By
William F. Dankenbring,
U.S.A.
IN ancient times, the Hebrews and Phoenicians used very
similar scripts. There is a lot of confusion about this, with many believing
that the Hebrews got their alphabet from the Phoenicians. At the same time, most
scholars assert that Hebrew and Phoenician are virtually identical languages.
The reason for the confusion is
the fact that the Phoenicians popularized
their own script because of their trade operations throughout the Mediterranean,
thus giving prominence, not historical precedence. to the Phoenicians. This has
led to the popular but false conclusion that the Phoenican language preceded the
Hebrew. Again, historians who do not take the Bible seriously get these things
wrong.
In the words of
Max Muller:
"The Semitic
languages also are all varieties of one form of speech. Though we do not know
that primitive language from which the Semitic dialects diverged, yet we know
that at one time such language must have existed; but we can well understand how
both may have proceeded from one common source. They are both channels supplied
from one river, and they carry, though not always on the surface, floating
materials of language which challenge comparison, and have already yielded
satisfactory results to careful analysers."
The Bible tells
us that, before the Tower of Babel incident, the known world had one form of
speech. Since civilization sprang from the Garden of Eden into
Mesopotamia,
we would have to assume that Adam, Eve, Cain, Seth, Enoch, etc., spoke a common
language, which I call proto-Hebrew.
The Hebrew people, and the language that they spoke, are named after our
patriarch, Eber (Heber). But, of course, the language Heber spoke preceded
Heber. Heber learned it from his family, who learned it from their
ancestors.
Now, from Easton's Bible Dictionary, we have
this statement:
The Phoenicians were the most
enterprising merchants of the old world, establishing colonies at various
places, of which Carthage was the chief. They were a Canaanite branch of the
race of Ham, and are frequently called Sidonians, from their principal city
of Sidon
Now, since Ham, Shem and Japheth were brothers, did they not
speak the same language in Noah's household? Heber was Shem's great grandson.
How much different could the language of the Hebrews and the Phoenicians have
been under these circumstances? It was essentially the same language, but
historians have assumed that "Phoenician" was the primary language and "Hebrew"
the secondary language. Max Mueller is correct, the two languages are
essentially dialects of an older language, which was spoken by Noah's family. Of
this, there can be no doubt! If anything, paleo-Hebrew would be
a purer form of the original speech, uncontaminated by Egyptian influences as
the Phoenician certainly was. Therefore, the fact that the Phoenician
alphabet achieved greater notoriety in the ancient world is not
evidence that the Phoenician language is older than the Hebrew. If anything, the
Phoenician is a dialect of paleo-Hebrew, not the other way
around.
In the article
below, it is obvious that the paleo-Hebrew inscriptions that
have been found in America derive from the Hebrew-speaking Israelites of the
ships of Solomon.
Did ancient
Hebrews reach the shores of the North and South American continents thousands of
years before Christopher Columbus? What evidence is there for Hebrew and
Israelite occupation of the Western Hemisphere even a thousand years before
Christ? Was trans-Atlantic commerce and travel fairly routine in the days of
king Solomon of Israel? Read here the intriguing, fascinating saga of the
TRUE DISCOVERERS OF AMERICA!
A stone in a
dry creek bed in New Mexico, discovered by early settlers in the region, is one
of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in the Western Hemisphere. It
contains engraved on its flank the entire Ten Commandments written in ancient
Hebrew script! Hebrew scholars, such as Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis
University near Boston, have vouched
for its authenticity. I visited the site of the huge boulder, near Las Lunas,
New Mexico, in 1973 and photographed the Hebrew inscriptions. A local newspaper
reporter guided me to the mysterious site, located out in the middle of the New
Mexico desert. We watched for rattlesnakes, as we hiked in to the spot where the
boulder lies, unmoved and in situ for who knows how many mysterious centuries.
Who put it there? Who wrote the incredible inscription of the TEN
COMMANDMENTS in an ancient Hebrew dialect?
In his new book
The Origins and Empire of Ancient
Israel, author-historian Steven M.Collins points out that
the "Las Lunas Stone" inscription in archaic Hebrew was written in the
Hebrew letters of the style of the Moabite Stone, dated to about 1,000 B.C. This
would place the writing on the stone to the time of the kingdom of ancient
Israel under its most affluent and powerful king, Solomon, who reigned from 1014
B.C. to 974 B.C. Exactly how old the writing is, however, is not known. George
Morehouse, a geologist, studied it and concluded it is between 500 and 2000
years old, based on the weathered patina on the rock. However, the inscriptions
have received periodic scrubbings, says Collins, and therefore some of the
ancient evidence of weatherisation could have been removed in the process.
Collins points out that the punctuation in the inscription matches that found in
ancient Greek manuscripts of the fourth century. Dr.Barry Fell states that
separation points found in the artefact date to as early as 1200 B.C. Says
Collins,
"In view of
the above, this Las Lunas inscription predates the arrival of Columbus by at
least a thousand years, but it most likely dates to the time of King Solomon for
several reasons. The first reason is that the inscription is in the Paleo-Hebrew
characters in use from approximately 1200-600 B.C., which includes the reign of
King Solomon."
A second piece of evidence is what the
inscription says! Since it is an inscription of the Ten Commandments given by
God to Moses, it was obviously made by Israelites at a time when they worshipped
the God of the Bible. Since the Kingdom of Israel quickly degenerated into pagan
practices after the reign of Solomon, it argues that this inscription was made
during the reign of Solomon when God's laws were the standard for the
nation" (Steve Collins, Origins and Empires
of Ancient Israel, pages 218-219).
We will
demonstrate later in this article that sea voyages around the world were fairly
common during the time of king Solomon, the son of David, during Israel's
"golden age." Solomon's incredible wealth also strongly points to the Las Lunas
stone inscription as having been carved during his reign. Financing sailing
voyages of discovery and maritime trade is no small feat. Vast sums and
investments are required. Solomon was the wealthiest king who ever lived, and
undoubtedly had the resources to fund such far reaching and dangerous
voyages.Also, during his reign Israel was in league with the other major world
powers of the day, including Tyre
and the Phoenicians, and the nation of
Egypt (Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, thus cementing that alliance).
Steve Collins writes:
''Another
factor powerfully supporting a dating of this ancient Hebrew inscription to the
time of Solomon are the economic and logistic realities in the ancient world.
Transoceanic expeditions and colonization efforts in the ancient world required
a very large commitment of monetary and human resources. The source of such
resources had to be the king of a wealthy nation. Because the New Mexico
inscription is in ancient Hebrew, the sponsor for that ancient expedition had to
be a very wealthy king of the ancient Israelites! Solomon was the wealthiest
ancient King of Israel, and he reigned at a time when the Israelites kept the
Ten Commandments" (ibid., page 220).
The
"Decalogue Tablet"
Another
fascinating archaeological discovery in America is an ancient artefact bearing
an old Hebrew inscription of the Ten Commandments unearthed in Ohio in 1860.The
tablet also includes a scene of an individual-Moses-carved into the front of the
tablet in considerable detail, holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments. This
artefact was discovered in an ancient burial mound. The Hebrew inscription also
has characteristics of the old Phoenician alphabets. Writes Steve Collins on
this remarkable discovery:
''A Hebrew
inscription with Phoenician features is exactly what ancient Israelite
inscriptions should be like. The Israelites were close allies of the Phoenicians
and shared a common culture and navy from the time of King David until the fall
of Israel circa 721 B.C. Their artefacts would naturally exhibit the traits of
both cultures."
