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- [Narrator] The Sumerians were noted
for their worship of many gods.
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Among them was Enki,
a god known for being the patron deity of the city of Eridu.
Enki is depicted in many pieces of Sumerian art
and literature, including the Babylonian creation epic,
the "Enuma Elish," "The Epic of Gilgamesh," and others.
Due to his prominence in such works,
it's fair to assume he played a large role
in Sumerian culture.
Much about Enki remains shrouded in mystery
and begs further exploration.
Enki, a god known for his inherent worth,
represented healing, fertility,
and creation in Sumerian culture.
His intelligent magic often included trickery
to benefit the good of the human race.
Son of a sky god, Enki was thought to reign over the earth
and high heavens as a leader
of the Anunna gods in Sumeria.
It is believed that Enki inhabited
the Earth nearly 400,000 years ago.
Enki was known by a variety of names,
including Enkig, Ea, Nissiku,
and Nudimmund.
The names come with a variety of translations such
as prince, lord of the earth,
and creator, gift of fertility and creation.
In Sumerian culture,
Enki is heavily connected
to the concepts of fertility and creation.
This is often represented by water.
Ancient images of Enki show rivers flowing
from his masculine shoulders.
The rivers depicted are thought to be the Euphrates
and Tigris rivers that flow through Mesopotamia
and signify his gift of fertility to the land.
According to legend,
the rivers were formed from his semen,
which further supports his ties to the concept of fertility.
In addition, other symbols associated
with Enki are the goat and the fish,
which also signify fertility or fertileness.
One Sumerian lore depicts Enki as the founder of Eridu,
possibly Mesopotamia's first city,
thus establishing the beginning of life on earth.
The spiritual site of Eridu has been compared
to the Judeo-Christian concept of the Garden of Eden.
The intelligent yet mischievous Enki suggested
the gods create other beings to mine the gold for them.
The Anunnaki were thought to be clone masters who sought
to clone lesser beings such as the human race
to do their work.
Control of human beings is still thought
to be happening under Anunnaki gods today.
Although Enki contributed to the concept of cloning,
which could be considered manipulation of the human race,
he was well intended
and provided humans with information on how
to restore balance to the Earth
after devastating droughts and famine.
Enki had a substantial cosmic family line.
His immediate family included a father figure,
mother, brother, wife, and four sons.
An additional eight children were born later as mentioned
in a folk tale.
The names and relations
of Enki's family members vary throughout ancient texts.
Enki was a very powerful god
and had the assistance of mythical beings at his service.
Legends describe an assortment of creatures such
as mermaids, giants,
and even demons that aided Enki in his earthly endeavors.
Also, he could call upon both destructive
and caring existences and keep favored humanity
and social justice.
He was known for his intelligence, wisdom,
and gift for divine arts and crafts.
Enki's knowledge of rituals included exorcism as well
as healing prayers and chants.
An important figure in mythological history,
Enki remains one of the greatest Sumerian legends
and one of the most complex Sumerian gods.
As such, one can spend a significant amount of time delving
into the history and mystery of Enki.
Continue to explore this fascinating mythical being
on your own and enjoy the journey.
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A discovery comes along that challenges those theories.
[mysterious music]
We can thank the late great journalist George Plimpton
for one artifact
that has recently challenged that narrative,
potentially setting back the history of mathematics
and casting a new light on the ever-intriguing culture
of the ancient Babylonians.
The artifact known as Plimpton 322 is
a cuneiform tablet that
was purchased almost a century ago
from the real-life Indiana Jones
and could potentially prove that
the ancient Babylonians were the first civilization
to understand trigonometry.
Cuneiform tablets.
Pythagoras is thought to have been the first
to understand that the area of the square
of the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle is equal
to the sum of the areas of the squares
of its other two sides, aka the Pythagorean theorem,
but it's not necessarily well documented
that Pythagoras actually conceptualized this equation,
nor are there any other of his mathematical achievements.
Pythagoras ran a school that was shrouded in mystery
and secrecy with a cabalistic take on math and numbers.
Some believe it is possible
that his students may have been responsible
for his supposed achievements in mathematics,
but due to either reverence or fear,
gave credit to Pythagoras.
Interpretations and documentation from the time are scarce
as knowledge was typically spread by word of mouth.
At the same time,
Pythagoras's school was almost cult-like with stories
of members being murdered
for not maintaining the school's secrecy and learnings.
The ancient Babylonians, on the other hand,
used cuneiform tablets to record much
of their intellectual work with thousands
of tablets having been recovered to this day.
Many of them were excavated in the early 1900s
and sold to museums or collectors,
but some of the implications of their carvings
are challenging what archeologists have believed
about ancient history.
One of these tablets was purchased by George Plimpton
for a mere $10 in 1922
and has been the center of a heated debate
between archeologists.
The new theory pairs the findings from Plimpton 322
with another tablet known as YBC 7289
and posits that Babylonian mathematics included trigonometry
predating the Greeks by 1,000 years.
These ancient Babylonians used a base-60 system
of mathematics rather than
the base-10 system that we use today.
While we have all assumed Pythagoras to be the first
to postulate his eponymous theory,
Hipparchus is generally known
to be the Greek father of trigonometry
and the first to produce a trigonometric table known
as the table of chords.
Hipparchus's work required a knowledge of trigonometry
for measuring astronomical distances,
but much of the basis for his work came
from Babylonian mathematics using the base-60 system.
Also, few details are known specifically
about his life despite being credited with the discovery
of a large field of mathematics.
The base-60 system allowed the Babylonians
to make trigonometric calculations in terms
of ratios rather than angles.
What is so fascinating
about this discovery is that it brings
a subjective interpretation to mathematics,
which may seem counterintuitive,
but the ancient Babylonian system
of trigonometry shows that they were capable
of achieving similar results using
a different mathematical perspective.
Part of their base-60
or sexagesimal system is even retained today
in certain elements of our lives.
[epic music]
[mysterious music]
Long before the sprawling city streets
of Mexico City stood another city,
one almost lost in the mists of time,
if not for the efforts of some amazing archeologists
and a little luck.
Under the streets
of this Latin American city is another city that
was once called Tenochtitlan,
found underneath the now historical sector
of modern Mexico City.
Although its initial construction would look nothing like
what we see today.
Instead, the present Mexico City has been built
on a dry lake bed,
previously known as Lake Texcoco
and the former Tenochtitlan had its foundations built
on an island by the once great Aztec empire.
The great city was expanded
and added to over the centuries until its ultimate fall
at the hands of the invading Spanish in the 15th century.
Before its downfall, it was a true marvel to behold
and was one of the largest cities
in the pre-Columbian Americas.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo
in his "Conquest of New Spain" offers us
some insights into the surprise
of the conquerors as they approached the city.
