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Sataspes was a Persian navigator and cavalry commander whose name is derived from Sat (=100 sad) and Asp (= Horse, Asb). He is also credited with originating the term "horse latitudes".
Sataspes (who, according toHerodotus, wasXerxes I's cousin by his mother beingDarius I's sister) had been condemned to death for kidnapping and rapingMegabyzus's daughter. However, his mother, Atossa, successfully convinced Xerxes to change the punishment to a more severe one. Sataspes was tasked tocircumnavigateAfrica. He took an Egyptian ship and crew, sailed through the Pillars of Hercules, and proceeded south for many months, but returned to Egypt without successfully completing his task. He claimed that at the furthest point he reached, he encountered a "dwarfish race, who wore a dress made from the palm tree", and he was forced to return because his ship stopped and would not sail any further. Xerxes did not accept this excuse and had him put to death. However, it has been suggested that Sataspes could have simply encountered theBenguela Current, which prevented him from sailing any further.
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