CONTENTS

#105
May / June 2014

40
ANCIENT MYSTERIES FUTURE SCIENCE UNEXPLAINED ANOMALIES
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
J. Douglas Kenyon

CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Cremo Frank Joseph D.W. Kreger Julie Loar Cynthia Logan Jeane Manning Patrick Marsolek Susan Martinez, Ph.D. Marsha Oaks Brenden D. Murphy Robert Schoch, Ph.D. Steven Sora William B. Stoecker Carly Svamvour Emmett Sweeney

10 23
7 Letters 10 Alternative News 17 Jeane Manning

32 24
29 Thoughts Through Space
A Memorable LongDistance Telepathy Experiment and an Arctic Rescue

29

42
42 Lost Tribes
The Enduring Search for the Missing Heirs of the Biblical Jacob

COVER DESIGN
Ryan Hammer

GRAPHICS
Randy Haragan Denis Ouellette Ryan Hammer

ATLANTIS RISING
(ISSN #1541-5031) published bi-monthly (6 times a year) by Atlantis Rising, LLC 521 S. 8th St., Ste. A P.O. Box 441 Livingston, MT 59047

19 Michael Cremo
The Holloman Gravel Pit Finds

32 The Gnostic Mysteries of Abraxas

Uncovering Secrets of an Ancient Sect

45 The Exodus as Egyptian History

Combing Ancient Records for the Bible Story

23 Atlantis in the Azores?

A New Underwater Pyramid Discovery

34 Morphic Fields and DNA 38 Challenging the Death Illusion

A Conversation with Dr. Robert Lanza

46 A Question of Breeding
Darwinian Confusion and the Fossil Record

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24 Forbidden Island
Could Templar Treasure Be in the Hawaiian Islands?

48 Astrology 50 DVD 57 Puzzle

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40 Pathological Skepticism

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ALTERNATIVE NEWS

From Noah, the new Paramount movie starring Russell Crowe, the assembling of the animals.

NOAHS STORY REVISITED

oah is getting a great deal of attention these days. A new Paramount movie, starring Russell Crowe (now in theatres), attempts to retell the classic story of the man who the Bible says built a great ark to enable representatives of all living creatures (two by two) to survive a worldwide flood and to repopulate the earth. Not only is Noah getting the full Hollywood treatment, but an ancient cuneiform artifact, apparently offering instructions

on how to build a very large boat which could have done the job, has just surfaced at the British museum. In fact, the museums curator Irving Finkel held a February press conference to display the ancient clay tablet which he says explains exactly how one might construct such an ark. For biblical literalists, the problem with this is that the tablets instructions refer to a giant round boat, or coracle, whereas the Bible

Irving Finkel and 4000-year-old clay tablet discussed in his new book The Ark Before Noah. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

clearly y describes es a long g rectangungular affair. f fair. Finkel says el say a s he is 107% 07% sure that the ark was never r built; but still, if it were, the ancient tablet t he presents tells how it could hav have a e been done. . Most arguments about the Ark of Noah seem to revolve A around whether or not the biblia cal story is literally true. Believers, c of course, place great stock in the o account from the book of Genea sisusually as it appears in the s King James version of the Bible K and therefore are greatly inspired a by many, as yet unproven, allegab tions seeming to confirm the t Bible story that such a vessel may B have turned up on Turkeys Mt. h Ararat. There is, though, little, or A no, evidence that the Ararat ren ferred to in Genesis is the same f place. p For the less literally mindedalbeit those who yet rem spect the veracity of ancient s scripturesthe most important s

A model representing the tradtional version of Noahs Ark proportions

infe inference f rence to be drawn from f om the fr story of Noah, it can be argued, is that it is an archetypal account of events surrounding the end of the last ice age. For these, the storypossibly a retelling of the Babylonian epic of Gilgameshis but one of a multitude of flood legends, including Platos Atlantis, found worldwide which chronicle the catastrophic end of one age and the birth of anotherthe end of the prediluvian world and the beginning of the postdiluvian, our own. For these, the details found in the Bible still have very important meaning, symbolic and otherwise, but that is another story for another time. e.

