1705: Solomon Islands and Africa Aug 15, 2019

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It is commonly known Columbus thought the Caribbean to be India upon arrival but a less known false assumption was that the Spanish thought the Solomon Islands (officially just "Solomon Islands") to be the Biblical lands of Ophir, famous for its wealth. The riches were not there as people of other islands claimed, but the name stuck. This is not the first time a place has been thought to be Ophir, as has happened in South America, Asia, and Africa before, but this is most obvious with Africa as the name comes from the Romanized form of one Carthaginian tribe who lived in the wealthy area of what is now Tunisia, it is theorized that this is where Ophir really was. If this is true, it ultimately is believed to come from the native Phoenician for either 'dust' (afar) or more likely 'cave' (ifri).

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