"When we saw so many cities
and villages built in the water
and other great towns on dry land, we were amazed
and said that it was like the enchantments on account
of the great towers and cues
and buildings rising from the water,
and all built of masonry.
And some of our soldiers even asked whether
the things that we saw were not a dream.
I do not know how to describe it,
seeing things as we did that had never been heard
or seen of before, not even dreamed about."
[enigmatic music]
The great city was founded in 1325 AD
and unlike most of the civilizations around the world,
great cultures need a secure cornerstone
of religious underpinnings to bring order
and control to the masses.
The Mexica was founded the city
and ruled over the Aztec empire.
However, there are suggestions that they were
a harsh civilization and plenty
of evidence that shows they possessed a cruel streak.
The religion was based
on an ancient prophecy that recognized
the early tribal cultures of Central America
and noted that they would find peace
in a great city whose sight would be signaled to them
in the form of a great eagle that held a snake
in its mouth resting on top of a cactus.
Interestingly, the Mexica concluded that the answer
to this prophecy was found on an island in Lake Texcoco,
fulfilling their belief
and creating a foundation to build the great city
and open it to not only their people
but also to their gods.
During excavations of Tenochtitlan in 2006,
archeologists uncovered a massive stone tablet dedicated
to one of their gods called Tlaltecuhtli.
They're calling it the largest Aztec idol ever found,
and it seems a title well deserved weighing
at 12 and 1/2 tons.
A spectacular statue of that size
with almost perfect detail should be fascinating enough,
but it seems it's even more intriguing
because some were speculating
this structure may have been a door
to a hidden chamber.
The monolith of Tlaltecuhtli
was excavated within close proximity to the Templo Mayor,
which was actually discovered by accident
as workers uncovered a corner
of the great monolith while sweeping some
of the temple steps.
Templo Mayor was the main temple
and was used by the Aztecs for ceremonial purposes.
Unfortunately, this was primarily human sacrifice.
Archeologists have reported that in one ceremony alone,
thousands of victims were sacrificed in 1487.
Tlaltecuhtli, the Earth God goddess was
a Mesoamerican earth goddess associated with fertility.
As she was seen as their source of life,
the Aztecs sought necessary
to constantly please their goddess with blood sacrifices,
especially human hearts.
According to the creation legend surrounding it,
the earth first roamed on the primordial sea in the form
of a monster by this name.
The legend also goes on to say that this goddess was fierce
and had a taste for human flesh so ferocious
that one single gaping mouth
with teeth of flint knives was not enough
to satisfy her bestial hunger.
To remedy this, she had more mouths at her elbows
and knees that could simultaneously devour her victims.
She was so savage that even other gods were afraid of her.
The myth continues to say that the gods Tezcatlipoca
and Quetzalcoatl transformed into giant serpents
and strangled Tlaltecuhtli
until her giant body split in two.
They threw one half of her broken body up in the sky
and it was transformed into the vault of the heavens
and the other half of her created the earth.
The other deities were appalled
by what the serpents had done to Tlaltecuhtli,
so they descended to the earth half to console her.
They commanded that all the fruits necessary
for the survival of humans should come from her.
From that moment, all creation was to come from her body.
They made it so that all trees, flowers,
and herbs would spring from her hair, wells,
and springs to come from her eyes,
her mouth would create the rivers, lakes, and caverns,
and her nose would create the mountain ranges and valleys.
The goddess sprang back to life in a new way,
but despite the gifts she had been given,
she is said to still cry out at night with her longing
to continue to eat the hearts of humankind.
The legend continues,
the goddess was restless and will not stay quiet
and still until she was given the sacrifices,
nor would she bear fruit
on the land unless her thirst was quenched
with the blood of men.
Some researchers believe that the increase
in human sacrifice in the later stages
of the Mayan civilization
and the almost frenzied pace it took
with the Aztecs was due to the decline of their society.
This downward spiral would've made it very easy
for the Spanish to conquer them.
Unfortunately, when the massive statue
of Tlaltecuhtli was discovered,
it was fragmented into four pieces with a section
of its core missing
or possibly destroyed by the decimation of time.
However, despite its incomplete appearance,
the monolith of this earth monster deity is
one that radiates great power
and intimidation to all those in its presence.
The Aztecs believed that the presentation
of a monument should be in accordance
with its cosmological place
and as Tlaltecuhtli was depicted as an earth monster,
she was placed in the earth underneath
or below other objects.
She was also often carved
beneath Aztec monuments rather than in plain sight,
like those of the carvings at Tlaloc,
and is believed that this
is so that she can take her position of the earth as well
as resting against the earth itself.
She's also placed front forward
in the many representations found of her.
In the Aztec culture,
it was commonplace for their deities
to be presented this way as to show their power
and distinguish them from other figures.
Directly underneath the statue,
they discovered the largest find of offerings,
which included shells and corals,
a tiny pine mask, a sawfish bill,
8 and 1/2 thousand animal bones,
a jar of grain, a scepter, and many fire god sculptures.
Archeologists believe these used to be an arrangement
of sacrificial ornaments or offerings to the goddess.
The gods of old and their worshipers
have always fascinated us.
Even in modern religion,
we venerate statues of saints in buildings
and churches that were adorned with symbolism
and carvings that are linked to old pagan worship,
but sadly, even with the many lives
that the Aztecs sacrificed to Tlaltecuhtli
to placate her thirst for human hearts,
the once great city of Tenochtitlan was abandoned
by their goddess.
Following a failed aqueduct design
to bring fresh water to the Aztec people,
a massive flood destroyed the city
in 1502 AD including many satellite towns and villages.
Even though the city was built by mortar,
the walls could not sustain
the devastating attack by the water.
However, the Mexica were persistent
and began rebuilding once the waters receded.
For the most part,
the technological genius
of the Aztec people allowed them to build dams,
which actually controlled the level of water quite well.
However, after the Spanish conquest,
the dams were destroyed
and the flooding once again claimed this great city
of ancient times.
[epic music]
[haunting music]
A strange circular rock known as Alien Mountain
in Sri Lanka is so called because of its cylindrical shape,
numerous UFO sightings, ancient legends,
and spiritual connotations.
Now newly discovered petroglyphs,
which some believe to be an antique astronomical code
have been discovered at the site as well.
Some researchers believe that the mountain
and its ancient rock carvings provide proof
of extraterrestrial visitors on Earth.
Sri Lanka is a large independent island nation
in the Indian Ocean,
located about 26 miles off the southeast coast of India.
The island was colonized by anatomically modern humans
in the last Interglacial period dating back
to around 125,000 years ago.
Danigala Mountain is situated
in the Polonnaruwa district of Sri Lanka
and has long been known as a sacred site
to the local population.
