Alfred deGrazia

Brittany *

Published February 15, 2011

Brittany in northwestern France is sometimes referred to as Little or Lesser Britain. It is one of the most exciting regions of Megalithic Europe. The stone rows of Carnac are unequalled, Le Grand Menhir Brisé was once the largest standing stone in Europe, while Morbihan contains a huge number of dolmens and standing stones.2019 saw a report that “Bettina Schulz Paulsson, an archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg, reexamined some 2,410 radiocarbon dating results that have been assigned to Europe’s megaliths and put them through a Bayesian statistical analysis. Based on the picture the data presents, Schulz Paulsson believes that the megaliths were first constructed by dwellers of northwest France during the second half of the fifth millennium BC.” ^(b)Both Robert Hensey, who has studied and written about Newgrange ^[1766.6]and Mike Parker Pearson, Stonehenge’s leading, authority, have endorsed this idea of a French origin for megalith building^(c).

The earliest suggestion that Atlantis may have been connected with the Armorican peninsula came from François Gidon in the 1930s when he proposed that Atlantis had been situated on an exposed Celtic Shelf stretching from Brittany to Ireland. Unfortunately, he dates the submergence of this land to between 3000 and 1200 BC, which was millennia after that part of the Celtic Shelf had been inundated by the Flandrian Transgression.

Jean Markle was convinced that the Carnac stones were connected with Atlantis. Recently, Sylvain Tristan followed the work of Jean Deruelle in supporting a megalithic Atlantis. Further support has come from Alfred deGrazia and Helmut Tributsch who saw Megalithic Europe as Atlantis with the island of Gavrinis in Brittany as its capital.

The American researcher, Hank Harrison, considers the Morbihan départment as a significant Atlantean location if not the home of its capital.

Reinoud deJonge proposes even greater significance for the Brittany megaliths with his claim that they record the Flood of Noah in 2344 BC^(a).

A fairly lengthy illustrated paper regarding ancient catastrophes in Brittany is available online^(d).

^(a) See: Archive 2501

^(b) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/articles/europe-megalithic-monuments-france-sea-routes-mediterranean-180971467/

^(c) Stonehenge, other ancient rock structures may trace their origins to monuments like this | Request PDF (researchgate.net) *

^(d) finistere-catastrophes-chronology.pdf (wordpress.com)

Tagged Alfred deGrazia, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Brittany, Carnac, Celtic Shelf, Dolmens, Flandrian Transgression, Flood of Noah, François Gidon, Gavrinis, Hank Harrison, Helmut Tributsch, Ireland, Jean Deruelle, Jean Markle, Le Grand Menhir Brisé, Mike Parker-Pearson, Morbihan, Reinoud deJonge, Robert Hensey, Sylvain Tristan

Exodus

Published June 7, 2010

The Biblical Exodus has been linked by some with the time of the destruction of Atlantis. J. G. Bennett has firmly identified the 2^nd millennium BC eruption of Thera with the destruction of Atlantis^(f) and in turn, the effect of the volcanic fallout on the Egyptian nation generating the Plagues of Egypt recorded in Exodus.

The fixing of the date of the biblical Exodus is still debated, compounding the broader problem of synchronising the Bronze Age chronologies of the eastern Mediterranean. The early arguments were usually the preserve of biblical scholars^(t). However, a wider audience became aware of some of the difficulties when Immanuel Velikovsky published Ages in Chaos ^[039] and offered some solutions. Since then further revisions have been proposed by Peter James and David Rohl, but the Exodus date is still not definitively fixed^(m)(y)(z). On top of all that, other events that should provide reliable chronological ‘anchors’, such as the Trojan War or the eruption of Thera continue to generate dispute as well.

Dr Hans Goedicke, a leading Austrian Egyptologist, expressed a similar view regarding an Exodus link in a 1981 lecture, leading to quite a media stir^(c). Ian Wilson, best known for The Turin Shroud, has calculated that the volcanic plume from the Theran eruption would have been clearly visible from the Nile Delta ^[979.112].

Film-makers Simcha Jacobvici and James Cameron collaborated on the 2006 two-hour documentary The Exodus Decoded, in which, among other matters, it claims that the biblical Exodus took place a couple of hundred years before the generally accepted date^(aa). A review in The Jerusalem Post^(ab) noted that none of the arguments made in the film were accepted by mainstream archaeology and that Jacobovici freely admitted his lack of academic credentials.

Riaan Booysen believes^(b) that two Exodus events can be linked with three possible Theran eruptions and has identified the Israelites as the Hyksos. Ralph Ellis has also linked the biblical Exodus with the expulsion of the Hyksos and devoted a short book^[0656] to the idea.

Russell Jacquet-Acea, an American researcher, has written a three-part paper on dating the biblical Exodus, that includes the radical suggestion that there were three exoduses from Egypt^(m)⁽ⁿ⁾^(o).

Immanuel Velikovsky and others believed that the controversial Ipuwer Papyrus provides evidence in support of the biblical Exodus as well as the ‘Plagues of Egypt’^(d). In 2018, Anne Habermehl delivered a paper to a creationist conference in which she concluded: “that the Ipuwer Papyrus displays strong extra-biblical evidence for the historicity of the Exodus in its description of a chaotic Egypt that would have resulted from the biblical 10 plagues.”⁽ⁱ⁾.

Emilio Spedicato links the biblical Exodus with the explosion of Phaëton in 1447 BC, without any reference to the destruction of Atlantis, which, based on his interpretation of Plato’s text, he associates with a much earlier catastrophe^(a). He also associates these events with the Flood of Deucalion as well as some people migrations that “took place essentially at the same time”^(x).

Alfred de Grazia offers a radical interpretation of the Exodus in God’s Fire ^[1538], in which he saw the Exodus as a highly organised, rather than an opportunistic event. He also attributed some level of electrical knowledge to Moses, whom he credits with the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, if not the ‘invention’ of Yahweh himself!

Perhaps the most extreme Exodus theory has been presented by Finkelstein & Silberman, who have claimed that “the saga of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt is neither historical truth nor literary fiction” ^[280.70]. However, the same disbelieving Finkelstein is now going on a search for the Ark of the Covenant^(e)!

