Ancient Sites and Artefacts V

[Mystic Wanderer]

The Underground City of Derinkuyu

Nevit Dilmen / Wikipedia

The mysterious underground city of Derinkuyu is one of the best examples of ancient architectural precision. Carved directly in the rock, Derinkuyu is one of five inter-connected underground complexes with a total estimated capacity of 100,000 people. The historical region of Cappadocia (Turkey) where Derinkuyu is located, contains several historical underground cities, carved out of a unique geological formation. Many of them were re-used by early Christians as hiding places.

Archaeologists have discovered vver 200 underground cities at least two levels deep in the area between Kayseri and Nevsehir, with around 40 of them having at least three levels.

The largest of the Cappadocia underground complexes has 18 levels and is 85 meters (278 feet) deep, with ventilation shafts, fresh flowing water and individually separated living quarters, shops, communal rooms, wells, tombs, arsenals and escape routes. It has the potential to house up to 20,000 people. The whole complex was air conditioned, with 52 air shafts discovered so far, one of which is 55 meters (180 feet) deep. Some wells were not connected with the surface, probably in order to protect the inhabitants from water poisoning during raids.

Massive Circular Doors

These large circular stone doors could be seen at all the local underground sites.

They were rolled across the passages and sealed the citadels from the inside. At Derinkuyu, each level could also be sealed individually, separating it completely from the other parts of the underground city.

Origin Of The Underground City

According to the Turkish Department of Culture, Derinkuyu was first built by the Phrygians in the 8th-7th centuries BC, and then was enlarged in the Byzantine era. The oldest written source about those underground cities is the „Anabasis“ by Xenophon (circa 431 – 355 BC). He writes that the people living in Anatolia had excavated their houses underground, living well in accommodations large enough for the family, domestic animals, and supplies of stored food.

Alternatively, the underground cities in Turkey were believed to have been constructed at around 1,400 BC by the Hittites. This could be confirmed by archaeological finds, but the exact date remains unknown.

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The Megalith of Al-Naslaa

Located at the Tamya Oasis in Saudi Arabia is a fascinating megalith called Al-Naslaa. It is perfectly split in half and has curious symbols portrayed on its surface. If that wasn’t enough, the two rocks split in half with laserlike precision have managed to remain standing for centuries, and are somehow perfectly balanced. The stones were split in half with an LASER-LIKE precision.

In 2010, SCTH – Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage announced the discovery of a rock near Tayma with a hieroglyphic inscription of Pharaoh Ramses III.  Based on this discovery, researchers have hypothesized that Tayma was part of an important land route between the Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula and the Nile Valley. Recent archaeological discoveries show that Tayma has been inhabited since the Bronze Age.

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The Swastika Symbol

Jupiter Temple-Swastika. Baalbeck, Lebanon.

The Swastika, also referred to as the gammadion, is one of the oldest and most widespread symbols on planet Earth. And if you thought it is a symbol that represents evil and death, you are very very wrong. To make it short and clear, the Swastika symbol stands for peace and prosperity and is a very positive symbol.

It is considered a universal symbol and was used by numerous cultures and ancient civilizations throughout history. As we know it today, Swastika is actually a Sanskrit word which means “that which is good” or “all is well” but some translate it to “lucky or auspicious object”, whatever the translation it is a very positive symbol. In Hinduism it is a very sacred symbol deeply connected with luck and prosperity, and yes, there is a lot to be learned about this ancient symbol which has been misinterpreted since 1900’s.

Archaeologists have debated about the exact origin and date of the Swastika symbols. Recent research has shown that the earliest known object with swastika-motifs is a bird from the tusk of a mammoth from the Paleolithic settlement of Mezine, Ukraine which dates back between 10,000 and 12,000 BCE. The vinca culture is among the earliest cultures that utilized the swastika symbol. In Asia, many business organizations use the Swastika symbol officially; for example the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce use it.

Why the symbol of the Swastika spread across the entire planet is still a mystery that archaeologists and historians have failed to understand.