Collins
continues:
"While this
artefact unearthed from an Ohio burial mound cannot be specifically dated, the
alphabet used indicates that it was made by ancient followers of God who spoke
Hebrew. While it would be tempting to date this artefact to the time of King
Solomon, the fact that it was engraved with square Hebrew letters indicates a
date several centuries more recent than the Los Lunas tablet, which exhibited
the more ancient Paleo-Hebrew letters" (ibid., page
223-225).
The fact that
the Decalogue was buried at the ancient grave site may be evidence of a strong
Levitical presence with the early Israelite explorers. It was customary
in
ancient times for explorers to be accompanied by priests and religious
officials, and the Levites were the chosen tribe to officiate in religious
matters in the Kingdom of Israel. It was their responsibility alone to conduct
Temple services and to perform the duties associated with Temple worship,
religious instruction and education, and sacrifice.
..
Evidence of
Ancient Egyptians
Literally
hundreds of inscribed Phoenician, Celtic and Basque stone grave markers have
been found in Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania, dated to 800-600
B.C, over
2,000 years before the fateful voyage of Columbus! It must be said, therefore,
that Christopher Columbus did not really "discover" America. Rather,
he
and his intrepid sailors rediscovered the "New World"!
Incredible as
it may seem, the presence of ancient Egyptians has been found in the writing
system of the Wabanaki/Micmac Indians in Maine, a sub-tribe of
the
Algonquins. It has even been documented, says Collins, that the ancient
Egyptians sailed the Pacific Ocean as far as Polynesia and Hawaii, searching for
gold, about 1,000 B.C.- during the very time of Solomon's Empire in
Israel.
One proof of
this fact is an inscription in ancient Ogam and Libyan - the language of
Egyptian merchantmen - found near the Rio Grande River of Texas. The inscription
states than an Egyptian-Libyan king by the name of Shishonq visited North
America a number of times. It is translated as, ''A crew of Shishonq the
king
took shelter in this place of concealment." Says Dr. Barry Fell,
several kings of this name ruled Egypt and Libya between 1000 and 800
B.C.
Interestingly,
the Bible itself mentions a king of Egypt by the name of "Shishak" ("Shishonq") who invaded the Kingdom of
Judah during the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, after the kingdom of Israel
separated from allegiance to the throne of David. Shishak was no doubt an ally
of Jeroboam, the king of Israel, at that time.
He was a mighty king and
plundered the Temple and riches of the kingdom of Judah (see I Kings
14:25-26).
Steve Collins
declares:
"It is
significant that Dr. Fell noted the time period of '1000-800 B.C.' as marking a
period of significant Old World exploration of the New World. This time frame
exactly parallels Bible records showing international travel and commerce
flourished with fleets undertaking multi-year voyages and visiting other
continents. This time frame begins with the reigns of Kings David and Solomon,
but continues through much of the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, the
dominant partner in the Phoenician alliance until Israel fell circa 721 B.C. The
conclusion is inescapable that the record of ancient history verifies the
biblical accounts. The Bible is not a detailed history of all that happened in
the ancient world, but it confirms what archaeology and epigraphy have shown
about the real state of commerce and travel in the ancient world"
(Collins, page 227, emphasis mine except
boldface).
Mystery
Hill
More evidence
of early Hebrew-Phoenician presence in North America hundreds of years before
Christ was found in New England. At Mystery Hill, named for the
"mystery"
concerning the origin of the site, in North Salem, New Hampshire, a large temple
observatory site of about twenty acres was discovered by early
colonial
settlers. It included shrines with dedications to the god Baal, a
Phoenician-Canaanite deity condemned by the God of Israel. Dr. Barry Fell dated
these inscriptions to about 800-600 B.C., a time of apostasy in ancient Israel.
Radio-carbon dating of the site, however, indicates it was also inhabited back
to the second millennium before Christ.
Such a site
dedicated to Baal should be expected, since most of the kings of Israel, after
David and Solomon, worshipped Baal and the Babylonian pantheon,
including
Astarte (Easter), and Tammuz.
Early settlers
used stones from the site as building materials for their own homes.
Nevertheless, Barry Fell found enough conclusive evidence to demonstrate that
the ancient site was composed of stone slab chambers and henge stones used for
determining summer an winter solstices. Many temple dedications were found in
the stone walls. Radio-carbon dating indicates the site was in use for hundreds
of years, showing that the Phoenician-Hebrews had a strong and thriving colony
in the NewWorld that endured through many centuries.
The Davenport
Stele
More evidence
of Hebrew-Phoenician explorers being present in the New World comes from a
burial mound found in 1877 near Davenport, Iowa. Unfortunately, it was ignored
for decades by scholars and historians because no one could read its
inscription. Also, it was considered "suspect" because some of the signs on it
resembled Hebrew, and others resembled Phoenician, and this was utterly contrary
to prevailing scholarly opinion. Barry Fell has investigated this ancient stele
and found itcontains joint inscriptions in three ancient languages -
Iberian-Punic[related to Phoenician/Hebrew], Egyptian, and ancient Libyan.Why
these three languages? During the time of King Solomon of Israel, the leading
world alliance of the time was a triple alliance consisting of Israel-Phoenicia,
Egypt, and Libya!
Comments Steve
Collins, "These are the language groups of the triple alliance that the
Bible reveals began in the reign of Solomon! Since this ancient stele confirms
that these groups were travelling and working together in the interior of North
America, it indicates that this alliance not only existed but also had a global
reach!"(Collins,
p.210).
Why would there
be parallel inscriptions on the same stone, in Davenport, Iowa, in these ancient
languages, unless these three nations had been working and exploring
together?
Says Dr. Fell,
"The date is unlikely to be earlier than about 800 B.C., for we do not know
of Iberian or Libyan inscriptions earlier than this date. . . . It seems clear
that Iberian and Punic speakers were living in Iowa in the 9th century
B.C." (Fell, America B.C., page
268).
The terms
"Iberian" and "Punic" refer to languages which are closely
related to Hebrew/Phoenician. Dr.Fell noted the Phoenician "character" of the
script on both
sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The Iberian peninsula (Spain) was
at one time largely settled bypeoples of the tribes of Israel. In fact, the term
"Iberian" comes from the Hebrew word "Eber," meaning
"Hebrew"!
The Iowa stele
indicates that the "triple alliance" begun in the days of Solomon, between
Israel, Phoenicia,and Egypt/Libya, continued on into the 800s B.C.
It
probably lasted until Israel was carried away into captivity in 721 B.C.by
the growing Assyrian empire. The Bible states plainly that the northern kingdom
of Israel, ruled by Ahab, was still "in bed" with Phoenicia during his reign,
around 850 B.C. Ahab married the daughter of Hiram, king ofTyre, a woman by the
name of Jezebel, a priestess of the Baal-Astarte abomination. The Jewish
encyclopaedia tells us that Ahab was a very powerful king - one of the four
greatest kings of all history! According to the Targum Sheni, four kings reigned
over the entire world - and these did NOT include Alexander the Great. They were
in order: Solomon, Ahab, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus of Persia.
