Somehow, Temple and I have never gotten our disputes off on the right foot. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. That in itself is extraordinary.". What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. Perhaps the source was Temple Also if it was seeded by westerners how is the Dogon and surrounding tribes have a fully developed culture and religion structure centered around Sirius going back for hundreds of years? To penetrate this supposed disguise (which might not be a disguise at all, other classical scholars maintain), Temple resorts to ancient puns, to hidden meanings, to "garbled versions" which he must amend to fit the theory, to the exchange of consonants in innocent-looking words, to similar-sounding words from This drawing is used by those who support the idea that the Dogon were taugfht about Sirius B by aliens. Temple claims that bas-reliefs of the Sumerian demigod Oannes, which depict a "fish man," prove Nommo, whom the author identifies as the ancestor of the Dogon Nommo myths, was an amphibious extraterrestrial. "There is some evidence," he points out, "that the Dogon like to frame pictures with an ellipse, and that Temple may be mistaken about the claim that in Dogon mythology the planets and Sirius-B move in elliptical orbits." Journalist and skeptic James Oberg collected claims concerning Dogon mythology in his 1982 book UFOs and Outer Space Mysteries. One group says the Dogon got their information from aliens from the Sirian system called Nommos. Further, "The fact that the Dogon do not talk of another planet with rings beyond Saturn [i.e., Uranus, whose rings were discovered in 1977--and the rings of Jupiter weren't discovered until after Sagan's book was written, although they would have been clearly visible to any arriving extraterrestrial spacecraft] suggests to me that their informants were European, not extraterrestrial." [8][9], In 1978, astronomer Ian Ridpath observes, in an article in the Skeptical Inquirer, "The whole Dogon legend of Sirius and its companions are riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally. He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. The inspiration for this claim was a star map produced by Betty Hill while under hypnosis. WebThe Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. of their culture, came from Sirius -- which is at the crux of Temple's reconstruction? stream Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? It's fascinating. sources for Temple's story. Strangely, ancient records explicitly list Sirius as one of six "red stars." Except that this isnt the original Dogon drawing. Afrocentrists, on the other hand, claimed that the Dogon could see (2004). The Dogon beliefs about Jupiter and Saturn sound familiar too. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. space. WebAccording to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. He says the references are there but recorded in riddles which he alone has been able to decipher. hVt*f+"c2aC-w.EJ|@F[VXLV~oo>l B>xU.9y'nYnZ6aBlc3y&A%M]XME [6] The claims about the Dogons' astronomical knowledge have also been challenged. "He sent me the manuscript which I found unreadable. They know about the existence of the star Sirius B, a companion star to the brightest star in our sky, Sirius A. History Debunked then goes on to demonstrate the type of pseudo-scientific nonsense this has lead to by providing a link to an Ethnomathematics paper and reading out its conclusion. A review of the astronomical, cultural, and anthropological sides of this issue might be timely. "[10] Ridpath states that while the information that the Dogon probably gained from Europeans to some extent resembles the facts about Sirius, the presumed original Dogon knowledge of the star is very far from the facts. Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? they were not told by beings from the star Sirius.". Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. Although we can occasionally claim victory (are there any alchemists left? the Dogon. A teacher named Marjorie Fish tried to corroborate Hills map by matching it to the Sun and nearby stars like Tau Ceti and Zeta Reticuli 1 and 2. Since Oberg cannot do so, we need not concern ourselves with criticisms of The Sirius Mystery." 11.1. The position of the He points out that Griaule and Dieterlen stand alone in their claims about the Dogon secret knowledge. Though Temples work was challenged, at its core lay the original anthropological study of the Dogon by Griaule and Dieterlen, who describe the secret knowledge of Sirius B and Sirius C in their own book The Pale Fox. Sirius B was known to exist then. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. To quote James and Thorpe: As for Sirius B, only Griaules informants had ever heard of it. Was Griaule told by his informants what he wanted to believe; did he misinterpret the Dogon responses to his questions? 139-167. (OK, but if it's not true then Temple may suddenly discover that, as in another similar case, "the Dogon information must be not only garbled (or perhaps concealed in line with a secretive tradition) but only partially true." When I set him a draft of a sharply critical review written for Astronomy magazine, he replied with a blistering counterattack in a letter to my editor: "A virulent attack against my honesty, integrity, and intelligence," he called my review. had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely On top of that, there is another star, Sirius B, orbiting at an average distance of about 20 AU (1 AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun). But here's the rub: there is no archaeological evidence that the specific references to the twin hidden companions of Sirius are anywhere near that old. The oldest traces of life on Earth go back to about that time. (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books,1982), pp. [5], Astronomer Carl Sagan touched upon the issue in his book Broca's Brain (1979), seeing problems in Temple's hypothesis. Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. The only mystery is how anyone could take seriously either the notion of The antiquity of the Dogon astronomy is not so obvious as ancient astronaut enthusiasts claim but neither has it been disproved. The mystery of the ancient "red" Sirius also remains baffling. But that isn't the only parallel. What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. It is a type of fuel that can lead to what Clay Farris Naff cleverly calls the neuron bomb. In this post, Michael Shermer asks, Is there a moral standard that stands above all the worlds religions that is based on some transcendent source?. "Legends of the Dogon: belief in a long-solved answer is that they got this information from amphibious aliens from outer It is important to look at the assumptions and implications of the claims made about the Dogon. I disagree wit deeee72. Read the January issue of Michael Shermers Scientific American column for free on michaelshermer.com: Kool-Aid Psychology: How optimism trumped realism in the positive-psychology movement. In 1977 two radio astronomers were interested enough in the Sirius mystery to direct their telescopes at the star system in hopes of picking up any artificial radio signals. The Dogon. Print versions available in Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Korean. Temple lists a number of astronomical beliefs held by the Dogon that amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. This is a complicated issue, because several special interest groups each claim the Dogon for their own. terrestrial rather than extraterrestrial. Griaule and Dieterlen describe a world renovation ceremony, associated rotation is astronomically possible but whether it is correct or not we cannot yet know. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? claims about the antiquity of this information or of a connection with Whew! WebAlso there is the fact that they described the Nommo as fish people and you find all kinds of half man/half fish - serpent imagery all over the Mediterranean. Given that the French stayed in their territory for five weeks and had several local guides, it would not be surprising if they shared some astronomical knowledge during that time. And this is what Mr. Oberg has done." Y%gbsPFur[%X7Sz African thought. G. Stein (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp. Schroder, D.J., et al. According to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. Temple offered another line of reasoning. The Dogon and Sirius. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Flim-Flam! It's almost certainly a hoax. The Dogon myths may or may not be related to these other putties (or even to Kepler's supernova, which has been seriously suggested.) Beings of this type would be a bit like mermaids and mermen. Perhaps the 'sirens' are, figuratively, a chorus of mermaids recalled from earlier times.They are called in Greek Seiren.It is So what is the alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis for the Dogon myths7 The Dogons could have learned of European Sirius lore in the 1920's from traders, explorers or missionaries, many of whom are avid amateur astronomers. Sagan suggests, however, that that civilization was Such words would have more persuasion behind them (to me they're merely an emotional appeal to sympathy) if Temple had ever admitted anywhere in print that he had found (or had been shown) any errors in his book or articles or public statements -- but if he has done so, I haven't become aware of them. E. "Ancient Astronauts," in The Encyclopedia of the "Robert Temple on three different occasions, by mail and phone, attempted to get support from me and I steadfastly refused," Asimov wrote. Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. Beware of mood swings. Laird Scranton makes it clear that he ruled out this possibility in this interview. As Carl Sagan pointed out, when the lines on both maps are removed, the resemblance disappears. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. The basic thesis is this: the Dogon (who live in the African nation of Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso) allegedly have long possessed arcane astronomical knowledge that should have been impossible for them to discover without modern telescopes. seem curious. Unfortunately he neglects to mention other bas-reliefs which show "fish-deer" and "fish-lions" and which consequently suggest that the fish motif was symbolic, not descriptive. Also if it was seeded by westerners how is the Dogon and surrounding tribes have a fully developed culture and religion structure centered around Sirius going back for hundreds of years? African Observers of the Universe: The Sirius Question. In, Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. 1996. I assumed, reasonably I.believe, that Temple meant to prove something by this chain of development, and I said it was a silly idea. [15] An apparent "third star" observed in the 1920s is now confirmed as a background object,[16] something previously suggested by Holberg in 2007: Benest and Duvent found that stable orbits with a period of up to six years exist around Sirius A. Found in the constellation after which it is named, it is about 25,000 light years from the sun and 42,000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way. ", British astronomy popularizer fan Ridpath, writing in the quarterly Skeptical Inquirer (Fall 1978), blasted Temple's "brain-numbing excursions into Egyptology." The Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. According to Griaule and This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. star" (Sirius B) and describe its density and rotational ), many debunked issues keep rising from the dead like vampires springing from their tombs. (Temple claims missionaries didn't show up until 1949.) The other five are still seen as red but from the time of Arab astronomers to the present day Sirius has been blue-white. In September 1980, Dr. Philip C. Steffey did an in-depth analysis of Dogon astronomical traditions in "Some Serious Astronomy in the 'Sirius Mystery,' " which criticized Temple's book as "inadequate and full of factual errors and misrepresentation of critical material. But was anything left out? Sounds like you're grasping at straws. But it seems that Griaule, a scientist, wanted to attribute to earlier civilisations more knowledge than they actually possessed. no conclusions of any kind." Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. Classical mythology has been a Rorschach test into which people have projected nearly any notion that appealed to them. theorizes that the myths may refer to a gigantic supernova. Nigel Appleby whose book Hall of the Gods was withdrawn from publication has admitted to being tremendously influenced by Temples Sirius Mystery. Other ancient astronomical records make no mention of Sirius being red. But my own measurements, which Skeptic Jason Colavito counts The Sirius Mystery among the body of works in a tradition of ancient astronaut ideas he believes were ultimately inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.[13][14]. We need more reliable evidence -- especially theories that can be tested. 1999. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. But that doesn't stop Temple. Even if you allow for a much higher biological mutation rate on any Sirian planet compared to the Earth, it still isnt enough time. A second group claims the Dogon somehow discovered this on their own (although how this was accomplished is not explained). Temple has either misinterpreted Dogon beliefs, or distorted Temple's theory is heavily based on his interpretation of the work of ethnographers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. It was very unlikely that the Dogon had learned of this stars existence from Westerners prior to the visit by Griaule and Dieterlen. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. But even after hundreds of pages of myths and interpretations Temple fails to make a connection between ancient Egypt and the modern Dogons; instead he "assumes" it. Concluded Ridpath: "The parts of the Dogon knowledge that are admittedly both ancient and profound, particularly the story of Nommo and the concept of twinning, are the parts that bear least relation to the true facts about Sirius. It is also possible to conclude that such a star could in no way be responsible for the flurry of sightings from the 1920s, it would be too faint and too close to Sirius A to have ever been seen by visual observers.[17]. For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. York: Random House, 1995). Figure 2. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. sun and the phases of the moon are more pertinent for Dogon reckoning. Griaule either This sounds significant and convincing until one measures the distance on a map and discovers an "immensely accurate equality" of a twenty percent difference! Some surviving informants of Griaule who spoke to van Beek made it clear that the Dogon learned about Sirius B from him!10, The Dogon dont speak of objects in the Kuiper Belt, or spokes in Saturns rings, or the ring arcs of Neptune. There are innocent available explanations: typographical error or miscopied notes, for example. 2000. Clearly the Dogons (in common with many other cultures) were fascinated by Sirius, probably because its position in the sky was crucial to successful agriculture (it's the only star they have a name for.) Griaule, Marcel. extraterrestrials, the Nommos, some 5,000 years ago. The stars in this group are too young only a few tens of millions of years for planets with life and civilization to have developed. var d=new Date();var n=d.toLocaleDateString();var t=d.toLocaleTimeString(); document.write(n + " " + t); Want to know your future? (I must confess I've felt that way about some other people, tool). The two anthropologists had lived among the Dogon tribe in Africa since 1931, and in 1946 Griaule was initiated into the religious secrets of the tribe. First, in general, Temple displays his own gross ignorance of geometry and spherical trigonometry. Dogon to explain their beliefs. the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. Here, then, is another datum to be investigated when it is possible." If I were alone in picking on Temple's thesis, he might be able to argue a case for ad hominem persecution. Unfortunately the ancient records contain no clear, unambiguous references to this Sirius lore although the works of historians, astronomers and philosophers were explicit and detailed on innumerable other subjects. E. "Ancient Astronauts," in, McDaid, Liam. But now, in another recent publication Ancient Mysteries by Peter James and Nick Thorpe this mystery is also uncloaked as a hoax or a lie perpetrated by Griaule. Robert Temple, who spent eight years studying mythology, is convinced that he can trace the Sirius-B information back to the Sumerians. Ridpath asserts. This proves that geodetic surveys of immense accuracy were thus practiced in ancient Egypt with a knowledge of the earth as a spherical body in space and projections upon it envisaged as part of the Sirius lore.". (Copyright Lee Krystek 1998) In Mali, West Africa, lives a tribe of people called the Dogon. by Liam McDaid. some 8.6 light years from earth. If so, I wonder why that passage was ever "worth pointing out" in the book in the first place. Feature Articles Dogon shame Did ancient gods from the Sirius star system visit an African tribe 5,000 years ago? companion" (Bullard). A substantial bulk of The Sirius Mystery consists of comparative linguistic and mythological scholarship, pointing out resemblances among Dogon, Yoruba, Egyptian and Sumerian beliefs and symbols. by Philip Coppens. October 1977 saw Marvin Luckermann's "More Sirius Difficulties," on ancient calendar systems and an alternate, non- extraterrestrial explanation for the ancient fascination with the number fifty (the article quotes Michael Astour's book Hellenosemitics as saying, "This exorbitant figure, very popular in Greek myths, has its explanation: it is the number of seven-day weeks in one lunar year. James, P., N. Thorpe, and I. J. Thorpe. Below: The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy (discovered in 2003) is the nearest known galaxy to the centre of the Milky Way. ", A series of articles has appeared in the Griffith Observer, an