alertingthepeopleofberkley

Alerting the people of Berkley Massachusetts,
for the jewel they have in their town and do not realize it!

By Manuel Luciano da Silva, Medical Doctor
President of “The Friends of Dighton Rock Museum”
Website www.dightonrock.com
E-mails: drdasilva@dightonrock.com drlucianodasilva@gmail.com

This article is especially prepared for the 6,000 persons living in Berkley, Massachusetts, to help them understand the inscriptions engraved on Dighton Rock which is located in their town.

For more than 300 years there has been much confusion about the inscriptions, but now the scientific diagnosis has been made!

It was on December 18, 1918 that Professor Edmund Burke Delabarre from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, announced to the world that he had found engraved on the face of Dighton Rock:

(1) the name of the Portuguese Navigator Miguel Corte Real;
(2) the Portuguese National Coat of Arms;
(3) the date of 1511 inscribed.

Professor Delabarre even bought a house in Berkley located on Grinnel Street (facing Assonet Bay), so he could more conveniently study Dighton Rock for more than 40 years.

Professor Delabarre founded the Psychology Department at Brown University in 1892. He became a very meticulous scientist.

Unfortunately, Delabarre, for some unknown reason, NEVER tried to explain to the people of Berkley the truth about his original historical discovery. I do not want to make the same mistake!

Dighton Rock was on left bank of Taunton River until 1963 when it was elevated 11 feet and placed on a cofferdam. It weighs 40 tons. The face of the inscriptions is 55 square feet.

Much confusion about the inscriptions

In 1928, Professor Delabarre published a book entitled “Dighton Rock” presenting 30 pages of bibliography and listing twenty-two “theories” for the Dighton Rock inscriptions. But in reality, as we soon shall see, of these so called theories, twenty one are mere hypotheses or truly fantasies!

Here is the list of the 21 so called “theories”:

(1) The Devil,

(2) Jesus Christ,

(3) Roman,

(4) Phoenicians,

(5) Egyptians,

(6) Jews 1000 B. C.

(7) Libyans,

(8) Persians,

(9) Carthaginians,

(10) Chinese,

(11)American Indians,

(12) Vikings,

(13) Scotch,

(14) Pirates,

(15) Verrazzano,

(16) Siberians,

(17) Japanese,

(18) Greeks,

(19 Welch,

(20) Scythians,

(21) Tyrians.

How naive to incriminate the Devil and Jesus Christ as the inscribers of Dighton Rock. I am surprised Delabarre dedicated six pages of his book to a discussion of the Christ and Devil theories. Wow!

Cotton Mather, the Protestant minister of Boston’s Old North Church, was a true believer in witchcraft, and became the first one to launch (1690) the Devil Hypothesis. He made a very poor copy of Danforth’s drawing done in 1680, but he NEVER saw Dighton Rock face to face! He called the rock, "The Writing Rock", as if it were a blackboard in a school house where everyone wrote on it.

When Cotton Mather got tired of the Devil, he decided to blame Christ for it! We should not give any historical value to these nonsensical writings!

The Dighton Rock Museum, located in the Dighton Rock State Park, in Berkley, MA, presents four panels depicting these four theories:

American Indian (17^th Century)

Phoenician (18^th Century)

Panel for the American Indian

We all know the Wampanoag Indians lived in New England for thousands of years. While we know that these Indians could draw pictures, they did NOT know how to write letters or numerals. So because of this they have to be excluded.

Panel for the Phoenician

The Phoenicians were people of antiquity who lived in the Middle East where Lebanon is today.

This hypothesis was proposed, in 1781, by Antone Court de Gebelin from Paris, France. He NEVER saw, face to face, the Dighton Rock inscriptions. He based his interpretations on Phoenician Mythology.

But he ADDED a PHALLUS, or PENIS, to the drawing of the inscriptions he had received from America! It is true that the Phoenician people were the first ones to use the term PHALLUS for penis, but we have to state firmly that there is NO penis engraved on the face of Dighton Rock! The symbol of Phoenicia has always been a PINE TREE, not a PENIS. Today the icon of Lebanon (which comprises the land of old Phoenicia) is a PINE TREE displayed on the center of its flag!

In CONCLUSION, the so called Phoenician Hypothesis is FALSE and it is bluntly FRAUDULENT! It should be ABANDONED ONCE AND FOR ALL!

The so called Viking Hypothesis was proposed, in 1837, by Carl Christian Rafn (archaeologist), from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he was more than three thousand miles away from Dighton Rock.

He NEVER saw, face to face, the Dighton Rock inscriptions. He based his interpretations on the Viking Sagas which state that a Viking navigator, called Thorfinn Karlsefin, came to Vinland, in North America, just after the year 1000.

