Van Beek actually spoke to some of Griaules original informants; he noted that though they do speak about sigu tolo [interpreted by Griaule as their name for Sirius itself], they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some, it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. extraterrestrials, the Nommos, some 5,000 years ago. The introduction to his second edition is so full of paranoid theorizing,2 that although it is quoted extensively and interpolated with favorable comments by Michael Bara (or possibly Richard Hoagland), the most extreme conspiracy claims are omitted.3. I published, showed the distances to be nowhere close, in error by tens of miles, at least ten percent -- hardly "immense accuracy. Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. 2Q9-mV5F W4g?`Su#q6a]sdaGr*_70 ! ;`~RS)Hm@FGI.m3gcW|PF.(`VypT!]WM6'b//^FX[P\9:H37)DH,y|F(&Da]w o9-K?MR+z.R}7.ubqUIXVy~frF@". Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. The Dogons were not isolated. In other words, the Dogon tribe would not only need the knowledge but also a telescope in order for them to have the information they already seemed to possess. Astronomers Carl Sagan and Ian Ridpath, for example, have suggested that the modern astronomical aspects of the complex Dogon mythology entered the lore only recently, probably shortly before the myths were written down in the 1930s. Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano. Either way, the original purity of the Dogon-Sirius story is itself a myth as it is highly likely that Griaule contaminated their knowledge with his own. S]V',H79aD>1 Q@d(FOY;"36y0Z{VXEJwOx._tto}#&i|HR-i4 It was popularized in an episode from the In Search of television series narrated by Leonard Nimoy. Sagan further commented that he was surprised, given the freedom of viewpoint that Fish used, that her map didnt match the Hill map better!4. 1999. Unfortunately the ancient records contain no clear, unambiguous references to this Sirius lore although the works of historians, astronomers and philosophers were explicit and detailed on innumerable other subjects. So much for the Nommos. Paranormal, ed. With this, the Dogon mystery comes crashing down. The Dogon and Sirius. African thought. Temple claimed that the Dogon knew about two smaller stars that are closely related to Sirius Sirius B and Sirius C. The mystery was how they had obtained this knowledge, as these companion stars cannot be seen by the unaided eye. She claimed an alien starship commander had originally shown it to her. Temple lists a number of astronomical beliefs held by the Dogon that [18], He also used the second edition of his book to complain about what he said was "the extreme and virulent hostility towards me by certain security agencies, most notably the American ones."[19]. interpreter. But even after hundreds of pages of myths and interpretations Temple fails to make a connection between ancient Egypt and the modern Dogons; instead he "assumes" it. Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. Y%gbsPFur[%X7Sz Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. Temple's book and the debates that followed its release publicized the existence of the Dogon tribe among many New Age followers and proponents of ancient astronaut theories. In the 1930s, when their research was carried out, Sirius B was known to have existed, even though it was only photographed in 1970. Subscribe to eSkeptic: our free email newsletter and get great podcasts, videos, reviews and articles from Skeptic magazine, announcements, and more in your inbox once or twice a week. Temple's theory is heavily based on his interpretation of the work of ethnographers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. The Dogon have a answer is that they got this information from amphibious aliens from outer Clearly the Dogons (in common with many other cultures) were fascinated by Sirius, probably because its position in the sky was crucial to successful agriculture (it's the only star they have a name for.) He was told that fishlike creatures called the Nommo had come to Earth from Sirius to civilizes its people. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. Based on Carrolls website (skepdic.com), the Dictionary is the definitive short-answer debunking of nearly every thing skeptical. Also, why would the Dogan people not divulge where they received such recent knowledge of transfer if they had of gotten this knowledge from Europeans. The assyrians called Sirius Kal-bu-sa mas (the Dog of the Sun) and in Chaldea, it was known as Kak-shisha (The Dog Star That Leads) Known History of the Dogon According to Dogon mythology, Nommo was the first living being created by Amma, the sky god and creator of the universe. Below: The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy (discovered in 2003) is the nearest known galaxy to the centre of the Milky Way. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. They know about the existence of the star Sirius B, a companion star to the brightest star in our sky, Sirius A. A must for every bookshelf.ORDER the book, It seems clear that the Dogon did indeed get their information from other cultures. based his account on an interview with one person, Ambara, and an Perhaps the source was Temple The Nine also claim to be extraterrestrial beings from the star Sirius. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. Temple claims his expert cartographer found these distances "nearly equal." 11.1. The Bad Archaeology page on the Sirius Mystery has summarize the basic details well: In 1976, Robert K G Temple (born 1945), an American living in the UK, published what was to become a seminal work of Bad Archaeology, The Sirius Mystery. But Fishs map used an arbitrary viewpoint in space. Griaule either Some astronomers speculate that the white dwarf Sirius B might have been a flaming red giant only 2000 years ago although current astrophysical theories decree that any such transformation in less than 100,000 years is impossible. Noah Brosch explained in his book Sirius Matters that cultural transfer could have taken place between 19th century French astronomers and Dogon tribe members during the observations of the solar eclipse on 16 April 1893. WebThe star Sirius is certainly no stranger to mysteries. Temple has made very few verifiable assertions about mythology (and The Sirius Mystery is overwhelmingly about ancient myths, not about the Dogons or modern astronomy). The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. The interval between ceremonies may be forty, fifty or sixty years. But my own measurements, which September 1976 saw had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely There are innocent available explanations: typographical error or miscopied notes, for example. some 8.6 light years from earth. Carl Sagan's contribution to this discussion was in his book Broca's Brain (1979). "[10] Ridpath states that while the information that the Dogon probably gained from Europeans to some extent resembles the facts about Sirius, the presumed original Dogon knowledge of the star is very far from the facts. You guessed it -- Sirius! Other Temple claims, including some wild assertions from The Secrets of the Great Pyramid, can as easily be checked and as easily demolished. Temples solution referred to legends of a mythical creature, the god Oannes, who might have been an extraterrestrial, described as descending to Earth from the stars to bring civilising wisdom to the Dogon forefathers. %PDF-1.4 Indeed, in view of the Dogon fixation with Sirius it would surely be more surprising if they had not grafted on to their existing legend some new astronomical information gained from Europeans. James, P., N. Thorpe, and I. J. Thorpe. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately he neglects to mention other bas-reliefs which show "fish-deer" and "fish-lions" and which consequently suggest that the fish motif was symbolic, not descriptive. contact with some ugly, amphibious* The alleged visitors from outer space Temple (The Sirius Mystery, St, Martin's Press, 1975) claims to be able to trace the Sirius-B myth back through Egyptian mythology to Sumerian mythology, thus establishing the certainty that the informants were extraterrestrials. double star (Ortiz de Montellano).*. In September 1980, Dr. Philip C. Steffey did an in-depth analysis of Dogon astronomical traditions in "Some Serious Astronomy in the 'Sirius Mystery,' " which criticized Temple's book as "inadequate and full of factual errors and misrepresentation of critical material. Of those websites, over 400 had been updated within the last three months. Given that the French stayed in their territory for five weeks and had several local guides, it would not be surprising if they shared some astronomical knowledge during that time. The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. (OK, I'll bite--but if such a star is not discovered, Temple has risked no converse conclusions. He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. technological societies located on planet earth. They have a traditional belief in a heliocentric system and All agree, however, that they learned about the star from Griaule. Van Beek states that this creates a major problem for Griaules claims. Sounds like you're grasping at straws. 6, "White Using similar techniques other writers have "discovered" dozens of different, often contradictory "ancient secrets" about Atlantis, primitive Christianity, forgotten wisdom, ancient visitors and numerous other things. A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific When Walter van Beek studied the Dogon, he Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? In 1967, Temple began work on the thesis that became The Sirius Mystery. Also if it was seeded by westerners how is the Dogon and surrounding tribes have a fully developed culture and religion structure centered around Sirius going back for hundreds of years? Or, Griaule's account may reflect his own interests more than that of Nor does he establish a connection between the Dogon creator Nommo and the star Sirius. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. WebAlso there is the fact that they described the Nommo as fish people and you find all kinds of half man/half fish - serpent imagery all over the Mediterranean. As anthropologists have known for a long time, primitive tribes have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting new stories into their traditional mythology. 1995. informed the Dogon of Sirius B or "he misinterpreted their references Griaule, Marcel. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. I wonder. On top of that, there is another star, Sirius B, orbiting at an average distance of about 20 AU (1 AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun). have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in In his 1998 revised edition, Temple was quick to point out the new discussions in scientific circles about the possible existence of Sirius C, which seemed to make Griaules claims even more spectacular and accurate. Ask about whatever you want with our Free Rune Readings! Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. by Philip Coppens. This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. "At first glance," Sagan admitted, "the Sirius legend of the Dogon seems As Picknett and Prince have been able to show, Temples arguments are often based on erroneous readings of encyclopdia entries and misrepresentations of ancient Egyptian mythology. ;p7D) Damanhur is 521.0 km from Siwa and 625.9 km from Thebes, a deviation of 20%. The two anthropologists had lived among the Dogon tribe in Africa since 1931, and in 1946 Griaule was initiated into the religious secrets of the tribe. The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. The proof is supplied by (the Odyssey), where Helios is said to possess 7 herds of 50 cows each and 7 herds of 50 sheep, a transparent allegory of the days and nights of the year.") It's almost certainly a hoax. interesting that the Greek Sirius is Seirios.". things. star" (Sirius B) and describe its density and rotational to be the best candidate evidence available today for man's past contact with advanced extraterrestrial civilization." Griaule did not attempt to explain how the Dogon could know pieces of evidence is the tribe's alleged knowledge of Sirius B, a companion to the star Sirius B was first observed in 1862, and had been predicted in 1844 on dynamic grounds. Many served in the French army in World War I and some of them could have returned years later with colorful embellishments for their native legends. The inspiration for this claim was a star map produced by Betty Hill while under hypnosis. Lets start with the first idea, proffered by Robert Temple.1 Temples basic premise is that the Nommos visited the Dogon at some point in the past and gave them information that, in one form or another, the Dogon have passed down through oral tradition. The Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. History Debunked then goes on to demonstrate the type of pseudo-scientific nonsense this has lead to by providing a link to an Ethnomathematics paper and reading out its conclusion. Copyright 19922023. WebRe: Dogon Sirius claim debunked - Graham Hancock Official Website Mysteries Taken from [ library.thinkquest.org]
According to the Dogon priests, Sirius is orbited by a tiny secret star that they refer to as 'po', which traces an elliptical path around Sirius taking 50 years to A critical analysis has to investigate the accuracy of such claims, so as to judge the validity of the book's conclusions. Try my free online Rune Readings! WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). One problem with this idea is that Sirius B has been a white dwarf for at least tens of thousands of years. Bullard, Thomas. this about a star that cannot be seen without telescopes, and he made no century technological matters brought to them by visitors from other parts Inevitably one must ask, if the Dogons had heard good stories about Sirius from other sources, would they ignore them or would they quickly adopt them into their own cultural myths? 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