A mystery more than 2,000 years old: The creatures that attacked the ancient world's greatest explorer with stones

More than 2,000 years ago, a Carthaginian explorer recorded an encounter with a population he called the “gorillai.” The description has become one of the ancient world's strangest unsolved mysteries because the creatures appeared humanoid and behaved in ways that seemed remarkably human.

The account comes from a Greek text preserved under the name Periplus of Hanno. It describes Hanno the Navigator's voyage along the Atlantic coast of Africa and his confrontation with the enigmatic population. Specialists note that the behavior attributed to the “gorillai” differs from that of Africa's great apes, leaving their identity unresolved.

Hanno was a Carthaginian general and explorer from a city founded in 814 BC by Phoenician settlers from Tyre, on the coast of present-day Lebanon. The Phoenicians were known as skilled navigators and merchants. They established Carthage on the coast of North Africa, in present-day Tunisia, to reach new markets and resources.

Carthage later developed into an oligarchic republic that controlled surrounding territories and built a commercial empire across the Mediterranean. Its power depended on its navy, trade agreements and the administration of colonies. The ruling families invested heavily in colonization to protect commerce and expand access to strategic resources.

Control of important maritime routes and island ports helped Carthaginian sailors move beyond the Strait of Gibraltar and establish a presence along Africa's Atlantic coast. In the fifth century BC, Carthaginian leaders sent Hanno beyond the familiar Mediterranean world. His fleet consisted of 60 ships carrying sailors, soldiers and colonists, and his mission combined exploration with the expansion of Carthage's commercial empire.