A Saite Story Of Glory: Necho II & The Circumnavigation Of Africa
Ancient Egypt|Issue 103

Kevin Harrison investigates the truth behind one of Herodotus’ fabulous tales.

Kevin Harrison
A Saite Story Of Glory: Necho II & The Circumnavigation Of Africa

Perhaps the story came from Greeks, resident in Egypt for generations; perhaps from Phoenicians,boasting of the maritime prowess of their ancestors; most likely the story of the voyage came from Egyptians themselves, transmitted down generations of national decline, failure and humiliating foreign occupation, to this magpie-collector of strange customs, folk-lore and otherwise lost stories: ‘the Father of History’, Herodotus of Halicarnassus.

A Phoenician-crewed expedition, Herodotus recounts,was dispatched by pharaoh Necho II (610-595 BC) to circumnavigate the continent of Africa (‘Libya’ to the Greeks). From a Red Sea naval base, it sailed down the East African coast, rounded the Cape and progressed up West Africa, returning to Egypt nigh-on three years later. It was a triumph, an achievement worthy of the revered pharaohs of olden times.

In Book II of the Histories Herodotus had discussed Egypt’s history and geography. In Book IV:42 he offers a glimpse of Necho’s expedition so tantalising that no consensus exists among historians, ancient or modern, as to its actuality. Few details exist to ‘flesh out’ this voyage. No records of it survive from Egypt, or from Phoenician sources. All ancient accounts of the circumnavigation post-date Herodotus, are derived from his Histories and add nothing new.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 103 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 103 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من ANCIENT EGYPT مشاهدة الكل
INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
Ancient Egypt

INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER

Sean McLachlan explores the recently reopened interior of this iconic Third Dynasty Saqqara monument.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
PER MESUT: for younger readers
Ancient Egypt

PER MESUT: for younger readers

She Who Loves Silence

time-read
4 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband
Ancient Egypt

Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband

Campbell Price describes an offering table with a touching significance.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth
Ancient Egypt

Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth

Campbell Price describes the significance of two statue busts on display in the Museum.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Ancient Egypt

TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy

Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.

time-read
9 mins  |
May / June 2021
Lost Golden City
Ancient Egypt

Lost Golden City

An Egyptian Mission searching for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun has discovered a settlement – “The Dazzling of Aten” – described as the largest city ever found in Egypt (see above). Finds bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III (see opposite, top) date the settlement to his reign, c. 1390-1352 BC – making it about 3400 years old.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
Ancient Egypt

Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price
Ancient Egypt

Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara
Ancient Egypt

Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara

An Egyptian team working on a Sixth Dynasty pyramid complex near the Teti pyramid at Saqqara has made a series of important discoveries.

time-read
1 min  |
March / April 2021
Map Of Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Map Of Egypt

What’s in a name? It is easy for us to forget that the names we associate with the pyramids – such as the Meidum Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid or the Black Pyramid – would have been meaningless to their builders.

time-read
3 mins  |
March / April 2021