James Churchward and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

A recent correspondence (edited):

Dear Jack,

It has been a while since I promised to write to you about what I found out in Sri Lanka.

Government Guest House

Government Guest House

I have eventually been there in October last year - traveling with my wife and a friend. I tried to find out a little bit more about the two tea estates - Hatherleigh and Oakhampton, which your great grandfather had once managed. I found only one remaining: Hatherleigh.

Hatherleigh Estate Sign

Old Office Building, Hatherleigh Estate

I had contacted Finlay's beforehand, who are now managing the estate. The district manager, Mr. Dhayan, connected me with the estate manager, Mr. Upendra, who was very generous and took a whole day off to show us around and explain as much as he himself knew about the history. Hatherleigh estate is in a not so frequently visited area but lies in an enchanting setting. There is a long waterfall coming down in the middle of the estate. Most of the land is mixed culture - quite special. So, tea bushes are not growing in a near mono-culture as in the highlands but are mixed with small orchards and even jungle. The estate directly borders Sinaraja Rainforest, which is a National Park today - but also not so frequently visited due to its enormous population of leeches. We found some of them while walking on the estate, or rather they spotted us.

Waterfall, Hatherleigh Estate	Waterfall, Hatherleigh Estate
Visitors/Guest Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate	Interior, Visitors/Guest Bungalow Hatherleigh Estate

As expected, there are not too many really old buildings left on the estate. The manager bungalow is probably from the late 19th century and so are some of the other buildings except the factory, which has burnt down in the 1960ies and was rebuilt on a different site. Some of them could have been there in this or another form at James' times. From a 1912 map it seems that the locations of the main buildings have not changed though - being the manager bungalow, the nearby office building, another management bungalow and the charming guest bungalow with its direct view on the majestic waterfall.

Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate	Interior, Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate
Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate	Interior, Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate

The estate's boundaries are still the same as when Churchward had been there. The manager told us that this is the case with many estates in Sri Lanka. Even the names remained largely unaltered.

I was not able to find out more about the second estate, which I presume was not far away and maybe neighboring. I only asked a handful of people though and since I could not take too much time due to my friend's need for 'real holiday', we didn't make it to Ratnapura where they have a local museum. The latter should be a good option for the next time, as well as the new planters' club there. An old planters' club was in Rakwana but is now defunct. There is a photo of it though.

Planter's Club, Rakwana	Planter's Club, Rakwana
Brass Bowl, Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate	Brass Bowl, Interior, Management Bungalow, Hatherleigh Estate
The inscription on bowl reads: "Statio bene fida carinis" translated as 'A safe place (harbor) for trustworthy ships' and is the motto of the city of Cork.

Then there is the tea-museum in Kandy which might hold some additional info too.

Rakwana is a very small town in almost walking distance. Hatherleigh is de facto Rakwana and Rakwana is there because of the estate.

Regarding the other estate, Oakhampton: The manager of Hatherleigh told me that today's area where tea is actually planted is much smaller than it was in the 19th century. Apparently they had cut down not on the size of the estate, but on the size of planted areas. As always he complained about the economical situation of the tea industry and that they are not easily able to find workers anymore without giving them additional incentives, etc. I somehow believed him - since obviously the tea exchange in Colombo makes big cuts and the producers are left a bit between them and the labor market. Though Ceylon today is the world's biggest tea producer, it seems to be not highly profitable for the estates themselves. We even 'accidentally' participated in an opening ceremony for a small worker's rest house.

Collecting Tea, Hatherleigh Estate	Old bridge, Hatherleigh Estate
New Factory, Hatherleigh Estate	Visitors/Guest Bungalow Hatherleigh Estate

Just some additional figures: The estate employs around 300 workers all together plus 60 at the factory. They are producing 16 sorts of (black) tea with different rollings, tips and whole leaves, like Orange Pekoe, etc. Of course we drank some and I found it very good. It's rare to get tea that is not blended and really comes from one place only.
On top of guiding us around Mr. Upendra, the estate manager, gave us each a package of F.B.O.P tea and if you or anybody in your family drinks black tea, I would really like to send you one of these packages. Just let me know!

