Hanno the Navigator

Hanno the Navigator (sometimes "Hannon"; Punic: 𐤇‬𐤍‬𐤀‬, ḤNʾ;[1] Greek: Ἄννων, romanized: Annōn [2]) was a Carthaginian explorer (sometimes identified as a king) who lived during the fifth century BC, known for his naval expedition along the coast of West Africa.

According to some modern analyses, his expedition could have potentially reached as far south as Gabon; still, according to other sources, he could not have sailed much further than coastal southern Morocco.

[4] The Greek translation of Hanno's periplus account names him a basileus,[5] a term which may be interpreted as "king", but was commonly used for other high-level Carthaginian officials.

[6] The consensus of scholarship places Hanno as living sometime in the 5th century BC,[note 1] identifying him as a member of the aristocratic Magonid family.

As the work begins, "this is the report of the periplus of Hanno, king of the Carthaginians, into the Libyan areas of the earth beyond the Pillars of Hercules which he dedicated in the sanctuary of Kronos.

Finally arriving at a bay, the "Horn of the South", there is an island with hostile, hirsute men named "Gorillas" (see § Gorillai).

[12] Oikonomides theorizes that the hypothetical Punic manuscript that was translated into Greek was incomplete itself: it left out the later parts of the original periplus.

[10] Carthage dispatched Hanno, at the head of a fleet of 60 ships, to explore and colonize the northwestern coast of Africa.

[18] He sailed west from Carthage toward the Iberian Peninsula, passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and founding or repopulating seven colonies along the coast of (what is now) Morocco.

He then continued at least some distance further south along the continent's Atlantic coast, allegedly encountering various indigenous peoples along his way, who met the fleet with a range of "welcomes".

[19][12] A number of scholars have commented upon Hanno's voyage, stating that, in many cases, the analyses have been to refine information and interpretation of the original account.

William Smith points out that the complement of personnel totalled 30,000 men, and that the core mission included the intent to found Carthaginian (or in the older parlance 'Libyophoenician') towns.

Law notes that "It is a measure of the obscurity of the problem that while some commentators have argued that Hanno reached the Gabon area, others have taken him no further than southern Morocco.

Carthage, reportedly, knew of and conducted some trade with the peoples of the Canary Islands; ancient geographers were aware of the archipelago, as well, though nothing further south.

Ships with square sails, without a stern rudder, might navigate south, but the winds and currents throughout the year would complicate or prevent the return trip from Senegal to Morocco.

Arrian mentions Hanno's voyage at the end of his Anabasis of Alexander VIII (Indica): Hannon the Libyan set out from Carthage with Libya on his left and sailed out beyond the Pillars of Heracles into the Outer Sea, continuing his voyage then in an easterly direction for a total of thirty-five days: but when he eventually turned south he met a number of crippling obstacles—lack of water, burning heat, streams of lava gushing into the sea.Greek historian Herodotus, writing around 430 BC, described Carthaginian trade on the Moroccan coast (Histories 4.196[30]), though it is doubtful whether he was aware of Hanno's voyage itself.