To fit his PRECONCEIVED Viking Hypothesis, Rafn ADDED the letters FIN to the center of the copy of the inscriptions he had received from the Rhode Island Historical Society of Providence, (Rhode Island) so he could see the name KARLSEFIN based on the Viking Sagas.

What he did is BLUTANT FORGERY! It is INADMISSIBLE! It is MALPRACTICE! It is CRIMINAL!

In CONCLUSION the so called VIKING Hypothesis is FALSE and should be ABANDONED ONCE AND FOR ALL!

For us to understand the correct diagnosis of the Dighton Rock inscriptions, we have to review rather quickly, how the mystery of the Rosetta Stone, in Egypt, was deciphered in 1822 by Jean Francois Champollion of France, so that the entire world could comprehend five thousand years of Egyptian history!

The Rosetta Stone is a small piece of plain basalt, 11 inches thick, 3 feet and 9 inches high and 2 feet and 4.5 inches across. It was found, in 1799, by a French officer of Napoleon’s engineering corps, in the mud near the fishing village called Rosetta, on one of the branches of the Nile River Delta, in Egypt. Today it is displayed in the Main Entrance Hall of the British Museum in London, England.

(1) The top is hieroglyphic, VERY old Egyptian (close to the lady ‘holding’ the stone)

The inscriptions of Rosetta Stone celebrate a decree commemorating the crowning of Ptolemy V, King of Egypt from 203 to 181 Before Christ. The same message is written in three languages: (1) Hieroglyphic, the very old Egyptian language, and (2) Demotic (popular Egyptian), (3) Popular Greek.

Champollion translated the Greek portion first. Using this translation as a guide he next analyzed the Demotic Egyptian text. This enabled him to learn and understand the Egyptian hieroglyphic, the very old characters. He used the deductive method, without preconceived ideas, and although he reviewed all the results obtained by the previous scholars, he was able to think ANEW to make the differential diagnosis solving the mystery of thousands of years!

Champollion discovered that in the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, their letters or better their graphic symbols, were encased by a surrounding line on the shape of a Cartouche and he decided to call this historical group of icons: Historical Cartouches.

Champollion observed that the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra existed inside of spaces on the Rosetta Stone surrounding by a line framing each name. This way he was able to analyze and compare the various hieroglyphic icons and translate them into letters corresponding to the names Ptolemy and Cleopatra.

I recommend YOU compare the symbols of the letters inside each Historical Cartouches of both names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra so YOU will understand Champollion’s decipherment.

Now all this seems very simple to us. All the great original discoveries in history and archeology have been made by amateurs. They all seem so easy after their discoveries have been accomplished.

Unfortunately even today ALL the American Encyclopedias FAIL to give any information about the Portuguese National Symbols and do NOT inform the American People that five hundred years ago the Portuguese Navigators were the world champions of the discoveries because they were the only ones that possessed the unique type of ship called CARAVEL with three lateen sails (triangular) which could tackle against the wind.

They were also the first to discover the predominant water currents and winds of the great oceans. For us to better understand the Portuguese Navigators’ achievements, we should compare them with scientific achievements of our American Astronauts.

For us to be able to decipher the correct diagnosis of the Dighton Rock inscriptions, we have to be familiar with the Portuguese National Symbols as they existed five hundred years ago in Portugal. Then we will become Champollions to make the correct diagnosis on Dighton Rock….

Here is the Portuguese Cartouche we have to know. When we understand these symbols, it will be great fun reading the true diagnosis of the D. R. inscriptions.

Portuguese National Icons:
Portuguese Coat of Arms “V” shape in 1500	Portuguese Coat of Arms “V” shaped engraved on Dighton Rock
Portuguese Flag with a “U” shape	Portuguese Flag “U” shape
Window of the Tower of Belem, in Lisbon, National Monument of the Portuguese Discoveries	Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ with extremities in 445 degree angles, engraved on Dighton Rock
Portuguese Training Ship Sagres with the Cross of the Order of Christ on its sails with 45 degrees

If we go to Lisbon, Portugal, we can verify in the Portuguese National Archives (Torre do Tombo) the two Royal Charts by King Manuel I giving permission, on April 15, 1501, to Gaspar Corte Real to make a second voyage of discovery to North America, but he never returned to Portugal. The other Royal Chart was given to his brother Miguel Corte Real, on May 10, 1502, who came to New England looking for Gaspar, but he too never returned to Portugal. He left his calling card engraved on the face of Dighton Rock in 1511.

How was it discovered and by whom? By three investigators examining face to face the inscriptions, during the night with shining lights sideways. Here are their names:

These three researchers studied the Dighton Rock FACE TO FACE, each one for decades! They walked into the smelly mud of the Taunton River with their boots to face the rock!

