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NARRATOR: It is the
world's first known civilization

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and also its most mysterious.

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WILLIAM HENRY: What's
remarkable about the Sumerians

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is they invent the wheel,

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they invent mathematics,

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they invent writing,

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but we don't know where they
came from or who they were.

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NARRATOR: The Sumerians are
credited with dozens of innovations

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that are essential
to modern society.

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We live with the
legacy pioneered by

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the Sumerian civilization.

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NARRATOR: And they claimed
that it was all made possible

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by beings who came
down from the sky.

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DAVID CHILDRESS:
These gods coming to Earth,

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they gave them gifts.

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They gave them knowledge.

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NARRATOR: Could it be that
the ancient Sumerian tablets

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contain the secrets
of our alien past?

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GIORGIO TSOUKALOS:
The first civilization

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began right there,

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due to a direct intervention

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by extraterrestrials
visiting from another planet.

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NARRATOR: There is a
doorway in the universe.

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Beyond it is the
promise of truth.

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It demands we
question everything

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we have ever been taught.

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The evidence is all around us.

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The future is right
before our eyes.

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We are not alone.

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We have never been alone.

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NARRATOR: In the
heart of the Middle East,

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there is a region known
as the Fertile Crescent.

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It is believed to be
the very first place

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with organized farming,
in which humans cleared

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and modified
vegetation to grow crops.

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Within this region
was Mesopotamia,

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where several of the world's
first-known civilizations

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emerged thousands of years ago.

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In ancient Mesopotamia,

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you had gardens, you
had control of water.

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Now it's completely
different. Now it's arid.

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You look at that place
and think, well, wait,

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what was this?

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The climate was different.

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The vegetation was
completely different then.

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NARRATOR: Often called
the Cradle of Civilization,

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Mesopotamia was the
home of the Akkadian Empire

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that arose in 2334 BC,

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the Assyrian Empire
that began in 2025 BC,

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and the Babylonian Empire,

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established in 1894 BC.

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For centuries,
archaeologists thought

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these were the earliest
peoples to inhabit the area.

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But in the 1800s,
ancient clay tablets

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were discovered that
would dramatically alter

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the established timeline
for human civilization.

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In the 19th century, it was
a time of great exploration

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in Mesopotamia.

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And they're finding
these cuneiform tablets.

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And there were various
languages involved

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with these tablets.

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You had Akkadian, you had
Assyrian, you had Babylonian.

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But in the mid-1800s, the
Reverend Edward Hincks,

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an Irish scholar with
Trinity College, Dublin,

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began to notice there was
evidence of a much older script.

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And this was very important.

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It meant that there must be
some other earlier civilization.

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NARRATOR: In 1869, more than two
decades after Edward Hincks discovered

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this unique cuneiform language,

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archaeologists gave it
the name "Sumerian."

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This was based on
Akkadian writings

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that referenced
the land of Sumer,

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which scholars
believed to be the place

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where the mysterious
language originated.

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Then, in 1877, at the
ancient site of Girsu,

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in present-day Iraq,

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nine massive stone
statues were found,

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all depicting a
king named Gudea,

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who ruled over 4,100 years ago.

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Engraved on each of the
statues was Sumerian writing,

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indicating to scholars
that these were

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the first depictions ever
found of a Sumerian.

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HUGH NEWMAN: The discovery
of the Gudea statues at Girsu

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was definitive proof that
Sumerian cuneiform text

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came from a lost civilization.

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And the fact is, people
have been discovering

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Sumerian structures
and artifacts,

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and crediting them
to other civilizations.

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So now they knew there
was a civilization called

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the Sumerian,

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but it wasn't until the 1920s,

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when thousands of
artifacts and cuneiform texts

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had been discovered,
that they realized

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how far this
civilization went back.

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NARRATOR: In 1928,

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an article appeared in the
Scientific American Magazine

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with the subtitle,

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"Who Were the Ancient Sumerians?

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No One Knows."

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But after nearly a
century of collecting clues,

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archaeologists had determined
at least one indisputable fact:

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the Sumerians were the earliest
civilization ever discovered,

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emerging around 5000 BC

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and pre-dating all
other known civilizations

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by at least 2,500 years.

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IRVING FINKEL: The Sumerians
disappeared from sight entirely.

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They were extinct,
like the dinosaurs.

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And the only reason that
we know about them today

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is with the advent
of archeology,

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when people excavated
in the Middle East,

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and they found evidence
of the Sumerians

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and their archeology
and their writing.

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NARRATOR: Once archaeologists
became aware of the Sumerian civilization,

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they launched major
excavations in Iraq,

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and began to discover that
the Sumerians were responsible

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for many world-changing
innovations,

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like the wheel.

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The first stone potter's
wheel with an axle

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was found in the
Sumerian city of Ur,

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and dated to 3129 BC.

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This eventually led to
the first wheeled vehicles.

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Most of the things
that we take for granted,

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the Sumerians invented.

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That's why they're
so crucially important.

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The Sumerians
are key in writing.

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The Sumerians are
key in mathematics.

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The Sumerians are the
ones that invent the plow.

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They're the ones that
first start to work copper.

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They're the ones that first
understand how to smelt metals.

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NARRATOR: The Sumerians
also built some of the first known

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pyramidal structures.

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NEWMAN: When it comes
to the Sumerian ziggurats,

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and the temples
they constructed,

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most of the construction
was made of mud brick.

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So, much of this is
either washed away

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or been buried over time.

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But there are
elements of the temples,

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such as the giant statues,
which have survived.

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They are made of stone.

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And some of them are
in amazing condition.

