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Erich von Erich von D D ä ä niken niken s s Chariots of the Gods Chariots of the Gods Fact or Fiction? Fact or Fiction? Robert C. Newman Robert C. Newman

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Erich von Erich von DDäänikenniken’’ssChariots of the GodsChariots of the Gods

Fact or Fiction?Fact or Fiction?Robert C. NewmanRobert C. Newman

Von Von DDäänikenniken’’ss Theory Theory

• Strong interest inextra-terrestrials foralmost a century now.

• Von Däniken claimsETs have visited theearth again & againthroughout history.

Von Von DDäänikenniken’’ss Theory Theory• Where is his evidence

for this? See his book.• Not only in UFO stories,

but also, he claims, inhistory & archaeology:– Strange art-forms– Impressive structures

beyond humancapabilities

– Stories of miraculousevents

Strange Art-FormsStrange Art-Forms

Strange Art-FormsStrange Art-Forms

Impressive StructuresImpressive Structures

Impressive StructuresImpressive Structures

Impressive StructuresImpressive Structures

Miracle StoriesMiracle Stories

Miracle StoriesMiracle Stories

Archaeology vs.Archaeology vs.Von Von DDänikenäniken

Our ApproachOur Approach

• Look at some of vonDäniken’s evidence.

• Respond to it in thelight of archaeology.

• It is easier to answerarchaeologically thanin terms of othersciences or religion.

• Some references:

BaalbekBaalbek, Lebanon, Lebanon

Ancient Marvels orAncient Marvels orSpace Travel Centers?Space Travel Centers?

To the north of Damascus lies the terrace ofBaalbek—a platform built of stone blocks,some of which have sides more than 65 feetlong and weigh nearly 2,000 tons. Until nowarchaeologists have not been able to give aconvincing explanation why, how or by whomthe terrace of Baalbek was built. RussianProfessor Agrest considers it possible that theterrace is the remains of a gigantic airfield.(Chariots of the Gods, 93)

BaalbekBaalbek

• A large templecomplex about anhour east of Beiruit.

• The temple ofBacchus:

• The Temple ofJupiter, located onvon Däniken’splatform/terrace:

BaalbekBaalbek

• Largest 3 stones inJupiter temple are64x14x12 feet, andweigh ~800 tons.

• Largest stone onthe site is this one:70x16x14, at~1500 tons.

• A launching ramp?

BaalbekBaalbek

• Most inscriptions at the site are in Latin, so after63 BC, when the Romans came into the East.

• A few earlier are Greek, so after 330 BC.• The main platform was apparently not there

when the Seven Wonders were enumerated,about 200 BC.

• The style of the temples is Roman in any case,as they built their temples on platforms.

• But someone did move stones weighing 800-1500 tons.

Athens, GreeceAthens, Greece

AthensAthens

• Not one of the sitesmentioned by vonDäniken, but one ofthe more impressivein antiquity.

• The Parthenon,especially, showsevidence of greatsophistication in itsdesign.

A "Sunday" ArchaeologistA "Sunday" Archaeologist

• Von Däniken is, as he says, a “Sunday” oramateur archaeologist.

• A danger of amateurism in any subject isthat of making big theories which fit only asmall portion of the data.

• Von Däniken also treats the ancients asignoramuses, a popular (but false) idea.

The ParthenonThe Parthenon

• Several optical illusions are overcome bydesigning the pillars to be slightly bulgingin their middles, and by having the floorslightly humped.

• We know when the Parthenon was built(447-438 BC), who ruled Athens then(Pericles), and who was the architect(Phidias).

ParthenonParthenon

• Pericles• Phidias• No evidence of help

building from divinecharioteers!

JerusalemJerusalem

JerusalemJerusalem

• Herod’s towers at theJoppa Gate in ancientJerusalem

• According toJosephus, some ofthe stones in thesetowers were up to 25feet long.

CaesareaCaesarea

• Artificial port built byHerod the Great, justbefore the time ofJesus

• For breakwater,Herod used concreteand stones up to 50feet long.

