Hanno of Carthage, who planted a number of colonies on the west coast of Africa about 425 BC. At the time, Carthaginian expansion in the Mediterranean had been frustrated by the Greeks, and it was therefore diverted to the lands beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. Hanno’s account was evidently copied off a tablet in a temple at Carthage by some Greek traveler. The text reads in part: This is the story of the long voyage of Hanno “king” of the Carthaginians into Libyan [African] lands beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which he dedicated on a tablet in the temple of Kronos: I. The Carthaginians decided that Hanno should sail beyond the Pillars of Heracles and found cities of Libyphoenicians. He set sail with 60 penteconters and about 30,000 men and women, and provisions and other necessaries. II. After sailing beyond the Pillars for two days we founded the first city, which we called Thymiaterion. Below it was a large plain. III. Sailing thence westward we came to Soloeis, a Libyan promontory covered with trees. There we founded a temple to Poseidon. IV. Journeying eastward for half a day we reached a lake not far from the sea, covered with a great growth of tall reeds, where elephants and many other wild animals fed. V. A day’s sea journey beyond this lake we founded cities on the coast called Karikon Teichos, Gytte, Akra, Melitta, and Arambys.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:41:27 +0000
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