10 ATLA TLANTIS L NTIS RISING Number 105

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New Voynich Solution Claims Causing Stir

he so-called Voynich V ynich manuscript remains Vo undeciphered, but some progress, possibly, may now have been made in solving the mystery. Two widely separated, but authoritative, sources now cite new breakthroughs. On one hand a U.S. botanist has raised the tantalizing possibility that the strange document may have roots in the new world. And, late in February came word that a professor at Britains University of Bedfordshire claims to have actually cracked the code. Since its discovery in an Italian monastery in 1912, the richly illustrated, 240-page parchment document has defied all attempts to decode it. Though it has been dated to the fifteenth century, some have insisted that it is a hoax. Recent statistical analysis of the handwritten text, however, have shown that it, indeed, has the characteristics of a real language. Now Dr. Arthur Tucker of Delaware University claims that many of the colorful illustrations may actually depict real plants found in Mexico in the fifteenth century. Moreover, says Tucker, the text bears some similarity to Nahuatl, the ancient language of the Aztecs. In the meantime, Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire in the U.K. says he has hit upon a way to break the code by identifying proper names related to objects in the drawings. An expert in Semitic languages, like Arabic, Bax is using a technique like that previously employed to translate other medieval manuscripts. He has, he says, been able to decode

Page from Voynich Manuscript

several names and thinks he can soon work out the rest. If it turns out that the Voynich manuscript actually originated in Mexico, some may be reminded of another curious mystery involving inscrutable text found near Mexico City. In the first half of the twentieth century curiously inscribed stone tablets were discovered there by engineer William Niven. The find was subsequently reported by maverick British archaeologist and explorer Colonel James Churchward. The tablets, said Churchwardhimself a student of Nahuatlwere in the tongue of a lost people whom he called the Naacals, which he endeavored mightily to translate, and on which he based his popular books on the legendary lost ancient contig nent of Mu. u.

Shroud of Turin

Shroud Dating Mixup Blamed on Earthquake

that it was only 800 years oldnot 2000 as t claimed faithfulevidence c by the fa f ithfu f levidence has subsequently surfaced which casts doubt on the q testing. Apparently the part of the cloth samt pled for the dating was taken from material p which had been used to patchby means of a French reweaving techniquethe original which had been damaged by fire. The shroud proper, it is thus claimed, has yet to be reliably dated. Other evidencesuch as pollen and weaving methodshas indicated that the cloth originated in the Middle East at about the right time. Now the new Italian analysis is adding another layer of, what some might consider, confusion to the debate. According to the Carpinteri study, neutrons released by the earthquake of AD 33 could have skewed the level of Carbon14 in the material and thrown off all future measurements. There have been, however, no other proven examples of suc such an effect resulting from earthquakes s
Number 105 ATLANTIS

he debate h d b over the h authenticity h i i of f the h Shroud of Turin is generating even more controversy. The latest comes from a group of Italian scientists led by Alberto Carpinteri of the Politecnico di Torino who argue that an earthquake which struck Jerusalem at about the time of the crucifixion may have changed radiocarbon levels which could have resulted in an erroneous report in the 1980s claiming the Shroud to be a medieval forgery. The purported burial cloth of Jesus, preserved in the cathedral at Turin, Italy, is imprinted with the mysterious image of an seemingly crucified man. Though the cause of the image itself has yet to be satisfactorily explained, the cloth upon which the image appears was officially carbon14-dated in 1989. Yet, even though the official conclusion was
See O Our ur G Great reat 8 8-page -page C Catalog atal log B Beginning egi inni ing on P Page age 7 74 4

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THE HIDDEN SIDE

Uncovering the Forgotten Secrets of an Enigmatic Ancient Society

BY ROBERT M. SCHOCH, Ph.D.
n the early centuries of the Christian era, a mysterious secretive cult flourished centered on the figure of Abraxas. Little is genuinely known about this entity or his disciples, who are generally (although not necessarily) placed under the broad umbrella known as Gnosticism. Abraxas is an obscure, hidden deity. Is this a god? Or is this an angel, an archon (ruler, lord, or princeps), an aeon (emanation from God), the demiurge (creator and maintainer of the physical universe), a daemon (daimon; a nature spirit, often benevolent), or even an honest to goodness evil demon or devil? Abraxas is an entity, a spirit, or a phantasm who continues to confuse, mystify, and evade full understanding. Even the spelling and correct pronunciation of the name is subject to controversy. Should it be Abraxas or Abrasax? It seems that its earliest incarnation is the Greek , transliterated as Abrasax, but due to confusion and pronunciation changes, the alternative form (Abraxas) came into common usage. Today the name Abraxas may be perpetuated in the common abracadabra (or the two terms may derive from the same source). Inhabiting the margins of consciousness, Abraxas remains