I know agree that the "temple" with the Nacaal tablets has to be in South India and not Ceylon (which back then was counted under "India"). There seems to be no major temple anywhere near Rakwana, almost certainly not a very old one. Though I suspected that earlier, I find it always rewarding to start looking from the fringes towards the center.

However, Hatherleigh Estate lies in an area that is considered as the heartland of the Veddhas, the most ancient tribes that are left over from Lanka's original population. They are somehow similar to Indonesian or Australian Aborigines. Also I found that the area around Hatherleigh was one of the certainly more 'mystical' places from the sites we have seen during our 2-week traveling. Deep gorges, dense jungle and steep hills mingling with fog.

On the road from Rakwana to Surya Kanda

On the road from Rakwana to Surya Kanda

Rediscovery of the Naacal Tablets March 2011 Update

I recently spoke with Thomas Ritter concerning the rediscovery of the Naacal Tablets




Here are the images:

Gopuram (Gate Tower) of the Sri Ekambaranatha Temple in Kanchipuram

and here another picture of the Gate Tower of the Shree Ekambaranatha Temple at Kanchipuram

I made a map from the subterranean tunnel system in which the library is stored away

view of the temple

In the subterranean system there are 10 chambers. In 9 chambers they stored the tablets. In the first 3 chambers the tablets are made fom solid black stone. In the next 3 chambers the tablets are made from gold. In tha last 3 chambers the tablets made from solid silver and brass and an mix of metals wat they callad pachalogha - the so called five holy metals. The 10th chamber is like an small temple with an black Shiva lingam and the statues of the seven holy rishis. In the 9 chambers you find some inscriptions at the walls - they describe the rishis puranas, what means, the live and the deeds of the rishis. I made some pictures from these inscriptions.

second inscription

third inscription

fourth inscription

At chamber no. 1 and chamber no. 4 the priest, who guided me down there to to library, allowed me to take some pictures of the tablets. As attachment of this mail you see one tablet from chamber no. 1

At chamber no. 4 the priest only allowed me to take pictures from 2 tablets, not from all this books there. The 2 tablets he showed me, are a ittle bit damaged. But you can see clearly the inscriptions.

The second tablet from chamber no. 4

Athe end of my visit at this subterranean library the priest, who guided me (his name is Pachayappa), presented a small gift to me. This very small tablet is made from brass, in my opinion. I am not very sure, if it was part of the tablets down there at the library of MU or it was made later. But Pachayappa told me, that the inscriptions at these small tablet are some kind of key to the understanding of the inscriptions of the other tablets. This small item is still with me and I am trying to breach its code. But surely I will need a little help. Closeup

Another Mystery Solved - Princess Arawali Uncovered

Well, not any more uncovered than she already appears in the 1926 Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men by James Churchward as shown below.

from page 47 of Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men

Here is the text concerning Princess Arawali:

Page 46:

The accompanying picture is one from a brown race, Arawali, a native of Arorai Island of the Gilbert group, which lies about 4,000 miles southwest of Hawaii.

The picture shows a young lady with an extremely well shaped and well developed head, of pleasing countenance and gentle expression. It has been said of her that "she is a very gentle, lovable woman, but quick-tempered and slightly jealous, but very dignified notwithstanding her wretched surroundings. She is the daughter of the King of Arorai Island."

Arawali's head and face belong to the representative of a high type of civilization, although her dress is that of a savage. Poor Arawali! She is one of a tribe of cannibals, but, strangely enough, she herself has never tasted "long-pig," the euphemistic name applied to human flesh by the natives. In her hand she carries a fan, the ornamentation of which is the royal escutcheon of Mu?the Empire of the Sun.

