Nasamons, Herodotus, H.Barth, Denham, Beechey, Laing, Hugh-Clapperton,
James Richardson.
Today Libya remains one of the last
countries in the world where very little scientific work has been
done and as such many archaeologists know Libya as the
"undiscovered country".
North African Explorers:
The Nasamons: like some European scholars had pointed out, to
say that the Libyan Sahara remained unexplored until the eighteenth
century merely means that the Libyan Sahara had not been visited by
European explorers and travellers until then. The five Berber Nasamonians
of eastern Libyan, according to Herodotus, were the first explorers
of the Libyan Sahara and as such were the first northern people known
to history to venture into the Sahara desert. The Nasamonians were
the sons of chieftains who draw lots for five of their number to explore
the Libyan desert and try to penetrate further than had ever been done
before.
Hanno (ca 500 - 450 BC): the Periplus of Hanno are considered
some of the oldest documents of classical geography, in which the North
African Hanno was perceived as the first (known) explorer of west Africa.
He started out from Carthage, travelled beyond the Pillars of Hercules
into the Atlantic Ocean, and then sailed along the west African coast
as far as Senegal. During his travels, he encountered crocodiles and
hippopotami, an island by the name of the Western Horn, a large
hill called the Chariot of the Gods (a volcano ?), and the Southern
Horn, where he met hairy people called gorillas by his interpreters.
No one knows exactly where Hanno went or how far he travelled. But
upon returning to Carthage, he erected a tablet describing his voyage
in the temple of Bel, which did not survive. But in a Greek translation
of some of the passages of the document, in which he was mentioned
as
"
king
", Hanno described his crossing of the
Pillars of Hercules, and the erection
of an altar to Poseidon at Cape Soloeis. The accuracy of the Greek translation,
just as the Roman translation of Africanus, was doubtful, as it is difficult
to imagine how 30,000 men and women, supposedly travelled with Hanno, would fit
in 60 ships.
King Juba (about 2000 years ago): Mauritania's King Juba's expedition
went as far west as the Canary Islands.
As complete records from Juba's expeditions
did not survive, it is difficult to know if his expedition
did venture south into the Sahara or
not.
Al Idrisi (1100 - 1166): unlike other works of his time, al-Idrisi's
contemporaries considered al-Idrisi's work as scientific, and many
sources say he was heavily influenced by the concepts he borrowed from
Ptolemy; much of whose work has came down to us through al-Idrisi's.
It was also reported that the Moroccan explorer and geographer al-Idrisi
was the first to discover that the river Nile flowed from the equatorial
lakes of Africa, long before European explorers re-discovered the source
which they called Lake Victoria (Speke),
Lake Albert (Samuel
&
Florence Baker), and Lake Edward (Stanley).
The Moorish astrolabe, which was invented around 1067, was
used for geographical orientation before the Chinese invented the magnetic
needle in 1119.
Ibn Battuta (1304 -1368) spent nearly 30 years exploring the
world, travelling across as many as 50 countries in North Africa, Middle
East, Turkey, Central Asia, China and India; in which respect he was
often mentioned in relation to Marco Polo. His last adventure saw him
leave his homeland, Morocco, towards the Sahara and the Kingdom of
Mali, with gold-merchant caravans. His travels across the western Sahara
desert in ten-day journeys recall the descriptions of Herodotus who
often described distances in that manner. His claim of reaching the
Far East was disputed as an exaggeration and many say he never reached
that far east.
Ibn Khaldoun (1332 -1406) was a North African philosopher, historian,
explorer, geographer and politician of great insight into the psychology
of human civilisations. He was considered by some sources as the most
important figure in historiography. His major work is the Muqaddimah
(Introduction, or Outline of History), in which he gave a detailed
account of the Berber nations of North Africa. His knowledge of the
Berber society and history indicates, without a doubt, his Berber ancestry;
although, according to critics, al-Idrisi and al-Bakri were said to
have supplied him with most of his material regarding the Berber Sanhaja
group.
