From the earliest times, human beings have been travelers. Prehistoric peoples traveled in search of better hunting grounds, or to escape the glaciers creeping down from the Arctic during the last Ice Age. But the real story of exploration and discovery began with civilization, as people began to settle colonies, build ships, live in cities, and record their findings in books. With the growth of civilization came the need for trade, and although trade was the main reason for setting sail to explore new lands, conquest of these lands provided another purpose for expeditions.
The ancient Egyptians made voyages down the Red Sea nearly 6,000 years ago, and the Phoenicians made even longer voyages, as far as Britain and Africa, becoming the greatest explorers of their age. Later, the Romans also pushed the boundaries of their empire into unknown territory.
The Phoenicians
Phoenicia was a group of city-states occupying a small region of the Syrian coastal plain. By about 1000 B.C. the Phoenicians had become the greatest sailors of the Mediterranean. Their ships, which were powered by oars and a single sail, were short, broad, and strong. They were built from the best timber in the Mediterranean - cedar from the slopes of the Lebanon Mountains, which was also a valuable Phoenician export.
The pharaoh hires a Phoenician crew
There is a story told by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus about the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II. It tells how, in 600 B.C., Necho hired a Phoenician crew to make a voyage of exploration from the Red Sea, around Africa and back to Egypt via the Mediterranean - a distance of 15,500 miles. The voyage is said to have taken three years because the Phoenicians stopped every year to sow grain and reap the harvest. Many historians doubt this story, but how did Herodotus know it was possible to sail around Africa if no one had done it?
Hanno sets out for Africa
The greatest Phoenician voyage that we know about is the voyage of Hanno, in about 500 B.C. He led a fleet from Carthage down the west coast of Africa, sailing up the Senegal River and perhaps landing in the Gulf of Guinea. Hanno told of many strange experiences, including a meeting with some "people" who were covered with hair. These were probably chimpanzees.
Traders and colonists
The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon were conquered in the 7th century B.C., but by that time the Phoenicians had founded many colonies around the Mediterranean. The greatest was Carthage, which became more powerful than either Tyre or Sidon. The Phoenicians traded in many things They provided timber for Egyptian ships and for King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. They sailed as far as Cornwall in England to buy tin from the Cornish mines. They also discovered the precious purple dye (called Tynan purple) which came from a type of shellfish called a murex. The Phoenicians were skilled in metalworking and glassblowing, and they developed one of the earliest alphabets.
Pytheas
The Greek astronomer Pytheas was bom in Marseilles, which was then a Greek colony. He made a famous voyage - perhaps two voyages - into the north Atlantic in about 330 B.C., probably hoping to break into the Phoenician tin trade. He sailed all around the British Isles and was the first to give an account of the people of those islands - he said they were friendly. From Scotland he sailed north to a land he called Thule. where, he claimed, the sun never set. No one knows where Thule was, but this description suggests it was close to the Arctic.
The voyage to Punt
The ancient Egyptians preferred to live close to the Nile River, but they had to travel in order to trade About 3,500 years ago. in the reign of Queen Haishepsut. the Egyptians made a voyage to the land of Punt (which may have been east Africa) They carried the materials they needed for building ships across the desert from the Nile to the Red Sea- a distance of about 155 miles. The voyage, through waters filled with jagged reels and sharks, took a year or more, Although such voyages had been made at least 500 years earlier, this one was described in words and pictures on the walls of Queen Hatshepsut's temple at Deir al-Bahri, near Thebes.
Riches from Punt
From their expedition to Punt, the Egyptians brought back myrrh and other plants, ivory, ebony, gold, leopard skins, and live animals such as baboons and pet dogs. The carving in Queen Haishepsut's temple, shows the Egyptians returning with herbs and spices. The inscription reads 'Never was the like brought back to any monarch since the world began.'
