Geologist Werner Steyn. Photo: Melkbos.net
By Werner Strydom
Phoenicians in Langebaan? According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus this may well have been the case. Should evidence be found it would confirm that mariners of an ancient Middle Eastern civilization explored Southern Africa 2100 years before the Portuguese.
Herodotus: The man who inspired the writing of this article. Photo: Wikipedia
Who were the Phoenicians?
The Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group who were closely related to Jewish and Arab people. They lived in parts of modern day Syria, Lebanon and Northern Israel. Apart from giving the world the alphabet, they were also master ship builders, sailors and craftsmen. Astute businessmen, they sold their goods from Egypt to Great Britain whilst operating from cities such as Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Baalbeck. They were the Makro, Pick & Pay, Mr. Price and Woolworths of their day!
After the Battle of Carchemish in 605BC during which many cities were destroyed, sailors and ships from Phoenicia were tasked with locating the mysterious mines in Ophir and Punt. These were said to be located in what are now Somalia and Zimbabwe.
An epic voyage
Even with the aid of fair winds and favorable currents the rigors of nearly a year at sea must have taken a heavy toll on the sailors. Scurvy, caused by a lack of Vitamin C and balanced diet, resulted in many a sailor dying a slow and agonizing death. Who knows how many poor souls were lost and buried beneath the sands of the Cape Flats? Only time and the elements will tell.
A Phoenician ship and crew. Illustration: Pinterest
Buried in salt flats
Some ships may have lost most of their crews. This in turn could have led to the subsequent abandonment of some galleys in shallow bays and salt flats that would become Mitchel’s Plain and Pinelands two and a half millennia later.
The Phoenician fleet had to round Cape Point, braving great white shark invested waters, before proceeding up to the west coast via Table Bay. I wish that I was a seabird perching on the masts of one of those graceful ships. The look on the weather-beaten faces of those sailors as they beheld the majesty of Table Mountain would have been priceless. I get goose bumps as I am writing this passage.
Langebaan, 604 BC
The Phoenicians were not out of danger however, and winter was closing in fast. Ferocious South Atlantic storms would have battered the fleet to destruction and the sailors must have thanked their deity Baal for deliverance when they entered Langebaan in June of 604BC. As the bay of Langebaan provided perfect shelter for the fleet the admiral decided to spend the winter there. The Phoenicians probably built crude shelters from rock, wood and spare canvas from the ships. The now extinct Cape Lion was very common in the area at the time and fires had to be lit at night in order to keep these marauding felines at bay.
Probably planted wheat
The mariners were also experienced farmers and they probably planted wheat further inland. Armed guards would almost certainly have been posted around the camp and wheat fields, in case of an attack.
Could these San paintings depict ancient Phoenician galleys? Photo: Pinterest
Phoenicians and the San probably co-existed peacefully
The San were the only people who inhabited Southern Africa at that time. I would imagine that the San were awed by the Phoenician ships that resembled towers of wood and cloth gliding over the ocean. I believe that the Phoenicians and San co-existed and traded peacefully during the winter and spring of 604 BC. Ships were repaired and game such as Blaauwbok, Quagga, Springbok, Eland, Gemsbok and possibly even Buffalo were in plentiful supply and regularly hunted.
Eventually the winter gave away to spring and the Phoenicians were able to harvest their wheat. The fleet departed from Langebaan in November of 604 BC; it returned to Egypt in triumph in September of 602 BC. The journey had lasted an incredible three years! No other nation would ever circumnavigate Africa again for 2100 years. That is until one sunny day in 1488, when a group of Khoi spotted something strange on the horizon, whilst searching for food on a pristine beach…
(The original article has been shortened and edited.)
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