Questions about Carthage

[BasileusIX]

I have some questions about Carthage:

1 Did the Arabs know about Carthage and Hannibal? Were there any Arab historians or rulers who refered to Carthage? Were any of them like, 'oh here was that city, Qarth-Hadast, or something like that...'?
2 How far south did the Carthaginians a) explore, b) settle?
3 Was there any cultural imprint on Spain, Sicily etc. from the Punics?
4 How big was Carthage as a city in relation to other cities of Antiquity?

 

[BaronNoir]

Question 2) is hard to answer, as the main Carthaginian activity (trade) is hard to determine with archeology

IE, yes, they found stuff of Punic origin south of the Sahel. But was it brought there by Punic traders or by African traders who traded it befhorehand ?

 

[Eusebio]

Hanno the Navigator is supposed to have explored the coast of West Africa.

 

[Aethis]

Hanno yes is supposed to have sailed the West Coast as Africa as far as perhaps Sao Tome, they described an island filled with 'hirstute savages' which they called Gorrilae and also described a mountain in the distance which best fits the description of Mount Cameroon and gives more weight to them landing on Sao Tome.

On this journey they were founding colonies along the coast of what is now Morocco (the Atlantic side), the furthest south colony was supposedly on an island called Cerne, we have no idea for definite where this island was but estimated north east of Cape Verde quite close to the coast.

Read in detail here: http://www.livius.org/person/hanno-1-the-navigator/hanno-1-the-navigator-2/

The only lasting imprints on former Carthaginian colonies really is in the ruins of their former towns where the modern ones have been built, the population of Carthaginians themselves was quite low and settlements rarely hit more than 1000 settlers, they would incorporate a lot of the locals. Romans, Vandals and Arabs/Moors all had their say in the culture of the former Carthaginian settlements. You might find some influence in the names: Qart-Hadast (New city) which the Roman's renamed Carthago Nova for example is today known as Cartagena. Thingis (Roman: Tingis) is today Tangiers.

Oh and of course - Barcelona