Tartessos, in the stories collected by Herodotus…

Tartessos, in the stories collected by Herodotus about the kingdom (Tartessus) and its ruler, King Arganthonios, who befriended the Greek captain Kolaios after his vessel was blown off course, are connected with early Greek commerce in the late seventh and early sixth centuries.

The city was portrayed as a mineral emporium, where Kolaios exchanged his merchandise for a fortune in silver bullion.

The Greeks remember this kingdom as a legendary world beyond their reach.

Tartessos, in fact, is the late Bronze Age society in the Guadalquivir River valley in southwestern Spain that includes the copper mines of the Río Tinto in its territory; it flourishes between 800 and 550 BCE.

Expansion by the Carthaginians has brought them into contact with Tartessos, the only native polity of consequence.

The mineral wealth that has enabled its rise, through trade with the Greeks, renders control by Carthage inevitable.

Probably identical with the Tarshish mentioned in the Bible, it prospers from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians (but is probably destroyed by the latter about 500 BCE.)

The exact site of the town is not known, but archaeological evidence suggests it may have been near present-day Sevilla (Seville); recent discoveries point to Huelva.