Babak Fakhamzadeh
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Hancock, in the opening address puts forward his central premise: The arrival of two comets, some 12800 and 11600 years ago, destroyed an advanced civilisation where the survivors told of a time when 'mankind had fallen out of harmony with the universe'. Hancock then continues, "Did they bring the comets on themselves?", which sounds ominous. In the end, Hancock's claim is reasonable, if not proven directly, but his suggestion this advanced civilisation brought on the comets on themselves, and, as he also claims, this comet is set to return within our lifetime, is spurious.
Up until less then 10 years ago, no evidence existed for the source of two cataclysmic events in the distant past, triggering and ending a mini ice age between roughly 12800 and 11600 years ago. However, in 2007, initial discoveries, which have since been built on extensively, are now very convincing; a crashing meteorite kicked off this mini ice age (the 'Younger Dryas') while some other cataclysmic event ended it some 1200 years later (though for that event, no evidence exists as yet).
Hancock's first stop is at Göbekli Tepe, in southern Turkey, which archeologists pretty much agree on that it is at least 10600 years old, coinciding with the end of the last ice age. Then, Hancock makes an interesting, if fleeting, connection with glyphs at Göbekli Tepe, images of Quetzalcoatl and Oannes, an 'ancient sage' from Mesopotamia, said to have lived before the great flood and who basically brought civilization. The visual similarities, combined with the similar legends of a fish/bird (Middle East) and snake (Central America), personified as a white-skinned bearded strong man at the head of a small group of sages, bringing advanced knowledge of agriculture and architecture, make for an intriguing implication. The time frame, though seems off. Göbekli Tepe being active way before both the Assyrians or early Central American civilizations saw their primary years, or so we believe.
Hancock goes on to describe the megalithic site of Gunung Pradang. In Indonesia, recent archeological tests suggest that the oldest layers, here, date back to perhaps as much as 22000 years ago. Excavations were started to dig deep and confirm these preliminary findings, but the work has since been halted, hopefully temporarily. The lead archeologist at this site believes Gunung Pradang is actually Atlantis.
This is followed by geological proof of major flooding, possibly around 12000 years ago, specifically in north America, presaging the Younger Dryas, which in turn sees Hancock continue to make a credible argument for the impact of a fragmented comet triggering the 1200 year cold spell that was the Younger Dryas, ended by, Hancock suggests, another encounter with debris from perhaps the same comet, this now not hitting the ice caps, but the oceans, resulting in global warming, as opposed to global cooling, within a very short time frame.
Hancock follows this up with a review of ancient myths, beginning with Zoroaster. Hancock claims that 'Zoroaster borrows from much earlier traditions', but that feels somewhat like conjecture. In the Zoroastrian creation myth, the flood is countered by a Noah-like figure who is to build an underground bunker, containing seeds, mostly. Hancock suggests that the underground cities of cappadocia could be those very cities. Of course, possible, as the age of these cities is unknown, but pure speculation.
Then follows a description of the Sumerian creation myths that include the primary bringer of knowledge, Oannes, and his Seven Sages, or wise men. Interesting, but this part of the book is closest to Sitchin's many pretty much fictional stories, even if Hancock is less speculative. One point he emphasizes is that Oannes and his Seven Sages enlightened mankind *before* the flood. After the flood, only surrogates of the sages were left to help mankind along, even if, admitted by much later assyrian and Mesopotamian kings, original, antediluvian, knowledge supposedly still existed.
Hancock then shifts to Edfu, an old temple complex between Luxor and Aswan, containing inscriptions that more than echo Plato's story of Atlantis, going deeper and mirroring the Sumerian creation myth, complete with Seven Sages, serving a master. Though here, the sages are described to have come to Egypt after the destruction of Atlantis, that is, after the flood, as opposed to the Sumerian sages doing their thing before the flood.
Hancock spends a lot of time trying to convince the reader that Egyptian history goes as far back as the flood, through choice pickings of ancient Egyptian texts. But, his wordy treatise takes away from his credibility, as his only objective needs to be making the connection to an antediluvian world plausible, not definite. One connection, which he does makes plausible, is between Gizeh, and Baalbek, in Lebanon. Baalbek, like the sanctuary just north of Gizeh, was called Heliopolos, city of the sun, while there are indications that the Egyptian God Horus actually had come from modern day Lebanon, possibly through a Canaanite connection, the god being represented by a Phoenix, in turn possibly representing a cyclical comet, in turn physically represented by a meteorite, which might have resembled the capstone of the great pyramids.