The mountain itself is a unique cylindrical shaped rock,
which is known by various intriguing names
including Alien Mountain,
Kandegama Rock, and the Stargate of King Ravana.
[cryptic music]
It's believed to be one of the places
where King Ravana landed his special aircraft Dandu Monara.
According to Hindu legend,
King Ravana was one of the most powerful beings ever
to roam the universe.
He ruled in Sri Lanka over the Monara gods,
humans, and demons.
Legend says that Ravana ruled Lanka
for several hundred years prior to the times
of Ramayana when he was killed by Prince Janmab
for kidnapping his wife Sita.
Some researchers believed that this Ramayana
was not entirely a fictional character
and may have been based
on a real king who ruled over Sri Lanka
from 2554 to 2517 BC.
Under the rule of the scholarly Ravana,
Sri Lanka witnessed great advancements
in science and medicine.
The Pushpaka Vimana or the airplane
in which some versions
of the legend is said to have flown
during his reign is held up as an example
of the great scientific achievements taking place
at the time.
The word vimana is composed of "vi" the sky,
"mana" meaning measure.
Vimana is something that measures
the sky as it crosses it.
Indian legends are full of stories of vimana.
The most well-known of these legends
of the Pushpaka Vimana concerns Rama who was returning
from Lanka to Ayodhya along with Sita
after defeating Ravana.
The vimana that was used by Ravana himself was also known
as Dandu Monara.
[plucky music]
In the local Sinhalaese language,
monara means peacock
and Dandu Monara means
that which can fly resembling a peacock.
In fact, the story of Ravana flying in a vimana
with his wife Mandodari is depicted in the insignia
of Sri Lanka's most famous hotel,
Galle Face Hotel Colombo.
In some ancient texts which discuss these flying machines,
there are tantalizing mentions of possible fuels used,
aeronautics, meteorology,
and aerial maneuvers that were deployed in flying them.
Some researchers have noted the connection
between these ancient vimanas
and the designation of Alien Mountain
to describe Danigala Mountain.
There's just one problem,
there is no record of any UFO sightings in the area
of the mountain.
It could be perhaps the designation Alien Mountain comes
from the connection with the ancient vimanas,
though no one seems to be sure of that,
it's possible through
the alien connection that it goes
further back than modern UFO sightings.
[elusive music]
In September 2020,
a doctor published a controversial report
on the Research Gate scientific networking site
on the petroglyphs
at Alien Mountain entitled "Danigala Coding Sri Lanka."
In this report,
which describes the new discovery of petroglyphs
in a part of the northwest slope of the mountain
in July 2020,
Danigala states, "Those bind ruins
are dominantly compared
with other archeological sites in Sri Lanka
and the Southeast Asia region.
The type of symbols bind ruins
and petroglyphs found are quite new,
and for the first time discovered in Sri Lankan
during archeoastronomical
and geological preliminary survey conducted
by the Central Culture Fund with a corporation
of South Asian Astrobiology
and Earth Sciences Research Unit of Eco Astronomy Sri Lanka.
Hence, this is a new discovery.
It should be considered as our geological,
astronomical, and archeological heritage site,
which represents the collective memory
of the anthropomorphic scenes affected by mother nature."
He's the CEO and founder
of Eco Astronomy Sri Lanka established
in 2016 as a newly developed research area in Sri Lanka.
Their research focuses
on comparative systematic analysis
of extreme environmental conditions of planet Earth,
which related to extraterrestrial life based
on paleontological and meteorological factors.
He believes that the rock carvings found at Alien Mountain,
so-called bind ruins,
when two or more ruins are connected
or bound together,
constitute a lost astronomical counting system created
by the Neolithic hunters thousands of years ago.
Though such bind ruins are unique,
ancient rock art in Sri Lanka is fairly common.
It first came to the attention of researchers in 1897
and to date over 40 sites
have been cataloged on the island.
These sites mostly rock shelters
are mainly concentrated in the eastern,
southeastern north, central,
and central hill regions of the island.
The paintings in the caves generally depict humans
and animals such as elephants, leopards,
stags, deer, and dogs.
It's important to note that
the animals depicted are not shown
in hunting scenes when they're shown alongside humans,
they appear almost as companions rather than prey.
[ethereal music]
Some researchers have pointed out these similarities
between the circular Danigala Mountain
and the prominent ancient rock fortress
in the Northern Matale district near
the town of Dambulla
in the central province of Sri Lanka,
this enigmatic rock outcrop rises dramatically
from the plains.
Its almost vertical walls soar skyward
to a flat top summit that contains the ruins
of an ancient civilization believed
to be once the focal point
of the short-lived kingdom of Kassapa.
Given its stunning appearance,
it's perhaps not surprising that Sigiriya is known
by locals as the eighth wonder of the world.
The fortress complex is located on a massive rock plateau,
1,214 feet above sea level.
The fortress complex includes the remains
of a ruined palace,
surrounded by an extensive network of fortifications,
huge gardens, ponds, canals, alleys, and fountains.
From the 3rd century BC,
the rocky plateau of Sigiriya functioned as a monastery.
In the second half of the 5th century AD,
King Kashyapa constructed a royal residence there,
but after his death,
the site again became a Buddhist monastery,
which lasted up until the 14th century
when it was finally abandoned.
The western wall of the palace
was almost entirely covered
by stunning frescoes created during the reign of Kashyapa,
18 of which survived to this day.
The frescoes depict naked females
and are considered to be either portraits
of Kashyapa's wives and concubines
or priestesses performing religious rituals.
Another striking feature of Sigiriya is its mirror wall.
In ancient times, it was polished so thoroughly that
the king could see his reflection in it.
The mirror wall is painted with inscriptions
and poems written by the visitors to the area,
the most ancient of which dates back
to the 8th century showing that Sigiriya was
a tourist destination more than a thousand years ago.
Sigiriya has also water gardens,
cave and boulder gardens,
and also terrace gardens.
They're located on the western part of the site
and were watered using
an incredibly complex hydraulic system
which consisted of canals, locks,
lakes, dams, bridges, fountains,
as well as surface and underground water pumps.
The buildings and landscape gardens
of Sigiriya show that the creators
of this incredible architectural monument used unique
[mysterious music]
and creative technical skills and technologies.
In fact, so astonishing are
the features that some paranormal researchers believe
the site to be the result
of extraterrestrial intervention
rather than human ingenuity and hard work.
These researchers point out the architectural
and engineering design at the site which is advanced even
by 21st century standards.
One legend surrounding
the huge rock fortress states
that it was built initially for Kubera,
the treasurer of the Gods of Vishwakarma,
the divine engineer.
