Baltic Sea Orientation

 Let's Jump Right In!

                    The Baltic Sea opens on the Atlantic Ocean and is in the northwestern part of Europe. I has a complex geological history. It seems best to begin with a bit of its geographic present. It may be best to put on a wetsuit first. The water is rarely warm.

                It has been called a brackish inland sea with a geological history which has proven difficult to clarify. We know that it is is a sea marginal to the Atlantic and that it drains into that ocean through the Danish Straits by way of the little Kattagat Sea. Some of its major features include the Gulf Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland,  the Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdansk.

                It is brackish because the following major rivers flow into it include the Oder, Vistula, Neman, Daugava, and the Neva. Brackishness is aided by rainfall and snow, and he flow of other smaller rivers and streams; and also the salty waters of the Atlantic.

                In the Baltic Sea, not far from its entrance to the Atlantic Ocean, one may encounter Kattagat, an area of a rather shallow sea bounded by the Jutland Peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits, the rest of the Baltic Sea, and the shores of sweden to the east.

The Gulf of Bothnia:

                The word bothnia to refer to lowland shores or to low lands in general. The Gulf of Bothnia is bordered by lowland shores. The Gulf is not shallow, but the land beneath it continues to rise since its release from its Ice Age Burden of  ice. The Gulf still freezes over in winter, but that may change in our lifetime.

                I will probably feel the need to do more research on the history of Sweden and Finland find much about the history of this Gulf. When you have knowledge of this Gulf feel free to inform us about it or of anything else related to the content of this essay, at our "comments" app. I will add now that Ottar, a Viking adventurer, is said to have referred to this Gulf of Bothnia, in the 9th century, as the Kven Sea. In the 15th century, a Danish navigator referred to it as the Mare Gotticus. Bothnia Bay may be called a northern extension of the Gulf of Bothnia. 

The Gulf of  Finland:

                The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost branch of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland on the north and Estonia on the south, and to Saint Petersburg, Russia, where the the river Neva flows into it. Other major cities on this gulf are Helsinki and Tallinn.

                In the early post Ice Age the Gulf of Finland was preceded by the Littoriana Sea. The Littoriana stood as high as 30 feet above the the level of the sea in about the year 2,000. By some 4,000 years ago that sea had reeded to near present levels.

Archaeology:

                Archaeologists have found that the lands along the Gulf of Finland began to be settled by 9,000 BC by people physically very much like you and I. To me, archaeology is a kind of continuation of history and writing of its discoveries is much like writing history. So, we do seem well oriented toward the doings and happenings of those who precede us. Of course with new discovery and research our orientation is likely to change. We continue to learn. As recently as 1905 AD, eleven neolithic settlements had been found along the Gulf of Finland coast. The early cultures found there have been named the Finnic, Eesti/Chud, Votes, and Korela.

                Later, roughly between 700 AD and 900 AD along the Neva river and the Gulf of Finland settled East slaves, Ilman Slavs, and Krivichs. They practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Between about 7oo AD 1,200 AD the river Neva and the gulf were part of the waterway from Scandinavia to the Byzantine empire. I will consider the sentence above to be fact until I find strong evidence to the contrary.

                Historic information for this area becomes more abundant from about 850 AD on. From that time on this geographic are may be said to have been held in Russian hands until 1219. At that time the Danes took control. During this time the city of Reva was established in what has been called the area of Tallinn. There is a lot to be learned about this area. From 700 and 800 documentation became increasingly abundant. 

The Gulf of Riga:

                The Gulf of Riga lies between modern Latvia and Estonia on the Baltic sea. We can learn more of this gulf through some study of the histories of Latvia and Estonia. A look at the history of the cities of Riga, Parnu, Jumala, and Kuressaare can increase our understanding.

The Bay of Gdansk:

                The Bay of Gdansk has a lot of history which may include my Prussia, Polish, and German ancestors. The Vistula river flows into this bay. Some consider that this Bay of Gdansk as extending to Russian Kaliningrad and to the coast pf  Lithuania.

There be Kursenieki:

                There are Kursennieki on the bay of Gdansk. They have been therelong. They call their language Curonian. Some linguists have seen it as related to Latvian. Kursenieki have also called Prussian Latvians. Who are these people? They live on a well visited seacoast and near the outlet of a navigable river. So, they are likely to have been long subject to much social and cultural exchange.

