Thymiaterium is seen here at the lower left, on what is now the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

Thymiaterium or Thymiaterion (Ancient Greek: Θυμιατήριον),[1] Scylax called it Thymiaterias (Θυμιατηρίας),[2] was an ancient Carthaginian colony in present-day Morocco. The Periplus (Περίπλους) of Hanno the Navigator claims that he founded it on his journey of exploration beyond the Pillars of Hercules.[3][4] The manuscript is a copy of another Greek work which translated the Punic original and is part of the Codex Palatines Graecus 398 which belongs to the Heidelberg University.[3]

According to Hanno, he founded the colony, the first of his journey, two days' sail past the Pillars of Hercules.[5] Schoff, citing Karl Müller, identified it with the town of Mehedia, currently known as Mehdya. The location of Thymiaterium is also given at Mehedia in the Atlas of Ancient & Classical Geography.[6] Hanno may have been deliberately vague about the location of colonies he founded to prevent enemies of Carthage from finding them.[7]

References

  1. ^ Periplus of Hanno, 2
  2. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Thymiaterion
  3. ^ a b Hanno: Carthaginian Explorer
  4. ^ Hanno the Navigator (1912). The Periplus of Hanno, a Voyage of Discovery down the African Coast, by a Carthaginian Admiral of the Fifth Century B.C. Translated by Schoff, Wilfred H. Philadelphia: Secretary of the Commercial Museum.
  5. ^ Hanno the Navigator (2)
  6. ^ Butler, Samuel (1907). Atlas of Ancient & Classical Geography. London: JM Dent & Co.
  7. ^ B. H. Warmington, Carthage, p. 64, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1960 Internet Archive OCLC 59366

Karl Müller, Geographi Græci Minores, vol. 1, Firmin-Didot, 1882

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