History of exploration I (ancient and classical)

As early as the dawn of the world's major civilizations, people developed a long-standing curiosity about their world and universe. Exploration was a means of pushing the boundaries of known lands, as well as creating a new interpretation of the workings of the cosmos. As man wandered farther from home, he found new civilizations, wide oceans , and exotic goods. Growing curiosity, the desire to enhance military might, and demand for goods linked exploration and trade.

The Egyptians were the first build sea worthy ships. The earliest expedition recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics is that of Pharaoh Snefru in about 3200 b.c. In 2750 b.c., Hannu led an expedition to explore the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. After Hannu's voyage, Egyptian exploration declined until the first millennium b.c. In 550 b.c., Egyptian vessels circumnavigated Africa . They also constructed a canal between the Red Sea and the Nile River to facilitate trade.

The Phoenicians were perhaps the most prolific seafarers and traders of the ancient world. From their main port of Carthage, the Phoenicians dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea. The Phoenician monopoly of trade reached from the Straits of Gibraltar to the far reaches of Persia (present-day Iran).

In 510 b.c., Greek explorer Scylax, who served in the Persian Navy, traveled to the Indus River and the mountains of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. He searched for new trade routes and a way to break the Phoenician trade monopoly. Pytheas sailed to the coast of modern France and established a Greek port and military garrison at Massalia (Marseilles). He then continued his expedition, later circumnavigating Britain and exploring the North Sea. The invention of a new ship, the bireme, which had two decks and four rows of oarsmen, aided the Greeks in assuming dominance over the Mediterranean.

The Roman Empire, which reached the height of its power from 100 b.c. to a.d. 400, commanded both sea and land. Sea vessels were largely used as battleships, and while the Romans did have a considerable trade fleet, the most ambitious expeditions used large war ships that carried soldiers, slaves, and plundered goods. The area that the Phoenicians once controlled with trade, the Romans governed over directly. The continued success of Rome depended on military conquest, territorial expansion, and the growth of the imperial economy. Rome gained dominion over lands from Northern Europe to Northern Africa, from Spain to Persia. They developed circular trade routes that insured that various regions of the empire received the goods and raw materials desired. Timber was exported the peripheral regions where trees were scarce. Slaves were transported to regions of production and building. Olive oil and wine was traded throughout the Empire. These complex trade routes that insured a steady stream of raw materials and luxury goods were the model for the Atlantic triangular trade routes of the 1700s.

The European Old World was not the only venue for world exploration. In the first century a.d., Chinese explorers made rapid technological advancements, inventing the compass and complex sailing vessels, which aided open water exploration. Most ships had to remain in sight of land in order to navigate, but the Chinese compass, as well as Phoenician astronomical charts, permitted longer voyages, sometimes beyond the sight of land. Early Chinese sailors explored many of Asia's rivers and surrounding seas . They ventured as far as India and the eastern coast of Africa. Exploration and trade aided in the creation of a powerful and far-reaching Chinese empire.

In the South Pacific, Polynesian mariners explored the regional islands even before the recorded history. In 100-ft (30.5-m) canoes with minimal sails, Polynesians hopped from island to island, as well as made long open sea voyages. By a.d. 1000, Polynesian explorers had set foot in Hawaii and New Zealand. These Pacific sailors had a deep understanding of ocean currents and prevailing winds that was not achieved in the Atlantic until the sixteenth century.

As exploration pushed the boundaries of the known world, philosophers, astronomers, and mathematicians devised new interpretations for the workings of the world and universe. Some focused on practical challenges, such as navigation, and devised complex charts of stars. Others took a universal approach, mingling religion with exploration and science to devise of theories of how the universe and Earth itself were structured. These structures, or cosmologies, dictated the bounds of scientific reasoning and exploration. The Greek mathematician, Ptolemy, devised a model for the universe that persisted for centuries, most especially through Europe's Dark and Middle Ages (496–1450). Not until the fifteenth century and Copernican Revolution—the reemergence of concepts of a spherical Earth, and a solar system that revolves around the Sun—did scientific exploration of the earth, and beyond, reemerge.

See also History of exploration II (Age of exploration); History of exploration III (Modern era)