Why do we never talk about Islamic slavery?

The beautiful Siwa Oasis in the far western deserts of Egypt is a remarkable place, for multiple reasons. It’s probably been inhabited, continuously, for 12,000 years. Alexander the Great came here to consult the already renowned Oracle of Amun-Ra in 332BC (some say he is buried here, as he loved Siwa so much). You can swim in Roman cisterns fed by one of the 300 natural springs – which also nourish thousands of date palms and olive groves. The locals have their own Berber language – Siwi – spoken nowhere else on earth. 

But there’s one facet of Siwa’s history which is less talked about. Within living memory, they had black slaves here, generally fetched from further south in Africa, and trafficked along Saharan routes trodden by Muslim pilgrims, ultimately heading for Mecca.

As I read about this nugget of history, last week –  sitting on the stunningly silent, mud-brick balcony of Adrere Amellal, a hotel which overlooks the oasis – it jarred quite hard with a news story I’d read an hour previously.