'o . . " ,0 
 
THOMAS CRAWFORD JOHNSTON 
 
Geographical Society 
 
 OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SPECIAL BULLETIN 
 
 A PAPER BY 
 
 Thomas Crawford Johnston, Esq. 
 
 "DID THE PHCENICIANS DISCOVER AHERICA?" 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 The Origin of the Aztecs, with some Further Light on Phcenician Civilization and 
 Colonization. 
 
 The Origin of the Mariners' Compass. 
 
 The Original Discovery of America. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Appearing in the "Californian Illustrated Magazine, 
 November and December, 1892 
 
 Copyright, 1802, by Thomas Crawford Johnston 
 

 ^. /3 '/f 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Perhaps no question has so niucii perplexed the scientists of the past four hundred 
 years as the vexed one of the origin of the Aztecs and the ancient and high civilization of 
 Central America that confronted the Spanish conquerors on their arrival, and that up to the 
 present period has received no satisfactory solution. It is therefore with great pleasure 
 that this Society presents to the scientific world the following most valuable and scholarly 
 l)aper of Mr. Johnston's which seems in a fair way to clear up the mystery which has so 
 long shrouded this interesting region. 
 
 In order that this desirable result may be attained we invite the co-operation of the 
 learned in this and other countries and shall be happy to receive communications either 
 throwing, light on the three absorbing topics embraced in tliis paper or inviting discussion 
 on whatsoever points may appear doubtful, so that d'accord with Mr. Johnston we may be 
 enabled to furnish such information as the vast fund of material which he has collected 
 bearing on those topics can afford, and which he has hitherto abstained from utilizing in his 
 work with a view to the attention of the reader not being diverted from the main issues by 
 its length. 
 
 In the meantime we venture to make a few remarks which may possibly be of some 
 assistance in arriving at a decision with regard to the correctness of Mr. Johnston's 
 theory. 
 
 According to the traditions still existing amongst the Central Americans, and so much of 
 the Aztec manuscript literature as escaped the destructive hands of the Spaniards and is 
 to be found in the elaborate work of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, the earliest Amer- 
 ican civilization originated in Yucatan and the neighboring districts, a region which is 
 amongst the most fertile in the New World. There, about 1000 b. c, Votan, the first of 
 the American legislators, established himself, and Palenque, said to be the oldest city in 
 Central America, was founded. He and his people evidently came from the West for it is 
 stated that they found the whole coast from Darien to California occupied by a barbarous 
 people, thus showing that their first discoveries were made on that, and not on the Eai<t side 
 of the continent, at the same time that it will be apparent to any one acquainted with the 
 geographical configuration of this region that this journey must have been undertaken in 
 ships and not by land. Votan appears to have made four voyages to and from his original 
 country and stated that in one of them he visited the " dwelling of the thirteen serpents" 
 (Benares) as also the ruins of an old build ing which had been erected, by men for the purpose of 
 reaching heaven. Now these four voyages M'ould seem to correspond to an equal number 
 of the joint ones of the Jews and Phoenicians, which, according to the best historic infor- 
 mation, ceased with the death of Solomon — viz. , in forty -five years, but at what period those 
 of the Phd'nicians, when undertaken alone, came to an end, it is impossi])le to determine 
 with the limited knowledge at our disi)osal . 
 
 We have here, however, facts which have long been within the scope and cognizance of 
 the scientific world; the great difficulty consisted in ascertaining the nationality of the 
 strangers who arrived on the west coast of America clad " in long flowing robes " and who 
 had evidently visited Benares and the ruins of the Tower of Babel as above intimated. 
 The identification of two stages of the voyage was thus established, but what were the 
 intermediate ones? How were the vast intervening spaces traversed at a period when 
 navigation was comparatively in its infancy ? The solution of this difficulty seems to have 
 been overcome by Mr. Johnston. Being familiar with the history and architecture of the 
 Phcenicians and Aztecs and with the facts above stated, he was fortunately placed on the 
 
 5 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 track of discovery of the missing links in Votan's voyages by the examination of the 
 massive masonry existing in many of the Polynesian Islands which he spent a considerable 
 time in visiting, and which api)eared to him to be of indisimtably PlKvnician origin. There 
 still remained one problem not easy to solve, viz., how the Pluenicians.if the builders of 
 that masonry and the original discoverers of America were really of that nation, could find 
 their way across considerable stretches of ocean without the aid of the pole star which in 
 ancient times was their guide in the northern hemisphere — that difficulty, however, in Mr. 
 Johnston's opinion, disappeared when he discovered a design of the mariner's compass in 
 the celebrated so-called Mexican calendar stone, the antiquity of which is unknown and 
 whose origin he also ascribes to the same source. (In this connection it may be mentioned 
 that this Society has recently received from Don Leopold Batres, the INIexican Govern- 
 ment arclueologist, a pamphlet descriptive of this stone which he calls the " Piedra de 
 Agua " or " Water Stone," possibly on account of the Aztec hieroglyphic for Avater being 
 found at the foot of the southern point of the compass. 
 
 It might seem strange that the Phoenicians sliould make use of that instrument in 
 their voyages in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and their acquaintance with it not be sus- 
 pected during the long duration of their navigation in the Mediterranean, to the Cassiterides 
 or Tin Islands, the Baltic Sea, etc., but this may be accounted for as being one of the precau- 
 tions they adopted to conceal their routes of travel from iwssible rivals. That they should have 
 preserved this secret for so long a period does not however seem more strange than the loss 
 of the secret known to them for tempering copper. It may here be added that among 
 the Jews and Phienicians the south pole was the emphasized point, being considered by 
 them the right hand of the world, and if we seek tlie magnetic positive pole of the earth 
 it is the south pole, because the negative point of the needle vibrates in that direction, 
 demonstrating that the Phu'uician compass was scientifically more correct than the modern 
 one. 
 
 It has been objected that the PlKenician ships were not of sufficient size either to con- 
 tain an adequate quantity of provisions and water for a voyage of any great length or even 
 to make those voyages if in the open sea. The following quotation from the Encyclopedia 
 Britannica would seem to be a conclusive answer. " It is not hard to understand how the 
 ancients made navigation also an invention of the Phcenicians, whose skill as seamen was 
 never matched by any ancient people before or after them. Even in later times Greek 
 observers noted with admiration the exact order kept on board Phcenician ships, the 
 skill with which every corner of space was utilized, the careful disposition of the cargo, 
 the vigilance of the steersmen and their mates. All their vessels, from the common round 
 " gaulos " to the great Tharshish ships, the East Indiamen, so to speak, of the ancient 
 world, had a speed which the Greeks never rivalled." 
 
 Another point has already given rise to criticism, viz., that ]Mr. Johnston should lay 
 so much stress on the enormous quantities of gold brought to Judje and Tyre on the 
 return voyages of the Phcenicians. The expressed idea is that it w^as imported from Arabia 
 and India and not from America. True it is that, according to x chap. 1st Kings — the 
 Queen of Sheba presented Solomon with one hundred and twenty talents of gold (about 
 .$3,600,000) ; the Phtenician contributions w^ere, however, far greater. But when the source 
 of supply of another precious metal, silver, has to be determined, it is clear that it cannot 
 be ascribed to either of those two countries and that such a seemingly fabulous quantity as, 
 according to the same authority, was received by Solomon (who on that account seems not 
 to have set much value on tlie metal) can only have come from such large silver producing 
 regions as iMexico and Peru. A great deal was undoubtedly brought from Spain, but this 
 consideration is entirely irrelevant to the voyages commenced at the head of the Red Sea 
 and ending with cargoes of " gold, silver, ivory, ai)es and peacocks" the latter of which 
 could only come from India. 
 
 Mr. Johnston begins the title of his paper with the words, " Origin of the Aztecs," 
 but scientists will at once recognize that this is simply a generic term covering the 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 various divisions and subdivisions of the races occupying tlie regions in question 
 prior to the arrival of the Spaniards — supposing Mr. Jolmston's theory to be correct. 
 Those races must be considered in a great measure the issue of the inter-marriages 
 of the Phoenicians with the so-called savages whom they found in occupation of the country, 
 but whom they may possibly have so designated because they were not eciually civilized 
 with themselves. 
 
 According to Biart ( " Les Aztecs " ) it is beyond all doubt that tlie monuments to be 
 found in the ruins of the extremely ancient cities of the whole of Central America are the 
 work of a single race executed in different ages and obeying identical conditions of art and 
 civilization. 
 