TODAY we can still SEE all these symbols ENGRAVED on the face of Dighton Rock, when we shut off all pavilion lights, where the rock is now preserved, and then use a flash light to highlight the CONTRAST of the inscriptions with the Portuguese symbols!

AMAZING! These inscriptions are the AUTHENTIC PROOF of the Portuguese Theory! The Portuguese Theory is the only one that fulfills perfectly the definition of theory in Webster’s Dictionary!

Let us put to test the elements of the Portuguese Cartouche and compare them with the night photographs – with light shining sideways – on the face of the inscriptions:

Photo published by the National Geographic Magazine, Volume 147, January of 1975, on page 28. This photo was taken with light sideways or tangential during the night, to give a better contrast of the engraved inscriptions.

The date 1S11 with the numeral ‘5"
in the shape of a capital ‘S’

Area of Flag 2 – left side unpainted, right side painted

Area of Flag 1
left side unpainted, right side painted

Area of Flag 3 – left side unpainted, right side painted

The 45 degree branches of the Cross Of The Order Of Christ

The Cross of the Order of Christ
and the Portuguese Coat of Arms "V" shaped

A close up of the Portuguese
Coat of Arms - V shape engraved on Dighton Rock!

I believe the time has come for us to ask publicly why the people of Berkley were never interested in the historical meaning of Dighton Rock!

Why? Because there has been too much confusion, too many nonsensical so called "theories" about the inscriptions and the Berkleyites NEVER wanted to get involved in so many controversies. And they have been right!

Delabarre was a citizen of Berkley for several decades but he somehow never made any effort to get the local people involved in the meaning of his original discovery. I do not want to do that! My wish is to make the people of Berkley aware of the true meaning of Dighton rock. It is a jewel and they do not realize it yet.

"Charity begins at home"! I would like to challenge the people of Berkley to learn about the TRUE THEORY OF THE DIGHTON ROCK INSCRIPTIONS which were carved by the Portuguese Navigator, Miguel Corte Real 1511.

I would like to present the conclusive scientific facts concerning the TRUE THEORY to the following:

(1) The Berkley Governing Authorities; (2) the police Officers; (3) Firefighters, (4) Trustees of the Library and the Librarians; (5) the School Committee; (6) the Educators; (7) the Historical Society; (8) Leaders of Organizations; (9) Professionals and Business Leaders; (10) the youth of Berkley; (11) Senior Citizens and (12) others who will appreciate the extraordinary historical value of Dighton Rock.

I also want to tell them all – face to face -- that I do not want any money, nor any awards from the town of Berkley. I simply realize that the time has come for me to pass the torch and have the people of Berkley take full possession of the historical Dighton Rock as their own jewel which is indeed a National American monument.

The 276^th Anniversary of Berkley together
with the 500^th Anniversary of Dighton Rock Inscriptions

On April 18, 2011, it will be the 276^th Anniversary of the founding of the Town of Berkley. We have to coordinate the good will of all citizens of Berkley so that we can have a Double Anniversary by also celebrating the 500^th Anniversary of the Dighton Rock inscriptions and start celebrating from that date on, an Annual Holiday for the Town of Berkley.

Plymouth Rock has given to the American people one of the most beautiful Holidays, Thanksgiving! Plymouth Rock is cornerstone of American History, and we believe Dighton Rock should be considered another important cornerstone in the beginnings of the United States of America. They should complement each other as very important American Monuments.

(1) The model of the ship that Vasco da Gama used to on the first voyage from Lisbon, Portugal, to Calicut, India in 1487;

Explanation of the ship “São Gabriel ”:

This is the model of the “São Gabriel”, the flagship of the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, who was the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope on his way to India (Calcutta).

Da Gama left Lisbon, Portugal , on July 8, 1497, with 171 sailors and returned 2 years later with only 55 men. Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) had killed most of the 116 men during the 30,000-mile trip. This model was built in the workshop of the Maritime Museum in Lisbon (1977) and is on a scale of 1:30. The actual ship was 85 feet long and weighted 50 tons.

The type of the cross-displayed on the sails is the Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ, symbol of the Portuguese discoveries. This cross is unique in the world because it is the only one with extremities terminating in 45 degree angles.

This model was a gift of the Portuguese Prime Minister Admiral Pinheiro de Azevedo, to the Dighton Rock Museum.


When the rock was elevated to dry land in 1963	Now the rock is protected inside of an octagonal pavilion

Let us review once again, quickly, the Portuguese Historical Cartouche:
	Compare the icons of the Portuguese Cartouche with the inscriptions engraved on the face of the rock