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NARRATOR: According
to mainstream historians,

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the first ziggurats were
built around 4000 BC,

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predating the earliest
step pyramids in Egypt

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by 1,300 years.

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But perhaps even more impressive
is that the Sumerians designed

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these structures by using
an advanced counting system.

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TRAVIS TAYLOR: One
of the first civilizations

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to really implement mathematics
was the ancient Sumerians.

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And the interesting thing
is they used mathematics

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on a base 60 system...
That's called sexagesimal...

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As opposed to the
decimal system, with ten,

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that we use today.

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FINKEL: It gives you
much more flexibility

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in the use of numbers

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than if you just use
a decimal system.

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And it led to all sorts of
extraordinary discoveries

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in mathematics, in astronomy
and other things as well.

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For example, they could make

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accurate plans of a
major building to scale,

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and they could calculate
how many bricks they needed.

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In fact, they had a
very modern approach

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to the practical
problems of, for example,

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architecture and calculation.

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NARRATOR: While much has been
discovered over the past 100 years

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about the Sumerians
and their accomplishments,

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the origin of this
highly developed culture

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remains a mystery.

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What's remarkable
about the Sumerians

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is nobody knows
where they came from.

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We don't know who they were.

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RABBI ARIEL BAR TZADOK: The
ancient Sumerians had technology,

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they had science.

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And this is even
thousands of years before

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the great rise of the
civilizations in Egypt.

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Where did this
knowledge come from?

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How did they acquire
such profound information?

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NARRATOR: What could explain
how this mysterious group of people

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so rapidly advanced
from hunter-gatherers

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to form the world's
first civilization?

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According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

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the answer can be found

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by examining the recently
translated Sumerian tablets

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that describe
otherworldly beings

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who descended from the sky.

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NARRATOR: When archaeologists
began uncovering Sumerian relics

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in the 19th century,
they knew nothing

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about this
long-lost civilization.

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Artifacts offered few clues
about the Sumerian culture,

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and many of their structures,

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which were made from mud bricks,

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had almost completely eroded.

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But fortunately, what did manage
to survive the ravages of time

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were thousands of clay tablets
containing Sumerian writing.

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LYNN: The Sumerians had a
fully developed phonetic language

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that they had
written on clay tablets

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in what's called cuneiform.

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"Cuneiform" comes
from the Latin cuneus,

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meaning, literally, "wedge."

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And what they did is
they had reed styluses

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that had a wedge shape,
and they would use wet clay

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and imprint those
into such a way

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that it would be writing.

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HUSSAIN: One of the great
things that the Sumerians did was

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precisely writing
with a stylus in clay,

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and then firing the clay
so it becomes a brick.

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And over the centuries,

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that brick becomes
essentially stone.

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And so, unlike papyrus,

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that gets damaged, you know,

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we find out all the time

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about papyri that
get discovered,

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and we can't open
them. They're too fragile.

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That's not the case
with these tablets.

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NARRATOR: The first
tablets were discovered

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before archaeologists
were even aware

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that there was a
Sumerian civilization,

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but linguists received
an important tool

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to help decipher them in 1850.

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British archeologist
Austen Henry Layard

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was leading excavation efforts

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at an ancient Assyrian palace

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when he came upon a library

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of more than 30,000
cuneiform tablets.

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Some of the tablets contained
not only the mysterious writing

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that would later be
identified as Sumerian

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but also Babylonian
cuneiform next to it,

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which linguists had
deciphered a few years earlier.

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Finally, scholars
had what they needed

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to translate the
unknown language,

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but it would be
several more decades

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before they could
effectively read the texts.

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HENRY: It wasn't until
the early 20th century

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that we could actually
translate these cuneiform tablets.

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And so we went for a period
of many thousands of years

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not knowing about these people.

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Then, suddenly,
there's an explosion

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of knowledge about
them in the 20th century.

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FINKEL: The ancient
Mesopotamians,

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they used those clay tablets

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for all sorts of documents...

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Private and permanent,
and long term and short term.

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And we can read them today
as if they've just been written.

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NARRATOR: Researchers
discovered detailed business ledgers,

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official government
correspondence,

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and even medical texts.

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But most interesting to
ancient astronaut theorists

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is a set of seven tablets
known as the Enuma Elish,

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that describe powerful beings
who came down from the sky.

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The Enuma Elish consists

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of two different books,

251
00:12:54,583 --> 00:12:55,667
and in both books,

252
00:12:55,833 --> 00:12:58,167
it speaks that long ago,

253
00:12:58,375 --> 00:13:02,333
the gods created humans
in order to spread knowledge

254
00:13:02,542 --> 00:13:04,500
here on planet Earth.

255
00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:08,750
LYNN: The Enuma Elish is a
very important creation myth.

256
00:13:08,917 --> 00:13:10,958
And it indicated
that these gods...

257
00:13:11,083 --> 00:13:14,750
What they call the Anunnaki,
which quite literally means

258
00:13:14,958 --> 00:13:16,667
from the sky to the earth...

259
00:13:16,833 --> 00:13:21,417
Came to create
man in their image.

260
00:13:22,625 --> 00:13:24,667
NEWMAN: The Anunnaki
are the founder gods

261
00:13:24,875 --> 00:13:27,167
of their civilization.

262
00:13:27,333 --> 00:13:28,875
And they were masters

263
00:13:29,042 --> 00:13:30,292
of the arts and sciences,

264
00:13:30,458 --> 00:13:32,917
bringing civilizing qualities

265
00:13:33,042 --> 00:13:35,042
to this part of the world.

266
00:13:36,167 --> 00:13:37,833
HUSSAIN: So for the Sumerians,

267
00:13:38,042 --> 00:13:40,792
their knowledge
wasn't self-derived.

