Various Mediterranean civilizations in antiquity knew of the islands' existence and established contact with them. Visitors included Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians. According to Pliny the Elder, an expedition of Mauretanians sent by King Juba II (d. 23 CE) to the archipelago visited the islands, finding them uninhabited, but noting ruins of great buildings. When King Juba, the Roman protégé, dispatched a contingent to re-open the dye production facility at Mogador (historical name of Essaouira, Morocco) in the early 1st century, Juba's naval force was subsequently sent on an exploration of the Canary Islands, using Mogador as their mission base.