The Aggagah declares that Ahab was one of three or four kings
who will have no portion in the world to come (Sanhedrin
10.2). Over the gates of Samaria he placed the inscription:
"Ahab denies the God of Israel." Influenced by his wife Jezebel, he
became an enthusiastic idolater like none before him. He left no hilltop in
Israel without an idol before which he bowed. He substituted the names of idols
for the divine Name of God in the Torah. Ahab is said to have ruled over the
"whole world" and "his dominion extended over 252 kingdoms"
(Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Ahab", vol.1,
p.439).
Thus during the
800s, Israel was still a very powerful kingdom, and the triple alliance forged
by Solomon with Phoenicia and Egypt was still going strong, in the hands of
Ahab. An inscription noting this alliance, by being in three languages of the
three kingdoms, found in Davenport, Iowa, attests to the fact of this
continuing
and powerful entente. Ahab was a worldly despot whose wickedness
was only surpassed by his foolishness. Nevertheless, he was still the most
powerful monarch in the world during his time, and the triple alliance brought
Israel great wealth and might. Writes Steve Collins:
"A date of
800-700 B.C. for this stele confirms that the triple alliance of Israel, Egypt
and Phoenicia lasted long after the lifetime of King Solomon. The Bible records
that the ten tribes of Israel forsook worshipping the Creator God after
Solomon's death, and adopted the religious customs of Egypt, Tyre and Sidon.
Biblical accounts show that Israel and Phoenicia were still very closely allied
during the reign of King Ahab of Israel (circa 850 B.C.), and there is no
evidence that their alliance suffered a breach until approximately 721 B.C.,
when Israel ceased to be a nation in the Mideast. . . . Therefore the Iowa stele
showing that these ancient nations were still working together around 800 B.C.in
the New World is consistent with biblical accounts" (ibid., p.212).
In addition to
these discoveries, another stele exhibiting the ancient Egyptian-Libyan script
was unearthed on Long Island, NewYork. Dr. Barry Fell states that it also
probably dates to around the ninth century B.C. Still another amazing discovery
was made in Oklahoma, where another stele was found which contained references
to the gods Baal and Ra, with an inscription which was "an extract from the
Hymn to the Aton by Pharaoh Akhnaton." Although the dating of
Akhnaton
is purported to be in the 13th century B.C., new Egyptian dynastic dating
methods indicate he was much closer to 800 B.C. Immanuel Velikovsky points out
that Akhnaton was a member of the 18th dynasty in Egypt, which co-existed with
the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the 800s B.C. He was a
contemporary of king Jehoshaphat in Jerusalem, and reigned from 870-840B.C.
(see Ages in Chaos, p.229).
This Oklahoma stele is written in Iberian-Punic, a language descended from
Phoenician-Hebrew, and Barry Fell declares that it is "scarcely older than
800 B.C." (see Collins, p.212, Fell, America
B.C., p.159).
Peruvian
Discoveries
In December,
1989, itwas reported that an American explorer in Peru's highland jungles had
found evidence that indicated king Solomon's legendary goldmines may
have
been in that region. The explorer, Gene Savoy, declared that he had found three
stone tablets containing the first writing found from the ancient civilizations
of the Andes. The inscriptions, he reported, are similar to Phoenician and
Hebrew hieroglyphs! The San Francisco
Chronicle reports:
"The
hieroglyphs on the tablets are similar to those used in King Solomon's time and
include one identical to the symbol that always appeared on the ships he sent to
the legendary land of Ophir, which the Bible described as the source of his
gold, Savoy said" (December 7, 1989).
Savoy is no
newcomer to archaeological discoveries. He was the discoverer of the last Inca
city of Vilcabamba in 1964. Savoy declared that the three tablets each weigh
several tons and measure about 5 by 10 feet. They were found in a cave near Gran
Vilaya, the immense ruins of the Chachapoyas Indian civilization which he
discovered in 1985.
Hebrews in the
Americas 1,000 B.C.?
In 1973, while
travelling to do research for an article I was writing for The Plain Truth magazine, I
visited with Dr.Joseph Mahan in Atlanta,Georgia, an expert in ancient Indian
ethnology of the south-eastern Indians of the United States. He showed me
samples of pottery uncovered from the waters around the Bahamas, and
told me
of Indian legends, including that of the Yuchis, stating they had migrated to
the area of Florida and Georgia from the region of the Bahamas. According
to
their legends, the island sank beneath the sea and they fled for their
lives.
These same
Yuchis later migrated to the Oklahoma territory, where they eventually settled
down. Amazingly enough, they show strong evidence that they had contact with the
Old World in historic times. They have a custom which is unique among the
American Indians. They are racially and linguistically different from their
neighbours. Every year on the fifteenth day of the sacred month of harvest, in
the fall, they make a pilgrimage. For eight days they live in "booths" with
roofs open to the sky, covered with branches and leaves and foliage. During this
festival, they dance around the sacred fire, and called upon the name of God.
The ancient Israelites had the virtually identical custom, in many respects. In
the harvest season in the fall, on the 15th day of the sacred month of harvest
(the seventh month), they celebrate the "festival of booths" for eight
days. During this time they lived in temporary booths, covered with branches,
leaves, fronds. This festival goes back to the time of Moses and the Exodus from
ancient Egypt (Leviticus 23).
How is it that
two totally separated peoples observed the identical custom? The chances of this
occurring by pure "accident" are equivalent to the chances of survival
of a
snowball in hell!
Dr.Cyrus
Gordon, of Brandeis University in Boston, was
privileged to sit in on one of the fall harvest festivals of the Yuchi Indians,
and listened to their chants, songs, and sacred ceremonies. An expert in Hebrew,
Minoan, and many Middle Eastern languages, he was incredulous. As he listened,
he exclaimed to his
companion, "My God! They are speaking the Hebrew
names of God!"
Dr.Joe Mahan is
a strong believer in cultural contacts between the Indians and the East, long
before Columbus. He showed me a small tablet containing ancient cuneiform
writing of the Babylonians. "This," he said, "was found not long
ago by a woman digging in her flower bed, here in Georgia.The inscription
appears to be genuine. There is no reason not to believe it is
authentic."
Perplexing
Mysteries
In "Quest of the White God", Pierre
Honore points out similarities between the ancient Minoan writing and the script
of the ancient Mayas. Independently of him,
other scholars have noted
striking similarities between Aztec glyphs from Mexico, and Cretan glyphs on the
Phaistos Disc from the island of Crete in the
Mediterranean. More and more,
scholars are coming to admit that peoples from the Middle East reached the New
World long before Columbus or the Vikings.One
stone, found at Fort Benning,
Georgia, has unusual markings all over it. It is called the "Metcalf
stone" in honour of its discoverer. In 1968 Manfred Metcalf was
looking
for slabs to build a barbeque pit. Several strange looking, flat rocks caught
his eye; he picked up a large flat piece of sandstone about nine inches long,
brushed it off, and noticed odd markings on it. I saw the stone myself, and took
photographs of it. Professor Stanislav Segert, professor of Semitic languages at
the University of Prague, has identified the markings on the stone as a script
of the second millennium before Christ, from the Minoan civilization on the
island of Crete!
The inscription
on the stone, Dr. Cyrus Gordon asserts, is in the writing style of Canaan, the
promised land of the Hebrews. Concludes Gordon, whom I interviewed at his old,
New England style home in the suburbs of Boston:
"There is
no doubt that these findings, and others, reflect Bronze Age transatlantic
communication between the Mediterranean and the New World around the middle of
the second millennium B.C."
