As any truth should be up for debate and question before it is just simply believed, I challenge you to seek within yourself and within your own intelect and spiritual eyes to look around you and begin to question reality as an individual and then as a collective.
Considered to be the oldest archeological city excavated in modern history, Jericho sits approximately 65 ft above a plain and about 800 ft below sea level in the Jordanian valley just north of the Dead Sea.It is estimated to have had been occupied as early as 8000 BC.Due to an underground spring, Jericho was a city that thrived with springtime weather all year around and for this; it was given the name, “city of palms.”This gave the city of Jericho the advantage of great agricultural accomplishments.This advantage allowed them to grow such things as bananas, dates, and many other assorted fruits and vegetables.Through archeological findings there is evidence that the beginning of Jericho’s history was probably first nomadic, as it slowly became a settled community.
Jericho is rich in the History of the Middle Eastern peoples that have lived near and around the site.According to Biblical Text it was under siege by Joshua who was told by God to march around the city seven times.When Joshua and the people of Israel marched around Jericho on the seventh day, and as the priest of Israel blew their ram horns seven times, the city walls fell in ruin, thus giving Joshua and the army of Israel complete reign over the city.Joshua and the armies of Israel slaughtered every member of the city except one person and her family; this person was Rahab, a prostitute who helped the spies of Israel in this nomadic siege against the people and the city of Jericho.It is documented Rahab is a descendant of Christ.
Jericho’s past began to unravel when the British archeologist Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950’s found that through several millennia did Jericho thrive.The main mound “Tell es-sultan” is the remnant of several layers of settlements, each thriving during different times in history.There have been sixty-five centuries of habitation in Jericho with perhaps more than ten different cultures occupying the city at different times in history.Jericho, the ancient city, was first discovered when a strange structure first thought to be a shrine was unearthed along with a wall much older than the wall Joshua was to have been destroyed.
The people of Jericho built a massive wall around 7000 BC; there was also a giant ditch cut deep into the rock that led to a high tower, in this tower were found twelve skeletons with masks of clay on each, this gives notion to ancestor worship, but that is only speculative.This discovery proves Jericho was a city of a rather vast population of perhaps two to three thousand people.This evidence also gives proof of massive building of cities by early civilizations long before archeologist first estimated, which is three thousand years before the Sumerians, the first then known city builder’s.It is also estimated somewhere around the time of the Middle Bronze Age that the city of Jericho was laid to waste by a devastating fire.There is also evidence of rebuilding during the fourteenth century not long after this devastation occurred.This new construction project probably took place during the time of Joshua’s invasions.After the seventh century BC there is no more evidence of this site being the chief center of Jericho, what happened is not recollected.
The new modern Jericho is now ruled by the Palestinian people due to a peace accord written in May 1993 between the Palestinians and the Israeli Government.This made Jericho the first city to be occupied by a self ruled Palestinian State on the West Bank.The estimated population of today’s Jericho including those in refugee camps and the surrounding area by a 1994 census is 25,000 people of both Palestinian and Israeli descent.Like the old city, the new Jericho is still fed by the same underground spring. It is still surrounded by rich land and a humid and mild climate that make it suitable for a new revived city of ancient lineage.With a year round springtime the new Jericho thrives like the old city as new housing projects sprouts into new suburbs for a very troubled land.
When the first known European peoples landed upon the shores of the Americas, history became confused. Such questions arose within the theological church, as to the beginnings and location of the origins of man. Coming upon metropolitan complexes derived from the Aztec Indians (and even the silent and long forgotten cultures before, such as the Maya, and even stranger, the Inca), these Spanish conquerors must have felt some awe at the megalithic monuments of these strange and alien cultures. Thought to have been brought from the pit of hell itself, the Spanish were terrified at the sights of many religious practices of these people, as the Aztecs slaughtered hundreds of victims daily in religious sacrifice by cutting out the beating hearts of their enemies with sacred blades of obsidian. So to eradicate fear, the Spanish destroyed much of the possible elements of any historical evidence of these cultures that may have had any connection to the old world.