One alien hunter suggested that the rock fortress
was something like a lighthouse
for ancient aliens and their vimanas,
[energy pulsating]
reasoning that if they were landing at night,
the crystals in the mirror wall
of the site would reflect the light back from the craft.
Believers in the ancient alien theory
for the site question how ancient builders created
such extraordinary structures
on top of a rock over 1,200 feet high.
But why would this suggest aliens?
There are numerous archeological sites
throughout the world,
far higher up and more inaccessible.
The most obvious examples being the Inca Citadel
of Machu Picchu in Peru,
located 7,970 feet up on a mountain ridge.
The palace and fortress complex
of Sigiriya has been recognized as one
of the finest examples of ancient urban planning
in the world.
Taking into account the uniqueness of this site,
UNESCO declared it a world heritage site in 1982.
[epic music]
[haunting music]
The Inga Stone is located in the middle of the waters
of the Inga River near the small city of Inga
in Paraiba state in the northwest of Brazil.
This controversial historical treasure 150 feet long
and 13 feet in height is covered in carvings
of strange unidentified geometric symbols
of various sizes and shapes.
Although many researchers have speculated on the origins
and the meaning of the symbols,
no theory has yet been proven.
Were they made by
a previously unknown civilization
maybe possessing ancient technology long since forgotten?
What do the symbols really mean?
[mysterious music]
The area where the site is located covers
around 40 hectares of extensive granite outcrops
that contain a large number of rock carvings.
The main outcrop is popularly known
as Pedra do Inga, the Stone of Inga,
and forms a wall oriented northeast-southeast
and features the three main rock panels at the site.
In the rainy season,
this large monolith is partially covered by water
and can only be seen in its entirety in dry weather
and when the riverbed is completely dry.
Although there is speculation as
to what tools could have been used to make the carvings,
it's believed that the figures were made
with round stones found in nearby streams.
Archeological research indicates the existence
of lithic workshops in the vicinity of the site
and temporary camps associated with the main site
in use from about 10,000 BC to around 1,400 AD,
possibly as a sacred place used
by the local prehistoric populations.
There is also evidence of other occupations
in the areas outside of the main site,
which is associated with it.
So far, experts have identified
more than 400 engravings on the stone's surface.
Most of the Inga carvings are hard to understand,
but some of them are thought
to represent celestial features
with two being similar to the Milky Way
and the constellation of Orion.
Others are thought to be representations of circles,
geometric shapes, animals, fruits, weapons,
human shapes, and birds.
Many of the carvings seem to relate to the daily life
of the local population at the time.
The exact origin of the inscriptions is still unknown.
[ominous music]
Brazil was officially discovered in 1500
when a fleet on its way to India commanded
by Portuguese diplomat Pedro Alvarez Cabral landed
in Porto Seguro between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.
The first references to the mysterious carvings
are found in the reports of the European settlers
in the state in the 16th century.
Among these references,
the most important is
the "Dialogues of Brazil's Grandness"
attributed to Ambrosio Fernandes Brandao
written between 1519 and 1618.
According to the researcher Gabriela Martin in 2008,
"The Inga stone is undoubtedly
the most famous rock engraving in Brazil,
but as a result of this exalted reputation,
a number of groundless theories, hopeful speculations
and popular myths have grown up around the stone
and the origin and meaning of its carvings.
Hidden treasures are mentioned as are lost Venetian sailors
and of course extraterrestrial beings.
Where would we be without their help?"
[mysterious music]
Gabriele D'Annunzio Baraldi from 1938 to 2002
was Italian by birth,
but lived in Brazil, Sao Paulo until his death.
Baraldi claimed that the area
around the Inga Stone was a Hittite colony
and that the Hittite empire had existed in Brazil.
This was apparently based on the basic similarity
and nothing more between Hittite inscriptions
and those on the Inga stone.
The Hittites occupied the ancient region
of Anatolia, modern-day Turkey,
around 1700 BC,
so how they found the way to Brazil is anyone's guess,
perhaps the extraterrestrials brought them.
[energy pulsating]
[mysterious music]
In the early 20th century,
the Austrian traveler Ludwig Schwennhagen toured
various parts of Northeastern Brazil studying traces
of what he believed to be the presence
of Phoenicians in this region.
Besides numerous articles,
he published a book, "Ancient History of Brazil,"
associating the inscriptions of Inga
with the Phoenicians.
The Phoenicians were a maritime people
who occupied the coast of Levant,
modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine,
and most of Western Turkey
from around 1500 to 332 BC.
Again, what were they doing in Brazil?
But the theory of Phoenicians in Brazil
and the Americas has a long history as part
of the recurring, often bizarre attempts
to find ancient Semitic inscriptions
in the western hemisphere.
In 1872, a stone inscribed
with Phoenician writing was allegedly discovered
in Paraiba, northeast Brazil.
The letter sent from the original discoverer
of the stone to the president
of the Brazilian Historical
and Geographic Institute is worth quoting:
[eerie music]
"As I was having stones carried into my property,
my slaves brought me one that they had already broken
into four pieces.
This stone presented numerous characters
that no one understood.
I had them copied by my son,
who knows a little about draftsmanship,
and I was resolved to send this copy to your Excellency
as president of the Historical
and Geographical Institute of Brazil
to see if your Excellency
or some other person could determine
what these letters mean,
and as I have arrived in this capital city
and have not had the time to give them personally
to your Excellency,
I have sent them to him through the post.
I am with all consideration
and respect for your Excellency.
Attentive, devoted, and obliged servant,
Joaquim Alves de Costa,
Rio, 11th of September, 1872."
[thunder crashing]
The inscription itself told the story
of a Phoenician ship which was caught in a storm
and separated from a fleet sailing
from Egypt around Africa.
[enigmatic music]
The stone also mentions the Pharaoh Necho I or Necho II.
A transcription was shown to the director
of the National Museum of Brazil who
at first accepted the inscription as genuine,
but Alves de Costa
and his estate proved impossible to locate
and it was concluded that the whole affair
was nothing more than a hoax.
Marshall McKusick has reviewed
and dismissed various theories of Phoenicians
or Canaanites in the new world,
observing that "In this modern day everyone wishes
to be his own authority
and the personal search
for cultural alternatives seems
to make every idea or theory equal in value."
[mysterious music]
Ronald H. Fritze has discussed
the theory of such claims
from the 17th to the 20th centuries,
concluding that although the journey
to Brazil was technically possible,
no archeological evidence has yet been discovered
to prove it.
Peruvian electrical engineer Huari Roman
has linked the Inga stone
with refugees from the sunken continent of Atlantis.
Roman claims that before the great flood,
most of central Brazil was a huge inland sea
and that the Atlanteans
and Arawaks lived around this lake,
and that the one artifact left behind
by them was the Inga stone.