 Dr. Morton divides the American races into two primitive ones — the Toltecan and the 
 American — the former embracing the civilized nations of Mexico, Peru and Bogota, the 
 civilization of the Bogotese being, like their geographical position, intermediate between 
 the Peruvian and Mexican. That civilization was clearly derived from the same 
 source and we can now give a little attention to that of Peru so far as regards resemblances 
 between their arts and those of the Pluenicians, for instance : their masonry was of an 
 exceptional character ; like the Phccnicians they understood mechanics sutiiciently to move 
 stones of vast size, even of thirty feet in length, of which specimens are still to be seen at 
 Cuzco and which are of an identical nature with those found at Mayapam, on the Island of 
 Rappa, and as substructions of Solomon's temple; they had the art of squaring blocks for 
 building with great accuracy ;and it is now known that the Peruvians had hard chisels made of 
 copper with a mixture of thirteen per cent of tin, a proof of considerable experience in the 
 Avorking of metals. This would coincide with what we learn of Phoenician proficiency in 
 metallurgy and especially their well-known skill in the use of bronze. 
 
 AVe may now conclude with a slight resume of similarities to be found between the two 
 nations and which may tend to still further elucidate Mr. Johnston's theory and prove its 
 ■correctness. 
 
 1. Wlien the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, Cortez received from Montezuma charts of 
 the harbors on the coast and we know from Herodotus that the Pluenicians were accustomed 
 to survey those with which they traded. 
 
 2. It is scarcely necessary to recall the fact tluit lioth the Aztecs and Phtenicians were 
 trades on a large scale. 
 
 3. They were equally expert in gem engraving and the manufacture of jewelry. 
 
 4. To both of them the use of paper was common, with the Pluenicians in the shape of 
 papyrus; with the Aztecs, manufactured from leaves, especially those of the aloe. 
 
 ^ 5. They had an almost identical cosmogony. 
 
 6. The earliest traditions of the history of the world, including the deluge, the build- 
 ing of the Tower of Babel, and the confusion of languages were common to both. 
 
 7. An intensely spiritual conception of the Deity was a distinctive feature of the early 
 religious worship of both peoples, while the decadence of the Phcenician worship which 
 ultimately degenerated into the appalling custom of human sacrifice was equally true in the 
 case of the Aztecs, at the same time that that decadence and the successive changes in the 
 modes of worship might almost seem to have been contemporaneous at what, according to 
 Mr. .lohnston, might well be called the extremities of the Ph(enician empire. 
 
 Still quoting M. Biart: " At the festivals in honor of Tlaloc, the Aztec Neptune, he was 
 worshipped with strange ceremonies and human sacrifices, especially of children, and in 
 the cemetery not long since discovered by M. Desire Cliarnay on one of the slopes of Popo- 
 catapetl only bones of children were found ; it is therefore considered by the learned Dr. 
 Hamy as the burial place of the young victims so sacrificed. It scarcely needs to be repeated 
 that this was also a peculiar feature of Phwnician worship. 
 
 8. Duplicates of the gigantic aqueducts built by the Ph(enicians for Solomon are to 
 be found in Mexico. 
 
 9. The Lotus was a decoration common to both nations. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 10. The existence in both c-ouutries of a calendar of apparently ideiitical origin. M. 
 Biart considers that the chief title of tlie Aztecs to glory even in the eyes of Enropeans 
 has for a long time been their calendar which, being a lunar one, presents the principles of 
 both the Egyptian and Asiatic (Mr. Johnston has pleaded for the snbstitntion of the word 
 " Phfvnician " for "Egyptian.") For the rest the Spaniards discovered that the Aztecs 
 were in possession of a calendar, which, to their great astonishment was fonnd to l)e more 
 correct than the Gregorian. 
 
 This preface cannot be considered complete without a reference to the centenary of 
 Columbus' discovery of this Continent, which just now constitutes one of the most prom- 
 inent topics throughout the world. Should even an universal consensus of scientific opinion 
 be in favor of Mr. Johnston's theory it would not detract in the smallest degree from the 
 merits of that great man, owing toAvhose adventurous s})irit we are now enjoying the bene- 
 fits of that discovery and not to the deeds of an extinct race however worthy of admiration 
 and respect. 
 
 To, the members of this Society it is unnecessary to introduce Mr. Johnston as he has 
 already made his mark in this city. To kindred Societies we recommend a careful perusal 
 of his paper which will, we think, give them ample indication of the fine type of mind 
 which has been employed in the laborious elucidation of the, at first sight, most intricate 
 }>roblems which it discusses. 
 
 In order that the topics of absorbing interest contained in ]Mr. Johnston's paper may 
 obtain all possible publicity and a wide local field be opened for their discussion arrange- 
 ments have been made for its publication in the now widely known Cah'foniian Illustrated 
 Magazine. 
 
 This special bulletin will shortly be followed liy the ordinary bulletin containing the 
 proceedings of the Society. 
 
 J. STUDDY LEIGH 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 San Francisco, September 15, 1892 
 
^'^ 
 
 €^'^- 
 
 '^^'^i.. 
 
 Fig. I— Aztec Calendar <ir 
 
 Water Stone. 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA ? 
 
 No. I. 
 
 BY THOMAvS CR.WVFORD JOHNSTON. 
 
 LIEUTENANT A. G. FINDLAY, 
 F. R. G. S., in describing the 
 stone remains on the Island of 
 Rappa, in the Austral group, says in 
 his • " South Pacific Directory : ' " "On 
 the summit of .six of the highest hills 
 are to be seen square terraces, or forti- 
 fied places, some of which are of very 
 elaborate construction ; but what is 
 very singular, they are mostly solid 
 within. The .stones are well squared, 
 of very large size, and well cemented, 
 and are evidently analogous to the 
 terraces described on Easter Is- 
 land." 
 
 x\gain, in describing Easter Island, 
 he savs : ' ' This is one of the most 
 
 interesting spots in the Pacific. It is 
 remarkably isolated, as it is some two 
 thousand and thirty miles from the 
 coa.st of Chile, and one thousand five 
 hundred miles from the nearest inhab- 
 ited land, except Pitcairn Island, so 
 that its people and their history are 
 an ethnological problem, worthy of 
 much consideration, while their origin 
 i.s one of the most important prol^lems 
 connected with the migrations of races. 
 How the early navigators in their 
 canoes managed to reach this lonely 
 spot, in the teeth of the usual 
 tradewinds, is one of those mysteries, 
 the solution of which would clear up 
 manv difficulties in the history of 
 
lO 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 the early races and ci\ilization of 
 Peru and Central America. 
 
 " The character of the architectural 
 and other remains evidently ])()iuts to 
 
 
 ^■^■''> iJl^' 
 
 Kig. 2 — Sieumanu, Governor of Apia, Samoa. 
 
 an Eastern origin. This little island, 
 therefore, as a stepping-stone to the 
 solution of this question, is of more 
 than ordinary intere.st. Its position 
 should afford a clue to the mystery of 
 its original settlers. It is near the 
 southern verge of the .southeast trades, 
 which blow during the Southern 
 summer, from October to April, when 
 they commence and leave off, being 
 strong for about a fortnight. During 
 the rest of the year, it is in the tropi- 
 cal variables. For a few months, 
 westerly winds prevail, which l)ring 
 much rain. It is therefore probable 
 that this was the time of the voyage ; 
 but how such a craft could be guided 
 due east, without a compa.ss, will be 
 a m3-ster\- to modern navigators. 
 
 "The papakoo, or cemetery, on 
 Ea.ster I.sland, is a terrace, or platform, 
 bv the sea, made of rolled .sea stones 
 
 carefully fitted together ; but another 
 very singular structure found there 
 is the platform on which numerous 
 images have been placed. They are 
 built on the land facing the .sea, and 
 constructed with large unhewn stones 
 fitted with great exactness. On this 
 platform are numerous images, now 
 prostrate ; .some low pillars, appar- 
 enth' used for sacrifice, and others for 
 burning bodies, as burnt bones were 
 found near them. Similar platforms 
 have been found in the islands to the 
 northwestward, especially one l)uried 
 under guano, on Maldon Island, and 
 this, again, connects them with anal- 
 ogous ruins in Peru." 
 
