Translator: Michele Gianella Reviewer: Nicoletta Pedrana
Deserts,
due to unique geological circumstances,
due to the inclination of the ecliptic, etc.,
deserts are located along the two Tropics: the Tropic of Capricorn and of Cancer.
North of the Equator you can see a few white patches,
namely the American desert, the Sahara, the Arabian desert and the Gobi.
Below the Equator lie the South American desert, the Kalahari,
and the Australian desert.
In our European, rather Italian mind,
the Sahara is without doubt the quintessential desert,
stretching from the Atlantic to the Nile and beyond,
all the way up to the Red Sea,
and roughly from the Mediterranean coast -
except for that mountain range that goes by the name of Atlas -
up to the southern strip called Sahel -
that means "shore" in Arabic:
that's the point where a little vegetation starts to grow again.
Flying high above the Sahara,
you may be under the impression of flying over a geographical map.
But descend lower, and you’ll realise
the course of rivers is not an actual stream of water,
rather something fossil, probably filled with sand.
In our collective mind, sand is the dominant element in the Sahara,
although it covers only 20 percent of the Sahara,
with dunes reaching up to 150-200 meters high.
But again, it accounts for only 20%.
On the contrary, a large part is formed
by huge flat expanses of small pebbles called "regs",
plateaus of stones of various sizes or stone circles similar to small towers,
and then mountains,
the imposing ranges of the Hoggar, Tassili and Tibesti Mountains,
exceeding elevations of 3,000 meters,
having steep slopes
split by torrents streaming down
when the rare rainwater accumulates on their peaks.
The Sahara hides several secrets,
among which are the remains of dinosaur graveyards
dating back to 1.5 million years ago,
and ancient stone tools of Paleolithic origin
with uncertain dating.
They stopped being produced in approximately 20,000 BC
with the last Ice Age;
and as you can see, they were quite rudimentary tools.
While after 10,000,
after a pause and the end of the Ice Age,
there was the start of an age commonly referred to as the Neolithic
because the production of stone tools, as you can see,
became far more refined.
But the Neolithic
isn’t just about stone:
there are ceramic artifacts, too.
Indeed, learning how to make pottery
was a key moment
in the acculturation of the hunter-gatherer groups
evolving into farmers and shepherds.
At some point, around 4,000 BC,
man began to bury the dead
which, from a spiritual perspective,
conveys an idea of possible transcendence.
Another thing that man did around 6,000-7,000 -
it is hard to date -
is to record scenes of everyday life
with rock impressions, paintings and carvings.
Rock art, according to Fabrizio Mori, a leading Italian prehistory scholar,
can be classified into four main periods:
the Large Wild Fauna Period
that begins in around 10,000 and continues up to 7,000;
the Pastoral Period, mainly represented in southern Libya;
and later on the Horse Period, around 1,500 B.C.
As you can see, there's a slender man
riding a flying horse-drawn chariot.
The same chariots are also attributed to the Garamantes,
who were allies of Rome in southern Libya.
And finally, the Camel Period
with its stylized representations of camels,
meaning that desertification has now reached an advanced stage.
The camel has thus become the animal synonymous with climate change.
In the Sahara there's also water
that's brought to the surface from the aquifers
and gathers in the rocky basins of the mountains
or that's found in wells but at different depths.
And where there is water, there's life, there are vegetables -
these are small courgettes, Citrullus Colocyntis –
and there is animal life.
Animals like this small fennec fox with big, long ears
have adapted to the environment
and manage to survive despite its harsh conditions.
And, of course, there are human beings.
There are numerous ethnic groups:
the Tuareg,
the Toubou from Chad and the Tibesti Mountains,
the Mauri towards the Atlantic coast
and the most peculiar are the Peul, or Fulani or Bororo,
who lead a nomadic lifestyle in the above mentioned Sahel,
from East to West,
constantly moving their herds from one well to the next.