He said such
discoveries prove beyond doubt ancient Jews came to the Americas long before
Columbus!
Metcalf gave
the stone to Dr. Joseph B. Mahan, Jr., Director of Education and Research at the
nearby Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts at Columbus, Georgia. Mahan sent a
copy of the stone to Cyrus Gordon. Gordon reported:
"after
studying the inscription, it was apparent to me that the affinities of the
script were with the Aegean syllabary, whose two best known forms are Minoan
Linear A, and Mycenaean Linear B. The double-axe in the lower left corner is of
course reminiscent of Minoan civilization.The single vertical lines remind us of
the vertical lines standing each for the numeral 'I' in the Aegean syllabary;
while the little circles stand for '100'."
Concluded
Gordon: "We therefore have American inscriptional contacts with the Aegean
of the Bronze Age, near the south, west and north shores of the Gulf of
Mexico.This can hardly be accidental; ancient Aegean writing near three
different sectors of the Gulf reflects Bronze Age transatlantic communication
between the Mediterranean and the New World around the middle of the second
millennium B.C."
The middle of
the second millennium B.C. would have been around the time of Moses and the
Exodus of Israel out of ancient Egypt!
Gordon offers
the exciting thought, "The Aegean analogues to Mayan writing, to the Aztec
glyphs, and to the Metcalf Stone, inspire the hope that the deciphered scripts
of the Mediterranean may provide keys for unlocking the forgotten systems of
writing in the New World. A generation capable of landing men on the moon, may
also be able to place pre-Columbian Americas within the framework of world
history" (Manuscripts, summer of
1969).
The Brazllian
Paraiba Stone
Further proof
that transatlantic travel and communication existed in the BronzeAge, in the
middle of the second millennium B.C., during the time of David and Solomon, and
before, comes to us from South America. In 1872 a slave belonging to Joaquim
Alves de Costa, found a broken stone tablet in the tropical rain forests of
Brazil's Paraiba state. Baffled by the strange markings on the stone, Costa's
son, who was a draftsman, made a copy of it and sent it to the
Brazilian
Emperor's Council of State. The stone came to the attention of
Ladislau Netto, director of the national museum. He was convinced of the
inscription's authenticity and made a crude translation of it. Contemporary
scholars scoffed. The very thought of Phoenicians reaching Brazil thousands of
years before Columbus was viewed with disdain. Few scholars took the stone at
all seriously. Ninety four years later, in 1966, Dr.Jules Piccus, professor of
romance languages at the University of Massachusetts, bought an old scrapbook at
a rummage sale containing a letter written by Netto in 1874, which contained his
translations of the markings on the stone and a tracing of the original copy he
had received from Costa's son. Intrigued, Dr.Piccus brought the material to the
attention of Cyrus H. Gordon. Dr. Gordon, the head of the Department of
Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis and an expert in ancient Semitic languages, as
well as author of some 13 books, was amazed. He compared the Paraiba inscription
with the latest work on Phoenician writings. He discovered that it contained
nuances and quirks of Phoenician style that could not have been known to a 19th
century forger.The writings had to be genuine!
Gordon
translated the inscription as follows:
"We are
Sidonian Canaanites from the city of the Mercantile King.We were cast up on this
distant shore, a land of mountains. We sacrificed a youth to the celestial gods
and goddesses in the nineteenth year of our mighty King Hiram and embarked from
Ezion-geber into the Red Sea. We voyaged with ten ships and were at sea together
for two years around Africa. Then we were separated by the hand of Baal and were
no longer with our companions. So we have come here, twelve men and three women,
intoNew Shore. Am I, the Admiral, a man who would flee? Nay! May the celestial
gods and goddesses favour us well!"
The Navy of
King Solomon
Cyrus Gordon
believes the king mentioned in the script can be identified as Hiram III who
reigned 553-533 B.C. The inscription seems to verify an unusual statement found
in the Old Testament. We read in the first book of Kings:
"And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is
beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent
in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the
servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four
hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon"
(I Kings 9:26-28).
In the days of
Solomon there was an alliance between Hiram, the king of Tyre and the Israelites
under Solomon. They were not only allies, but very friendly toward one another
(IIChronicles2:2-12). Israelites and Phoenicians even worked
together to build the Temple of God in Jerusalem
(vs.13-18).This alliance included shipping together, although
the Phoenicians were known to jealously guard the secrets of oceanic navigation
from other nations.We read in II Chronicles 8, beginning
verse 17:
"Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea
side in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent him by the hands of his servants ships,
and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of
Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and
brought them to king Solomon" (v.I
7-18).
In the heyday
of Solomon silver was "not any thing accounted
of" (II Chronicles 9:20).We read,
"And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar
trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the low plains in
abundance"(v.27).
Solomon had his
own personal fleets and dominated world trade.
"And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches
and wisdom" (v. 22).
There is
archaeological evidence, in fact, that the fleets of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre
circumnavigated the globe, sailing from Ezion-geber, a port at the terminus of
the Red Sea, near modern Aqaba or Eliat! Hebrew customs, discovered by the early
English settlers in the Americas,were found among some of the Indian
tribes,
including the wearing of phylacteries!
Minoan and
Phoenician coins have been found, and inscriptions of ancient Phoenician and
Minoan scripts, in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and the Star of David
was
even found in an ancient ruin of the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico! In the middle
of the second millennium, B.C., and down to the time of Solomon, circa 1000B.C.,
oceanic travel by maritime powers in the Middle East seems to have been fairly
common.
Steve Collins
points out that there were a number of remarkable developments that occurred in
the Middle East around 1000 B.C.- the time of King Solomon. At
that time
Phoenicia suddenly developed new types of pottery that had no prototypes in the
Late Bronze Age. At the time of king Solomon, the skills of the Phoenicians took
a giant stride forward! Technology leaped forward during the time of Solomon. In
fact, Solomon's genius launched a "Golden Age" for Israel and her chief
ally, Phoenicia! The Bible tells us that "all the earth
consulted Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart"
(I Kings 10:24).The fact that technology suddenly
surged forward at that same time speaks volumes of the influence and effect of
Solomon's genius - he was a Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Isaac Newton,
Robert Fulton and Albert Einstein all rolled into one!
Significantly,
the modern alphabet - Greek, English and all European writing - can be traced
back to the Phoenicians, who carried it wherever they travelled 3,000
years
ago. The names of the Phoenician letters are Semitic - the Hebrew aleph,
bet, gimel, dalet, etc., all correspond with the Greek alpha, beta,
gama, delta, and the English A, B,C, D, and so forth. Phoenician
has been shown to be nearly the same language as Hebrew! Declares Steve
Collins,
"It is
significant that 'in their earlier forms,' the Phoenician, Hebrew, Moabite, and
North Aramean alphabets are 'practically identical.' When the phonetic alphabet
was invented in this region around 1000 B.C., King Solomon ruled the Hebrews,
Moabites and North Arameans [Syrians], and King Hiram of Tyre was his loyal
ally. It would be logical that, at the time of its implementation, the alphabet
would be virtually identical because these territories were all ruled by
Israelite kings. The phonetic alphabet 'was developed and diffused' by the
Phoenicians (the Israelite alliance with Tyre, Sidon, etc.) when they were the
world's dominant alliance under Kings David and Solomon" (Origins and Empire of Ancient Israel,
p.234).
