Latest news with #ancientcivilization
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Underwater city could challenge the origins of Noah's Ark
An ancient underwater city beneath Turkey's Lake Van could potentially reveal secrets that challenge the origins of Noah's Ark. The sprawling ruins lie 85 feet below the surface near the town of Gevaş, just 150 miles from Mount Ararat, the mountain traditionally believed to be the final resting place of the biblical boat. 'As far as I'm aware, any civilizations in the last 6,000 years did not have the technological means to create the type of stonework we're seeing here,' said independent researcher Matt LaCroix, who spoke about the discovery on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast. LaCroix and an international dive team are preparing to explore the site in September using advanced imaging tools to map the ruins, which he believes could help rewrite humanity's timeline . The underwater complex spans more than half a mile, featuring a stone fortress flanked by circular temples with precisely carved masonry. There is also a capstone engraved with a six-spoked 'Flower of Life' symbol, an ancient motif also found at sacred sites in Peru and Bolivia. Discovered in 1997 by Turkish underwater filmmaker Tossen Salin while studying Lake Van's unusual micro-invertebrates, the ruins have remained largely unknown to the public. The site's sophisticated stonework, with tightly interlocking blocks, angular joints, and no visible binding agents, appears to rival the engineering seen in megalithic sites like Sacsayhuamán in Peru. 'You can see that the temple has been significantly damaged, said LaCroix. 'All the stones on the top have broken off except those at the edges. The site resembles Peruvian masonry, with precisely angled stones forming triangular joints, and only the front appears flat. It's beautiful and would have been perfectly carved.' He believes the shared architectural features, symbolic motifs, and astronomical alignments across sites in Turkey, South America and Asia suggest the existence of a long-lost global civilization. Scholars have long acknowledged that the biblical flood story likely evolved from earlier Mesopotamian texts. Ancient cuneiform tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian cultures, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Atrahasis, and the Eridu Genesis, describe a massive flood sent to destroy early civilization, and a chosen man who builds a vessel to save life on Earth. In these tales, the survivor is called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim, names predating Noah by thousands of years. Excavation logs from Shuruppak, Iraq, believed to be the home of this early flood survivor, show a distinct flood layer above ancient Sumerian ruins. These records, uncovered at the Penn Museum, provide physical evidence of a catastrophic event similar to those described in the ancient texts.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Vast underwater city discovered near 'resting place of Noah's Ark' rewrites Bible story known to millions
An ancient underwater city beneath Turkey's Lake Van could potentially reveal secrets that challenge the origins of Noah's Ark. The sprawling ruins lie 85 feet below the surface near the town of Gevaş, just 150 miles from Mount Ararat, the mountain traditionally believed to be the final resting place of the biblical boat. Geological evidence suggests that the ruins were submerged 12,000 to 14,500 years ago, when a Mount Nemrut eruption blocked the Mirat River, and caused massive flooding during the Younger Dryas, a period of extreme climate upheaval. While mainstream scholars dismiss the theory, many independent researchers believe this disaster wiped out an advanced civilization, one so ancient that it may have inspired the earliest versions of the Great Flood story. 'As far as I'm aware, any civilizations in the last 6,000 years did not have the technological means to create the type of stonework we're seeing here,' said independent researcher Matt LaCroix, who spoke about the discovery on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast. LaCroix and an international dive team are preparing to explore the site in September using advanced imaging tools to map the ruins, which he believes could help rewrite humanity's timeline. The underwater complex spans more than half a mile, featuring a stone fortress flanked by circular temples with precisely carved masonry. There is also a capstone engraved with a six-spoked 'Flower of Life' symbol, an ancient motif also found at sacred sites in Peru and Bolivia. Discovered in 1997 by Turkish underwater filmmaker Tossen Salin while studying Lake Van's unusual micro-invertebrates, the ruins have remained largely unknown to the public. While archaeologists confirm the structures exist, many attribute them to the Urartian period around 3,000 years ago, or even to the medieval era. But they have admitted that the site has yet to be fully studied or definitively dated. LaCroix, however, said in a July episode of the podcast that geological data told a different story. He explained how soil sampling and analysis of Mount Nemrut show clear evidence of a massive eruption around 12,000 years ago. As a result, Lake Van's water level rose dramatically, over 100 feet, according to some estimates. Because stone cannot be carbon-dated, researchers hope to find organic material, such as sediment layers or artifacts, which could confirm the age of the ruins. But collecting such evidence underwater poses major challenges. The site's sophisticated stonework, with tightly interlocking blocks, angular joints, and no visible binding agents, appears to rival the engineering seen in megalithic sites like Sacsayhuamán in Peru. 