Hanno the Navigator

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Anatol
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Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

Hanno the Navigator

Post by Anatol » Mon Dec 15, 2014 10:13 pm

Hanno the Navigator was a Carthaginian explorer of the sixth or fifth century BC, best known for his naval exploration of the western coast of Africa. The only source of his voyage is a Greek periplus .
Carthage dispatched Hanno at the head of a fleet of 60 ships to explore and colonize the northwestern coast of Africa . He sailed through thestraits 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. Hanno encountered various indigenous peoples on his journey and met with a variety of welcomes.
At the terminus of Hanno's voyage, the explorer found an island heavily populated with what were described as hirsute and savage people. Attempts to capture the males failed, but three of the females were taken. These were so ferocious that they were killed, and their skins preserved for transport home to Carthage. The skins were kept in the Temple of Tannit on Hanno's return and, according to Pliny the Elder , survived until the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, some 350 years after Hanno's expedition. The interpreters travelling with Hanno called the peoplegorillae , and when European explorers first encountered gorillas in the 19th century, the apes were given this name on the assumption that they were the "people" Hanno described.
The primary source for Hanno's expedition is a Greek periplus , supposedly a translation of a tablet Hanno is reported to have hung up on his return to Carthage in the temple of Ba'al Hammon , whom Greek writers identified with Kronos . The full title translated from Greek is The Voyage of Hanno, commander of the Carthaginians, round the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of Heracles , which he deposited in the Temple of Kronos . The text was known to Pliny the Elder and Arrian , the latter mentioning it at the end of his Anabasis of Alexander VIII (Indica):
Moreover, Hanno the Libyan started out from Carthage and passed the Pillars of Heracles and sailed into the outer Ocean, with Libya on his port side, and he sailed on towards the east, five-and-thirty days all told. But when at last he turned southward, he fell in with every sort of difficulty, want of water, blazing heat, and fiery streams running into the sea. 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. Harden states a general consensus exists that the expedition reached at least as far as Senegal . Some agree he could have reached Gambia .
Antigua&Barbuda1991;10d;SG1503. Madagascar 1993;15f;SG1000.
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Anatol
Posts: 1037
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

Re: Hanno the Navigator

Post by Anatol » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:40 pm

However, Harden mentions lack of agreement as to precisely where to locate the farthest limit of Hanno's explorations: Sierra Leone, Cameroon, or 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.
The "Mount Cameroon" interpretation of the Hanno route.
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