268
00:13:40,875 --> 00:13:42,875
Their inventions,
their great things

269
00:13:43,042 --> 00:13:44,708
were not of their own design.

270
00:13:44,875 --> 00:13:46,500
They were taught by the gods.

271
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,542
CHILDRESS: The Anunnaki
nurtured the Sumerians

272
00:13:51,708 --> 00:13:54,333
to create this
great civilization.

273
00:13:54,542 --> 00:13:56,292
But who were the Anunnaki?

274
00:13:56,458 --> 00:13:58,042
Were they extraterrestrials?

275
00:13:58,208 --> 00:14:00,125
That's what the
Sumerians are saying.

276
00:14:01,417 --> 00:14:04,375
NARRATOR: Could it be that
the Anunnaki were not gods

277
00:14:04,542 --> 00:14:06,583
but otherworldly visitors?

278
00:14:07,750 --> 00:14:10,792
Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

279
00:14:10,917 --> 00:14:13,917
and suggest further
evidence can be found

280
00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:16,833
in a recently translated
Sumerian tablet

281
00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,958
that sheds new light on a
famous story of the Bible.

282
00:14:27,708 --> 00:14:29,333
Dr. Irving Finkel,

283
00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:32,542
one of the world's foremost
experts on cuneiform writing

284
00:14:32,708 --> 00:14:34,875
and a curator at
the British Museum,

285
00:14:35,042 --> 00:14:38,083
publishes a translation
of a Sumerian tablet

286
00:14:38,250 --> 00:14:41,250
that dates back 3,700 years.

287
00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:45,875
The text contains a passage
that is nearly identical

288
00:14:46,042 --> 00:14:50,167
to the biblical story of
Noah and the Great Flood.

289
00:14:50,333 --> 00:14:53,042
Now, anybody who's ever
read the Book of Genesis

290
00:14:53,208 --> 00:14:56,000
and knows about the flood
there with an ark and Noah

291
00:14:56,125 --> 00:14:59,000
and the animals of both
genders and so forth...

292
00:15:00,292 --> 00:15:02,167
is astonished when they read

293
00:15:02,375 --> 00:15:04,333
the Sumerian text
for the first time.

294
00:15:05,375 --> 00:15:09,292
Because it's a funny thing.
They are the same story.

295
00:15:09,458 --> 00:15:12,000
When this tablet came
across the desk to me,

296
00:15:12,167 --> 00:15:14,792
it was one of those
heart-stopping moments.

297
00:15:14,958 --> 00:15:18,833
The tablet is at least
a thousand years older

298
00:15:19,042 --> 00:15:21,292
than the story in the Bible.

299
00:15:23,042 --> 00:15:24,958
So, of course, this means

300
00:15:25,125 --> 00:15:28,792
that the Sumerian story
and the biblical story

301
00:15:28,958 --> 00:15:30,875
are inseparably bound together.

302
00:15:31,042 --> 00:15:32,833
There's no doubt about it.

303
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,583
NARRATOR: The tablet
deciphered by Dr. Finkel

304
00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:39,833
is part of a Sumerian story
known as the Epic of Gilgamesh,

305
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,333
whose protagonist is
believed to be based

306
00:15:42,542 --> 00:15:47,000
on a historical king who ruled
in the third millennium BC.

307
00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:50,542
HUSSAIN: The oldest
story in the Western world is

308
00:15:50,708 --> 00:15:53,125
the Epic of Gilgamesh.

309
00:15:53,333 --> 00:15:56,833
This is a story that's
at least 4,000 years old.

310
00:15:57,875 --> 00:15:59,962
FINKEL: It covers a lot of
things, but among other things,

311
00:16:00,042 --> 00:16:01,402
the restless search
for immortality

312
00:16:01,542 --> 00:16:04,417
and the fact that man
was deprived of immortality.

313
00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:08,167
NARRATOR: In addition to
descriptions of a Great Flood,

314
00:16:08,333 --> 00:16:10,917
the Epic of Gilgamesh
also includes

315
00:16:11,083 --> 00:16:13,000
the story of the Anunnaki

316
00:16:13,167 --> 00:16:16,042
and their relationship
with humankind.

317
00:16:17,167 --> 00:16:21,000
According to the text, Enlil,
who is the Anunnaki king,

318
00:16:21,167 --> 00:16:23,500
is in conflict with
his brother Enki,

319
00:16:23,625 --> 00:16:27,042
who is the creator
of the first humans.

320
00:16:27,208 --> 00:16:30,000
HENRY: Enki is seen as
benevolent and an advocate

321
00:16:30,167 --> 00:16:33,042
for the advancement
of humankind.

322
00:16:33,208 --> 00:16:37,208
But Enlil is seen as sort of
militaristic and anti-human.

323
00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:40,167
And so throughout
the Sumerian epics,

324
00:16:40,333 --> 00:16:42,167
there's this continuing battle

325
00:16:42,333 --> 00:16:45,042
between these two opposing
forces, these brothers.

326
00:16:46,042 --> 00:16:48,250
The two brothers have
very different thoughts

327
00:16:48,417 --> 00:16:51,875
about this new human race
that is rapidly multiplying.

328
00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:54,167
King Enlil wants to send

329
00:16:54,333 --> 00:16:57,167
a great deluge to Earth
to destroy humankind,

330
00:16:57,333 --> 00:17:00,167
which he sees as
getting out of control,

331
00:17:00,333 --> 00:17:03,750
but Enki fights to
save the civilization

332
00:17:03,875 --> 00:17:05,708
he had helped to create.

