Semitic everywhereism

Semitic Everywhereism is the pseudoscientific belief that languages and cultures in areas such as Northern Europe or the Americas have a significant Semitic substrate, often chalked up to the nautical prowess of Phoenician merchants. Prominent names in Semitic Everywhereism include Cyrus Gordon, John Cohane, Barry Fell, and Theo Vennemann.

The Semitic Americas
The Bat Creek Stone was found in eastern Tennessee in February 1889 by John W. Emmert, a field worker in the employ of magisterial archaeologist. While almost certainly a forgery intended by Emmert to curry favor with his boss, it was taken by scholars as a serious find and a likely example of Cherokee script until 1970, when fellow Cyrus Cyrus Gordon claimed it to be Paleo-Hebrew and evidence of a Semitic presence in the Americas.