Why is Hanno the Navigator’s voyage a milestone in world history?

               Hanno was a Carthaginian explorer of the sixth or fifth century BC, who sailed beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, out of the Mediterranean, and down the mysterious Atlantic coast of Africa. Carthage was the capital city of the ancient Carthaginian civilization.

               According to literature, Hanno was the highest administrative officer in the Carthaginian government. Carthage dispatched Hanno as the head of a fleet of 60 ships to explore trading colonies along the north western coast of North Africa. He sailed through the straits of Gibraltar, established seven colonies along the African coast of what is now Morocco, and explored significantly farther along the Atlantic coast of the continent.

               Hanno also encountered various indigenous communities. The primary source for the account of Hanno’s expedition is a Greek translation, titled ‘Periplus’, of a tablet Hanno is reported to have hung up in the temple of Kronos on his return to Carthage. The title translated from the Greek is ‘The Voyage of Hanno, commander of the Carthaginians, round the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which he deposited in the Temple of Kronos’.