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Amazon River
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Amazon River (Amazonia)
Apurímac, Ene, Tambo, Ucayali, Amazonas, Solimões
River
Amazon River near Indiana, Peru
Countries
Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia
Tributaries
- left Marañón, Japurá/Caquetá, Rio Negro/Guainía, Putumayo
- right Ucayali, Purús, Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu
City
Iquitos (Peru); Leticia (Colombia);
Tabatinga (Brazil); Tefé (Brazil);
Itacoatiara (Brazil) Parintins (Brazil);
Óbidos (Brazil); Santarém (Brazil);
Almeirim (Brazil); Macapá (Brazil);
Manaus (Brazil)
Source
Rio Mantaro
- location Huancayo, Huancayo Province, Peru
- elevation 5,220 m (17,126 ft)
- coordinates 10°43′55″S 76°38′52″W / 10.73194°S 76.64778°W / -10.73194; -76.64778
Mouth
Atlantic Ocean
- elevation 0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates 0°42′28″N 50°5′22″W / 0.70778°N 50.08944°W / 0.70778; -50.08944Coordinates: 0°42′28″N 50°5′22″W / 0.70778°N 50.08944°W / 0.70778; -50.08944 [1]
Length
6,992.6 km (4,345 mi) [2]
Basin
7,050,000 km2 (2,722,000 sq mi) [2]
Discharge
- average 209,000 m3/s (7,381,000 cu ft/s) [3]
- max 340,000 m3/s (12,007,000 cu ft/s)
- min 180,000 m3/s (6,357,000 cu ft/s)
Amazon River and its drainage basin
Topography of the Amazon River Basin
The Amazon River, usually abbreviated to The Amazon (US: /ˈæməzɒn/ or UK: /ˈæməzən/; Spanish and Portuguese: Amazonas), in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and either the longest or second longest.[2][4][n 1]
The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered for nearly a century as the Amazon’s most distant source, until a 2014 study found it to be the Cordillera Rumi Cruz at the headwaters of the Mantaro River in Peru.[10] The Mantaro and Apurímac join, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets the Marañón River upstream of Iquitos, Peru, to form what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon. Brazilians call this section the Solimões River above its confluence with the Rio Negro[11] to form what Brazilians call the Amazon at the Meeting of Waters (Portuguese: Encontro das Águas) at Manaus, the river's largest city.
At an average discharge of about 209,000 cubic metres per second (7,400,000 cu ft/s; 209,000,000 L/s; 55,000,000 USgal/s)—approximately 6,591 cubic kilometres per annum (1,581 cu mi/a), greater than the next seven largest independent rivers combined—the Amazon represents 20% of the global riverine discharge to the ocean.[12] The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi). The portion of the river's drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river's basin. The Amazon enters Brazil with only one-fifth of the flow it finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean, yet already has a greater flow at this point than the discharge of any other river.[13][14]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
1.1 Pre-Columbian era
1.2 European discovery
1.3 Exploration
1.4 Scientific exploration
1.5 Post-colonial exploitation and settlement
1.6 20th-century development
2 Course
2.1 Origins
2.2 The Upper Amazon or Solimões
2.3 The Lower Amazon
2.4 Mouth
2.5 Dispute regarding length
3 Watershed
3.1 Flooding
4 Geology
5 Protected areas
6 Flora and fauna
6.1 Flora
6.2 Fauna
6.2.1 Mammals
6.2.2 Birds
6.2.3 Reptiles
6.2.4 Fish
6.2.5 Microbiota
7 Major tributaries
7.1 List by length
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
10.1 Bibliography
11 External links
History[edit]
Main article: Timeline of Amazon history
Pre-Columbian era[edit]
The Jivaro people were famous for their head-hunting raids and shrinking the heads from these raids.
During what many archaeologists call the formative stage, Amazonian societies were deeply involved in the emergence of South America's highland agrarian systems. The trade with Andean civilisations in the terrains of the headwaters in the Andes, formed an essential contribution to the social and religious development of the higher altitude civilisations of among others the Muisca and Incas. Early human settlements were typically based on low-lying hills or mounds.
Five types of archaeological mound have been noted in the Amazon region: shell refuse[clarification needed] and artificial mounds, artificial earth platforms for entire villages, earth mounds and ridges for cultivation, causeways and canals, and figurative mounds, both geometric and biomorphic.[15]
Shell mounds were the earliest evidences of habitation; they represent piles of human refuse[clarification needed] and are mainly dated between 7500 and 4000 years BP. They are associated with ceramic age cultures; no preceramic shell mounds have been documented so far by archaeologists.[citation needed] Artificial earth platforms for entire villages are the second type of mounds. They are best represented by the Marajoara culture. Figurative mounds are the most recent types of occupation.
There is ample evidence that the areas surrounding the Amazon River were home to complex and large-scale indigenous societies, mainly chiefdoms who developed large[citation needed] towns and cities. Archaeologists estimate that by the time the Spanish conquistador De Orellana travelled across the Amazon in 1541, more than 3 million indigenous people lived around the Amazon.[16] These pre-Columbian settlements created highly developed civilisations. For instance, pre-Columbian indigenous people on the island of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people. In order to achieve this level of development, the indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest altered the forest's ecology by selective cultivation and the use of fire. Scientists argue that by burning areas of the forest repetitiously, the indigenous people caused the soil to become richer in nutrients. This created dark soil areas known as terra preta de índio ("indian dark earth").[17] Because of the terra preta, indigenous communities were able to make land fertile and thus sustainable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support their large populations and complex social structures. Further research has hypothesised that this practice began around 11,000 years ago. Some say that its effects on forest ecology and regional climate explain the otherwise inexplicable band of lower rainfall through the Amazon basin.[17]
Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. James Stuart Olson wrote: "The Munduruku expansion dislocated and displaced the Kawahíb, breaking the tribe down into much smaller groups ... [Munduruku] first came to the attention of Europeans in 1770 when they began a series of widespread attacks on Brazilian settlements along the Amazon River."[18]
European discovery[edit]
Amazon tributaries near Manaus
In March 1500, Spanish conquistador Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first documented European to sail up the Amazon River.[19] Pinzón called the stream Río Santa María del Mar Dulce, later shortened to Mar Dulce, literally, sweet sea, because of its fresh water pushing out into the ocean. Another Spanish explorer, Francisco de Orellana, was the first European to travel from the origins of the upstream river basins, situated in the Andes, to the mouth of the river. In this journey, Orellana baptised some of the affluents of the Amazonas like Rio Negro, Napo and Jurua. The name Amazonas is taken from the native warriors that attacked this expedition, mostly women, that reminded De Orellana of the mythical female Amazon warriors from the ancient Hellenic culture in Greece.