Flavio Barbiero has now produced an extensive paper^(g) in which he precisely dates the Exodus to the night between the 14th and 15th of July of 1208 B.C. (2/3 July of today).

It is important to point out that the historical reality of the Exodus is now being scrutinised as never before, generating growing scepticism. Both Jewish and Christian scholars have expressed serious doubts^(s).

Walter R. Mattfeld wrote in a 2021 paper “My research on the Exodus has concluded that it is fiction, but a myth or fiction which has behind it real events which can be recovered via archaeological findings. My research endeavors are to identify the possible real events that came to be recast or reinterpreted as the Bible’s fictional Exodus. In other words, What’s behind these events that is recoverable via archaeological findings? Basically, I see two historical events, grounded in archaeological data, as behind the Exodus: (1) The Hyksos Expulsion of circa 1530 BC (2) The Iron Age I settlements that suddenly appear in Edom, Moab and Canaan 1200 BC to 1100 BC.These two events are separated in time by roughly 300 years.“ ^(w)

William Austin is just one of many who have devoted years to a study of the Exodus dating controversy. The result of his labours is Before the Exodus, a 500-page offering and a condensed version of From Noah to Moses now available on the academia.edu website^(u) together with a number of other papers.

“If and when the Exodus occurred is one of the most controversial topics in biblical scholarship. Religious fundamentalists believe it is absolutely true. Skeptics doubt it occurred at all, and neither has any means to prove their case! My approach to the problem has been to assume that much of the controversy is due to an erasure of factual Israelite history in the Old Testament account. It is very difficult to read the Old Testament, then to scroll through Egyptian history and say, “Aha! There’s the Exodus. Read the Bible here; read the papyrus there… See, it all matches. Case closed.” It is very difficult, or it would have been done. This is not to say that the Exodus didn’t occur, it just didn’t occur exactly as recorded in the Old Testament of Christian Bibles.”

Gérard Gertoux noted that estimates for the date of the Exodus ranged from 2150 to 650 BC and so to narrow such an extensive range, he embarked on a forensic study of the problem. In a book^(p), The Pharaoh of the Exodus: Fairy tale or real history? ^[1890]and a 22-page paper^(h)(h2) he identified Pharoah Seqenenre Taa, who died on 10 May 1533 BC, as the Pharoah of the Exodus.

Unfortunately, the biblical Exodus has generated several controversies; was it a historical reality, its precise date, the route taken and the identity of the pharaoh of the Exodus? Regarding the last, Rameses II is linked by many with the Exodus, while others have nominated Tutankhamun (Collins & Ogilvie-Herald ^[1898]), Dudimose (Velikovsky^(j), Rohl ^[229]), Amenemhat IV (Habermehl^(k)) Ramesess V (Aboulfotouh^(l)) and to these, we may add many others who have been proposed^(k). This debate has a long way to go yet.

A more recent (April 2022) article by Jonah Cohen highlights the range of individuals proposed as the pharaoh of the Exodus and suggests that the mystery may not be solvable!^(q) Another 2022 article by Gerald Eising opted firmly for Amenhotep II^(r).

As you can see the actual date of the Exodus is disputed, but the difficulties don’t end there. Moses the charismatic leader of the Israelites has generated a separate set of problems. Ahmed Osman is just one commentator who has has identified Moses as the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten ^[1849]. Graham Phillips, among others, claims that Moses was two different people, living at different times ^[0034]! Immanuel Velikovsky has linked Akhenaten with Oedipus in Greek mythology ^[2041]. D.M.Murdock concluded ^[2058] that Moses cannot be discovered in history, whether as Akhenaten or another historical personage. Compounding all this confusion is the idea that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch and yet, in it, he managed to describe his own death and burial!!

(See: Red Sea)

^(a)https://interval.louisiana.edu/conferences/2007_Stenger/Slides_of_talks/mose8-6.pdf

^(b)https://riaanbooysen.com/misc/167-book-announcement (link broken) See (v)

^(c)Archive 2490 | (atlantipedia.ie)

^(d) https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-writings/does-ipuwer-papyrus-provide-evidence-events-exodus-006951?utm_source=Ancient-Origins+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7295e85219-Top_Trending_Stories_Nov_No3_REAL_11_14_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2dcd13de15-7295e85219-85158329

^(e) https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/02/new-search-begins-for-the-ark-of-the-covenant/

^(f) https://www.systematics.org/journal/vol1-2/geophysics/systematics-vol1-no2-127-156.htm

^(g) https://www.q-mag.org/a-precise-chronology-of-exodus.html

^(h) (99+) (PDF) Absolute chronology of Exodus | Gerard GERTOUX – Academia.edu

^(h2)https://www.academia.edu/30200722/The_Pharaoh_of_the_Exodus_Fairy_tale_or_real_history_Outcome_of_the_investigation

⁽ⁱ⁾ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329770320_The_Ipuwer_Papyrus_and_the_Exodus

^(j) The True Story of Moses and the Pharaoh According to Velikovsky (hermetics.org)

^(k) Revising the Egyptian Chronology: Joseph as Imhotep, and Amenemhat IV as Pharaoh of the Exodus (cedarville.edu)

^(l) (PDF) LOCATION OF PI-HAHIROTH OF MOSES’S EXODUS IN SUEZ GULF AND THE NEW KINGDOM’S SCENARIO: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH | Hossam Aboulfotouh – Academia.edu

^(m) (99+) Re-calculating the Historical Age of the Israelites in Egypt and the Date of the Exodus (Part One) | Russell Jacquet-Acea – Academia.edu

⁽ⁿ⁾ (99+) Re-calculating the Historical Age of the Israelites in Egypt and the Date of the Exodus PART TWO | Russell Jacquet-Acea – Academia.edu

^(o) (99+) Re-calculating the Historical Age of the Israelites in Egypt and the Date of the Exodus Part THREE | Russell Jacquet-Acea – Academia.edu

^(p) https://www.lulu.com/en/ie/shop/gerard-gertoux/the-pharaoh-of-the-exodus-fairy-tale-or-real-history/paperback/product-1vjrmky7.html?page=1&pageSize=4