No ancient record has ever been found that mentions savagery as existing on any spot of the earth's surface prior to the destruction of Mu. Then why did such magnificent specimens of man as the forefathers of the South Sea Islanders become degraded cannibals? Our story of the great calamity that overtook the first race of man answers this question.

from page 49 of Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men

---

Thanks to the help of historian Yannis Deliyannis, creator and maintainer of the Chronicon Mirabilium blog, he has found an article in the March 26, 1911 edition of the American Weekly magazine section of the San Antonio Light entitled "My Home Life as a Cannibal Island King" and passed it along.

Some excerpts from the 03-26-1911 San Antonio Light (American Weekly Section)

"My Home Life as a Cannibal Island King"

Ex Wall Street Stock Broker, Now a King, Tells How It Feels to Have Numberless Adoring Wives and Rule Over a Race of Hearty Eaters

Arawali from the March 19, 1911 American Weekly Section of the San Antonio Light

The article begins:

"Archibald C. Everett, a former Wall Street stock broker, man about town, Beau Brummel and boulevardier of two continents, has become king of Aroral in the South Sea Islands...

"At last he came to Aroral, in the Gilbert Islands. It is in the midst of of the stupendous maze of islands scattered throughout the Southern Pacific. It is 1,500 miles from Samoa, the neaest place where there are extensive evidences of western civilization.

Mr. Everett fascinated old King Rovaka of Aroral. His handsome appearance, his smart clothes, his easy , genial manner, cultivated in Wall Street and the Gay White Way, captivated the venerable monarch. He begged Mr. Everett to consider everything on his island his, gave him his favorite and handsomest daughter in marriage and named him heir to the throne...

"Home, Sweet Home"
By Archibald C. Everett

Domestic life here is entirely free from the worries that accompany it in the United States and most European countries.

Here I find that a girl not only considers it an honor to marry me, but it costs me nothing and contributes to my support as far as it lies in her modest power.

During the six years I have been king of this island I have never refused to marry a girl, old or young, rich or poor. This, I believe, is the chief secret of my hold on my warm-hearted people.

At least once in each month I take a fresh bride, but I have no rule against admitting larger numbers to my household. Sometimes it happens that I receive as many as a dozen at a time. Families are large and rapidly growing in these islands. Whenever a father has a marriageable daughter he does not know what to do with, he presents her to me as a mark of his loyalty. It is an ancient custom, and I cannot but respect it.

The ceremony is always an occasion for a joyful gathering of the people of this and neighboring islands. Then they display their picturesque native customs. Wreathed in in hibiscus flowers and smiles, men, women and children dance and sing and pledge my health in cocoanut wine for three whole days and nights.

You must not suppose that the frequent acquisition and exchange of wives is destructive of permanent domestic affection. My darling Arawali, the only daughter of the late King Rovaka, has always remained my permanent and most beloved wife. She was the old king's favorite daughter, and when I married her he named me his successor on the throne.

She presides over my household with perfect grace and modesty, never doing anything to disturb my peace and comfort, or that of my newer wives.

My wives are recruited from daughters of neighboring kings and leading chiefs of this island, and even from daughters of poor fishermen, why by their pleasing manners and appearance, may gain a place in my household. They are happy, simple, unaffected little creatures, whose only object in life is to minister to my pleasure and win my approval...

---

Observations

• Most certainly the Arawali mentioned in the American Weekly magazine article from March 1911 is the same as mentioned in the 1926 'Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men.'

  
  

• There are, however, some differences in the description of Princess Arawali between the accounts.
  James Churchward describes her as

  "she is a very gentle, lovable woman, but quick-tempered and slightly jealous, but very dignified notwithstanding her wretched surroundings. She is the daughter of the King of Arorai Island"

  
  Mr. Everett describes her as having

  "perfect grace and modesty and never doing anything to disturb his peace or comfort."





• Another point brought up in the American Weekly article is:
  
  

  "As I never question the right of my people to observe their ancient customs, so they never expect me to share in those that are repugnant to me."