Next, Hancock returns to Göbekli Tepe, making the claim that a particular depiction on one of the site's pillars represents a stellar configuration that uniquely identifies our time within a range of less than a century (or, to be precise, any similar region in time spaced a good 25000 or multiples thereof, on either side). This seems possible, but the supporting evidence does not seem overly strong to me.
Hancock continues with suggesting that the keepers of ancient wisdom were the Sabians, from the Egyptian for 'star', based in Harran, now in Turkey, while the story of the book of Enoch, a non-canonical bible book only rediscovered some 300 years ago, reinforces stories still available in Genesis, on the Nephilim. The Sabians, worshippers of Hermes, sometimes equated wit Enoch, an antediluvian prophet, survived Islamic prosecution as they managed to claim being people of he book, well, until the 13th century or so, after their last pilgrimage to Gizeh and Islamic golden age. Yet, a copy of the Hermetica, the works of Hermes, showed up with the Italian de Medicis in around 1479, just in time for the discovery of the new world.
Of course, in Hancock's eyes, the Nephilim, or perhaps their angelic parents, are the sages.
In the final chapters, Hancock unnecessarily covers some aspects of both Easter Island and megalithic constructions in Peru.
In short, my take aways: + A meteorite hit earth around 10800BC, resulting in cataclysmic change and a 1200 year long ice age. + Another cataclysmic event happened around 9600BC. + Göbekli Tepe is about 12000 years old, saw its inhabitants create megalithic structures and 'invent' agriculture. + The pyramids probably refer to both the period around 12000 years ago and 2500BC and, perhaps, in part, were constructed much earlier than the generally accepted date of 2500BC. + Baalbek might have been constructed much earlier than currently thought. + Gunung Pradang might date back to around 12000 years ago. + Egyptian creation myths parallel Plato's story of Atlantis and imply referring back to a time that could be as early as 12000 years ago. + Plenty of parallels exist between the Egyptian creation myth and similar myths from other middle eastern peoples. + The Sabians, amongst other ancient cultures, were competent, if not very good, astrologers. + North American Indians have creation myths that seem to talk about a cataclysmic event resembling a major meteor impact.
Hancock's biggest drawback is that he is overly verbose and at times reverts to writing a travelogue. Sticking to the facts, speculating as little as possible, would have done the book, and his credibility, good. Yet, in the end, a plausible theory emerges suggesting that an advanced civilization could have existed before the cataclysmic events of roughly 12000 years ago. Hancock reaches, at times, but his central premise is credible, if still speculative.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Hancock, in the opening address puts forward his central premise: The arrival of two comets, some 12800 and 11600 years ago, destroyed an advanced civilisation where the survivors told of a time when 'mankind had fallen out of harmony with the universe'. Hancock then continues, "Did they bring the comets on themselves?", which sounds ominous. In the end, Hancock's claim is reasonable, if not proven directly, but his suggestion this advanced civilisation brought on the comets on themselves, and, as he also claims, this comet is set to return within our lifetime, is spurious.
Up until less then 10 years ago, no evidence existed for the source of two cataclysmic events in the distant past, triggering and ending a mini ice age between roughly 12800 and 11600 years ago. However, in 2007, initial discoveries, which have since been built on extensively, are now very convincing; a crashing meteorite kicked off this mini ice age (the 'Younger Dryas') while some other cataclysmic event ended it some 1200 years later (though for that event, no evidence exists as yet).
Hancock's first stop is at Göbekli Tepe, in southern Turkey, which archeologists pretty much agree on that it is at least 10600 years old, coinciding with the end of the last ice age. Then, Hancock makes an interesting, if fleeting, connection with glyphs at Göbekli Tepe, images of Quetzalcoatl and Oannes, an 'ancient sage' from Mesopotamia, said to have lived before the great flood and who basically brought civilization. The visual similarities, combined with the similar legends of a fish/bird (Middle East) and snake (Central America), personified as a white-skinned bearded strong man at the head of a small group of sages, bringing advanced knowledge of agriculture and architecture, make for an intriguing implication. The time frame, though seems off. Göbekli Tepe being active way before both the Assyrians or early Central American civilizations saw their primary years, or so we believe.
Hancock goes on to describe the megalithic site of Gunung Pradang. In Indonesia, recent archeological tests suggest that the oldest layers, here, date back to perhaps as much as 22000 years ago. Excavations were started to dig deep and confirm these preliminary findings, but the work has since been halted, hopefully temporarily. The lead archeologist at this site believes Gunung Pradang is actually Atlantis.
This is followed by geological proof of major flooding, possibly around 12000 years ago, specifically in north America, presaging the Younger Dryas, which in turn sees Hancock continue to make a credible argument for the impact of a fragmented comet triggering the 1200 year cold spell that was the Younger Dryas, ended by, Hancock suggests, another encounter with debris from perhaps the same comet, this now not hitting the ice caps, but the oceans, resulting in global warming, as opposed to global cooling, within a very short time frame.
