One of the many reasons Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture believes the Philippines is Ophir is because some European explorers said so. Another reason is because he misidentifies the place some European explorers said was Ophir as being the Philippines. That place is the Lequios Islands. Spanish Document 98 identifies them with Ophir and Tarshish, Magellan allegedly scratched out Lequios substituting Ophir and Tarshish, Tim believes the Lequios Islands are the Philippines, therefore the Philippines is Ophir and Tarshish. According to Tim, this identification was "official Spanish policy."
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| https://thegodculturephilippines.com/from-seville-with-gold----barbosa-magellan-and-the-suppressed-identification-of-ophir/ |
Primary Evidence:
French Source (1907) – Bulletin de la Société Royale Belge de Géographie, pp. 439–461
“Odardo Barbosa… resolutely identified [Lequios] with Ophir and Tarshish… in a document we found in the Archives of the Indies in Seville.”
Magellan's Submission
“It is permissible… to conclude that the navigator [Magellan] presented to the King the revised version of the report by his friend Barbosa… accompanying it with formal astronomical determinations.”
Suppression in Print
The Seville manuscript used “Ophir and Tarshish.”
The Lisbon printed edition replaced them with “Lequios.”
The 1907 journal concludes this was a clear editorial shift obscuring the original biblical identification.
Supporting Evidence:
Cabot Map (1544): Labels the “Canal of the Lequios” in Philippine waters.
Santa Cruz Map (1539): Places “Carrigara” and Cebu together between 7–12°N latitude. Places Lequios Canal in West Philippine Sea
Document #98 (Spanish Archive): Equates Lequios and Ophir directly, and as a destination more important than China.
Pigafetta’s Journal: Notes traders from the northwest (i.e., Luzon) during his time in Cebu.
Galvao (1555): Places the Lequios specifically as Lucones (Luzon). Defines Pinto's shipwreck on Luzon as well.
Castenhada (1883): Defined the Lequios Isles as Southeast of China, never Ryukyu nor Japan.
Conclusion:
The identification of the Lequios Islands as Ophir and Tarshish was official Spanish policy, documented by Magellan, recorded by Barbosa, and submitted to the Crown. The editorial erasure that followed was not an academic oversight—it was cartographic and historical suppression.
This exposé restores the truth, not by conjecture, but by returning to the primary source in Seville that declared the Philippines the Land of Gold—Ophir.
This is circular reasoning founded on speculation and later hearsay. What does Tim mean that this identification was "official Spanish policy?" Does he have any official Spanish documents signed by the King stating the Lequios Islands are Ophir? A royal decree? Official correspondence? State-sanctioned documents such as navigational charts, treaties, or reports, that formally label the Lequios Islands as Ophir? Tim doesn't cite any official Spanish government documents in this article. He cites maps and the assumption of a magazine article. "It is permissible to conclude" is not a statement of fact. Tim is going to need a whole lot more evidence to prove his theory that the identification of the Lequios Islands as Ophir was "official Spanish policy." Document 98 is not an official government document. It is a list of Portuguese discoveries, not a royal edict.
The same French article Tim cites say Sebastian Cabot was tasked with finding Ophir and Tarshish.
"HERRERA. General History of the Deeds of the Castilians, etc., Madrid, 1601, Decade III, Book IX, Chapter III: Sebastian Cabot was to go in search of the Moluccas as well as the other islands and lands of Tarshish, Ophir, eastern China and Japan, crossing the Great Gulf, and load his ships with gold and silver, precious stones, etc. (... concerning the Moluccas... and also in search of the other islands and lands of Tarshish, Ophir and eastern Cathay, and Cipango, crossing that Gulf to trade and load the ships with Gold, Silver and precious Stones, Pearls, Drugs, Spices, Silks, Brocades, etc.)."