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The 6000 Year Old Inga Stone

Located in the middle of the Inga River, not far away from the Brazilian city of Inga, stands one of the most interesting archaeological findings in Brazil. Also called the Itacoatiara do Ingá its translation is a stone in the Tupi language. The inga stone covers an area of two-hundred and fifty square meters. It is a vertical construction of 46 meters long and up to 3.8 meters high. The Inga stone displays carvings that are even today waiting to be deciphered. Researchers have found several carvings, figures, fruits, animals and other unknown figures, but most importantly carved on the Inga stone are the Milky way and the constellation of Orion.

According to research, this incredible archaeological site located in Brazil dates back at least 6,000 years. It is one of the main attraction for archaeologists and anthropologists around the world. The inga stone is a geological formation from Gneiss ( a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. It is often foliated (composed of layers of sheet-like planar structures). The foliations are characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands, called “gneissic banding”.)

The carvings of the Inga Stone remain a mystery but some symbols have been identified and accepted throughout the archaeological community. Some researchers argue that the Inga Stone has a Phoenician origin, but this theory has not been confirmed.

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The Sarcophagus Of King Pakal

The sarcophagus lid is closely related to the interior of the temple and the gigantic wall panels of the temples of the Cross and the Foliated Cross which are centered on world trees. What is very interesting is that around the edges of the lid researchers found a band with cosmological signs which include those for the sun, moon, and stars and at the center is what Maya experts relate to as a cruciform world tree.

There are quite a number of mysteries that relate to King Pakal, his life and death. Some of these mysteries have been attacked by mainstream archaeologists who firmly debunk any relation from Pakal, spaceships and ancient alien theory, yet some of them like the age of the remains inside the coffin of king Pakal are some of the mysteries that have not been explained.

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Unakoti Hill

                                                                                                 

It is a historic Shaiva pilgrimage spot and dates back to 7th – 9th centuries if not earlier. While the marvellous rock carvings, murals with their primitive beauty form the chief attraction, natural beauty including mountain scenery and waterfalls are an added bonus. As per Hindu mythology, when Lord Shiva was going to Kashi along with one crore gods and goddesses including him, he made a night halt at this location. He asked all the gods and goddesses to wake up before sun rise and proceed for Kashi. It is said that in the morning, except Shiva himself, no one else could get up so set out for Kashi himself cursing the others to become stone images as a result we have one less than a crore stone images and carvings at Unakoti.These carvings are located at a beautifully landscaped forest area with green vegetation all around which add to the beauty of the carvings.

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The Tărtăria Tablets

                                                                                                       

The discovery of the Tărtăria Tablets in the 1960s was about to change the chronological order of the first writings forever, and even the cradle of the first known civilization in the world.

In 1961, archaeologists Nicolae Vlassa started working on a site near the village of Tărtăria, an area renowned for its many ceramic artefacts. Despite a hesitant start, the work of the archaeological team eventually paid off when they unearthed three clay tablets that further gathered scientists from around the world. The fact that a good portion of historic events was about to change its course, made the scientific world look at this discovery with doubt, the loam tablets being maybe too fragile to hold this immense burden. Other than the tablets, archaeologists also uncovered 26 clay and stone statues, a wrist made of clams and a pile of human remains.

                                                                                              

However, the three tablets quickly became the center of attention. Two of them had a rectangular shape while the other was round. Symbols were embedded on one side, and the rectangular items possessed a small hole which according to researchers was not just a simple coincidence. Two of these plates were covered with runes depicting old texts dating back at least one millennia before the tablets found at Djemer-Nasr, Kia and Uruk in Sumer. The artefacts unearthed at Tărtăria lead the researchers into believing that they belonged to a very influential man at that time, a shaman or maybe a priest.