  
  This is as close to mentioning cannibalism/savagery that the article comes, except for the title of the article "My Home Life as a Cannibal Island King."





• Everett proclaims in the American Weekly article that he had been King for six years. According to an article in the New York Times dated February 16, 1911, it mentions that he was elected King "two years ago" or 1909.





• Sadly, on July 14th, 1913 the New York Times delivered a message under the title, "ONLY YANKEE KING IS READY TO QUIT" from Archibald Everett, King of Arorai Island to say that he was no longer happy.
  The most obvious aspect of this revelation is that the American Weekly article may have taken liberties and perhaps stretched the truth a little. Perhaps when writing his account, Archibald felt that his then-current station in life was required to be embellished so as to remove the implied stain of his past financial failures.




• Obviously, James Churchward was reading and consulting the American Weekly section of his local newspaper as early as 1911 or fifteen years before the 1926 publication of "The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men". This is not to say that James read the article in a Texas newspaper, the American Weekly was distributed every Sunday in newspapers owned by the William R. Hearst Corp. James probably read his copy from the New York American.

---

I also have no information about Mr. Everett's life after July 1913, whether he ever visited his friends, brought his Princess bride to the United States, or what happened.

If any readers know what became of Archibald C. Everett or Princess Arawali, please pass it along and we'll complete the record.

Have a great day,

Jack Churchward

Clearwater, Florida

Update on the Rediscovery of the Naacal Tablets (Jan. 2011)

Greetings,

I spoke with Klaus Dona recently via Skype and he pointed out an article, in German, under the title, "Die goldene Tempelbibliothek von Mu (The Golden Temple Library of Mu )."
In the online Google translation of the article into English, it appears that Thomas Ritter has found the Temple Library that James Churchward wrote about in the Lost Continent of Mu. The article further states that the priests still like to talk about James.

Mr. Dona also mentioned that Mr. Ritter would be returning soon and would pass along my contact information. I hope to have an interview with Mr. Ritter and/or obtain a statement about his discoveries soon thereafter. If these artifacts turn out to be the real Naacal tablets that James wrote about, then his theories will finally be acceptable to mainstream archaeologists, but it has to be asked, who will translate them if the Rishis are gone?

Have a great day,
Jack Churchward

The Great Uighur Empire According to James Churchward

A brief image flashed in a previous podcast episode to announce planning for a conference to be held on the subject of the Great Uighur Empire. This (late) blog entry is another opportunity for interested parties to get involved in the planning and preparation. So far there have been very few emails at gueconf@my-mu.com for prospective participants to announce their intentions to join in.

Tentatively scheduled to be held in May 2011 in Florida in the Tampa Bay area, the purpose of the conference is to assemble experts and information to discuss James Churchward's Great Uighur Empire.

We welcome all participants, professional and laymen, to impart their wisdom, understanding, and documented research on any facet of James Churchward's Great Uighur Empire. Most preferred would be any evidence that substantiates or provides independent corroboration of James' theories on the Great Uighur Empire.

This is a public appeal for participation - we have attempted to contact individuals identified as researchers into the Great Uighur Empire, however with very little success. If you would like to participate, either as a presenter, as an observer, or you know someone who should be contacted, please send us an email at gueconf@my-mu.com.

Have a great day,
Jack Churchward
Clearwater, Florida

Update on Naacal Tablets Discovery (2)

Testing for the validity of the rediscovered Naacal Tablets

An important topic for discussion - what tests should be performed on the newly rediscovered Naacal Tablets when they appear?
I am looking for input on the subject.
Publishing a complete list prior to the Naacal tablets being produced might be counter-productive. Some might say that the test criteria was released in advance so that the discovery could fulfil the requirements, however a list of suggestions of what might be on the list would be beneficial to get the thinking 'out of the box.'
A list has been started and will be posted (with any suggestions) when the find has been announced and the Naacal Tablets produced.