333
00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:09,000
HENRY: In the story we're
told that the god Enki takes aside

334
00:17:09,167 --> 00:17:10,792
one of the human beings

335
00:17:10,958 --> 00:17:14,708
and tells him to build an ark
and to take them to safety.

336
00:17:17,750 --> 00:17:19,875
CHILDRESS: According to
the Sumerians themselves,

337
00:17:20,042 --> 00:17:22,833
there's this other
civilization that's pre-flood,

338
00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:26,167
and it had all of this
knowledge as well.

339
00:17:26,375 --> 00:17:29,000
They had writing,
they had the wheel,

340
00:17:29,125 --> 00:17:31,000
they had mathematics,
they had...

341
00:17:31,167 --> 00:17:33,167
all these agricultural
sciences, too.

342
00:17:33,250 --> 00:17:36,625
But the flood wiped
out these people.

343
00:17:36,833 --> 00:17:39,917
What was left
were the Sumerians.

344
00:17:40,083 --> 00:17:42,750
NEWMAN: After
the flood, it was said

345
00:17:42,917 --> 00:17:45,667
that the gods imparted
specific knowledge

346
00:17:45,875 --> 00:17:48,000
and wisdom and teachings

347
00:17:48,167 --> 00:17:51,667
to certain Sumerians to
go and restart civilization.

348
00:17:51,792 --> 00:17:54,792
And this is where the
whole Sumerian culture

349
00:17:54,958 --> 00:17:56,583
is said to have emerged from.

350
00:17:57,917 --> 00:18:01,167
NARRATOR: Could the fact that
the same account of a Great Flood

351
00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:04,500
appears in both the Hebrew
Bible and a Sumerian story

352
00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:07,083
written at least a
thousand years earlier

353
00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:08,625
support the notion

354
00:18:08,792 --> 00:18:10,500
that this was a real event?

355
00:18:10,667 --> 00:18:14,458
One caused by
otherworldly visitors?

356
00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:18,833
And if so, who
were these beings?

357
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,875
Perhaps further
clues can be found

358
00:18:21,042 --> 00:18:23,500
by examining an
alternate translation

359
00:18:23,708 --> 00:18:25,125
of the Sumerian tablets

360
00:18:25,292 --> 00:18:29,667
that reveals incredible and
highly controversial details

361
00:18:29,833 --> 00:18:32,083
about the Anunnaki.

362
00:18:42,167 --> 00:18:43,628
NARRATOR: A
controversial book is published

363
00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,333
called The 12th
Planet which contains

364
00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:49,708
a new translation of
ancient Sumerian tablets.

365
00:18:50,708 --> 00:18:54,542
Its author, 56-year-old
Zecharia Sitchin,

366
00:18:54,708 --> 00:18:56,167
is a Sumerian researcher

367
00:18:56,333 --> 00:18:57,792
who has spent more than a decade

368
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,083
studying the cuneiform writing.

369
00:19:01,167 --> 00:19:03,208
Sitchin's translation suggests

370
00:19:03,375 --> 00:19:05,833
that the origins of the
Sumerian civilization

371
00:19:06,042 --> 00:19:08,167
and their gods, the Anunnaki,

372
00:19:08,375 --> 00:19:09,792
are far more profound

373
00:19:09,917 --> 00:19:12,417
than mainstream
scholars suggest.

374
00:19:13,375 --> 00:19:15,417
Zechariah Sitchin was
in a unique position,

375
00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:17,458
being raised on
the Hebrew Bible...

376
00:19:18,375 --> 00:19:20,750
being able to speak
ancient languages,

377
00:19:20,917 --> 00:19:24,708
and, specifically, being able
to translate cuneiform script.

378
00:19:24,833 --> 00:19:27,500
He was able to deduce the story

379
00:19:27,667 --> 00:19:31,500
and tell us what's the meaning
behind a lot of these tablets.

380
00:19:31,583 --> 00:19:35,625
VON DÄNIKEN: My friend
Zecharia Sitchin was a brilliant man,

381
00:19:35,833 --> 00:19:38,292
and the idea of the
Anunnaki, in his meaning,

382
00:19:38,417 --> 00:19:40,500
were the teachers
from outer space.

383
00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:42,833
The Anunnakis were
extraterrestrial visitors.

384
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,500
They were here.

385
00:19:44,708 --> 00:19:49,500
And they created humans
according to their own image.

386
00:19:51,417 --> 00:19:54,458
HENRY: In Sitchin's interpretation
of the Sumerian stories,

387
00:19:54,625 --> 00:19:57,750
after the flood, the Anunnaki
returned to the Earth.

388
00:19:57,875 --> 00:20:01,500
But they start to take a... sort
of a step away from humanity.

389
00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:04,208
In fact, they start to
vanish from the story,

390
00:20:04,417 --> 00:20:08,667
but they leave behind
teachers who instruct humanity

391
00:20:08,875 --> 00:20:10,583
in the various arts and sciences

392
00:20:10,750 --> 00:20:13,250
and rudimentary
knowledge about civilization

393
00:20:13,417 --> 00:20:16,083
and how to conduct themselves.

394
00:20:16,250 --> 00:20:17,667
And this, according to Sitchin,

395
00:20:17,875 --> 00:20:19,167
is the origin of the Sumerians.

396
00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:21,167
This is where they
got their knowledge.

397
00:20:21,375 --> 00:20:23,215
This is why they're
the first with all of their

398
00:20:23,375 --> 00:20:26,792
discoveries and inventions,
and it comes from the Anunnaki.

399
00:20:28,958 --> 00:20:32,125
NARRATOR: While the Sumerians
themselves identified the Anunnaki

400
00:20:32,292 --> 00:20:34,667
as beings who came
down from the sky,

401
00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:38,583
most scholars interpreted
them as fictional characters.