Abraxas
of
Ancient Abraxas gem, circa second or third century CE

Mysteries

Gnostic

the

the trickster, everything and nothing, the all and the void, wearing 365 different faces. For indeed, the name Abraxas sums to 365 by the ancient art of Isopsephy (assigning numerical values to the Greek lettersa practice related to Gematria, the equivalent procedure in Hebrew, as made use of in Kabbalistic studies to find hidden meanings in words): = 1, = 2, = 100, = 1, = 200, = 1, = 60. This of course adds up to the numbers of days in a year, thus representing a complete annual cycle (and metaphorically, completion and closure). In some belief systems, each day of the year represents a different heaven (or one could say night sky, as the stars change position through the course of the seasons), and thus there are 365 heavens over which 365 archons (lords) preside. Abraxas is the first and greatest archon, overlord, or supreme ruler of all the others, encompassing all lesser archons within his being. In other renditions of the 365 heavens, the heavens are viewed as a series of stages or creations, each with its own archon and angels, the last stage becoming the visible material world we inhabit and once again Abraxas is the first archon, the ruler among rulers, whose power and authority extends to the lowly material

plane that we humans inhabit. Furthermore, the seven letters in his name are often said to represent the seven planets of the classical ancients: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Visualized images of Abraxas are found on various intaglio engraved gems, seals, and amulets of the early centuries CE. Typically he is depicted as a composite figure with the body and arms of a man, legs composed of two snakes or serpents, and the head of a cock. In one hand he holds a flail (or sometimes a club) and in the other a round or oval shield. Many authorities link Abraxas to the Gnostic movement, which for a time may have rivaled more orthodox Christianity. In particular, Abraxas is associated with the Gnostic teacher Basilides (flourished early second century CE in Alexandria, Egypt). Indeed, some authorities regard Basilides as the inventor of the Abraxas gems (for instance, C. W. King, The Gnostics and their Remains, 1887, p. 245); others, however, have denied that these gems and amulets have anything to do with either Basilides or Gnosticism more generally (G. R. S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, 1900, p. 282). Either way, the Abraxas gems exist, and with them the concept of

Abraxas which most certainly does appear in Gnostic literature (see W. Barnstone and M. Meyer, editors, The Gnostic Bible, 2003). Perhaps the confusion over their origins and associations is in keeping with the nature of both Abraxas and the Basilidian sect which essentially formed a secret society within the framework of early Christianity, for as the early church father Irenaeus (flourished late second century CE) wrote, . . . the disciple[s] of Basilides remain unknown to the rest of mankind, . . . and nevertheless must live amongst strangers, therefore must they conduct themselves towards the rest of the world as beings invisible and unknown. Hence their motto, Learn to know all, but keep thyself unknown,and for this cause they are accustomed to deny the fact of their being Basilidans [Basilidians or Basilideans]. Neither can they be detected as Christian heretics, because they assimilate themselves to all sects. Their secret constitution however is known to but a few, perhaps one in a thousand or two in ten thousand . . . Their doctrine is contained in a sacred book, and likewise in Symbolic Figures. The Supreme Lord, the head of all things, they call Abrasax, which name contains the number 365 (quoted in King, pp. 262-263, italics in the original). The engraved

32 ATLANTIS RISING Number 105

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ALTERNATIVE SCIENCE BY WILLIAM B. STOECKER

e are assured by those high priests of scientism, geneticists and biochemists and biologists, that heredity is controlled solely by DNA. Genes (DNA segments) carry all the information necessary to replicate a human being, a whale, or a redwood tree. Case closed. But there are just a few small problems with this. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a very long, complex chain molecule consisting of two spines twisted into an end-for-end double helix and connected by bridges. Each bridge is a base pair of two nucleobases: guanine bonded to cytosine, or adenine bonded to thymine. On each spine a nucleobase is attached to deoxyribose (C5H10O4), a sugar. This in turn is bonded to a phosphate group (PO4H2), and the nucleobase, sugar, and phosphate combined are a nucleotide. RNA A (ribonucleic acid) has but one spine, and the e sugar is ribose (C5H10O5). The base pairs s in RNA are slightly different than in DNA, with guanine bonded to cytosine, but the adenine bonds to urasil. All of these nucleobases are themselves very long and complex organic molecules. The microscopic nucleus of a cell typically contains some 10 miles of DNA; this is possible because the strands are so thin. Each individual twist is some 34 angstroms long, and the width varies from 20 to 26 angstroms. An angstrom is one hundred millionth of a centimeter. A helix, like the serpent staff of Aesculapeus, is an archetypal shape. Some have suggested that each DNA twist is a Fibonacci sequence, but actually the width varies too much to prove that; the appropriate ratio would have to be exactly 21 to 34. Still, it is worth pointing out that the DNA chain and, indeed, the entire cell at least looks very much like a constructed machine, and DNA also resembles a kind of antenna. A long and complex segment of DNA believed to carry inherited traits is a gene, and many thousands of genes make up a chromosome; the longest human chromosome contains 220 million base pairs. At each end of each chromosome is a protective sequence called a telomere. Each time the cell replicates, part of the telomere is lost; it is thought that this may be at least one cause of the aging process. A gene may code for a particular trait, like eye color, and a variant of