Also, a list of 'hard questions to be asked' is also needed.
For instance, if the civilization in Mu was so advanced that the records speak of flying around in man-made machines, why were the sacred writing of Mu written on clay tablets instead of being etched on metal? Certainly the flying machines were made of metal...

"Testing for the validity of the rediscovered Naacal Tablets" is a discussion topic opened in the My-Mu.com Forum for this very purpose.

Dr. Jozsef Cserep Information Received

Some new information has been received from a Hungarian researcher about Dr. Cserep.

Please visit the webpage at http://www.my-mu.com/Cserep/index.html

Two letters from Dr. Cserep to James Churchward are available in the My-Mu.com bookstore. They are entitled, "America as the Prehistoric Cradle of the Caucasian Race" and "Ancient Medes as Ancestors of the Magyars of Europe."

PopSci and James Churchward

Popular Science magazine (March 1928) had an article entitled "Swastika May Trace Races to Lost Pacific Continent" that quoted James' theory on the lost Pacific Ocean continent that he called, "Mu".


The text reads as follows:

Popular Science March 1928
"Swastika May Trace Races to Lost Pacific Continent"
Many thousands of years ago there stood in the Pacific Ocean a continent where thrived a remarkable civilization. In a tremendous earth upheaval the continent vanished, swallowed by the waters. But before the catastrophe, adventurers from that lost land drifted to other continents and left their marks.
Such is the fascinating theory advanced by Col. James Churchward, of India, to explain the origin of mysterious symbols found carved and painted on rocks.
Most famous of the symbols is the swastika cross found on rocks in America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. In North America the rock writings, or petroglyphs, have been generally attributed to comparatively recent tribes of Indians. Colonel Churchward, however, contends that many of them are very ancient, and that their original source was the lost continent. With the aid of key symbols discovered in India, he claims ability to translate some of the mysterious writings.
Interest in tracing the family tree of modern man has been heightened by the recent statement of Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, noted anthropologist, that the low-browed grisly Neanderthal man, who lived 40,000 years ago, may have been our direct ancestor, instead of a distant cousin of a different species. The belief has been that this prehistoric race was exterminated by the later Cro-Magnon men and left no descendants, however Dr. Hrdlicka finds new evidence that he formed a definite link in the long chain of human evolution.

The article is in the Google archives at http://books.google.com/books?id=ZScDAAAAMBAJ

Polat Kaya - One Example Too Many

Polat Kaya was one of the writers that was recommended when I started investigating the Great Uighur Empire and his name was mentioned in Podcast #10 entitled, "August 2008 Update on the Great Uighur Empire".


I had subscribed to his mailing list and have been reading his occasional papers on the subject. Rather than be accused of putting words in Mr. Kaya's mouth or misrepresenting his theories, I quote the conclusions from one of his papers below, and I direct the reader to the following link that is described as 'Polat Kaya's Library'

The following is listed as the conclusion in an email submittal with the subject title, "About the word "EXAMINE" and some other related words."

Conclusion

What clearly comes out from this examination is the fact that:


In the past, when "European linguists" wanted to come up with a word for a concept, they started by describing the concept using a Turkish word or expression. Once the definition is complete and satisfactory, the resulting Turkish word or phrase is anagrammatized in various ways so that each version can be fitted into anyone of the so-called "European" languages in accordance with pre-selected forms. This process most likely was the same for manufacturing words for the so-called "Semitic" languages. The resulting concoction is presented as being a word of an "old" Indo-European or Semitic source, of course with no mention of the Turkish source. No one would know what went on or how that word was invented as the process has never been revealed before as as they are revealed in these pages now. Thus all linguists, and of course also the public at large, are kept in the dark and very "happy" indeed! The provided etymologies appear tidy and convincing but in fact are falsehoods embellished with sophistry. In one way, the process has been very cleverly executed by the word-manufacturers for the "European and Semitic" languages. On the other hand, it is nothing less than "stealing", that is, from one mother/father language (i.e., Turkish) and "robbery" of the civilization expressed in that language. In this secret stealing process, they assign the linguistic material usurped from Turkish to other groups who have been presenting themselves to the world as "civilized" and "all knowing" while portraying the ancient Turkic world as "primitive" and "barbar". This is a sneaky way of "switching the tables!"