'You can see that the temple has been significantly damaged, said LaCroix. 'All the stones on the top have broken off except those at the edges. The site resembles Peruvian masonry, with precisely angled stones forming triangular joints, and only the front appears flat. It's beautiful and would have been perfectly carved.' He believes the shared architectural features, symbolic motifs, and astronomical alignments across sites in Turkey, South America and Asia suggest the existence of a long-lost global civilization. Scholars have long acknowledged that the biblical flood story likely evolved from earlier Mesopotamian texts. Ancient cuneiform tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian cultures, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Atrahasis, and the Eridu Genesis, describe a massive flood sent to destroy early civilization, and a chosen man who builds a vessel to save life on Earth. In these tales, the survivor is called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim, names predating Noah by thousands of years. Excavation logs from Shuruppak, Iraq, believed to be the home of this early flood survivor, show a distinct flood layer above ancient Sumerian ruins. These records, uncovered at the Penn Museum, provide physical evidence of a catastrophic event similar to those described in the ancient texts. Even the Babylonian Map of the World, the oldest known map, marks the Ararat region near Lake Van as a place of ancient significance, possibly linked to tales of a lone survivor who emerged after a global deluge. LaCroix argues that the biblical version is not being dismissed but rather reframed in its historical and cultural context. He told Beall to picture a thriving civilization along Lake Van, building temples and structures on stable, elevated ground they believed would last forever. The lake's water level was stable for millennia, until the eruption of Mount Nemrut changed everything. 'It's not that Lake Van would have had to have been 85 feet lower,' said LaCroix. 'It would have had to have been more like 100 feet lower or more, because these ruins are at 85 feet deep. So, what could account for a lake rising over 100 feet?'
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Baffled construction workers discover a 1,000-year-old Peruvian mummy in a hidden tomb beneath the capital
Construction workers have been baffled to discover an ancient mummy buried in a hidden tomb beneath the streets of Peru's capital, Lima. While expanding the city's gas network, utility workers accidentally unearthed two previously undiscovered tombs. One of the burial structures was empty, but the other contained the remains of an individual believed to be over 1,000 years old. Archaeologists say that this individual may come from a civilisation which predates the Incan Empire, which ruled over Peru until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. The solitary figure was found wrapped in a torn bundle in a sitting position, with their legs tightly pressed against their chest. The archaeologists continue to clean the remains, but, for now, the identity of this Peruvian mummy remains a mystery. Alongside the individual, archaeologists also found four clay vessels and three pumpkin shell artefacts. Archaeologist José Aliaga told Reuters: 'The material evidence suggests that it could be a burial of the Chancay culture, from approximately 1,000 to 1,200 years ago.' Prior to the rise of the mighty Incan Empire, the part of Peru which makes up modern-day Lima was home to the Chancay people. The Chancay were a relatively small regional power that existed between 1,000 and 1,470 years ago. Most of what we know about the Chancay comes from their distinctive pottery, which often included drinking vessels with human faces or small dolls placed in tombs. One of these anthropomorphic vessels was found in the tomb alongside the remains of the unknown mummy. Mr Aliaga says that the presence of such rich pottery in this tomb likely points to the existence of a larger burial complex. 