What seemed to be one of the greatest discoveries of the Eastern world, but also for the rest of Europe, became the heated subject of debate that split the scientific world in two camps: those who admitted the great importance of these clay tablets and those who thought them meaningless. Most archaeologists and historians put the artefacts around 5000 BC, pushing back the elaboration of writing with more than a millennia than it was first believed, and also changed the birthing place of writing from Mesopotamia to the Danubian Basin. So, is it possible that a prosperous and powerful civilization existed one millennia before the greatest powers of the world – Sumer and Egypt?

The loam plates are embedded with the oldest text known by modern science so far. Some archaeologists tried to debunk this myth claiming that the Tartaria tablets appeared because of the Sumerian influence, because the symbols present on the tablets strongly resemble those used by the Sumerians when it came to writing. Because of this, it was assumed that the symbols were borrowed from them, and the ancient dwellers used them without knowing their meaning. But scientists are contradicted by history itself, because around 5500 BC, the Sumerian writing did not exist or if it did, there are no accounts to support these claims until the present day. Historians were once again puzzled when they tried to translate the tablets based on Sumerian dialect, as they found the name ‘Saue,’ the equivalent of god Usmu known to the Sumerian culture.

                                                                                       

Experts from the Russian Academy of Science concluded after they had analyzed the intriguing artefacts that they represent a fragment of a largely spread writing system found in the area where they were discovered. According to them, the text from one tablet refers to six ancient totems which coincide with a manuscript from the Sumerian city of Djemdet-Nastra. If read clockwise, the following proto-Sumerian text can be deciphered: ‘NUN.KA.S.UGULA.PL.IDIM.KARA.I,’ meaning ‘Forty years of ruling for the lips of god Saue the oldest after ritual had burned. This is the tenth.’ The meaning of this is still under debate, leaving room for plenty of speculations since the scientific world couldn’t come to a mutual agreement until now.

The general belief is that these writings couldn’t just pop-up out of nowhere, but they could only be developed inside a prosperous and vast culture. So, in order to solve the riddle of the three clay tablets the entire complex where they had been discovered, namely Turdas-Vinca complex, needs to be excavated and studied. Not only do the glyphs embedded on the tablets strongly resemble the Sumerian writings, but they’re also arranged in the same succession, meaning that a symbol coincidence is plausible, but the same arrangement (succession) beats that coincidence. A series of archaeological observations also point towards a similarity between the religious beliefs from Tartaria area and that of Djmdet-Nasra. The interpretation of the round tablet denotes that it contains brief information regarding the sacrificial ritual of a priest.

With all these enigmas still in place, researchers are debating how it was possible for the ancient dwellers of Tărtăria to write in Sumerian when at that time, the name of Sumer wasn’t even known. Russian scientist Boris Perlov believes that the Sumerians and Babylonians were only the ‘capable students,’ thus borrowing the pictographic writing from the Eastern cultures and furtherly transformed it into cuneiform writing. According to Perlov, the true inventors of writing were the Balkan people and not the Sumerians.

So, is it possible that history has to look elsewhere to elucidate the riddle of the first writings? Were there other great civilizations predating those of Sumer and Egypt? And most important, are we going to ignore every piece of evidence that directly contradicts with the established norms of science?

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A Huge Million-Year-Old, Man-Made Underground Complex?

In recent years, many researchers have started looking at the history of civilization on Earth with an open mind. One of those researchers is without a doubt, Dr. Alexander Koltypin, a geologist, and director of the Natural Science Research Center at Moscow’s International Independent University of Ecology and Politology.

During his long career, Dr. Koltypin has studied numerous ancient underground structures mainly in the Mediterranean and has identified numerous similarities which have led him to believe that many sites were interconnected. But most incredibly, the weathering of the structures, together with their material composition and extreme geological features has led him to believe, these megastructures were built by advanced civilizations that inhabited Earth millions of years ago.

Dr. Koltypin argues that mainstream archeologists who work in the region, are used to date sites by looking at the settlements located on them or in their vicinity, however, some of these settlements were created upon much older prehistoric structures.