Exploration[edit]
Samuel Fritz's 1707 map showing the Amazon and the Orinoco
Native Mundurukú
Painting by Hercules Florence
Gonzalo Pizarro set off in 1541 to explore east of Quito into the South American interior in search of El Dorado, the "city of gold" and La Canela, the "valley of cinnamon".[20] He was accompanied by his second-in-command Francisco de Orellana. After 170 kilometres (110 mi), the Coca River joined the Napo River (at a point now known as Puerto Francisco de Orellana); the party stopped for a few weeks to build a boat just upriver from this confluence. They continued downriver through an uninhabited area, where they could not find food. Orellana offered and was ordered to follow the Napo River, then known as Río de la Canela ("Cinnamon River") and return with food for the party. Based on intelligence received from a captive native chief named Delicola, they expected to find food within a few days downriver by ascending another river to the north.
De Orellana took about 57 men, the boat, and some canoes and left Pizarro's troops on 26 December 1541. However, De Orellana apparently missed the confluence (probably with the Aguarico) where he was searching supplies for his men. By the time he and his men reached another village, many of them were sick from hunger and eating "noxious plants", and near death. Seven men died at that village. His men threatened to mutiny if he followed his orders and the expedition turned back to join Pizarro's larger party. He accepted to change the purpose of the expedition to discover new lands in the name of the king of Spain, and the men built a larger boat in which to navigate downstream. After a journey of 600 km down the Napo River they reached a further major confluence, at a point near modern Iquitos, and then followed the upper Amazon, now known as the Solimões, for a further 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) to its confluence with the Rio Negro (near modern Manaus), which they reached on 3 June 1542. On the Nhamunda River, a tributary of the Amazon downstream from Manaus, Orellana's party had a fierce battle with warriors who, they reported, were led by fierce female warriors who beat the men to death with clubs if they tried to retreat.[citation needed] Orellana's men began referring to the women as Amazons, a reference to the tribe of women warriors from Greek mythology. The river was initially known as the Marañón (the name by which the Peruvian part of the river is still known today) or Rio de Orellana. It later became known as the Rio Amazonas, the name by which it is still known in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Regarding the initial mission of finding cinnamon, Pizarro reported to the king that they had found cinnamon trees, but that they could not be profitably harvested. In fact, true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is not native to South America. Other related cinnamon-containing plants (of the family Lauraceae) are fairly common in that part of the Amazon and Pizarro probably saw some of these. The expedition reached the mouth of the Amazon on 24 August 1542, demonstrating the practical navigability of the Great River.
In 1560 another Spanish conquistador, Lope de Aguirre, may have made the second descent of the Amazon. Historians are uncertain whether the river he descended was the Amazon or the Orinoco River, which runs more or less parallel to the Amazon further north.
Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira was the first European to travel up the entire river. He arrived in Quito in 1637, and returned via the same route.[21]
From 1648 to 1652, Portuguese Brazilian bandeirante António Raposo Tavares led an expedition from São Paulo overland to the mouth of the Amazon, investigating many of its tributaries, including the Rio Negro, and covering a distance of more than 10,000 km (6,214 mi).
In what is currently Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, a number of colonial and religious settlements were established along the banks of primary rivers and tributaries for the purpose of trade, slaving and evangelisation among the indigenous peoples of the vast rainforest, such as the Urarina. In the late 1600s Spanish Jesuit Father Samuel Fritz, apostle of the Omaguas, established some forty mission villages.
Scientific exploration[edit]
Henry Walter Bates was most famous for his expedition to the Amazon (1848–1859).
Early scientific, zoological and botanical exploration of the Amazon River and basin took place from the 18th century through the first half of the 19th century.
Charles Marie de La Condamine explored the river in 1743.[22]
Alexander von Humboldt, 1799–1804
Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, 1817–1820
Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace, 1848–1859
Post-colonial exploitation and settlement[edit]
Amazonas state
Amazon Theatre opera house in Manaus built in 1896 during the rubber boom
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The Cabanagem revolt (1835–1840) was directed against the white ruling class. It is estimated that from 30 to 40% of the population of Grão-Pará, estimated at 100,000 people, died.[23]
The total population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000, of whom about two-thirds were Europeans and slaves, the slaves amounting to about 25,000. The Brazilian Amazon's principal commercial city, Pará (now Belém), had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. The town of Manáos, now Manaus, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, had a population between 1,000 and 1,500. All the remaining villages, as far up as Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier of Peru, were relatively small.[24]
On 6 September 1850, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil sanctioned a law authorising steam navigation on the Amazon and gave the Viscount of Mauá (Irineu Evangelista de Sousa) the task of putting it into effect. He organised the "Companhia de Navegação e Comércio do Amazonas" in Rio de Janeiro in 1852; in the following year it commenced operations with four small steamers, the Monarca ('Monarch'), the Cametá, the Marajó and the Rio Negro.[24][25]
At first, navigation was principally confined to the main river; and even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only obliged the company to a monthly service between Pará and Manaus, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second line to make six round voyages a year between Manaus and Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Pará and Cametá.[24] This was the first step in opening up the vast interior.