^(q) Who was the Exodus Pharaoh? (jns.org)

^(r) Who was the Pharaoh of Exodus? – Tidings

^(s) https://aroyking.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/has-archaeology-proven-that-the-biblical-exodus-is-a-myth/

^(t) https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_exodus_date.html

^(u)https://www.academia.edu/20426570/The_Hebrew_chronology_from_Noah_to_Moses_corrected_for_half-years

^(v)Microsoft Word – Addendum to Thera_and_the_Exodus -Nov_2020.docx (riaanbooysen.com)

^(w) (99+) The Archaeological Evidence for the Exodus being a Myth | Walter R. Mattfeld – Academia.edu

^(x) The-Deucalion-catastrophe.pdf (atlantis.fyi)

^(y) bmh_exodusdate_kmtsummer94.pdf (biblemythhistory.com)

^(z) Talk Reason

^(aa) https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Documentary-sets-new-date-for-Exodus *

^(ab) Documentary sets new date for Exodus – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com) *

Tagged Ahmed Osman, Akhenaten, Alfred deGrazia, Amenemhat IV, Andrew Collins, Anne Habermehl, Ark of the Covenant, D.M. Murdock, David Rohl, Dudimose, Emilio Spedicato, Exodus, Finkelstein & Silberman, Flavio Barbiero, Gerard Gertoux, Graham Phillips, Hans Goedicke, Hyksos, Ian Wilson, Immanuel Velikovsky, Ipuwer Papyrus, J. G. Bennett, James Cameron, Jerusalem Post, Moses, Oedipus, Pentateuch, Peter James, Phaeton, Plagues of Egypt, Ralph Ellis, Rameses II, Red Sea, Riaan Booysen, Russell Jacquet-Acea, Simcha Jacobvici, Thera, Trojan War, Tutankhamun, Walter R. Mattfeld, William Austin, Yahweh

Identity of the Atlanteans *

Published May 28, 2010

The Identity of the Atlanteans has produced a range of speculative suggestions nearly as extensive as that of the proposed locations for Plato’s lost island. However, it is highly probable that we already know who the Atlanteans were, but under a different name.

The list below includes some of the more popular suggestions and as such is not necessarily exhaustive. While researchers have proposed particular locations for Atlantis, not all have identified an archaeologically identified culture to go with their chosen location. The problem is that most of the places suggested have endured successive invasions over the millennia by different peoples.

It would seem therefore that the most fruitful approach to solving the problem of identifying the Atlanteans would be to first focus on trying to determine the date of the demise of Atlantis. This should reduce the number of possible candidates, making it easier to identify the Atlanteans.

A final point to consider is that the historical Atlanteans were a military alliance, and as such may have included more than one or none of those listed here. The mythological Atlanteans, who included the five sets of male twins and their successors would be expected to share a common culture, whereas military coalitions are frequently more disparate.

Basques: William Lewy d’Abartiague, Edward Taylor Fletcher

Berbers: Alberto Arecchi, Alf Bajocco, Ulrich Hofmann, Jacques Gossart, Ibn Khaldun

British: William Comyns Beaumont, E. J. de Meester, Donald Ingram, George H. Cooper, Anthony Roberts, Paul Dunbavin.

Cro-Magnons: R. Cedric Leonard, Theosophists, Georges Poisson, Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Kurt Bilau, Louis Charpentier

Etruscans: Richard W. Welch, Frank Joseph *

Guanches: B. L. Bogaevsky, Bory de Saint Vincent, Boris F. Dobrynin, Eugène Pégot-Ogier

Irish: Ulf Erlingsson, George H. Cooper, John Whitehurst, Thomas Dietrich, Padraig A. Ó Síocháin, Lewis Spence,

Maltese: Anton Mifsud, Francis Xavier Aloisio, Kevin Falzon, Bibischok, Joseph Bosco, David Calvert-Orange, Giorgio Grongnet de Vasse, Albert Nikas, Joseph S. Ellul, Francis Galea, Tammam Kisrawi, Charles Savona-Ventura, Hubert Zeitlmair.

Maya: Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Charles Gates Dawes, Colin Wilson, Adrian Gilbert, L. M. Hosea, Augustus le Plongeon, Teobert Maler, Joachim Rittstieg, Lewis Spence, Edward Herbert Thompson, Jean-Frédérick de Waldeck,

Megalith Builders: Lucien Gerardin, Paolo Marini, Sylvain Tristan, Jean Deruelle, Alan Butler, Alfred deGrazia, Helmut Tributsch, Hank Harrison, Walter Schilling, Robert Temple, Manuel Vega

Minoans: K.T. Frost, James Baikie, Walter Leaf, Edwin Balch, Donald A. Mackenzie, Ralph Magoffin, Spyridon Marinatos, Georges Poisson, Wilhelm Brandenstein, A. Galanopoulos, J. G. Bennett, Rhys Carpenter, P.B.S. Andrews, Edward Bacon, Willy Ley, J.V. Luce, James W. Mavor, Henry M. Eichner, Prince Michael of Greece, Nicholas Platon, N.W. Tschoegl, Richard Mooney, Rupert Furneaux, Martin Ebon, Francis Hitching, Charles Pellegrino, Rodney Castleden, Graham Phillips, Jacques Lebeau, Luana Monte, Fredrik Bruins, Gavin Menzies, Lee R. Kerr, Daniel P. Buckley.

Persians: August Hunt, Pierre-André Latreille, William Henry Babcock, Hans Diller.

Phoenicians: Jonas Bergman, Robert Prutz,

Sardinians: Paolo Valente Poddighe, Robert Paul Ishoy, Sergio Frau, Mario Tozzi, Diego Silvio Novo, Antonio Usai, Giuseppe Mura.

Sicilians: Phyllis Young Forsyth, Thorwald C. Franke, Axel Hausmann, Peter Jakubowski, Alfred E. Schmeck, M. Rapisarda,

Swedes: Johannes Bureus, Olaf Rudbeck

Sea Peoples: Wilhelm Christ, Jürgen Spanuth, Spyridon Marinatos, Rainer W. Kühne, John V. Luce, Theodor Gomperz, Herwig Görgemanns , Tony O’Connell, Sean Welsh, Thorwald C. Franke, Werner Wickboldt.