To find a connection between the old world and the new has not been easy for scholars as they try to fit together the pieces of this mysterious puzzle. In most cultures mythology is many times mixed with fact and event, and then through the years handed down by word of mouth or particular text, as half mythological and half historical
There is one such story of interest to the origins of history and this is concerning Votan, another form of the god Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent. For reasons unknown Votan was ordered by the gods to go to America to found a culture. Votan traveled to the Americas and founded the Mayan city of Palenque. His home of origin was a place called Valum Chivum a place of unidentified location. According to ancient text Votan traveled back to his home annually to where at last, “he came upon a tower which was originally planned to reach the heavens but which was destroyed by a confusion of tongues.” Rather or not this has any connections to the biblical story of Babel one can only speculate. Also, being that there is any validity to this mythological tale it might mean the timing of these cultures are much older then perceived. Another strange twist to this tale is that he was allowed to use a subterranean passage that reached the “rock of heaven.” This is strange, for gigantic subterranean passages are for a fact being discovered in Central and South America. These tunnels lead for miles, they are gigantic and no one knows who built them, how old they are, or where they lead to.
Quetzalcoatl is found in hundreds if not thousands of faces within the Aztec and Mayan religion. He was the god of light, beauty, and flowers. He was a representation of the sun, the sacred fire, the running rivers and flying birds, and in the darker aspects, (still to our western thinking) he was that of death and sacrifice. The representation between the identity of Votan and Quetzacoatl are not clear, just that he declared himself as the serpent who was sent by the gods as a sacrifice to create a true manhood in the western hemisphere.
It is obvious the distorted beliefs of Votan (or better know as Quetzalcoatl) have been widely transformed throughout the history of the Mayan people and then later the Aztecs. But historians are sure of one thing that this god was once of human form and he defiantly made an impact upon the people of the region for several centeries after his departure.
According to many scholars and historians the people of the Americas originated from Siberia and made their way downward but that is only popular opinion. No one really knows where the people of the Americas had come from or how long they had been here.
Due to recent findings of a female body in Arizona by archeologists, there are new theories now claiming that American Indians of the southwest may have derived from the Imu, a culture that intermingled with the people of what is now modern day Japan, but there is no proof as to say this is where all the Indian cultures of North and South America had derived from. The bone structure of the Indian people in the Arizona/New Mexico region holds a striking resemblance to the Japanese people. Archeologists have found evidence of Vikings of an earlier period on the northeastern Atlantic seaboard, in the southwest were found Celtic ogams dating 500 AD. There are also theories of trading by the Phoenicians with Central American Indians that have reached as far north as the United States. It is rare findings like these that shed light on a once strange and mysterious landmass that the Spanish conquerors claimed as the “abode of all evil.”
Compared many times to the glory of the Greeks, the Aztec culture left many things for the people of Europe to indulge. They gave chocolate, coffee, rubber, and most of all, gold. As the Romans thought of the Scots when they reached the island of naked, blue painted savages, the Spanish must have had the same reaction and maybe even worse, because the Aztecs were a people of structured governance, and to the western mind of the Spanish warriors with a devout thought of Christ and the Catholic Church, the Aztecs by that aspect were more then barbaric in nature, they were of evil origin and must be destroyed.
Could it be regardless of how civilized we seem, there is always that primal aspect of our nature, dark and fordoding within the primal minds of all men just waiting to escape, as we rise, just to fall into the decadence like many, if not all, cultures before us?
From the dark depths of man’s past, dangerous creatures have led to the creations of many myths. Greece, Africa, North, and South America, and the aborigines of Australia, all had strange tales of foreboding monsters. With still much of our land mass unexplored, and most of our ocean depths untouched, what unknown life forms still remain undetected by mankind?
Mythical monsters among the seafaring peoples were common. The Vikings had many tales of fighting the great sea beasts. One such creature was the Kraken, a mythological beast of Norse legend. Ancient mariners many times would return home claiming to have had encounters with the Kraken while at sea. According to these witnesses this creature was said to be so large it was often dangerously mistaken for a small chain of islands.