Hancock follows this up with a review of ancient myths, beginning with Zoroaster. Hancock claims that 'Zoroaster borrows from much earlier traditions', but that feels somewhat like conjecture. In the Zoroastrian creation myth, the flood is countered by a Noah-like figure who is to build an underground bunker, containing seeds, mostly. Hancock suggests that the underground cities of cappadocia could be those very cities. Of course, possible, as the age of these cities is unknown, but pure speculation.
Then follows a description of the Sumerian creation myths that include the primary bringer of knowledge, Oannes, and his Seven Sages, or wise men. Interesting, but this part of the book is closest to Sitchin's many pretty much fictional stories, even if Hancock is less speculative. One point he emphasizes is that Oannes and his Seven Sages enlightened mankind *before* the flood. After the flood, only surrogates of the sages were left to help mankind along, even if, admitted by much later assyrian and Mesopotamian kings, original, antediluvian, knowledge supposedly still existed.
Hancock then shifts to Edfu, an old temple complex between Luxor and Aswan, containing inscriptions that more than echo Plato's story of Atlantis, going deeper and mirroring the Sumerian creation myth, complete with Seven Sages, serving a master. Though here, the sages are described to have come to Egypt after the destruction of Atlantis, that is, after the flood, as opposed to the Sumerian sages doing their thing before the flood.
Hancock spends a lot of time trying to convince the reader that Egyptian history goes as far back as the flood, through choice pickings of ancient Egyptian texts. But, his wordy treatise takes away from his credibility, as his only objective needs to be making the connection to an antediluvian world plausible, not definite. One connection, which he does makes plausible, is between Gizeh, and Baalbek, in Lebanon. Baalbek, like the sanctuary just north of Gizeh, was called Heliopolos, city of the sun, while there are indications that the Egyptian God Horus actually had come from modern day Lebanon, possibly through a Canaanite connection, the god being represented by a Phoenix, in turn possibly representing a cyclical comet, in turn physically represented by a meteorite, which might have resembled the capstone of the great pyramids.
Next, Hancock returns to Göbekli Tepe, making the claim that a particular depiction on one of the site's pillars represents a stellar configuration that uniquely identifies our time within a range of less than a century (or, to be precise, any similar region in time spaced a good 25000 or multiples thereof, on either side). This seems possible, but the supporting evidence does not seem overly strong to me.
Hancock continues with suggesting that the keepers of ancient wisdom were the Sabians, from the Egyptian for 'star', based in Harran, now in Turkey, while the story of the book of Enoch, a non-canonical bible book only rediscovered some 300 years ago, reinforces stories still available in Genesis, on the Nephilim. The Sabians, worshippers of Hermes, sometimes equated wit Enoch, an antediluvian prophet, survived Islamic prosecution as they managed to claim being people of he book, well, until the 13th century or so, after their last pilgrimage to Gizeh and Islamic golden age. Yet, a copy of the Hermetica, the works of Hermes, showed up with the Italian de Medicis in around 1479, just in time for the discovery of the new world.
Of course, in Hancock's eyes, the Nephilim, or perhaps their angelic parents, are the sages.
In the final chapters, Hancock unnecessarily covers some aspects of both Easter Island and megalithic constructions in Peru.
In short, my take aways: + A meteorite hit earth around 10800BC, resulting in cataclysmic change and a 1200 year long ice age. + Another cataclysmic event happened around 9600BC. + Göbekli Tepe is about 12000 years old, saw its inhabitants create megalithic structures and 'invent' agriculture. + The pyramids probably refer to both the period around 12000 years ago and 2500BC and, perhaps, in part, were constructed much earlier than the generally accepted date of 2500BC. + Baalbek might have been constructed much earlier than currently thought. + Gunung Pradang might date back to around 12000 years ago. + Egyptian creation myths parallel Plato's story of Atlantis and imply referring back to a time that could be as early as 12000 years ago. + Plenty of parallels exist between the Egyptian creation myth and similar myths from other middle eastern peoples. + The Sabians, amongst other ancient cultures, were competent, if not very good, astrologers. + North American Indians have creation myths that seem to talk about a cataclysmic event resembling a major meteor impact.
Hancock's biggest drawback is that he is overly verbose and at times reverts to writing a travelogue. Sticking to the facts, speculating as little as possible, would have done the book, and his credibility, good. Yet, in the end, a plausible theory emerges suggesting that an advanced civilization could have existed before the cataclysmic events of roughly 12000 years ago. Hancock reaches, at times, but his central premise is credible, if still speculative.