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Numerous individuals claim that the Phoenicians were the first to circumnavigate Africa. The readings presented three opposing opinions to this conclusion, but the professor's lecture refuted these arguments. First, the circumnavigation of Africa is complex. Travelers must be equipped with adequate navigational gear. According to the article, Phoenician sailors in about 600 B.C. lacked the necessary shipbuilding abilities. The
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y could not circumnavigate Africa because the ships they constructed were too tiny and primitive. However, the professor informed everyone at the hearing that scientists and shipbuilders had completed accurate reproductions of Phoenician ships and tested their capabilities in recent years. The data shows that the vessel performs exceptionally well. It is sufficient for an ultra-long expedition. Second,the article indicated tha
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t, given the social climate of the period, the Egyptian rulers would not have devised preparations for ocean voyages, much less hired Phoenicians. According to the professor, this is an unrealistic supposition. The lecturer emphasized that the pharaoh of Egypt at the time was distinct from the rulers who had come before him. He had a keen interest in water mobility. He developed canals to link interior rivers to the coast thro
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ughout his rule. In addition, for economic prosperity, he has every incentive to employ Phoenicians to explore Africa in search of dependable water trade routes and possible trading partners. The majority of the tales in the ancient texts are derived from oral tradition, and the reading materials do not support their veracity. It may be a tale created by the sailors. While listening, the lecturer led the class to study the rel
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evant documents and stressed a particular point. When sailing to the south, Phoenician sailors noted that the midday sun was in the north, not the south. This is a performance characteristic of the southern hemisphere. The Phoenician sailors, who lived year-round in the northern hemisphere, would only have reported this phenomenon in detail if they had personally visited that location.