The success of the venture called attention to the opportunities for economic exploitation of the Amazon, and a second company soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purús and Negro; a third established a line between Pará and Manaus; and a fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller streams. In that same period, the Amazonas Company was increasing its fleet. Meanwhile, private individuals were building and running small steam craft of their own on the main river as well as on many of its tributaries.[24]
On 31 July 1867 the government of Brazil, constantly pressed by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the upper Amazon basin, especially Peru, decreed the opening of the Amazon to all countries, but they limited this to certain defined points: Tabatinga – on the Amazon; Cametá – on the Tocantins; Santarém – on the Tapajós; Borba – on the Madeira, and Manaus – on the Rio Negro. The Brazilian decree took effect on 7 September 1867.[24]
Thanks in part to the mercantile development associated with steamboat navigation coupled with the internationally driven demand for natural rubber, the Peruvian city of Iquitos became a thriving, cosmopolitan centre of commerce. Foreign companies settled in Iquitos, from whence they controlled the extraction of rubber. In 1851 Iquitos had a population of 200, and by 1900 its population reached 20,000. In the 1860s, approximately 3,000 tons of rubber were being exported annually, and by 1911 annual exports had grown to 44,000 tons, representing 9.3% of Peru's exports.[26] During the rubber boom it is estimated that diseases brought by immigrants, such as typhus and malaria, killed 40,000 native Amazonians.[27]
The first direct foreign trade with Manaus commenced around 1874. Local trade along the river was carried on by the English successors to the Amazonas Company—the Amazon Steam Navigation Company—as well as numerous small steamboats, belonging to companies and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro, Madeira, Purús and many other tributaries,[24] such as the Marañón, to ports as distant as Nauta, Peru.
By the turn of the 20th century, the exports of the Amazon basin were India-rubber, cacao beans, Brazil nuts and a few other products of minor importance, such as pelts and exotic forest produce (resins, barks, woven hammocks, prized bird feathers, live animals) and extracted goods, such as lumber and gold.
20th-century development[edit]
Manaus, the largest city in Amazonas, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the dark Rio Negro and the muddy Amazon River
Floating houses in Leticia, Colombia
Since colonial times, the Portuguese portion of the Amazon basin has remained a land largely undeveloped by agriculture and occupied by indigenous people who survived the arrival of European diseases.
Four centuries after the European discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi), excluding the limited and crudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters.[28] This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century.
Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was president Getúlio Vargas, with the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in World War II providing funding for the drive.
In the 1960s, economic exploitation of the Amazon basin was seen as a way to fuel the "economic miracle" occurring at the time. This resulted in the development of "Operation Amazon", an economic development project that brought large scale agriculture and ranching to Amazonia. This was done through a combination of credit and fiscal incentives.[29]
However, in the 1970s the government took a new approach with the National Integration Programme. A large-scale colonisation programme saw families from northeastern Brazil relocated to the "land without people" in the Amazon Basin. This was done in conjunction with infrastructure projects mainly the Trans-Amazonian Highway (Transamazônica).[29]
The Trans-Amazonian Highway's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years but never fulfilled their promise. Large portions of the Trans-Amazonian and its accessory roads, such as BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho), are derelict and impassable in the rainy season. Small towns and villages are scattered across the forest, and because its vegetation is so dense, some remote areas are still unexplored.
Many settlements grew along the road from Brasília to Belém with the highway and National Integration Programme however the programme failed as the settlers were unequipped to live in the delicate rainforest ecosystem. This, although the government believed it could sustain millions, instead could sustain very few.[30]
With a population of 1.9 million people in 2014, Manaus is the largest city on the Amazon. Manaus alone makes up approximately 50% of the population of the largest Brazilian state of Amazonas. The racial makeup of the city is 64% pardo (mulatto and mestizo) and 32% white.[31]
Although the Amazon river remains largely undammed, around 412 dams are in operation in the Amazon’s tributary rivers. From these 412 dams, 151 are constructed over six of the main tributary rivers that drain into the Amazon.[32] Since only four percent of the Amazon’s hydropower potential has been developed in countries like Brazil,[33] more damming projects are underway and hundreds more are planned.[34] After witnessing the negative effects of environmental degradation, sedimentation, navigation and flood control caused by the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River,[35] scientists are worried that constructing more dams in the Amazon will harm its biodiversity in the same way by “blocking-fish spawning runs, reducing the flows of vital oil nutrients and clearing forests”.[34] Damming the Amazon River could potentially bring about the “end of free flowing rivers” and contribute to an “ecosystem collapse” that will cause major social problems.[32]
Course[edit]
Origins[edit]
The Amazon was thought to originate from the Apacheta cliff in Arequipa at the Nevado Mismi, marked only by a wooden cross.
Source of the Amazon
Marañón River in Peru
The most distant source of the Amazon was thought to be in the Apurímac river drainage for nearly a century. Such studies continued to be published even recently, such as in 1996,[36] 2001,[37] 2007,[7] and 2008,[9] where various authors identified the snowcapped 5,597 m (18,363 ft) Nevado Mismi peak, located roughly 160 km (99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of Lima, as the most distant source of the river. From that point, Quebrada Carhuasanta emerges from Nevado Mismi, joins Quebrada Apacheta and soon forms Río Lloqueta which becomes Río Hornillos and eventually joins the Río Apurímac.
