得多，但至今仍在进行。来自陶代尼的撒哈拉盐仍然由图阿雷格骆驼队运输，这些90公斤重的盐块现在最终要运往马里的巴马科炼油厂。四轮驱动车和卫星电话对现代沙漠旅行者来说具有巨大的价值，但在撒哈拉的偏远地区，骆驼仍然是到达和运输货物最可靠的方式之一。

参考书目:

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Curtin, P. African History. Pearson, 1995.

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原文作者：Mark Cartwright

          驻意大利的历史作家。他的主要兴趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神话和发现所有文明的共同思想。他拥有政治哲学硕士学位，是《世界历史百科全书》的出版总监。

原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1344/the-camel-caravans-of-the-ancient-sahara/