Thymiaterium Explained

Thymiaterium or Thymiaterion (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Θυμιατήριον),[1] Scylax called it Thymiaterias (Θυμιατηρίας),[2] was an ancient Carthaginian colony in present-day Morocco. The Periplus (Περίπλους) of Hanno the Navigator claims that he founded it on his journey of exploration beyond the Pillars of Hercules.[3] [4] The manuscript is a copy of another Greek work which translated the Punic original and is part of the Codex Palatines Graecus 398 which belongs to the Heidelberg University.[3]

According to Hanno, he founded the colony, the first of his journey, two days' sail past the Pillars of Hercules.[5] Schoff, citing Karl Müller, identified it with the town of Mehedia, currently known as Mehdya. The location of Thymiaterium is also given at Mehedia in the Atlas of Ancient & Classical Geography.[6] Hanno may have been deliberately vague about the location of colonies he founded to prevent enemies of Carthage from finding them.[7]

References

Karl Müller, Geographi Græci Minores, vol. 1, Firmin-Didot, 1882

Notes and References

  1. https://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/graeca/Chronologia/S_ante06/Hanno/han_plus.html Periplus of Hanno, 2
  2. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DT%3Aentry+group%3D9%3Aentry%3Dthymiaterion-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Thymiaterion
  3. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/913/hanno-carthaginian-explorer/ Hanno: Carthaginian Explorer
  4. Book: Hanno the Navigator. Schoff . Wilfred H.. 1912. The Periplus of Hanno, a Voyage of Discovery down the African Coast, by a Carthaginian Admiral of the Fifth Century B.C. . Philadelphia. Secretary of the Commercial Museum .
  5. https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-1-the-navigator/hanno-1-the-navigator-2/ Hanno the Navigator (2)
  6. Book: Butler, Samuel. 1907. Atlas of Ancient & Classical Geography . London. JM Dent & Co. .
  7. B. H. Warmington, Carthage, p. 64, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1960