The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. of earth and transmitted in conversation. The former study also concluded that while a triple system for Sirius could not be fully eliminated, the probability was low. The Dogon. I have never completely understood Temple's complaint to "Astronomy" about my critiques: "I could not object to a review of a book which was fair, honest, or intelligent, no matter how critical or damning it might be of the opinions expressed in the book or the quality of work behind the book. A review of the astronomical, cultural, and anthropological sides of this issue might be timely. Speculation about the Dogon on numerous websites is now mingled with fact, leading to wide misunderstanding among the public about Dogon mythology. The Demon-Haunted World - Science as a Candle in the Dark (New (2004). 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. by Philip Coppens. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? Worse still, hundreds of thousands of years ago, Sirius B was a dying red giant. But other observers have also written skeptically about the "Sirius Mystery. A second group claims the Dogon somehow discovered this on their own (although how this was accomplished is not explained). Appleby also believes there exists a modern arrogance that cannot countenance the idea that ancient civilisations might have been scientifically superior. van Beek, Walter E. A. According to Griaule and But the extraterrestrial hypothesis will not fade away so easily. Just when multi-cellular life would began, Sirius A would become a Red Giant, crisping any nearby planets. The Dogon Revisited I disagree wit deeee72. % double star (Ortiz de Montellano).*. Griaule himself was aware of the discovery of Sirius B and in the 1920s before he visited the Dogon there were also unconfirmed sightings of Sirius C. The Dogon were well aware of the brightest star in the sky but, as Van Beek learned, they do not call it sigu tolo, as Griaule claimed, but dana tolo. some 8.6 light years from earth. Liam McDaid is Astronomy Coordinator and Professor of Astronomy at Sacramento City College. Temple claims that bas-reliefs of the Sumerian demigod Oannes, which depict a "fish man," prove Nommo, whom the author identifies as the ancestor of the Dogon Nommo myths, was an amphibious extraterrestrial. For example, he claims that the Dogon have a drawing like the one in Figure 1. In that case the Dogon (and everyone else) would have had little trouble seeing both stars then. The Dogon and Sirius. 1999. Finally, he asked me point-blank if I could point out any errors in it and partly out of politeness, partly to get rid of him, and partly because I had been able to read very little of the book so that the answer was true, I said I could not point out any errors. 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. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. A critical analysis has to investigate the accuracy of such claims, so as to judge the validity of the book's conclusions. (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books,1982), pp. The oldest traces of life on Earth go back to about that time. For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. The obviously advanced astronomical knowledge must have come from somewhere, but is it an ancient bequest or a modern graft? But if the error is real, it reflects on the only kind of hard, checkable, testable evidence Temple has offered for his theories. You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. extremely dense and has a fifty-year orbit. 1995. E. "Ancient Astronauts," in, McDaid, Liam. Sirius B without the need of a telescope because of their special eyesight WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. Therefore, if Sirius C exists, it must orbit Sirius A. 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 of their culture, came from Sirius -- which is at the crux of Temple's reconstruction? (Photo by John and Keturah. "[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. They seem to have 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. Sagan suggests, however, that that civilization was Were aliens, lost technology or something else entirely involved? 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. Whew! The Dogon people had been visited by European visitors many times, most notably when they hosted French astronomers looking to find a good vantage point to observe the solar eclipse of 1893. (And presumably, that the Egyptians then located their river deltas, eases, and river ports deliberately on geometric rather than purely geographical grounds, I'm tempted to ask?) 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. extraterrestrials, the Nommos, some 5,000 years ago. It seems likely that we will never know for sure. It seems that Temples ideas are still popular among practitioners of pseudoarcheology, as well as with the general public. astronomical information. The immunity of pseudoscientists to criticism is well known to skeptics, yet I was curious. For more then 20 years, The Sirius Mystery has influenced speculation about the possibility that our forefathers came from the stars. for some unknown reason from a planet orbiting 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. 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. Ask about whatever you want with our Free Rune Readings! The Stone Age storytellers speak by their campfires of other people on other planets and of other mysteries. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. Broca's Brain (New York: Random House, 1979), As anthropologists have known for a long time, primitive tribes have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting new stories into their traditional mythology. 