...
Post A Reply
my profile
|
directory
login
|
register
|
search
|
faq
|
forum home
»
EgyptSearch Forums
»
Egyptology
»
Ancient West African/Carthage contact/relations???
» Post A Reply
Post A Reply
Login Name:
Password:
Message Icon:
Message:
HTML is not enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by the lioness,: [QB] [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Hannon_map-fr.svg/250px-Hannon_map-fr.svg.png[/IMG] [b]Voyage to West Africa of 5,000 -30,000 Cartheginians 60 Ships, Hanno the Navigator and King of Carthage[/b] (at bottom Hanno's own account of his voyage) Hanno the Navigator (also known as Hanno II of Carthage) was a Carthaginian explorer c. 500 BC, best known for his naval exploration of the African coast. As Hanno II, he held the throne as nominal king of Carthage from 480 until 440 BC — although by his reign, it was already in the process of starting to become more of a republic in practical terms. The lunar crater Hanno is named after him. This Hanno is called the Navigator to distinguish him from a number of other Carthaginians with this name. The voyage of Hanno is ascribed to various dates; current thinking is that it was in the fifth century BC. The number of thirty thousand is suspect: the ships would be very crowded. J.G. Demerliac & J. Meirat, Hannon et l' Empire Punique (1983 Paris, pp.64-67) suggest five thousand. A number of modern scholars have commented upon Hanno's voyage. In many cases, the analysis has been to refine information and interpretation of the original account. William Smith points out that the complement of personnel totalled 30,000, and that the core mission included the intent to found Carthaginian (or in the older parlance Libyophoenician) towns. Harden states there is general consensus that the expedition reached at least as far as Senegal.[9] There seems to be some agreement that he could have reached Gambia. However, Harden mentions lack of agreement as to precisely where to locate the farthest limit of Hanno's explorations: Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Gabon. He notes the description of Mount Cameroon, a 4,040-metre (13,250 ft) volcano, more closely matches Hanno's description than Guinea's 890-metre (2,920 ft) Mount Kakulima. Warmington prefers Mount Kakulima, considering Mount Cameroon too distant As Warmington states,[2] Carthage dispatched Hanno at the head of a fleet of sixty ships to explore and colonize the northwestern coast of Africa. He sailed through the straits of Gibraltar, founded or repopulated seven colonies along the African coast of what is now Morocco, and explored significantly farther along the Atlantic coast of the continent. Hogan cites the visit of Hanno to Mogador, where the Phoenicians established an important dye-manufacturing plant using a marine gastropod found in the local Atlantic Ocean waters.[3] Hanno encountered various indigenous peoples on his journey and met with a variety of welcomes. The eighteen lines of Hanno's artless account of his journey along the west coast of Africa are a unique document. It is the only known first-hand report on these regions before those of the Portuguese, which were written two thousand years later. It is the longest known text by a Phoenician author. Besides, Hanno has a fascinating story to tell: we visit a mysterious island, have to fight hostile natives, survive an erupting volcano, and encounter gorillas. Probably, Hanno made his voyage on the outer sea in the first half of the sixth century BCE. He had orders to found several colonies on the Moroccan coast; having done so, he established a trading post on a small island off the Mauritanian coast. After completing the original mission, he ventured further south, making a reconnaissance expedition along the African coast until he reached modern Gabon, where he was forced to return because he was running out of supplies. There is some reason to doubt the truth of the latter statement, because the Roman encyclopedist Pliny the Elder says that Hanno circumnavigated Africa and reached the borders of Arabia (below). At the moment, there are only two copies, dating back to the ninth and the fourteenth centuries. The first of these manuscripts is known as the Palatinus Graecus 398 and can be studied in the University Library of Heidelberg. The other text is the Vatopedinus 655; parts of it are in the British Museum in London and in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Below is the account of Hanno, king of Carthage, about his voyage to the Libyan lands beyond the Pillars of Herakles, which he also set up in the shrine of Kronos.Hanno's remark that his translators were unable to speak with the native population suggests that they had entered the regions where Kru languages were spoken, in modern Sierra Leone. (Libya is the Greek name for Africa Libyphoenicians are the Phoenicians living in Africa.) [b]___________________________________________________________[/b] [i]The