A 2014 study by Americans James Contos and Nicolas Tripcevich in Area, a peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Geographic Society, however, identifies the most distant source of the Amazon as actually being in the Río Mantaro drainage.[10] A variety of methods were used to compare the lengths of the Mantaro river vs. the Apurímac river from their most distant source points to their confluence, showing the longer length of the Mantaro. Then distances from Lago Junín to several potential source points in the uppermost Mantaro river were measured, which enabled them to determine that the Cordillera Rumi Cruz was the most distant source of water in the Mantaro basin (and therefore in the entire Amazon basin). The most accurate measurement method was direct GPS measurement obtained by kayak descent of each of the rivers from their source points to their confluence (performed by Contos). Obtaining these measurements was difficult given the class IV–V nature of each of these rivers, especially in their lower "Abyss" sections. Ultimately, they determined that the most distant point in the Mantaro drainage is nearly 80 km farther upstream compared to Mt. Mismi in the Apurímac drainage, and thus the maximal length of the Amazon river is about 80 km longer than previously thought. Contos continued downstream to the ocean and finished the first complete descent of the Amazon river from its newly identified source (finishing November 2012), a journey repeated by two groups after the news spread.[38]
After about 700 km (430 mi), the Apurímac then joins Río Mantaro to form the Ene, which joins the Perene to form the Tambo, which joins the Urubamba River to form the Ucayali. After the confluence of Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is surrounded by floodplain. From this point to the confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañón, some 1,600 km (990 mi), the forested banks are just above the water and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood stage.[24] The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon rainforest.
The Upper Amazon or Solimões[edit]
Amazon River near Iquitos, Peru
Although the Ucayali–Marañón confluence is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon River proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas. The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries, are called the "Upper Amazon".
The Amazon proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, and is part of the border between Colombia and Perú. It has a series of major tributaries in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, some of which flow into the Marañón and Ucayali, and others directly into the Amazon proper. These include rivers Putumayo, Caquetá, Vaupés, Guainía, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga.
At some points the river divides into anabranches, or multiple channels, often very long, with inland and lateral channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low, flat igapó lands, which are never more than 5 metres (16 ft) above low river, into many islands.[39]
From the town of Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro, vast areas of land are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills.[24]
The Lower Amazon[edit]
Meeting of Waters; the confluence of Rio Negro (black) and Amazon (sandy) near Manaus, Brazil
Water samples of the Solimões (left) and Rio Negro (right)
The Lower Amazon begins where the darkly coloured waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy coloured Rio Solimões, and for over 6 km (4 mi) these waters run side by side without mixing. At Óbidos, a bluff 17 m (56 ft) above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos.
Only about ten percent of the Amazon's water enters downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon basin above Óbidos city is about 5,000,000 square kilometres (1,900,000 sq mi), and, below, only about 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi) (around 20%), exclusive of the 1,400,000 square kilometres (540,000 sq mi) of the Tocantins basin.[24] The Tocantins River enters the southern portion of the Amazon delta.
In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped hills extending for about 240 kilometres (150 mi) from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of terrace which lies between them and the river.[39]
On the south bank, above the Xingu, a line of low bluffs bordering the floodplain extends nearly to Santarém in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the southwest, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajós, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajós river valley.[40]
Mouth[edit]
Satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, from the north looking south
Belém is the major city and port at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean. The definition of where exactly the mouth of the Amazon is located, and how wide it is, is a matter of dispute, because of the area's peculiar geography. The Pará and the Amazon are connected by a series of river channels called furos near the town of Breves; between them lies Marajó, the world's largest combined river/sea island.
If the Pará river and the Marajó island ocean frontage are included, the Amazon estuary is some 325 kilometres (202 mi) wide.[41] In this case, the width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from Cabo Norte, the cape located straight east of Pracuúba in the Brazilian state of Amapá, to Ponta da Tijoca near the town of Curuçá, in the state of Pará.
A more conservative measurement excluding the Pará river estuary, from the mouth of the Araguari River to Ponta do Navio on the northern coast of Marajó, would still give the mouth of the Amazon a width of over 180 kilometres (110 mi). If only the river's main channel is considered, between the islands of Curuá (state of Amapá) and Jurupari (state of Pará), the width falls to about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi).
The plume generated by the river's discharge covers up to 1.3 million square kilometres and is responsible for muddy bottoms influencing a wide area of the tropical north Atlantic in terms of salinity, pH, light penetration, and sedimentation.[12]
Dispute regarding length[edit]
River taxi in Peru
While debate as to whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river has gone on for many years, the historic consensus of geographic authorities has been to regard the Amazon as the second longest river in the world, with the Nile being the longest. However, the Amazon has been measured by different geographers as being anywhere between 6,259 and 6,992 kilometres (3,889 and 4,345 mi) long. It is often said to be "at least" 6,400 kilometres (4,000 mi) long.[6] The Nile is reported to be anywhere from 5,499 to 6,690 kilometres (3,417 to 4,157 mi). Often it is said to be "about" 6,650 kilometres (4,130 mi) long.[5] There are many factors that can affect these measurements.