MORPHIC FIELDS

Life on Earth Is Not Explained by Genetics Alone

& DNA

this t h is ( (like like o one ne f for or b blue lue eyes) eyes) i is sa an n allele. allele. All All the genes i in a cell its genome, and th ll constitute tit t it d the entire genotype of an organism is believed to produce its phenotype, or physical structure. Supposedly the genes do all of this by coding for the production of specific proteins within a cell; these are very long and complex organic molecules made up of chains of amino acids. In a process called transcription, a molecule of mRNA (messenger RNA) copies information from a DNA segment and carries this to a cell organelle called a ribosome, where, in a process called translation, it then produces a protein. Proteins are one of the main constituents of a cell; and many of them, particularly enzymes, regulate chemical processes within and even outside the cell (like digestive enzymes). This entire transcription and translation process is referred to as gene expression. Curiously, researchers have identified some 223 genes within human cells that none of our o possible ancestors (according to the Darwinian theory of evolution) had. So Dar where wh did these 223 genes come from? Were they th carried into our cells by viruses? Did our ou ancestors, as some people suggest, mate with w aliens or with the biblical Elohim to produce a hybrid or the Nephilim? Or did alien geneticists modify our DNA for di some purpose? Or is this yet more evis dence for intelligent design, with the Cred ator simply adding the new genes? Bear in mind that all primates have 48 chromosomes but humans have 46. Complicating matters still further, we have cell organelles called mitochondria which produce ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), which provides energy for the cells. And our mitochondria, which we inherit from only one parent (usually the mother), have their own DNA, separate from that in the cell nucleus. Given that the mitochondria resemble bacteria, many biologists suspect that our mitochondria are bacteria that, long ago, began a symbiotic relationship with more complex organisms. Yet well over 95 percent (estimates vary) of the DNA does not code for anything. Geneticists continue to debate whether this junk DNA is just thatjunkor if it has some function, perhaps somehow controlling which kinds of cells will be produced in which body part. For that is perhaps the

Continued on Page 36
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34 ATLANTIS RISING Number 105

CONSCIOUSNESS

A Game-Changing Conversation with Biologist Robert Lanza

Challenging the Death Illusion

BY CYNTHIA LOGAN
o man is an island, wrote English poet John Donne. Leading-edge biologist and geneticist Dr. Robert Lanza not only agrees, he says were all One. Still, he lives somewhat sequestered from his fellow New Englanders on an island not too far from his lab in Worcester, Mass. And, la Emerson and Thoreau, he shares his 10 acres with wildlife: blue herons, swans, hawks, foxes, and racoonseven a fat woodchuck the size of a dog. A bobcat has recently moved in, a welcome new neighbor, though Lanza says he could do without the beavers. From across the pond, which reflects dozens of the hundreds of trees he planted 20 years ago, the run-down red house he renovated now glistens white, with three-story towers surrounded with widows walks and capped with copperdomed cupolas. Inside, the spacious living rooms glass walls reveal Natures splendor. Solid white walls sport museum-sized dinosaur fossils. It might seem an odd dcor choice for the author of Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe (with popular astronomer Bob Berman) in which he dismissessome might say dissesDarwins theory of evolution as an enormous oversimplification. Its helpful if you want to connect the dots and understand what happened

