Phoenician Expedition- Historical background
From wiki:
The Phoenicians were an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon,
extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine.
wiki end.
We certainly know that the Phoenicians in their time were mainly trading, but took control of the whole Mediterranian area, and brought their influence
to all civilisations there.
Some of the main trading products were:
The production of Purple- the royal colour
The production of fine glassware
The processing of the Lebanon cedar- wood with unique
characteristics- everybody needed it to build ships or temples and so on.
The unique know - how of Phoenician ship construction, Phoenician captains and crews was unsurpassed at this time.
1497 to 1498 Vasco da Gama made the first documented circumnavigation of Africa. He was searching for a seaway to India.
But Herodotus - the father of written history- gives us an amazing, even intriguing, and- if it is true also sensational- piece of evidence:
On the order of the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, he accompanied a Phoenician expedition along the coast of Africa- 600 years before Christ and more
than 2000 years before Vasco da Gama.
They took three years to get back home because they had to land in order to cultivate and harvest cereal crops to get enough food for sailing 30,000 km
in absolutely unknown waters!
And Herodotus records a detail which was absolutely amazing, but crucial.
As they sailed straight to the west, the midday sun was on the right side- to the north.
At the time of Herodotus this was unbelievable and he wrote this- incredible!
Today, this can only mean one thing: they had circumnavigated Africa!
And this is the only evidence we have for the Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa...maybe.
And this is exactly what Philip Beale and his crew on the Phoenician ship expedition will try to demonstrate - that it is possible!
Nobody knows how the Phoenician ships were constructed- some Phoenician wrecks have been found on the coast of Turkey, but only some rotten
wood remained. And some pictures on amphorae, not much more...
But on this basis they built a reconstruction of an 2600 year old Phoenician ship.
Nobody knows: Is this ship seaworthy? Will it survive big waves, storms...there was not enough time for testing the ship under all conditions...
On August 12 2008 the Phoenicia expedition set off.
At first it was a dramatic odyssey through the Red Sea- there were many problems, mostly with the rudder. On several occasions it seemed the expedition
would founder.But the crew overcame every problem, making the ship better and better, and also they learned to handle this ancient ship with only one sail
better and better- they called in the Indonesian crew from the Borobudur expedition in 2003 to 2004, who were specialists in primitive boat techniques...
The expedition lost a lot of time at first with all the problems- but finally the Phoenicia sailed out of Port Salalah, Oman to cross the Somali pirate coast
down to Mozambique. The Phoenicia sailed far into the ocean, more than 1000 km from every coast...
and she sailed and sailed...day by day, one week to the next... The ship was beset with thunderstorms, big waves, tons of rain, all putting a heavy strain on
the crew.... the food was getting less and less.......
After 6 and a half weeks without any stop, without any landing, the Phoenicia and the crew arrive Mayotte- a small island between Madagascar and the coast of
Mozambique. What a great success after all the early problems in the Red Sea!
And all the doubters who thought this ship would never circumnavigate Africa now had to apologise with deep respect and admiration.
The Phoenicia is now on the way to South Africa. She has to pass the Cape of Good Hope- an area full of shipwrecks.
And she will do it!
And she will circumnavigate Africa!
And she will sail proudly into the Port of London under the deafening cheers of half of London.
I'm sure of it!
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"Support for the expedition is growing by the day and it is fantastic to see
how a project like this can inspire people of all ages, cultures and nationalities."
Philip Beale- Expedition leader
in Dorset Echo