Tartessos

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Tartessos (also Tartessus) was a harbor city on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula (in modern Andalusia, Spain), at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. Tartessos dates at least from 1000 BC, about the time when the Phoenicians made contact with the existing city. The Tartessians were traders, who may have discovered the route to the Tin Islands (Britain, or more specifically Cornwall) or the tin may have been found in alluvial ores carried down by their own river: the pseudonymous geographical versifier, Pseudo-Scymnus (ca 90 BCE), was surely imitating some older source when he wrote, "the renowned Tartessos, famous town, receives tin carried by the river from Celtica, as well as gold and bronze in great quantity" (Peregesis, 164, noted by Gamito). Trade in tin was very lucrative from the Bronze Age onwards, since it was necessary for the production of bronze. The people from Tartessos became important trading partners of the Phoenicians, who nearby built a harbor of their own, Gades (current-day Cádiz). Ancient Greek texts refer to a legendary king of Tartessos, Arganthonios, known for his wealth in silver and minerals. Greek texts say Arganthonios lived many years beyond the normal human lifespan, but Arganthonios may have been the name of several Tartessian kings or their title, giving rise to legends of a single man's longevity. Artifacts linked with the Tartessos culture have been found, but the site of the city is lost.

1 Lost civilization
2 Mythical and religious connections
3 Modern References
4 See also
5 External links
6 External links for the possible discovery

[edit] Lost civilization

In the 6th century BC, Tartessos disappeared rather suddenly from history. The Romans called the wide bay the Tartessius Sinus though the city was no more. One theory is that the city had been destroyed by the Carthaginians who wanted to take over the Tartessans' trading routes. Another is that it had been refounded, under obscure conditions, as Carpia. When the traveller Pausanias visited Greece in the 2nd century AD (Paus. Desc. 6.XIX.3) he saw two bronze chambers in one of the sanctuaries at Olympia, which the people of Elis claimed was Tartessian bronze:

"They say that Tartessus is a river in the land of the Iberians, running down into the sea by two mouths, and that between these two mouths lies a city of the same name. The river, which is the largest in Iberia, and tidal, those of a later day called Baetis, and there are some who think that Tartessus was the ancient name of Carpia, a city of the Iberians."

Flavius Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana (book v.1) observes of this southernmost part of Hispania: "the promontory of Europe, known as Calpis, stretches along the inlet of the Ocean and right hand side a distance of six hundred stadia, and terminates in the ancient city of Gadeira."

The name "Carpia" possibly survives as El Carpio, a site in a bend of the Guadalquivir, but the origin of its name has been associated with its imposing oldest feature, a Moorish tower erected in 1325 by the engineer responsible for the alcázar of Seville.

The site of Tartessos has been lost—buried under the shifting wetlands that have replaced former estuaries behind dunes at the modern single mouth of the Guadalquivir, where the river delta has gradually been blocked off by a huge sandbar that stretches from the mouth of the Rio Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The area is now protected as the Parque Nacional de Doñana. (see link)

[edit] Mythical and religious connections

Some believe Tartessos was the source of the legend of Atlantis. The similarities between the two legendary societies certainly make this connection seem possible. Both Atlantis and Tartessos are believed to have been advanced societies who collapsed when their cities were lost beneath the waves. The enigmatic Lady of Elx, a high artistic quality, ancient bust of a woman found in southeastern Spain, has been tied with both Atlantis and Tartessos since the statue displays the dress of unrecognized culture, that presumably developed great artistic skill to have produced such a work.

Some Tartessian enthusiasts imagine it as a contemporary of Atlantis, with which could have traded.

In the Bible, the word Tarshish may refer to Tartessos, though Tarsus in Turkey has also been suggested as an identification. (See further the entry for Jonah in the Jewish Encyclopedia.) Tarshish, like Tartessos, is associated with extensive mineral wealth.

[edit] Modern References

In the S. M. Stirling book Island in the Sea of Time and the subsequent books that follow in the series, there is mention of the Tartessian Empire and one of the subjects of the Empire is a main character in series.