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| The Phoenicia |
One consideration to remember is the Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa circa 600 B.C. Here’s an overview of that event:
http://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodotus/herodotus-on-the-first-circumnavigation-of-africa/
Some people are skeptical of Herodotus’ account, which is fine. But we know Lehi crossed the “great waters” around 600 BC, and I see no compelling reason to disbelieve what Herodotus wrote. If we didn’t have the Book of Mormon we wouldn’t have known about Lehi’s voyage. Even with Lehi’s account being published, most people don’t believe Lehi’s journey ever happened.
If ancient people were exploring the east coast of Africa around the time Lehi sailed through there, it makes sense to me that Lehi would pick up or leave behind names that described a volcanic island where he stopped for provisions.
Of course, it’s merely a possibility at this point.
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Long-time readers of this blog know that a modern re-creation of a Phoenician ship demonstrated the feasibility of the voyage Herodotus described.
https://www.yachtmollymawk.com/2011/01/phoenicia/
The winds and current pushed the Phoenicia across the Atlantic toward Florida before the crew could get it headed back to Africa.
I’ve been interested in the Phoenicians and other people/cultures in this area for a long time. Years ago I spent a couple of weeks in Lebanon with an archaeologist documenting sites including Byblos, Baalbeck, Beirut, and Sidon. There are lots of things we still don’t know and understand about the ancient world.
Certainly most events in human history are unrecorded, even today. I think it’s likely that the account Herodotus described was not the only ancient voyage around Africa, or at least along the east coast of Africa.
Source: Book of Mormon Wars