This is a good background article on the earlier and current voyages of the Good Ship Phoenicia. But it has some lapses in logic. On the first voyage:
According to London’s “The Phoenicians: The Greatest Sailors Exhibition,” as early as “600 BC a fleet of Phoenician ships was said to have embarked on an epic journey to circumnavigate Africa.” In 2008, the crew of the newly-built Phoenicia set out to prove that the myth was, in fact, history.The 2008-2010 voyage of the Phoenicia did not prove that the ancient Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa. It did prove that they could have with the ship technology that they had.
After a two year voyage in a copy of a 3,000-year-old ship, the Phoenicia dodged Somalian pirates and extreme weather, sailing into the history books—the epic tale of the Phoenician explorers was no myth. However, not satisfied with one groundbreaking voyage, the crew of the Phoenicia is now on a mission to prove that the Phoenicians sailed to America over 2,000 years before Columbus.
Likewise, with reference to the first paragraph, if the Phoenicia does reach the Americas — and I hope it does! — that would not prove that the Phoenicians actually got there. It would just show that they could have. Later in the article the situation is presented more accurately.
To prove that the Phoenicians reached the Americas, we need positive evidence, such as demonstrably ancient Phoenician inscriptions. Such evidence as has been presented thus far is not credible. Maybe someday that will change.
Background here and links and here.
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