Why give a giraffe ? (2)

The " routes " trans-Saharan : problems of representation. Ibn Battûta (1353) and his return route from Mâli to Fès. The Maaden Ijâfen : isolated archaeological evidence of trans-Saharan trade in the " empty quarter " of the Sahara. On the need for greater graphic abstraction when speaking of " axes ". Trans-Saharan trade axes. To think about these axes, we need to approach them from two angles. On the one hand, the topography of the  routes: the example of the " Piste des 40 jours " in the Libyan Desert. Further investigation of the letter from Sultan Abû 'Amr 'Uthmân of Borno to Sultan Barqûq of Egypt concerning Arab raids against his subjects. On the other hand, the political ecology of trans-Saharan routes : the undulations of the routes and the shifts in terminal outlets can only be understood on the scale of regional political and economic environments. Examination of the case of Sjilmâsa and Touat, in the North. Ghâna, Mâli and Timbuktu in the south. The temporary fixing of roads is the result of a " conversation " on the sands of the Sahara.