Trojans: Eberhard Zangger, Erich von Däniken?

Tagged A. Galanopoulos, Adrian Gilbert, Alan Butler, Albert Nikas, Alberto Arecchi, Alf Bajocco, Alfred deGrazia, Alfred E. Schmeck, Anthony Roberts, Anton Mifsud, Antonio Usai, August Hunt, Augustus le Plongeon, Axel Hausmann, B. L. Bogaevsky, Bibischok, Boris F. Dobrynin, Bory de Saint Vincent, Charles Gates Dawes, Charles Pellegrino, Charles Savona Ventura, Colin Wilson, Daniel P. Buckley, David Calvert-Orange, Diego Silvio Novo, Donald A. Mackenzie, Donald Ingram, E. J. de Meester, Eberhard Zangger, Edward Bacon, Edward Herbert Thompson, Edward Taylor Fletcher, Edwin Balch, Erich vonDäniken, Eugène Pégot-Ogier, Francis Galea, Francis Hitching, Francis Xavier Aloisio, Fredrik Bruins, Gavin Menzies, George H. Cooper, Georges Poisson, Giorgio Grongnet de Vasse, Giuseppe Mura, Graham Phillips, Hank Harrison, Hans Diller., Helmut Tributsch, Henry M. Eichner, Herwig Görgemanns, Hubert Zeitlmair, Ibn Khaldun, J. G. Bennett, J.V. Luce, Jacques Gossart, Jacques Lebeau, James Baikie, James W. Mavor, Jean Deruelle, Jean-Frédérick de Waldeck, Joachim Rittstieg, Johannes Bureus, John Whitehurst, Jonas Bergman, Joseph Bosco, Joseph S. Ellul, Jürgen Spanuth, K.T. Frost, Kevin Falzon, Kurt Bilau, L. M. Hosea, Lee R. Kerr, Lewis Spence, Louis Charpentier, Luana Monte, Lucien Gerardin, M. Rapisarda, Manuel Vega, Mario Tozzi, Martin Ebon, N.W. Tschoegl, Nicholas Platon, Olaf Rudbeck, P.B.S. Andrews, Padraig A. Ó Síocháin, Paolo Marini, Paolo Valente Poddighe, Paul Dunbavin, Peter Jakubowski, Phyllis Young Forsyth, Pierre-André Latreille, Prince Michael of Greece, R. Cedric Leonard, Rainer Walter Kühne, Ralph Magoffin, Rhys Carpenter, Richard Mooney, Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Robert Paul Ishoy, Robert Prutz, Robert Temple, Rodney Castleden, Rupert Furneaux, Sean Welsh, Sergio Frau, Spyridon Marinatos, Sylvain Tristan, Tammam Kisrawi, Teobert Maler, Theodore Gomperz, Theosophists, Thomas Dietrich, Thorwald C. Franke, Tony O'Connell, Ulf Erlingsson, Ulrich Hofmann, Walter Leaf, Walter Schilling, Werner Wickboldt, Wilhelm Brandenstein, Wilhelm Christ, William Comyns Beaumont, William Henry Babcock, William Lewy d’Abartiague, Willy Ley

de Grazia, Alfred

Published May 25, 2010

Alfred de Grazia (1919-2014 ) was a noted educator, philosopher, political scientist and catastrophist. In his latter role, he adopted many of Immanuel Velikovsky’s ideas. He met Velikovsky in 1963 and subsequently compiled and published The Velikovsky Affair^[¹¹⁷²^] which exposed the efforts by members of the academic community to block the publication of Velikovsky’s books.

>Quantavolution is a word coined by de Grazia to explain the idea of sudden and drastic changes to the Earth – to the planet itself, environment, life forms on it, culture – normally brought on by catastrophes. Instead of the idea of uniformitarianism which is very very slow changes. In his book Chaos and Creation ^[1894] he offered an introduction to Quantavolution.<

He clearly supported the reality of Atlantis noting that “if Plato lied in his tale of Atlantis, there would be little truth in him generally: for Plato repeatedly insisted that his story be considered seriously and literally.” He placed Atlantis in the North Atlantic and dated its demise to around 4000 BC. He identified the confederation of Atlantis as the megalithic cultures of the northeast Atlantic stretching from Scandinavia to Spain and dated its demise to around 4000 BC. In chap.18 of a more recent book, The Iron Age of Mars^[¹⁵¹³^], available on his website, he discussed the theories of both Jürgen Spanuth and Felice Vinci and their belief that the Scandinavians had influenced the development of the Mycenaean civilisation in Greece.

He had a very extensive website⁽^a⁾, which is still live (Oct 2021) and covers a wide range of subjects.

⁽^a⁾ https://www.grazian-archive.com/

Tagged Alfred deGrazia, Atlantis, Felice Vinci, Immanuel Velikovsky, Jürgen Spanuth, Mycenaeans, Quantavolution

Ark of the Covenant, The *

Published April 7, 2010

The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most enduring mysteries that originated in the Old Testament. It was recorded there, in great detail (Exod.25:10-22; 37:1-9), how the Ark was constructed to house the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments given to Moses. King Solomon built the First Jerusalem Temple with the primary purpose of providing a suitable home for the Ark. Sometime before the 6^th century BC the Ark disappeared and so for at least two and a half millennia, the search for it has been ongoing.

Alfred de Grazia has written at length about the electrical properties of the Ark in his book, God’s Fire ^[1538]. This suggestion of Mosaic electricity can be traced back to 1913 when Nikola Tesla wrote “…Moses was undoubtedly a practical and skilful electrician far in advance of his time. The Bible describes precisely, and minutely, arrangements constituting a machine in which electricity was generated by the friction of air against silk curtains, and stored in a box constructed like a condenser. It is very plausible to assume that the sons of Aaron were killed by a high-tension discharge and that the vestal fires of the Romans were electrical” ^(p).