A study by Brazilian scientists concluded that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile. Using Nevado Mismi, which in 2001 was labelled by the National Geographic Society as the Amazon's source, these scientists made new calculations of the Amazon's length. They calculated the Amazon's length as 6,992 kilometres (4,345 mi). Using the same techniques, they calculated the length of the Nile as 6,853 kilometres (4,258 mi), which is longer than previous estimates but still shorter than the Amazon. They made it possible by measuring the Amazon downstream to the beginning of the tidal estuary of Canal do Sul and then, after a sharp turn back, following tidal canals surrounding the isle of Marajó and finally including the marine waters of the Río Pará bay in its entire length.[9][42] Guido Gelli, director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), told the Brazilian TV network Globo in June 2007 that it could be considered as a fact that the Amazon was the longest river in the world. However, other geographers have had access to the same data since 2001, and a consensus has yet to emerge to support the claims of these Brazilian scientists. The length of both the Amazon and the Nile remains open to interpretation and continued debate.[6]
Watershed[edit]
Main article: Amazon basin
The Amazon basin, the largest in the world, covers about 40% of South America, an area of approximately 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,722,020 sq mi). It drains from west to east, from Iquitos in Peru, across Brazil to the Atlantic. It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.[43] The locals often refer to it as "El Jefe Negro", referring to an ancient god of fertility.[citation needed]
The Amazon River and its tributaries are characterised by extensive forested areas that become flooded every rainy season. Every year, the river rises more than 9 metres (30 ft), flooding the surrounding forests, known as várzea ("flooded forests"). The Amazon's flooded forests are the most extensive example of this habitat type in the world.[44] In an average dry season, 110,000 square kilometres (42,000 sq mi) of land are water-covered, while in the wet season, the flooded area of the Amazon basin rises to 350,000 square kilometres (140,000 sq mi).[41]
The quantity of water released by the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: up to 300,000 cubic metres per second (11,000,000 cu ft/s) in the rainy season, with an average of 209,000 cubic metres per second (7,400,000 cu ft/s) from 1973 to 1990.[45] The Amazon is responsible for about 20% of the Earth's fresh water entering the ocean.[44] The river pushes a vast plume of fresh water into the ocean. The plume is about 400 kilometres (250 mi) long and between 100 and 200 kilometres (62 and 124 mi) wide. The fresh water, being lighter, flows on top of the seawater, diluting the salinity and altering the colour of the ocean surface over an area up to 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi) in extent. For centuries ships have reported fresh water near the Amazon's mouth yet well out of sight of land in what otherwise seemed to be the open ocean.[14]
The Atlantic has sufficient wave and tidal energy to carry most of the Amazon's sediments out to sea, thus the Amazon does not form a true delta. The great deltas of the world are all in relatively protected bodies of water, while the Amazon empties directly into the turbulent Atlantic.[11]
There is a natural water union between the Amazon and the Orinoco basins, the so-called Casiquiare canal. The Casiquiare is a river distributary of the upper Orinoco, which flows southward into the Rio Negro, which in turn flows into the Amazon. The Casiquiare is the largest river on earth that links two major river systems, a so-called bifurcation.
Flooding[edit]
NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river
Not all of the Amazon's tributaries flood at the same time of the year. Many branches begin flooding in November and may continue to rise until June. The rise of the Rio Negro starts in February or March and begins to recede in June. The Madeira River rises and falls two months earlier than most of the rest of the Amazon.
The depth of the Amazon between Manacapuru and Óbidos has been calculated as between 20 to 26 metres (66 to 85 ft). At Manacapuru, the Amazon's water level is only about 24 metres (79 ft) above mean sea level. More than half of the water in the Amazon downstream of Manacapuru is below sea level.[46] In its lowermost section, the Amazon's depth averages 20 to 50 metres (66 to 164 ft), in some places as much as 100 metres (330 ft).[47]
The main river is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 or 9,000 tonnes (3,000 or 8,900 long tons; 3,300 or 9,900 short tons) and 5.5 metres (18 ft) draft can reach as far as Iquitos, Peru, 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 kilometres (480 mi) higher, as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point in Peru.[39]
Annual flooding occurs in late northern latitude winter at high tide when the incoming waters of the Atlantic are funnelled into the Amazon delta. The resulting undular tidal bore is called the pororoca, with a leading wave that can be up to 25 feet (7.6 m) high and travel up to 500 miles (800 km) inland.[48][49]
Geology[edit]
The Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river in the Miocene epoch between 11.8 million and 11.3 million years ago and took its present shape approximately 2.4 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene.
The proto-Amazon during the Cretaceous flowed west, as part of a proto-Amazon-Congo river system, from the interior of present-day Africa when the continents were connected, forming western Gondwana. Fifteen million years ago, the main tectonic uplift phase of the Andean chain started. This tectonic movement is caused by the subduction of the Nazca Plate underneath the South American Plate. The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields,[clarification needed] blocked the river and caused the Amazon Basin to become a vast inland sea. Gradually, this inland sea became a massive swampy, freshwater lake and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater. For example, over 20 species of stingray, most closely related to those found in the Pacific Ocean, can be found today in the freshwaters of the Amazon.[citation needed]
Eleven to ten million years ago, waters worked through the sandstone from the west and the Amazon began to flow eastward, leading to the emergence of the Amazon rainforest. During glacial periods, sea levels dropped and the great Amazon lake rapidly drained and became a river, which would eventually become the world's largest, draining the most extensive area of rainforest on the planet.[50]
Paralleling the Amazon River is a large aquifer, dubbed the Hamza River, the discovery of which was made public in August 2011.[51]
Protected areas[edit]
Name
Country
Coordinates
Image
[hide]Notes
Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve Peru 3°56′S 73°33′W / 3.933°S 73.550°W / -3.933; -73.550
[52]
Amacayacu National Park Colombia 3°29′S 72°12′W / 3.483°S 72.200°W / -3.483; -72.200
[53]
Amazônia National Park Brazil 4°26′S 56°50′W / 4.433°S 56.833°W / -4.433; -56.833
[54]
Anavilhanas National Park Brazil 2°23′S 60°55′W / 2.383°S 60.917°W / -2.383; -60.917
[55]
Flora and fauna[edit]
See also: Biodiversity of Colombia § Amazon natural region
Flora[edit]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2017)
Fauna[edit]
The tambaqui, an important species in Amazonian fisheries, breeds in the Amazon River
More than one-third of all known species in the world live in the Amazon rainforest,[56] a giant tropical forest and river basin with an area that stretches more than 5,400,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi). It is the richest tropical forest in the world in terms of biodiversity. There are over 3,000 species of fish currently recognised in the Amazon basin, with more being discovered every year.[57] In addition to the thousands of species of fish, the river supports crabs, algae, and turtles.
