Circa 6th century BC, Carthaginian navigator Hanno embarked on a spectacular voyage from Carthage to establish new settlements along the West African coast, with his first major stop in Morocco. His account recalls founding colonies at sites such as Mehdya, Azemmour, El Jadida, Oualidia, and Essaouira, before reaching the river Lixos and Kerne Island near Dakhla, the southernmost Carthaginian outpost. Nearly 2,500 years ago, Carthaginian navigator Hanno set sail on an expedition along the West African coast. His journey, detailed in his periplus, describes spectacular West African landscapes, indigenous peoples, and wildlife—from a volcano eruption in modern-day Cameroon to the very first known account of gorillas. But before his voyage went that far, Hanno's first major stop was in Morocco. Beyond the Pillars of Heracles, as his inscription calls today's Strait of Gibraltar, Hanno, debated by scholars as either a general, a king, or an aristocrat, set out from present-day Tunisia heading west with «sixty fifty-oared ships, about thirty thousand men and women, food and other equipment», to found new settlements, according to a translated version of his eighteen-line account (reportedly inscribed on a Carthaginian temple wall and later rendered into Greek). In Morocco, his account points to the creation of several Libyphoenician cities. Hanno's first stop after two days at sea was Thymiaterion, identified with the harbor of Mehdya, 40 kilometers north of Rabat. From there, his fleet continued westward to Soloeis, a promontory many scholars associate with Cape Mazagan near Azemmour. «Here we dedicated a temple to Poseidon», Hanno records, the Greek rendering of the Carthaginian sea god Yam. He continues: «Sailing to the east for half a day, we reached a lake. It was not far from the sea and was covered with many long reeds, from which elephants and other wild animals were eating». Scholars link this lake to the Oum Er-Rbia river, suggesting it may have been one of several lakes along its course. Founding colonies along the Moroccan coast Hanno then continued along the coast, visiting more Moroccan sites. The Periplus also lists a string of new colonies thought to correspond to Moroccan locations: in addition to Azzemour (Karikon Teichos) and El Jadida (Gytte), it mentions Cape Beddouza (Akra), Oualidia (Melitta), and Mogador, today's Essaouira (Arambys). After reinforcing Carthaginian settlements near the Atlas, Hanno's fleet pushed further south and reached what he described as «the great river Lixos, flowing out of Libya». French historian J. Carcopino identified it with Lixus near Larache, while others suggest it was Morocco's Drâa, the region's largest river and the southern limit of cultivable land. There, Hanno encountered the Lixitai, nomadic herders with whom «we stayed for a while, having become friends». Beyond them, he noted, lived hostile cave-dwellers «swifter than horses». From Lixos, Hanno took interpreters and sailed along the desert coast for two days before reaching a small island he named Kerne. Its Phoenician name, Khernaa, means «the last habitation», apt, since it marked the southernmost Carthaginian outpost. Most historians identify Kerne with modern Herne Island, also known as l'Île du Dragon, near Dakhla. Hanno emphasized its significance, writing: «We estimated from the sailing that Kerne lay in direct line with Carthage». Kerne became the staging point for further exploration. From there, Hanno embarked on a journey that would take him as far south as present-day Gabon.