If, as Tim claims, it was "official Spanish policy" that the Lequios Islands were Ophir and Tarshish and Magellan gave the King precise astronomical data as to their location why would Cabot have to go in search of them? He should have been able to sail directly there. Also, in Cabot's instructions the location of Tarshish and Ophir are associated with eastern China and Japan. That's not the Philippines. This further suggests that neither Cabot nor anyone else identified the Lequios Islands, Ophir, and Tarshish with the Philippines which Magellan had already discovered before Cabot set sail in 1526.
Basing the location of Ophir on someone's say-so and misidentifying the location is no way to do history or geography. Spanish Document 98 dates to sometime before 1522 and details Portuguese discoveries which means that list cannot contain the Philippines since it was the Spanish who discovered the Philippines, not the Portuguese. I have an article about Document 98 here.
It was the Spanish who inserted the identifier of Tarsis and Ofir for the Lequios Islands. Why was this done? On what basis did Barbosa and Magellan believe the Lequios Islands, a place no European had yet explored, were Ophir and Tarshsish? What evidence did they and the author of Document 98 have for such speculation? Tim does not think to ask those questions. He accepts the identification as fact.
These are especially relevant questions because Barbosa and Magellan were both Portuguese explorers. Yet, Ophir was found by the Portuguese before Barbosa wrote his book which means both he and Magellan were likely aware of that information. In 1502 Portuguese sailor and explorer Thomé Lopes set sail to India with Vasco de Gama. He wrote that Ophir was actually in Mozambique in a place named Sofala. He says the natives claimed to have written documentation proving this out.
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| https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucm.5309452470&seq=345 |
Where it is said that the ships of King Solomon took gold, and where myrrh is gathered in abundance.
On Friday, the 22nd of July, in the morning, we entered the port of Mozambique, having passed through a sea full of small islands, which they call islets, and we saw crossbow fire from the land. Then some Moors came out to greet us and brought a letter from the sheikh of the mainland, who sent to the captain saying he wished to be friends with the King of Portugal. The captain welcomed them courteously and gave gifts to the islanders, since he saw that the port was safe and peaceful, and the Moors were experienced in navigation and trade.
We decided to continue on toward Quiloa, and the next day we came to the island of Amiceida, where we disembarked. There, we found a great abundance of myrrh. The captain sent men inland, who returned saying that the lands there were rich in gold, and that the gold of Solomon had come from that region, since his ships took three years to return — and that this might be that same land. They also said that the Queen of Sheba had come from that place, and that it belonged to the lands of India.
Likewise, the Moors told the captain that in that land there was a large quantity of myrrh. Beyond that, they found many kinds of spices. They said that the interior lands were extremely wealthy and that they traded gold, pearls, and other riches. Therefore, they were highly honored. The island and the adjacent mainland were inhabited by Moors under the lordship of the sheikh of Amiceida, who had submitted to the captain of the mines of Cefala.
And those responsible for the mines said that there had once been great quantities of gold, but now it was no longer abundant. Still, they said that by digging, one could extract a little gold, though not as before. And when it was found, they smelted it and made coins from it. This gold was said to be very pure, and it was prized even in the East and among merchants who came from Mecca, Zidem, and India.
They spoke of the mines of Ophir and referred to many books and writings, saying that this was the place from which King Solomon’s ships came to fetch gold, and that this was Ophir. They also said the Queen of Sheba had departed from there to visit King Solomon with gifts, just as the Scriptures recount.
Thomé Lopes notes the natives not only claimed Sofala to be Ophir but cited written records as proof. While the nature of those records are not revealed, this is stronger evidence than mere hearsay or speculation. It shows a documentary connection to the biblical location of Ophir. The natives also say gold was no longer abundant. That fits a scenario where Solomon mined the region for many tons of gold. The true location of Ophir would likely be stripped of resources. Contrast that to Tim's thesis that the Philippines is Ophir because it still has many tons of untapped gold in the ground.
Duarte Pacheco Pereira, in his book Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, confirmed this discovery.
