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Hello and welcome to the Explorer's podcast.

Today we have a single episode story,

this one surrounding Carthaginian explorer Hano, the Navigator.

This is kind of a crazy tale because of how long ago it occurred, way back in the fifth or sixth century

B.C. E. But because it happened so long ago it makes for a really cool story because it is one of the first great voyages of exploration ever recorded.

Hannah's voyage would take him down the western coast of Africa, perhaps as far as modern day

Gabon, which would translate into a voyage of more than 4,000 miles.

But again, because this happened so long ago, what we know about Hanano and his explorations is very, very sketchy. But hey, that is fine. We have done this before. We have some info. We'll do the best we can. We can't ask for anything more than that.

So let us start with a little background on cars. We can't ask for anything more than that.

So let us start with a little background on Carthage in the Mediterranean world,

circa 4 to 500 BC-ish.

At this time, Carthage was emerging as one of the great empires of the era.

Originally established around 800 B.C. by Phoenician settlers from Tyre,

the city would quickly become one of the most important in all of the Mediterranean.

A big reason for this was the location. Carthage was on the shore of North Africa in what is modern day Tunisia.

It sat in roughly the middle of the Mediterranean, right between the emerging markets in the west and the traditional powers in the East, such as Persia, Egypt, and Greece.

Carthage would become a powerful empire in its own right, establishing its own colonies and bases in parts of North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and Spain.

Their Navy would rule the seas in the West, and their merchants would ply their trade throughout

the Mediterranean.

Back in 1913, scholar Wilfred H. Schoff wrote this about Carthage.

Quote, quote, Carthage was, beyond doubt, the richest city of antiquity. Her ships

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