When Hercules left the coast of Europe to
sail to the island of Erythea in the Atlantic, in the remote west, we
are told, in Greek mythology (Murray, p. 257), that he borrowed "the
cup" of Helios, in (with) which "he was accustomed to sail every night."
Here we seem to have a reference to the magnetic cup used in night
sailing; and this is another proof that the use of the magnetic needle
in sea-voyages was associated with the Atlantean gods.
ANCIENT COINS OF TYRE
Lucian tells us that a sea-shell often took the place of the cup, as a
vessel in which to hold the water where the needle floated, and hence
upon the ancient coins of Tyre we find a sea-shell represented.
Here, too, we have the Pillars of Hercules, supposed to have been placed
at the mouth of the Mediterranean, and the tree of life or knowledge,
with the serpent twined around it, which appears in Genesis; and in the
combination of the two pillars and the serpent we have, it is said, the
original source of our dollar mark [$].
COIN FROM CENTRAL AMERICA
Compare these Phoenician coins with the following representation of a
copper coin, two inches in diameter and three lines thick, found nearly
a century ago by Ordonez, at the city of Guatemala.
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