Considering the Sahara in the très longue durée as a conduit rather than a barrier…
-The Trans-Saharan Book Trade, eds. Krätli and Lydon
Sudanese war refugees still anchor at Egypt’s Mīnā’ al-Barrī, Land Port, one of the maritime terms used by Saharan explorers in times past- Harbors for caravan cities, Shores for the desert’s edges, Islands for oases, Wrecks for caravans swallowed in sand storms, and Ships of the Sea, that old chestnut, for camels. Forty years ago KhairAllah sailed our Dabouka across the border late one night after the Egyptian police had gone to quarters, swinging in their hammocks, rocked to sleep by wave after wave of an incoming tide.