 Mr. Rawlinson .says of the Gibeon- 
 ites : ' ' They were specially skilled 
 in the hewing and squaring of 
 tho.se great ma.s.ses of stone with 
 which the Phoenicians were wont 
 to build, and we probably see their 
 work in those recentl}' uncovered 
 l)locks of enormous size, which 
 formed the substructions of Solo- 
 mon's Temple (i Kings, v. i8j. 
 _^ At a later date, they were noted as 
 'caulkers,' and were employed by 
 the Tyrians, to make their ves- 
 •sels water-tight, Ezekiel (27 and 
 29)." 
 That there should be any connec- 
 tion l)et\veen the Phoenician race, the 
 origin of the Aztecs, the mariner's 
 compa.ss, the ancient cities and high 
 civilization of Central America, the 
 .sub.structions foimd on the Islands of 
 the Pacific, and tho.se of Solomon's 
 Temple, .seems too wonderful to be 
 true, and yet I think that the data 
 
 kj^^f^^mmi: 
 
 l^;^^.ji^: 
 
 Fig. 3 — Easter IslanJ Platform, center stone five and a 
 half tons. 
 
 contained in this paper will remove 
 any future doubt on this subject. 
 During a year and a half spent 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 among the Islands of the South 
 Pacific, just prior to the Samoan war, 
 I came across some facts that so 
 arrested ni}^ attention as to awaken a 
 new line of inquiry, that in course of 
 time has woven itself into a series of 
 connected and inter-related data, of so 
 extraordinary and far-reaching a 
 nature, that I now feel that it is time 
 to call the attention of the scientific 
 world to them, in order that a larger 
 field of observation, and a moie 
 numerous body of capable investi- 
 gators may verify or contradict the 
 conclusion arrived at. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with 
 Mr. Rawlinson's scholarly work on 
 the Phoenicians may remember his 
 description of these people. He 
 says : ' ' They were of a complexion 
 intermediate between the pale races 
 of the North and the swart inhabi- 
 tants of the South, having abundant 
 hair, sometimes curly, but never 
 woolly. They were above the me- 
 dium height, and had features not 
 unlike the Aryans, or Caucasians, 
 but somewhat less refined and regu- 
 lar, the nose broadish and inclined 
 to be hooked, the lips a little too 
 full, and their frames inclined to 
 stoutness and massiveness, while 
 both in form and feature they resem- 
 bled the Jews, who were their near 
 neighbors, and not infrequently inter- 
 married with them." 
 
 It is impossible for one to spend even 
 a short time in Samoa without realizing 
 how suitable such a description would 
 be if applied to the Samoans, while 
 each day's observation of them, their 
 habits and customs, would only deepen 
 the conviction that the observer was 
 in contact with a people whose social 
 usages must, at some possibly remote 
 period, have been in very close touch 
 with Hebrew institutions. The only 
 point on which there is any weakness 
 in the description is the no.se, and 
 this is easily accounted for b}" a curi- 
 ous cu.stom that prevails over these 
 islands of manipulating the cartilages, 
 while the child is young, so that what 
 the}' call the disfigurement of the 
 
 ' ' canoe nose ' ' of the Semitic may be 
 removea — a custom that is univer- 
 sal over these islands. Not only 
 is there to be found circumcision and 
 the test of virginit}-, neither of which 
 has the adopted Christianity of to-day 
 removed, but marriage itself is hedged 
 about with restrictions in the form of 
 a table of consanguinity that is almost 
 
 
 Fig. 4- LaiK-uti, ^Kuinanii ^ WHl-. 
 
 a duplicate of that found in the Bible, 
 while the intensely .spiritual form of 
 the earl}' native worship, with an 
 almost total ab.sence of idols, gives 
 cause to look for further evidence of 
 the relation that at some date mu.st 
 have existed between tlie.se people. 
 
 I am aware that there are many 
 other and different types found in that 
 region, but that is only what may be 
 expected when we recollect the influ- 
 ences that have been at work, and the 
 time that has elapsed since the first 
 .settlement. This, however, does not 
 weaken but rather strengthens the 
 claim of such evidence as we now find 
 of the presence of the Phoenicians in 
 that portion of the Pacific. 
 
 That a high civilization, having an 
 identical origin, mu.st, at some remote 
 period, have prevailed throughout 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 Polynesia, no one who has come in 
 contact with the native usages, and 
 the various stone remains on Easter, 
 Rappa, Ascension, Marshall, Gilbert, 
 Ladrones, Swallow, Strong's, Navi- 
 gator, and Hawaiian Islands, can for 
 a moment doubt ; and, curioush' 
 enough, the native traditions of all of 
 them refer their origin to some land ly- 
 ing in the direction of the setting sun. 
 The relation of Stronu's Island to 
 
 round tlie harl)()r, which had been 
 occupied b}^ a powerful people called 
 'Anut,' who had large vessels in 
 which they made long voyages east 
 and west. Many moons being re- 
 quired for the.se voyages." 
 
 When we come eastward, and reach 
 Mexico, we find the evidence of their 
 presence intensified a thousandfold, 
 not only in the architectural remains 
 where the conglomerate decorations 
 
 '^','^1^ 
 
 ;-^.. 
 
 
 ■c^ 
 
 l'"ig. 5 — Ft'isamoa, Ctiift 
 
 lad Dress. 
 
 this line of research is a peculiarly 
 interesting one. At the entrance to 
 the harbor may l)e .seen a quad- 
 rangular tower, forty feet high, and 
 .some stone-lined canals, while on the 
 adjacent island of Hele are cyclopean 
 walls formed of very large stones, 
 well squared, which form an enclosure 
 overgrown by forests. The.se w^alls 
 are twelve feet thick, and in them are 
 vaults, artificial caverns, and .secret 
 passages. The natives of this i.sk.nd 
 have a remarkable tradition, namely : 
 "That an ancient citv formerlv stood 
 
 carry the marks of their peculiar genius 
 as clearly as the Greek does in its 
 own wa\-, but also in the form of relig- 
 ious worship, which is clearly Phoeni- 
 cian in its base and entire outline. 
 
 The human sacrifice, and the idol, 
 half-man and half-brute, are lieyond 
 question tho.se of the Phoenician Baal 
 or Moloch ; while on the various 
 bronzes we .see the winged disc of 
 Egypt,-'- which Mr. Rawlinson men- 
 tions as one of their peculiar designs. 
 And perhaps more curious still, we 
 
 * Kig. 17, in Part II. this article. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 13 
 
 find among the remains of this people 
 in the ancient and Capital city of 
 Mexico what has been called a calen- 
 dar stone (Fig. i), which anyone may 
 see at a glance is a national monument 
 of a seafaring people in the form of a 
 mariner's compass, and to which they 
 j^robably attributed the fact that they 
 had discovered this new world. 
 
 entire thirtj'-two parts into which 
 what we are accustomed to call our 
 improved compass is divided are pres- 
 ent, while in the main point will be 
 .seen the faces of Cox and Cox, the 
 Mexican Noah and his wife, the first 
 recorded navigators, and underneath 
 these the Aztec symbol for water. 
 The wonder does not, however, 
 
 Fig. 6— Siotolana, Maid of Village Samoa. 
 
 On looking at this stone carefully, 
 it will be noticed that the only feature 
 giving weight to the Calendar theor}- 
 is the hieroglyphics on the inner 
 circle, which correspond to the twenty- 
 day month of the Aztec. When, how- 
 ever, we read the stone as a memorial 
 of the compass, it is far otherwise, for 
 it will be seen that there is not only a 
 north and a south, but also the other 
 and remaining cardinal points, duly 
 emphasized; and amazing to relate, 
 not onlv this, but in subdivisions the 
 
 cease here; for if we place the .stone in 
 the correct position with reference to 
 the .sun-god, in the center, it will be 
 observed that the determined point is 
 not north but .south, and that in this 
 respect it is identical with the Chinese 
 compa.ss, indicating that it mu.st have 
 had its origin among a people accus- 
 tomed to navigate in latitudes to the 
 south of their permanent home. 
 
 Now this so corresponds with our 
 knowledge of the main trend of early 
 Plioenician navigation and commerce 
 
14 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 as to form a fresh and interesting link 
 in this chain of evidence ; and this the 
 more so because we know that the 
 Chinese compass was a rude and 
 altogether unsatisfactory instrument, 
 having only twenty - four points, 
 whereas we find in this the evi- 
 dence of a comprehensive apprehen- 
 sion of the scientific value and use of 
 the instrument, which were essential 
 to the wide-spread navigation, and 
 characteristic of the finished work 
 and mathematical precision of the 
 
 Ocean, where the pole-star cannot be 
 seen, and where, indeed, if it could, 
 the knowledge of its existence would 
 be of little use to them. All steering 
 is done by a determined north; either 
 a true north or a magnetic north, and 
 we know that the magnetic qualities 
 of metals were known to the Phoeni- 
 cians, for Sanchoniathon ascriljes to 
 Chronos the invention of "Batulia," 
 or ' ' stones that moved as if the}' had 
 life," and we know that Chronos 
 lived two thousand eight hundred 
 
 Fig. 7 — Easter Island Platform. 
 
 Phoenicians. Ikit apart from this, there 
 are some historic facts in existence 
 which, while isolated, might be 
 questionable data, that in connection 
 with this receive a new value. 
 