402
00:20:38,750 --> 00:20:42,167
But Sitchin claimed
that the texts are clearly

403
00:20:42,375 --> 00:20:44,958
historical accounts
of extraterrestrials

404
00:20:45,125 --> 00:20:46,958
that the Sumerians encountered,

405
00:20:47,125 --> 00:20:49,333
and he says they even specify

406
00:20:49,542 --> 00:20:52,458
what planet these
visitors came from.

407
00:20:52,625 --> 00:20:54,833
Zecharia Sitchin postulates

408
00:20:55,042 --> 00:20:58,333
that the Anunnaki were
actually ancient astronauts

409
00:20:58,458 --> 00:21:00,458
coming from a planet
he called Nibiru.

410
00:21:00,583 --> 00:21:05,208
A planet that was
out of our vision,

411
00:21:05,375 --> 00:21:07,583
and that it was on
an elliptical trajectory,

412
00:21:07,792 --> 00:21:11,500
and that it only came by
Earth every 3,000 or so years.

413
00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:14,292
NARRATOR: As
Sitchin anticipated,

414
00:21:14,458 --> 00:21:17,667
when he introduced the world
to his controversial translation

415
00:21:17,833 --> 00:21:21,167
of the Sumerian creation
story in the 1970s,

416
00:21:21,375 --> 00:21:24,667
the academic community
was quick to dismiss it.

417
00:21:24,792 --> 00:21:27,417
His critics claimed
that a planet

418
00:21:27,583 --> 00:21:29,667
with an elliptical
orbit like Nibiru

419
00:21:29,792 --> 00:21:32,417
could never exist in
Earth's solar system.

420
00:21:32,542 --> 00:21:36,875
But 40 years later, in 2016,

421
00:21:37,083 --> 00:21:40,667
astronomers at Caltech announced
that they had found evidence

422
00:21:40,875 --> 00:21:44,042
of a new celestial
object just beyond Pluto.

423
00:21:45,333 --> 00:21:46,917
KAKU: The recent discovery

424
00:21:47,083 --> 00:21:49,083
by two astronomers at Caltech

425
00:21:49,208 --> 00:21:50,792
is incredible.

426
00:21:50,917 --> 00:21:52,208
They find evidence

427
00:21:52,375 --> 00:21:54,250
that in our solar system,

428
00:21:54,417 --> 00:21:55,958
there could be a Planet X

429
00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:58,167
that goes around
the solar system,

430
00:21:58,333 --> 00:22:00,500
perhaps once every
few thousand years,

431
00:22:00,667 --> 00:22:03,333
in a highly elliptical orbit.

432
00:22:03,542 --> 00:22:06,292
NARRATOR: While
astronomers have yet to confirm

433
00:22:06,458 --> 00:22:08,708
the existence of Planet X,

434
00:22:08,875 --> 00:22:10,250
some researchers believe

435
00:22:10,417 --> 00:22:12,625
its theoretical
location and orbit

436
00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:15,417
align exactly with
what Zechariah Sitchin

437
00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:17,583
claimed to find 40 years earlier

438
00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:20,083
in the ancient Sumerian tablets.

439
00:22:22,375 --> 00:22:24,667
And another
discovery in the 1980s

440
00:22:24,875 --> 00:22:28,500
echoed one of his even
more profound theories.

441
00:22:28,708 --> 00:22:31,167
HENRY: A pillar of
Zacharia Sitchin's hypothesis

442
00:22:31,250 --> 00:22:33,167
was his belief that the Anunnaki

443
00:22:33,333 --> 00:22:35,750
had genetically altered
the human genome

444
00:22:35,917 --> 00:22:38,667
around 250,000 years ago.

445
00:22:38,875 --> 00:22:41,583
Now, we have discovered
something quite remarkable.

446
00:22:41,750 --> 00:22:44,875
Scientists looking
into the human genome

447
00:22:45,042 --> 00:22:47,167
discovered a genetic alteration

448
00:22:47,375 --> 00:22:49,500
that fused two of
our chromosomes

449
00:22:49,667 --> 00:22:52,000
into one very
important chromosome

450
00:22:52,167 --> 00:22:54,333
around 250,000 years ago

451
00:22:54,500 --> 00:22:57,042
that suddenly unlocked
human potential,

452
00:22:57,250 --> 00:22:58,542
gave us our human abilities,

453
00:22:58,708 --> 00:23:01,167
including the ability
to do mathematics,

454
00:23:01,375 --> 00:23:03,500
to produce art, to do science.

455
00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:07,042
NARRATOR: Might the
discovery that the human genome

456
00:23:07,208 --> 00:23:11,208
underwent a major
change 250,000 years ago

457
00:23:11,375 --> 00:23:13,792
help to validate
Sitchin's translation

458
00:23:13,958 --> 00:23:15,833
of the cuneiform tablets?

459
00:23:16,042 --> 00:23:19,750
Could the Anunnaki have
played a role in creating humans,

460
00:23:19,875 --> 00:23:23,208
as described in
the Sumerian texts?

461
00:23:23,375 --> 00:23:26,542
Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

462
00:23:26,708 --> 00:23:30,042
and suggest this also
lends support to the notion

463
00:23:30,208 --> 00:23:32,875
that human DNA was manipulated

464
00:23:33,042 --> 00:23:34,875
by extraterrestrials.

465
00:23:36,208 --> 00:23:37,667
TSOUKALOS: It's amazing to see

466
00:23:37,792 --> 00:23:41,292
that somewhere this new
genetic makeup began,

467
00:23:41,458 --> 00:23:44,167
and there is nobody
before that that had this.

