A Garden Of Hesperids? A Case Study From Morocco: Specific Location And Suitable Environment

Abstract

The Garden of the Hesperides may have been located at the westernmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa, near the Atlas Mountains, on the edge of the world ocean, in present-day Morocco. Whether or not these sites are more accurately described, model studies have emerged that are of interest for understanding patterns in Moorish and Roman northwestern Morocco and suggest that they ideally explore the relationship between sites, subsistence, access to the sea, and agriculture. They also examine location and distance from the sea and the relationship to maritime trade with the Mediterranean. These models are examples of successful ecosystem ensembles that can be used to determine the distribution of settlements based on environmental resources and cultural factors. In this study, 30 sites are examined. Other locations are also mentioned in connection with the Hesperidek garden. For example, the Sicilian Greek poet Stesichorus in his poem "Song of Geryon" and the Greek geographer Strabo in the third volume of his book Geography mention that the Garden of the Hesperides was located in Tartessus in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. However, in the light of this independent study and other sources, it is possible that some of the 30 sites studied in north- west Morocco may be the mythical Garden of the Hesperides.The Garden of the Hesperides may have been located at the westernmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa, near the Atlas Mountains, on the edge of the world ocean, in present-day Morocco. Whether or not these sites are more accurately described, model studies have emerged that are of interest for understanding patterns in Moorish and Roman northwestern Morocco and suggest that they ideally explore the relationship between sites, subsistence, access to the sea, and agriculture. They also examine location and distance from the sea and the relationship to maritime trade with the Mediterranean. These models are examples of successful ecosystem ensembles that can be used to determine the distribution of settlements based on environmental resources and cultural factors. In this study, 30 sites are examined. Other locations are also mentioned in connection with the Hesperidek garden. For example, the Sicilian Greek poet Stesichorus in his poem "Song of Geryon" and the Greek geographer Strabo in the third volume of his book Geography mention that the Garden of the Hesperides was located in Tartessus in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. However, in the light of this independent study and other sources, it is possible that some of the 30 sites studied in north- west Morocco may be the mythical Garden of the Hesperides.