 That the Phoenicians ventiu'ed on 
 long voyages, there can be no ques- 
 tion, for Herodotus makes a distinct 
 statement to this effect, and says they 
 were accustomed to steer b}- the pole- 
 star. In this he simply wrote as a 
 landsman would. Mariners do not 
 steer south by east, or due east or 
 west, as these Phoenicians were 
 accustomed to do on their historic 
 route, by the pole-.star, for the 
 simple reason that the main trend of 
 their navioation was in the Indian 
 
 3'ears before Christ. We therefore 
 conclude that the knowledge must 
 have passed from the Phoenicians into 
 China, the more so because McDavies, 
 whose elaborate investigation of the 
 history of the compass has made him 
 one of the eminent authorities on this 
 subject, .states that the earliest date at 
 which it was known in China was 
 2604 H. C: and, curiou.sly enough, 
 the term u.sed l)y the Chinese two 
 hundred years after Chronos, is 
 almost identical in its significance 
 with that of the Phoenicians, the 
 Chinese compass being called the 
 Tche Cha}', or directing .stone. 
 
 The liistor}' of the Phoenicians was 
 a remarkable one for manv rea.sons. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 15 
 
 for apart from, the fact that thtv 
 claimed to be the most ancient of 
 mankind, and in their day exercised 
 an influence on the world that in these 
 late years finds a suitable counterpart 
 only in the liistor}' of the scientific, 
 connnercial and philological suprem- 
 acy of the English-speaking peoples, 
 vet their ruling characteristic seems 
 
 time, they were on the most familiar 
 footing, the Egyptians, Hebrews, 
 Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and 
 Persians not only welcoming them to 
 their territory, but, as if by mutual 
 compact, protecting their caravans and 
 opening their ports to their merchant- 
 men, whose business it was to cater 
 to their needs and adapt themselves to 
 
 vif" 
 
 
 I ji^ 
 
 
 *'^ V ^• 
 
 -1 tja'' ' 
 
 i^^-^ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 <f( !i.» 
 
 
 .X 
 
 vj^ V "^ \ s.''-^ 
 
 
 %^ 
 
 
 iO). 
 
 
 Fig. 8 — Easter Island Platform. 
 
 to have been not so much their indi- 
 vidualit}" as their pliability — a char- 
 acteristic that was absolutelj- essential 
 to their colonial and commercial suc- 
 ce.ss. 
 
 They .seem to have had a wonderful 
 faculty of adapting themselves to 
 every condition of human life, and to 
 the peculiar bias and feeling of the 
 varied civilized and uncivilized peo- 
 ples with whom they came in contact 
 in course of their mercantile ventures. 
 The\' were not warriors, although 
 the}- did and could fight when occa- 
 sion called for it, but eveir then, as 
 Alexander found, the quality that was 
 opposed to his force of arms was not 
 warriors .so much as men of the 
 keenest intellectualit}^ who used that 
 power b}' methods never dreamed of 
 by their duller opponents. 
 
 With all the great nations of their 
 
 the requirements of every country 
 with which they had established bu.si- 
 ness relations. 
 
 In con.sequence of this fact, as Mr. 
 Ravvlin.son points out, their commer- 
 cial relations with tlie.se varied peoples 
 had a reflex influence on themselves, 
 their work, wherever found, showing 
 that in their metallurgy their motives 
 are invariably either Egyptian or 
 As.syrian, while their .sculptures u.su- 
 ally showed a large admixture of 
 Greek. 
 
 This is a most important point, and 
 I seek to emphasize it, for it is the 
 ke}' to what, up to this date, has been 
 an unsolved enigma of unusual impor- 
 tance, the solution of which Avill .set 
 in operation a new set of facts, whose 
 influence will be so far-reaching as to 
 afford more or less light on some of 
 the most interesting as well as per- 
 
i6 
 
 DID THE PHOnNICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 plexing of the ethnological and 
 philoloi^ical prol)lenis of to-day. 
 
 Of all the nations of their time, the 
 Phoenicians stood in the front rank. 
 In the practical ai'ts, as well as in the 
 exact sciences, they were in their o\Yn 
 wide sphere, without a competitor. 
 They were masons, dyers, glass- 
 blowers, workers in metal, and at the 
 same time carpenters and shipbuilders, 
 but beyond all other peoples, navi- 
 gators and explorers, being- the first 
 to face the dangers of the open ocean, 
 and make known to civilized nations, 
 not only the remoter regions of Asia, 
 Africa and Europe, but, as I think I 
 shall succeed in demonstrating, the 
 first to discover America, and the 
 authors of the ancient and higli civil- 
 ization found there, which, up to this 
 time, has been an unsolv'ed enigma. 
 
 Of the wares which they purveyed 
 to the various nations using their 
 commodities, man}- samples have in 
 
 Kig. 9 — Aztec Vase with Assyrian D 
 
 these late years ])een found, that give 
 nnich light on the influences that 
 seem to have been at work in the 
 manufacturing establishments of this 
 extraordinary people, and as this is 
 essential to a complete understanding 
 of the subject. I may say that Mr. 
 Rawlinson, whom I have followed 
 closely in this investigation, points 
 
 out that the Phoenicians had two 
 instructors in their gem engraving, 
 namely, Babylon and Kgj^pt, deriving 
 from each certain features of their 
 practice. 
 
 Animals, for the most part griffins 
 and sphynxes,but often accuratel}' cop- 
 ied from nature, form the great staple of 
 Phoenician art. The subjects of their 
 designs, however, show little orig- 
 inalit}', being in almost every cai-e 
 adapted either from Egypt or Baby- 
 lon — the hawk of Raa, the Egyptian 
 sun-god, the cynocephalous ape, 
 sphynxes, winged disks and .serpents, 
 drawing of an original character being 
 shown only in very few instances. 
 
 It is impos.sible to overrate this 
 testimony as to the peculiar bent of 
 the genius of the Phoenicians, for in 
 its own broad line of demarkation, it 
 not onl}^ makes them a unique people, 
 with an apparent mission to the 
 remainder of mankind, but likewi.se 
 enabled them to fill what was as 
 e.s.sential a .sphere in the populating 
 and civilizing of the outskirts of the 
 then known world, as was the genius 
 of the Greeks for a more limited 
 sphere, or of the Jews for the prcser- 
 \-ation of a pure moral code, when the 
 remainder of mankind had run riot 
 with undisciplined excess. 
 
 It is not strange that it was so. 
 Indeed, it was on just .such lines that 
 we would expect to find the genius of 
 a great mercantile people develop 
 itself, for the reason that their success 
 depended in no small measure on 
 their recognition of the fact that the 
 national, and especially the religious 
 prejudice of the peoples to whose 
 wants the}- catered must be respected 
 as well as stimulated. As artists and 
 artificers, there was ample room for 
 the exerci.se of their peculiar genius in 
 the production of wares who.se form 
 and adornment would be acceptable to 
 the highest culture, and as merchants 
 in i)roviding .such wares as would 
 command the readiest sale among the 
 wealthier portions of tho.se connnuni- 
 ties, where the highest forms of civil- 
 ization were found clo.sel}^ a.ssociated 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 17 
 
 with all acceptable forms of gov-ern- 
 ment. Of course, in the less civilized 
 countries it would not be necessary to 
 follow so closely this idea, and the 
 various articles in less active demand, 
 as style or pattern altered, would 
 naturally find their way to the less 
 frequented routes. 
 
 The flexibilit}' of the Phoenicians, 
 like that of the English, who are their 
 modern and legitimate successors in 
 their peculiar sphere, was phenomenal . 
 
 tions found in such localities as they 
 are supposed to have visited by an 
 early English standard, would inev- 
 itabl}" build data far removed 
 from the real facts of the case. 
 The determining quality in such 
 matters is neither Saxon nor Nor- 
 man ; the .solution will require to 
 be found on totally different lines, 
 since the strongest evidence of their 
 presence wull not be found in any one 
 type .so much as in the proof of their 
 
 Fig. 10 — Ruins of Palace at Palenque — after Chariiay. 
 
 He who would attempt to trace, a 
 thousand years after this, the course of 
 English adventure over the face of the 
 earth by comparing the languages 
 found in such localities as they w^ere 
 .suppo.sed to have visited with the 
 vSaxon root, would inevitably fail, for 
 the rea.son that it has now incorporated 
 inflections from every quarter in which 
 English influence has been felt, and 
 is, in consequence, the mo.st flexible 
 as well as the most conglomerate of 
 all modern languages, and will become 
 increasingly .so as time and the influ- 
 ence of the people and the language 
 increa.se. So, also, he that would 
 .seek to determine the limit of the 
 presence of the English - .speaking 
 peoples by mea.suring the .stone erec- 
 
 vensatility, and their faculty to make 
 tributary to a wide and pressing com- 
 mercial need the best found suitable 
 to their purpose, in ever}- countr\- that 
 has come in contact with their in- 
 fluence, not simph- reproducing 
 designs, but with peculiar .skill adapt- 
 ing them, with suitable modifications, 
 to new- conditions and environ- 
 ment. 
 
