The Phoenicians are the first known people to have sailed all the way around Africa. The Egyptian pharaoh Wehimbre Nekao, who ruled from 610 to 595 BCE, asked for Phoenician aid in circumnavigating Africa. This likely had something to do with Egypt’s defenses, which were threatened at the time by Babylon – who happened to be threatening the Phoenician heartland as well. Nekao was pretty lucky that the best sailors and navigators of the ancient world happened to share his enemy.
According to Herodotus, the voyage took two full years. Based on modern estimates, it may even have taken three years. The first stretch along the Red Sea, around the Horn of Africa, and down the western coast would have been easy sailing. Phoenicians were familiar with the Red Sea, often trading with Yemen for incense. And a combination of monsoon winds and easy currents made the western coast of Africa a quick journey.
After rounding the cape, in what is today South Africa, the Phoenicians are thought to have stopped and farmed for a bit. No ancient ship could carry enough supplies for two years. So they likely sowed their wheat in June, started to repair their ships, and harvested in November. Then they started up the eastern coast of Africa. This was what took the bulk of the journey. A combination of unfavorable winds and changeable currents likely made the trip rather scary. Modern historians think the Phoenicians made a second stop and stayed a planting season at what is today the coast Mauretania. They had likely been traveling for two and a half years. Finally, after a second harvest and repairing their boats, they beat their way along the Moroccan coast and towards the world they knew.
After their Mauretanian pitstop, the navigators would have quickly re-entered civilization as they knew it: the Phoenicians by this time had a town on Mogador Island, off central Morocco. From then on it was an easy trip along the southern Mediterranean, with plenty of hospitable ports for refueling and telling the astonished inhabitants their story.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário