The God Culture: Testing the Resources of Ophir and Tarshish, Part 2

In the previous article reviewing Timothy Jay Schwab's testing of the resources of Ophir and Tarshish I covered gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks. The Bible says those items came from Tarshish but Tim says they came from Ophir because he conflates the two places. In this article I will be looking at the "resources of Tarshsish." Remember, we are looking not at Tim's videos but at his book Solomon's Treasure which he claims is "the monumental case for the Philippines no one can dispute."

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 106

Tarshish is a place next to Ophir. They are in the same direction and region in destination. Now, we have yet more resources we can test and narrow this down beginning with silver as promised. Tarshish is the Biblical land of silver equated to the Greek Argyre which we saw is mapped by Pomponius Mela, Dionysius The Tourist and Behaim as Mindanao, Philippines. By rare occurrence, it just happens that Mindanao is the only place in the Philippines which can fully fit this part of the list for Tarshish especially tin.

According to Tim, Mindanao is Tarshish and the "Biblical land of silver." What? I never knew there was a "biblical land of silver." Let's see what the Bible has to say.

There is no "land of silver" mentioned in the Bible. Did Abraham get his silver from Mindanao?

Genesis 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Obviously not. 

Silver was first mined around 3,000 BCE in Anatolia, now located in modern-day Turkey. The precious metal helped early civilizations in the Near East, Ancient Greece to flourish.

In about 1,200 BCE the center of silver production shifted to Greece’s Laurium mines, where it continued to feed the region’s growing empires, even providing currency for ancient Athens. By about 100 CE, the center of silver mining moved to Spain, where the mines became a major supplier for the Roman Empire and an essential trading component along the Asian spice routes.

https://www.silverinstitute.org/silver-mining-history/

Look at that. The Greek's source of silver was....GREECE!!! Not some mythical island near India called Argyre.

Nevertheless let us continue. According to Tim the resources we will be discussing in this article all must necessarily come from Mindanao.  That includes silver, iron, tin, and lead.

Silver

“Nickel mines are located in Zambales, Palawan, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, while the gold with silver mines are in Benguet, Masbate, Camarines Norte, Davao del Norte and Agusan del Sur. The copper with gold and silver mines are located in Benguet, Cebu and Zamboanga del Norte. The copper mine with gold, silver and zinc is in Albay...” –Philippine Daily Inquirer 

Notice some attempt to hyper-focus on King Solomon’s copper mines yet no Biblical narrative mentions copper but there is also copper in the Philippines. It even fits narratives outside the Bible. Much of this silver is found with gold thus it has always been abundant in the Philippines and all over the archipelago.

“Of the total of sixteen lode and placer mines which were producing gold and silver bullion in appreciable quantities at the close of 1935, nine are situated in the Benguet mining district.”

–Port of Manila and Other Philippine Ports Year Book. (1936)

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 106-107

This is Tim's entire argument that the silver brought back from Tarshish comes from Mindanao. Can you see what is wrong here? There is no argument! There is no proof. In the second quote we are told that nine out of sixteen placer mines producing gold and silver are in Benguet which is Luzon and not Mindanao which undercuts Tim's case that Mindanao is argyre, the land of silver. What was he thinking?? This is stupid. It's not a case, it's not an argument, it's nothing. 

Much of this silver is found with gold thus it has always been abundant in the Philippines and all over the archipelago.

Silver is abundant all over the Philippine archipelago? What happened to Mindanao being "the Biblical land of silver?" Let's move on.

Iron

Peruse the many mining reports and you will find the Philippines is not mining iron at present. Does this mean they do not qualify? Iron is one of the largest mineral deposits in the Philippines, even gifted to President Quirino, and the government has shut down the last operation due to environmental infractions. Therefore, you will not see it on reports but it is definitely there and in abundance though few seem to have ever researched.

“Iron ore, one of the Philippines’ largest mineral deposits, is not being extracted at present.” –Philippine Statistics Authority

“The Philippines has suspended the operations of the country’s only iron ore miner due to environmental infractions.” –ABS-CBN, Reuters 2016

Iron ore is found all over the archipelago as well and was referenced in the early 1900s by an American scientist as well as history to 200 A.D.

“There are numerous veins of iron that will well repay working.” – James Walsh, Ih.D, M.D. 1865-1942

“Even as early as the third century, the Chinese reported that gold was mined in Luzon, and it was a principal medium of exchange with Chinese traders. Iron, copper, coal and other minerals were also discovered, but little effort was made to mine them.” –Port of Manila and Other Philippine Ports Year Book. (1936) 

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 107-108

Is Tim for real? Is he kidding? This is the entire section on iron and there is no argument. There is no attempt to prove there was an ancient iron trade between the Philippines and Israel. He is citing ABS-CBN and fails to give any ancient witness to a trade in iron. There is no argument here so I am moving on.

Tin

This is one of the largest assumptions that we often see. Some will claim Tin does not originate in the Philippines. However, once again, this thinking is based on distribution maps out there for countries who are mining tin and the Philippines has not been friendly for mining companies who do not take care of their environment. Having said that, even in our travels around the Philippines, in Mindanao, we have had active miners confirm there is definitely tin in Mindanao. However, remember in ancient times, tin mining was akin to gold mining in process.

“Tin is an essential metal in the creation of tin bronzes, and its acquisition was an important part of ancient cultures from the Bronze Age onward. Its use began in the Middle East and the Balkans around 3000 BC. Ancient sources of tin were therefore rare, and the metal usually had to be traded over very long distances to meet demand in areas which lacked tin deposits. It is likely that the earliest deposits were alluvial and perhaps exploited by the same methods used for panning gold in placer deposits.”

Many of the modern sources of tin would not even qualify in ancient times but the Philippines had gold panning operations since the most ancient of times. However, we do not need to rely on just that logic as the Philippines has tin indisputably.

“The economy is primarily agricultural. Tin mining takes place around Mindanao.”

–World Encyclopedia 2005 by Oxford University Press

“Tin is not so abundant.”

–James J. Walsh, , Ih.D., M.D. 1865-1942.

Dr. Walsh notes tin is not so abundant in the early 1900s yet it is there but we only affirm Mindanao. In 2005, World Encyclopedia by Oxford University Press and The American Desk Encyclopedia thought it noteworthy enough to mention that Mindanao was mining tin. Although we do not find it on modern mining lists for the Philippines which is no surprise, we have had first hand accounts from miners especially on Mindanao who note that tin is still there though not a focus.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 108-109

This is awful. This is plain awful. Again, no argument. Just an assertion that tin exists in the Philippines. But so what? Where is the proof that the Philippines was mining tin and trading tin with Israel in the time of King Solomon? The first quote comes from a Wikipedia article about the ancient sources of tin. Here is the map from that article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancient_times

Here is an interesting fact from this article that Tim ignores completely.

Evidence of direct tin trade between Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean has been demonstrated through the analysis of tin ingots dated to the 13th-12th centuries BC from sites in Israel, Turkey and modern-day Greece; tin ingots from Israel, for example, have been found to share chemical composition with tin from Cornwall and Devon (Great Britain).(Pernicka et al. 2019)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancient_times

Tin ingots found in Israel which date to the 13th-12th centuries BC are from Cornwall and Devon. Amazing. Nothing about the Philippines whatsoever in this article. Why? Because there was no tin trade between Europe and the Philippines. If there was Tim does not even remotely try to prove it. He simply asserts that there is currently tin in the Philippines and then moves on. So shall I.

Lead

lead: `owphereth עפרת

Before we delve into lead, take a look at the Hebrew name for lead, owphereth. Is it possible this element may come from Ophir? The Philippines also has lead.

“Although the Philippines is rich in mineral resources, mining activities constitute only a small portion of GDP and employ an even smaller fraction of the population. Most of the country’s metallic minerals, including gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, chromite, and copper, are drawn from major deposits on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao.” –Encyclopaedia Britannica 2019

“An FTAA may be entered into for the exploration, development and utilization of gold, copper, nickel, chromite, lead, zinc and other minerals.” –Primer on the Philippine Minerals Industry

Once again, you will not find this resource on mining lists because it is not currently being mined but that does not mean it is not there. In fact, Encyclopaedia Britannica which updated this reference recently, affirms both lead and even iron ore again on Luzon and Mindanao. The resources of Tarshish are all found natively in the Philippines and specifically on Mindanao as Tarshish. This is after we already found all the Biblical resources of Ophir. Ethiopia and Yemen are already out of the running. Britain is not East of the Red Sea and does not have native peacocks nor almug wood. Spain is also not East and does not have indigenous ivory, apes, peacocks nor almug trees. Even Peru cannot fit the journey timewise and is missing ivory, peacocks and almug wood natively. These aren’t mere misses, they are ludicrous propositions and anyone calling themselves a scholar who did not begin with a resource test, is no scholar on this topic. The only other coherent claim as far as resources are concerned is India yet it’s own history says it had a source of ancient gold and silver, isles to the East thus none of these make any sense except the Philippines. Chapter 3 addressed Malaysia. However, we have one more list to test for the gifts of Sheba and Solomon’s navy.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 109-110

Once more there is no argument here. There is no proof that there was a robust trade in lead between the Philippines and Israel. There is no proof that the Philippines was mining silver, lead, iron, or tin in the time of Solomon. Remember Tim admits that mining equipment during the time of Solomon was minimal.

This actually fits what would have to be the case in the ancient land of gold from at least 1000 B.C. as there was no major mining equipment in that era

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 96

Silver, tin, lead, and iron ore were all being mined elsewhere and traded within the Mediterranean basin. So, how were these minerals mined in the Philippines? Where is there proof that Filipinos had the technology to mine for these minerals? Tim offers ZERO proof for his assertions.

If there is an argument it is that the Hebrew word for lead sounds like Ophir therefore maybe the lead came from Ophir. But he is testing the resources of Tarshish not Ophir. Once again he is conflating the two regions and basing his theory on shaky linguistic grounds.

Here are some verses from Numbers which Tim does not discuss in this book.

Numbers 31:21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle,This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses; 

22: Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 

23: Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. 

24: And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean,and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

Where did the Israelites get this silver, iron, tin, and lead while wandering in the wilderness? From Mindanao? Of course not. They got them from Egypt. That means there was trade in these metals within the Mediterranean basin. Why then would they look to Mindanao for these metals? They wouldn't. It doesn't make any sense.

Tim's goal here is to prove that the Philippines has the resources ascribed to Tarshish. But that is not enough. He has to prove that these resources were brought to Israel from the Philippines and he has not done this. He has not offered any proof for his assertions. He might counter with, "I have already proved that Tarshish is the Philippines therefore these resources were brought back from the Philippines." This is wrong. He has not proven that Tarshish is the Philippines. He has asserted it via a twisted logic that he cannot prove from history or the Bible. There is no proof that Tarshish built ships for Ophir and Havilah and was given Mindanao as his wages. That comes from Tim's head and has no foundation in reality.

He has also lied about the ivory said to be fetched from Tarshish. There are no elephants in the Philippines. Pigafetta does not record their existence in the Philippines. The same goes for peacocks. There are no true peacocks in the Philippines and Pigafetta does not record seeing any though Tim claims he does. 

It is mind boggling that this is supposed to be "the monumental case for the Philippines no one can dispute" when there is no case being made. There is assertion after assertion with no proof proffered. In the next article I will look at the gifts of the Queen of Sheba.

The God Culture: Testing the Resources of Ophir and Tarshish, Part 1

Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture gives as one of his strongest evidences that the Philippines is both Ophir and Tarshish is that all the resources brought back from those places are native to the Philippines. Is that true? Let's test Tim's testing of the resources of Ophir and Tarshsish. Though he has many videos on this subject I shall be sticking with his book Solomon's Treasure which he claims is "the monumental case for the Philippines no one can disprove."  

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 95

Elsewhere I have already shown that Tarshish must be located somewhere within the Mediterranean basin. The fact that Tarshish is said to have traded with Tyre coupled with the fact that there is no record of a robust trade between the east and west via circumnavigating Africa preclude Tarshish from being located in the east. It is also a fact that Tarshish is a descendant of Japheth while Ophir is a descendant of Shem. According to Tim's interpretation of Noah's division of the earth between his sons Tarshish cannot be in Asia because that is Shem's territory. Of course he finds a way around this conundrum.

The sons of Joktan – Ophir, Sheba and Havilah are all from Noah’s son Shem. However, Tarshish is from Japheth. How does he enter this narrative of the journey to Ophir? The only Tarshish mentioned in Genesis 10 is this one.

Genesis 10:4-5 KJV

And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

Tarshish is the son of Javan, the father of Greece according to history and the Book of Jubilees. Along with his brothers, he inherited the Greek isles very accurately termed the isles of the Gentiles in Genesis 10. However, if we are to follow the supposed history which ignores the Bible and makes unsupported assumptions often times, we would believe no one had ships back in 2200 B.C. We have not found any ships that would credibly date back that far indeed. However, the thinking it would be preserved that long is not reasonable except in extremely rare cases.

However, what good would inheriting isles be if you could not travel there. They got to their inheritance somehow and they were not that great of swimmers. We are actually expected to believe that Noah and his sons construct a ship of supertanker complex construction years before this and yet, they all forgot how to build a ship after the Flood especially with a large world ocean to cross now. Of course, they boated and had ships. Tarshish especially found a way to build something to get to his inheritance and this is how he enters the Ophir migration. We are certainly not the first to make such connection.

“And that this was really so, and that the principal settler of these archipelagoes [Philippines] was Tharsis, son of Javan, together with his brothers, as were Ophir and Hevilath of India, we see in the tenth chapter of Genesis...” –Father Francisco Colin, 1663 

With Tarshish arrived his brothers, the sons of Javan, the mariner family from Japheth as they were all returning to the land of Noah. The territory was given to the sons of Shem in Noah’s division of the Earth which Ophir, Sheba and Havilah were the ones to claim it but they needed ships to get there.

What Tim is saying here is that Tarshish inherited the islands of Greece and therefore had ships. He and his brothers, along with Ophir and Havilah, sailed far to the east in those ships because "they were all returning to the land of Noah" which Tim teaches is the Philippines. He cites the Jesuit Fr. Francisco Colin in support of his thesis. That is kind of odd seeing how much Tim dislikes the Jesuits. 

Ophir, Sheba and Havilah lived in Meshad, Iran which in 1663, was a territory right adjacent to what was referred to as India (Afghanistan) still by many so it is not inconsistent for Father Colin to identify them so as they did originate in that region. This was not exactly a yachting area and certainly not one possessing vessels which could cross the sea but Tarshish and his brothers had ships. Therefore, Ophir and Sheba needed ships and Tarshish provided them. His payment for this endeavor carrying them back to their homeland would be to inherit a piece of that land logically as he certainly did according to scripture in order to have land in that region especially since Tarshish’s territory is no where near there otherwise but the Greek isles. David mentions ships and kings of Tarshish two times before Solomon’s reign before his navy even began construction (Ps. 48:7, 72:10). Both are prophesies that Tarshish will bring gifts to Messiah with Ophir and Sheba and it’s ships destroyed.

That is all pure speculation based on Tim's imagination. Why couldn't Ophir and Sheba build their own ships? How does he know the payment for building those ships would be to inherit a piece of land? How does he know the land the inherited is Mindanao? He doesn't know any of that. He is simply asserting it as a fact because "that makes sense."

Rome did not benefit from this knowledge so easily as this was established by Israel with Phoenicia managing the route. Greece inherited this and, as they represent Tarshish’s family. That makes sense.

Tarshish is Mindanao, Philippines as it is mapped as the Greek land of silver, Argyre (The Hebrew Tarshish) especially on the 1492 Portuguese globe of Behaim just South of Luzon/Chryse. Mindanao also tests as the only place in the Philippines which fully aligns with Tarshish in resources especially due to tin.

Solomon's Treasure, pgs 124-125

At least Tim is sensible enough to say that Greece "represents Tarshish's family." Everything else he says is pure nonsense not supported by the scriptures or history. A correct reading of scripture necessarily locates Tarshish somewhere within the Mediterranean basin and never to the Far East.

Now for the resources listed in 2 Chronicles 9:21.

2 Chronicles 9:21 KJV 

For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks.

Gold

There certainly is a lot of gold in the Philippines. But what proof does Tim give that the gold brought back from Tarshish originated in the Philippines? 

Above Pigafetta describes from two different translations, though pretty much the same, that the King of Butuan was able to secure a gold nugget the size of a chicken egg or walnut by simply sifting through the earth or seeking in the ground. This actually fits what would have to be the case in the ancient land of gold from at least 1000 B.C. as there was no major mining equipment in that era. The Philippines not only matches this but we offer two additional legends which affirm this point that the gold in the Philippines was available by picking it up from the shallows of rivers and even the ground. Granted these are oral legends in which the story may change some depending on whom you talk but these affirm this position. Silver, we will withhold for Tarshish. 

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 96

What does he mean he is going to withhold discussing silver until he discusses Tarshish? These resources of gold, ivory, apes, are all said, in both 2 Chronicles 9:21 and 1 Kings 10:22, to come from Tarshish not Ophir. The problem is he is conflating the two as we shall see at the end of this article. This chapter is sparse and anecdotal. Yes, the Philippines has gold. Yes, gold was brought back from Tarshish. But that does not mean Tarshish is the Philippines. 

Ivory

In my initial review of Solomon's Gold I commented on Tim's claim about the Philippines being a source for ivory which bears repeating here.

How does he prove that elephants and thus ivory was once abundant in the Philippines during the time of Solomon? Through archaeology, he says. After quoting several articles including Wikipedia and an opinion piece from the Philippine Daily Inquirer Tim writes:

However, one must overlook tons of archaeology in order to conclude elephants were not native to the Philippines including the very latin identification of species which is specific to the Philippines such as Rhinoceros philippinensis unearthed in Fort Bonaficio along with Stegodon luzonensis, Bubalus cebuensis, a dwarf buffalo found in Cebu and Elephas Beyeri named after anthropologist H. Ottley Beyer who found these bones on Cabarruyan Island In Luzon.

Solomon's Treasure, pg.100

Actually what Tim is describing is not archaeology but paleontology and there are not tons of it but merely a few prehistoric fossils. Instead of proving to the reader how the existence of the fossils of a prehistoric rhinoceros, dwarf stegodon, dwarf buffalo, and dwarf elephant proves that the Philippines was teeming with elephants and was a major source for ivory during the time of Solomon, Tim merely states it as a fact and claims he could write a whole book about the subject. He then goes on to record the testimony of  Jesuits who wrote of the existence of elephants in the Philippines. But Tim already admitted those elephants were imported to the Philippines by the Sultanate of Sulu from Java in the 1300's which is long after Solomon.

Tim also claims that Pigafetta saw elephants on Palawan.

Even history agrees as in 1521, Pigafetta witnessed elephants as he mentioned them multiple times especially in Palawan.

“When we arrived at the city (Palawan), we were obliged to wait about two hours in the prahu, until there came thither two elephants covered with silk...” –Pigafetta, 1521

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 102

This is not true. Pigafetta's account, which can be read here in sections 110-118, took place after the death of Magellan and the route can be discerned from his journal. They left Cebu for Bohol, next to Cagayan, then north west to Palawan (Palaoan), then south west to another island. There is only one island to the south west of Palawan and that is Borneo.

Describing the inhabitants this island Pigafetta writes:

The Moors of Burné go naked like the other islanders.

The people were Muslims and they were naked. Clearly not the Philippines whose inhabitants, while noted for being naked, are never called Moors. So, this is another lie concocted by Tim. Did he read the text? It very clearly says they went from Palawan to an island in the south west and then they encountered the elephants. Nowhere in the preceding section about the Philippines are elephants noted though they are noted in other places following Borneo. I call this a lie and not a simple error because Tim had ample time to check everything and he is on record admitting that he wants to prove that the Philippines is Ophir. If he read the text there is no way he would have gotten this wrong except on purpose. I assume he did read the text because I can find no one else claiming Pigafetta saw elephants in Palawan which means he probably did not crib this from elsewhere. Therefore this is a flat-out lie and not a simple error. 

Tim concludes this section on ivory thusly:

Ivory was native to the Philippines since pre-history, in the days of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, long before the time of the Sultanate of Sulu, in the era of the Spanish and all the way up until they went extinct in the 1600s or so.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 102

But he has not proven this at all. He has taken five fossils, which if you read the information at each link says some have not been examined properly and some have been lost, and has extrapolated a vast and lucrative ivory trade between the Philippines and Israel. He has also lied claiming that Pigafetta saw elephants in Palawan. That alone makes this section unreliable.

Apes

Solomon’s navy returned with apes and we cannot begin to tell you how many demanded we produce a large, hairy Africa-type ape in order to prove this position. The problem is they are inserting their own modern thinking and not looking at the origin of the word which is not African-style large apes nor would they have had the technology to handle such primates in that era. They also would not need them as Solomon is not known for building a zoo and they serve noother purpose. Instead, this word simply means monkey and specifically a monkey with a tail or long-tailed.

apes: Hebrew: qôwph: קוף: Probably of foreign origin, a monkey: – ape... especially monkeys with tails. 

We would agree the Philippines is not known for African-style apes but those seeking such are not following the Bible. We are pursuing monkeys with long tails and yes, they are abundant in the Philippines. However, we can get more definitive on this one because in this case, we actually have archaeology of a relief from the walls of the palace of Assyria which illustrates Phoenician sailors (Solomon’s navy) arriving with long- tailed monkeys not big African-style apes.

This relief tells us much as it is just after Solomon’s time in 865 B.C. and the Phoenicians brought apes, or really long-tailed monkeys, from Ophir according to the Bible account. However, what is astonishing about this carving is that you can identify these monkeys as a match to the Philippine Long-Tailed Macaque. [pictured next page] The face, hands, feet, size, structure and tail all appear to be a match. Of course, there are other macaques around the world but we are not testing the world, we are testing whether the Philippines has the apes of the Bible and they have what appears to be a precise harmony.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 103

The Philippines has long-tailed monkeys which would seem to fit the description in 2 Chronicles. But let's take a closer look at the word for ape.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6971/kjv/wlc/0-1/

a word of Indian origin

Tim's source for his definition of the word translated ape comes from the Blue Letter Bible which I have just cited. But notice that Tim does not give the full definition. He leaves out the part about the Hebrew word being an Indian loan word. If the word for ape in Hebrew is Indian in origin then the apes taken back to Israel must have come from India and not the Philippines. That does not mean that Tarshish is in India only that the apes likely came from India. Or perhaps the word for ape is Indian in origin because they had imported monkeys from India and the word came to mean any monkey. Just like in the Philippines Colgate means toothpaste and not just the brand Colgate.

Peacocks

The Philippines has a native peacock named the Palawan Peacock.

“Endemic to the Philippines, the Palawan peacock-pheasant is found in the humid forests of Palawan Island in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago.” 

We find references to this peacock in Pigafetta’s Journal twice.

“The next day the king of that island sent a prahu to the ships; it was very handsome, with its prow and stern ornamented with gold; on the bow fluttered a white and blue flag, with a tuft of peacock’s feathers at the top of the staff” –Pigafetta, 1521

“Afterwards there came nine men to the governor’s house, sent by the king, with as many large wooden trays, in each of which were ten or twelve china dishes, with the flesh of various animals, such as veal, capons, fowls, peacocks, and others, with various sorts of fish, so that only of flesh there were thirty or thirty-two different viands.”

–Pigafetta, 1521

Again, this is a lie. The reference to peacocks in Pigafetta occurs in sections 110 and 114 which is when he is Borneo. Like Palawan, Borneo is also home to an endemic peacock. As for the origin of the word translated peacock it is, like the word for monkey, foreign.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h8500/kjv/wlc/0-1/

To this answer the Malabar. togei

The Hebrew word for peacock has its derivation from Malabar Tamil which is spoken in India. Tim brings this issue up later in his book when discussing India's claim to be Ophir.

India’s challenge as Ophir per The Periplus is it’s own history which details it’s source of gold in ancient times was located in the isles East of India. This legend persisted in Sri Lanka as well thus, it would not qualify either as it is only an isle and not isles nor is it East of India. This is the only claim out there other than the Philippines that meets the burden in resources but history and the fact it is not an island crush it. We dealt with Malaysia already in Chapter 3.

A Dictionary of the Bible by Sir William Smith, published in 1863, notes “the Hebrew word for parrot Thukki, derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock Thogkai and Cingalese “tokei.”

–Sir William Smith, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, 1863

Smith focuses heavily in this writing on the Hebrew word Thukki which he never proves is Tamil. Yes, Thogkai and Tokei are sort of similar but a different language and one would need more to connect. Additionally, the word parrot which he seems to be focused never appears in any Bible translation even once. It is not in the KJV, NKJV, NLT, NIV, ESV, CSB, NASB, NET, RSV, ASV, YLT, DBY, WEB, HNV, RVR60, VUL, WLC, LXX, mGNT, or TR translations. Additionally, ancient words from scripture do not originate from other languages that are newer. The Book of Jubilees is clear, Hebrew was the “language of Creation” (Jub. 12:26-27).

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 216

Tim rebukes William Smith for claiming a Hebrew word is derived from a Tamil word because of the similarity of sound. But that is EXACTLY what Tim does when he claims there is residual Hebrew in the Philippine place-names. His other objection is that Hebrew is the original language of creation therefore it needs no loan words. That is an unproven assertion and does not take into account how languages actually work. For instance the age of Hebrew texts can be determined on linguistic grounds. Hebrew is not a static language. 

As for the Philippines having its own peacock, well that is interesting. The Palawan Peacock-pheasant is related to but not in the same genus as what we think of when we think of peacocks.

The adult male is the most peacock-like member of the genus Polyplectron in appearance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palawan_peacock-pheasant

It's not a true peacock, it is a peacock-pheasant. That is not a small difference. A true peacock is much larger with long tail feathers. This bird is short and squat just like a Filipino.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavoninae

It is interesting to note that the word translated peacock can also be translated baboon and that there is no mention of peacocks in the Septuagint which ends with ivory. The Orthodox Study Bible, which is a modern translation of the Septuagint, translates 1 Chronicles 9:21 as follows:

The King's ships went to Tarshish with Hiram's servants. Once every three years the merchant ships returned, loaded with gold and silver and elephant tusks and monkeys.

No mention of baboons or peacocks. Could it be that the Hebrew text contains a later addition?

Tim ends this first section of testing the resources of Ophir and Tarshish on a triumphant note.

Just from this single passage in 2 Chronicles which identifies resources of Ophir and Tarshish, this allows us to narrow this down already. Solomon’s navy returned with gold, and silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks. There are no other stops on the list and this was the very first journey to Ophir and Tarshish. There is no record of their establishing trading posts along the way nor was that their purpose. They were building the Temple and to complete the project, Solomon wanted specific resources such as the gold Adam used in the first sacrifice which only comes from one place, the wood of Noah which was used to build the ark from this same land and all the resources of ancient Havilah, the land of his ancient ancestors – Adam and Eve.

However, the Bible is far more brilliant than given credit even by scholars, many of which do not actually believe the Bible unfortunately. It just knocked out any claim of Ophir coming from Ethiopia who not only is in the wrong territory but has no peacocks, almug trees (we will cover) and was not located in the uttermost parts of the earth. Yemen has no ivory, peacocks, almug nor is it in the uttermost parts of the earth. Both fail miserably the resource test and every test we have attempted. Nothing can replace the actual land of gold in history – the Philippines.

The Bible lists more resources though than just this one passage which come from Tarshish especially as well as Sheba which is further defined. We will test all of them and you will continually notice the others making assertions, deteriorate under examination.

Solomon's Gold, pgs. 106-107

Here we see that Tim is conflating Ophir and Tarshish. He thinks the cargo listed in 2 Chronicles 9:21 and 1 Kings 10:22 refer to both areas but they do not. 2 Chronicles 9:10 tells us what was brought back from Ophir.

And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

What Tim says about the temple is totally wrong. The temple was finished before the ships sailed to Ophir and Tarshish and before the Queen of Sheba arrived for her visit. The scripture tells us that David had already prepared the gold.

1 Chronicles 29:1 Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. 

2: Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. 

3: Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, 

4: Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal: 

5: The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

There was no need for Solomon to adorn the temple with additional gold from Ophir because it was already finished and dedicated. 

As I have stated previously Tarshish must be located within the Mediterranean basin. In the Septuagint Tarshish is translated as Carthage in Isaiah 23:1. I am not going to affirm that Carthage is indeed the location of Tarshish but, despite the timeframe of every three years, all the resources listed here, gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks or baboons, can be found in North Africa. It is not impossible that peacocks from the Congo where they are native were captured and traded along the Barbary coast. Mosaic tile art from North Africa shows what looks like a Congolese peacock. The thing to remember is just because an item was brought back from Tarshish does not mean it was native to Tarshish. It only means that the item was brought there to be traded.

Has Tim proven without a doubt that Tarshish and Ophir are the same region? No. Has he shown that gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks must have come from the Philippines and no other place? No. In fact when it comes to ivory and peacocks he has lied about what Pigafetta wrote in his journal in order to fit his agenda. When speaking of ivory he has taken 5 fossils and extrapolated them into an elaborate ivory trade for which he offers no proof. Gold is to be found all over the world not just the Philippines and he gives no proof that the gold from Tarshish must be from the Philippines. As for peacocks, they may or may not have been part of the original cargo as they are not listed in the Septuagint which predates the Masoretic text.

There are more resources to be tested so I will have to divide this into three articles. The next section will deal with the resources of Tarshish and the final article will deal with the offerings of the Queen of Sheba.

The God Culture: Lequios and Lucoes Are Not the Same People Group

An important part of Timothy Jay Schwab's thesis that the Philippines is Ophir is the identification of the Lequios and Lucoes. Tim says they both refer to Illocanos. They are described as big, bearded, white men which means they are Hebrews, members of the lost tribes. Let's take a look at what Tim has to say and then let's take a look through the first description of the Philippines by the Portuguese explorer Tome Pires.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 162

We reviewed early in this chapter, Barbosa identified an affluent people called the Lequios and Magellan scratched out this name and identified them as Ophir and Tarshish equating these peoples. Antonio Pigafetta identifies their origin as Luzon Island Philippines not Taiwan, Japan nor Malaysia. In fact, Japan is recorded as having “no junks” and are not Lequios according to Tome Pires and the Lequios are identified by their junk ships by Pigafetta, Pinto, Barbosa and others. However, Antonio Pigafetta tells us where the Lequios originated.

[From Visayas] “Towards the North-west is the island of Lozon, which is at two days’ distance; a large island, to which come to trade every year six or eight junks of the people called Lequii.” “...One of these junks carries as much cargo as our ships.” – Antonio Pigafetta, 1521

This clearly reads that the Lequios, who originate in Luzon, journey to Cebu regularly to trade in their six or more, large junk ships just as Pinto describes.

Solomon's Treasure, pgs. 162-163

This is totally wrong. Yes, Pigafetta is writing while in Cebu. But read carefully. He says Luzon is a large island TO WHICH the people called Lequii came to trade. He is not saying the Lequii came to Cebu from Luzon. He is saying that Northwest of Cebu is an island called Luzon to which the Lequii came to trade. Therefore the Lequii and Lucoes are not the same people.

Tim's next witness is Fernando Pinto, a Portuguese explorer who wrote down his travels in 1569.

“Written sometime between the years 1569 and 1578, the Travels was not published until 1614, some thirty-odd years after the author’s death. Although the book is known to have circulated in manuscript form long before the date of publication, the original manuscript copies are lost. The earliest reference to Pinto’s book appears in a letter written from Coimbra on 22 February 1569 by the Jesuit Father Cipriano Soares to Father Diogo Mirón, also a Jesuit, in Rome.”

Fernão Mendes Pinto. “The Travels of Mendes Pinto.” Translated by Rebecca Catz, p. 61 epub

Tim claims Pinto identified the Lequios as the Philippines.

Contemporary to Magellan, Ferdinand Pinto classified the Lequios and Chinese as the wealthiest in the Orient trading in gold and silver especially. He defines the Lequios Islands as an archipelago, not Taiwan, as well as a separate country. He also differentiates the Lequios as not Japan, China, Indonesia nor Malaysia but in between those. Pinto also travelled to the Lequios Islands from Malaysia headed North which he placed in the modern Philippines specifically on 9N20.  

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 163

The first citation from Pinto in the Solomon's Gold Sourcebook is as follows:

For this is certain, that either the power of the King of Achem is utterly to be ruined, or by it we shall be miserably expelled out of the countries we have conquered all along the southern coast, as Malaca, Bauda, Maluco, Sunda, Borneo, and Timor, and northwards China, Japan, and the Lequios as also many other parts and ports, where the Portugals are very much interessed by reason of the traffique which they daily use there, and where they reap more profit then in any other place that is yet discovered, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, the extent thereof being so great, that it contains along the coast above three thousand leagues, as may easily be seen by the cards and globes of the world, if so be their graduation be true.

Fernando Pinto, pg. 61-62

A close reading of the text shows that Tim is wrong. When did the Portugese ever have a claim in the Philippines? Never. The Portuguese never conquered the Philippines. The Spanish did, arriving in 1565 in Cebu. This cannot be a reference to the Philippines. The other citations from this book are of no consequence because they describe ships and give no geographic data. However Tim's claim that Pinto visited the Philippines and placed it at a a specific latitude and longitude warrants further analysis. His source for this is J.G. Cheock's book Phoenicians in the Lands of Gold.

Explorer and writer Ferdinand Mendes Pinto who travelled in service to the Portugese crown and in association with the Jesuit Missionaries, recounted in his journal, how he had been shipwrecked on the island of Lequois while passing through the Malay Archipelago. He described the Lequios as a land belonging to a large group of islands that had abundant resources of gold and silver. In his journal he had the audacity to give details on Lequois, putting it in the latitude of 9N20 on a meridian similar to that of Japan. Given these directions, Lequois would be at the very heart of the Philippines. The story of his shipwreck on Lequios was deemed so outrageous that it was omitted from his book when it was first published.

Phoenicians in the Lands of Gold, pg. 11

Of course this alleged omission gives Timothy Jay Schwab the chance to crow about conspiracy theories to snuff out any knowledge of the Philippines being the land of gold.

Shout out to local author in the Philippines. though we do not agree with Ms. Checok on a host of things such as China being Tarshish especially which has no Biblical root whatsoever, we appreciate her efforts. This book is worth reading for everyone. Notice, she goes on to frame this chapter was removed from Pinto's first printings. Why? Well, you can decide why anyone would wish to censor history in such a manner. We keep finding that as a theme as one would typically find with control paradigms. The same goes for many authors especially British on this topic who have muddied the waters for centuries with nonsense and they read the history and then ignore what it says just as many use the Bible unfortunately. However, when you remove the layer of smoke, the conclusion is not debatable but extremely obvious. 

Solomon's Treasure Sourcebook, pg. 160

Well, it turns out this section about Pinto's shipwreck on Lequois was not omitted from the first printing of this book. The original 1663 English translation can be viewed here. For brevity's sake I am going to summarize what happens in Pinto's account of being shipwrecked among the Lequois.

First of all the story follows the healing of the King of Bungo's son. The King of Bungo was a Japanese Feudal Lord who had converted to Catholicism. Pinto then sails to a port in China.

I besought the King of Bungo to give me leave to go back, which he readily granted me, and with much acknowledgement of the curing of his Son he willed a Funce to be made ready for me, furnished with all things necessary, wherein commanded a man of quality, that was attended by twenty of the Kings ser∣vants, with whom I departed one Saturday morning from the City of Fucheo, and the Friday following about Sun-set I arrived at Tanixumaa, where I found my two Comrades, who received me with much joy. Here we continued fifteen days longer, till such time as the Junck was quite ready, and then we set Sail for Liampoo, which is a Sea-port of the Kingdom of China, whereof I have spoken at large heretofore, and where at that time the Portugals tra∣ded. Having continued our voyage with a prosperous wind, it pleased God that we arrived safe at our desired Port, where it is not to be believed how much we were welcome by the Inhabitants of the place.

Pinto, pg. 179

Liampoo is also known as Ningbo and is translated as Ning-po by Rebecca Catz. Pinto leaves Ningbo, China, and is promptly overcome by a storm and shipwrecked. He was absolutely not going north through the Malay Archipelago as Cheock and Timothy Jay Schwab claim. He was headed east out of the Chinese port with the intern of going south.

Thus by the means of this unreasonable desire of gain nine Juncks, which were then in the Port, were in fifteen days ready to set Sail, though to say the truth they were all in such disorder, and so unprovided, that some amongst them had no other Pilots then the Masters themselves, who had but little understanding in Navigation. In this bad order they departed all in company together one Sunday morning, not withstanding that they had the wind, the season, the sea, and all things else contrary, not suffer∣ing themselves to be guided by reason, or the consideration of the dangers which they are subject unto that commit themselves to this Element; For they were so obstinate and so blinded as they would not represent any inconvenience to themselves, and I my self was so infortunate, that I went along with them in one of their Vessels. In this manner they sailed all that same day as it were groping between the Islands and the firm Land, but about midnight there arose in the dark so mighty a Storm, accompanied with such horrible rain, that suffering themselves to be carried at the mercy of the wind, they ran upon the Sands of Gotom, whereof the nine Juncks two only, as it were by miracle, were saved, so that the other seven were lost out of which not so much as one man escaped. This loss was thought to amount unto above three hundred thousand Crowns in commodities, besides the greater, which was of six hundred persons that left their lives there, whereof there were an hundred and forty Portugals, all rich men, and of quality. As for the other two Juncks in one of the which by good hap I was, joyning in comfort together, they followed the course they had begun, until such time as they arrived at the Island of the Lequios;

Pinto, pg. 179-180

He describes the land and says the people rode on horseback. Where is there any account of Filipinos being horsemen?

Now as soon as it was day we perceived by the sight of the Island of fire, and of the Mountain of Taydacano, that the Land where we were was the great Lequio....

...until at last we were espyed by a boy that was keeping of cattel, who as soon as he had dis∣covered us, ran to the next Village, which was some quarter of a league off, for to give notice of it to the inhabitants there; who presently thereupon with the sound of Drums and Cornets assembled all their Neighbours round about them, so that within three or four hours they were a Company of about two hundred men, whereof there were fourteen on horsback.

pg. 180

In her translation of this text Rebecca Catz has this note for Island of fire:

“Fire Island: Cortesão says that Fire Island appears for the first time on Lopo Homem’s map of 1554 and that it corresponds to Nakano-shima or Suwanose-shima, two islands with active volcanoes. The former is described in Webster’s Geographical Dictionary (1966) as a volcanic island 3,215 feet high, Tokara Island, in north Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Suwanose-Shima is not listed. See Cortesão, Suma Oriental, 128–29 n. 2.” 

Fernão Mendes Pinto. “The Travels of Mendes Pinto," Translated by Rebecca Catz, pg. 2,323 epub

Pinto and his companions are tied up and taken to the town of Pungor. They are next taken to a town called Gundexilau and left to rot in a dungeon full of water and leeches. The next day they are brought back to Pungor and given a trial before a judge. They are accused of being pirates but they insist they are merchants. They are not believed and are left to rot in prison for two months. The king then sends a spy pretending to be a merchant to visit Pinto and his men to ask them how they ended up in Lequios. They repeat the same story and the spy reports back to the king. However, a Chinese pirate arrives and testifies against Pinto and his men that they are indeed pirates who pose as merchants in order to conquer a country. The king believes the pirate and sentences Pinto and his men to death. 

By providence the man set to deliver this decree and make sure it was carried out lodged with his sister who was a widow. Staying with her was the wife and children of one of the prisoners. When she heard the decree she fainted and then scratched her face so hard that it bled. News of this got around to the women who wrote a letter to the Queen demanding that as an act of charity the foreigners be released. Through a further series of events including a prophetic dream Pinto and his men are released. Following that story is a description of Lequios for the express purpose of inspiring the Portuguese to conquer the island. 

In this manner we departed from Pungor the capital City of the Island of Lequios, of which I will here make a brief relation, to the end that if it shall one day please God to inspire the Portugal Nation, principally for the exaltation and increase of the Catholick faith, and next for the great benefit that may redound thereof, to undertake the Conquest of this Island, they may know where first to begin, as also the commodities of it, and the easiness of this Conquest. We must understand then that this Island of Lequios, scituated in nine and twenty degrees, is two hundred leagues in circuit, threescore in length, and thirty in bredth.

Pinto, pg. 188

The latitude of Lequios is 29 degrees, not 9 degrees. That places it well north of the Philippines. J.G. Cheock and Timothy Jay Schwab get this completely wrong. 9N and 20E does not mark the Philippines. It marks a place off the West coast of Africa. The Philippines is at 124 longitude. This error appears to trace back to Abraham Tabilog's 2004 work Pilipinas Ay Nasa Biblia 2004. Searching on Google for "Furthermore, Pinto even goes as far as to give the exact latitude of the main Lequios island. He states that is was situated at 9N20" reveals it has spread without being checked for its accuracy. Tim also did not bother to verify this statement and now this lie is in a book touted as being a monumental and undisputable case that the Philippines is Ophir among other things.

Let's move on to Tome Pires. In his book Suma Oriental he mentions both the Lequios and the Lucoes. That alone should tell us that these groups are not the same. 

The Lequeos are called Guores-they are known by either of these names. Lequios is the chief one. The king is a heathen and all the people too. He is a tributary vassal of the king of the Chinese. His island is large and has many people; they have small ships of their own type; they have three or four junks which are continuously buying in China, and they have no more. They trade in China and Malacca, and sometimes in company with the Chinese, sometimes on their own. In China they trade in the port of Foqem which is in the land of China near Canton—a day and a night's sail away. The Malays say to the people of Malacca that there is no difference between Portuguese and Llequjos, except that the Portuguese buy women, which the Lequos do not. 

The Lequjos have only wheat in their country, and rice and wines after their fashion, meat, and fish in great abundance. They are great draftsmen and armourers. They make gilt coffers, very rich and well-made fans, swords, many arms of all kinds after their fashion. Just as we in our kingdoms speak of Milan, so do the Chinese and all the other races speak of the Lequjos. They are very truthful men. They do not buy slaves, nor would they sell one of their own men for the whole world, and they would die over this. 

The Lequjos are idolators; if they are sailing and find themselves in danger, they say that if they escape they buy a beautiful maiden to be sacrificed and behead her on the prow of the junk, and other things like these. They are white men, well dressed, better than the Chinese, more dignified. They sail to China and take the merchandise that goes from Malacca to China, and go to Japan, which is an island seven or eight days' sail distant, and take the gold and copper in the said island in exchange for their merchandise. The Legion are men who sell their merchandise freely for credit, and if they are lied to when they collect payment, they collect it sword in hand.

The chief is gold, copper, and arms of all kinds, coffers, boxes (caxonjas) with gold leaf veneer, fans, wheat, and their things are well made. They bring a great deal of gold. They are truthful men—more so than the Chinese—and feared. They bring a great store of paper and silk in colours; they bring musk, porce-lain, damask; they bring onions and many vegetables. They take the same merchandise as the Chinese take. They leave here in [blank], and one, two or three junks come to Malacca every year, and they take a great deal of Bengal clothing. 

Among the Lequjos Malacca wine is greatly esteemed. They load large quantities of one kind which is like brandy, with which the Malays make themselves [so drunk as to run] amuck. The Lequjos bring swords worth thirty cruzados each, and many of these. 

Pires, pg, 128-131

That is everything Pires has to say about the Lequios. Was Luzon ever a tributary of China? Was there one king of the Ilocanos? Of course not. Here is what Pires has to say about the Lucoes.

The Lucoes are about ten days' sail beyond Borneo. They are nearly all heathen; they have no king, but they are ruled by groups of elders. They are a robust people, little thought of in Malacca. They have two or three junks, at the most. They take the merchandise to Borneo and from there they come to Malacca.

The Borneans go to the lands of the Lucoes to buy gold, and foodstuffs as well, and the gold which they bring to Malacca is from the Lucoes and from the surrounding islands which are countless; and they all have more or less trade with one another. And the gold of these islands where they trade is of a low quality —indeed very low quality. 

The Lucoes have in their country plenty of foodstuffs, and wax and honey; and they take the same merchandise from here as the Borneans take. They are almost one people; and in Malacca there is no division between them. They never used to be in Malacca as they are now; but the Tamaqua whom the Governor of India appointed here was already beginning to gather many of them together, and they were already building many houses and shops. They are a useful people; they are hard-working. 

Of this family there are now the sons of the Tumunguo and his wife in Malacca, as well as his mother-in-law, and Curia Raja and Tuam Brajy who married the Tumunguo's wife. In Minjam there must be five hundred Lucoes, some of them important men and good merchants, who want to come to Malacca, and the people of Mjjm will not grant them permission, because now they have gone over to the side of the former king of Malacca, not very openly. The people of Mjmjam are Malays.

Pires, pg. 133-134

The Lucoes do not have a king while the Lequios do. They also have gold of a very low quality. The also only have two or three junks. How much more clearer could it be that Pires differentiates these peoples? They are not the same. By a forced etymology Tim insists they are the same.

Some attempt an etymology of the Liu Kiu in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan yet Lequios are not Japanese, these are not Southeast of China and never found there but in the Philippines which boasts a much more direct etymology and several. It is no surprise that the Lequios, Lequii or Lucoes equate to Iloconos of Ilocos. However, this term leads us to more aspects we would like to explore a bit.

Collecion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas, Document #98 mentions the Lequios were “big, bearded, and white men.” They traded “gold and silver.” 

This appears to throw a wrench into this entire narrative in history perhaps. How could Filipinos be big, bearded, white men? That is not a description of the Japanese either. This is an ancient residual reference to Solomon’s navy of which the Spanish have all but wiped so much history that would likely confirm this even further. However, we have enough to prove this thoroughly and that will suffice.

Solomon's Treasure, pg. 163

He offers no linguistic analysis to show that Lequios = Lucoes = Iloconos. It springs from his head fully formed and he expects us to believe it with no proof. And what about the "big, bearded, and white men?" Such a description is never given in the document to which Tim is referring. Here is a translation of that section which is at the end of the document. 

In front of this said China and its lands are many islands to the sea and beyond these islands is a very large land that They say that it is terra firme, other islands where three or four junks of white people, who are very large and very rich, came to Malac every year. They bring a lot of gold in rods and silver and silk and a lot of very good wheat and very beautiful porcelain and other merchandise and they carry a lot of pepper and all the other things that the Chinese sayings carry to those who are called lequios, those from Malac say that they are better people than older merchants and richer and more dressed and honored than the Chinese whose people until now We have no news because they never came to Malac after the Portuguese went there.

Collecion Documento 98 pg. 137-138

Not a word about beards. The Spanish word barba does not show up in the text. Why is that? According to Chinese sources it's because the Lequios plucked out their beards. They also are described as having deep eyes and long noses. Filipinos do not have long noses. They are also said to observe no hierarchy which is unlike Philippine society which is ruled by elders.

"The country of Liuqiu is situated amidst islands in the sea, in a location that should be east of Jian'an County, to which one may arrive with five days' travel by water. The land has many caves. Its king's clan name is Huansi, and his given name is Keladou; it is not known how many generations have passed since he and his have come to possess the country. The people of that land call him Kelaoyang, and for his wife, [they] say Duobatu. His place of residence they call Boluotan Grotto, with threefold moats and fences; the perimeter has flowing water, trees and briars as barriers. As for the domicile of the king, it is sixteen rooms large, and engraved with carvings of birds and beasts. There are many Doulou trees, which resemble the orange but with foliage that is dense. The country has four or five chiefs, who unite several villages under their rule; the villages have [their own] little kings."

"The people have deep eyes and long noses, seeming to be rather akin to the Hu, and also having petty cleverness. There is no observance of hierarchy of ruler and minister nor the rite of prostrating oneself with one's palms pressed together. Fathers and children sleep together in the same bed. The men pluck out their whiskers and beards, and any place on their bodies where they happen to have hair, they will also remove it. The adult women use ink to tattoo their hands in the design of insects and serpents. As for marriage, they use wine, delicacies, pearls and shells to arrange a betrothal; if a man and a woman have found pleasure in each other, then they get married."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liuqiu_(medieval)

This designation of the country of Liuqiu is where the word Lequios originates. It is a place amidst islands to the east of China. That would be the Ryukyu Islands. It should be noted that they do not consider themselves to be Japanese. Therefore Tim's contention that the Ryukyu Islands cannot be Lequois because Lequois is not Japan is false.

Their usual ethnic name derives from the Chinese name for the islands, "Liuqiu" (also spelled as Loo Choo, Lew Chew, Luchu, and more),which in the Japanese language is pronounced "Ryuukyuu". In the Okinawan language, its pronounced "Ruuchuu". These terms are rarely used, and are politicized markers of a distinct culture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_people

Once more, Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture is wrong. He is wrong etymologically, geographically, and historically. The Lequois and the Lucoes are not the same peoples. We see he has done a poor amount of research even sinking so low as to copy/paste from J.G. Cheock without verifying what she wrote. Pinto's work was not censored when it was first published but did include a description of Lequios and a location at Latitude 29. Pinto was also not sailing north through the Malay Archipelago when he shipwrecked on Lequios. 

The laziness concerning the J.G. Cheock citation is exacerbated because Tim acknowledges that Cheock is making a reference to Rebbeca Catz's translation of Pinto. However though Cheock lists her as a reference she does not actually cite Catz. The reference is placed at the end of this sentence:

In his journal he had the audacity to give details on Lequois, putting it in the latitude of 9N20 on a meridian similar to that of Japan.

Thus making it appear as if Rebecca Catz's translation says anything about Pinto locating Lequois at the latitude of 9N20. As I have shown above that is patently false. It appears Cheock did not read Catz's translation. She does not even list a page number!

Catz's English translation from 1989 is not out of print and is easy to obtain. It contains the alleged missing section of Pinto's journal. While that section is missing in the English translation printed in 1897 it is not missing in the original 1663 edition. If Tim had read Catz's introduction to Pinto he would have learned very important facts about the history of the publication of this book. But Tim did not even bother to consult Catz's translation. That is unforgivably lazy and typical of his so-called research.

What are we to make of all this? Well, it's just par for the course for Timothy Jay Schwab. Along with two hours of preparation the night before it took me about four hours to type this up which includes finding and verifying all the proper sources. Tim wrote a whole book over a course of months based on years of research and he did not even bother to verify what Pinto actually wrote. He did not take the time to seek out a first edition of Pinto's work or the current English translation by Rebecca Catz. He did not bother to check the etymology of the word Ryukyu. He did not bother to compare the accounts of Lequois and Lucoes given by Pires. It's poor research on display. It is also another part of his unassailable case demolished and shown to be utter rubbish.