Ibn Khaldun also used a world history
survey by the Christian Paulus Orosius. His monumental 7 volume library
remains one of the most valuable sources still available to students
of North Africa today.
Leo Africanus (1485 - 1554): a North African
Berber geographer, explorer and traveller who wrote a Geographical History of
Africa, including a description of the Berber kingdoms and Timbuktu. The proper
geography of Africa became known to Europeans only after the publication of his
work. Even three centuries later, European geographers continued to draw fancy
pictures of wild beasts in unknown places and brown Africans and dwarfs in
uninhabited zones in their maps of Africa. Leo Africanus wrote his book in Arabic,
before it was translated into Italian. The book was written in 1526, but it was
not published until 1550, when the book came into the hands of Jean-Baptiste
Ramusio – who was said to may have rewrote the entire book. Unfortunately
we will never know how much has been added or removed because Leo's original
work did not survive. The Italian edition was later translated into English in
1600 by John Pory.
Major European Explorers
Over the centuries Libya has attracted
the curiosity of many foreign explorers
and travellers,
particularly in the eighteenth century,
when most of the northern and central
regions of Africa were still unexplored
by Europeans. Apparently, the idea behind
the expeditions was perceived by some colonial authorities after receiving reports
of the rich countries of Bornu, Hausa, Sokoto, the Niger River, Lake Chad
and the Sudan. It was reported that the
reports returned home by
those who survived death and disease
were later proved useful.
Herodotus (480s BC - 420s BC), in his Histories, gives one of
the earliest descriptions of Libya and Libyan mythology and traditions.
His work remains one of the most quoted sources of antiquities about
Libya and the Berbers. He travelled around the eastern Mediterranean,
Mesopotamia, the Black Sea, and Egypt. His description of North Africa
and particularly the Libyans is a mixture of descriptive geography,
history, legend and mythology. This led some critics and scholars to
dismiss his work. But given the fact that during his time, when writing
was still a new discovery, oral traditions were the primary source
of history, and therefore the only means to keep
alive distant memories which otherwise would have not survived the onslaught of time.
Major Daniel Houghton (1740-1791), his quest was to find Timbuktu;
travelling up the Gambia across the Senegal and disappeared around
Simbing.
Friedrich Hornemann (1772- 1801), disguised
as a merchant, travelled with a caravan from Cairo to Murzuk and then to Lake
Chad and Kano. On the 5th of September, 1798, he left for Fezzan in southern
Libya and reached Murzuk in safety, where
he remained for a considerable time. He then visited Tripoli, after which he
returned to Murzuk and started thence in April, 1800. From that time no information
was received directly from him; but Major Denham many years later learned that
he had penetrated as far as Nyffe on the Niger, where he fell a victim
to disease.
Major Alexander Laing (1793-1826), from Tripoli he crossed the
Sahara and reached Timbuktu. he was said to be the first explorer from
Europe to reach Timbuktu and also the first to reach Ghadames. In a
letter from Timbuktu, dated September 21, he announced his arrival
in Timbuktu through Ein Salah on the preceding August the 18th. It
was ascertained, from native records, that he was murdered on his way
back from Timbuktu on the night of September 26th that same year. Laing’s
papers were never recovered, though it is believed that they were secretly
brought to Tripoli in 1828.
Major Dixon Denham (1786-1828), Captain Hugh Clapperton (1788-1827)
and Doctor Walter Oudney (1786-1828) , in 1822, 1823 and 1824
became among the first Europeans to reach lake Chad. The London African
Society set up an expedition to reach Central Africa through Tripoli
and the Fezzan region, and was entrusted in the hands of London-born
Major Dixon Denham, Dr Walter Oudney and Captain Hugh Clapperton. Dixon joined the expedition at Murzuq in Fezzan. It started
in Tripoli in 1822 and eventually reached
Fezzan, Ghat and later Bornu. Dr Oudney
was struck dead by tropical fever. Denham had separated himself from
the expedition to explore the Shari River, the principal source of
Lake Chad; while Clapperton went south and west in an attempt to reach
Timbuktu, and he also travelled 1500 miles across the central Sahara
from Fezzan to Lake Chad. Denham rejoined Clapperton at a settlement
south of Lake Chad and the two eventually returned to Tripoli where
they arrived almost three years later, in January 1825, and then to
the British capital, where they published: “Narrative of Travels and
Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the years 1822, 1823
and 1824”.