Mammals[edit]
Amazon river dolphin
Along with the Orinoco, the Amazon is one of the main habitats of the boto, also known as the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). It is the largest species of river dolphin, and it can grow to lengths of up to 2.6 metres (8 ft 6 in). The colour of its skin changes with age; young animals are gray, but become pink and then white as they mature. The dolphins use echolocation to navigate and hunt in the river's tricky depths.[58] The boto is the subject of a legend in Brazil about a dolphin that turns into a man and seduces maidens by the riverside.[citation needed]
The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), also a dolphin species, is found both in the rivers of the Amazon basin and in the coastal waters of South America. The Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), also known as "seacow", is found in the northern Amazon River basin and its tributaries. It is a mammal and a herbivore. Its population is limited to freshwater habitats, and, unlike other manatees, it does not venture into salt water. It is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[citation needed]
The Amazon and its tributaries are the main habitat of the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).[59] It is a member of the weasel family and is the largest of its kind. Because of habitat destruction and hunting, its population has dramatically decreased.[citation needed]
Birds[edit]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2017)
Reptiles[edit]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2017)
The anaconda is found in shallow waters in the Amazon basin. One of the world's largest species of snake, the anaconda, spends most of its time in the water with just its nostrils above the surface. Species of caimans, that are related to alligators and other crocodilians, also inhabit the Amazon as do varieties of turtles.[60]
Fish[edit]
Characins, such as the piranha species, are prey for the giant otter, but these aggressive fish may also pose a danger to humans.
The Amazonian fish fauna is the centre of diversity for neotropical fishes. 5,600 species are currently known, and approximately fifty new species are discovered each year.[61][62] The arapaima, known in Brazil as the pirarucu, is a South American tropical freshwater fish, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, with a length of up to 15 feet (4.6 m).[63] Another Amazonian freshwater fish is the arowana (or aruanã in Portuguese), such as the silver arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum), which is a predator and very similar to the arapaima, but only reaches a length of 120 centimetres (47 in). Also present in large numbers is the notorious piranha, an omnivorous fish that congregates in large schools and may attack livestock and even humans. There are approximately 30 to 60 species of piranha. However, only a few of its species are known to attack humans, most notably Pygocentrus nattereri, the red-bellied piranha. The candirú, native to the Amazon River, is a species of parasitic fresh water catfish in the family Trichomycteridae,[64] just one of more than 1200 species of catfish in the Amazon basin. Other catfish 'walk' overland on their ventral fins,[65] while the kumakuma (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum), aka piraiba or "goliath catfish", can reach 3.6 metres (12 ft) in length and 200 kilograms (440 lb) in weight.[66] The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) and more than 100 species of electric fishes (Gymnotiformes) inhabit the Amazon basin. River stingrays (Potamotrygonidae) are also known. The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) has been reported 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru.[citation needed]
Microbiota[edit]
Freshwater microbes are generally not very well known, even less so for a pristine ecosystem like the Amazon. Recently, metagenomics has provided answers to what kind of microbes inhabit the river.[67] The most important microbes in the Amazon River are Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Crenarchaeota.
Major tributaries[edit]
Solimões, the section of the upper Amazon River
Aerial view of an Amazon tributary
The Amazon has over 1,100 tributaries, 12 of which are over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) long.[68] Some of the more notable ones are:
Branco
Casiquiare canal
Caqueta River
Huallaga
Putumayo (or Içá River)
Javary
Juruá
Madeira
Marañón
Morona
Nanay
Napo
Negro
Pastaza
Purús
Tambo
Tapajós
Tigre
Tocantins
Trombetas
Ucayali
Xingu
Yapura
List by length[edit]
6,259 km (3,889 mi) to 6,992 km (4,345 mi) – Amazon, South America[69]
3,250 km (2,020 mi) – Madeira, Bolivia/Brazil[70]
3,211 km (1,995 mi) – Purús, Peru/Brazil[71]
2,820 km (1,750 mi) – Japurá or Caquetá, Colombia/Brazil[72]
2,639 km (1,640 mi) – Tocantins, Brazil[73]
2,627 km (1,632 mi) – Araguaia, Brazil (tributary of Tocantins)[74]
2,400 km (1,500 mi) – Juruá, Peru/Brazil[75]
2,250 km (1,400 mi) – Rio Negro, Brazil/Venezuela/Colombia[76]
1,992 km (1,238 mi) – Tapajós, Brazil[77]
1,979 km (1,230 mi) – Xingu, Brazil[78]
1,900 km (1,200 mi) – Ucayali River, Peru[79]
1,749 km (1,087 mi) – Guaporé, Brazil/Bolivia (tributary of Madeira)[80]
1,575 km (979 mi) – Içá (Putumayo), Ecuador/Colombia/Peru
1,415 km (879 mi) – Marañón, Peru
1,370 km (850 mi) – Teles Pires, Brazil (tributary of Tapajós)
1,300 km (810 mi) – Iriri, Brazil (tributary of Xingu)
1,240 km (770 mi) – Juruena, Brazil (tributary of Tapajós)
1,130 km (700 mi) – Madre de Dios, Peru/Bolivia (tributary of Madeira)
1,100 km (680 mi) – Huallaga, Peru (tributary of Marañón)
See also[edit]
Geography portal
Brazil portal
Colombia portal
Ecuador portal
Peru portal
Amazon natural region
1930 Curuçá River event
Hamza River
Peruvian Amazon
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ The Nile is usually said to be the longest river in the world, with a length of about 6,650 km,[5] and the Amazon the second longest, with a length of at least 6,400 km.[6] In recent decades debate has intensified over the true source and therefore the length of the Amazon River.[7][8] Brazilian and Peruvian Studies in 2007 and 2008 added the waterway from the Amazon's southern outlet through tidal canals and the Pará estuary of the Tocantins and then concluded that the Amazon has a length of 6,992 km and was longer than the Nile, whose length was calculated as 6,853 km.[9] However, as of 2010 the length of both rivers remains open to interpretation and continued debate.[6]
References[edit]
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Jump up ^ Seyler, Patrick; Laurence Maurice-Bourgoin; Jean Loup Guyot. "Hydrological Control on the Temporal Variability of Trace Element Concentration in the Amazon River and its Main Tributaries". Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
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^ Jump up to: a b "Nile River". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Amazon River". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b "Amazon river 'longer than Nile'". BBC News. 16 June 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
Jump up ^ Roach, John. "Amazon Longer Than Nile River, Scientists Say". National Geographic. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Studies from INPE indicate that the Amazon River is 140 km longer than the Nile". Brazilian National Institute for Space Research. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b James Contos; Nicholas Tripcevich (March 2014). "Correct placement of the most distant source of the Amazon River in the Mantaro River drainage". Area. 46 (1): 27–39. doi:10.1111/area.12069.
