That is very doubtful, and thousands of ships? Mind you, the “historical account” never mentions getting to America, it mentions
Yes, O Sultan, we traveled for a long time until there appeared in the open sea [as it were] a river with a powerful current. Mine was the last of those ships.
Which was- if this occurred at all- the Canary Current.
Mind you- ships getting lost and ending up in America certainly could happen. But with the exception of the Norse, no one ever came back and reported on the voyage until Columbus.
Similar: Vikings visited the interior of Minnesota (no, not the football team, but it is the inspiration for their name). The rural town of Alexandria, a few hours west of Minneapolis, is home to the Kensington Runestone, which was “found” by a farmer plowing a field in 1898. It has mysterious etchings claiming that Norsemen were in the area in the year 1362. There’s a city museum that features the stone, along with the various interpretations of it. And there’s a 28-foot statue “Big Ole” of a Viking in the town. But that whole story was fabricated by the farmer, and for years was promoted as validation of Nordic heritage.
Years ago, Skeptical Inquirer magazine had a very good description of the ruse (gawd, I miss that magazine).
Altho the “Runestone” is doubtful (mostly based upon location), the idea that the thing was fabricated by the farmer is mere conjecture.
One thing I do find that sways me into the “Maybe? probably not” side is that a later find in old document from Sweden is that a Bishop and the King ordered just such an expedition in like 1350 or so to sail to Greenland- and beyond- to find missing parishioners. Olof- the farmer in question- could not have known about that expedition. Odd coincidence, eh?
And various experts disagree on fake or real.
Mind you- Minnesota?!? If that thing was found in Maine or Newfoundland or something, it would be much more believable.
I rate this as “possible hoax”, but certainty is not here.
It’s annoying when a story or article about the wonders of the ancient world includes fanciful woodcuts or etching of some medieval artist who had no idea what they looked like. I’ve seen depictions of ships sailing between the Colossus of Rhode’s legs recently.
Recently I saw an AI video someone shared as real about Gary Sinese opening and owning a hospital where veterans can be treated for free. Gary Sinese has done a lot of charity work for veterans but he in no way owns a hospital. I’m not sure what is the purpose of making that video.
No one is forcing individuals to go but until we have team owners that don’t like Trump there won’t be outright refusals.
The Romans didn’t salt the earth at Carthage - waste of good farmland. Roman Africa - the province covering formerly Punic territory was the Roman empire’s best farmland - not an area rendered barren