Morocco and Eastern Atlantis

The Naval base

1. Enforcement of the Warning -- the Naval base at Carteia.

The allegorical warning could have been supported by enforcement, since the Phoenician city of Carteia, now the site of archaeological research, is situated strategically at the sheltered Northern head of the Bay of Gibraltar, and had a population of 4,000 at a time, when Athens, one of the world's largest cities, had 20,000, so it can be considered a sizable city for its time.

Recent excavations and topographical data shows that Carteia had a sheltered harbour capable of berthing up to 40 biremes of 80 feet in length at any one time.

It is not excessive speculation that a craft seeking to go through the Straits into the Atlantic without first "reporting" and "receiving clearance" from Gorham's Cave would have received the immediate attention of a fleet of enforcers from the Bay, and if the intruders were missed by that sortie, there is the possibility of naval attacks emanating from a further settlement at the exit of the Straits, known to the Romans as Baelo Claudia from which it is possible the Phoenicians also operated at this time in addition to Tangier, (ancient Tingis) on the south side of the Straits of Gibraltar at the Atlantic exit.

There are suitable locations along the coast of Gibraltar for a small settlement capable of supporting a "caretaker" group at Gorham's Cave, including a village which is still inhabited about a one mile row along the East Coast of Gibraltar Northwards from Gorham's or this could easily have been carried out on a daily basis directly from Carteia which is a 5-mile walk on level ground along sand dunes and beaches from Gorham's Cave, albeit requiring a row for the last mile, which would have made the cave of difficult access and a serene place.