These kingdoms were rich in corn, olive oil and leather but not in the metals that were so highly prized in the ancient world, indeed the whole region seems to have stood outside the charmed circle of bronze age culture, passing from tools of stone, leather and wood straight into the Iron age. 

I’d gone through 90% of the bureaucratic hoops of a land-crossing from eastern Morocco, only to watch my passport being literally frisbeed out of the window of the last kiosk. After which the shutter was slammed down in a very decisive manner.