'We are probably over a pre-Hispanic cemetery, as we found another burial just around the corner from here,' Mr Aliaga said. This discovery was particularly unusual since it was found directly below a busy city street, just 6.6 feet (two metres) from a resident's front gate. However, this is far from the first time that archaeological sites have been discovered beneath Lima. The project's lead archaeologist says this is likely part of a larger burial complex hidden beneath the city The Cajamarquilla archaeological site Cajamarquilla is an archaeological site some 16 miles from the coast of Lima. It was first settled by the Huari around 400–600 AD, but went on to be appropriated by later peoples including both the Ychma and Inca. The city sports blocks of mud–brick housing and pyramids that are thought to have been built for Huari warriors. Sadly, the site has been poorly treated despite official recognition — with a quarter having been destroyed and the rest threatened by urban spread. The first inhabitants to settle around Lima were the fishermen and hunters who developed agriculture in the region around 10,000 years ago. This means the city is densely packed with the remains of pre-Incan, Inca, and Spanish settlements. Archaeological sites are so common that most construction companies working underground hire archaeologists. Cálidda, the company that distributes natural gas in Lima and found these remains, says it has already made more than 2,200 discoveries. Mr Aliaga says: 'Lima is unique among Latin American capitals in that various archaeological finds are unearthed during nearly every civil project.' Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru, who was not involved in the discovery, says: 'It is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials, and, among these, mummified individuals.' At the dig site of Cajamarquilla, a site just east of Lima, archaeologists have discovered many mummies - including several which could have been victims of human sacrifice. Researchers found six mummified children found in a grave, believed to have been sacrificed to accompany a dead nobleman to the afterlife 1,200 years ago. The mummified children were uncovered in the grave of an important man — possibly a political figure — who was aged between 35 and 40 at the time of his death The tiny skeletons, wrapped tightly in cloth, were found in the grave of an important man — possibly a political figure — believed to have been aged between 35 and 40 at the time of his death. Archaeologists say that the pre-Inca civilisations did not see death as the end but, rather, a transition to a different stage. The souls of the dead were believed to become protectors, so these children may have been killed to accompany the nobleman into the afterlife. The perceived nobleman was entombed in the foetal position with his hands covering his face, and tied up with a rope. At the same site, archaeologists also found another mummy which had been completely bound in the same manner. According to the researchers, the mummy dates back 1,200-800 years and belonged to the pre-Inca civilisation that developed between the Peruvian coast and mountains. Archaeologists believe that this unusual arrangement may have been part of a unique local funeral tradition. Child sacrifice seems to have been a relatively common occurrence in the cultures of ancient Peru, including the pre-Incan Sican, or Lambayeque culture and the Chimu people who followed them, as well as the Inca themselves. Among the finds revealing this ritual behaviour are the mummified remains of a child's body, discovered in 1985 by a group of mountaineers. The remains were uncovered at around 17,388ft (5,300 metres) on the southwestern ridge of Cerro Aconcagua mountain in the Argentinean province of Mendoza. The boy is thought to have been a victim of an Inca ritual called capacocha, where children of great beauty and health were sacrificed by drugging them and taking them into the mountains to freeze to death. Ruins of a sanctuary used by the Inca to sacrifice children to their gods was discovered by archaeologists in at a coastal ruin complex in Peru in 2016. Experts digging at Chotuna-Chornancap, in north Lima, discovered 17 graves dating to at least the 15th century. This included the graves of six children placed side by side in pairs of shallow graves. Capacocha was a ritual that most often took place upon the death of an Inca king. The local lords were required to select unblemished children representing the ideal of human perfection. Children were married and presented with sets of miniature human and llama figurines in gold, silver, copper and shell. The male figures have elongated earlobes and a braided headband and the female figurines wore their hair in plaits. The children were then returned to their original communities, where they were honoured before being sacrificed to the mountain gods on the Llullaillaco Volcano. The phrase Capacocha has been translated to mean 'solemn sacrifice' or 'royal obligation.' The rationale for this type of sacrificial rite has typically been understood as commemorating important life events of the Incan emperor, to send them to be with the deities upon their death, to stop natural disasters, to encourage crop growth or for religious ceremonies.