in past, i th the past t but b t it fails fail f ils to t capture t the d th driving i i force, he writes. And that driving force is what Lanza is after. As Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology and Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, hes not only on the cutting edge of consciousness science, but is also a preeminent stem cell researcher. But those bones give him perspective; they make your mind wander and think on a bigger scale. Lanza has dino eggs and tracks that were laid when Europe was pulling away from the U.S., when the mud was sliding. Among his treasures are a 12-foot dinosaur fossil a quarter-ofa-billion years old. Others lie petrified in layers twice as old. Lanza says living with the remains of these extinct creatures affords him the experience of paradoxical emotion. It pulls me in to experiencing what life is all about, he explains. For Lanza, described by U.S. News & World Report as the embodiment of Matt Damons character in the movie Good Will Hunting, life is about exploring, helping othersand solving the biggest puzzles of science. As a boy, he spent long hours outdoors, trying to figure out how the universe works. Growing up south of Boston in a severely dysfunctional family, he had to spend time outside, since he was rarely allowed into the house other than to eat and sleep. His father was a professional gambler; his mother was legally declared unfit to parent; and none of his three sisters finished high school. It

painfully t h me painfu touches i f ll lly even now t to l look kb back k into the days of my childhood, says Lanza. Initially placed in a slow learners class, the budding young scientist exhibited drive and determination that came neither from nature nor nurture. Einstein didnt do too well in school, either, he quips. But at 13, he altered the genetics of a chicken to change its color (the experiment was eventually published in Nature), then took a bus to Harvard Medical School to share his discovery and quench his thirst for knowledge. Nobel-nominated neurobiologist Dr. Stephen Kuffler (who Lanza took to be a janitor) opened the door both literally and professionally. I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Lanza remembers. Over the next decade, psychologist B.F. Skinner, immunologist Jonas Salk, and heart transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard all mentored the youth, describing him as a genius on a par with Einstein. Lanza went on to earn an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Fulbright scholarship. He has hundreds of publications and inventions and has written over 30 scientific books. He has been interviewed by nearly every media outlet in the world (Barbara Walters came calling for ABC, pursuing a story about living to be 150), and his work has been featured in scientific and popular magazines alike. According to Lanzas theory, life isnt an

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38 ATLANTIS RISING Number 105

ALTERNATIVE THINKING

PATHOLOGICAL SKEPTICISM
A Leading Psychiatrist on Why Some Minds Never Open
BY D.W. KREGER
n my previous books, The Secret Tao, and 2012 & the Mayan Prophecy of Doom, I have been criticized by skeptics that the theories and evidence I cite have not yet been accepted by mainstream science. So, I think its worth examining the question of what constitutes good science. Evidence is neither true nor false; it is the conclusions you draw from the evidence that are either true of false. Of course that depends on whom you talk to. Sometimes there is a consensus, but sometimes scientists are split. And sometimes the majority of scientists turn out to be wrong. Therein lies the difference between fact and truth. To understand this, lets go back and look at how we define errors in the scientific method. First of all, there are two types of errors in science. There is a type-one error and a type-two error. A type-one error is the kind of error most people think of when they think of scientific errors. That is, a type-one error is being too gullible, believing in crazy theories without sufficient proof. By this, you would think that the more skeptical you are, the less likely you are to be in error. But that is not always true. A type-two error can be just as bad as a type-one error. A typetwo error is when you disbelieve something that is actually true. Remember Galileo and the Catholic Church. Well, his crazy theory turned out to be right, and they were wrong, but they refused to see that. They committed a huge type-two error. Or how about that intelligence officer who warned his superiors that terrorists were planning on using airplanes as bombs to crash them into buildings? There was no great response to this threat. None of the security measures that were enacted after 9/11 were put into place at that time. Why? It was simply a type-two error.

they do not take into account a possible worst-case scenario, and plan for it accordingly? Good question. That is where the idea of pathological skepticism comes in. This is a concept that I came up with years ago to try to understand why some scientists are so skeptical that they frequently make type-two errors, and often use wild leaps of illogic to support their erroneous conclusions. Since then, the term pathological skepticism has become something of a household word. Like so many psychological disorders, this one consists not of a conscious act but, rather, an unconscious thought process. The Meditation Study Skeptics often use straw-man arguments. Whats funny about this is that they usually dont even know that they are doing it. Whenever I think of pathological skepticism, I always think of a psychological study done years ago at my Alma Mater, Long Beach State University. A researcher there, who shall remain nameless, wanted to study the effects of Eastern meditation, so he came up with a pretty clever study. He came up with three options: A) One group practiced traditional meditation, as it is practiced in Eastern religions; B) One group practiced a secularized Western form of meditation (essentially duplicating the meditation technique, without any religious references); and, C) one group did nothing at all; this was the control group. He randomly assigned students to one of these three groups. He then monitored the subjects to look for positive outcomes of daily mediation, which might occur over time. After the study was over, he looked at all the data. It clearly showed that both the Eastern religion meditation group and the secular meditation group enjoyed positive benefits, and the control group did not. Both of the med-