John Davidson (1797-1836), unlucky explorer
who lost his life in his way to discover Timbuktu.
William Lucas, Dr Joseph Ritchie(ca 1788 - 1819) and George Francis Lyon (1795
- 1832) were among the first to embark on such an adventure. On April
7, 1819 G. F. Lyon and J. Ritchie dressed as locals and took off on
a journey from Tripoli to Sudan. The pair had travelled on the road
from Gharian to Beni, and then pressed on towards Sokna, Sabha and
Murzuq. On November 20 of the same year, Dr Ritchie died. Lyon wandered
across Fezzan before finding his way to Gatron where he is said to
have made some astronomic observations, and gathered historic and economic
information. However, he had wrongly come to the conclusion that the
Niger must enter Lake Chad and then flow on to join the Nile.
Heinrich Barth (1821-1865) was one of the greatest Saharan explorers
of all time. He published discoveries, in five volumes, titled Travels
and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, is an account of an Expedition
undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government in the years 1849-1855,
together with the Prussian astronomer A. Overweg and J. Richardson (who
also
travelled from Tripoli to Ghadames and
Ghat). After the deaths of Richardson (1851) and Overweg (1852) Barth
managed to carry on the mission alone, and eventually returned to Europe
in September 1855.
James Richardson, In 1845,
in Laing’s footsteps, moved southwards
from Tripoli to the Mountain area and then to Ghadames, where he had
collected many interesting details about the way of life, customs and
traditions of the
Berbers. In December of the same year
he proceeded towards Ghat and later to Murzuq. He returned to Tripoli
through Sokna and Musratha.
Pere Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916): one of the most important
sources on the Berbers and the Sahara. After he became a monk in the
Tamenrasset region, and had compiled an important Tuareg dictionary.
Georges Marie Haardt (1884-1932)
&
Louis Audouin-Dubreuil (1887-1960) were
the first explorers who crossed the Sahara by motor car.
Frederick WilliamBeechey(1796 – 1856) was an English naval officer, artist,
explorer, hydrographer and author. In 1821, he took part in the survey
of the Mediterranean coast of Africa under the direction of Captain
William Henry Smyth. Accompanied by his brother Henry they sailed along
the Libyan coast from Tripoli Derna; their survey was regarded as an
accurate record for the mapping of the region, and they have published
a full account of their work in 1828 under the title of “Proceedings
of the Expedition to Explore the Northern Coast of Africa from Tripoli
Eastward in 1821-1822
"
.
Jeremy Keenan: Keenan's recent work remains the sole authority
on the Sahara's people the Tuareg, their
way of life, and their fast disappearing traditions. His book
"
The Tuareg people Of Ahaggar
"
(London, 1977) is the best introduction
to the people of the Sahara ever written.
There are a number of women who challenged
their times as well as the Sahara in order to explore the world. Their
journeys and accounts are not often explored and most people even
do not realise that there were women explorers.
For a comprehensive English bibliography
of women travellers and explorers of Africa between 1763 and 2004,
please visit the Africabib.org:
africabib.org/book/CONTENTS.htm
The following five items were taken from
the above bibliography:
Tinling, Marion.
"Grace Gallatin Thompson Seton, 1872-1959."
(In) Tinling, Marion. Women Into the Unknown: A Sourcebook on Women
Explorers and Travelers. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
1989. pp. 249-254.
Betham-Edwards, Matilda.
"Alexandrine Tinne, African Explorer."
(In) Betham-Edwards, Matilda. Six Life Studies of Famous Women.
New World Book Manufacturing. 1880. pp. 41-86.
Forbes, (Joan) Rosita Torr (British)(1893-1967).
The Secret of the Sahara: Kufara.