 In consequence of this fact, we must, 
 therefore, expect to find the marks of 
 the national life of the Phoenicians 
 most pronounced in what were, during 
 their time, new localities, and in places 
 where the circumscribing and limiting 
 influence of a large civilization (which 
 is usualh- con.servative) is ab.sent ; and 
 in con.sequence of this fact, it may be 
 
i8 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 wise to consider shortly one or two 
 points. 
 
 As masons, the Phcenicians were in 
 request l)y Solomon in the erection of 
 the temple ; and as the record of this 
 association will be helpful in the 
 elucidation of this prol>lem, I will 
 refer to it shorth'. 
 
 It is doubtless well known to all 
 readers of vScripture that a warm 
 friendship existed between Hiram, 
 King of Tyre (by which name Phoeni- 
 cia at that time went), and David, 
 King of Israel. In i Kings, 5th 
 chapter, we read : ' ' And Hiram, 
 King of Tyre, sent his sen-ants unto 
 Solomon; for he had heard that the}- 
 had anointed him king in the room of 
 his father: for Hiram was ever a lover 
 of David." What the nature of the 
 message .sent to the young King ot 
 Israel by this old friend of his father's 
 was, we do not know, but it is appar- 
 ent from what follows, that it was a 
 message that contained much more 
 than mere congratulation, and was 
 probably accompanied by an offer to 
 the son and successor of some tangible 
 evidence of the warmth of his feelings 
 towards the memor}- of his deceased 
 father, and of his interest in the future 
 of the young king ; however that may 
 be, the reply .sent by Solomon showed 
 his peculiar fitness for the onerous 
 position that he had been called to 
 fill, and bore on the face of it evidence 
 of .so lofty an affection for his deceased 
 parent, and so loyal a desire to carr}- 
 out his la.st wi.^h, that Hiram not only 
 acceded to the request of Solomon, 
 but in the words of the .seventh verse 
 of the chapter " rejoiced greatly and 
 .said, ble.s.sed be the Dord this day, 
 which hath given unto David a wise 
 .son to rule over this great people." 
 
 The result of this interesting and 
 affecting exchange of courtesies be- 
 tween the old and the young kings 
 was that Hiram undertook in con- 
 junction with Solomon the erection of 
 the temple at Jeru.salem, in fulfillment 
 of David's last wish, and also of the 
 projected palace of Solomon at 
 Lebanon. Hiram, undertaking to 
 
 fell the necessary timl)ers for both 
 buildings in the forests ofDebanon, 
 bring them down the rivers on the 
 winter floods, and deliver them in 
 rafts to such ports as Solomon should 
 find to be most desirable, the only 
 .stipulation mentioned was that Sol- 
 omon provide food for the various 
 camps or households of workmen fur- 
 nished by Hiram. Of the .stupendous 
 nature of the operations, which were 
 in this manner inaugurated, we may 
 form some idea from the following 
 quotation from i Kings, 5th chap- 
 ter. ' ' And the Lord gave Solomon 
 wisdom, as he had promised him: and 
 there was peace between Hiram and 
 Solomon; and they two made a league 
 together. And King Solomon raised 
 a levy out of all Israel; and the levy 
 was thirty thousand men. And he .sent 
 to Lebanon ten thousand a month bj^ 
 cour.ses ; a month they were in Leb- 
 anon, and two months at home; and 
 Adoniram was over the lev}'. And 
 Solomon had threescore and ten thou- 
 sand that bare burdens, and fourscore 
 thousand hewers in the mountains ; 
 Besides the chief of Solomon's officers, 
 which were over the \vork, three thou- 
 sand and three hundred, which ruled 
 over the people that wrought in the 
 work . 
 
 "And the King commanded and 
 they brought great stones, co.stly .stones, 
 and hewed stones to la}' the founda- 
 tion of the hou.se. And Solomon's 
 builders and Hiram's builders did hew 
 them, and the .stoncsquarers; so they 
 prepared timber and .stone to build the 
 hou.se." That is, there were thirty 
 thou.sand timber fellers in Lebanon, 
 seventy thousand burthen bearers, 
 eighty thousand hewers, and three 
 thousand three hundred overseers, or 
 in rotation, as explained, a total of 
 one hundred and eighty-three thou- 
 sand and three hundred Jews ; and if an 
 equal num1)er of Phoenicians were 
 added, an army of men amounting to 
 three hundred and sixty-six thousand 
 six hundred employed in this joint 
 imdertaking, which explains, in con- 
 juncticm with the geographical situation 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 19 
 
 of Phoenicia, the necessity for Hiram's 
 request, and the obligation of Solomon, 
 as we find it in the i ith verse : " and 
 Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand 
 measures of wheat for lood for his 
 household, and twent}^ measures of 
 pure oil ; thus gave Solomon to Hiram 
 3'ear l)y year. ' ' 
 
 f' There is one point in this connec- 
 tion which it is necessary to under- 
 stand in order that we may obtain 
 some light not only on the char- 
 
 from the Greek, is very contrary to 
 the art of the Hellenes. Grecian 
 architecture starts from the principle 
 of the division of the blocks of stone 
 into small pieces, and avows this 
 principle boldly. Never did the 
 Greeks derive from Pentilecus blocks 
 of a size at all comparable to those of 
 Baalbec and Egypt. They saw no ad- 
 vantage in them ; on thecontrar}^ they 
 saw that with masses of this kind, 
 which are to be used entire, the 
 
 
 
 < -s- -' 
 
 P'ig. II — Mural Decoration at Uxunial — after Charnav 
 
 acteristics of Phoenician architect- 
 ure and the substructions found in the 
 Pacific, but also on the enormous 
 army of laborers, or as they are 
 called here ' ' burthen bearers, ' ' em- 
 plo3'ed on this work. 
 
 M. Renan, in his work on " Archi- 
 tecture," says: "The foundation of 
 Phoenician architecture is the carved 
 rock, not the column, as with the 
 Greeks. The wall replaces the curved 
 rock without entirely losing its char- 
 acter. Nothing conducts to the belief 
 that the Phoenicians ever made use of 
 the keyed vault. 
 
 " The principle of monolithism, 
 which ruled the Phoenician and vSyrian 
 art even after it had adopted nuich 
 
 architect had his hands tied ; the 
 material, instead of being .subordinated 
 to the design of the edifice, runs 
 counter to the design." 
 
 The Syrian and Phoenician archi- 
 tects and even those of Egypt are at 
 the command of their material. The 
 stone does not submit to the shape 
 which the artist's thoughts would 
 impress upon it ; it continues to be 
 with them mere rock, more or less, 
 that is to say, undetermined matter. 
 This is the reason why the Grecian 
 architects never made what we meet 
 with at ever}^ step in Phoenicia, at 
 Jerusalem, in Persia, in Syria, in 
 Phrygia — architectural works in the 
 livinar rock. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA ? 
 
 No. II. 
 
 BY THOMAS CRAWFORD JOHNvSTOX. 
 
 VAST walls, in which the courses 
 are of colossal size, brought from 
 the quarr}' in some .sort read}'- 
 made, .so that the characteristic work 
 of a building", made with care, was 
 that " no sound of hannner or saw was 
 heard during its erection ( i Kings iv 
 and vii ) — such was the essential 
 character of Phoenician monuments." 
 
 The time consumed in the building 
 of the temple, we learn from the 
 6th chapter and 38th ver.se, was seven 
 years ; and from the ytli chapter and 
 ist verse, we learn that thirteen j^ears 
 were occupied in the erection of the 
 palace at Lebanon, while from the 
 loth chapter and 2i.st verse, we 
 gather .some information that .seems 
 almost more wonderful than the erec- 
 tion of the temple and palace, namel}', 
 that while this enormous drain was 
 still affecting the resources of the 
 people, " all the ves.sels of the hoii.se 
 of the forest of lyCbanon were of pure 
 gold ; none were of silver: it was 
 nothing accounted of in the da3-s of 
 Solomon." While in the 27th ver.se, 
 we read that, during this period, 
 Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem 
 as stones ; and the writer, as if appre- 
 ciating the incongruity of the facts 
 related, offers in the 22d v'er.se what is 
 intended to l)e a satisfactory explana- 
 tion, namel}-, "For the king had at .sea 
 a navy of Tharshi.sh with the navy of 
 Hiram : once in three years came the 
 navy of Tharshi.sh, bringing gold 
 and .silver, ivory, and apes and pea- 
 cocks. ' ' 
 
 For a consideral)le time prior to this, 
 Phoenician enterprise had opened a 
 way by land acro.ss the larger portion 
 of the western side of Asia, which 
 placed them in communication with 
 the A.s.svrians, the Babvlonians and the 
 
 Persians. The course of this traffic is 
 distinctly traceable as far as the mouth 
 of the Indus, and must, being over- 
 land, have been an unsati.sfactor}' 
 method to .so distinctly a maritime 
 people as they were ; for there is no 
 doubt that whatever access they pos- 
 .sessed to the Red Sea and the Indian 
 Ocean for naval purposes was due to 
 the favor of the Egyptians. Shortly 
 before this date, however, Solomon, 
 by his conquests of the Edomites, had 
 come into po.ssession of the important 
 seaport of Ezion-geber, at the head of 
 the Gulf of Elam, on the Red Sea, and 
 knowing how acceptable such a place 
 would be to the Phoenicians, turned it 
 over to them ; and it must have been a 
 gift of no inconsiderable value, since it 
 gave them access to a new port, under 
 their own control, where they could 
 build such ships as might be necessary- 
 for the conduct of their bu.siness in 
 the Indian Ocean and Ceylon, along 
 the shores of both of which countries 
 the>- had quite a large number of 
 l)usiness centers. 
 