And it was probably one of the worst in history. Thalidomide In real science, type-two errors are every bit as dangerous as type-one errors. In fact, in the field of foods and drugs, type-two errors are much worse than typeone errors. Think about it. Suppose they create a new drug to prevent morning sickness in pregnant women. If the scientists are wrong, and the drug doesnt prevent morning sickness, then the only harm done is to the companys profits. But, lets say that there is a theory that this drug might create birth defects, but there is no evidence to prove that it would create birth defects. So lets say that the hard-core skeptics won out, and they went ahead and released the drug, which had been proven to prevent morning sickness, but which had not proven to create birth defects. Well, this did happen. The drug was Thalidomide, and guess what? This turned out to be a type-two error. Many thousands of children were born horribly deformed because the drug company did not take seriously the

unproven, theoretical risk of birth defects. This has been called one of the biggest medical tragedies in modern times. There are many other examples. There is the risk of nuclear reactors melting down, the risk of hexavalent chromium contaminating the ground water (the case that Erin Brockovich made famous), the risk of using mercury as a preservative in inoculations (still debated even though the drug companies have taken it off the market), etc. All of these have been hotly debated, and some are still being debated. But every time a catastrophe happens, such as the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima, we always find that hindsight is 20/20, and it was a type-two error that was to blame. This goes for the Challenger disaster, as well. Anytime someone is warned of a potential problem and they fail to heed the warning because of a lack of proof, they are running the risk of a costly type-two error. So how does this happen? How can an otherwise rational, hard-nosed, tough-minded, skeptical scientist be so foolish that

Continued on Page 67

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LOST HISTORY

The Enduring Search for the Missing Heirs of the Biblical Jacob Has Yielded Some Startling Evidence
Jehu King of Israel giving tribute to King Shalmaneser III of Assyria, on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud (circa 827 BC) in the British Museum (London).

BY PATRICK PATRICK MARSOLEK PA

he Bnei Menashe tribe in northeastern India believe they are descended from the Menasseh tribe, one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel. They are one of many groups from around the world who are seeking recognition by the Jewish state, asylum, or emigration to Israel. The Bnei Menashe share an oral history of migration from the Middle East along the Silk Road to India. They have strongly rooted religious practices that are in accord with the Jewish faith. Though certainly not conclusive, genetic testing has shown that some of the female members of the tribe have DNA shared with Middle Eastern peoples.

Tudor Parfitt

Ever since the Assyrians conquered red the Northern Kingdom om of Israel in the seventh enth century BC, many political tical and cultural groups have ve claimed a connection with h the 10 Lost Tribes. With the advent of genetic testing, the modern interr est in these tribes s has heated up. Jewish historian and researcher from Florida International ternational University, Tudor Parfitt, arfi f tt, has been tracking down these hese groups and writing about the he so-called lost tribes for many years (Th The T e Lost Tribes of Israel: the Hi History Myth H isto t ry r of of a My M t, th Orion Publishing, g, 2004). He has traveled to India, Africa, a, Afr f ica, and recently studied the Golgadala tribe in Papua, New Guinea Guinea. He was trying to ascertain how the Golgadala fit into Jewish history and if, indeed, they are connected to the Lost Tribes of Israel. In a recent interview, however, Parfitt told this writer, Theres no reason to suppose that the 10 Lost Tribes have any connection to any modern groups, except mythically. Yet, the myth is very important to these people. Its very important to the Golgadala. Tribal members of the Golgadala in Papua, New Guinea and

An emotional welcome in Israel for Bnei Menashe tribe people

42 ATLANTIS RISING Number 105

the Bnei Menashe in India are converting to Judaism, and the cultural practices of the faith are increasing. Doubtless, there is a special significance for these people to being connected to the compelling narrative of the Lost Tribes. Impossible as it may sound, the genetic testing currently under way often reveals connections, which seem startling, between present day people all around the world and the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean region. Genetic tracking aside, however, the mystery of the Lost Tribes of Israel has continued to fascinate, and even inspire, many around the world who claim no direct association with the Jewish faith. Jews, after all, take their name from the tribe of Judah, which, along with the tribe of Benjamin, once controlled southern Palestine. Though the fate of the 10 tribes which occupied northern Palestine is unknown, they have not been forgotten. Jesus himself said, we are told, that he came to find them, I am