The Sun
30-07-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Inside ‘lost' 6,000-year-old underwater city on coast of Cuba with stone structures 2,000ft below sea's surface
A MYSTERIOUS 'lost city' lying 2,000 feet beneath the waves off Cuba has baffled scientists for more than two decades — with claims it could rewrite the history of human civilisation. Marine engineer Paulina Zelitsky and her husband, Paul Weinzweig, stunned the world in 2001 when sonar scans revealed huge stone formations on the seabed near the Guanahacabibes Peninsula. 5 5 5 The images showed what looked like pyramids, circular structures, and massive blocks 'reminiscent of an urban development,' according to BBC News. Some of the stones measured up to 10 feet and appeared deliberately stacked. 'It's a really wonderful structure which really looks like it could have been a large urban center,' Zelitsky said at the time. The Canadian team, from Advanced Digital Communications (ADC), estimated the ruins could be more than 6,000 years old — making them older than the Egyptian pyramids. But despite the jaw-dropping find, no follow-up expedition has ever been carried out. While social media users today speculate the ruins are proof of Atlantis, experts remain cautious. 'It would be totally irresponsible to say what it was before we have evidence,' Zelitsky warned back in 2001. Cuban geologist Manuel Iturralde-Vinent, from the Natural History Museum, admitted the structures were 'extremely peculiar' but stressed the depth posed a major problem. 'It's strange, it's weird; we've never seen something like this before, and we don't have an explanation for it,' he told The Washington Post. Iturralde estimated it would take up to 50,000 years for the seabed to sink that far, far earlier than any known advanced civilization. Michael Faught, an underwater archaeology expert at Florida State University, agreed. He said: 'It would be cool if Zelitsky and Weinzweig were right, but it would be really advanced for anything we would see in the New World for that time frame. 'The structures are out of time and out of place.' Other scientists have argued the formations are likely natural rock structures. Despite skepticism, the discovery continues to fuel conspiracy theories online. 'Civilizations that existed before the ice age, perhaps multiple civilizations that rose and fell... The historical knowledge that has been lost (or hidden),' one person posted on X. Another claimed: 'There is so much hidden history. Finding it so fascinating. Everything we been taught is a lie.' Funding problems and Cuba's strict control over foreign expeditions have also been blamed for the lack of further investigation. A planned dive in 2002 was scrapped, according to US oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Weinzweig himself once insisted: 'The structures we found on the side scan sonar simply are not explicable from a geological point of view. 'There is too much organisation, too much symmetry, too much repetition of form.' Another underwater enigma often compared to Cuba's 'lost city' is the Yonaguni monument off Japan's coast. Discovered in the 1980s, the massive stone formation sits around 90 feet underwater and features sharp-angled steps and terraces that appear man-made. Tests of the rock show it could be more than 10,000 years old. If carved by humans, it would date back to a time before the last ice age — a theory that, like the Cuban ruins, continues to divide experts over whether it's a natural formation or evidence of a vanished civilisation. 5 5
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joe Rogan claims ancient Egyptians fled to the moon and the whole timeline of humanity is WRONG
Joe Rogan attempted to rewrite the beginnings of human civilization, adding that ancient Egyptian researchers are trying to hide 30,000 years of history. On the July 15 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the 57-year-old claimed that Egyptologists were 'gate-keeping' information related to ancient cultures that may predate the Egyptians by thousands of years. The podcast host also made the case that there's now evidence to prove Egypt was just another part of a much older society on Earth that may have created modern technology far different than we use today. 