The Phoenicians, the First Sailers to Discover West Africa?
By: Christian Jimenez/Contributing Arab America Writer
When people think of explorers, many people think of Europeans such as Vasco de Gama, Columbus, or Ferdinand Magellan. However, did you know that the Middle East had their own set of explorers from ancient Lebanon known as the Phoenicians, and did you know that they could be the first non-Africans to explore Sub-Saharan Africa centuries before the Europeans?
The Phoenician Civilization
The Phoenicians would emerge after the so-called Bronze Age Collapse, which was a time of massive upheaval bringing down or weakening the civilizations of Egypt, the Hittites, the Assyrians, and the Kassite Babylonians, and there were also very little written records of events during this time as well. However, the Phoneicans would soon thrive in the nation of modern day Lebanon with their major cities consisting of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre. This civilization would also be known as a seafaring and trading culture exploring across the Mediterranean Sea as they searched for new trade partners and new trade routes. They would also be settlers throughout the region, settling in areas such as Iberia, Morocco, Cyprus, and in Tunisia where they would lay the foundations for the famous ancient city of Carthage. The Phoenicians were thus dominant throughout the first millennium B.C.E., specifically from around 1550 to 300 B.C.E. It was also during this time of settlement and trade that another civilization competed with the Phoenicians, the Greeks, who were involved in the same activities of trading and settling as the Phoenicians, but there were also friendly trading relations between the two. In fact, the name Phoenician comes from the Ancient Greek word for purple, as the Phoenicians used a purple dye for the garments that they wore and traded. Eventually, the Mediterranean Sea would be divided between these two cultures with the Phoenicians controlling North Africa and Iberia, while the Greeks took over Italy and the Black Sea coast. In addition to their trade in the Mediterranean, it is also possible that there could have been trade outside of this region as they searched for new trade partners in the Atlantic.
Adventures of the Atlantic and Hanno’s Journey in West Africa
One of these trading partners was that of Britain as the Phoenicians crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed north obtaining tin and other important metals from the Britons living there during this time, centuries before most other civilizations knew of its existence. However, an equally if not more impressive feat would be their trade in Sub-Saharan Africa towards its south. One of these Phoenician explorers to West Africa was known as Hanno the Navigator as he would be ordered by Carthage to round West Africa and explore the area. Hanno would first gather men, ships, and supplies from Carthage and sail past the Strait and establish colonies along the coast of Morocco. He then went further down south through Morocco and the Canary Islands, and then found its last Phoenician colony in what is Mauritania’s Bay of Arguin. After that he went onwards to Sub-Saharan Africa along Guinea and then possibly towards Liberia near the site of their modern capital city of Monrovia. Hanno was interested while he was there because of the trading goods that the natives had to offer such as aromatic trees, but he also had troubles communicating with the locals due to the shear difference between the Semitic language of the Phoenicians and the Kru and other West African languages of the peoples of Liberia. The next stop along his Sub-Saharan African adventure was towards Ghana and Nigeria where they skipped going into the Niger Delta due to the extreme heat of the environment. He then went further south along the west coast of Africa in what is today Cameroon where it was said that Hanno discovered Mount Cameroon. Lastly, Hanno then reached his final African nation of Gabon where he said that he saw strange hairy people that the locals of Gabon called gorillas.
Hanno thus saw many interesting things on his travels throughout West Africa and made many discoveries thanks to the help of the locals living there such as the site of Mount Cameroon and the great ape of the gorillas. However, there are many disputes about Hanno’s trip towards West Africa such as whether his trip was authentic and just how far Hanno travelled on his African trip. Today it is difficult to know any of the exact locations due to the Cathrigianians practice of secrecy when discussing their trade routes in order for them to not be discovered by rivals such as the Greeks. There has also been debate as to whether the Phoenicians under Hanno really did discover Mount Cameroon or just some other mountain all the way back in Guinea. Despite all of this, many historians do agree that Hanno did discover Senegal, but not sure if he went any further past the nation of the Gambia or further afield to other West African nations. However, even if he did only travel to the Gambia it is still a major accomplishment as it will take centuries for the Portuguese to make a similar journey due to the tough sailing in the Atlantic south of Iberia and Morocco. Thus, the Phoenicians have been not only traders but also explorers reaching all over the Medditerranean, Britain, and even Africa making them some of the most famous and best navigators of all time, and a source of pride for many Lebanese around the world today.
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