BC) they escaped across the Red Sea and, after 40 years wandering in the wilderness, crossed the Jordan river and settled in Canaan the land which, Genesis says, was promised to their father Jacobwhere the territories of Israel and Palestine are found today. The legitimacy of that claim remains a subject of fiery debate today. The 12 tribes were united under King David and subsequently under Solomon. After the death of Solomon, around 931 BC, the 10 northern tribes seceded but the two kingdoms lived, peacefully side by side, for the most part. Then in 722 BC the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom. At the time, it was the practice of the Assyrians to take the indigenous people from the lands they conquered and neutralize them by transplanting them to some other remote area of the empire. The 10 tribes were dispersed throughout the kingdom into what would be the modern geographical areas of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. This became the

Assyrian wall carving of prisoners being forced to play lyres. From Nineveh, South West Palace 790BC - 592BC

not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew, 15:24). The history of ancient Israel, as recorded in the Bibles book of Genesis, states that there were once 12 tribes, descended from the 12 sons of the Israelite patriarch Jacobthe so-called Children of Israel. These tribes, we are told, were enslaved in Egypt, though some historians have speculated that, in fact, they were Egyptian themselves (see the following article). Ultimately, led by Moses, (possibly around 1250

first diaspora (dispersal) of the Israelites. There are written records from that time documenting the Assyrian practices. Cuneiform tablets from Iran in the fifth century BC with military lists of soldiers show Jewish names from the region of Israel. A century later, however, those names were no longer evident. Most historians say that the 10 conquered tribes, like conquered peoples elsewhere in the ancient world, lost their separate identity, were assimilated, and ceased to exist.

Many, however, believe the claims of the Bnei Menashe in India. Rabbi Michael Freund, Shavei Israels chairman, recently welcomed a group of the Bnei Menashe to Israel saying, Your arrival provides us all with yet another reason to celebrate. Your return after more than 2,700 years is proof that the ingathering of the exiles continues to move forward. While many question whether the genetic evidence constitutes actual proof of a lineage back to the Lost Tribes, there are, yet, many believers. Not much is said, though, about the Israel-despising Taliban-fostering Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan which also considers itself descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel. Yet many in both the Jewish and Christian communities still hold that the true tribes of Israel will one day be reunited. In fact, the biblical notion of a promised land, flowing with milk and honey, for the children of Israel has inspired religious leaders, from Mormon founder Joseph Smith to Martin Luther King. While the more orthodox consider that place to be the State of Israel, there are yet more than a few who think the true promised land is actually America. The power of this cultural and spiritual narrative has served to perpetuate many legends of ancient birthrights. Queen Elizabeth I, in fact, was proud to trace her ancestry all the way back to King David. The British Israelite movement (from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries) believed the English and American peoples are descended from Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the Lost Tribes. The Mormon church claims a connection with the same groups. Some say that the people of Denmark, Scotland and Ireland are all descendants
Joseph Smith

The British Coronation Chair with the Stone of Scone beneath.

from the tribe of Dan, or one of the other lost tribes. The Merovingian dynasty in France claimed to come from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin through a dynastic marriage of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. The story, though, is not entirely one of lost bloodlines. Some New Age groups see reincarnation as the means by which the ancient destiny of the tribes of Israel is to be fulfilled. These believe that the chosen people are scattered throughout all races and peoples worldwidethe name of God written in their forehead (third eye). Their ultimate regathering is said to be required to save the world. The Stone of Scone, often referred to as the Stone of Destiny is a block of red sandstone used for centuries in the coronation of the rulers of Scotland and later the monarchs of England. It is also known as Jacobs Pillow Stone and is believed to come directly from Jacob (or Israel) on a mysterious journey from the Holy Land to Egypt to Spain to Ireland before arriving in Scotland. Though the composition of the current stone links it to Scotland, it is rumored that the original stone was a white marble which could have come from Egypt. The British have returned the stone to Scotland butbecause of the mythological power