Moving Big StonesMoving Big Stones

To protect the wealth of the gods and thekings, military engineers built walls and dugmoats around cities. In the lower EuphratesValley, where there was practically no stone,walls were made of brick. Elsewhere, theywere made of stone—preferably the largeststones that could be moved. (de Camp,Ancient Engineers, 10)

The Pyramids of EgyptThe Pyramids of Egypt

PyramidsPyramidsIs it really a coincidence that the height of thepyramid of Cheops multiplied by a thousandmillion—98,000,000 miles—correspondsapproximately to the distance between theearth and the sun? … that a meridian runningthrough the pyramids divides continents andoceans into two exactly equal halves? … thatthe area of the base of the pyramid divided bytwice its height gives the celebrated figure π =3.14159? (Chariots, 96)

Great PyramidGreat Pyramid

• The pyramid ofCheops or Khufu,commonly knownas the GreatPyramid

• The sheathingstone is missing,making the exactsize uncertain.

Value of Value of ππ??

• Egyptians built fairlyimpressive chariots.

• After making roundwheels, one caneasily measure thevalue of π to adecimal place or two.

Great PyramidGreat Pyramid

• Most of this materialmentioned by vonDäniken waspublished a centuryago.

• The distance to thesun is probably acoincidence. Notethat it is 5% off.

Building the Great PyramidBuilding the Great Pyramid• Core of pyramid consists of some 2.5 million

stones, averaging 2.5 tons each.• Von Däniken scoffs at using rollers to move the

stones:I shall be told that the stone blocks used for buildingthe temple were moved on rollers. In other words,wooden rollers! But the Egyptians could scarcelyfelled and turned into rollers the few trees, mainlypalms, that then (as now) grew in Egypt, becausethe dates from the palms were urgently needed asfood and the trunks and fronds were the only thingsgiving shade to the dried-up ground. (Chariots, 94)

Moving Big StonesMoving Big Stones

A picture from the wall of an Egyptian temple, showing menmoving a large stone statue.

Moving Big StonesMoving Big Stones

• This picture, carved on the wall of anEgyptian temple, shows how they moved alarge statue.

• Here a sledge was used instead of rollers,with some liquid used to reduce friction.

• Estimating the weight of the statue, itwould take only 8 men to move a 2.5 tonblock by this means.

Time to Build the Pyramid?Time to Build the Pyramid?

• Von Däniken estimates it would havetaken 664 years for humans to build thegreat pyramid, so not done that way (98).

• Herodotus says the Egyptian priests toldhim it took 20 years.

• Clifford Wilson notes some objectiveevidence from a pyramid at Dashur wheretwo of the stones are dated.

Time to Build the Pyramid?Time to Build the Pyramid?Another pyramid at Dashur actually has a dateon the north-eastern corner stone — it was laidin the 21st year of the Pharaoh Senefru. Abouthalfway up there is another date, this timedating to the same Pharaoh’s 22nd year. If thedating is accurate, the maximum between thetwo would be under two years. This pyramid isabout two-thirds the volume of the GreatPyramid. (Wilson, Crash Go the Chariots, 29)

The Developing TechnologyThe Developing Technologyof Pyramid Buildingof Pyramid Building

• We have evidencefrom antiquity that theoldest pyramids arenot the mostsophisticated.

• The early and smallertombs are just one-story buildings, calledmastebas.

The Developing TechnologyThe Developing Technologyof Pyramid Buildingof Pyramid Building

• For kings, thesemastebas are laterelaborated bystacking.

• Thus we come tohave step pyramids.

The Developing TechnologyThe Developing Technologyof Pyramid Buildingof Pyramid Building

• We think the bentpyramid is an earlyattempt to make asmooth sidedstructure, in which theinitial slope was toosteep!

The Developing TechnologyThe Developing Technologyof Pyramid Buildingof Pyramid Building

• Finally they get itright!

• Does this look like thework of an advancedcivilization that hasmastered interstellarspace travel?

Easter IslandEaster Island

• Far out in the PacificOcean lies theisolated Easter Island.

• The island ispopulated by about200 humans andhundreds of hugestone heads.

Easter IslandEaster Island

Easter IslandEaster Island

Easter IslandEaster Island

• Some of these headseven have hats onthem, which are madefrom a different colorstone!

• Did the inhabitants ofEaster Island reallybuild these statuesthemselves?