The Tuareg are perhaps the most familiar ethnic group, the best-known.
Also referred to as the "Blue Men",
they inhabit the central-southern Sahara.
Unfortunately, the borders established after the colonisation
have left their territory divided
among Libya, Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
They actually reject these borders
and consider themselves to be one large confederation instead.
There used to be five confederations,
five as the five fingers
of their founder Tin Hinan or Antinea
in the European tradition.
They have now separated into eight confederations.
So, the Tuaregs are divided,
within their own individual confederations,
into very strict castes:
the noble warriors,
the religious clerics who know how to interpret the Qur’an,
the caravanners, who are merchants,
the artisans, who are especially skilled in working with silver
and crafting small lost-wax jewelry.
They use silver and refuse gold, which they consider to be vulgar.
And finally, the peasants, or the Iklan.
Usually black, they're descendants of former slaves
and till the "jardins" -
small vegetable gardens at the foot of the palm trees.
Women are the leading figures in Tuareg communities.
Their society is matrilineal: mothers give the family name,
raise children,
pass down the knowledge of the confederation, of the ethnic group,
and are traditionally seen as the pillars of society.
They are truly beautiful women
and always grow up
in their mother’s tent.
But when they reach the ages of 18, 13, 14 -
when their first menstruation begins -
they become totally independent and move out to set up their own tent,
where they enjoy quite an eventful life,
as if they were bachelorettes.
Here they meet their suitors,
completely away from their parents,
until the day of their wedding.
The educated women of the Tuareg ethnic group,
those belonging to the noble class,
know how to read the ancient characters
that are derived from the Libyan-Berber tribes
and are called Tifinagh
and that are also carved on rock walls.
They're ancient characters.
Their family live in their own tent,
which they conquer during their puberty.
Here they receive their lovers when they're young
and then they get married and become model mothers and wives.
If they wish to take another husband,
which can happen to any respectful woman,
they do not act secretly.
They usually ask to be repudiated
because the only privilege for a man in Tuareg society
is to be able to exercise the right of repudiation.
However, the wife who asks to be repudiated
receives her repudiation automatically
because it would be a shame for the man not to allow it.
Household chores are combined with the usual jobs.
These are the Tifinagh characters
I was telling you before
and this is one of the traditional instruments
that educated women know how to play.
This is no longer a teen-age girl,
but chances are she would probably play this one-string instrument
in her tent for her suitors.
They're very good mothers and Tuareg children are beautiful.
Tuareg children have a special charm for a doctor
and just to be able to cure them, to be able to help them be born,
sometimes on a straw mat,
underneath a tent, in the middle of the desert,
is for a doctor a truly extraordinary experience.
It feels like giving birth to a whole humanity,
it’s much more moving than any other thing that could possibly happen
to a doctor who occasionally serves in the desert.
This means I should conclude my speech,
but it means that we must go back.
So how do we go back?
We could drive one of those big off-road vehicles
people drive in Italy, in Europe, I don’t know why they do that,
they would be way more useful on this type of terrain.
We may even ride some unusual vehicle:
this was a velocipede belonging to a Swiss man
who had left Cape Town
and had been traveling through Africa, south to north.
He happened to be crossing the Sahara heading to Tunis.
That man was quite a character.
(Laughter)
Today one could opt for the usual camel caravan ride.
My feeling is, we should stay, not leave,
because every time we detach ourselves from this type of environment
where we have spent days, weeks, sometimes a few months,
where everything is so satisfying and so engaging,
leaving proves to be exhausting, extremely painful.
And doctors can’t help but feel a sense of guilt
because they know they are abandoning a land where they could really be useful
only to go back to being one of the many
disseminating our hospitals, our universities.
However, this feeling of melancholy,
which is alleviated only by knowing
that one day you’ll go back, provided you are not too old,
and you'll go down the same extraordinary paths,
this feeling is something you may have heard of
and is known as "Mal d’Afrique".
(Applause)