The northern waters of the Atlantic seaboard have had abundant sightings of strange creatures from the sea for centuries, especially near the western coast of Norway. Documented reports have recorded creatures as long as 300 feet (Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric Survivors 107).
One island linking to the chain of the Hebrides is Eilean Mor. This island like many other islands of the Hebrides is uninhabited by man, and probably for good reason. The history of Eilean Mor (like many other islands of the Hebrides) is mysterious. In December of 1899, a new beacon was completed to guide the ships at sea. However, on this island three people had already died, while several others had gone insane. Then in 1900, the island with its newly constructed lighthouse had to be abandoned due to the disappearance of three men. (Posey, Vanishings 14).
There were reports of a violent storm earlier in the month. The logs reported that the storm had ceased, which was proof that the men had not been washed out to sea due to the storm. Giant waves were said to have been responsible for ripping away and twisting the iron railings on the landing. This is rather unusual (but not impossible) considering the railings were 200 feet above high tide. It is suggested that the disappearance of these men was due to the abduction of some sea creature or giant sea bird (Posy, Vanishings 14).
The Hydra is another mythological marine monster from the watery depths. Greek legend tells of this monster having numerous heads. If it lost a head, it simply grew two more in its place, much like the octopus or squid when it loses a limb. If there would be any shred of evidence found to this myth, it would be to consider the relation and similarities of the octopus or squid, or even its separation as a completely different life form (Cave, Mysterious Creatures 13).
In the book of Job, Leviathan is said to be fire breathing and “with eyelids of the dawn.” (Jerusalem Bible, Job 40:25-27, 41:1-25).
Job writes of this great and colossal beast as ruling the waters of the deep. It is also interesting to consider that much deep-sea marine life have eyes that are reflective, many even glow as they set off lights as a beacon to then devour its prey. It is a fact that large and elusive creatures exist deep in our oceans. Many deep-sea creatures that have been documented are still an enigma. Also, where their reproductive cycles are concerned, this many times remains a complete unknown.
The Bible along with other ancient text holds strange mysteries that modern man has yet to unravel. One such mystery is the giants, somewhat closer to the race of men, yet still monstrous in our sight. These beings inhabited much of our folklore and legend from many different parts of the world. It has even been mentioned that a race of giants from Africa carried the stones of Stonehenge, and that these beings were responsible for the construction of that site (Horan, Mystic Places 78, 79).
One of the most interesting tales of Peruvian mythology has been handed down for centuries by word of mouth and has now become a legendary tradition along the coastal region. This tale consisted of a race of giants arriving in large balsa boats. The native peoples were terrified of this race of giants. It is said they were so tall that a good-sized man only came up to the knees of these beings. According to legend, they ate extensively and the people of the region did everything in their power to avoid them. Since the native women would have nothing to do with them, they began practicing sodomy. According to legend a shining angel appeared with a glittering sword and destroyed these giants with a single blow leaving a remnant of their remains as a reminder. In this region have been found large bones and teeth. (Burland, Nicholson, and Osborne, 346).
Cryptozoology is relatively a recent science researching the ancient prim evil origins of animals thought to have been extinct or yet documetned. The coelacanth did much favor to this science when it was discovered off the shores of Mozambique in 1938. Though science considered this fish to be extinct for 70 million years, the natives of the area had been fishing it out of the sea for years. This fish forced the scientific community to think again about what other life forms thought to be extinct, may be still in existence (Cave, 23)
Many legends concerning the giant squid, scientifically named Architeuthis dux, has been told for centuries. It is quite possible that this creature is responsible for the Kraken and Hydra legends of Greece and Scandinavia mentioned earlier. Much is still unknown about this giant and very aggressive marine animal since it spends much of its life in the ocean depths. When it does make its appearance on the surface it can be very devastating for those who encounter the squid. Sharp talons on each sucker discs consisting on its eight arms gives the squid the ability to literally shred its prey to pieces.
