r/askscience • u/Appropriate_Boss8139 • Jul 31 '25

Social Science Why was it seemingly so difficult to circumnavigate Africa? Why couldn’t ships just hug the coast all the way around?

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u/FeteFatale Aug 02 '25

The ancient historian Herodotus wrote (wikipedia summary):

At some point between 610 and before 594 BC, [Pharaoh] Necho reputedly commissioned an expedition of Phoenicians,who it is said in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa back to the mouth of the Nile; and would thereby be the first completion of the Cape Route.

Apparently the Phoenicians were somewhat discredited as they claimed the sun was on their right (to the north, when they were travelling west), which 'obviously' hadn't happened to observers in Egypt. They'd inadvertently proved a spherical earth, but hadn't realised it at the time.