My only interpretation is that Mr. Kaya believes that Turkish people are the original advanced civilization from which all other cultures copied, and that the evidence is in the scrambled words in other languages that have been stolen from the Turkish. Never mind that the spelling of words (in any language) change over time or that the derivation of some words can be traced to other sources, there is no refuting the words or theories of Polat Kaya in his mind. I laud Mr. Kaya's adherence to his beliefs but with all due respect - the random application of the anagramation of words with such a small sample size does not provide conclusive proof of what essentially appears to be a racist viewpoint.

Were Mr. Kaya able to show that a significant number of words in a significant number of languages could be derived in this manner from ancient Turkish from spellings that were originally used when the word was 'stolen' - then maybe he has a point. Until such evidence is produced however, I am unable to regard the anagramation of stolen Turkish words to be credible.

Until the posting in April 2010 dealing with the word 'knucklehead' - Mr. Kaya had provided examples that added to his evidence.

With the analysis of the word, 'knucklehead' Polat Kaya demonstrates that any word can be scrambled and made to resemble an ancient Turkish word according to the 'Word Detective'. According to the cited document, the word was created in WW2 and I don't think it likely that some GIs thought to steal a word from Turkish after a hard day fighting for their lives. Pardon the pun, but 'knucklehead' was just one example too many.

I sent an email to the original posting and Mr. Kaya replied. Subsequently I sent an email to Mr. Kaya and the moderated mailing list to redirect the question to the issue of the age of the word 'knucklehead.' His reply was more-or-less the same as the previous reply and contained the following:

Polat Kaya: I have written about words that are more than 2000 years old and still shown that they were manufactured from Turkish. The "70 years" you keep talking about has no bearing on the anagrammatization process. So this argument of yours is faulty. I can see that you have a problem in accepting what I am demonstrating - but that is your problem - definitely not mine!

On the other hand, for the person(s) doing the anagrammatizing, it is a totally different story. Someone can take an ancient (or recent) word or phrase, restructure the text as he pleases, come up with a word in a new format - and assign it a meaning that comes from the phrase it was fabricated from - and claim it as his own. The thief knows that if he steals a word or an expression
in this manner from Turkish, no one will notice this "theft" or even know the difference - because what is stolen is not a physical object. Therefore nothing appears to be "missing". Words are not like a jacket or a car. If my jacket or car is stolen, I will sense it because something physical that I use daily is missing! It is not like that with words and phrases. No one can sense that behind closed doors, someone is manipulating Turkish words to fabricate new words for English - or other languages. It is because of this invulnerability that the anagrammatizer does the "theft" and gets away with it. This is the motivation why he does what he does best. Even the "car" thief would change at least the color of the stolen car in order to make it unrecognizable. Anagrammatizing a word or phrase is like repainting the stolen car but it is very difficult for 'linguists' to recognize this alteration and make a linguistic connection between the fabricated word and its source text. That is the very reason that 'anagramatizing' is the perfect linguistic stealing technique. Countles numbers of IE words have been manufactured on this basis from Turkish words and phrases - old and new.

As one follower of my writings, you know that I have also shown that many words from Greek, Latin, English and other so-called "Indo-European" (IE) languages have also been fabricated in this manner. So far, I have heard objections, but without any valid and rational explanation proving me wrong. I am afraid you are no exception. But, I am glad that you are raising your voice, but, I must also say that your rational is "no rational" as it lacks logic. I am afraid in the make up of languages and together with it in many other subjects the world people has been conned like children by few very secretive working organization, most likely by the religious ones throughout the history.

While I may have been reading Mr. Kaya's postings, I do not consider myself a follower of his writings.