More recently, in response to a claim from Scott Wolter, a controversial TV host^(z), that the Ark had been used to power the Great Pyramid, Jason Colavito offered a paper in which this suggestion of the Ark as an electrical device can be traced back as far as speculation in the 17th and 18th centuries^(aa).

In 2016, David Hatcher Childress, in Ark of God ^[1743], repeated old speculation that the Ark was capable of flight and proposed it as an example of ancient technology! This flight capability or at least levitation^(u) is also suggested by Laurence Gardner ^[1785].

In 1982, Yehuda Getz, the rabbi in charge of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall claimed to know the Ark’s location to within 2 or 3 metres, under the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Political considerations have prevented any excavation at the site^(d). The late Ron Wyatt also claimed to have discovered the Ark in 1982, under the old city of Jerusalem^(f). A 2017 claim is that the Ark is situated near Jerusalem at Kiryat Ye’arim, where excavations will begin soon^(g).

Various commentators have endeavoured to link the Ark and its possible discovery with the Freemasons^(s). and/or the Knights Templar^(t).

One of the best-known books recounting a personal search for the Ark in modern times was by Graham Hancock in the shape of The Sign and the Seal ^[678], which ended with a frustrated author outside a church in Axum, Ethiopia. Oddly, Hancock touches on the subject of Atlantis in this book (p.319) where he dismisses the idea of an Atlantic home for Atlantis.

Hancock’s experiences in Ethiopia were repeated by Paul Raffaele and recounted in a 2007 article in the Smithsonian Magazine^(b). However, there is a short report^(c) that in 1869, Isaac de Karpet, Armenian Patriarch of the library of the monastery of St. James in Jerusalem, along with his brother Dimoteo Sapritchian, gained access to the church in Axum thanks to the intervention of the Abyssinian crown prince Kasa. They concluded that the ‘Ark’ in the church were wooden tablets (tabots) inscribed with the Ten Commandments dating from the 13^th or 14^th centuries AD.

The de Karpet report was recently echoed by an account^(m) of the inside of the Aksum church having been seen by one Edward Ullendorff during WW2 and who much later gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times in 1992, in which he revealed that there was only a replica of the ‘Ark’, which is to be found in churches throughout Ethiopia.

Shortly before that, Roderick Grierson & Stuart Munro-Hay (1947-2004) published The Ark of the Covenant ^[1786], which focuses on Aksum.

Munro-Hay later returned to the Ethiopian location in The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant ^[1965], published posthumously in 2006. He sees the story of the Ark as a tale that was adopted and embellished by Ethiopian clerics and concluded that the acacia wood from which it was constructed would have cracked and crumbled years ago.

Professor Tudor Parfitt embarked on a quest for the Ark ^[1782], which took him halfway around the world, ending up with the Lemba people of southern Africa, who claim to be Jewish. These people also claim to possess the Ark, although in the form of a modest drum-like object known as ngoma currently in a museum in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Parfitt concluded that ngoma was dated to around 1350 AD and as such “it is almost certainly the oldest wooden artefact ever found in sub-Saharan Africa”. Parfitt suggests that this ngoma was intended to replace an earlier Ark and was preserved by the Lemba for 700 years.

A recent website article^(a) offers newly discovered evidence for considering Yemen as the hiding place of the Ark. However, closer to home we have a book ^[1345] by Graham Phillips suggesting that the Ark had been brought back to England, to Temple Herdewyke, near Stratford-upon-Avon. He partly bases this idea on the work of Jacob Cove-Jones, a British historian^(e), who died before he could complete his quest for the Ark.

Other suggested locations include Mount Pisgah in Jordan^(h), East Prussia⁽ⁱ⁾ and Ireland’s Hill of Tara^(j)(ab). The fruitless excavations at Tara around 1900 by British-Israelites is now recounted in a recent book by Mairéad Carew ^[¹⁶⁴⁵^].

Expanding the possible locations further west is the suggestion by J. Chamberlain, following the theories of J.P. Noel^(l) who proposed in a convoluted tale, that St. Croix in the Caribbean U.S. Virgin Islands as the final resting place of the Ark ^[1581].

Equally entertaining is the hint from the late Philip Coppens that the Bugarach mountain, near the Rennes-le-Chateau, was also, through rumour, the location of the ‘Ark’. In a colourful article Coppens, links, President Mitterrand, Nazis, Mossad and Steven Spielberg^(k). Coppens has also written an interesting article about a failed attempt to locate the Ark led by a Finnish scholar, Valter H. Juvelius (1865-1922) under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem^(q).

Many other books and TV documentaries charting the search for the Ark continue to be produced. However, there is also another trend becoming more obvious, which is that there is an increasing number of instances, particularly on the Internet, of the Ark being linked to Atlantis. There is, of course, no evidence ever offered to support such speculation. One of the most recent of these is Opening the Ark of the Covenant, co-authored by Frank Joseph, where he traces the Ark back to Atlantis!

There are probably few people that don’t accept that the Ark had been a real artefact, while many doubt the reality of Atlantis. It is possible that by linking the two, authors hope to achieve credibility transference from one to the other!

The linking of the Ark with Atlantis is not uncommon but the level of b.s. sometimes used to describe this association can be breathtaking, as this excerpt demonstrates – “Yes, there were a number of The ARKS OF THE COVENANT IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY HAD COME FROM ATLANTEAN technology that was passed on to the Egpytian mystery schools. Some were built as light therapy healing machines, and other Arks were generators and communication devices between flying saucers and temples priest and technicians. And by tuning up the power of certain designed ARKS you also had some most powerful LASERS and power beaming instruments which can start earthquakes and destructive energy of modern HARP TYPE LASERS (LAZERS). The Ark of the Covenant was designed to do multiple functions? The is what made it extra valuable to the Egyptians as to the Hebrews. It is said by the time of Jesua, the Jewish priesthood had forgotten how to use the ARK for power. but Jesua intuitively knew how to use the ARK, AND activated it while on the cross to manifest a vortex vibration from it, and cause an earthquake with it, while on the Cross to make a demonstration.”^(r).