'We're told it's 2500 BC for the Great Pyramid, but boy, there's a lot of people that don't agree with that, including geologists,' Rogan said. Rogan cited that today's scientists have all but confirmed that a mysterious civilization built ancient structures like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey up to 12,000 years ago, knowledge that would radically rewrite the story of humanity. However, Rogan accused many scientists and historians of dismissing these discoveries, claiming that they've profited from keeping the Egyptians as the first great civilization. 'Everybody wants to be right and they all have this date that they've been talking about and writing books about and giving lectures about. They never want to revise that,' Rogan claimed during the July 15 podcast. 'They never want to have an open mind and say perhaps there is evidence, of course, that there was a sophisticated civilization there [in] 2500 BC but maybe they were a part of a very old civilization,' he continued. While slamming ancient Egyptian researchers for the alleged suppression, Rogan again took aim at Dr Zahi Hawass, a renowned archaeologist and Egypt's former Minister of Antiquities. Rogan accused Hawass, who he's called the worst guest in his show's history, of being 'totally ignorant' about the ancient Egyptian concept of 'Zep Tepi,' or the 'First Time.' It refers to the idea of the mythical golden age at the beginning of Egyptian history when the gods ruled directly on Earth. Hawass dismissed this concept as nonsense or mythology. Rogan also slammed Hawass and other Egyptologists for dismissing the so-called king's lists, which allegedly chronicle the history of Egyptian rulers for 30,000 years. 'Egyptologists that are conventional thinkers, they they think that it's mythology. They think that's myth. But, you know, you get to about 2500 BC, that's all real. Well, how the f*** do you know, right? They don't. You don't,' Rogan declared. Rogan then began to reveal what the Egyptology community allegedly doesn't want people to consider. This included the theory that the Great Pyramid couldn't possibly be only a few thousand years old, due to all the erosion in the stones. Geologist Robert Schoch, who Rogan referenced, has stated that rainfall data and water erosion patterns in ancient Egypt suggest heavy rainfall last occurred in the Nile Valley around 9,000 years ago. That would mean the Great Pyramid was more than 4,000 years older than what's commonly accepted today. Rogan then delved into the mystery surrounding the site of Göbekli Tepe, which is believed to be an ancient ceremonial or religious site constructed by hunter-gatherers. This archaeological site with massive T-shaped limestone pillars in Upper Mesopotamia is believed to have been inhabited from around 9500 BC to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Era. That's over 5,000 years before the Egyptian pyramids were built and roughly 6,000 years before Stonehenge. 'If there was an advanced civilization 11,800 years ago that was able to create Göbekli Tepe, which we know now to be true, what else have we not found?' Rogan asked his guest, fellow podcast host Danny Jones. 'Was it a breakaway civilization? Did they escape the Earth and go to the moon? Like they're trying to do now,' Jones added. Rogan followed up on Jones' assumption, suggesting that these lost human civilizations, including the Egyptians, may have taken a very different path in terms of technical innovation. Rogan theorized that instead of moving on to create the internal combustion engine, microchips, and plastics, these ancient societies evolved to construct advanced technology using entirely different engineering principles. 'I think the path that they took involved immense stone structures, cosmology. They probably didn't have internal combustion engines. They probably had a completely different kind of technology that we wouldn't even think of,' Rogan explained. To Rogan's point, Göbekli Tepe is not the only mysterious structure that could soon rewrite everything modern society knows about the ancient world. A sunken 'pyramid' near Taiwan has been sitting just 82 feet below sea level near the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Called the Yonaguni monument, it has stumped and astonished researchers, mainly due to its sharp-angled steps that stand roughly 90 feet tall and appear to be made entirely of stone, leading many to believe it was man-made over 10,000 years ago. Meanwhile, another ancient structure in Indonesia could predate Göbekli Tepe and the Yonaguni monument by a staggering amount of time. Gunung Padang, first re-discovered by Dutch explorers in 1890, is said to be the world's oldest pyramid. Studies have shown that the 98-foot-deep 'megalith' submerged within a hill of lava rock dates back more than 16,000 years.
