I recently came across this interesting scholarly article on how Aryan Paleobabble was used by the Nazis. It’s a good academic introduction tracing their rationale and (mis)use of archaeology, linguistics, and social science data.
Had to direct you all to this succinct list of spurious material that many of you have probably heard from a pulpit or on the radio. Kudos again to Todd Bolen for alerting me to this. Here are some that made the list, along with some links for more detail):
It reminded me of my days as an undergrad in a historiography class. I went to a school that required a Sunday Vespers attendance, and it never seemed to fail that Monday morning our professor would express some point of (righteous, in my view) indignation over some item in the Vespers service lacking historical merit (or any sort of theological propriety given the school’s traditional Christian orientation). It was entertaining listening to him dissect a chosen hymn, illustration, or ancient anecdote and demonstrate its fallacious or ill-chosen nature. One of my favorites was the session where the professor really went off on how Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic (“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…”) was glorified for its theological weightiness. Howe was a transcendentalist Unitarian deist — all ideas that the school would have opposed. What fun.
I guess they’re using the rest of the thorns collected by medieval relic-hoarders to built a replica of Noah’s ark in Kentucky. Oh, wait — I got the thorn mixed up with pieces from the cross.
At least this piece of paleo-nonsense involved a journalist who has grown enough of a conscience to tell us that, “while no one can doubt the item’s rich history, there is less evidence to support the claims of its provenance.” No kidding. What has the British Museum come to?
My thanks to Melania for this!
Here’s a brief description by Archaeoblog of the National Geographic show on the latest theory on Atlantis that I blogged a couple days ago. From the post:
It was interesting and not really all that out there but not terribly convincing. You could say “just excavate” but it’s apparently mostly waterlogged not very far down so just sinking some test pits is probably out of the question, unless you have gobs of money to throw around.
This report on recent research by a real archaeologist and academic team (i.e., not Edgar Cayce disciples) is interesting. It appears worth following the results. There will apparently be a National Geographic Special on this tonight. Here’s an excerpt:
A research team searching for the fabled Lost City of Atlantis says it may have been found, just off the coast of southern Spain.
Leading a team of international geologists and archeologists, University of Hartford professor Richard Freund used the detailed accountings [sic] of Greek philosopher Plato as a map, narrowing down the location to the Mediterranian and Atlantic.
Then, a satellite photo of a suspected submerged city was used to find the site just north of Cadiz, Spain. There, buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, the team believes they have pinpointed the ancient, multi-ringed dominion known as Atlantis.
Since the exact spot of the alleged submerged city was not indicated, I couldn’t find anything worth showing you on Google Earth. Perhaps after the National Geographic special more details will be on the web.
An interesting report on an Egyptological exhibition “aiming to quash some of the more bizarre Hollywood theories.”
Ever wondered how a few lines of Plato’s Timaeus that mention Atlantis somehow morphed into a myth so bloated that you can fill a library wing with tomes by “authorities” and “researchers” describing the science, technology, religion, and enlightened culture of a place that may well never have existed? Yeah, me too. For the record, here’s what Plato actually said — the passing comments upon which a paper and ink mountain has been erected:
For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, ‘the pillars of Heracles,’ there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travelers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean. For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvelous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent (Timaeus 24e–25a, R. G. Bury translation (Loeb Classical Library).
The good news is that we now have a true work of scholarship (don’t be misled by the book’s cover) that helps us understand how Plato’s trickle became the gusher of crapulence we now know as “the great Atlantean civilization.” I speak of Jocelyn Godwin’s recent Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations.
For those unfamiliar with Godwin, he is a legitimate scholar of esoteric thought. Don’t be misled by the book’s cover. Don’t be misled by the fact that it’s published by Inner Traditions. Anything by Godwin is worth reading. Be warned that this book won’t be light reading. I’ve read Godwin’s earlier work, Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival. That book has perhaps the worst cover art in publishing history, but it’s a scholarly feast. I expect the same for this book as well.
You can read a review of Atlantis and the Cycles of time over on the Magonia site. I’ll be ordering my copy right away.
This is a topic that many readers will be familiar with. It circulates widely on the web. In a nutshell, it’s the notion that the ten tribes of Israel (the northern kingdom of the divided monarchy in ancient Israelite history) that were deported and scattered by the Assyrians eventually migrated in some fashion to the British Isles. The British colonists who came to America are their descendants, and so Britain / America was / is the new Israel. In case some of you have not heard of this idea, here is a summary (see the Wikipedia entry as well).
Criticisms and debunkings of the idea have been around since its genesis. I’d like to direct your attention to a recent lengthy expose on the subject. I know the author (Greg Doudna). Greg is a published expert on the Dead Sea scrolls. His religious background was in circles that promote the lost ten tribes mythology. Hence his interest and this book (the book’s title is awful, leaving the reader no clue as to the subject matter).
Here is a (sort of) summary of the book. Readers can access the book through Google Books here (I have it open to chapter 6).
Another interesting and relevant post from Kate Phizackerley over at the Valley of the Kings blog.
Kate added a follow-up comment about the video at the above link:
If you are finding the video hard, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scota) is a bit dry but gives the bare bones. If you’d like to know more than that then the Kingdom of the Ark by Lorraine Evans is an accessible book. I don’t agree with all of her conclusions but she looks at things like the Ferriby Boats when discussing the feasibility of sea travel from Egypt to Ireland which is interesting reading of itself. I picked up my copy on Amazon for a penny plus P&P.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the crystal skulls before. They are allegedly ancient Mayan artifacts capable of mysterious powers, like inspiring a terrible Indiana Jones movie. Turns out they aren’t ancient (I know–what a shocker). But look on the bright side. Maybe George Lucas will retire from script writing now.
