Re: Arabs in Americas before Spanish

Bryn <Scotland-the-Brave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
(8(|) Doh!
The following is straight out of an article
"A New Mythology Ancient Astronauts, Lost Civilizations & the New Age
Paradigm by Tim Callahan"

Any comments.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards
and Portuguese. There are two pieces of evidence to support this
possibility. One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast
of Venezuela. Most of these were Roman coins, dating from the time of
Augustus to the fourth century. However, Cyrus Gordon pointed out that
two of the coins were Arabic, probably dating from the ninth century.2
Gordon also pointed out that Roman coins were still in use as currency
centuries after Rome had fallen. He sees the coins as coming from a
Moorish or Arab ship ca. 850. Unfortunately, while Gordon reported that
the coins were then in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution,
nothing further seems to have been published about them. It is possible
that a lack of proper provenance makes them dubious as evidence of a
Moorish shipwreck. In any case Gordon=3Fs idiosyncratic speculations on
pre-Columbian contacts are quite suspect. However, much firmer evidence
of Arabic pre-Columbian voyages to the Americas is given by Dr. M. D. W.
Jeffries of the Department of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University in
Johannesburg, South Africa. In his article, =3FPre-Columbian Maize in
Asia,=3F in Men Across the Sea, Jeffries concludes: =3FEnough evidence has
been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times
to recommend a reassessment of contacts between America and the Old
World. The fact that maize entered China from the west suggests early
transatlantic rather than transpacific contacts.=3F3

Jeffries also points out that maize, originating in the western
hemisphere, first entered Europe from Asia Minor ca. 1320, as opposed to
being introduced from the west by the Spanish and Portuguese in the
1500s. In most European countries it was initially known as either
=3FSaracen corn=3F or =3FTurkish corn=3F.4 It is Jeffries=3F opinion
that Arabs,
who were largely in control of both the overland and maritime trade
routes in the 1300s, introduced maize into both Europe and Asia. The
failure of the Islamic powers to colonize the Americas left them open
for the Spanish and Portuguese, as well as leaving the Islamic voyages
of discovery out of the history books.


2. Gordon, Cyrus H. 1971. Before Columbus: Links between the Old World
and Ancient America (3d. printing)/ New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 68.
3. Jeffries M. D. W. 1973. =3FPre-Columbian Maize in Asia,=3F in Man Across
the Sea: Problems of Pre-Columbian Contacts (second printing). 1973.
Austin, TX and London: University of Texas Press, 400.
4. Ibid., 399.

Cool...

Except that Gordon, well respected in his field, was quite
nutso over pre-Columbian exploration of the New World.

Look back at how the excerpt above begins:

"Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards
and Portuguese..."

Might well indeed. What starts as a total hypothetical becomes
accepted fact before the end of the excerpt.

--
--- Paul J. Gans
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Arabs in Americas before Spanish
    ... Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards ... One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast ... been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Arabs in Americas before Spanish
    ... Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards ... One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast ... pre-Columbian contacts are quite suspect. ... been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Re: Arabs in Americas before Spanish
    ... Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards ... One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast ... been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Re: Arabs in Americas before Spanish
    ... : Paradigm by Tim Callahan" ... Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards ... One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast ... been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Re: Arabs in Americas before Spanish
    ... Arab seamen might well have reached the Americas before the Spaniards ... One of these is a collection of coins found off the coast ... pre-Columbian contacts are quite suspect. ... been presented for the presence of maize in Asia in pre-Columbian times ...
    (soc.history.medieval)