After the deluge,
[waves crashing]
a cataclysm inundated Atlantis and Brazil,
destroying the Inland Sea.
Some groups fled to the Andean Highlands
of Peru eventually developing the empire of Tiwanaku,
which then later became the Incan Empire.
What is Roman's evidence for this extraordinary theory?
Apparently, he's keeping that to himself.
Who also those who believe that the signs
on the Inga stone are the work of extraterrestrials?
According to Claudio Quintans
of the Paraibano Center for Ufology,
it is unlikely that the prehistoric people
of the area would've been able
to make such intricate carvings.
Therefore, he believes the carvings were actually made
by extraterrestrial visitors to the planet,
and some symbols may be interpreted
as explaining the distance between the planets such
as the Earth and the Moon,
and even further beyond that.
[haunting music]
He adds that the Inga stone shows some formulas
for the production of quantum energy.
There must be a queue
of physicists forming around Quintans's house
to ask just where he obtained
that earth-shattering information and what it means.
[mysterious music]
The attitude of Quintan's is very common
in alternative history theories.
The belief is that there's no way that the natives
of Brazil could have ever been advanced enough
to make anything that required any technological skill
or knowledge.
In fact, in Brazil's Natural History Museum,
there are stone instruments which the natives used
for various activities including grooving stones
to make inscriptions such as those on the Inga stone.
Spanish engineer Francisco Pavia Alemany
has mathematically studied the stone,
and his first results were published in 1986.
Alemany identified a series of bowls on the stone's surface
and another petroglyph etched
into the vertical surface of the wall of Inga
that formed a solar calendar.
Alemany later focused on recording
and documenting a series of symbols
on the surface which represented stars that appeared
to have been grouped together in what appeared
to be constellations.
According to him, it's the coexistence of the bowls
and constellations on the rock surface which give
the stone its archeoastronomical significance.
Although there are a number of theories
to explain the unusual designs on the stone,
the simplest is probably true.
The symbols represent various cultural
and spiritual teachings passed on by local tribal elders
to the younger generations.
Unfortunately, there have been virtually no studies
of the technological development, social structure,
or cultural complexity of the prehistoric populations
of Northeastern Brazil.
Hence, there's a gap in our knowledge
of the cultures of the area,
which allows all sorts
of bizarre unsubstantiated theories
to wriggle through unchecked.
[calm music]
The Inga stone and the area around it represents
a people who created expressive art in rock
with a high technical capacity.
The site is remarkable for its almost exclusive use
of non-figurative representations
on its panels expressing the creative genius of
a human group that appropriated abstract aesthetic standards
as a means of expression
of possibly symbolic religious concepts.
The local populations were unlike
other prehistoric Brazilian cultures in this,
who mostly made use of anthropomorphic
and zoomorphic representations.
Unfortunately today the site where the Inga stone stands
is under constant threat,
not only from the elements but from the hundreds
of tourists who trample all over it almost daily.
There have been also cases
of the stone being damaged by vandals,
so there is an urgent need for the Inga stone
to be protected and preserved
if we want future generations to be
as fascinated by it as we are.
[epic music]
[ethereal music]
Controversy has arisen around an artifact known
as the Nazareth Inscription long believed
[feet stomping]
to be an official Roman response to the disappearance
of Jesus' body from its tomb.
New researchers cast doubt
on the origin of the inscription,
which was acquired
by German collector in Paris in 1878.
[playful carnival music]
However, apart from a note indicating
[ethereal music continues]
that it had come from Nazareth,
its history has remained something of a mystery.
The Nazareth Inscription.
The Nazareth Inscription itself is written on a block
of marble, about two feet tall, a foot wide,
and two inches deep.
The first of its 22 lines of text carved
in Greek letters announces
an "Edict of Caesar."
[trumpet blowing]
The edict calls for capital punishment
for anyone who removes a body from a tomb.
If the tablet did originate in Nazareth,
it's understandable how one could make a connection
between this edict and the beginnings of Christianity.
Perhaps the inscription had something to do
with the controversy over the famous empty tomb
and suggests that a Roman emperor was aware
of disturbing claims about a crucified man rising
from the dead in a distant province of his wide empire.
The style of the letters used
in the inscription certainly indicates it was written
in the first half of the 1st century.
- [Soldier] What do we want! - [Narrator] Indeed, no one-
has ever questioned- - [Soldiers] Justice!
- [Soldier] When do we want it!
- [Soldiers] Now! - [Narrator] The authenticity
of the Nazareth inscription,
so it's highly unlikely that this is a forgery,
but its interpretation
and possible connection to the story
of the resurrection of Christ
are still fiercely debated today.
The translation of the inscription reads:
"Edict of Caesar.
[bell dinging]
It is my decision,
graves and tombs, whoever has made them
for the religious observances of parents, or children,
or household members,
that these remain undisturbed forever.
But if anyone legally charges
that another person has destroyed
or has in any manner extracted
those who have been buried,
or has moved with wicked intent
those who have been buried to other places,
committing a crime against them,
or has moved sepulchral stones,
against such a person,
I order that a judicial tribunal be created,
[bell dinging]
just as concerning the gods
in human religious observances.
Even more so it will be obligatory to treat
with honor those who have been entombed.
You are absolutely not to allow anyone to move,
But if so, I wish that one
to suffer capital punishment under the title
of tomb-breaker."
The discovery of the Nazareth Inscription.
When scholar and collector of antiquities,
Wilhelm Froehner died in his Paris home in 1925,
he left behind among his possessions
a curious inscription
and manuscripts that could be
the oldest surviving artifact of Christianity.
By the time he died,
he'd been in possession of the Nazareth Inscription
for nearly 50 years.
His inventory of the inscription simply states,
"This marble was sent from Nazareth in 1878."
In 1925, the collection was acquired
by the Paris National Library where
the Nazareth inscription was rediscovered
and read by a monsieur Rostovtzeff.
Rostovtzeff informed his friend
the scholar Franz Cumont about the inscription,
and in 1930 he published a Greek transcription
and a translation of the inscription with a commentary.
Cumont came to the conclusion
that there were two possible contexts
for the inscription,
which have remained the leading contenders to this day
[feet stomping]
Theories about the inscription's origin.
The first suggests that
the edict was issued against the background
of the general upheavals of Rome's violent transition
from republic to empire.
The end of the republic had witnessed
the eastern provinces extensively plundered,
tombs and temples alike were ravaged.
Perhaps the Nazareth inscription was part
of a general effort to restore order.
If this is the case, then the inscription would belong
to the final decade's BC
and thus originally to a fully Roman dominion
[fire crackling]
somewhere like Greece
or more likely Asia Minor,
before eventually surfacing in Palestine.
Palestinian origins.