For in the second year of your reign 1497 a.d. and the 28th year of your age your Highness ordered the discovery to be continued from Ilheo da Cruz, where King John left off, and without counting the great and heavy expense, a portion of Ethiopia under Egypt was discovered, which from the earliest times to our day was utterly unknown. Your captains discovered anew the great mine which some hold to be that of Ophir and is now called Çofala, whence the most wise King Solomon according to. . .the ninth chapter of the third book of Kings and the eighth chapter of the second book of Paralipomenon, drew 420 talents of gold with which he built the holy temple at Jerusalem.
Dr Jaime Cortesao, who has studied the question very fully, is of the opinion that the first fifteen chapters, or somewhat less than a quarter of the work, were written during the last months of 1505, the remainder between 1507 and 1508.pg. xvii
In 1539 Joao de Castro reaffirmed Sofala as being the location of Ophir and recommend that the king of Portugal repair it.
The number of Portuguese in these parts is great, for from Sofala to China there is nothing that has not been tread upon by them. But those of us who are in the King's service are few and poorly organized, and in my judgment, the Viceroy, should he wish to give battle to the Turks, would not be able to assemble two thousand men. From this one perceives the neglect and relaxation in His Majesty's service that has occurred in India, for though Your Highness pays seventeen thousand men each year, there are not even two thousand truly in service — not to speak of the many others who should be guarding the fortresses.
I took some time to examine the muster roll, and the conclusions I drew from it were these: besides much deceit, theft, loss of honor, and destruction of Your Highness's wealth, it should not be called a muster roll but rather a register of evils. In it I found many men who had been paid twenty or thirty thousand cruzados in wages, wages that had been purchased at fifteen or twenty percent, and below that, countless others. It seems to me a shameful thing that this muster roll was the instructor that taught the Portuguese to lose their honor, their fear of God, and their desire to serve Your Highness.
A great remedy and correction was that Your Highness sent someone so virtuous and diligent in seeking the truth, as is Cosme Anes, its scribe. Your Highness has many fortresses in these parts that truly are fountains of gold, and that name is not strange, for in ancient times it was called the Golden Chersonese (Malacca), and it would not be far-fetched to suspect that Sofala is Ophir, from where Solomon sent his ships to load gold.
And if the other fortresses were to say, 'I have no gold or silver,' as Saint Peter said to the beggar who asked him for alms, they may still be asked for what they do have — and they will give cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and all sorts of spices. And if this is so, then it is clear that the wealthiest and most profitable places bring more loss to Your Highness than benefit — a complaint made by all of us who travel these lands.
I do not know who precisely bears the blame, but it seems to me that Your Highness ought to repair Sofala and all that lies from the Cape of Comorin eastward, and you would be freed from such great expenses and troubles.
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.535308/page/n11/mode/2up
This was written at least 17 years after Spanish Document 98. If the Portuguese thought the Lequios Islands were Ophir and Tarshish as that document appears to claim why did he continue to insist on Sofala as being the correct location?
These are three early attestations that Ophir was discovered by the Portuguese in Africa. Significantly, two of these accounts predate any knowledge of the Lequios Islands. In contrast, the third account supports the Sofala claim even after the Lequios Islands were discovered and proposed as an alternative location for Ophir. Why shouldn't this claim for Sofala be believed over all others? Written evidence from the natives make this claim rather strong. The lack of gold which was once abundant also fits the story of Solomon mining the region.
However, there are many who object to Sofala being Ophir. The fact that this proposed location is contested is exactly the point. Nobody knows where Ophir was located. Every single theory regarding Ophir is a guess. That includes the Philippines. Some guesses, such as Josephus's Golden Chersonesus, are more likely than others but they are all guesses.
Why not stop with these silly games and pseudo-historic inquires and deal with real historical facts? In the end, the only honest answer is that no one knows where Ophir was. Every proposed location, from Mozambique to the Philippines, is speculative. For Timothy Jay Schwab to elevate his pet theory to certainty while ignoring others is not just poor history; it's intellectual fraud.
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