 In return for the opening which 
 they thus obtained for the extension 
 of their bu.siness towards the ea.st, the 
 Tyrians conceded to the Jews a par- 
 ticipation in the trade, which the}' 
 had carried on for so long a time with 
 the nations in that direction; and to- 
 wards its fuller development, two fleets 
 were formed, to which each of the na- 
 tions contributed both .ships and men. 
 
 In I Kings ix, 26, we read : "And 
 king vSolomon made a navy of ships 
 in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, 
 on the shore of the Red vSea, in the 
 land of Edom. And Hiram .sent in the 
 navy his .servants, shipmen that had 
 knowledge of the .sea, with the .ser- 
 vants of Solomon. And thev came to 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 21 
 
 Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, 
 four hundred and twenty talents, and 
 brought it to King Solomon." 
 
 The onh^ difficulty there is, in 
 understanding this passage, is the 
 
 Fig. 12 — Tablet of the Cross Palenque. 
 
 mixture of the Phoenician navy with 
 the ships of Tharshish, but this diffi- 
 culty will disappear, when we recol- 
 lect that vessels of that build were 
 pre-eminently suitable for making 
 long voyages and carrying large 
 freights, which would be necessary, 
 since it is expressly stated that these 
 voyages were so extensive as to occupy 
 a period of three years ; and the 
 Phoenician ships of that time were 
 little better than open boats, so that 
 b}' dovetailing these facts, we arrive 
 at the following proposition : That 
 in connection with King Hiram, King 
 Solomon built at Ezion-geber a navy 
 
 after the pattern of the ships of Tharsh- 
 ish, which were more suitable for 
 carrying large freights and venturing 
 on long v03'ages than the Phoenician 
 biremes ; and officering and manning 
 them with Phcenician seamen, 
 sent them to or by the land of 
 Ophir, on a series of voyages 
 which occupied a period of three 
 years each. 
 
 To the Jews, all the land l}.'ing 
 in the direction of the Indian 
 Ocean, on the east side of Babel- 
 mandeb, went b}- that name ; the 
 term was as comprehensive as 
 ours is, when we speak of travel- 
 ing east or west. We know, 
 however, that the territor}' in the 
 direction of the Indian Ocean 
 was more familiar to the Phoeni- 
 cians than to any other nation 
 of that time, for it is bej^ond 
 question that their chief renown 
 was not based on their caravan, 
 l)ut on their maritime expedi- 
 tions, and that the lower portions 
 of the Indian peninsula were 
 reached like Ceylon, as suggested 
 by M. Ragozin, in his masterl}' 
 work on Assyria, "in large 
 armed vessels of the same build 
 as the Tharshish ships,'' which 
 were used in the expeditions to 
 England. 
 
 The question naturally arises 
 here. Where did the.se large 
 armed vessels go, since the period 
 consumed in the voyages is ex- 
 ])ressly stated as three years, and the 
 freight carried on the return voyages was 
 gold, silver, ivor}', apes and peacocks ? 
 It is only natural that we should 
 find con.siderable difficulty in an.swer- 
 ing this question, when we recollect 
 that the vessels were manned by 
 Phoenicians, who were accustomed to 
 preserve with great secrecy the sea 
 routes over which they traveled, and 
 the destinations for wdiicli they set 
 out, lest some other nation trading on 
 their enterpri.se should follow and sup- 
 plant them, as the Greeks had 
 supplanted them nearer home. To 
 such an extent was this precaution 
 
DID THE PH(_)EN1CIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 used, that a story has been preserved 
 of a Phcenician captain, who, while on 
 hi.s vo3"age to the "Tin Islands," as 
 England was called, finding himself 
 pursued by some Roman ships, and 
 being unable to escape, deliberately 
 ran his vessel ashore, losing vessel 
 and cargo, besides drowning his crew, 
 so that he might not be questioned, 
 and the route found out — a deed 
 
 ture. The cost of the vessels, the 
 unique nature of the enterprise, and 
 the importance of the voyages, drew 
 into that charmed circle the very eli/e 
 of Phoenician science and culture, that 
 class of men who have passed beyond 
 the merely animal tendency of life, 
 and rising above fog and miasma, 
 live in an atmosphere mainly intel- 
 lectual — -men who dominate their 
 
 
 
 >t:^-^% 
 
 '^^., 
 
 
 
 
 ^- 
 
 Xl"^^ 
 
 -^_ 
 
 '">*^ 
 
 
 Fig. 13 — P\Tamid of the Moon and Pathway of the Dead. 
 
 which was recorded at Tyre as one of 
 the highest patriotic heroism. 
 
 It is here that the average investi- 
 gator has come to a standstill, and in 
 consequence of this that so man}' 
 curious answers have been given to 
 the question. Where were the gold 
 mines of Ophir, and this land that 
 yielded to Solomon one 3-ear thirty 
 million dollars and another twent}' 
 million, and what evidence have we 
 of the location ? 
 
 It has seemed to me that the only 
 way in which we could obtain light 
 on this enigma was by following the 
 traces of Phoenician influence and civ- 
 ilization, and this the more so when 
 we bear in mind the class of men who 
 officered these fleets, some account of 
 which we find in the 27th chapter of 
 Ezekiel. This was no rude. uneducated 
 horde, set adrift on vovages of adven- 
 
 surroundings, and in touching them, 
 leave an indelible trace of their pres- 
 ence and influence behind them. 
 " The inhabitants of Zidon and iVrvad 
 were thy mariners, thy wise men that 
 were in thee, O Tyrus, were thy pilots. ' ' 
 (Ezekiel 27th chapter, Stli verse.) 
 
 We are still, however, confronted 
 by mau}^ difficulties, for though the 
 Phoenicians jn vented the alphabet, 
 and possessed a literarj' and scientific 
 knowledge of a high order, they seem 
 to have turned it all into practical 
 channels ; so much so. indeed, was this 
 the case, that they do not appear to 
 have written any memorial of their 
 extraordinary career as a nation, or 
 of their exploits and adventure as 
 merchantmen and pioneers, although 
 their experiences in many cases must 
 have l)een as thrilling as they were 
 uniciue. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 23 
 
 The object of the Phoenician mer- 
 chant was wealth, not fame, and while 
 possessing that unique quality of 
 inflexibility of purpose which won for 
 them in their own, if not for all time, 
 a pre-eminent position among nations 
 the}' seem to have stopped there ; for 
 record other than fragments, we have 
 found none. 
 
 Their enterprise it is impossible to 
 overrate. About the time of which 
 we write, their business establishments 
 were spread not onlv along the shores 
 
 eastward, for apart from the dangers 
 that beset the coast line of Europe, 
 and the tempestuous Bay of Bisca}^ 
 on the voyage to England, the Phoeni- 
 cians from the most ancient times 
 believed that the pillars of Hercules — 
 those sentinel gate posts of the Strait 
 of Gibraltar — marked the end of the 
 world, beyond which lay the mysteri- 
 ous deep, into which Baal Melkarth, 
 the glorious sun-god, plunged nightly, 
 on his journey to the east, and whither 
 it was sacrileoe for mortals to follow. 
 
 l''ig. 14— Chart ot Plutiiician Travel. 
 
 of the Mediterranean, from Phoenicia 
 to the Atlantic, but also along the 
 entire sea route from Ezion-geber and 
 the Red Sea to Ceylon. What need 
 was there, pray, for a new and double 
 fleet to pursue this course ? The navi- 
 gation of the .seas to the westward 
 required not only courage, but an 
 abandon, with respect to religious 
 prejudice, that it is hard for us with 
 the larger mental liberty, that is the 
 birthright of Christianity, to realize ; 
 and that did not and could not condi- 
 tion the navigation of the ocean to the 
 
 If the reader will now take up the 
 map of the world, he will, I think, 
 obtain some new light on this enigma. 
 By following the line, from the head 
 of the Red Sea down to the Straits of 
 Babelmandeb, and from that to the 
 coast of India, and on to Ceylon, he 
 will have before him the known track 
 of Phoenician commerce ; but if from 
 Ceylon he will continue the line to 
 Java and Sumatra, and from thence to 
 Mulgrave Island, in Torres Strait, pro- 
 ceeding to the Caroline Islands, Tonga, 
 Samoa, Rappa, in the Austral group. 
 