The primary alternative explanation
is that the edict is a response
to the Christian gospel
[bell dinging]
and the hostile conflicts it aroused.
In the Bible, the disciples
of Jesus claimed that they found their master's tomb empty,
and the Gospel of Matthew makes it clear
that opposing accounts of the empty tomb
were being circulated.
Those Jews who did not believe that Jesus was
the Messiah spread the rumor that
the disciples had stolen the body,
and according to Matthew,
they bribed the Roman guards
into swearing this alternative truth before the governor.
Could it be that, aware of enduring tensions
and conflict over the claims of the resurrection,
the emperor issued an edict specifying harsh penalties
for violating tombs and the bodies lying within?
But while this of course doesn't prove
that the inscription is evidence
for the resurrection of Christ,
it does indicate that the story of the resurrection
of Christ was already circulating very early on,
perhaps even in the reign
of Emperor Claudius around 41 AD.
If the story of the resurrection
of Christ was widely known soon after his crucifixion,
it could be that it was circulated
by his apostles themselves.
In his 1968 book,
author Michael Green wrote that there
was firm contemporary evidence
for the presence of Jesus' empty tomb.
He said this piece
of evidence is called the Nazareth Inscription
after the town where it was found.
It is an imperial edict belonging either
to the reign of Tiberius, 14-37 AD,
or of Claudius 41-54 AD,
and it's an invective backed with heavy sanctions
against meddling around with tombs and graves.
It looked very much as if the news
of the empty tomb had got back to Rome in a garbled form.
Pilate would have had to report
and he would obviously have said
the tomb had been rifled.
This edict, it seems, is the imperial reaction,
but as mentioned earlier,
the inscription provides no evidence
for any specific event.
Indeed, skeptics of the Jesus connection argue
that there is absolutely nothing linking
this inscription with Christianity,
only the town it was found in.
Even though Jesus was not buried in Nazareth,
and its possible date.
They also point out that the law is prefaced
by a reference to the importance
of family burial cult,
so the incentive for the law seems
seems to been an objection
to those who were depriving people of the right
to pay homage to their dead ancestors,
something that would appear to have no connection
with the missing body of Jesus.
Skeptics also point out that
in the late 19th century there
were only two major market centers
for all antiquities recovered in Palestine,
Jerusalem, and Nazareth.
Thus de Zulueta makes the plausible conjecture that
the slab was recovered either in Samaria or Decapolis
and either purchased
or shipped via the nearest possible place,
which would've been Nazareth.
New evidence: In April 2020,
it was announced that scientists had conducted
the first isotope analysis of marble sample
from the slab containing the inscription.
The research team sensationally discovered that
the unique isotopic fingerprints
of the marble were a close match
for a signature found in white marble
from the Greek island of Kos
of Turkey's southwestern coast.
[waves crashing]
As Kos is a long way from Nazareth,
the results of the tests would certainly seem
to reduce the likelihood that
the edict had any connection with early Christianity.
Researchers believe that the inscription,
rather than referring
to the story of Jesus' empty tomb,
relates to an incident which took place decades
before the death of Jesus.
The incident took place on Kos in the 30s BC
and involved what happened after the death
of an extremely unpopular
but powerful official named Nicias.
[wolf howling]
After Nicias's demise,
locals broke into his tomb and desecrated the body.
Researchers now believe that the Roman edict warning
of harsh punishments for grave desecration
was response to the fate suffered
by the body of Nicias.
Lead study author Kyle Harper,
a professor of classics
and letters at the University of Oklahoma said
of the discovery,
"We believe that it's
the first time stable isotope chemistry
has ever been used to establish
the provenance of an inscription, period.
We got lucky twice over.
First, it was very direct match with
a rather unexpected marble quarry
so we could really pinpoint its origins on Kos.
[bell dinging]
Second, it happened that we know of an episode
of tomb violation that was very famous
in the exact right period.
[waves crashing]
I would've never hoped
for such a remarkable alignment."
[insects chirring]
Harper and his team have also suggested
the Greek dialect on the inscription does not match
a Nazarene background for the period
and that it could have been written anywhere
between 100 BC and 100 AD.
But although Harper's work proves
that the marble was sourced from Kos,
it doesn't prove that Nazareth's Inscription
was inscribed in Kos.
Indeed, since its publication,
Harper's research has been questioned
by other researchers
and is certainly not set
to be the final word on the edict.
One researcher has pointed out
that with the Herodian Dynasty,
which ruled Judea for almost 80 years
from 37 BC to 39 AD,
traded regularly with the island of Kos.
Perhaps, they reason,
[waves crashing]
marble was commercially transported to Judea from Kos
and found its way into Nazareth during the reign
of Claudius or Nero.
At the moment, there's no way of knowing
for certain where the stone was inscribed
and what exactly it was referring to.
It seems the debate about the Nazareth inscription is set
to rage on for many years to come.
[epic music]
[dramatic music]
Evidence from the 11,000-year-old carvings
on an ancient temple site
in what is now Turkey suggests
that a mass of comet fragments hit
the Earth around 11,000 BC.
There is also other evidence
to support this catastrophic event
from a Greenland ice core.
The impact, which probably resulted
from the breakup of a giant comet
in the inner solar system,
triggered a cold climate,
which lasted at least a thousand years
and seems to have been remembered
by the hunter-gatherers in the area
for thousands of years afterwards.
[mysterious music]
Gobekli Tepe.
Gobekli Tepe, Turkish for the hill of the navel is
a 1,000-foot diameter mound located
at the highest point
of a mountain ridge in southeastern Turkey.
The site includes two phases of use,
believed to be social
or ritual in nature by its discoverer
and excavator Klaus Schmidt.
It dates back to the 10th-8th millennium BC
and since 1994, excavations conducted by Klaus Schmidt
of the Istanbul branch
of the German Archeological Institute have
been taking place at the site.
Results to date have been outstanding,
especially bearing in mind that
the excavators estimate that their work has uncovered
a mere 5% of the site.
Gobekli Tepe consists of four arrangements
of monolithic pillars linked together by segments
of coarsely built dry stone walls to form a series
of circular or oval structures.
There are two large pillars
in the center of each complex,
which are encircled
by slightly smaller stones facing inwards.
During the first phase of the site,
circles of huge T-shaped stone pillars were erected,
at the moment, the world's oldest known megaliths.
Archeologists believed that these pillars
could have once supported roofs.
The structures vary in size between 33
and 98 feet in diameter
and have floors made of burned lime.
The megaliths themselves,
43 of which have been unearthed so far,
are mainly T-shaped pillars of soft limestone
up to around 16 feet in height.
The stone would've been excavated
and transported from a stone quarry
on the lowest southwestern slope of the hill.