Writing on his website, Dr. Koltypin states: “When we examined the constructions… none of us never for a moment had a doubt that they are much older than the ruins of the Canaanite, Philistine, Hebraic, Roman, Byzantine, and other cities and settlements that are placed on it and around.”
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The Atacama Giant: Depicting a ‘Sky God’

There are many geoglyphs around the world which are beyond fascinating. One of them is certainly the Atacama Giant or Gigante de Tarapacá as it is known locally. Created around 800 AD, many believe that this giant geoglyph is the earliest depictions of a ‘skygod’, something that has caused much debate among experts.

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Hattusa Ruins

Before 2000 BC, a settlement of the apparently indigenous Hatti people was established on sites that had been occupied even earlier and referred to the site as Hattush. The Hattians built their initial settlement on the high ridge of Büyükkale.[1] The earliest traces of settlement on the site are from the sixth millennium BC. In the 19th and 18th centuries BC, merchants from Assur in Assyria established a trading post there, setting up in their own separate quarter of the city. The center of their trade network was located in Kanesh (Neša) (modern Kültepe). Business dealings required record-keeping: the trade network from Assur introduced writing to Hattusa, in the form of cuneiform.

A carbonized layer apparent in excavations attests to the burning and ruin of the city of Hattusa around 1700 BC. The responsible party appears to have been King Anitta from Kussara, who took credit for the act and erected an inscribed curse for good measure:

Whoever after me becomes king resettles Hattusas, let the Stormgod of the Sky strike him![2]

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Ruins Of A ‘Great Forgotten Civilization’ In Mizoram

A team of archaeologists excavating the mysterious megalithic structures at Vangchhia in Champhai district of Mizoram was of the opinion that a city belonging to a greater lost civilization might have once existed there.

Vangchhia is Mizoram's only ASI-protected site.

Sujeet Nayan, assistant superintending archaeologist at ASI Delhi and director of the excavation at Vangchhia, said this was one of the most important archaeological finds of the present time. He said the site held the key to hitherto-unknown facts about Mizoram and the northeast.

The team documented more than 50 structures at Vangchhia and will return soon for further research and study. It collected fragments of charcoal that will be sent to specialized laboratories for carbon dating and other scientific analysis.

"We were exploring what lay beneath the bushes and thick foliage. The entire site could hold traces of a lost city or a greater lost civilization. It is amazing to stumble upon so many things. We need more time and research to reach a final conclusion," said Nayan.

The team came across burial sites that seemed like water pavilion and terraces that were reminiscent of palatial buildings.
The retaining walls or terraces were made of big stones and the average height of each terrace ranged from 10 to 25 feet.

"The terraces might have served as burial sites, but this can't be ascertained as of now," Nayan said. "There are nine terraces. We explored around eight. We also found evidence of what seems to be a water pavilion. We presume people here liked their environment and the water pavilion is comparable to those found in Mughal structures," he added.

Vangchhia is close to the Myanmar border and comprises rolling hills and thick forests. The excavation was conducted after the director general of ASI visited the site in November last year and the objective was to study the structures that have floral, animal and human depictions on them.

∙The menhirs of Vangchhia are Mizoram's first ASI-protected monument.

∙Fragments of charcoal and pottery dug up will be sent to laboratories for carbon dating and other scientific analysis.

∙ ASI said a city belonging to a greater lost civilization might have once existed there.

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The Nampa Figure: A 2 Million-year-old Artifact

The enigmatic figure discovered in Idaho aggressively challenges mainstream history and evolution. The enigmatic artifact was discovered in 1889 near Nampa, southwest Idaho, when workers were drilling, searching for water.

In 1912, geologist George Frederick Wright reported the following in his book Origin and antiquity of Man: “The record of the well shows that… they had penetrated first about fifty feet of soil, then about fifteen feet of basalt, and afterward passed through alternate beds of clay and quicksand… down to a depth of about three hundred feet when the sand pump began to bring up numerous clay balls, some of them more than two inches in diameter, densely coated with iron oxide…” (source)

“There is no ground to question the fact that this image came up in the sand pump from the depth reported.”

