Sicily (sea shore)
Author: Marpiclic. Source: Pixabay
Partholon is thus of the 6th generation. He lives in Sicily, in a colony of a Scythian population based in Greece. Everything is going well until he and his brother decide to murder their parents to take over. Then he heads to Greece (apparently to be accountable) and stays there for a year. At the end of his stay, he, his wife and his retinue head for Ireland via Aladacia (linked to ancient Dacia), the columns of Hercules (Gibraltar) and Spain.
The journey took two months and twelve days. The year was around 1200 BC. Historians know that at that time, the Phoenicians travelled the Mediterranean and even the Atlantic coast of Europe, and that they had trading posts on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. But the most surprising thing is the maritime mastery of these populations originating from the Central Asian steppes.
The question remains: how did Partholon know about Ireland? In this respect, one may wonder whether Phoenician merchants were not already transporting tin from the ancient Isles of Scilly (British Isles) to the Mediterranean. It is worth remembering that tin was used in the most important alloy of the time: bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. And tin was less scarce on the shores of the Atlantic than in the Mediterranean basin.
When Partholon set foot in Ireland, the island was deserted and it was necessary to clear the land to develop agriculture. He and his retinue, including three druids (around 1200 BC), roll up their sleeves and after ten years, the result is very successful. And this attracts the attention of a nation based on the neighbouring island of Britain. The members of this nation are called the Fomoraig (Fomoirii). They were not Bretons because the latter landed in Britain eight centuries after.
Apparently, the Fomoraig are not very advanced. They are unable to develop agriculture to the extent that their food is limited to ‘fish and birds’. On the other hand, they have skills in building cities and ships and in making weapons. The confrontation between the Partholon retinue (whose number is not specified) and eight hundred Fomoraig is very violent. And no native is spared. It should be remembered that the Scythians were known in antiquity for their fighting skills.
Two hundred years later, the Scythian colony in Ireland will reach nine thousand members. But in a single week, the population would be eradicated by the ‘plague’. This ‘diagnosis’, probably made by medieval copyists, is dubious, for the plague does not eradicate a population in a week. And one cannot rule out the hypothesis of a Fomoraig late revenge by a large-scale poisoning (of drinking water?). And there is no mention of the fact that a colony of nine thousand Scythians is starting to look scary.