Geophysical surveys on the hill indicate there are
as many as 250 more megaliths lying buried around the site,
suggesting that another 16 complexes once existed
at Gobekli Tepe.
Although the pictograms at Gobekli Tepe
do not represent a form of writing,
they may have functioned as sacred symbols
whose meanings were implicitly understood
by the local population at the time.
The carving of the comet impact.
The mysterious megaliths at Gobekli Tepe
have been puzzling archeologists
and challenging presumptions
about prehistoric culture since their discovery.
The most debated point is how
a nomadic hunter-gatherer society
with a supposedly primitive social structure could plan
and build such monumental stone circles.
It was recently announced that researchers
from the University of Edinburgh
in Scotland had found evidence for the recording
of a devastating comet impact
more than 13,000 years ago while examining symbols
on a decorated stone
from Gobekli Tepe called the Vulture Stone.
Using computer star tracking software called Stellarium,
the researchers were able to track
what the sky looked like
in the time Gobekli Tepe was in use.
The team matched carvings of animals on the Vulture Stone,
which they interpreted as astronomical symbols,
[celestial music]
to patterns of stars
and were able to pinpoint the cataclysmic event caused
by the comet fragments hitting the Earth
to 10,950 BC, give or take 250 years.
Another image on the stone,
that of a headless man,
is believed to symbolize human disaster
and extensive loss of life.
Scientists have speculated for decades
whether a comet could have been the cause
of a sudden fall in temperature during a period known
as the Younger Dryas.
The Younger Dryas was essentially a mini ice age,
which lasted around a thousand years
and it's considered a critical period for humanity
as it was around the time agriculture
and the first Neolithic civilizations arose,
possibly in response to the arrival of a colder climate.
Dr. Martin Sweatman of the School of Engineering
at the University of Edinburgh led the research
into the Vulture Stone and commented
on the team's findings.
"I think this research,
along with a recent finding
of a widespread platinum anomaly
across the North American continent,
virtually seal the case in favor
of a Younger Dryas comet impact.
Our work serves to reinforce that physical evidence.
What is happening here is
the process of paradigm change.
[explosion booming]
It appears Gobekli Tepe was, among other things,
an observatory for monitoring the night sky.
One of its pillars seems to have served
as a memorial to this devastating event,
probably the worst day in history since the end
of the Ice Age."
The Vulture Stone,
labeled by archeologists Pillar 43,
is one of the oldest artifacts discovered
at Gobekli Tepe,
and archeologists have found that it exhibits signs
[mysterious music]
of being cared for by the people there for millennia,
which indicates that what was carved onto it
was very important.
Perhaps the event that researchers believe the images
on the stone depicted had a long-lasting impact
on the civilization in the area.
In their paper published on the Vulture Stone,
images in "Mediterranean Archeology
and Archeometry" in 2017, Dr. Sweatman
and Dimitrios Tsikritsis described
their findings connecting
the comet strike with Gobekli Tepe
and the onset of the Younger Dryas in more detail.
They said, "Symbolism on pillar 18 is consistent
with an event of cosmic origin.
The fox symbolism in particular suggests
a cosmic event originating
from a specific position.
The belt, buckle, eclipse,
and snake symbols are consistent
with a cometary encounter.
We also find evidence that a key function
of Gobekli Tepe was to observe meteor showers
and record cometary encounters.
Indeed, the people of Gobekli Tepe appear
to have had a special interest
in the Taurid meteor stream,
the same meteor stream that is proposed as responsible
for the Younger Dryas event."
Is Gobekli Tepe the smoking gun
for the Younger Dryas cometary encounter
and hence for coherent catastrophism?
Was Gobekli Tepe an observatory?
Dr. Sweatman's comment that Gobekli Tepe
may have functioned
as an observatory at some stage
in its history is a controversial one.
The claims of Gobekli Tepe's connection
to the night sky have been mostly rejected
by the main archeological team excavating the temple.
In their opinion,
although Gobekli Tepe is extraordinarily well preserved,
time and the elements have changed the location
of certain features at the site.
Some of the pillars at Gobekli Tepe were certainly removed
and recycled elsewhere during occupation of the site.
Moreover, later civilizations in the area
and more recently farmers have repositioned parts
of certain pillars,
even on some occasions breaking pieces off.
In a paper written in response
to the claims of Dr. Sweatman and his team,
they stated their main objection
to his claim that Gobekli Tepe was an observatory is
"There is significant possibility
that we are dealing with roofed structures.
This fact alone would pose limitations
to a function of sky observatories.
The arches depicted on the western broad side
of Pillar 43 could even be images
of the monumental buildings themselves covered
by a corbel roof."
Dr. Sweatman published a quick response
to the criticism of their work
by the excavators of Gobekli Tepe,
and in this response they reiterated
their hypothesis that Gobekli Tepe had been,
at an early stage at the site's history, an observatory,
whether it was in later life a roofed structure or not.
They said, "We suggest construction
[celestial music]
of the rough stone enclosure walls,
might or might not have supported a roof,
might have followed an earlier phase
of construction consisting
of relatively freestanding pillars.
We suggest this because the carvings on many
of the pillars are covered by these walls.
Given the undoubted extreme effort required
and limited resources available to construct the pillars
and their carvings,
it makes little sense to us that the builders
of Gobekli Tepe would have immediately hidden many
of the carvings within the rough stone enclosure wall.
We also note that whether Gobekli Tepe
was roofed at some point or not,
this has little bearing on the statistics
in our interpretation.
It only affects interpretation of the usage
of Gobekli Tepe at some point in its history."
[epic music]
Most people are familiar with the biblical story
[celestial music]
of Sodom and Gomorrah.
For most scholars, it is just a story,
but one scientific study has determined
that a clay tablet dating
from around 700 BC is a copy
of notes taken by an eyewitness
to the ancient asteroid impact
[asteroid whooshing]
believed to be responsible for the destruction
of the two biblical cities.
The cuneiform symbols on the tablet,
recently translated by researchers,
are believed to detail an account written
by an ancient Sumerian astronomer watching
the asteroid impact.
There were other competing theories
for the destruction of the two cities however.
Recently one researcher wrote
that he was convinced that Sodom
and Gomorrah were destroyed
by a massive earthquake followed
by a catastrophic landslide.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sodom and Gomorrah were two notoriously sinful cities
in the biblical book of Genesis,
located in the region of the Dead Sea
between what are now Israel
and Jordan in the Middle East.
Along with the cities of Admah, Zeboim,
and Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah constituted
the five cities of the plain referenced
throughout both the Old
and New Testaments and the Quran.
Genesis describes God's dissatisfaction
with Sodom and Gomorrah and his decision
to destroy them,
[energy whirring]
"The sun had risen over
the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the Lord out of heaven,
and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley,
and all the inhabitants of the cities,
and what grew on the ground.