Wright further writes: “The object is about an inch and a half long, and remarkable for the perfection with which it represents the human form. It was a female figure, and had the lifelike lineaments in the parts which were finished that would do credit to the classic centers of art.” (source)

Wright describes the details of why this figurine is a genuine ancient artifact: In visiting the locality in 1890 I took special pains, while on the ground, to compare the discoloration of the oxide upon the image with that upon the clay balls still found among the debris which had come from the well, and ascertained it to be as nearly identical as it is possible to be. These confirmation evidences, in connection with the very satisfactory character of the evidence furnished by the parties who made the discovery, and confirmed by Mr. G. M. Gumming, of Boston (at that time the superintendent of that division of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, and who knew all the parties, and was upon the ground a day or two after the discovery) placed the genuineness of the discovery beyond reasonable doubt. (source)

The discovery made in Nampa baffled researchers as the more they analyzed it, the more they were left perplexed by it. In addition to the studies by Wright, Professor F.W. Putnam from the Harvard University concluded through microscopic analysis that quartz grains, discovered under the figure’s arm were cemented by iron molecules. According to researchers, this is important since it indicates the age of the artifact suggesting that it is very unlikely that the figure was created in recent years.

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16th Century Church In Mexico

A 16th century mission church has once again resurfaced from a reservoir in Mexico.

The Catholic church, which was built around the 16th century to spread Christianity in the area, was flooded along with a whole town - Jalapa Viejo - to make way for the Benito Juarez dam in 1962.

Since then, the temple has emerged three times - when the area has suffered severe droughts.

The church is a relic from Spanish conquistadors in Mexico.

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MAX, THE CRYSTAL SKULL

Perhaps the most famous crystal skull was discovered in 1924 by Anna Mitchell-Hedges Le Guillen, during an expedition to the Mayan ruins of Lubaantum, located in modern-day Belize, while they were searching for the lost city of Atlantis. Anna Mitchell-Hedges has attested that she, her father, and the others on the expedition at the “lost” city of Lubaantun, “were digging in the temple, moving a heavy wall which had fallen on the altar…. I came upon the skull buried beneath the altar, but it was some three months later before the jaw was found which was about 25 feet away.”

Made of pure quartz crystal, both the mandible and the skull were created from the same rock. Except minor anomalies, the skull is anatomically perfect, possibly representing a female skull due to its smaller size of 12.7 cm in height while its weight is around 5 kg. The prisms located at the base as the hand-polished lenses of the eyes are a combination that produces an incredible shine. The skull, which is perfectly carved out of rock crystal, has a high degree of hardness which, according to scientists, is a seven out of ten on the Mohs scale.

In the early 1970s, his mysterious object was studied by an independent restorer by the name of Frank Dorland, who estimated it would have been chiseled in basic form, using diamonds, and then polished to perfection. According to Dorland, the mysterious crystal skulls it at least 12,000 years old.

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First Female Pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut

Researchers have come across ancient inscribed stones which detail Egypt’s long-lost, first female Pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled over the land of the Pharaohs from 1473 B.C. to 1458 B.C.The discovery was made on Egypt’s Elephantine Island.

Queen Hatshepsut became Pharaoh of ancient Egypt at the age of twelve when she married her half-brother Thutmose II who died at a young age. The tragic chain of events made Queen Hatshepsut become a guide for Thutmose III before she became Pharaoh assuming the role herself.

Queen Hatshepsut is generally considered as one of the most successful Pharoahs ever to rule over ancient Egypt and is notorious for having ruled longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.

It is believed that her reign lasted nearly 22 years.

Egyptologist James Henry Breasted describes her as “the first great woman in the history of whom we are informed.”

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Ellora Caves

Ellora is an archaeological site 29 km north-west of the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra, built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty and Yadav. Well known for its monumental caves, Ellora is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and forms one of major tourist attraction in Marathwada region of Maharashtra Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" are actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. Hindu, Buddhist and Jain rock-cut temples and viharas and mathas were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 17 Hindu, 12 Buddhist and 5 Jain caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. It is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

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