HANNO THE NAVIGATOR

'Hanno the Navigator' was a Carthaginian explorer who flourished c. 450 BC.

Contents

Etymology

Expedition

Inscribed account

Modern speculations on Hanno's route

Earlier Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa

Trivia

References

Bibliography

See also

External links

Etymology

This Hanno is called the Navigator to distinguish him from a number of other Carthaginians with this name, including the perhaps more prominent, though later, Hanno the Great. See Hanno for others of this name. The name Hanno (''Annôn'') means "merciful" or "mild" in Punic).

Expedition

As Warmington quotes ^[1] Carthage dispatched Hanno at the head of a fleet of sixty ships to explore and colonize the west coast of Africa. He sailed through the straits of Gibraltar, founded or repopulated seven colonies along the African coast of Morocco, and explored significantly further along the Atlantic coast of the continent. He encountered various peoples on his journey and met with a variety of welcomes.
On the island which formed the terminus of his voyage the explorer found a number of what were described as hairy women. Attempts to capture the men failed, but three of the women were taken. These were so vicious they were killed. The interpreters called them ''Gorillas'', which has provided the source for the species name.

Inscribed account

The primary source for the account of Hanno's expedition is a Greek translation, titled ''Periplus'', 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 Chronos. The full title translated from Greek is ''The Voyage of Hanno, commander of the Cathaginians, round the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which he deposited in the temple of Chronos.'' This was known to Pliny the Elder and Arrian, who mentions 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."
This account's factual dependability has been both questioned and defended (see link). Both Harden ^[2] and Warmington ^[3] quote this account in English translation. Warminton ^[4] suggests that difficulties in reconciling the account's specific details with present geographical understanding are consistent with Classical reports of Carthaginian determination to maintain sole control of trade into the Atlantic.
:"This report was the object of criticism by some ancient writers, including the elder Pliny, and in modern times a whole literature of scholarship has grown up around it. The account is incoherent and at times certainly incorrect, and attempts to identify the various places mentioned on the basis of the sailing directions and distances almost all fail. Some scholars resort to textual emendations, justified in some cases; but it is probable that what we have before us is a report deliberately edited so that the places could not be identified by the competitors of Carthage. From everything we know about Carthaginian practice, the resolute determination to keep all knowledge of and access to the western markets from the Greeks, it is incredible that they would have allowed the publication of an accurate description of the voyage for all to read. What we have is an official version of the real report made by Hanno which conceals or falsifies vital information while at the same time gratifying the pride of the Carthaginians in their achievements. The very purpose of the voyage, the consolidation of the route to the gold market, is not even mentioned."

Modern speculations on Hanno's route

Harden ^[5] states there is general consensus that the expedition reached at least as far as Senegal. There seems some agreement that he could have reached Gambia. However, Harden mentions lack of agreement as to precisely where to locate the furthest limit of Hanno's explorations: Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Gabon. He notes the description of the Cameroon Mountain, a 13,370 foot volcano, more closely matches Hanno's description than Guinea's 2,910 foot Mt. Kakulima. Warmington ^[6] prefers Mt. Kakulima, considering Mt. Cameroon too far.

Earlier Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa

Herodotus recorded a circumnavigation of "Libya", by an expedition of Phoenicians sent out by "the Egyptian king" Necho II (606-593 BC), one of two seventh-century kings of the 26th Saite Dynasty
:"with orders to sail west about and return to Egypt and the Mediterranean by way of the Straits of Gibraltar. The Phoenicians sailed from the Arabian gulf into the southern ocean, and every autumn put in at some convenient spot on the Libyan coast, sowed a patch of ground, and waited for next year's harvest..." ^[7]
Herodotus himself discounted this story on account of the assertion that the Phoenicians had the sun to the north of them as they passed along the southern part of the continent. As Harden ^[8] comments, this very claim has most modern scholars accepting that Phoenicians did circumnavigate Africa.

Trivia

★ The notorious epigrapher Barry Fell once claimed that Hanno had crossed the Atlantic and explored North America (see: Bourne Stone)

References

1. Warmington, B.H. Carthage, Penguin, Harmondsworth, pp. 74-76
2. Harden, Donald, The Phoenicians, Penguin, Harmondsworth, pp. 163-168
3. Warmington op. cit. pp. 74-76
4. ibid p. 76
5. Harden, Donald, The Phoenicians, Penguin, Harmondsworth p. 168
6. Warmington, B.H. op. cit. p. 79
7.
Herodotus, ''Histories'' iv.42
8. Harden, Donald, op. cit. p. 162

Bibliography

★ Donald Harden, ''The Phoenicians'', (Penguin, Harmondsworth) 1971 (1962)

★ Herodotus, transl. Aubrey de Selincourt, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1968 (1954)

★ B. H. Warmington, ''Carthage'', (Penguin, Harmondsworth) 1964 (1960)

See also

★ Himilco the Navigator

External links

★ "Hanno's ''Periplus'' on the Web:" a directory of further links.

★ Livio Catullo Stecchini, "The voyage of Hanno" carefully analyzed by a classical scholar.

★ ''Periplus'' in English.

★ Hanno, a Carthaginian navigator from Charles Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1867)

★ Carthaginian Exploration: The Voyages of Hanno and Himilco

★ Annotated commentary on Hanno's ''Periplus'' by Jona Lendering.