Kattagat:

                Let's travel back to where the Baltic Sea meets the Atlantic ocean. Near there is the little Kattagat sea. The name Kattagat may be of Swedish origin. I seem to have heard of a queen Kattagat who may have been a Swede. This little sea is certainly Scandinavian area.

Jutlandic Peninsula:

                The Jutlandic Peninsula juts into the Kattagal Sea an is part of Jutland. The peninsula was once called the Cimbric or  the Cimbrian Peninsula. I is now a part of Denmark.Yutes and Cimbri have lived there.

                Jute was the name for some of the powerful Germanic invaders of England. Remember the Romans once calle everyone in the area not only Germanic, but just plain German. I am not certain what to call the people of then Peninsula. might have called them Norsemen, Vikings, or Scandinavians. It seems that a few others feel a similar confusion. But, there is a reason the Peninsula is called Jute. It was a area of a lot of activity before, during, and after the Roman empire. Anyway, there the peninsula is at the Kattagat Sea.

The Cimbri:

            Let's not pass the Cimbri too quickly. The name is not very familiar to me, but it does appear that they were on the Jute peninsula before the Jutes and the name is familiar. Some authorities have thought that were what we have called Gaulish or Celtic, that makes them Indo-Europeans. I am not the only to have called it the Cimbrian Peninsula. There may well be something of interest to learn. I may have heard Cimbri mentioned in relation to Irish prehistory. Perhaps we can learn more of things Cimbri. So, far I see no documentary evidence. 

                I do find that there is evidence for an amazingly long time of seasonal migration from a Baltic sea area, and perhaps England and Ireland to the Iberian peninsula and perhaps even to the Balearic Islands. So, there seems to have been ancient and regular travel from this peninsula to that one; Cimbric to Iberian and back. It sounds right, but I am surprised, even pleasantly amazed.

                There was even a Cimbrian military expedition by the Cimbria against 1st century Rome! Seems I remember some Irish got into something with Rome along with a number of Phoenicians. Who are these Cimbri? Who were they? Ah, history.

                Now I am just finding that there Were Belgians of Cimbrian origen. The Romans may have called the German, but they called everyone in the area German. I am less than sure of who the Celts or Gauls were other than that they were almost certainly what we have called Indo-European. And I do remember reading that a people who could have been Cimbrians, but who some called Celts, joined Carthaginians to resist Rome. 

                OK, I had best stop here. Until I get some more information, or I hear from you. Remember blog sites are meant to be interactive.

                Please help me to correct my errors and mistakes or to add some info. Use a "comments" app or my email.

                Thank you for reading.

                                                                                            rcs

Mago and the Phoenicians

 Phoenicians                

                They had certainly heard of Atlantis, but that fabled land had disappeared thousands of years before the Phoenician posted themselves near the Pillars of Hercules. Those same pillars may once have been called the Pillars of Atlas or even the Gates of Atlas. They certainly guarded  the way to the great Atlantic sea and to the isle beyond the western isle. 

Those Phoenicians were a knowledgeable people who we might now begin to call Carthaginians. The knew much of trade and of navigation. They also knew of mining, metallurgy, language writing, warfare on land and sea. They knew that the islands not far beyond the Pillars not only contained gold, silver, and tin, but also contained men experience in mining and metalworking. They may even have known of the little people there who aided in the extraction of those precious metals from beneath the earth.

Carthage and the Carthaginians

                The name and title of Mago was very well known among those Carthaginian Phoenicians. I have found the use of the title among them as early as 750 BC. You my find that it was used much earlier. I do find strong evidence  that they were carrying on regular trade with Western Isles 500 and 400 BC.

The Magonids were a political dynasty of Carthage from about 550 to
340 BC. The dynasty began with Mago I, under whom Carthage became preeminent among the Phoenician colonies  in the western Mediterranean.  Under the Magonids the Carthaginian Empire expanded to include Spain, Sardinia, Libya, and perhaps Sicily. Diodorus and Herodotus tell us Of the Magonids better than do most Romans.

Mago

                There was a Mago II and then a Mago III who led Carthaginians. There also seems to have been a Mago who commanded, or navigated for, the trading fleet which connected the Western Isles to the Mediterranean. You may know, or have guessed, that the isle beyond the western isle is now called Ireland. 