Mott-Smith, May (British)(1879-1952).
Africa From Port to Port. New York: Van Nostrand. 1930.
Toy, Barbara (British). Fool in the
Desert: Journeys in Libya. London: Murray. 1956. 180p.
Toy, Barbara, In Search of Sheba: Across
the Sahara to Ethiopia. London: Travel Club. 1961. 242p.
Toy Barbara, The Way of the Chariots:
Niger-River-Sahara-Libya. London: Murray. 1964. 161p. (Autobiography).
Books
The Journal of Frederick Horneman's Travels
From Cairo To Mourzouk
F. Horneman
A contemporary account of Frederick Horneman’s
journey from Cairo in September 1798, where he joins a caravan bound
for Murzuq in the heart of the Libyan Sahara.
226 pages, hardback, first published: 1802
reprint: 1985
Narrative of travels and discoveries
in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824
Dixon Denham; Hugh Clapperton, 1788-1827;
and Walter Oudney.
In two volumes, an account of a journey
undertaken by the three authors to explore the route between the Libya
coast and Lake Chad. After they split off from their army colleague
Major Denham, and then after Oudney's death, Clapperton travelled
alone to the great Hausa cities of Kano and Sokoto.
A Visit To The Barbary Regencies
Lord R. Grosvenor
An account of the travels of Lord Grosvenor,
who in 1829-30 accompanied a British naval expedition to Tripoli, Tunis
and Algiers. 112 pages, hardback, first published: 1830, reprint: 1986
Wanderings In North Africa
J. Hamilton
Hamilton’s journey, in 1852, through Cyrenaica
(Barqa) takes the form of excursion, here entertainingly retold.
"
I believe
"
, the author states,
"
that the traveller who simply records what he
sees with his eyes, and hears with his ears, and indulges in none of
the pleasures of the imagination, rarely meets with those stirring scenes
which so frequently charm the reader
"
.
360 pages: hardback, first published:
1856
, reprint: 1985
Travels And Discoveries In North And Central Africa Heinrich Barth (Henry Barth)
From the Journal of an expedition undertaken
under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government in the years 1849-1855. With
notes and extracts from Mr. Richardson's account of the expedition,
and a sketch of Denham and Clapperton's expedition by the american
editor.
Philadelphia, J.W. Bradley,
1859
. 8 vol.
The Great Sahara
H. B. Tristram
Two years of travelling in Algeria and and
adventures deep into the desert regions south of the Atlas Mountains. 472 pages,
hardback, first published:
1860
, reprint: 1985
Across The Sahara
Hanns Vischer
In his adventurous journey with a caravan,
the author ventures into regions unexplored by any Westerner since the
days of Barth. 308 pages, hardback, first published:
1910
, reprint: 1995
Tripoli The Mysterious
M. Loomis Todd
An interesting account of Tripoli and its
traditional way of life before the Italian invasion, including an account
of the total eclipse of 1905.
229 pages, paperback, first published:
1912
, reprint: 1994
Mysteries Of The Libyan Desert
W. J. Harding King
This work presents a record
of the author's three-year exploration of the most inhospitable regions
of the Libyan Desert. 348 pages, hardback, first published:
1925
, reprint: 2004
A Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa
in the Years 1818, 1819 and 1820
G. F. Lyon
First published in London, 1821
The History and Description of Africa
Leo Africanus;
translated by John Pory
Geographical History of Africa
during 1550s, including a description of the Berber kingdoms and Timbuktu.
The proper geography of Africa became known to Europeans only after the
publication of his work.
London, 1896
Voyages d'Ibn Batutah,
Ibn Batutah
An account of Batutah's travels
in North Africa, starting from Morocco and then the western Sahara desert.
Paris, 1853-8
Description de l'Afrique Septentrionale,
Al Bakeri (El Bekri)
An interesting account of Life
in North Africa during the eleventh century
Paris, 1859
Geographie d'Edrisi; and Description de l'Afrique
et de l'Espagne
Al Edrisi
Leyden, 1866
