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So I was thinking about zeppelins the other day (something that seems to be par for the course on this site), and I got an idea that may or may not be confirmation of my insanity... Lemme know what you guys think.

We all know about the "Mediterranean economy", right? The Mediterranean was such a hotbed of commerce because it was relatively easy for people who lived along its shore to conduct trade with any other group along the coast, as long as they had decent boats.

What if the same thing could happen in the Sahara, but with primitive airships?

Think about it... Western/Subsaharan Africa has always had stuff that Europe and the Middle East have wanted. North Africa has a long history of being a waypoint for exotic African goods. Trade caravans have always criss-crossed the Sahara, carrying salt, gold, spices, ivory, precious woods, slaves, etc.

So what if some enterprising North African Arab, or a Berber, or a scholar in the Mali Empire, or even a North African Roman, or a Carthaginian, or a Phoenician (timeframe doesn't really matter, as long as it's pre-industrialization, pre-colonial, etc.) ends up making the same observations about buoyancy as the Montgolfier brothers, and cobbles together a hot air balloon? Let's say the idea overcomes the necessary hurdles and is gradually fine-tuned (improving elevation control, steering, etc.)... How long is it before some merchant gets a hold of it and decides it would be GREAT for transporting spices from the Bight of Benin to Egypt, or salt from Senegal to Tripoli, or gold from Mali to Cordoba WITHOUT the liabilities that come with long caravans, WITHOUT having to sail around the coast of the Maghreb, and possibly reducing travel time to boot?

Could we eventually see airships, buoyed by hot air (the fuel could be animal dung), turning the Sahara into a "Mediterranean of sand", crossing the desert with their precious cargos, stopping at oases like islands, supporting wealthy mercantile states and empires around the desert's perimeter? Or is it just too unlikely, or dangerous (the khamsin comes to mind as a danger, like a storm on the sea)?

So, what do you think? Am I crazy, or could this actually work?
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