Description
By Hanno. Translated by Wilfred H. Schoff, A.M. Color edition. Embark upon one of antiquity’s most remarkable voyages of exploration in this early account of a Carthaginian expedition along the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In The Periplus of Hanno: A Voyage of Discovery down the West African Coast, by a Carthaginian Admiral of the Fifth Century BC, Hanno the Navigator recounts a maritime expedition beyond the Pillars of Hercules and southward along the western coast of Africa. Surviving in a Greek version of a lost Carthaginian text, the Periplus offers a rare glimpse into the navigation, settlement, trade, and geographical knowledge of ancient Carthage.
The narrative relates how Hanno and his fleet established settlements, encountered coastal peoples, and continued into increasingly unfamiliar regions. Along the way, the voyagers encountered rivers, forests, wildlife, and strange natural phenomena. Among the best-known passages are those describing a land illuminated by fires, an immense mountain called the Chariot of the Gods, and the enigmatic gorillae, whose identity has intrigued scholars for centuries.
Wilfred H. Schoff’s English translation is accompanied by extensive explanatory material. Drawing upon ancient writings and later scholarship, Schoff examines the possible route of the expedition, the geography of the African coast, Carthaginian chronology and commerce, and the questions surrounding the “Burning Country” and the gorillae.
Brief yet rich in historical interest, The Periplus of Hanno is one of the few surviving accounts associated with the maritime world of ancient Carthage. It continues to provide a fascinating subject for those interested in ancient history, African exploration, classical geography, and early navigation.
This carefully restored edition preserves Schoff’s translation and accompanying scholarship, bringing renewed attention to an extraordinary document from the ancient Mediterranean world.
About the author: Hanno the Navigator was a Carthaginian leader and explorer traditionally believed to have conducted a major maritime expedition along the western coast of Africa during the fifth century BC. Little is known with certainty about his life, and the surviving Greek text identifies him as “king of the Carthaginians.”
About the translator: Wilfred H. Schoff (1874–1932) was an American classical scholar and historian of commerce and economics. He served for many years as secretary of the Commercial Museum in Philadelphia and translated and annotated several important ancient geographical and commercial texts.