^ Jump up to: a b Penn, James R. (2001). Rivers of the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-57607-042-0. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Moura, Rodrigo L.; Amado-Filho, Gilberto M.; Moraes, Fernando C.; Brasileiro, Poliana S.; Salomon, Paulo S.; Mahiques, Michel M.; Bastos, Alex C.; Almeida, Marcelo G.; Silva, Jomar M.; Araujo, Beatriz F.; Brito, Frederico P.; Rangel, Thiago P.; Oliveira, Braulio C. V.; Bahia, Ricardo G.; Paranhos, Rodolfo P.; Dias, Rodolfo J. S.; Siegle, Eduardo; Figueiredo, Alberto G.; Pereira, Renato C.; Leal, Camellia V.; Hajdu, Eduardo; Asp, Nils E.; Gregoracci, Gustavo B.; Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Yager, Patricia L.; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; Fróes, Adriana; Campeão, Mariana; Silva, Bruno S.; Moreira, Ana P. B.; Oliveira, Louisi; Soares, Ana C.; Araujo, Lais; Oliveira, Nara L.; Teixeira, João B.; Valle, Rogerio A. B.; Thompson, Cristiane C.; Rezende, Carlos E.; Thompson, Fabiano L. (1 April 2016). "An extensive reef system at the Amazon River mouth". Science Advances. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2 (4): e1501252. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501252. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4846441  . Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
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Jump up ^ Contos, James (Rocky) (3 April 2014). "Redefining the Upper Amazon River". Geography Directions. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
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^ Jump up to: a b Guo, Rongxing (2006). Territorial Disputes and Resource Management: A Global Handbook. Nova. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-60021-445-5. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015.
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Bibliography[edit]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Church, George Earl (1911). "Amazon". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 783–90.
Wohl, Ellen (2011). The Amazon: Rivers of Blushing Dolphins. A World of Rivers. The University of Chicago Press.
External links[edit]
[hide]
Find more aboutAmazon riverat Wikipedia's sister projects
Media from Wikimedia Commons
Texts from Wikisource
Travel guide from Wikivoyage
Data from Wikidata
Information on the Amazon from Extreme Science
A photographic journey up the Amazon River from its mouth to its source
Amazon Alive: Light & Shadow documentary film about the Amazon river
Amazon River Ecosystem
Research on the influence of the Amazon River on the Atlantic Ocean at the University of Southern California
Geographic data related to Amazon River at OpenStreetMap
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amazon_River&oldid=822274708"
Categories:
Amazon River
Amazon basin
Amazon rainforest
Upper Amazon
Rivers of South America
International rivers of South America
Rivers of Colombia
Rivers of Ecuador
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Scheria
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Scheria (/ˈskɛriə/; Ancient Greek: Σχερίη or Σχερία)—also known as Scherie or Phaeacia—was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey before returning home to Ithaca.
Contents
[hide]
1 From Ogygia to Scheria (Odysseus)
2 Odysseus meets Nausicaa
3 The palace of King Alcinous
4 The Phaeacian ships
5 Geographical location of Scheria
5.1 Geographical account by Strabo
6 Notes
7 External links
From Ogygia to Scheria (Odysseus)[edit]
Before leaving Ogygia, Odysseus builds a raft and sails eastwards, instructed by Calypso to navigate using the stars as a celestial reference point.[1] On the eighteenth day appear the shadowy mountains of the land of the Phaeacians, that looked like a shield in the misty deep. But Poseidon spots his raft and seeking vengeance for his son Polyphemus who was blinded by Odysseus, produces a storm that torments Odysseus. After three days of struggle with the waves, he is finally washed up on Scheria.
Pieter Lastman: Odysseus and Nausicaa (oil on panel, 1619; Alte Pinakothek, Munich)
Odysseus meets Nausicaa[edit]
Francesco Hayez: Odysseus at the court of Alcinous (oil on canvas, c. 1815; Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples)
Meanwhile, the goddess Athena, who sneaks into the palace, disguises herself as a sea-captain's daughter and instructs princess Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinous in her sleep to go to the seashore to wash her clothes. The next morning, Nausicaa and her maids go to the seashore, and, after washing the clothes, they start to play a game on the beach, with laughs, giggles and shouts. Odysseus, who was exhausted from his adventure and was sleeping nearby, is awakened by the shouts. He covers his nakedness with thick leaves and goes to ask for help from the team. Upon seeing the unkempt Odysseus in this state, the maids run away, but, Nausicaa, encouraged by Athena, stands her ground and talks to him. To excuse the maids, she admits that the Phaeacians are "the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with them",[2] so they run away since they have never seen a stranger before. Nausicaa, being hospitable, provides clothes, food and drink to Odysseus, and then directs him to the palace of King Alcinous.