ANCIENT CHINESE EXPLORERS
About 2,000 years ago the ancient Romans and the Chinese still lived in separate worlds - their civilizations were developing in isolation. Between them lay high mountains, thick forests, and vast deserts, as well as warlike tribes who guarded their lands fiercely. Nonetheless, the Chinese and Romans knew of each others existence: Silk worn by rich Romans came from China, passing through many hands on the way. It came overland, along the old Silk Road.
These routes across central Asia were explored by a great Chinese traveler, Chang Ch'ien, in 138 B.C. Ancient trade routes also led to a third center of ancient civilization - India, the homeland of the religion of the Chinese Buddhists. Learned Buddhist monks, such as Fa Hsien in A.D. 399 and Hsuan Tsang in A.D. 629, journeyed there to study and to visit the holy places where the Buddha had taught.
Chang Chien
Chang Ch'ien was bom in about 150 B.C. He was an official at the court of the Chinese emperor Wu Ti and did more than any other person to bring the different ancient civilizations into contact. In 138 B.C. Wu Ti sent Chang Ch'ien west to central Asia. He was to find allies to help China fight against the marauding nomads, the Huns, who were threatening his empire. He reached Bactria, once part of the Greek empire of Alexander the Great. The people of Bactria did not want to join a war against the Huns, but Chang Ch'ien had succeeded in forming links between China, India, and the Middle East.
Fa Hsien
Fa Hsien was born in about A.D. 370. He was a Chinese monk who traveled west to study Buddhism. He followed the Silk Road to Khotan, where he found many Buddhist monks. He stayed there for three months, wailing to see a religious festival in which the town was decorated with flowers and banners. Then he crossed the mountains into India and spent several years studying in monasteries along the Ganges River.
In Sri Lanka he saw a very sacred relic - a human tooth that was said to have come from the mouth of Buddha himself. His account of his 15-year journey greatly improved Chinese knowledge of central Asia and India.
Buddhism
Buddhism began in India in the 6th century B.C., as a movement within the older religion of Hinduism. It was an unusual religion because it had no god. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism was a great missionary religion, and it spread through much of Asia, reaching China in about A.D. 100. Chinese Buddhist monks like Fa Hsien wanted to learn more about their religion. Their holy books had been translated from Sanskrit (the ancient language of India), and parts were hard to understand. Buddhist monks and pilgrims made amazing journeys through Asia in order to leam more about it. Fa Hsien and others set off to find groups of Buddhists, more holy books, and better translations, and also to study in ancient Buddhist temples.
Hsuan Tsang
Hsuan Tsang, also known as Tripitaka or "Master of the Law," was born in A.D. 602. He followed in the footsteps of Fa Hsien, about 200 years later. He crossed the desert on horseback and reached India. There he learned Sanskrit (the ancient language of India) in order to study the old Buddhist texts. He returned 15 years later and then spent many years translating Sanskrit texts and running a large monaster)' as well as writing an account of his travels. His account is famous for us accuracy.
He was a great scholar and adventurous traveler, but he did admit that when crossing the desert alone, he felt frightened.
Hsuan Tsang returns to China
When Hsuan Tsang returned to Chang-an in A.D. 645, he received a great welcome. He brought many treasures with him a chariot drawn by 20 horses carrying about 700 religious books and many religious objects, such as statues of Buddha. These books meant hard work for Hsuan Tsang. He is said to have translated nearly 100 times as many words as there are in the Christian Bible.
The Diamond Sutra
The spread of Budhism evem influenced the development of printing. The Chinese invented better printing methods so that more people could read sacred Budhist texts, such as Hsuan Tsang works. At that time, books were actually scrolls made up of sheets joined together. The 'image' to be printed was carved in a wooden block, which was then covered with ink. The Diamond Sutra was printed in A.D. 868 and is the oldest known book. A sutra is a collection of Budhist teachings.