24 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 and from thence to Easter Island, con- 
 necting therewith the coast of Amer- 
 ica, at Mexico and Peru, he will have 
 located a series of islands and points 
 on the mainland, which contain 
 remains of substructions of a charac- 
 ter identical with those found under 
 the remnants of Solomon's Temple, 
 and marked with those peculiarities 
 described by M. Renan, which he 
 demonstrates were not only a marked 
 feature, but were indeed characteris- 
 tically peculiar to Phoenician archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 If we now follow the northern line, 
 and enter Mexico at Yucatan, we are 
 confronted by buildings that not only 
 contain evidence of this peculiar 
 Phoenician method, in the size and 
 nature of the substructions, but whose 
 composite decorations leave no room 
 for doubt as to their origin. Not only 
 do we find strong evidence of Greek, 
 Egyptian and Assyrian influence, but 
 also, in plainest form, the Phoenician 
 wall previously referred to. 
 
 What nation of ancient times but 
 that of Phoenicia ever was permitted 
 to have a foothold in the land of the 
 Pharaohs, of a nature that would 
 influence them to such sympathy with 
 Egyptian art as would lead them in 
 other lands, and among a new set of 
 surroundings to reproduce it ? There 
 was none. To the civilization of the 
 period, of which we write, Egypt was 
 as completely closed as China, one 
 hundred and fifty years ago. One 
 nation, and one nation only, was per- 
 mitted to possess a permanent home 
 in its boundaries, and that one l)ecau.se 
 it was well known that the supremacy 
 it sought was mercantile, and not 
 territorial, in con.sequence of which it 
 so won upon the Egyptians, as not 
 onh^ to be permitted to establish itself 
 at Memphis, and erect a temple for 
 the worship of its own gods, but so 
 completely subordinating Eg3'ptian 
 prejudice, as in late years to have 
 some portion of its deities added to 
 the Egyptian pantheon. 
 
 The Egyptians never were seamen. 
 How, then, do we find so strong an 
 
 Egyptian influence among the remains 
 of the ancient cities of the New 
 World ? The explanation is a simple 
 one. It is not Egyptian, but Phoeni- 
 cian art, and this the more so that the 
 
 \ - 
 
 
 Fig. 15— Aztec Idol — Egyptian Type. 
 
 type is not merely Egyptian, but quite 
 as .strongly Greek and A.ssyrian. 
 
 It is a somewhat remarkable fact that 
 the Phoenicians had an almost uninter- 
 rupted intercourse with the Greeks, 
 Persians, A.s.syrians and Jews, as well 
 as the Egyptians, and it seems that 
 their commercial supremacy and the 
 advantage which the a.s.sociation gave 
 to the.se countries was the means of 
 engendering not onl}- a native skill, 
 but also a versatility and range of 
 method and design in art, as well as 
 architecture, that was not obtained 1)\- 
 any other of their time. 
 
 We could scarcely expect to find 
 nuicli similarity between Greek and 
 Egyptian architecture or art. The 
 intercourse between the.se nations was 
 nuich too casual to warrant one look- 
 ing for it, l)Ut it would not be unreas- 
 onable to expect evidence of the influ- 
 ence of both of these countries as well as 
 of the others previously mentioned in 
 Phoenician remains, when we recol- 
 lect that the workshops and merchants 
 of Phoenicia made it their peculiar 
 business to cater to the needs of all of 
 them ; and curiou.sly enough, the art 
 and the architecture found in Mexico 
 are just such as we would expect to 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 25 
 
 find produced by such a set of cir- 
 cumstances, when the restrictions of 
 a local market and a peculiar need 
 were removed. 
 
 In the architecture, as we see from 
 these photographs after M. Desire 
 Charna}', the buildings are, as de- 
 scribed b}^ M. Renan, of pronouncedlj- 
 Phoenician origin, and the decoration 
 not only Egyptian, l^ut Greek, with 
 an unmistakable trace of Assyrian and 
 Persian, while, when we come to the 
 art of the Aztec, we find that the mo- 
 tive in the winged vase from Mexico 
 contained in the figure, is no other 
 than the winged disk of Egypt and 
 Phoenicia (Fig. 17). 
 
 We shall, however, leave this aspect 
 of the question, by simply calling 
 attention to the pieces of mural decor- 
 ation which speak so emphatically for 
 themselves, in the light of the fore- 
 going, and shall pass shorth' to the 
 religious beliefs of the Aztecs and 
 Phoenicians, where we shall meet a 
 series of not only corroborative, but of 
 startlingly corroborative facts. 
 
 Starting originally as monotheists, 
 the Phoenicians, in process of time, 
 clothed each of the attributes of the 
 deity with a distinct personality, 
 which quickly developed into Poly- 
 theism, with a principal god and a 
 number of lesser and tributary deities, 
 who were supposed to act under his 
 guidance, and subject to his control ; 
 and so widespread was the influence 
 of this form of belief emanating from 
 them, that it became not only the 
 basis of the Greek and Roman super- 
 stitions, but in various modifications 
 seems to have overrun the face of the 
 earth, as peopled at that time. In 
 process of time, liowe\-er, strange 
 developments were produced by this 
 mongrel worship and the decadence 
 from their once simple and pure faith, 
 so that the original conception of the 
 deity was ultimately buried beneath a 
 mass of superstition, that in time 
 sapped the ver}- vitals of Phoenicia, as 
 a nation. 
 
 Having once embarked in poly- 
 theism, the Phceincians soon imported 
 
 into their system new and strange 
 ideas of the deity. Baal became 
 identified with the sun, and Ashtoreth 
 with the moon, and a general belief that 
 the anger of the gods was best averted 
 by human sacrifice prevailed ; and to 
 such an extent did this prevail, that 
 in the later years of the nation's his- 
 tor}' not only in Phoenicia proper, but 
 throughout its entire colonial S3'stem, 
 there was an established practice of 
 offering up human sacrifices, especially 
 in times of public calamity, which 
 bore the most terrible aspects in par- 
 ents sacrificing their children to Baal, 
 under the presumption that being the 
 most precious possession of parents, 
 they were the offering most certain to 
 appease the wrath of the supernal 
 powers. When we now come to the 
 Pacific, we find the traces of this belief 
 spread from shore to shore, not only 
 in exact form in Samoa and Tahiti, 
 but sacrifice by mutilation in nearly 
 ever}' island on this route laid down, 
 and as might be expected in most 
 pronounced form, where the largest 
 traces of their influence and civiliza- 
 tion are most apparent. 
 
 Among the early inhabitants of 
 Mexico, human sacrifice prevailed to 
 an appalling extent, and, curiousl)- 
 enough, we find that the deity at 
 whose shrine this usually took place 
 was one which, wliile going under 
 another name, corresponds exactl)' 
 with the Phoenician Baal or Moloch, 
 this deity, among the Aztecs, being 
 represented b}- an image, half-human, 
 half-brute, with a cavity in front ; and 
 when we turn to the Chinchemecs, we 
 find the old and distincth^ Phoenician 
 cu.stom of an open-air worship of the 
 sun and the moon, and the strange 
 usage of presenting to the .sun the 
 bleeding heart, torn from the victim 
 l)efore throwing it with the rest of the 
 carcass at the feet of the image to be 
 consumed with fire, while as many as 
 twent}' thousand victims were ofi^ered 
 some years as a propitiation not confined 
 by an}' means to adults, but as in the 
 more degenerate days of Phoenicia, 
 including children of 1)oth .sexes. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 27 
 
 lyike the Samoans and Tahitians, 
 the Aztec's idea of a .supreme being 
 was that he was independent, abso- 
 lute and invisible ; so much so, that 
 none of these peoples ever attempted 
 to represent him by image. Not 
 only did the Aztec, like the Samoan 
 and Maori, believe in the existence 
 of the soul as distinct from the body, 
 and regard it as immortal, but they 
 located the entrance to the other 
 world at a determined point to the 
 
 tion of the early Phoenician pantheon — 
 being men who found out and taught 
 to mankind this secret. Not fire by 
 drilling, nor fire by striking stones, 
 but fire produced by the friction of 
 portions of the branches of trees ; and 
 on the line of this migration across 
 the Pacific, not only in Samoa, Tahiti, 
 and Easter Island, but in Peru and 
 Mexico the plan pursued is the same, 
 and there seems to be no doubt that it 
 was of peculiarly Phoenician origin. 
 
