Literary Evidence for Tartessos-Tarshish-Atlantis in The
Tartessos-Tarshish was the model for Plato’s Atlantis Rainer W. Kühne Tuckermannstr. 35, 38118 Braunschweig, Germany ABSTRACT The capital of Tartessos lay between the two mouths of the river Baetis (Strabon 3,1,9; Literary evidence supports the following view. 3,2,11; Pausanias 6,19,3). The Baetis was tidal Tartessos and Tarshish were identical. Tartessos and Iberia's largest river (Pausanias 6,19,3). was the model for Plato's Atlantis. The Baetica was the ancient Roman name of Tartessians traded with precious metals, Andalusia (cf. Pliny 3,6). So it is reasonable to especially with silver. Among their trade identify the Baetis with the Guadalquivir and to partners were the Phoenicians, the Hebrews, and locate the capital of Tartessos within the the Greeks. The capital of Tartessos lay in the Donana National Park. Donana National Park. Tartessos existed from the tenth to the sixth century BC. 1.4 Dating 1. TARTESSOS The Tartessians had knowledge of writing (Strabon 3,1,6). This knowledge was brought to 1.1 Sources Iberia by Phoenician colonists. The culture of Tartessos ended about 550 BC (Herodotus We know about Tartessos by several Greek and 1,163). Roman writers. These include Herodotus (1,163; 4,152; 4,191), Diodorus (5,35,4), 2. TARSHISH Strabon (3,1-2), Pliny (3,7; 4,120), Pausanias (6,19,3), and Rufius Festus Avienus (Ora 2.1 Sources Maritima 225; 284). We know about Tarshish by inscriptions of the 1.2 Trade Assyrian king Asarhaddon and by several books of the bible. These include Genesis (10,1-4), 1 The Tartessians traded with several precious Kings (10,22; 22,49), 1 Chronicles (1,5-7), 2 metals, especially with silver (Herodotus 4,152; Chronicles (9,21; 20,36), Psalms (48,8; 72,10), Diodorus 5,35,4; Avienus 225; 284).
[Show full text]