But his wife from behind him looked back,
[celestial music]
and she became a pillar of salt.
Now Abraham arose early in the morning
and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord,
and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah
and toward all the land of the valley,
and he saw, and behold,
[fire crackling]
the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.
Thus, it came about,
when God destroyed the cities of the valley,
that God remembered Abraham
and sent Lot out in the midst
of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities
in which Lot lived."
[fire crackling]
It is an extremely dramatic story,
but is it merely fiction?
According to archeologists, scientists,
and biblical scholars, there is no evidence that Sodom
and its sister town Gomorrah even existed,
let alone that they came
to a sudden and disastrous end.
[eluding music]
The ancient clay tablet.
In March 2008, it was announced in the media that
an ancient clay tablet that had perplexed scientists
for over 150 years had been identified
as a witness's account of an asteroid
[cryptic music]
that destroyed the biblical cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah 5,000 years ago.
The cuneiform tablet known as the Planisphere is
in the British Museum collection number K8538,
and was discovered by Henry Layard in the remains
of the library in the royal palace at Nineveh.
The tablet was made
by an Assyrian scribe around 700 BC.
The recently translated cuneiform symbols are believed
to be an ancient copy of the night notebook made
by an ancient Sumerian astronomer who watched
the asteroid impact.
Astonishingly, scholars have been able
to pinpoint the date of the impact at dawn
on the 29th of June 3123 BC,
based on the symbols on the tablet
which describe cloud formation
and the positions of constellations in the sky.
The theory was put forward by Alan Bond,
Managing Director of Reaction Engines Limited,
and Mark Hempsell,
Senior Lecturer in Astronautics
at Bristol University in the UK,
who spent eight years researching the subject
and collecting evidence to support their theory.
The asteroid in question is believed
to have been over half a mile wide
and probably crashed into the Austrian Alps
at Kofels where there is evidence
of a huge ancient landslide.
It had long been thought
[asteroid roaring]
that a large object had impacted at Kofels,
the evidence being a giant landslide 640 feet thick
and 3.1 miles in diameter.
Hempsell described the ancient event
as he believes it happened.
"It came in at a very low angle
[asteroid whooshing]
around six degrees and then clipped
a mountain called Gamskogel
[calm music]
around 11 kilometers from Kofels.
This caused it to explode,
[explosion banging]
and as it traveled down the valley,
it became a fireball.
When it hit Kofels
[fireball whooshing]
it created enormous pressure,
which pulverized the rock and caused the landslide,
but because it wasn't solid,
there was no crater."
Another conclusion can be made
from the trajectory.
The back plume from the explosion,
the mushroom cloud,
[explosion banging]
would be bent over the Mediterranean Sea,
reentering the atmosphere
over the Levant, Sinai, and Northern Egypt.
The ground heating, though very short,
would be enough to ignite any flammable material
including human hair and clothes.
It's probable more people died under the plume
than in the Alps due to the impact blast.
According to Dr. Hempsell,
around 386,000 square miles
would've been devastated by the asteroid,
and the impact would've been equivalent
to more than 1000 tons of TNT exploding.
He believes that
at least 20 ancient myths record devastation
which could equate to that of the type
and on the scale of the asteroid's impact.
These stories include the Old Testament tale
of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton, son of Helios,
who fell into the river Eridanus
after losing control of his father's sun chariot.
Bond and Hempsell presented their theory
in their 2008 monograph,
"A Sumerian Observation of the Kofels Impact."
However, the academic world was far from convinced
by the asteroid theory.
Jon Taylor, a retired expert in Near Eastern archeology
at the British Museum,
pointed out that there was no evidence that
the ancient Sumerians had the ability
to make such accurate astronomical records,
and that our knowledge of Sumerian language
was very far from complete.
"I remain unconvinced by these results," he stated.
In December 2018, yet another theory accounting
for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah emerged.
This time, it was a meteor that exploded
in the air near the Dead Sea 3,700 years ago
and could have wiped out communities in the area
of the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam,
which according to one of its excavators, Steven Collins,
is the biblical city of Sodom from the Bible.
Part of the abstract from the conference presentation
by the two proponents of this new theory,
archeologists Philip J. Silvia
and Steven Collins
of Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, reads,
"The paper surveys the multiple lines
of evidence that collectively suggest
a Tunguska-like cosmic airburst event
that obliterated civilization,
including the Middle Bronze Age city-state anchored
by Tall el-Hammam.
In the Middle Ghor,
the 25-kilometer diameter circular plain
immediately north of the Dead Sea,
3,700 years before present."
[mysterious music]
The two researchers also have an intriguing explanation
as to how Lot's wife could have been turned
into a pillar of salt.
They theorize that the intense shock waves
from the blast may have also covered the area
with a superheated brine of Dead Sea anhydride salts.
This catastrophic event could also account for
the archeological evidence
that indicates that it took almost 600 years
for civilization to return to the area,
as the soil had been rendered useless for agriculture.
Did an earthquake destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?
A conflicting theory for the destruction
of the two biblical cities emerged a few years ago.
Retired geologist Graham Harris believes
that not only did Sodom and Gomorrah exist,
but that they were also destroyed
by a dreadful natural apocalypse corresponding
to the description in the book of Genesis.
Harris spent 10 years researching
in the area where the two biblical cities
were supposed to be located
and came to the conclusion that
the conditions there were perfect
for a massive earthquake that would've triggered
a huge landslide.
Harris believes the resulting destruction
of settlements in the area would've been
so devastating that it could have passed into folklore.
A summary of Harris's 2015 book on the subject,
"Destruction of Sodom:
The A Scientific Commentary," states,
"In 'The Destruction of Sodom,'
the biblical account of the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah is examined under the spotlight
of modern science against a cultural backdrop
of history and archeology.
In this scientific reconstruction,
the account of the events described
in the book of Genesis is verified,
and it is established that
the destruction occurred at about 2350 BC as a result
of an earthquake-induced landslide transporting Sodom
to the depths of the Dead Sea.
Strands of geography, geology,
and engineering science are drawn together
to provide comprehensive treatment
of all relevant scientific aspects pertinent
to a rational understanding of the mechanics
of the disaster.
Graham Harris provides evidence that the mainstay
of Canaanite commerce was the exploitation
of the bitumen resources of the Dead Sea,
that the Sodomites were among
the world's first chemical engineers.
"The Destruction of Sodom" is an example
of the application of science
to a fuller understanding
[bright music]
of one of the most intriguing events in the Old Testament
and will be of direct interest to scholars,
as well as to the wider public.
All these competing theories, of course,
can't be right, and thus far,
none of them have proved convincing enough
to be taken seriously by the academic world.
[ominous music]
[intense music]