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 by Dr. Rita Louise
Our past, our history is set in stone. Isn't it? We have all been taught the history of the world. The majority of us probably can regurgitate the same version of the story, give or take a few details. First, there was Adam and Eve. Then there was Noah and the flood. One of my favorite historical stories is Saddam and Gomorrah. That one ended with a bang.
Next were the Egyptians who developed the first great civilization in the world. They build the pyramids and the sphinx. The Jews hung out with the Egyptians for a while until they got fed up with the management and left with Moses. The Greeks took over after the decline of the Egyptians and ruled the known world that is until the Romans conquered them. The Dark Ages were next and from what I understand, they were very dark. The Renaissance thankfully followed. We next moved into the industrial revolution, the cold war and the space age. The computer revolution came on next, thus leaving us here where we are today.
The history we have learned in school seems so neat, clean and succinct. No lose ends, nothing to question. The way this information was presented to us left us believing what we were told was 100% true and completely accurate. Experts, the people "in the know", were passing on the information to us. Why should we question what they said?
But history, our history is not so neat and clean. For example, where does early man fit in? You know the ones I am talking about...people like the Neanderthal s or the ones who drew those pictures on the cave walls. Were they before Adam or after?
Then there were the Sumerians who lived where Iraq is today. Did you know that they established an advanced civilization, which predated the Egyptian empire by 1000 years? They are described as having invented agriculture, the wheel , writing, arithmetic and irrigation systems. They are acknowledged as being the first to build cities made out of brick. I do not know about you, but I think that is impressive.
Then there are those pesky Indians, the Chinese, the Native Americans and the cultures found in South America and Africa. While we know their cultures existed somewhere in our distant past, we really do not know how they fit into the big picture either.
It always amuses me to watch shows which talk about our past on television. They talk about our history as if they have explored all of the evidence, evaluated all of the finds and know unquestionably that THIS is how humankind developed over the millennia. Period.
Talking in finite terms, as many historians, archeologists and anthropologists like to do, provide us with a measure of stability as to who we are, and were we come from. The sad thing is, unfortunately, is that many of them are unbending in their opinions. They are hell bent on keeping the status quo and not messing up the neat and orderly timeline that was set into place hundreds of years ago.
Writers of "alternative history", that is history that does not agree with academia, have been around for roughly the same length of time. Their theories are often pooh-poohed by mainstream science and he or she often find themselves shunned by their peers. Evidence, which proves the alternative historian's theories, are discounted, overlooked or somehow... mysteriously lost - oh I mean misplaced, never to be seen again.
Recent archeological finds, however, are challenging the hold historians have on our past. These finds are so massive that they cannot be hidden or overlooked. Our history, is about to change.
In 1992, Dr. Robert Schoch, a geologist and Associate Professor of Science and Mathematics at Boston University, working with John Anthony West, went to Egypt to evaluate the weathering patterns on the rocks that enclose the Sphinx. The Sphinx was carved out of a natural rock formation on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. It is believed that the rock the head of the Sphinx was carved from a stone that protruded out of the ground. The body of the Sphinx was created by digging into the ground and removing limestone from around what was to be the body. The net result is that the Sphinx is surrounded on three sides by a massive limestone wall.
Dr. Schoch evaluated the weathering patterns on the surrounding stone. He determined that the wear pattern was not that of wind and sand erosion but of water, water that over time created unmistakable patterns in the stone. Ok, so what is the big deal? People living in the Old Kingdom during the reign of the pharaoh Khafra built the Sphinx, at least that is what Egyptologists say. Khafra lived around 2500BCE.
This date has one huge problem. It has been established scientifically that an abundance of flowing water existed in Northern Africa at one point in its history. They also know that by 2500BCE (the time when the Sphinx was supposedly built), the area of the Sphinx was arid and looked much as it does today. The amount of water required to create the kinds of erosion patterns seen on the Sphinx complex has not existed in that area of Egypt for over 9000 years. This date does not account for the time it would take for the stone to erode to its current state. Dr. Schoch's findings were quickly dismissed by mainstream science.
Recent discoveries, nevertheless, are not as easy to hide. Six miles from Urfa, Turkey, an ancient city was found. The site was originally noted in an American survey in 1964 but it was thought to be the location of a Byzantine cemetery. It was overlooked and never explored.
It resurfaced in 1994 and an excavation of the site began. Massive carved t-shaped stone pillars were quickly discovered and unearthed. Some of the pillars are over 9 feet tall with the average pillar weighing anywhere from 10 to 20 tons each. Several remarkable pillars weigh up to 50 tons. Unlike Stonehenge, these pillars are carefully carved with relief figures, which depict bulls, foxes, snakes, lions, birds and waterfowl.
The site, which is being called Gobekli Tepe, spreads over an area of about 22 acres. It has been dated to around 11,000 years ago. Said another way, it is believed that Gobekli Tepe was build in 9000BCE. This date predates the Egyptians by almost 6000 years. Evidence indicates that they were built before the Neolithic Revolution, which includes the development of pottery, metallurgy, writing and agriculture. What is even more amazing about this site is that it was buried intentionally. Why? No one knows for sure.
Another ancient site of mass proportion is the Bosnian Pyramid complex. Located in the heart of Bosnia in the town of Visoko, this complex first gained international attention in 2005. This site is made up of five separate pyramid structures called the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Dragon, the Pyramid of the Love and Temple of the Earth.
Debate is still raging as to whether the structures found are naturally occurring or man-made. Pictures of finds coming out of Bosnia are amazing. They show smooth cut stone walkways and rune-like text carvings in rocks. There are a series of tunnels, which run under the pyramid. Another surprising find at this site are a number of large stone balls. These man-made granite stone balls vary in size from small to extra large. What is even more astounding is that similar stone balls were found in the 1930's in Costa Rica, South America. While the jury is still out for a best guess date, it is believed that the pyramids are at least 5,000years old, if not significantly older.
Where did we come from? What are our roots? Apparently, no one really knows for sure - at least not right now. Will we ever know the truth? I can only hope that the history that has been ignored, overlooked or repressed gets looked at again and evaluated with a new set of eyes. My biggest hope is that wherever the facts may take us instead of being afraid of it we should embrace it, own it and revel in it -. Then perhaps all of those missing, I mean lost artifacts will again surface and we can once again enjoy the magnificence that is our legacy.
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