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.") amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin. traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. Since Sirius B is a very dense white dwarf star about the size of Earth, it can only be seen in dark skies with medium-sized telescopes. As an example, Sagan believes that because the Dogon seem to have no knowledge of another planet beyond Saturn which has rings, their knowledge is therefore more likely to have come from European, and not extraterrestrial, sources.[11]. The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. But Sagan then finds both astronomical and mythological holes in the hypothesis. Such words would have more persuasion behind them (to me they're merely an emotional appeal to sympathy) if Temple had ever admitted anywhere in print that he had found (or had been shown) any errors in his book or articles or public statements -- but if he has done so, I haven't become aware of them. Perhaps the source was Temple What about the fact that Sirius was recorded to be red in ancient records? Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. 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). seem curious. According to Thomas Bullard, van Beek speculates that Griaule The Dogon. 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. 11.1. The alleged visitors from outer space The book's advertising blurb quotes prolific science writer Isaac Asimov, who says, "I couldn't find any mistakes in this book. his informants in such a forceful leading manner that they created new This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. implausible notions such as the claim that the Dogon got their knowledge This is strange, because one would think that it would be a major discovery in anthropology. McDaid, Liam. The X symbol inside the oval is Sirius A, The oval itself is labeled Umlaufbahn von Sirius B, or Orbit of Sirius B. Pretty convincing. York: Random House, 1995). And this is what Mr. Oberg has done." The diagram that Temple presents, however, is not the So much for the Nommos. Where did they get this knowledge, he asks, if not from Furthermore, there had been a Since Oberg cannot do so, we need not concern ourselves with criticisms of The Sirius Mystery." 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). ;p7D) Except that this isnt the original Dogon drawing. 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. "Lecture 1st %PDF-1.4 this about a star that cannot be seen without telescopes, and he made no As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. New evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. ", A series of articles has appeared in the Griffith Observer, an astronomy magazin The expedition, led by Henri Deslandres, stayed in the field for five weeks, and it is reasonable that during this time many contacts with the locals took place, and that relatively modern astronomical knowledge was then transferred. The author mentions that he could have made the book much longer but restrained himself "lest I blow this book up into a pufball of miscellaneous odds and ends" -- which prompted one reviewer to remark that Temple had stopped much too late to avoid that fate. Temple does not argue that contact with an advanced civilization is the only way that the Dogon could have obtained what he understood to be accurate information on Sirius B, but he indicates that he personally finds the theory of alien contact more convincing. Strangely, ancient records explicitly list Sirius as one of six "red stars." 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. Europeans too talked about the discovery of a third star in the Sirius system; later investigations, however, ruled out that possibility. Print versions available in Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Korean. 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. Also it would take a very good set of lenses to see Sirius B, which has an apparent magnitude of 8.44 and a separation from Sirius A of 10 arcseconds (0.3% of a 1 angle) under the best conditions. Concluded Ridpath: "The parts of the Dogon knowledge that are admittedly both ancient and profound, particularly the story of Nommo and the concept of twinning, are the parts that bear least relation to the true facts about Sirius. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. "At first glance," Sagan admitted, "the Sirius legend of the Dogon seems The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. 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? ), There were Giants in the earthin those days Genesis 6:1. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. by Liam McDaid. 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? It is also the home of the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius A. Though Temples work was challenged, at its core lay the original anthropological study of the Dogon by Griaule and Dieterlen, who describe the secret knowledge of Sirius B and Sirius C in their own book The Pale Fox. based his account on an interview with one person, Ambara, and an The Sirius mystery, though, remains of great interest to many researchers today. WebThe 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. The Dogon and Sirius. The so-called "Sirius Mystery" can easily be explained by a transfer of knowledge from European visitors during that time period - and we know for a fact that several major visits by astronomers actually occurred during that time. Precise maps at the NASA space photo interpretation lab in Houston list "Behdet" as an ancient name for modern Damanhur, located today at 31.03 degN, 30.28 degE, i.e., more than a hundred kilometers away from where Temple locates his "Behdet" at 31.50 degN, 31.23 degE. civilization. Beings of this type would be a bit like mermaids and mermen. Perhaps the 'sirens' are, figuratively, a chorus of mermaids recalled from earlier times.They are called in Greek Seiren.It is Encyclopedia Galactica,, Benest, D. and J. L. Duvent. For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. The "mystery" that is central to the book is how the Dogon allegedly acquired knowledge of Sirius B, the white dwarf companion star of Sirius A, invisible to the naked eye. (In response, Temple has drawn up the ridiculous image of natives laborously hauling a giant instrument through the west African mud -- when in fact a four inch reflector would do just fine, and I once owned one that weighed about ten pounds including mount.) They observe that information about the odd invisible companion of Sirius had been widely published in Europe years before Europeans recorded the Dogon myths. The other five are still seen as red but from the time of Arab astronomers to the present day Sirius has been blue-white. That in itself is extraordinary.". Try my free online Rune Readings! All rights reserved. 