Carpia facts for kids
Carpia was an ancient city located in the Iberian Peninsula, which is the land where modern-day Spain and Portugal are. Some people believe Carpia was actually the famous ancient city of Tartessos, which vanished around 600 BCE. Others think it might have been a new city built after Tartessos disappeared or sank.
What is Carpia?
Carpia was an ancient city in the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal). It's a bit of a mystery! Historians and archaeologists are still trying to figure out exactly where it was and what happened to it.
History of Carpia
A long time ago, around the 2nd century CE, a Greek traveler and writer named Pausanias wrote about Carpia. He was exploring different places and recording what he learned.
Pausanias mentioned a connection between Carpia and another very old city called Tartessos. Tartessos was a powerful and wealthy city that mysteriously disappeared around 600 BCE.
Pausanias wrote that Tartessos was also the name of a river in Iberia. This river flowed into the sea through two mouths, and the city of Tartessos was located between them. He said this river was the biggest in Iberia and had tides, meaning its water level changed with the ocean. Later, people started calling this river the Baetis.
What's interesting is that Pausanias also noted that some people believed Carpia was simply the older name for Tartessos. This means they thought Carpia and Tartessos were the same city, just known by different names at different times. This idea makes Carpia a very important part of the puzzle when studying ancient Iberian history.
See also
- Arganthonios
- Tartessian language
- Spanish mythology