468
00:23:44,333 --> 00:23:46,292
So, how did this all happen?

469
00:23:47,375 --> 00:23:50,417
VON DÄNIKEN: A group of
extraterrestrials arrived on our planet.

470
00:23:50,542 --> 00:23:52,000
And one of our ancestors,

471
00:23:52,208 --> 00:23:54,875
call it an ape or
whatever, it doesn't matter.

472
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,333
They took a few cells.

473
00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:00,292
They changed the
DNA code in the cell.

474
00:24:00,417 --> 00:24:02,667
Because of this
artificial mutation,

475
00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:04,958
we are breaking
out of the family tree.

476
00:24:05,125 --> 00:24:08,833
This is handed down
in Sumerian cuneiform.

477
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000
It is always a
question of translation:

478
00:24:12,208 --> 00:24:14,167
How do you look at these things?

479
00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:18,875
NARRATOR: Could Zechariah
Sitchin's translation be correct?

480
00:24:19,083 --> 00:24:23,333
Were the Anunnaki real
extraterrestrial beings

481
00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:26,667
who helped the Sumerians
develop their civilization

482
00:24:26,875 --> 00:24:30,583
and also taught them about
the creation of humankind?

483
00:24:30,750 --> 00:24:34,500
And if so, is there
any physical evidence

484
00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:37,542
to support their stories
of alien visitation?

485
00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:41,417
Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes

486
00:24:41,625 --> 00:24:43,708
and point to a
site that contains

487
00:24:43,875 --> 00:24:45,833
the largest megalithic
stone blocks

488
00:24:46,042 --> 00:24:47,833
ever discovered.

489
00:24:56,167 --> 00:24:59,167
NARRATOR: Archaeologists
from the British Museum

490
00:24:59,375 --> 00:25:02,000
are excavating the
ancient site of Girsu

491
00:25:02,208 --> 00:25:06,042
when they uncover ancient
walls made of mud bricks.

492
00:25:06,250 --> 00:25:07,917
It would soon be determined

493
00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:10,417
that these walls were
part of two temples

494
00:25:10,583 --> 00:25:13,500
built roughly 4,500 years ago

495
00:25:13,667 --> 00:25:16,917
to venerate the
Sumerian god Ningirsu.

496
00:25:17,917 --> 00:25:22,792
NEWMAN: They announced the
discovery of the Lord Palace of the Kings

497
00:25:22,958 --> 00:25:25,167
and the White
Thunderbird Temple.

498
00:25:25,375 --> 00:25:28,792
Now, these are mythical sites

499
00:25:28,958 --> 00:25:31,750
that have been looked
for for generations.

500
00:25:31,875 --> 00:25:36,417
These were only recorded
in tablets and text previously,

501
00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:39,125
and the whole Thunderbird mythos

502
00:25:39,333 --> 00:25:41,500
is related to Ningirsu.

503
00:25:42,542 --> 00:25:44,667
Ningirsu was a thunderbird

504
00:25:44,833 --> 00:25:47,917
that was like the avatar
of this kind of great god.

505
00:25:49,417 --> 00:25:52,417
The reason why this
temple was constructed

506
00:25:52,542 --> 00:25:55,542
is that a king of
the local city-state

507
00:25:55,708 --> 00:25:58,458
had had a series of dreams

508
00:25:58,625 --> 00:26:01,833
about the god Ningirsu.

509
00:26:03,125 --> 00:26:06,000
NARRATOR: The story of
the thunderbird god Ningirsu

510
00:26:06,083 --> 00:26:08,583
comes from the
account of King Gudea,

511
00:26:08,750 --> 00:26:11,292
the same king whose
statues were found

512
00:26:11,417 --> 00:26:14,250
at this very site in 1877.

513
00:26:15,417 --> 00:26:18,500
Discovered alongside
those statues

514
00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:22,125
were the largest cuneiform
cylinders yet discovered,

515
00:26:22,333 --> 00:26:25,542
inscribed by King Gudea himself.

516
00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:29,333
Gudea wrote that the
giant winged god Ningirsu

517
00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:31,875
instructed him to
build these two temples

518
00:26:32,083 --> 00:26:33,542
to honor him.

519
00:26:35,083 --> 00:26:37,250
TSOUKALOS: The
archeologists themselves say

520
00:26:37,417 --> 00:26:39,333
that this temple was built

521
00:26:39,458 --> 00:26:42,500
due to a vision that a man had,

522
00:26:42,667 --> 00:26:45,333
uh, where a gigantic thunderbird

523
00:26:45,542 --> 00:26:48,208
descended from the sky.

524
00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:49,655
And personally,
I think that this

525
00:26:49,792 --> 00:26:51,542
has to do with extraterrestrials

526
00:26:51,708 --> 00:26:53,500
because if you know nothing

527
00:26:53,667 --> 00:26:55,708
about high technology

528
00:26:55,875 --> 00:26:59,042
and somebody descends
from the sky in a vehicle,

529
00:26:59,208 --> 00:27:02,458
well, of course you're going
to signify a person with wings

530
00:27:02,625 --> 00:27:04,958
because they came from the sky.

531
00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:10,833
NARRATOR: Could it be that King
Gudea's account of a giant winged deity

532
00:27:10,958 --> 00:27:15,500
was in fact an encounter
with some type of aerial vehicle

533
00:27:15,583 --> 00:27:17,875
carrying an
extraterrestrial visitor?

534
00:27:18,917 --> 00:27:21,833
Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes

535
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,042
and suggest further evidence

536
00:27:24,208 --> 00:27:26,375
that the Sumerians
witnessed alien craft

537
00:27:26,542 --> 00:27:28,667
coming down from the sky

538
00:27:28,875 --> 00:27:31,375
can be found in the
Epic of Gilgamesh.