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ANCIENT MYSTERIES BY EMMETT SWEENEY

growing number of academics hold that the disasters described in the Book of Exodus, which dissolved royal authority, were not normal climatic events but were part of a cosmic catastrophe that affected the whole earth; a catastrophe that rained meteor showers on the world (the hail mixed with fire) and darkened the skies with the ash of hundreds of erupting volcanoes. Whether or not we accept this catastrophist view, all can agree that the story recorded in the Old Testament describes the Exodus as a defining moment in Egyptian history. If there is any truth at all in this account, historians should not therefore be looking for vague references to the e departure from the Nile Valley of an obscure re band of Semitic shepherds; they should be looking for f r fo something of central importance to o Egyptian religious tradition; something whose se signature is glaringly obvious, and which has as probably been staring us in the face all the time. In my book Genesis of Israel l and Egypt (2008), I have shown in detail how w the Patriarch period of the Hebrewsthe age ge between Abraham and Mosesshould be placed aced alongside Egypts Early Dynastic Age. I identifi identified f ed Imhotep, the wise vizier of pharaoh Djoser, with Joseph of the long-sleeved coat. Joseph, reputedly the greatest seer who ever lived, saved Egypt from a devastating seven-year ven year famine after interpreting the pharaohs ohs dream, while Imhotep, Egypts greatest seer, saved d the h country from a devastating seven-year famine after interpreting pharaoh Djosers dream. Four generations later, the Book of Genesis informs us, there came a pharaoh who knew not Joseph and enslaved the Israelites. Four generations after Imhotep, according to Egyptian history, the Third Dynasty came to a mysterious end with the reign of a pharaoh named Huni. The new dynasty, the Fourth, it is believed, launched what we now call the Pyramid Age, perhaps the most extraordinary epoch of artistic endeavor and architectural achievement in history. If we are on the right track, the Pyramid Age must have come immediately after the Exodus; and most likely, it would seem, pyramid-building was inspired in some way or other by the cosmic events so recently witnessed by the inhabitants of Egypt. Ancient authors, such as Herodotus and Diodorus, claimed that the Giza pyramids were never used as tombs, and this is an opinion increasingly accepted by modern scholars. Most recent theories suggest that they were in some way or other connected with the cult of the sun-god Ra-Atum. The Great Pyramid was originally surmounted by a capstone covered in gold leaf, so that the first rays of RaSee Our Great 8-page Catalog Beginning on Page 74

Egyptian History
At Atum, as he h rose i in th the morning, i would ld h have struck the top of the monument and sent beams of light throughout the semi-dark countryside, much like a giant lighthouse. Could it be that the pyramids were built to celebrate the rebirth of the sun after the terrible days of darkness of the Exodus? The Pyramid Texts, a collection of incantations and prayers inscribed on the inner chambers of the pyramids of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, give pride of place to the sun-god Ra-Atum, who is praised in almost monotheistic terms. Some of the language used is strongly reminiscent of that found in Genesis and Exodus. Atum is described as the one alone, who brought himself into being. We are reminded here of Yahwehs statement to Moses at the burning bush: I am who I am. The Pyramid Texts are concerned with a mythical battle between the forces of light and darkness. We hear of a terrible struggle ending in an eventual triumph of the light. Although, owing to the dictates of accepted chronology, the idea that these texts could refer to events described in Exodus has not been widely explored, scholars have been struck by the parallels between the two bodies of literature. An explicit attempt to link the Texts to the Exodus was made in the 1980s by Walter Warshawsky. (The Exodus in the

The

Exodus

Charleton Heston, as Moses, parts the Red Sea in the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments

as

Sifting Ancient Records for the Bible Story

Pyramid P id T Texts? ? S Society i for f Interdisciplinary I di i li Studies; Workshop, 4: 4 (1983)) Warshawsky held that there seem to be many references to the Exodus in the Pyramid Texts. One Text, the so-called Cannibal Hymn of King Unas, seems to mention the death of the firstborn. A sentence of the Cannibal Hymn reads: For it is the King who will give judgement in company with him whose name is hidden on that day of slaying the Oldest Ones (Faulkners translation). Other translations have those being slain as the eldest or the elder one. Budge, however, translated: He weighs words with Him of the hidden name [on] the day of the slaughtering of the first born. The ntr smsw, according to Budge, may mean either eldest or first born god. The first-born are slain, according to another passage, when The sky is overcast, the stars are darkened, the celestial expanses quiver, the bones of the earth tremble, the planets [?] are stilled ... (Hymn 393). Warshawsky interpreted these phrases as meaning that the sky is filled with dust and clouds so that the stars cannot be seen, the world shakes, the mountains quake, the world stands still. Warshawsky noted that in the Pyramid Texts the killing of the first-born is prima-

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