Spencer Alexander McDaniel, an American researcher, has published a lengthy article about the Ark and concluded that while it is possible that it did exist, it is unlikely, for a number of reasons, that it survived⁽ⁿ⁾. McDaniel is an Atlantis sceptic, who has suggested that it was the destruction of Helike that possibly inspired Plato to invent the story^(o).

2022 began with a report that Uri Geller had announced that “he had discovered the location of the Ark of the Covenant while dowsing on the ground floor of his new museum of himself in Jaffa”.^(v) Obviously, he declined to reveal the exact site, knowing that he can milk this claim for more free publicity. In 2021, he purchased the Scottish Lamb Island, because of its connection with the Giza pyramids^(w). He ended the year with the claim that aliens are due to arrive soon after thousands of years of contact^(x). So far the prankster^(y) has avoided the subject of Atlantis.

^(a) https://viewzone2.com/protocanaanite22.html

^(b) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/keepers-of-the-lost-ark-179998820/?all

^(c) See: Archive 2479

^(d) Brisbane Courier Mail, 29th January 1992

^(e) https://www.ancient-origins.net/opinion-guest-authors/did-templars-hide-ark-covenant-unraveling-cove-jones-cipher-006980?nopaging=1

^(f) https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/adventist-adventurer-claimed-have-found-ark-covenant-beneath-crucifixion-site-007412?nopaging=1

^(g) https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-to-break-ground-at-biblical-site-where-ark-of-the-covenant-stood/

^(h) https://www.hope-of-israel.org/p16.htm

⁽ⁱ⁾ The ark of the Covenant hidden under the Kaliningrad | Earth Chronicles News (archive.org)

^(j) https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-ark-at-the-seat-of-kings-1.356282

^(k) Atlantis Rising, No. 88, July/August 2011

^(l) https://arkofthecovenant-jpnoel.blogspot.com/p/st-croix-ark.html

^(m) https://www.livescience.com/64256-ark-of-the-covenant-location.html

⁽ⁿ⁾ https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/09/02/what-happened-to-the-ark-of-the-covenant/

^(o)https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/03/26/the-truth-about-atlantis/

^(p) https://hyborea.blogspot.com/2006/07/nazi-germany-and-ark-re-engineered.html

^(q) Found: one Ark of the Covenant? – Eye Of The Psychic (archive.org)

^(r) Carol Chapman- Ark of the Covenant from Atlantis? (carolchapmanlive.com)

^(s) The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant? – Templar History

^(t) Ark of the Covenant and the Knights Templar! – The Templar Knight

^(u) https://nexusmagazine.com/product/laurence-gardner-on-ancient-secret-science/?v=d2cb7bbc0d23

^(v) Uri Geller Claims to Have Divined the Location of the Ark of the Covenant – JASON COLAVITO

^(w) Why I Bought Lamb Island – Uri Geller

^(x) Uri Geller claims aliens to ‘make contact’ after visiting Earth for thousands of years – Alien UFO Sightings (alien-ufo-sightings.com) (link broken)

^(y) CLASSIC HOAXES: Uri Geller – The Greatest Prankster Of All Time? – Pranksters (link broken) *

^(z) https://tvovermind.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-scott-wolter/

^(aa) The Electric Ark – JASON COLAVITO

^(ab) Atlantis Rising magazine #39 http://pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At

^(ac) https://www.scribd.com/document/419065304/Private-Lost-Secrets-of-the-Sacred-Ark-16288949#

Tagged al-Aqsa Mosque, Alfred deGrazia, Ark of the Covenant, Axum, Dome of the Rock, East Prussia, Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia, Frank Joseph, Freemasonry, Graham Hancock, Graham Phillips, Great Pyramid, Hill of Tara, Isaac de Karpet, J.P. Noel, Jacob Cove-Jones, Jason Colavito, Jerusalem, King Solomon, Knights Templar, Laurence Gardner, Lemba, Moses, Mount Pisgah, ngoma, Nikola Tesla, Paul Raffaele, Philip Coppens, Roderick Grierson, Ron Wyatt, Scott Wolter, Spencer Alexander McDaniel, St. Croix, Stuart Munro-Hay, Tabots, Temple Herdewyke, Temple Mount, Tudor Parfitt, Uri Geller, Valter H. Juvelius, Yehuda Getz, Yemen, Zimbabwe

Megalith Builders

Published December 5, 2009

The Megalith Builders, who date mainly from the Neolithic Period, are frequently identified with Plato’s Atlanteans. Their remarkable structures were built between the middle of the fifth and second millennia B.C., a period that is compatible with the final days of Atlantis according to Plato. The building of megalithic structures in Western Europe appears to have ended just before the beginning of the Bronze Age – coincidence? Emmet Sweeney^, however, contends that “the great Megalithic-building culture of Atlantic Europe and North Africa commenced around 1100 BC or perhaps a little earlier”! ^[^700.208]

Proponents of the idea of a megalithic building in Atlantis see the location and extent of the megalithic structures as agreeing with Plato’s description, particularly his reference to Atlantis being ‘beyond the Pillars of Heracles’. However, the location of the ‘Pillars’ at the time of Solon’s visit to Egypt, is strongly disputed. In fact, the only territory unambiguously named by Plato as Atlantean was in southern Italy and North Africa along with several islands of which there are many in that region.

However, there are many features in Plato’s narrative that do not conform to our current knowledge of the megalith builders. There is no evidence that they had writing, irrigation technology or navigational skills to mount an attack on Egypt/Athens or any other characteristics ascribed to the Atlanteans by him.

On the other hand, if these attributes are just literary flesh applied to a skeleton of historical truth there is the possibility of a link between the Atlanteans and the megalith builders remaining.

Atlantis enthusiasts are quite happy to associate the megalith builders with Atlantis, as it provides something tangible to enhance the credibility of Plato’s narrative pointing to sites such as Stonehenge or the Maltese Temples. British researcher Robert John Langdon has gone further and proposed that the megalith builders originally came from Africa and settled in Doggerland at the end of the Ice Age, where they established Atlantis^[919]. When Doggerland was submerged they migrated to what is now mainland Britain, where they built Stonehenge as a memorial to Atlantis.