539
00:27:31,542 --> 00:27:33,417
LYNN: In the Epic of Gilgamesh,

540
00:27:33,625 --> 00:27:35,500
Gilgamesh encounters
the Anunnaki

541
00:27:35,708 --> 00:27:37,583
at what's called
the Landing Place.

542
00:27:37,750 --> 00:27:40,208
The Landing Place
is where the gods

543
00:27:40,417 --> 00:27:43,167
came to meet with Gilgamesh.

544
00:27:44,417 --> 00:27:47,083
HUSSAIN: In the text, it
talks about sort of a ship

545
00:27:47,250 --> 00:27:50,875
that goes from
here to the heavens.

546
00:27:51,875 --> 00:27:53,875
In the ancient
world, that's the gods

547
00:27:54,083 --> 00:27:55,958
who are transporting
in chariots, you know?

548
00:27:56,125 --> 00:27:58,167
In the modern world,
is that a spacecraft?

549
00:27:58,333 --> 00:27:59,500
Is that a rocket ship?

550
00:27:59,708 --> 00:28:02,625
MARTELL: Gilgamesh
was watching the gods

551
00:28:02,792 --> 00:28:05,833
descending and
ascending from the planet.

552
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,292
He actually talks about
hearing loud sounds

553
00:28:09,417 --> 00:28:10,917
and seeing fire and smoke

554
00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:14,125
as the gods took
off into the heavens.

555
00:28:15,083 --> 00:28:17,875
To me, this sounds
exactly like a rocket ship.

556
00:28:19,125 --> 00:28:21,333
NARRATOR: In his
book The 12th Planet,

557
00:28:21,542 --> 00:28:24,042
Sumerian researcher
Zacharia Sitchin

558
00:28:24,208 --> 00:28:28,208
proposed that the Landing
Place described in the epic poem

559
00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:32,125
is a megalithic site that
can be visited to this day.

560
00:28:33,458 --> 00:28:34,708
HENRY: According to Sitchin,

561
00:28:34,875 --> 00:28:37,500
the actual location is
Baalbek in Lebanon,

562
00:28:37,625 --> 00:28:39,833
where we find this
massive platform

563
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,833
that resembles what we
would think of as a landing port.

564
00:28:44,875 --> 00:28:47,208
NARRATOR: Today,
most people know Baalbek

565
00:28:47,375 --> 00:28:50,500
as being the site of the
Roman Temple of Jupiter,

566
00:28:50,708 --> 00:28:53,333
built in the first century BC.

567
00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:57,583
But beneath the temple
is a massive stone platform

568
00:28:57,750 --> 00:28:59,292
that is believed
to have been built

569
00:28:59,458 --> 00:29:01,708
thousands of years earlier.

570
00:29:01,875 --> 00:29:05,000
It is constructed
from megalithic blocks

571
00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:08,375
that weigh as much
as 800 metric tons,

572
00:29:08,542 --> 00:29:11,333
or 1.6 million pounds.

573
00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:16,625
That platform is incredible
because it features

574
00:29:16,750 --> 00:29:19,500
some of the largest stones

575
00:29:19,667 --> 00:29:23,583
ever carved and created
by humans long ago.

576
00:29:23,708 --> 00:29:26,458
These blocks are
on the fourth level up.

577
00:29:26,625 --> 00:29:28,750
So, somehow, they
had to be lifted up.

578
00:29:28,917 --> 00:29:32,792
And in my opinion,
they had a technology

579
00:29:32,958 --> 00:29:35,250
imparted to the local population

580
00:29:35,375 --> 00:29:37,667
by the extraterrestrials.

581
00:29:38,875 --> 00:29:42,333
NARRATOR: As far as ancient
astronaut theorists are concerned,

582
00:29:42,542 --> 00:29:43,792
the story of the Landing Pad

583
00:29:43,917 --> 00:29:45,542
in the Epic of Gilgamesh,

584
00:29:45,708 --> 00:29:47,667
along with King
Gudea's encounter

585
00:29:47,750 --> 00:29:50,000
with a giant winged being,

586
00:29:50,167 --> 00:29:52,667
strongly suggest that
the Sumerian people

587
00:29:52,875 --> 00:29:56,208
witnessed flying craft
coming down from the sky.

588
00:29:56,375 --> 00:29:59,583
And they say the most
compelling detail of all

589
00:29:59,750 --> 00:30:01,333
is the Sumerian description

590
00:30:01,417 --> 00:30:04,542
of the god Ningirsu
as a thunderbird.

591
00:30:06,292 --> 00:30:10,167
When I hear that a
giant thunderbird person

592
00:30:10,292 --> 00:30:13,417
descended from the sky,
I'm like, wait a second.

593
00:30:13,583 --> 00:30:15,250
We've heard these
stories before.

594
00:30:16,250 --> 00:30:20,667
In North America,
many First Nation myths

595
00:30:20,833 --> 00:30:23,250
begin with thunderbirds,

596
00:30:23,417 --> 00:30:24,875
that thunderbirds existed

597
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,375
out of which the
so-called kachinas came,

598
00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:31,000
and the kachinas were the
first bringers of knowledge.

599
00:30:31,167 --> 00:30:35,167
You have other stories
like that also in ancient India.

600
00:30:35,333 --> 00:30:37,833
Imagine you know
nothing about technology

601
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,708
and then you see a big
plane fly over your head.

602
00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:43,833
Well, first of all,
it looks like a bird.

603
00:30:44,042 --> 00:30:46,542
And second of all, it
makes a lot of noise,

604
00:30:46,708 --> 00:30:48,250
thundering noise.