This great
explosion of knowledge, world exploration, and advancement occurred around 1000
B.C. - precisely at the time of the great Solomonic Empire in Israel, which
extended its grasp and reach around the globe! The evidence is staggering - and
phenomenal.
Amazing
Discoveries in Mexico
Were Hebrews in
the Americas long before Columbus? More evidence comes from the investigations
of Dr. Alexander von Wuthenau, whom I interviewed at his home in Mexico City.
His living room was filled to overflowing with terracotta pottery figures and
objects d'art. In his book The Art of Terra Cotta
Pottery in Pre-Columbian Central and South America,
Dr.VonWuthenau published scores of photographs of these art objects. He tells of
his astonishment, when he first noted that in the earliest, lower levels of each
excavation he encountered - not typical Indian heads - but heads of Mongolians,
Chinese, Japanese, Tartars, Negroes, and "all kinds of white people,
especially Semitic Types with and without beards" (p. 49).
At Acapulco,
von Wuthenau found that early Semitic peoples lived in considerable numbers.
"The curious points about these essentially primitive figures are that,
first, there is an emphasis on markedly Semitic-Hebrew features," he
declared (p. 86). Female figures found in the region are also markedly
Caucasian, with delicate eyebrows, small mouths and opulent
coiffures.
Cyrus Gordon,
who has studied the collection, points out:
"In the
private collection of Alexander vonWuthenau is a Mayan head, larger than
life-size, portraying a pensive, bearded Semite. The dolichocephalic
("long-headed") type fits the Near East well. He resembles certain European
Jews, but he is more like many Yemenite Jews."
Near Tampico,
the early Huastecan culture reveals portrait heads with a predominant Semitic,
white element, but also Negroid features appear. At Veracruz,
meanwhile, a
figurine of a female dancer possesses the features just like those of a
Frenchwoman of Brittany! She wears a headdress reminiscent of
Phoenician
fashion.Also at Veracruz a figure with a false beard, styled like
an Egyptian beard, had a snake-like protrusion on the forehead. Again and again,
figures with definite
Semitic features have been found. A sample of Maya
ceramic painting shows a lady with a flower who has an undeniable Negroid
character.
The figure has
an affinity with Egyptian painting, says Wuthenau. yet it was not found along
the Nile, but in Central America! On the Pacific coast of Ecuador,
also,
evidence for the presence of early Hebrews has been found. Also
discovered was a figurine of a lovely girl who wore a headdress with a
remarkable Phoenician affinity. Other Ecuadorian heads show definite Semitic
features. Clearly, the Semites penetrated a large part of the American continent
in "prehistoric" times!
Discoveries in
South America
In the past
century, several Brazilians have found inscriptions on rocks along the Amazon
river. Over a period of 50 years, four men, including two who
were
scientists, uncovered inscriptions which they independently concluded
were Phoenician in origin.The first man, Francisco Pinto, in 1872 found over 20
caves deep in the Brazilian jungle and uncovered about 250 strange inscriptions
upon the rocks. He thought they were Phoenician, and Brazil's Director of
History and Geography corroborated his suspicions. A German philologist who
studied the markings in 1911 felt they were genuine.
In the 1880s,
Ernest Ronan, a French scientist, combed the jungles and found several more
inscribed stones. In the 1920s a scholar by the name of Bernardo da Silva
discovered many more inscriptions along the Amazon. It makes good sense. It
explains why the Mayans, who considered Quetzalcoatl as the bringer of their
arts and laws, depicted him as being unusually blond!
When the
Spaniards discovered the New World in the early sixteenth century, perhaps fifty
million inhabitants lived in the Western Hemisphere, speaking over 900
languages. Such linguistic diversity has long puzzled scholars, and logically
attests to a diversity of origins. Carleton S. Coon reported that the
conquistadores "commented on Montezuma's light skin, but did not remark that
this ruler rarely exposed himself to the bright sun." Coon adds:
"George Catlin, in his portraits of the Mandan Indians, depicted some of
them as blond. . . . Another case of allegedly aberrant Indians is that of the
Pomo, Hupa, and neighbouring tribes in north-central California whose beard
growth seems to have been Caucasoid when they were first seen" (Coon, The Living Races of Man,
p.154).
Another mystery
to ethnologists is the existence of a white skinned, red-bearded tribe
discovered by builders of Brazil's Trans-Amazon Highway. Called the
Lower
Assurinis because they live south of the route of the highway, they
have ear lobes (which is uncharacteristic of other tribes), and their language
differs from
traditional dialects in the region.
Sir Walter
Raleigh in his History of the
World mentioned that the Indians he encountered used many
Welsh words long before the Welsh were known to have
come toAmerica.
Linguistic studies prove that the Welsh language is very closely akin to ancient
Hebrew!
The Mystery of
New Zealand's Maoris
There is
evidence among the Maori and people of eastern Polynesia that the sun was
deified as Tane and that Ra, the sun god, was the tutelary god of Borabora. The
Maoris, also, made use of ancient solar observatories.
''At
Keriken, in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, there is a miniature Stonehenge,
the blocks standing about 7 feet out of the ground; and near Atiamuri, north of
Taupo, there are other great monumental blocks - some fifty of these still
standing erect" (Maori Symbolism, p.
137).
Interestingly,
ancient Maori traditions relate that since antiquity the Maoris have observed
ceremonial and dietary laws very similar to those of the ancient
Hebrews.
They even kept the seventh day "Sabbath" as a day of rest! Also, every 7 times 7
years - or 49 years - they observed a Jubilee Year similar to that of the
ancient
Hebrews. These similarities simply cannot be explained away as "mere
coincidence"! The Maoris, like the Hebrews, even had a "sacred month"
given over to
Harvest thanksgiving, corresponding to the Hebrew month of
Tishri and the Festival of
Tabernacles.
Howcan these
fascinating facts be explained? Such similarities must be more than mere
coincidence. Like the Yuchi Indians of North America, the Maoris, at
some
very early stage of history, must have come in contact with ancient
Hebrew mariners, roaming the seven seas, who taught them Hebrew customs and left
behind signs of Hebraic influence!
How was this
contact achieved? Was the ancient world covered by a global cultural continuity,
indicating a globe-girdling civilization?
Ancient Maps of the
"Sea Kings"
In his book
Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, Charles H. Hapgood
tells of the Piri Re's map of 1513 A.D. Studies of
this map show that it correctly gives latitudes and longitudes along the coasts
of Africa and Europe, indicating that the original mapmaker must have found the
correct relative longitude across Africa and across the Atlantic to Brazil .This
amazing map gives an accurate profile of the coast of South America to the
Amazon, provides an amazing outline of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico
(supposedly not yet discovered!), and - incredibly enough - shows a part of the
coast of the Antarctic Continent which was not discovered, in
modern times,
until 1818!
This map does
not stand alone. A world map drawn by Oronteus Finaeus in 1531 gives a truly
authentic map of Antarctica, indicating the coasts were probably ice free when
the original map was drawn (of which Oronteus Finaeus' map was a later copy).
The Oronteus Finaeus map was strikingly similar to modern maps of
the
Antarctic. How could this be?