The palace of King Alcinous[edit]
Following Nausicaa's orders, Odysseus sought to enter the palace of King Alcinous and plead for mercy from the queen, Arete, so he could marry her daughter. On his way to the palace, Odysseus meets Athena disguised as a local girl. In her disguised state, Athena advises him about how to enter the palace. Athena, knowledgeable that the Phaeacians were hostile towards men from the outlands, cloaked Odysseus in a mist that hid him from the Phaeacians' gaze.[3] Under Athena's protection, Odysseus passes through all of the protection systems of the palace and enters the chamber of King Alcinous. Odysseus throws his arms around the queen's legs and supplicates her. Naturally, Alcinous and his court are surprised to see a stranger walking into their secured palace. It was only after Echeneus, a Phaeacian elder, urged King Alcinous to welcome the stranger that they offered Odysseus hospitality
The front doors of the palace are flanked with two dogs made of silver and gold, constructed by Hephaestus. The walls of the palace are made of bronze that "shines like the sun" and is secured with gates made of gold. Within the walls, there is a magnificent garden with apple, pear, and pomegranate trees that grow year-round. The palace is even equipped with a lighting system comprising golden statues of young men bearing torches. After Odysseus tells Alcinous and his court the story of his adventures after the Trojan War, the Phaeacians take him to Ithaca on one of their ships.
Claude Lorrain: Port Scene with the Departure of Odysseus from the Land of the Phaeacians (oil on canvas, 1646; Louvre, Paris)
The Phaeacian ships[edit]
The Phaeacians possessed remarkable ships. They were quite different from the penteconters, the ships used during the Trojan War, and they were steered by thought. King Alcinous says that Phaeacians carried Rhadamanthus to Euboea, "which is the furthest of any place" and came back on the same day.[4] He also explains to Odysseus what sort of information the Phaeacian ships require in order to take him home to Ithaca.[5]
Tell me also your country, nation, and city, that our ships may shape their purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations have, but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are thinking about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the whole world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is covered with mist and cloud, so that there is no danger of being wrecked or coming to any harm.
Homer describes the Phaeacian ships as fast as a falcon and gives a vivid description of the ship's departure.
The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies over the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curvetted as it were the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water seethed in her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a falcon, swiftest of all birds, could not have kept pace with her.[6]
Geographical location of Scheria[edit]
Main article: Geography of the Odyssey
Pontikonisi, the purported petrified ship of the Phaeaces, close to Corfu
Many ancient and modern interpreters favour identification of Scheria with the island of Corfu, which is within 110 km (68 miles) of Ithaca. Thucydides, in his Peloponnesian War, identifies Scheria as Corfu or, with its ancient name, Corcyra. In I.25.4, he records the Corinthians' resentment of the Corcyraeans, who "could not repress a pride in the high naval position of an island whose nautical renown dated from the days of its old inhabitants, the Phaeacians." Locals on Corfu had long claimed this, based on the rock outside Corfu harbour, which is supposedly the ship that carried Odysseus back to Ithaca, but was turned to stone by Poseidon, to punish the Phaeacians for helping his enemy,
[…] with one blow from the flat of his hand turned her [the ship] into stone and rooted her to the sea bottom.[6]
The Phaeacians did not participate in the Trojan War. The Greek name Φαίακες is derived from phaiós (φαιός “gray”).[7] However, the Phaeacians in the Odyssey did not know Odysseus (although they knew of him, as evidenced by the tales of Demodocus), so they called him a "stranger". Odysseus however was the king of the majority of the Ionian Islands,[8] not only of Ithaca, but also "of Cephallenia, Neritum, Crocylea, Aegilips, Same and Zacynthus"[9] so if Scheria was Corfu, it would be surprising that the citizens of one of the Ionian Islands did not know Odysseus. Furthermore, when Odysseus reveals his identity, he says to the nobles: "[…] if I outlive this time of sorrow, I may be counted as your friend, though I live so far away from all of you"[10] indicating that Scheria was far away from Ithaca.
Many characteristics of the Phaeacians, including their seafaring and relaxed lifestyle are suggestive of Minoan Crete. Aside from the seafaring prowess, the palace walls that shone like the Sun are read to be covered not by bronze but orichalcum. The latter similarities make Scheria also suggestive of Plato's account of Atlantis. Helena Blavatsky proposed in her Secret Doctrine (1888) that it was Homer before Plato who first wrote of Atlantis.[11] From the ancient times, some scholars having examined the work and the geography of Homer have suggested that Scheria was located in the Atlantic Ocean. Among them were Strabo and Plutarch.
Geographical account by Strabo[edit]
Approximately eight centuries after Homer, the geographer Strabo criticized Polybius on the geography of the Odyssey. Strabo proposed that Scheria and Ogygia were located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
At another instance he [Polybius] suppresses statements. For Homer says also "Now after the ship had left the river-stream of Oceanus"[12] and "In the island of Ogygia, where is the navel of the sea,"[13] where the daughter of Atlas lives; and again, regarding the Phaeacians, "Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us."[2] All these [incidents] clearly suggest that he [Homer] composed them to take place in the Atlantic Ocean.[14]
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Homer, Odyssey, 5, 270
^ Jump up to: a b Homer, Odyssey, 6.204
Jump up ^ Lattimore, Richard (1967). Homer's The Odyssey, Book 6, Line 160. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. p. 112. ISBN 0-06-093195-7.
Jump up ^ Homer, Odyssey, 7.320
Jump up ^ Homer, Odyssey, Book VIII 555–563
^ Jump up to: a b Odyssey, Book XIII 84–88
Jump up ^ Entry “φαιός” in Liddell & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon.
Jump up ^ Map of Ionian Islands
Jump up ^ Iliad, II.
Jump up ^ Odyssey, IX, 17.
Jump up ^ "It was not he [Plato] who invented it [the story of Atlantis], since Homer, who preceded him by many centuries, also speaks of the Atlantes and of their island in his Odyssey." Secret Doctrine, vol 2, pt. 3, ch. 6.
Jump up ^ Odyssey, XII, 1.
Jump up ^ Odyssey, I, 50.
Jump up ^ Strabo, 1.2.18. The original text of this passage by Strabo is “ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα φανερῶς ἐν τῷ Ἀτλαντικῷ πελάγει πλαττόμενα δηλοῦται.”
External links[edit]
Odyssey by Homer
Homer's Odyssey resources on the Web
Strabo: The Geography
Atlantis, Poseidonis, Ogygia and Scheria (on page 8)
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