                It might have been Mago, that knowledgeable shipmaster, who impressed an early Sheehan and led him, or her, to adopt the name Mago for their son.  My Irish great grandfather had the name Mago William Sheehan. That is the source of the name Mago Bill for this blog.

                So, Mago Bill has a history.

                You can find more about Mago Bill, Mago, Ireland, and a bit of Irish history at the Mago Bill blog website.

                Thank you for the visit. Come back and explore these sites.







                                                                                by Richard sheehan

A Very Short Little Old Back-story.

History With RCS: Mago Bill animates my connection to history, and more.

                Mago Bill connects me to to the history of Ireland, and from there to history far and wide. "He" helps me to get far back into ancient history and prehistory. And, it seems that, there is a very far back.
* He seems to help me to explore time and space.
* He helps me to see aspects of the ageless wisdom teaching anew.
* He helps me to fresh views of governance, politics, and philosophy.

                Mago Bill was my paternal great grandfather.

                Mago is a very old Irish name, probably picked up from the Phoenicians or the Carthaginians. In the US the name seems to have given Mago some trouble. For there he began to sign his name M. William Sheehan.

 

Mago in Ireland

                The name Mago has been found in county Clair and all over Ireland for hundreds of years. A historian writing in Ireland in 1691 writes of a count Mago. Another historian writes of a Mago county in the Ireland of of 1829. There seems to have been a barony of Mago in Kerry. There have been Irishmen who have claimed to be sons of Magog. Could that have anything to do with the price of beans?              

 

 

                Take some time to search this site. There are several apps available to help you with your explorations here.

                                                                                                                                                                                 Richard Carroll Sheehan

Mago a Farmer?

 Ireland and the Irish: Mago, a farmer?                              

        

 

What was the Secret Weapon of the Carthaginian Empire?

                Was Mago their secrete weapon? Remember, my Irish great grandfather's  name was Mago.

                                                                                         rcs

 

 

Mago Bill: One

 Mago Bill is a nickname I have given my paternal great grandfather

                                

                I have used the name Mago Bill in recent blogs because I believe that it inspires me to give you some unusual and interesting backstories and histories in a variety of posts.

                My sister, the genealogist of our family, introduced me to existence of documentation of the life pf M. William Sheehan. His existence had not been known to us. We had not known his name nor that he had been our paternal great grandfather. As I remember, my sister showed me that he had probably been born in the far south of Ireland and that his parents had brought to the United States when he was very young. We soon discovered that the M in his name probably stood for Mago. to me he promptly became Mago Bill, my inspiration.

                Spanish speaking friend tell me that "mago" means magician. Some of the same friends tell me that the three kings or three wise men of Christmas who brought gifts to the infant Christ were call "magos." I have found that  Mago was an important name among the Carthaginian Phoenicians before Rome came of age. Some of that name knew Hannibal well.

                Carthaginian traders and traders and navigators came to Ireland to trade for tin an other commodities. They brought so much knowledge of the name Mago with them that it impressed some of the people there. So much that they used it. For hundreds of years the name Mago has experienced some on an off popularity in Ireland.

                You may have read before that my paternal great grandfather was named and called Mago William Sheehan and that I have called him Mago Bill. You have even read that he, as many and Irish lad from time to time, was named after a famous Carthaginian. However, have you remembered me writing of Mago Barca?

    

                Barca could have been that famous Carthaginian Phoenician of the late third century BC, or not. Mago Barca was Hannibal's (yes, that Hannibal) brother. He may well have been a navigator and also have fought Roman legions in Iberia accompanied by Irish and Dan. He was the youngest son of Hamilcar of the Barcids.

                The above has prompted my to think of the Balearic Islands and food. The   Balearics seem to have an Irish connection of a sort. On Menorca, Mago Barca lent his name to the port city there which is still called Port Mahon. Mago and Mahon much alike to us today, but the history of language is one of change.

                Does not Mahon seem to have a bit of an Irish ring. I remember seeing  photos of Balearic ladies long ago. They looked very much like my aunt Eleanor and sister Geraldine. My sister would probably agree that she was and is better looking than was my aunt. The Balearic ladies of the photos were all attractive and I was struck by their similarity to Eleanor and Gerry.