Another
fascinating map is the map of Hadji Ahmed of 1559. It is evident that the
cartographer had some extraordinary source maps at his disposal. Says
Hapgood:
"The shapes
of North and South America have a surprisingly modern look, the western coasts
are especially interesting. They seem to be about two centuries ahead of the
cartography of the time. . . . The shape of what is now the United States is
about perfect" (p.99).
Another map of
the Middle Ages, the Reinel Chart of 1510 - a
Portuguese map of the Indian Ocean - provides a striking example of the
knowledge of the ancients. Studying the identifiable geographical localities and
working out from them, Hapgood was astounded to find that "this map
apparently shows the coast of Australia. . . The map also appeared to show some
of the Caroline Islands of the Pacific. Latitudes and longitudes on this map are
remarkably good, although Australia is shown too far north" (ibid.,
p.134).
How can such
remarkable accuracy on these ancient maps be explained? Obviously, at an earlier
period of earth's history, seafaring nations must have travelled
around the
world and accurately mapped the major continents, and fragments and copies of
their ancient maps survived into the Middle Ages and were copied again.
Concludes Hapgood:
"The
evidence presented by the ancient maps appears to suggest the existence in
remote times. . . of a true civilization, of a comparatively advanced sort,
which either was localized in one area but had worldwide commerce, or was, in a
real sense, a worldwide culture"
(p.193).
How advanced
was this ancient culture? Says Hapgood,
"In astronomy,
nautical science, mapmaking and possibly shipbuilding, it was perhaps more
advanced than any state of culture before the 18th Century of the Christian
Era."
He continues:
"It was in the 18th Century that we first developed a practical means of
finding longitude. It was in the 18th Century that we firstaccurately measured
the circumference of the earth. Not until the 19th Century did we begin to send
out ships for purposes of whaling or exploration into the Arctic or Antarctic
Seas. The maps indicate that some ancient people may have done all these things"
(Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings,
p.193).
What Ancient
Society Could Have Been Responsible?
The evidence is
overwhelming. The Semitic features discovered in Mexico and South America, the
Hebrew and Phoenicians inscriptions, the Hebrew religious
customs found in
the Americas, and similar customs in far off New Zealand among the Maoris of
ancient times, all attest to the fact that worldwide oceanic travel, trade and
commerce was occurring during the time of the Solomonic Empire!
Hapgood says
such mapmaking would indicate economic motivations and vast economic resources.
Further, organized government is indicated, since the mapping of a continent
such as Antarctica implies much organization, many expeditions, and the
compilation of many local observations and maps into a general map under central
supervision. He adds that it is unlikely that navigation and mapmaking were the
only sciences developed by this ancient people. Such a
comprehensive
enterprise could only have been achieved during a relative time
of world peace, and by a very powerful and extremely wealthy kingdom! What
ancient kingdom
could have accomplished this?
Biblical
Evidence Confirms It
Based on
Biblical evidence, from the Scriptures, there can be no doubt. The ancient
Israelite kingdom of king Solomon, noted for its wealth, peace, and power,
and
incredible trade empire, must have laid the foundation for a global
commercial maritime culture extending its reach around the world. Traces of this
ancient world - wide culture have been found almost everywhere - worldwide
evidence in archaeology, inscriptions, monuments, Hebrew customs, language
similarities, and
religious practices.
God spoke of
ancient Phoenicia to the prophet Ezekiel, about 600 B.C.,
"And say to Tyre, O you who dwell at entrance to the sea, who
are merchants of the peoples of many islands and coastlands. . . The inhabitants
of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your
oarsmen; your skilled wise men, O Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots.The
old men of Gebal [a city north of Sidon] and
its skilled and wise men in you were your calkers; all the ships of the sea with
their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise and trading"
(Ezekiel 27:3, 8-9).
"Your rowers brought you out into the great and deep waters;
the east wind has broken and wrecked you in the heart of the seas. . .When your
wares came forth from the seas, you met the desire, and the demand, and the
necessity of many people; you enriched the KINGS OF THE EARTH with your abundant
wealth and merchandise. Now you are shattered by the seas. . ."
(vs.26, 33-34, Amplified Bible).
This sounds
like the description of a globe-girdling nautical nation - one which brings its
wealth from afar!- one which travels throughout the entire earth in its quest
for material goods and trade!
During the time
of Solomon, we also read in the Bible:
"For the king [Solomon] had
at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the
navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks"
(I Kings 10:22).
It is
significant that Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe, requiring three
years - from 1519-1522. It is also meaningful that Sir Francis Drake, the first
Englishman to circumnavigate the world, took three years to do so (1577-80).
Their voyages required three years to complete - just like Solomon's
fleets!
"You Resemble
a Sinner of Canaan!"
Mariano Edward
Rivero and John James von Tschudi in Peruvian
Antiquities (1857) point out that after the most thorough
examination and minute comparison, the religious rites of the American Indians
plainly present many points of agreement with those of the Hebrew people
(p.9). Continue these authors:
"Like the
Jews, the Indians offer their first fruits, they keep their new moons, and the
feast of expiations at the end of September or in the beginning of October; they
divide the year into four seasons, corresponding with the Jewish festivals. . .
. In some parts of North America circumcision is practised. . .There is also
much analogy between the Hebrews and Indians in that which concerns various
rites and customs; such as the ceremonies of purification, the use of the
bath... fasting, and the manner of prayer. The Indians likewise abstain from the
blood of animals, as also from fish without scales; they consider divers
quadrupeds unclean, also certain birds and reptiles, and they are accustomed to
offer as a holocaust the firstlingsof the flock"
(ibid.).
Amazing - but
true! All these parallels cannot be mere coincidence! Can anyone in their right
mind consign these incredible "links" and "similarities" to be
nothing more than mere "accident"?
Say Rivero and
von Tschudi: "But that which most tends to fortify the opinion as to the
Hebrew origin of the American tribes, is a species of ark, seemingly like that
of the Old Testament; this the Indians take with them to war; it is never
permitted to touch the ground, but rests upon stones or pieces of wood, it being
deemed sacrilegious and unlawful to open it or look into it. The American
priests scrupulously guard their sanctuary, and the High Priest carries on his
breast a white shell adorned with precious stones, which recalls the Urim of the
Jewish High Priest: of whom we are also reminded by a band of white plumes on
his forehead" (p.9-10).
These two
reputable scientists of the last century also point out,
"The use of
Hebrew words was not uncommon in the religious performances of the North
American Indians, and Adair assures us that they called an accused or guilty
person haksit canaha, 'a sinner of Canaan'; and to him who was inattentive to
religious worship, they said, Tschihaksit canaha, 'You resemble a sinner of
Canaan'" (ibid.).
Why Should It
Seem Strange?
Though such
evidence does not prove that the Indians themselves were Jews or Israelites, it
does show that long before Columbus, Hebrews had reached the New World and had
left their imprint upon its inhabitants. There undoubtedly was intermarriage.
Such incredible parallels are beyond the remotest possibility of being due to
mere chance!
Why should it
seem strange that peoples of the ancient world - in particular Phoenicians and
Hebrews - reached the New World and travelled to South America, and even crossed
the Pacific? Is it really so incredible? The trouble is, most of us of the
present generation have been brainwashed to think that the ancients were merely
superstitious savages, terrified of sailing out to sea lest they fall off the
edge of the earth.