VIKING VOYAGES
Vikings, meaning "men of the creek," is the name given to the people of Scandinavia who raided the coasts of Great Britain and northwest Europe from A.D. 800 to 1100. They were ruthless warriors who plundered and pillaged other lands. They often traveled far from their homeland in search of new lands to trade with or to settle. Their restless voyaging carried them halfway around the world: west across the stormy Atlantic, south into the warm Mediterranean, and north into the freezing Arctic.
No one knows for sure why the Vikings began to venture abroad in this way. Scandinavia was a rich country, but its population was growing. Younger sons, who had no land to inherit, may have seized the chance to make their fortune by raiding foreign shores. They also became wealthy by settling new lands and escaping the taxes of their own lands.
The world of the Sagas
Most of what we know about the settlement of Greenland, and the Viking voyages to North America, comes from the Norse Sagas. One of these was the 'Graenlandinga saga', or Greenlander's Saga, written in the 12th century, after the Viking voyages. Although some Sagas give a history of the Norse people, they were written as stories, for entertainment, and so they are not necessarily true. For example, the Sagas tell of the one-legged inhabitants of America. Proof that the Norse-Greenlanders settled in Newfoundland comes not from the Sagas but from remains of their houses found at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland.
Eric the Red
In the 980s, a Norse chieftain called Eric the Red, who had settled in Iceland, became an outlaw after killing a man in a fight. Eric had heard tales of lands to the west, and so he sailed there. The climate was milder then, and Eric decided to start a settlement in this new land. Finding summer grass growing near the shore he called the place "Greenland," hoping that this name would attract more people to settle there. In fact, Greenland is colder and icier than Iceland, which has volcanoes and hot springs. In spite ol this, Eric's colony survived and slowly grew.
The true discovery of America
Norsemen and women visited North America nearly 500 years before the famous voyage of Columbus in the 1.490s. Information about land farther west was brought to Eric the Red by Bjarni Herjulfsson, whose ship had been blown off course between Iceland and Greenland, Eric's son, Leif Erikson, led an expedition to explore the land. One man, traveling farther south, reported an area of fertile land where there were vines of wild grapes growing. Leif named this land Vinland, or "Wineland." All of this suggests that the Norsemen sailed a long way south, to the northeast states of America.
Finding the way
The Norsemen who settled across the Atlantic could roughly tell their position by the stars. They had neither charts nor instruments to help them navigate, but they have a kind of compass, called a bearing dial. Anotch on the dial indicates south. At noon this notch lines up with a point on the horizon directly below the sun. The navigator set the course with the pointer.
A Norse ship
The Vikings could not have traveled so far without very good ships. The longships they used on raids were fast and sleek, powered by sail or oars But the Vikings used wide-bellied ships when they went on trading voyages or to settle new land. These ships were shorter and wider than the longships with more room for passengers and cargo. They depended mainly on a large square sail, but they could also be rowed. The mast and sail could be used to make a roof, like a lent, over the ship when it was moored (anchored). The 'knorr' was the largest type of cargo ship, measuring up to 53 ft long and 13-16 ft wide.
Following the rivers
The Viking traders from Sweden and Norway, who made long journeys across Russia, followed the rivers inland as far as they could. Their boats were light and shallow so that they could be paddled upriver. When they had to cross from one river to another, or find a way around a waterfall, they could carry the boats overland.
The travels of the Vikings in Europe
Although the Vikings discovered new lands in the west, across the Atlantic, they traveled even farther lo the east, across Europe and into Asia. The Danes settled in northeast England and raided the coasts of Italy and North Africa. The Swedes established trade routes from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. From the Black Sea they sailed to Constantinople. From the Caspian, they connected with the Silk Road to China. The Norwegians took over the Northern Isles of Scotland and founded cities such as Dublin, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland. Other Norse folk bought land from the king of France and settled in what became Normandy. The word Normans comes from "Northmen" or "Norsemen."
By Neil Grant in "The Great Atlas of Discovery", Alfred A. Knoff, New York,USA, 1992, excerpts pp. 6-11. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.