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 jl^^ f ^^^^"^^^^^^f^^^m^^l^^^^i^^^l^^^W^'^^^^ 
 
 -> ^^ 'l^'*!^^ i ^, 
 
 
 Fig. ]6— Mural Decoration, Palenque 
 
 westward, a circumstance that speaks 
 volumesfortheirorigin.and which finds 
 an interesting correspondence, not only 
 in the Samoan Falealupo, but among 
 the Marquesans. These, from time 
 immemorial, but certainly reaching to 
 a date within historic record, fitted 
 out expeditions, and ventured on long 
 voyages in. search of the Elysium, which 
 the tradition of their ancestors reported 
 lay in a land toward the .setting sun. 
 
 Again, we find a correspondence in 
 the Aztec plan of making fire. Philo 
 ascribes to the Phoenicians the dis- 
 covery of the means of producing fire 
 by the friction of two pieces of dry 
 wood, Phos, Phur and Phlox — a por- 
 
 But why attempt to continue this 
 argument ? I have in ni}- possession 
 still some twenty points of striking 
 .similarity between the Aztecs and 
 the Phoenicians, and most of these are 
 of a nature that removes them out of 
 the sphere of chance. But I forbear, 
 for there has surely been enough said 
 to convince the mo.st .skeptical as to 
 the connection between the Phoenician 
 and the Aztec. 
 
 In conclu.sion I quote some short 
 paragraphs from the ' ' Enc}'clopedia 
 Britannica's " article on " America " 
 that .seem so pertinent to the whole line 
 of this research, as to make a suitable 
 setting to all that has preceded. 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 " \'otan, it seems, came from a for- 
 eign land, and fomid the whole conn- 
 try, from Darien to California, occn- 
 pied by a barbarous people. Votan 
 and his followers arrived in large ships, 
 and wore long, flowing garments." 
 According to one document by Ordonez 
 this event is laid a thousand years 
 before Christ. 
 
 It is desirable to notice that this 
 date corresponds exacth' ^vith the 
 dates given in the Bible narrative of 
 the historic voyages of Hiram and 
 Solomon, and the building of the 
 temple, Avhich was about looo B. C. 
 " This journey to America from their 
 native country was a long and painful 
 one and indicates that seas and lands 
 intervened between them. The tradi- 
 tion reports it to be in the far East, 
 and that the first comers filled seven 
 ships." 
 
 ' ' Votan made four voj'ages to his 
 native land, and on one of these vo}-- 
 ages he visited the dwelling of the 
 thirteen serpents. ' ' 
 
 This undoubtedly refers to the tem- 
 ple in the ancient City of Benares on 
 the River Ganges. 
 
 This City of Benares is one of the 
 most ancient on the face of the globe, 
 and was the religious center of India 
 for centuries before the Christian era, 
 being the birthplace of Hindoo 
 mythology. Here special attention 
 was given to the worship of the gods 
 incarnate in the serpent and monkej^ 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Sherring, in his 
 "Sacred City of the Hindoos " (1868) 
 says : 
 
 "Twenty-five centuries ago, at 
 least, it was famous, when Babylon 
 was struggling with Nineveh for 
 supremacy, when Tyre was planting 
 her colonies, when Athens was grow- 
 ing in strength, before Rome had 
 become known, or Greece had con- 
 tended with Persia, or Cyrus had 
 added luster to the Persian monarchy, 
 or Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jeru- 
 .salem, and the inhabitants had l)een 
 carried into captivity, she had alread\- 
 risen to greatness, if not to glory. 
 Nay, she may have heard of the 
 
 fame of vSolomon, and sent her 
 ivory, her apes and her peacocks to 
 adorn his palaces, while partly with 
 her gold she ma}' have overlaid the 
 Temple of the L,ord. ' ' 
 
 All of which receives a peculiar 
 value in the light of what has preceded. 
 
 X' t i i i *- * 
 
 t f, ' y^ 
 
 Fig. 17 — Aztec Vase, witli Winded Disc Ssmbol. 
 
 and is emphasized, if a little attention 
 be given to the Aztec Molloch, where 
 the drapery of the image will be found 
 to be serpentine in form, and bearing 
 the symbolic four hands of the goddess 
 Kali, the wife of Shira, to whom the 
 "Monkey temple," at Benares was 
 erected, and at whose shrine daily 
 sacrifices of human victims were 
 offered, up to a comparatively recent 
 date, when the English Government 
 interfered. 
 
 " \'otan also visited the ruins of an 
 old building which had been erected 
 by men for the purpose of reaching 
 heaven. The people who lived in its 
 vicinity told him it was the place 
 where God had given to each family 
 its particular language." 
 
DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 29 
 
 We have no difficulty in recognizing 
 this as referring to the ' ' Tower of 
 Babel," at Borsippa, a suburlj of 
 Bab3^1on, and in doing so the chain 
 becomes, link by link, more complete ; 
 but curiously enough the case does 
 not rest even here, for Humboldt in 
 
 nations received it from a common 
 source, and no one so perfectly fills 
 all the necessary conditions of the 
 case as the Phoenicians. 
 
 If anything more were necessary 
 to a complete establishment of this 
 theory, we find it in another interest- 
 
 
 Fig. iS— Aztec Molloch. 
 
 describing the Aztec cycle of fifty-two 
 years, gives strong rea.son for believing 
 that it was borrowed from an ancient 
 Zodiac formed of twenty-seven or 
 twenty-eight lunar houses, which was 
 made use of from the remotest 
 antiquity, in Tartary, Thibet and 
 India, which divided the month into 
 four weeks of five days, and enable 
 us to trace a distinct connection be- 
 tween the Mexican and the Asiatic 
 nations. Of course, we are com- 
 pelled to believe that these several 
 
 ing paragraph from the same source 
 which says : 
 
 ' ' The architectural character of the 
 oldest towns lend some support to the 
 considerable antiquity claimed for 
 them." 
 
 "The ruins of Mexico and Central 
 America present .so many different 
 architectural styles, that it .seems very 
 probable that they were built at dif- 
 ferent times, and by different peoples. 
 Tho.se which appear to be oldest, 
 and which are most uniform in 
 
30 
 
 DID THE PHOENICIANS DISCOVER AMERICA? 
 
 style are, the sul)structures in Maya- 
 pam . ' ' 
 
 The native traditions held that 
 Quetzalcoatl traversed the peninsula, 
 from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and 
 on reaching the last ocean, sent back 
 his companions to tell the Cholulans 
 that in a future age his brothers, 
 ■white men and bearded like himself, 
 would land there from the sea, 
 where the sun rises, and come to rule 
 the country." 
 
 To this I append a note of the gold 
 and silver yield of Mexico, in support 
 of the contention that this was the 
 location referred to in Scripture. 
 
 $70,000,000 $2,090,000,000 $2,160,000,000 
 
 1537 to 1821. . ./"i4,ooo.ooo ^418,000,000 ^432,000,000 
 
 $50,000,000 $900,000,000 $950,000,000 
 
 1S21 to iSSo. . .^10,000,000 ^180,000,000 ^190,000,000 
 
 ^24,000,000 ^598,000,000 ^622,000,000 
 
 $120,000,000 $2,990,000,000 $3,110,000,000 
 
 SYNOPSIS. 
 
 First. — We find a correspondence 
 between the architectural remains in 
 Mexico and those of Europe and Asia. 
 
 vSecond. — We find that the details of 
 this art are not a distinct type but 
 composite, and the product of a variety 
 of sources. 
 
 Third. — We segregate this com- 
 posite art, and reduce it to its original 
 sources. 
 
 Fourth. — We determine the nation, 
 and the condition under which the 
 amalgamation took place. 
 
 Fifth. — We show that they were 
 the only people capable of making 
 this journey and this amalgamation. 
 
 Sixth. — We know that they made 
 such journeys. 
 
 Seventh. — We show a motive for 
 these journeys. 
 
 Eighth. — We trace the course they 
 pursued . 
 
 Ninth. — We determine from historic 
 records the date at which the journe}^ 
 took place. 
 
 Tenth. — iVnd show that the religious 
 beliefs of both were identical, and 
 consequently conclude that in conse- 
 quence of this and the other matters 
 referred to, the Aztec was the product 
 of Phoenician adventure and " civili-- 
 zation. ^•^" ^-"^ 
 
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