But the Phoenicians had already sailed out beyond the
"Pillars of Hercules" (Straits of Gibraltar) by 1200 B.C. They
developed the keel, streamlined their ships, covered the decks, and improved the
sail. Their ships were from 80-100 feet long and used a single square sail
besides oars. Their ships could average 100 miles in a day's time (24 hours).
They were busy traders. Commerce was their principal aim. Tyre and Sidon, their
home ports, were cities of immense wealth. Did ancient Phoenicians reach the New
World? The evidence is inescapable. Also interesting is the fact that the
Quichua word for the sun, Inti, may very likely be derived from the
Sanscrit root Indh, meaning "to shine, bum, or flame" and
which corresponds to the East India word Indra, also meaning "the
sun." It is also significant that the pre-Incas worshipped the invisible,
Creator God, the Supreme Being, by the appellative Con, very similar to
the Hebrew Cohen, the word for "priest," from the root
Kahan meaning "to meditate in religious services, to officiate as a
priest."
When all is
said and done, Rivero and von Tschudi declare:
"It cannot
be denied, that the above tradition of the creation of the world, by the
invisible and omnipotent Con, the primitive happy state of men, their corruption
by sin, the destruction of the earth, and its regeneration, bears a distinct
analogy to the Mosaic chronicle of the earliest epoch of the history of the
human race ..." (Peruvian
Antiquities, p.149).
The Gold of
"Ophir"
In the book of
Isaiah we read the enigmatic statement:
"I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man
than the golden wedge of Ophir" (Isaiah13:12).
Where was the
legendary "Ophir"? What was this "golden wedge"?
..
The Hebrew word for "wedge" is leshonah and refers to a "tongue," an instrument of some kind. The wedge of
gold was, then, a bar or instrument of gold - literally, a "tongue of gold." What could this "tongue" of gold have been? The gold of Ophir was
not a scarce commodity since Solomon received 44 tons of it in a single year.
Ophir was a place famous for its gold. Could it be that Isaiah was referring to
a particular instrument of gold - something famous in Ophir?
The Inca
Empire was famous for the quantity and quality of the gold it produced. The
Incas of modern Peru have a tradition that their earliest king was Pirua Paccari
Manco. In modern Quichua Pirua means a granary or storehouse. The first dynasty
of kings, called the Pirua dynasty, included the first eighteen kings in the
king list.One of the commonest titles of the early kings was Capac
which means "Rich." One of the first kings was Manco Capac who founded
the city of Cuzco ("Navel" in the special language of the Incas). Manco
Capac is generally regarded as the progenitor of the Incas.
Legends of the
Incas tell us that he got rid of his three brothers and led the people of Cuzco.
Says Markham,
"He took
with him a golden staff. When the soil was so fertile that its whole length sank
into the rich mould, there was to be the final resting place" (Markham, The Incas of Peru, p.50,
53).
Another story
calls this golden staff a "sceptre of gold about a yard long and two fingers
thick" (Markham, Royal Commentaries of the
Incas, p.64). Could this have been the "golden wedge" or "tongue" of Ophir?
John Crow
relates another tradition of the ancient Incas.
"It is the
story of "the Golden Wedge", according to which the
Sun, wearied of the crude, barbaric ways of the uncivilized Indians, sent two of
his children, a son and a daughter, to lift them from their primitive life.
Placed on the earth near
the banks of Lake Titicaca, these two children of the Sun were given a golden
wedge which they were to carry with them wherever they wandered; and on the spot
where this wedge sank without effort into the ground and disappeared they were
told to found their mother city. When the divine pair reached the vicinity of
Cuzco, their talisman slid into the earth and vanished from
sight" (The Epic of Latin America,
p.25).
Was this
mysterious talisman - this "golden wedge" -
the same thing mentioned by the prophet Isaiah - the "golden wedge of Ophir"? There is a close
resemblance between the Pirua dynasty and the Hebrew word Ophir. In Hebrew, Ophir ("ph" can
be pronounced either as an "f" or a "p") was the name of a place rich in gold
(I Kings 9:28); sometimes the term Ophir was used for gold (Job
22:24). Ancient Peru would certainly fit the Biblical description of
Ophir. It was famous for its gold. In the
Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was a fantastic display of wealth. The four inside
walls were covered with paper-thin sheets of gold. A giant golden figure of the
Sun hung suspended over the main altar.
A huge silver
room was dedicated to the Moon. Surrounding the Temple of the Sun and several
chapels was a huge stone wall, covered with a cornice or crest of gold a yard
wide. Inside the Temple were decorations of gold and silver flowers, plants and
animals. The Spaniards sacked the Temple and seized all the gold and
silver
ornaments.
From 1492
to1600 about two billion pesos' worth of gold and silver flowed out of Spain's
New World colonies - at least three times the entire European supply of
these
precious metals up to that time. The total production of gold and silver in the
Spanish colonies between 1492 and 1800 has been estimated at six
billion
dollars.
Historian
Fernando Montesinos visited Peru from 1629-1642, a century after the conquest by
the Spaniards. He travelled fifteen years through the country
collecting
material for a history of Peru. Montesinos wrote Ophir de Espana, Memorias Historiales y Politicas del
Peru. He believed Peru was the Ophir of Solomon. He
contended that Peru was first settled by Ophir, the grandson of Noah
(Genesis 10:29).
Montesinos has
been ridiculed and derided by historians. But since the early settlers of Peru
were white-skinned and red-bearded; since there was abundant gold in the region;
since the name of the Pirua dynasty corresponds to the Hebrew Ophir; since the voyages of Solomon's fleet took
about three years to complete; and
since the "golden
wedge" of Ophir could very well correspond to the "golden wedge" of Manco Capac; and since there is
so much overwhelming evidence of
cultural contacts betweens the ancient
Peruvians and the Israelites, with close affinities in cosmology; and since
there is definite evidence of the presence of ancient
Semitic peoples in
Peru, Equador, and the Western Hemisphere - the evidence is very compelling that
Montesinos was right on the mark! There is strong reason to believe that Peru
was the ancient Ophir of the Bible! Why Such
Ignorance?
When we examine
all the evidence, the picture comes startlingly clear. Ancient Hebrews sailed to
the Western Hemisphere 2,500 years before Columbus. Much of this knowledge has
been lost to mankind. But now a great deal of it is being rediscovered. The
ancient Israelites were here before us! They left signs of their presence
everywhere - in customs, language, religious similarities, archaeological
artefacts, and even the Ten Commandments inscribed on a remote stone in a
dry
creek bed in New Mexico!
Why is the
modern world so intolerably ignorant of all these astonishing facts and
discoveries? Why are modern scholars still hiding their eyes from the truth, and
burying their heads in the sand of ignorance? Could it be because they don't
want to admit the incredible authenticity and reliability of the Scriptures, the
Word of
God?
Could it be
because they are filled with pride and arrogance, and don't want to admit that
they have been wrong - so very wrong - all these years and decades?
Could it
be because of their human heart, of which Jeremiah states:
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who
can understand it?" (Jeremiah17:9,
NIV).
Could it be -
as the apostle Paul warned and wrote so plainly - because modern scholars and
historians are afflicted by a terrible spiritual "virus"? As Paul
declared, speaking of the world's most eminent historians and scholars,
"The wrath of
God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men
WHO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is
plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of
the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have
been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are
WITHOUT EXCUSE.