Manuel Vega, who places Atlantis in the Atlantic has some novel ideas regarding Stonehenge as well as Ireland’s Newgrange ^[0868].

Megalith building in North Africa has been documented for over a century. The Hill of Graces^[1566] by H.S. Cowper in 1897 concentrated on describing the megaliths in the region of Tripoli. The Mzora Stone Circle is a huge megalithic monument in Morocco and is considered to be the largest stone ellipse in the world. Further east the stone circle of Nabta Playa in Egypt had its importance further highlighted in a 2010 book by Robert Bauval & Thomas G. Brophy, Black Genesis^[1508]. A 2012 illustrated paper reviews the range of megalithic monuments found across North Africa^(af).

We must, of course, not omit the greatest megalithic monuments of all, namely, the Egyptian pyramids and particularly those at Giza. The apparent sophistication of their builders was greatly enhanced by the introduction of the Orion Correlation Theory (OCT) by Robert Bauval.

In a paper^(at) published on Graham Hancock’s website in 2022, Freddy Silva proposed an additional OCT – in Scotland. He suggested that the Pyramids of Giza, and by extension, Orion’s Belt matched the layout of the three stone circles of Stenness, Brodgar and Bookan. In the same paper, he goes further identifying other megalithic monuments in Scotland with counterparts in Sardinia and Armenia! OCT is not without critics.

The megaliths of North Africa are not the only monuments to adorn that continent Atlantisforschung drew my attention to a number of short articles by William Corliss ^(al)(am)(an)highlighting what has become known as the Senegambian Complex and are now a UNESCO World Heritage site^(ak).

Paul Dunbavin in his Atlantis of the West ^[⁰⁰⁹⁹^]and Towers of Atlantis ^[1627]promotes the idea of a megalithic Atlantis centred off the coast of Wales in what is now the Irish Sea. In 2022 Dunbavin recorded^(ao) that “In a review of the “Pathways to the Cosmos” conference held at Dublin Castle in September 2018, Liz Henty makes some perhaps surprising comments. She notes that this is the first such conference where archaeologists and archaeoastronomers have combined to broadly agree that some Neolithic monuments in Britain and Ireland were astronomically aligned^(ap).

While not a new idea, a megalithic connection with Atlantis has recently been given further attention by the French writer Sylvain Tristan who was inspired by Jean Deruelle and Alan Butler. More recently, Jean-Michel Hermans, a French ethnologist, also added support for a megalithic Atlantis. Alfred deGrazia also joined this club as well as the German author Helmut Tributsch who has added his support to the idea of a megalithic Atlantis, specifically locating its capital on the island of Gavrinis in Brittany. A similar claim has been made by Hank Harrison, who also believes that the Morbihan region was an important Atlantean centre if not the location of its capital. Further support for a megalithic Atlantis has been given by Walter Schilling who places Plato’s city in the Bay of Cadiz. Robert Temple has recently offered grudging support for the concept of Atlantean megalith builders^(ac).

Iberia is also home to very many megalithic structures of varying types. Recently, lower waters in a Spanish reservoir revealed once more the impressive 144-stone Dolmen-de-Guadalperal, situated roughly halfway between Madrid and the Portuguese border^(z). Efforts are being made to ensure its preservation before the water levels rise again.

The most recent (2022) attempt at linking the megalith builders with Atlanteans has come from a disappointing book by Thomas Sheridan and Neil McDonald ^[2070], in which their starting point is the magnificent megalithic remains found in the Orkneys that are situated just north of the Scottish mainland.

As far as I am aware classical writers make no obvious reference to the megalith builders, nor has this omission been commented on by modern writers. However, the numerous indirect references to Atlantis by the same ancient writers are deemed inadequate, which seems consistent with a dearth of information regarding early history.

It appears to me that other questions that have not been definitively answered relate to the identity of the megalith builders, why they stopped building and what happened to them. Another thought is that if the megalith builders lived at the same time as the Atlanteans, is it not strange that both disappeared around the same time or did they? My opinion is that we are probably confronted with two unrelated mysteries – the disappearance of the megalith builders and the demise of Atlantis.

Parallel with the megaliths of the eastern Atlantic seaboard are the megaliths of North America^(ab), particularly those of New England^(ag). Who built them and when? Are they evidence of very early pre-Columbian voyagers from Europe?^(b)Nobody seems to have put forward the idea that megalith building might have spread from America to Europe! Is it such a wild suggestion?

Johnni Langer has published a lengthy paper on the prehistoric megaliths of South America and in particular Brazil. Generally speaking references to South American megaliths focus on Tiwanaku or Cuzco, considered to be relatively recent. However, Langer’s article has drawn attention to structures further afield in Brazil that suggest astronomical alignments^(ar). Brazil continues to reveal more megalithic structures, unfortunately, in some cases only because of deforestation^(au). The Brazilian discoveries have only added to the who and when questions relating to megaliths generally and whether there is any possible connection between the megalith builders and Atlantis.

A 2024 report has drawn attention to a stone circle in Peru. Although it has been known for over 60 years, it was only systematically studied from 2015. It has been dated as 4,700 years old at a location known as Callacpuma^(aw).

An interesting article combining all the strange aspects of megalith building can be read online^(c) which certainly offers food for thought. A paper^(d) published in September 2013 gives a good overview of megalithic studies during the past few decades. Walter Haug’s well-illustrated website^(k) offers a range of previously ignored megalithic sites in Germany.

Much nonsense has been written about the megalith builders, particularly on the Internet, where you find daft ideas such as attributing their construction to aliens^(a). The suggestion that extraterrestrials had the technology to travel in space but when they land on earth they have to build observatories with stone is just silly. Why would they even need such crude observatories if they had the technology and astronomical knowledge to travel across the cosmos?

A valuable website dealing with the global spread of megalithic monuments is The Megalithic Portal established by Andy Burnham^(g), which has regular updates. Other useful sites are Stone Pages^(h) and Megalithic Ireland⁽ⁱ⁾. Another site worth a look at is that of Sjur C. Papazian^(l). There is also a site^(j) dealing specifically with the dolmens of Corsica and Sardinia.