Von Von DDäniken äniken on Easter Islandon Easter Island

Even if people with lively imaginations have tried topicture the Egyptian pyramids being built by a vastarmy of workers using the “heave-ho” method, a similarmethod would have been impossible on Easter Islandfor lack of manpower. Even 2,000 men, working dayand night, would not be nearly enough to carve thesecolossal figures out of the steel-hard volcanic stonewith rudimentary tools — and at least a part of thepopulation must have tilled the barren fields, wovencloth and made ropes. (Chariots, 110)

Thor Thor HeyerdahlHeyerdahl

• Remember ThorHeyerdahl?

• He is the fellow whobuilt the balsa raftKon-Tiki to driftacross the Pacific.

• He also studied thestone heads onEaster Island.

Easter IslandEaster Island

• Von Däniken: impossible for only 200inhabitants to set up several hundred 50-ton stones! (110)

• Heyerdahl disagrees. His tests show:– Six men could carve a head in one year.– Whole population could move a head to site in

a day or two.– 12 men could erect a head in 18 days.

Carving the HeadsCarving the Heads

Moving a HeadMoving a Head

After providing a luau for the island’sinhabitants, 180 of them (with fullstomachs) were easily able to move a12-ton statue on a sledge they hadmade (see Aku-Aku, 149-150).

Raising a HeadRaising a Head

Raising a HeadRaising a Head

Easter IslandEaster IslandHeyerdahl’s results:• Six men could carve a head in one year.• Whole population could move the head to

a site in a day or two.• 12 men could erect a head in 18 days.• So the island’s current population could

easily produce & set up one head peryear.

NazcaNazca, Peru, Peru

• The plains of Nazcaare quite unusual inbeing criss-crossedby numerous lines,some of which givethe appearance ofhighways or airportrunways.

NazcaNazca

NazcaNazca

NazcaNazca… archaeologists have been racking their brains overthe geometric system of lines, animal drawings andneatly arranged bits of stone which extend over anarea some 30 miles long between Palpa in the northand Nazca in the south. To me, they look just like anairport layout… (Gods from Outer Space, 115)

At some time in the past, unknown intelligences landedon the uninhabited plain near the present-day town ofNazca and built an improvised airfield for theirspacecraft which were to operate in the vicinity of theearth. (Gods from Outer Space, 117)

NazcaNazca

According to von Däniken:• The lines are runways of

a spaceport.• The large animal figures

only viewable from air, somade by astronauts (34).

• A trident on the coastpoints to the spaceport(33-34 & fig. 7).

Response to von Response to von DDänikenäniken

Runways:• Rocky• Cross hills• Deeply furrowed at

intersections• Ground too soft

Response to von Response to von DDänikenäniken

• Large figures aretypically made of onecontinuous line.

• Maria Reicke thinksthese were perhapspaths for dancing in asympathetic magicceremony.

Response to von Response to von DDänikenäniken

• Do astronauts froman advancedcivilization capable oftraveling throughspace to earth reallyneed arrows to guidethem to theirspaceport?

SummarySummary• Do all strange figures

humans have drawnhave to actually existor be realistic?

SummarySummary

• The more youread of thisstuff, the moreskeptical youbecome!

SummarySummary

• When von Däniken reads the Bible, Ishudder!Undoubtedly the Ark was electrically charged! If wereconstruct it today according to the instructionshanded down by Moses, an electric conductor[condenser?] of several hundred volts is produced…If, in addition, one of the two cherubim on the mercyseat acted as a magnet, the loudspeaker—perhapseven a kind of set for communication between Mosesand the spaceship—was perfect. (Chariots, 57)

SummarySummary

• Von Däniken’s research methodology isscary, too:

The details of the construction of the Ark of theCovenant can be read in the Bible in their entirety.Without actually consulting Exodus, I seem toremember that the Ark was often surrounded byflashing sparks and that Moses made use of this“transmitter” whenever he needed help and advice.(Chariots, 58)

Recommended ReadingRecommended Reading

Books by CliffordWilson:

• Crash Go theChariots

• The Chariots StillCrash

• Gods in Chariots andOther Fantasies

Some AdviceSome Advice

Proverbs 16:25 (NIV) There is a way thatseems right to a man, but in the end it leadsto death.

1Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV) Test everything.Hold on to the good.

Erich von Erich von DDäänikenniken’’ssChariots of the GodsChariots of the Gods

Fiction!Fiction!