The Sahara in ancient written sources from the Phoenician and Greek periods (up to 650 CE)

Abstract

This presentation will examine Greek sources relating to accounts of Phoenician, Persian and Greek circumnavigations around the African continent and the Sahara desert. By contrasting the written sources with archaeological documentation on the coastal settlements of Morocco, it will ask what the ancients' experience and knowledge of the Sahara was. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus in particular will be examined.