Mapping the Red Sea (1869-1890)
The suggested talk looks at epistemological shifts in conceiving the Red Sea prior and post- the opening of the Suze Canal in 1869. Drawing on maps as source material and an engagement of recent scholarship on the Red Sea, the talk argues that the Red Sea was less conceived as a spatial entity after 1869 but as a corridor of passage to the Indian Ocean and a jump point to the shores of North Easter Africa. On the one hand the hinterland of port cities, came into focus, projecting the connection ports to railways. On the other hand, the soil of the sea and geological features were mapped highlighting resources. The scope of the talk ceases with intensified colonial conquest by Britain and Italy in the 1890s.