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. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. But Fishs map used an arbitrary viewpoint in space. James and Thorpe understate the problem when they say this is very worrying. Griaule claimed that about 15 per cent of the Dogon tribe possessed this secret knowledge, but Van Beek could find no trace of it in the decade he spent with the Dogon. Sirius B was first observed in 1862, and had been predicted in 1844 on dynamic grounds. The Dogon also hold a big sigui ceremony every 60 years, which some interpret as representing the period of time it takes Sirius B to go around Sirius A. But didn't Isaac Asimov check over the book for just such factual errors, as the publisher claims? The inspiration for this claim was a star map produced by Betty Hill while under hypnosis. See also von Dniken, Zecharia Sitchin, and UFO. Temple lists a number of astronomical beliefs held by the Dogon that Griaule and Dieterlen's claims, to fit his fantastic story. She claimed an alien starship commander had originally shown it to her. companion" (Bullard). 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. terrestrial rather than extraterrestrial. Temple's book mentions the absorption of a Christ-figure into the traditional Dogon Pantheon, obviously a recent addition. stream The mystery of the ancient "red" Sirius also remains baffling. S]V',H79aD>1 Q@d(FOY;"36y0Z{VXEJwOx._tto}#&i|HR-i4 <> scientific equipment, so how could they get this knowledge? Such criteria suggest that these periodic festivals have been going on for at least 600 years and possibly much longer. good amount of discussion of Sirius in the scientific press in the '20s so In 1977 two radio astronomers were interested enough in the Sirius mystery to direct their telescopes at the star system in hopes of picking up any artificial radio signals. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. They point out that the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians used spherical lenses6 (even though they are a bad choice to use in telescopes try seeing an image through a glass bead). If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. Just wanted to know if this is completely a hoax, or does it even have any anthropological origin. Temple's impressive research was encouraged by noted futurist Arthur C, Clarke (although Clarke now prefers the "modern influence" hypothesis). in elliptical orbits of astronomical phenomena. Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. The Dogons were not isolated. I disagree. Liam is the author of Urban Astronomy and is a Senior Scientist for Skeptic. Such is the case with the Dogon a West African people and their supposed advanced and inexplicable knowledge of the stars Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is the brightest star in our sky. Another claim: that in Egypt the oasis of Siwa and the ancient Nile City of Thebes are both equidistant from the shrine city of Behdet, in the delta -- and the same exact distance, too. Zeta Reticuli 2 (with about the same temperature and mass as the Sun) is another candidate. The book presents the hypothesis that the Dogon people of Mali, in West Africa, preserve a tradition of contact with intelligent extraterrestrial beings from the Sirius star system. He points out that Griaule and Dieterlen stand alone in their claims about the Dogon secret knowledge. The interval between ceremonies may be forty, fifty or sixty years. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. Saturn is not, as the Dogons insist, the farthest planet in the solar system. To quote Ancient Mysteries: While Temple, following Griaule, assumes that to polo is the invisible star Sirius B, the Dogon themselves, as reported by Griaule, say something quite different. To quote the Dogon: When Digitaria (to polo) is close to Sirius, the latter becomes brighter; when it is at its most distant from Sirius, Digitaria gives off a twinkling effect, suggesting several stars to the observer. This description of a very visible effect causes James and Thorpe to wonder as anyone reading this should do whether to polo is therefore an ordinary star near Sirius, not an invisible companion, as Griaule and Temple suggest. One problem with this idea is that Sirius B has been a white dwarf for at least tens of thousands of years. extraterrestrial visitor tells earthmen about the undiscovered Martian moons. To recapitulate: Griaule claimed to have been initiated into the secret mysteries of the male Dogon, during which they allegedly told him of Sirius (sigu tolo in their language) and its two invisible companions. So what is the alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis for the Dogon myths7 The Dogons could have learned of European Sirius lore in the 1920's from traders, explorers or missionaries, many of whom are avid amateur astronomers. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. Seeking Clarity? of course, no evidence for this special eyesight, nor for other equally Ridpath asserts. The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. 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