The Atlantic coast of Morocco. Hanno was provided with an enormous fleet and a vast number of colonists to carry out this task (see box, page 99).
The log of Hanno’s voyage is unusual in that it has survived. The fact that so few Phoenician logs have come to light may be because they were kept secret and few copies or translations were ever made. The Phoenicians were anxious to guard their navigational secrets because those secrets were the basis of Phoenician prosperity. The Phoenicians maintained their secrets about trade in the Atlantic so successfully that the Greeks and Romans never discovered who the trading partners were.
One story that has survived relates how a Phoenician ship in the Atlantic deliberately changed course and ran aground when it realized that a Roman ship was spying on it. The Roman vessel
Followed its target onto the rocks and was wrecked as well. All hands were lost— only the Phoenician captain survived. When the captain finally returned home, he was rewarded with a large sum of money for eluding the attentions of the Romans and received full compensation for his lost cargo.
Despite the fact that the Phoenicians guarded their navigational secrets zealously, some of their knowledge did become known to the Greeks. Greek sailors from the island of Rhodes compiled a navigational manual called The Captain of the Mediterranean, which contained everything they knew about trade routes, winds, and ocean currents. It described the most favorable times for crossing the sea and gave advice on avoiding bad weather, rounding the ocean capes, and benefiting from the wind. This manual compiled by the Greeks remained until the 19 th century CE an indispensable guide for vessels navigating the Mediterranean.
World History
