In Morocco, numerous cities currently claim the title “Gateway to the Sahara.” However, nearly a thousand years ago, only three cities vied for this honor: Sijilmâsa, Tâmdult, and Nûl Lamta.
Nûl Lamta, the southernmost of the three, was situated on the edge of a vast expanse of over 2,000 kilometers of sand and stone plains: the Sahara, or the Great Desert.
“Nûl Lamta, situated at the farthest frontier of the Muslim world, is the first inhabited place encountered by the traveler emerging from the Sahara […]. Nûl Lamta lies at the outermost boundary of the Muslim territory, where the desert begins.” (Al-Bakrî, 11th century).