                Ah, yes, food! Mahon, the typical Mahon egg sauce of the island, that has conquered the world, is Mayonnaise! On a visit to Ireland, I found mayonnaise still moderately appreciated. Still isn't there another mayo something or other on the old sod. Do not think me capable of a nasty thought. You may have heard of Mayo County, Ireland.

                I seem to be on a bit of a roll. I thought of another couple of miscellaneous bits to add here. Gilli, gilly, ghilli, and ghilly is only one of them. I've searched for each online with no luck. I had a friend who's Irish mother spoke of having a gilli in the family. This was many years ago and I had heard of ghilly long before that. A ghilly is an Irishman, across centuries he has been one of particular talents. He can be one especially familiar with the Irish countryside. He might act as a guide. He might help one to catch a trout or salmon by hand. In amore distant time he may have been the right hand man of noble warrior. He might have been a sort of Irish Ninja and expert in the use of camouflage. He might have been expert in a martial art. He would have the skills and talents of a huntsman. If  you have heard more of ghilly tell us a bit. This is supposed to be an interactive site.

                There are still those in Ireland who know the term and there were those who used it hundreds of years ago. The gilli I speak of is unlikely t have been a Norwegian dancer. I have heard that there may have been a similar word with a similar pronunciation and, perhaps, meaning.

                I may have heard more than I know.

                The Irish whistle comes to mind and reminds me that  there is also an Irish bagpipe. Could the bagpipe have also been a Fir Bolg instrument? I have been told that when it comes to men before a battle, that an Irish whistle can get them on their feet as little else can.. But to keep them moving forward to battle, victory, death, or hell, it takes a good pipe and a good piper, even if it be a Scot.

                I am pleased that you did not miss this addition to this piece. Thanks for reading.

                

                                                                                RCS 

Mago Bill History Notes

 Mago Bill Inspired History Notes

                You may remember Mago Bill as the name of some of my earlier blogs. You may remember that I believed that the given name of my paternal great grandfather was Mago William. While that Mago may have been called Will, he may never been called Bill, but it makes me smile to do so.

                My, somewhat imaginary, Mago Bill has inspired my interest in history and supported my political vision.

                Thoughts of Bill, Mago Bill, lead me to the following. An earlier Mago and the Carthaginians had certainly heard of Atlantis, but that fabled land had been lost for thousands of years before these Phoenicians posted themselves near the Pillars of Hercules. Those pillars may have been called the Pillars of Atlas, or even the gates of Atlas. They certainly guarded the way to the great Atlantic Sea and to the isle beyond the Western Isle.

                The paragraph above leads me to thoughts of many stories, but I will stick to my notes on those who knew the name “Mago” well.

                They were a knowledgeable people whom we might now begin to call Carthaginians. They knew much of trade and navigation. They also knew of mining, metallurgy, the writing of languages, and of defense and attack on land and sea. They were seamen. They that the islands not too far beyond the Pillars not only contained gold, silver, lead, and tin, but also contained men who knew about mining and metal working. They may have known about the little people who could follow the veins of metal deep into the earth. Those Carthaginians knew that men all around their smaller sea valued tin for making their bronze.

                The name and perhaps title of Mago was well known among those Carthaginian Phoenicians. I have found the use of title among them as early as 750 BC. You may find that it was used much earlier. I do find strong evidence that they were carrying on trade with the Western Isles from 500 BC to 400 BC.

                The Magonids were a political dynasty of Carthage room about 550 BC to 340 BC. The dynasty began with Mago I, under whom Carthage became prominent among the Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean. Under the Magonids the Carthaginian Empire expanded to include Spain, Sardinia, Libya, and Sicily. Diodorus and Herodotus often better tell us of the doings and happenings of the Magonids more honestly than do the Romans.

                There was a Mago II and then a Mago III who led the Carthaginians. There also seems to have been A Mago who commanded, or navigated for the trading fleet which connected the Western Isles to the Mediterranean. You may know, or have guessed, that the isle beyond the western Isle is the island nation we call Ireland.

                It might have been Mago, that knowledgeable ship-master, who so impressed a Sheehan as to name his or her son Mago. My great, great grandfather called his son Mago William. That is a source of my inspiration to call a blog of mine “Mago Bill.”

                Thank you for reading.

 

                                                                                        RCS

• Mago
• Carthaginians