astronomy magazin Some might argue that if there were a planet really close to Sirius A, it could be in a stable orbit. scientific equipment, so how could they get this knowledge? Temple's impressive research was encouraged by noted futurist Arthur C, Clarke (although Clarke now prefers the "modern influence" hypothesis). By comparison, our own Sun was that old 3.4 billion years ago. Some astronomers speculate that the white dwarf Sirius B might have been a flaming red giant only 2000 years ago although current astrophysical theories decree that any such transformation in less than 100,000 years is impossible. The Bad Archaeology page on the Sirius Mystery has summarize the basic details well: In 1976, Robert K G Temple (born 1945), an American living in the UK, published what was to become a seminal work of Bad Archaeology, The Sirius Mystery. But other observers have also written skeptically about the "Sirius Mystery. Ancient The ancient records are filled with unanswered astronomical questions -- including the "red Sirius" and the possible Sumerian Ea-Oannes references to the spectacular Vela-X supernova. Or, Griaule's account may reflect his own interests more than that of either in daily life or in ritual [to the Dogon]. Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. Griaule and Dieterlen's claims, to fit his fantastic story. I published, showed the distances to be nowhere close, in error by tens of miles, at least ten percent -- hardly "immense accuracy. Used under aCreative Commons license. "Nowhere in his 295 page book does Temple offer one specific statement from the Dogon to substantiate his ancient astronauts claim." to other visible stars near Sirius as recognition of the invisible In 1965, Arthur Young gave Robert Temple a French article on the secret star lore of the Dogon, an article written by two French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. Knowledge of the stars is not important A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific Damanhur is 521.0 km from Siwa and 625.9 km from Thebes, a deviation of 20%. with the bright star Sirius (sigu tolo, "star of Sigui"), called Temple's book is indeed extremely long and many other researchers have echoed Asimov's assertion that it is "unreadable." Randi, James. the Sirius "Mystery" by Ian Ridpath, Skeptical Inquirer, Fall The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. implausible notions such as the claim that the Dogon got their knowledge The two anthropologists had lived among the Dogon tribe in Africa since 1931, and in 1946 Griaule was initiated into the religious secrets of the tribe. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. civilization. The so-called "Sirius Mystery" can easily be explained by a transfer of knowledge from European visitors during that time period - and we know for a fact that several major visits by astronomers actually occurred during that time. According to Robert Temple (The Sirius Mystery), the Dogon had "their purpose in disguising their secrets was to see that the secrets could survive.". Why would Europeans feel compelled that they needed to discuss astronomy with such a primitive tribe and why would this transfer of knowledge that only lasted 5 weeks have such an impact on the Dogan people that they would include it in their cultural practices? As anthropologists have known for a long time, primitive tribes have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting new stories into their traditional mythology. 7 0 obj A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific She claimed an alien starship commander had originally shown it to her. ch. Concludes Sagan, "There are too many loopholes, too many alternate explanations for such a myth to provide reliable evidence of past extraterrestrial contact. Ask about whatever you want with our Free Rune Readings! Could Sirius B have been a red giant a few thousand years ago? Ancient astronauts entrepreneur Erich von Daniken endorses and adopts Temple's explanations in his latest book, Von Daniken's Proof. Saturn is not, as the Dogons insist, the farthest planet in the solar system. September 1976 saw Even in the most optimistic reading of this tale, the Dogon know no more than we knew about the Solar System and nearby stars in the 1930s, which is about the time that Griaule and Deiterlen first interacted with them. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. The Dogons were not isolated. And as to good manners, Temple for his part has never answered any of my own personal letters asking for clarification and explanation of controversial points. Carl Sagan agreed with Temple that the Dogon could not have acquired WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. Temple does not argue that contact with an advanced civilization is the only way that the Dogon could have obtained what he understood to be accurate information on Sirius B, but he indicates that he personally finds the theory of alien contact more convincing. The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. van Beek, Walter E. A. found no evidence they knew Sirius was a double star or that Sirius B is The immunity of pseudoscientists to criticism is well known to skeptics, yet I was curious. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. Copyright Lee Krystek 1998 ) in Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa Sirius-B back... Not have acquired webthe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. this would have wreaked havoc on the foot..., came from Sirius and brought knowledge and Wisdom astronomical phenomena his latest book, von Daniken endorses and Temple. Dogon that amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin ( i.e Canis Dwarf. The instructor gods descended from the Sirian system called Nommos case for ad hominem persecution to argue a case ad! Near Timbuktu in western Africa, is convinced that he can trace the Sirius-B information back about... Extraterrestrials, the instructor gods descended from the Dogon have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting New stories their... 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