I have also provided him the opportunity to examine this presentation before it is published. His reply is here.

I am still interested in collecting any information that corroborates James Churchward's writings on the Great Uighur Empire, however I have no reason to consult Polat Kaya's data.

Have a great day,
Jack Churchward
Clearwater, Florida

btw, with the chance that these postings about the word 'knucklehead' could be deleted, the following PDFs of the pages can be referenced:

Original Posting
My reply and Mr. Kaya's reply (my reply was not distributed to the list, but included as part of his response.)
My 2nd reply and Mr. Kaya's reply (my reply was not distributed to the list, but included as part of his response.)
Mr. Kaya's reply to this blog posting, prior to it being posted. Please note that the posting is/was unchanged from the original that Mr. Kaya viewed.

Update on the Naacal Tablets Discovery (1)

I received an email from Klaus Dona in Vienna that relates:

This morning I called my friend in Germany and he informed me that he leaves Germany next Wednesday for India again and he will give me some photos and a complete report about the Naacal plates after his return in a few weeks. As soon as I get the details, I shall send them to you directly.

Please visit the My-Mu.com forum topic on the Naacal tablets. I look forward to any new (or old) information that can provide further clues and assist in the verification of this discovery when the evidence becomes available in a few weeks.

Accusations Addressed

Recently, in response to the video announcement of the Rediscovery of the Naacal Tablets,

someone remarked:

There are a number of inconsistencies in James Churchward's story about his transcription and translation of the Nacaal tablets that shall have to be addressed in any attempt to validate his story. There is also no small problem that he was actually known to forge documents and produce wholly imaginary drawings of nonexistent archaeological finds.

and in response to a request for examples:

I can name you several instances. The most blatant favrication was his allegation that he had found and translated a document claiming that Moses was the child of Hatshepsut. No such document exists and the idea is most extremely unlikely to have been historically accurate. James Churchward illustrated artifacts supposedly discussed by "Paul Schleimann" and in particular an owl-headed vase and a bird-headed sphynx "From King Chronos of Atlantis". Paul Schlemann was not the person he claimed to be and Heinrich Schleimann never had a grandson named paul, as family documents attest. It had all been a hoax-but what is worse on Churchward's part is that he actually made up the illustrations for the non-existant artifacts. And among other things he created a fictiotious "Chaldean document of 5000 Bc discussing aircraft design" when there were no "Chaldean writings" at that time, nor yet any outside references to the presumed document.

I wish to address these points individually.
1. 'The most blatant fabrication' was not done by James Churchward in translating a tablet that says Moses was the child of Hatshepsut. In the modern day printing of 'The Books of the Golden Age', a volume from 1927 that was to remain unpublished, on page 195 is an illustration of this tablet, as shown below:


Books of the Golden Age page 195 (click for larger version)

Shown clearly at the bottom of this page is the following text: "The forgoing translation is not mine I cannot say whether it is right or wrong. I cannot read this label. JChurchward"


I know of no other public discussion or description of James translating this tablet. The drawing in the 'Books of the Golden Age' is certainly done by him, but was it originated by him, making the whole matter up to gain more publicity? The answer to this question might be better answered after viewing the following page from one of his scrapbooks:


Scrapbook 1 Page 12 (click for larger version)

This newspaper clipping obviously has the word 'Fake' and James initials written and pointing to the tablet and translation.
The article from the lower-left corner may not be easy to read, so a larger version is available here.
I hope I covered all the bases on this one. If there is other evidence that I have inadvertently neglected to include, please keep me honest and pass it along.

---

James Churchward did not fabricate illustrations from Paul Schleimann's 1912 article, "How I Found the Lost Atlantis, The Source of All Civilization". James had a copy of the article in his scrapbook (without the pictures) and he included illustrations of the objects on page 251 of the 1926 "Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man."


The original article has been scanned by the Sacred Text Archive and can be seen here. The page with the scans of the illustrations is located here.