One encounter of the great architeuthis took place on St. John’s Harbor on the northern coast of Newfoundland in 1873. Two men and a young boy set out to fish for herring when they came upon what at first was thought to be floating seaweed. One of the men jabbed at the object when they realized it wasn’t what they had suspected. It erupted into motion had grabbed the boat with its eight long arms and two tentacles. They would not have escaped, if not for young boy, Tom Piccot. The monstrous creature was drawing the boat and the three individuals towards its beak, but at the same time this young individual was hatching furiously at one of its tentacles. The monster finally submerged back into the water as it dispersed its ink like fluid in the water. The boy had managed to dismember one of the tentacles. Though this was not the complete length of the tentacle, it measured nineteen feet. (Cave, Mysterious Creatures 47-50)
Another new member to add on mans list of animals is the mountain gorilla that has made its home in the Virunga Volcano range bordering the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda, and Zaire. The rumors of its existence had been speculated for decades, though science refused to believe the reports from the native peoples until its final discovery in 1902. (Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric Survivors 174)
The giant anaconda living in the Amazon jungles according to the natives is said to become humongous. The estimated length of these creatures is 24 feet. Reports, however, of the Anaconda by eyewitness and local natives being much larger have been documented. In 1948, a newspaper report in Rio De Janeiro, along with a photo of the creature had documented one specimen as large as 115 feet. It took 500 machine gun bullets to destroy the beast (Shuker, The Unexplained 181).
The most famous of all cryptozoological creatures is the Lock Ness Sea Monster, better known as Nessie to loyal fans. This is the creature children throughout the world seem to fall in love with. Maybe perhaps because this creature still has the ability to cleverly outwit and elude man and science. Surrounded by high mountains and legends, Loch Ness is nestled in a remote area, which any could very well contain multiple creatures of crytozoological description, not just the Loch Ness Monster alone.
Such reports of other creatures in and around the Loch have been reported. In 1880, one very interesting account must be mentioned. Diver Duncan MacDonald was being lowered down the canal entrance of the lake to examine a sunken ship. When lowered, it was not long before he was pulling on the rope to be brought back up. When brought to the surface of the lake, MacDonald was in extreme fear and did not speak of his experience for several days afterwards, and refused to ever go back into the water again. What MacDonald claimed to have seen was a large creature resembling a frog, staring straight at him. Regarding this incident, Shuker mentions, “An underwater eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with what could well be an exceedingly large carnivorous beast of uncertain identity and even more uncertain temperament would be a decidedly unnerving experience for anyone!” (Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, 91)
Another recent incident and interesting animal getting public attention is the mokele-mbembe of the Peoples Republic of the Congo. Cryptozoology would hardly be a science without the unraveling developments of this creature. Two British expeditions have already taken place. Operation Congo in 1986, and Operation Congo 2 in 1992, led by the explorer Bill Gibbons. These expeditions have been somewhat of a struggle regarding the harsh conditions of the area, deeming each attempt to locate and track this beast, unsuccessful. Like most creatures that remain elusive, its habitat is not fit for the conditions for man (Shuker, The Unexplained 91).
According to numerous eyewitnesses, this creature has a strong resemblance to the Brontosaurus. Like Loch Ness, who is believed by many to be a plesiosaur, the mokele-mbembe is probably a relative of the ancient dinosaur. With new evidence surfacing this leaves us with the question, is prehistoric animals, such as the dinosaur really extinct? If not, then this leaves our whole scientific view of evolution, zoology, and even the origins of man in question.
Works Cited
Burland, Cottie, Nicholson, Irene, and Osborne, Harold. Mythology of the America’s.
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Cave, Janet. Editor. Mysterious Creatures. Time Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia:
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Horan, Anne. Editor. Mystic Places. Time Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia: 1987.
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Posey, Carl A. Editor. Vanishings. Time Life Books. Alexandria, Virginia: 1990.
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