In the Middle East dolmens stretch in a line from the Caucasus^(s)(p) to Yemen with a remarkable concentration of them in modern Jordan^(m), a fact which prompted a former Dutch ambassador to Jordan, Gajus Scheltema, to write Megalithic Jordan^[1206]. Jordan is also home to an ancient mysterious 150 km wall, which was 1-1.5 metres high^(u).

Dolmens are also found in more distant lands such as India^(r), Korea^(n)(v) and Japan^(o). It is difficult to look at the worldwide distribution of dolmens and not consider the possibility of some form of global cultural diffusion! Rarely discussed are the widely dispersed megalithic remains found throughout the Pacific islands^(q).

A remarkable theory is presented by John M Jensen Jr to explain the function of dolmens throughout the globe, namely that they were constructed to protect from attacks by dinosaurs! This suggestion is part of a paper that claims that humans and dinosaurs co-existed^(ad).

Another unusual claim comes from Yair Davidiy, a Brit-Am promoter, who wrote on their website – “Dolmens and Megalithic Monuments originated in Ancient Israel. Jeremiah 31:21 says that the Lost Ten Tribes will construct a trail of Megalithic Monuments from Israel to their places of exile and evidence of this path will enable them to return. Such a trail exists! It is the Trail of the Dolmens from the Middle East to the West.”^(ae) As far as I’m aware Davidy has not explained the huge numbers of dolmens in places such as Korea and Japan! Professor W.A. Liebenberg has written a longer piece^(aq) on the ‘Lost Tribes’ as the builders of the megaliths. However, since the megalithic building period is generally accepted to have lasted from around 4000 BC until 1500 BC, this created a problem for Davidy and Liebenberg. The disappearance of the Lost Tribes is dated to around 700 BC leading to their dispersal and proposed megalith building as they travelled. D & L include Newgrange (3200 BC) among their monuments and that is where their difficulties begin. Both claim that before 700 BC the year was 360 days in length (after Velikovsky ^[^037.128]) rather than our present 365 days. They argue that if Newgrange (among other monuments) had been built when we had a 360-day year the sun would not still light up the interior at the winter solstice. Therefore, they conclude that most megaliths were erected AFTER 700 BC! An alternative conclusion is that the idea of a 360-day year is flawed and that a date BEFORE 700 BC must be correct!

There is a well-illustrated website offering an overview of the megalithic culture of Western Europe and the Mediterranean^(t).

In February 2019 the Smithsonian Magazine had a report telling us that “Bettina Schulz Paulsson, an archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg, reexamined some 2,410 radiocarbon dating results that have been assigned to Europe’s megaliths and put them through a Bayesian statistical analysis. Based on the picture the data presents, Schulz Paulsson believes that the megaliths were first constructed by dwellers of northwest France during the second half of the fifth millennium BC.” ^(w)

Some years ago, the renowned English archaeologist, Aubrey Burl, concluded after twenty years of study that French immigrants had built Stonehenge^(aa). More recently, Mike Parker Pearson, a leading Stonehenge expert, has also endorsed this idea of a French origin for megalith building^(x).

Archaeologist, Robert Hensey in his insightful First Light ^[1766.9] has also noted that “Construction of Breton passage tombs is likely to have ended by 3900 BC, almost certainly by 3800 BC, and the most recent evidence from Ireland suggests that passage tomb construction had not yet begun on this island by that time.”

Archaeologist Ashleigh Murzewski published a 2012 paper ^(av)on the significance of megalithic monuments in Atlamtis Europe and noted that “the construction of megalithic monuments in Atlantic Europe are not restricted to a single purpose, nor how they reflect one aspect of the community that built them.”

Jean-Michel Hermans contends that the megalith builders of Brittany had originated in the Caucasus and after a sojourn in what is now Bulgaria moved to Brittany after 5000 BC^(aj).

Antequera is a city in Spain’s region of Andalucia. It is home to three megalithic structures (1) the “Dolmen de Menga”, (2)the “Dolmen de Viera” and (3) the “Tholos de Romeral” of which de Menga has been described as the largest and heaviest in Spain. They are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and described by that organisation as “These three tombs, buried beneath their original earth tumuli, are one of the most remarkable architectural works of European prehistory and one of the most important examples of European Megalithism.” The limited carbon dating that has been carried out would seem to indicate that construction took place sometime in the fourth millennium BC. Richard Cassaro has visited the site and posted an interesting report with many illustrations^(ai).

The interesting claims of Schulz Paulsson, who places the origins of megalithic construction in Brittany in the fifth millennium BC, may be challenged by a little-known counterclaim that tombs in the Ox Mountains in the west of Ireland have been dated to the seventh millennium BC^(y). However, my personal view is that it would be more likely that the practice of megalith building would have spread from the east or south rather than from Ireland westward!

A number of megalithic sites situated around the world are reviewed on the illustrated megalithic builders website. Contributions from popular writers, such as Hancock, Bauval and Schoch are included^(ah).

A rational explanation for the construction of cyclopean masonry has been offered by Professor of Architecture Jean-Pierre Protzen and demonstrated on a YouTube clip^(f).

^(a)Unexplained Mysteries around the world (archive.org)

^(b) https://web.archive.org/web/20171105055925/http://planetvermont.com/pvq/v9n2/megaliths.html

^(c) https://web.archive.org/web/20140625091115/http:/www.bibleufo.com/ancconstmono.htm

^(d)https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.ie/2013/09/whats-significance-of-megalithic.html

^(e) https://www.paranormalpeopleonline.com/cyclopean-masonry-a-mystery-of-the-ancient-world/

^(f) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkze3WUvHz4

^(g) https://www.megalithic.co.uk/

^(h) https://www.stonepages.com/about_us.html

⁽ⁱ⁾ https://www.megalithicireland.com/

^(j) http://www.museodeidolmen.it/englishdefault.html

^(k) https://web.archive.org/web/20220808093846/https://www.megalith-pyramiden.de/AB-001-Cairn-Forschungsgesellschaft.html

^(l) https://aratta.wordpress.com/megalith-culture/