Carthaginians ordered Hanno to sail out of the Pillars of Herakles and found a number of Libyphoenician cities. He set sail with sixty fifty-oared ships, about thirty thousand men and women, food and other equipment. After sailing beyond the Pillars for two days, we founded our first city, called Thymiaterion. Below it was a large plain. Sailing westward from there, we arrived at Soloeis, a Libyan promontory, covered with trees. Here we dedicated a temple to Poseidon. Sailing to the east for half a day, we reached a lake. It was not far from the sea, and was covered with many long reeds, from which elephants and other wild animals were eating After our visit to the lake, we sailed on for one day. By the sea, we founded cities, called Karikon Teichos, Gytte, Akra, Melitta and Arambys Continuing our voyage from there, we reached the Lixos, a large river flowing from Libya. The Lixites, a nomadic tribe, were pasturing their cattle beside it. We remained with them for some time and became friends.Beyond them, hostile Ethiopians occupied a land full of wild animals. It was surrounded by the great mountains from which the Lixos flows down. According to the Lixites, strange people dwell among these mountains: cave men who run faster than horses. When we had got interpreters from the Lixites, we sailed along the desert shore for two days to the south. After sailing eastward for one day, we found in the recess of a bay a small island which had a circumference of five stades. We left settlers there and called it Kerne. We calculated from the journey that this island lay opposite Carthage, for the time sailing from Carthage to the Pillars and from there to Kerne was the same. Sailing from there, we crossed a river called Chretes, and reached a bay, which contained three islands, bigger than Kerne. After a day's sail from here, we arrived at the end of the bay, which was overhung by some very great mountains, crowded with savages clad in animals' skins. By throwing stones, they prevented us from disembarking and drove us away. Leaving from there, we arrived at another large, broad river teeming with crocodiles and hippopotamuses. Returning from there, we went back to Kerne. From there we we sailed to the south for twelve days. We remained close to the coast, which was entirely inhabited by Ethiopians, who fled from us when we approached. Even to our Lixites, their language was unintelligible. On the last day, we anchored by some big mountains. They were covered with trees whose wood was aromatic and colorful. Sailing around the mountains for two days, we came to an immense expanse of sea beyond which, on the landward side, was a plain. During the night we observed big and small fires everywhere flaming up at intervals. Taking on water there, we continued for five days along the coast, until we reached a great bay which according to our translators was the Horn of the West. There was a large island in it, and in it a lagoon [which was salt] like the sea, and on it another island. Here we disembarked. In daytime, we could see nothing but the forest, but during the night, we noticed many fires alight and heard the sound of flutes, the beating of cymbals and tom-toms, and the shouts of a multitude. We grew afraid and our diviners advised us to leave this island. Quickly, we sailed away, passing along a fiery coast full of incense. Large torrents of fire emptied into the sea, and the land was inaccessible because of the heat. Quickly and in fear, we sailed away from that place. Sailing on for four days, we saw the coast by night full of flames. In the middle was a big flame, taller than the others and apparently rising to the stars. By day, this turned out to be a very high mountain, which was called Chariot of the Gods. Sailing thence along the torrents of fire, we arrived after three days at a bay called Horn of the South In this gulf was an island, resembling the first, with a lagoon, within which was another island, full of savages. Most of them were women with hairy bodies, whom our interpreters called 'gorillas'. Although we chased them, we could not catch any males: they all escaped, being good climbers who defended themselves with stones. However, we caught three women, who refused to follow those who carried them off, biting and clawing them. So we killed and flayed them and brought their skins back to Carthage. For we did not sail any further, because our provisions were running short[/i] At the below webiste on the right column is commentary on the above text, about what old places names mentioned correspond to West African place names we know today: http://www.livius.org/ha-hd/hanno/hanno02.html [/QB][/QUOTE]
Instant Graemlins
Instant UBB Code™
What is UBB Code™?
Options
Disable Graemlins in this post.
*** Click here to review this topic. ***
Contact Us
|
EgyptSearch!
(c) 2015 EgyptSearch.com
Powered by UBB.classic™ 6.7.3