The palaeoanthropologists’ assumptions of a possible early Bab el-Mandab crossing are
not supported by evidence of a land bridge, despite the periodic lowering of the water level
in the Red Sea (Petraglia, 2003, p. 169).
In ecological terms the destination area—the southwest of the Arabian peninsula—is
not the most inviting territory for hominin expansion. Nevertheless, the model of migration
via the Bab el-Mandab gives a direct route from sub-Saharan Africa which is the hominin
homeland.