fl. c. 500 B.C.

Carthaginian Mariner

Some time around 500 B.C., the Carthaginian mariner Hanno sailed westward from his hometown in what is now Tunisia. He passed the Pillars of Hercules and continued along the African coast, perhaps as far as modern-day Senegal or even Liberia. Though the full extent of his journeys is not known, it is certain that he sailed farther south than any navigator in the Atlantic Ocean would do until the golden age of Portuguese exploration some 2,000 years later.

The only part of Hanno's life known to historians is the saga of his voyage, and virtually all the details of that chapter in his biography come from a sometimes bewildering inscription left by Hanno himself. Having completed his expedition, he dedicated a stele or pillar to the Carthaginian gods, providing 18 (in some versions 19) paragraphs regarding his exploits.

Most notable of the Phoenician trading colonies...