For although they knew God, they
neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish heart was darkened. Although they claimed to be wise,
THEY BECAME FOOLS and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to
look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in
the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their
bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever
praised. Amen" (Romans 1:18-25,
NIV).
God says of
those who refuse to accept the hard evidence, the clear proof, of His Word and
how true history and archaeology confirm and support His divine
revelation in
the Scriptures,
"But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his
righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to
what he has done" (Romans
2:5-6).
It is a fact
that it is probably ten times more difficult to unlearn an error than to simply
learn the truth. When people have been steeped in error and false reasoning and
erroneous concepts for decades, it is hard for them to get the cobwebs and
blinders from their eyes, and to admit the plain, clear, convincing, compelling,
and crystal pure truth!
Dr. Barry Fell
has stated that some archaeologists are so deeply in denial about the realities
of ancient America that they tried to dismiss ancient writing and inscriptions
as being nothing but "accidental markings made by ploughshares and roots of
trees" and "colonial stone cutting drills" (America B.C., p.50-51) Large
boulders piled on top of one another as ancient dolmens or megalithic monuments
- found throughout New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts,
paralleling similar monuments found across the Atlantic in Europe - have been
ridiculed as being nothing but glacial "erratics" (Fell, ibid., p. 130-131).
As Steve
Collins says,
"It is
unfortunate that some in modern academia have resorted to such unscholarly,
fanciful extremes to maintain a state of denial regarding the evidence of Old
World civilizations in ancient America. As a result, the exciting story of
ancient America's history has been largely withheld from the American
public" (Collins,
p.208).
He goes on,
"Unfortunately, the concept that 'Columbus discovered America
in 1492' has become such a cherished dogma that it now commands an almost
superstitious devotion from modern academics. Columbus was a very brave mariner,
but he was clearly preceded by other discoverers and colonists from the Old
World who settled the New World millennia before Columbus. Columbus' voyage was
a courageous effort re-establishing NewWorld links after the Dark Ages, but it
is now known that such links commonly existed prior to the Dark Ages" (ibid.).
· Why does the
world stand in denial of this awesome discovery?
· Why does
modern academia ridicule this subject, or shove it under the rug and ignore
it?
· Why,
indeed!
Paul declares,
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain
the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not
to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed
and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife,deceit and malice. They are
gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent
ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless,
heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do
such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but
also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:28-32,
NIV).
There is a day
of judgment coming - a day of reckoning - in which every human being will have
to give account. Those who suppress the truth will be held accountable. Those
who study it, accept it, and proclaim it, will be wonderfully rewarded. Speaking
about the blindness of our modern age, the apostle Paul speaks of those who are
"always leaming but never able to acknowledge the
truth" (II Timothy 3:7). He warned that "evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving
and being deceived" (II Timothy 3:13). Many people
will "turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside
to myths" (II Timothy .4:4)When God separates the
lovers of truth from followers of lies - where will you
stand?
The Oronte Finaeus Map of 1531
The Oronte Finaeus world map was drawn in
1531, just 49 years after Columbus discovered America! Obviously, nobody would
have been able to draw a world map at that time - unless they had access to
ancient maps of a long-forgotten age of mapmaking and world discovery and
exploration. The map reveals an
astonishing outline of the continent
Antarctica, amazingly similar to modern maps. Where did this amazingly accurate
knowledge come from?
Charles
Hapgood, who discovered these ancient maps, says they were created by an ancient
worldtravelling kingdom or culture - a civilization that obviously spread its
influence around the world and made the original maps showing the seas, oceans,
and land masses of the earth at that period of time. What civilization or
culture could it have been? Such travel and exploration requires not only an
adventuresome spirit, and courage, but knowledge of shipbuilding, navigation,and
immense treasures of wealth to support such ventures. Could it have been the
immensely wealthy kingdom of Solomon, son of David, who reigned for forty years
over Israel about 1,000 B.C., during a time of world peace? His allies of that
time, solidified by marriage, were the kingdoms of Egypt and Phoenicia. This
tripartite alliance circumnavigated the globe, and fostered a "golden
age" of world peace, world trade, commerce, and cultural
advancement.
The Piri Re'is
Map of 1513
The Piri Re'is map correctly provides
longitudes and latitudes along the coasts of Africa and Europe and an accurate
profile of the coast of South America to the
Amazon River and provides an
astonishing outline of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, not yet
"discovered" by contemporary explorers.
Ancient Buache
Map of Antarctica and the Southern Polar Region
This ancient
map dating from the Middle Ages shows cartographic knowledge far ahead of its
time. Charles Hapgood, in "Maps of the Ancient
Sea Kings",
demonstrates that maps similar to this one
must have been created by ancient mariners who circumnavigated the globe of the
earth in their exploration and quest for
riches. This particular map is known
as the Buache map. Notice
that when this map was originally drawn, there was a water passageway through
the middle of the
continent of Antarctica!
Professor
Charles Hapgood states,
"The evidence
presented by the ancient maps appears to suggest the existence in remote times.
. . of a true civilization, of a comparatively advanced sort, which either was
localized in one area but had worldwide commerce, or was, in a real sense, a
worldwide culture."
Could this
"true civilization" not have been the Solomonic empire of the kingdom
of Israel, which ruled the world as the most advanced nation on earth about the
beginning of the first millennium before Christ? Other spine-tingling evidence
of archaeology supports this conclusion. Charles Hapgood was definitely onto
something - something extraordinary!
Amazing
Discoveries
The Davenport Stele, found in a mound near
Davenport, Iowa in 1877, is similar to the Rosetta stone found in Egypt in
that it contains three parallel languages
from the Old World -Iberian-Punic,
related to Hebrew, Egyptian and ancient Libyan.
The Long Island Inscription also
contains Egypto-Libyan script and, according to Dr. Barry Fell, dates to about
the ninth century B.C. Fell noted clear similarities between the written script
of the Algonquin Indians and ancient Egyptian.
The Ten
Commandments Engraved in Ancient Hebrew Script on the Las Lunas Stone, found in
New Mexico
In a desolate
region of New Mexico near Las Lunas, early explorers discovered a bizarre,
unique stone engraved with peculiar script lying in an ancient riverbed.
Dr.
Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis
University, an expert in ancient Middle Eastern languages,
pronounced the script as being authentic ancient Hebrew! The script is
an
ancient rendition of the Ten
Commandments, suggesting that early Hebrew explorers
reached the interior of New Mexico in their explorations, and left
this
monument - as tell tale evidence of their passing through. The stone
inscription most likely dates to circa 1,000 B.C., the time of king Solomon, who
was the
wealthiest monarch in the world and whose sailing fleets
circumnavigated the globe, taking three years to complete a voyage. Solomon was
a great genius, an avid
explorer of the secrets of nature, and his ships
brought back incredible treasures from around the world. Dr. Barry Fell states
that the script on the Las
Lunas Stone was written in script of
Hebrew identical to that on the Moabite
Stone which dates to about 1,000 B.C., the time of king
Solomon. Nuances of the ancient Hebrew on the stone prove the script was not
carved as a modern day hoax by practical jokesters. During the reign of Solomon
ancient Israel was still a God-fearing and worshipping kingdom, and Levitical
priests undoubtedly accompanied explorers on their far-flung expeditions of
discovery and trade.
....
Taken from: http://www.ensignmessage.com/solomonsfleets.html