Here are side-by-side comparisons of the drawings:

Owlhead Vase from page 251 of Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man	Owlhead Vase from Paul Schleimann's 1912 article, How I Found the Lost Atlantis, The Source of All Civilization
Bird-headed sphinx from page 251 of Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man	Bird-headed sphinx from Paul Schleimann's 1912 article, How I Found the Lost Atlantis, The Source of All Civilization

I hope that this clears up any confusion concerning the alleged fabrication of these illustrations.

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Lastly, the only Chaldean document that James mentioned (that I was aware of) is the so-called Lhasa Record mentioned in the article, "How I Found the Lost Atlantis, The Source of All Civilization." It most definitely does not discuss aircraft design, but is included as one of James' proofs:

When the star Bal fell on the place where is now only sea and sky the Seven Cities with their Golden Gates and Transparent Temples quivered and shook like the leaves of a tree in storm. And behold a flood of fire and smoke arose from the palaces. Agony and cries of the multitude filled the air. They sought refuge in their temples and citadels. And the wise Mu, the hieratic of Ra-Mu, arose and said to them: 'Did not I predict all this?' And the women and the men in their precious stones and shining garments lamented: 'Mu, save us.' And Mu replied: 'You shall die together with your slaves and your riches and from your ashes will arise new nations. If they forget they are superior, not because of what they put on, but of what they put out, the same lot will befall them!' Flame and smoke choked the words of Mu. The land and its inhabitants were torn to pieces and swallowed by the depths in a few months.

I did pass along the posting for comments and received the following:

The documents alleged to have been found in Mesopotamia are called to be the Sifr'ala and the Hakalatha, the latter said to be 7000 years old. The translator is said to be one Y. N. Iban A'haron. There is no record of either Iban A'haron or these wporks outside of Churchward and Cedric Leonard mentions the fact in his book Quest for Atlantis.

I have been unable to find reference to these documents in James' books - if someone else has different information, please send it along.

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These accusations that

"he was actually known to forge documents and produce wholly imaginary drawings of nonexistent archaeological finds"

are hollow in that the examples offered do not apply.
I stand ready to examine and discuss any other examples that may be put forward, but, using these examples, James is blameless.

Have a great day,
Jack Churchward

James Churchward's Western India Discovery?

A January 2010 article entitled, "Is This a Wall of Dwarka?", archaeologists have discovered a 14km long wall in the sea on the western coast of India near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra State.

Amazingly, James Churchward, in his 1932 book, "Children of Mu" (page 182) writes the following:

SUBMERGED LANDS WEST COAST OF INDIA - In the Indian Ocean, adjoining the West Coast of India, there exists a large area of submerged lands with structures showing thereon. Like the remains of the South Sea Islands, these structures are prehistoric. These submerged lands commence at about 21 degrees north latitude, or just below the mouth of the river Indus, and extend south to about the equator. These submerged lands are apparently of an elongated oval shape. The Lacadive and Maldive groups of low-lying islands are within the boundaries of this oval. Although I have several times passed quite close to them, I have never been on any of them, so cannot say whether they are parts of the sunken land still above water, or whether they are the subsequent work of coral insects.

Page 181 provides the following map:


The following maps indicate the location of Ratnagiri and it's relationship with the maps provided by James Churchward.

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As the article states:

Dr BS Chandrashekar, a remote sensing geologist who has also studied this wall using satellite imagery, said,
"This is a fascinating wall which extends under the sea. I have studied it through remote sensing and my
preliminary observation is that it could lead to a fort. But who constructed it or what was its purpose can be
known only after a detailed archaeological examination."

We'll be looking forward to the results of the examination.

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A close examination of the legend portion of James' map reveals that the E & W are swapped as shown below:

One wonders what this means, it it a deliberate act to encode secret, hidden data or just a mistake? We'll keep an eye out to see if other illustrations have similar 'mistakes' and if anyone has any ideas, please send them along.

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