>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/vista/9606/4.html > >Ancient Coins May Map New Understandings of Antiquity >BY KEVIN McCAFFREY > > IF MOUNT HOLYOKE geologist Mark McMenamin is right, neither Columbus > nor the Vikings were the first non-natives to set foot on the > Americas. McMenamin's theory is based on coins he believes contain the > oldest world maps in existence. The author of a 1994 book, Hypersea: > Life on Land (cowritten with his wife, Dianna), which unveiled a new > theory of the genesis of terrestrial life, he may now have made > another important discovery --one that sheds radical new light on > present conceptions of the classical world and on the discovery of the > New World. > > Working with computer-enhanced images of gold coins minted in the > North African city of Carthage between 350 and 320 BC, McMenamin has > interpreted a series of designs appearing on these coins, the meaning > of which has long puzzled scholars. McMenamin believes that the > designs represent a map of the ancient world, including the area > surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and a land mass representing the > Americas. > > If this is true, these coins not only represent the oldest world maps > found to date, but would also indicate that Carthaginian explorers had > sailed to the New World a good 1,300 years before the Vikings. > > It was his interest in the Carthaginians and Phoenicians as explorers > that led McMenamin to study the gold coins, known as staters. The > Carthaginians were closely linked to the Phoenicians of the Middle > East in terms of culture, language, and naval enterprise. Both peoples > are widely credited with significant sailing exploits through the > Mediterranean, to the British Isles, and along the coast of Africa. > > On one of the coins studied by McMenamin, a horse stands atop a number > of symbols at the bottom of the stater. For many years, scholars > interpreted these symbols as letters in Phoenician script. When that > theory was discounted in the 1960s, scholars were baffled. Using a > computer to enlarge and enhance these images on the coins, the > geologist --aided by his familiarity with land masses and shifting > tectonic plates-- was able to interpret the design as a representation > of the Mediterranean, surrounded by the land masses of Europe and > Africa with, to the upper left, the British Isles. To the far left of > the representation of the Mediterranean is what the geologist believes > is a depiction of the Americas. > > A number of classical texts bolster this theory. For example, in the > first century BC, Diodorus of Sicily wrote " ... in the deep off > Africa is an island of considerable size ... fruitful, much of it > mountainous ... Through it flow navigable rivers. ... The Phoenicians > had discovered it by accident after having planted many colonies > throughout Africa." > > "I was just the lucky person who had the geologic and geographic > expertise to view these coins in a new light," notes McMenamin. "I > have been interested in the Carthaginians as the greatest explorers in > the history of the world." > > McMenamin's study of the coins prompted him to master the Phoenician > language. He has published two pamphlets on his work regarding the > Carthaginian coins. One is written in ancient Phoenician, representing > probably the first new work in that language in 1,500 years. > > The Numismatist, a leading journal in the study of coins, has accepted > McMenamin's paper on the theory and will publish his findings this > fall. At the same time, the scholar is trying to gain access to a > number of coins --or casts of their impressions-- currently held in > European collections. These impressions will further aid him, he > hopes, in proving the world map theory's validity. "If I had the time > and the money," McMenamin observes, only half-kidding, "I'd be in > North Africa with my metal detector trying to find Carthaginian coins > to further confirm my hypothesis." > > Additional study may well reveal that it was explorers based in > Africa, not Europe, who "discovered" the New World. At the very least, > McMenamin hopes his theory will focus new scholarly attention on > ancient Carthaginian culture. > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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