605
00:30:48,375 --> 00:30:52,208
So, of course you would
call that a thunderbird.

606
00:30:53,875 --> 00:30:55,625
And that to me illustrates

607
00:30:55,833 --> 00:30:59,083
an example of
misunderstood technology.

608
00:31:00,458 --> 00:31:02,833
NARRATOR: Within the
thousands of Sumerian tablets

609
00:31:02,958 --> 00:31:04,583
that have been translated

610
00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:07,125
are countless stories
about the Anunnaki

611
00:31:07,333 --> 00:31:10,000
and their interactions
with humans.

612
00:31:10,167 --> 00:31:12,083
Could they be the
first written accounts

613
00:31:12,292 --> 00:31:14,583
of extraterrestrial encounters?

614
00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:18,750
Perhaps further
clues can be found

615
00:31:18,917 --> 00:31:21,833
by examining what
some researchers believe

616
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,125
are the remains of an Anunnaki.

617
00:31:34,125 --> 00:31:38,000
NARRATOR: British archaeologist
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley

618
00:31:38,167 --> 00:31:40,583
undertakes an
extensive excavation

619
00:31:40,792 --> 00:31:43,000
of the Sumerian city of Ur.

620
00:31:43,167 --> 00:31:45,875
The excavations began to reveal

621
00:31:46,042 --> 00:31:48,667
an extraordinary necropolis.

622
00:31:48,833 --> 00:31:52,833
And as more and more
rich funerary goods,

623
00:31:52,958 --> 00:31:57,125
pieces of art and jewelry
started to come up,

624
00:31:57,292 --> 00:32:02,125
it became clear that this
was a very important center

625
00:32:02,292 --> 00:32:05,167
and had been since
Sumerian times.

626
00:32:07,250 --> 00:32:09,450
NARRATOR: Woolley soon
realized that what they had found

627
00:32:09,542 --> 00:32:12,625
in the center of Ur was
a massive cemetery

628
00:32:12,792 --> 00:32:15,458
containing more
than 1,800 graves

629
00:32:15,625 --> 00:32:19,500
filled with incredible
artifacts and riches,

630
00:32:19,708 --> 00:32:22,500
including 16 royal tombs.

631
00:32:22,708 --> 00:32:27,667
It was a very spectacular
find and astonished the world.

632
00:32:27,833 --> 00:32:30,167
And Woolley wrote
about it in the press

633
00:32:30,333 --> 00:32:33,583
as these things became
clear and people rushed

634
00:32:33,708 --> 00:32:36,958
to get the newspaper to
find out the next episode.

635
00:32:37,083 --> 00:32:39,917
Because it was very
dramatic and very exciting.

636
00:32:40,875 --> 00:32:42,208
NARRATOR: Woolley's
team unearthed

637
00:32:42,375 --> 00:32:44,750
one extraordinary
relic after another,

638
00:32:44,917 --> 00:32:47,667
including a gold
cosmetic container

639
00:32:47,750 --> 00:32:49,375
in the shape of a cockleshell,

640
00:32:49,542 --> 00:32:53,042
a gold vessel in the
shape of an ostrich egg,

641
00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:55,833
and the head of a
lion made of silver,

642
00:32:56,042 --> 00:32:58,292
lapis lazuli and shell.

643
00:32:58,375 --> 00:33:02,708
FINKEL: Woolley's team of archeologists
excavated more than one grave

644
00:33:02,917 --> 00:33:05,375
with musical instruments
and gold and jewelry.

645
00:33:05,542 --> 00:33:08,583
They found this classical
Sumerian civilization

646
00:33:08,750 --> 00:33:10,167
a very affluent one.

647
00:33:11,375 --> 00:33:14,417
NARRATOR: Ur was first
discovered nearly 70 years

648
00:33:14,583 --> 00:33:18,083
before Woolley's
excavations when, in 1853,

649
00:33:18,250 --> 00:33:20,667
archaeologists
unearthed a ziggurat

650
00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:24,625
and found it inscribed with
the name of the ancient city.

651
00:33:26,292 --> 00:33:29,167
It was considered
an extraordinary find,

652
00:33:29,375 --> 00:33:31,667
because biblical
scholars believed it was

653
00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:33,375
the same city of Ur

654
00:33:33,542 --> 00:33:35,792
that is mentioned in
the Book of Genesis

655
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,375
and was the home of Abraham.

656
00:33:38,542 --> 00:33:43,500
The Bible tells us
the story of Abraham.

657
00:33:43,667 --> 00:33:45,833
Abraham was raised

658
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,792
in this city of Ur.

659
00:33:49,958 --> 00:33:51,375
And this is important,

660
00:33:51,583 --> 00:33:54,417
because Abraham
is considered to be

661
00:33:54,583 --> 00:33:57,292
the patriarch of
Judaism, Christianity,

662
00:33:57,500 --> 00:33:58,917
and Islam alike,

663
00:33:59,083 --> 00:34:02,250
because the message of Abraham

664
00:34:02,417 --> 00:34:06,250
was that there is
only one true God.

665
00:34:07,333 --> 00:34:10,500
During Woolley's
excavations in 1926,

666
00:34:10,667 --> 00:34:13,333
an even more
compelling find was made

667
00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:17,125
relating to an event
described in both the Bible

668
00:34:17,292 --> 00:34:20,750
and the Sumerian text
the Epic of Gilgamesh.

669
00:34:20,917 --> 00:34:24,875
NEWMAN: As Woolley and
his team dug beneath the burials,

670
00:34:25,042 --> 00:34:27,417
they got to a depth
of about 64 feet,

671
00:34:27,542 --> 00:34:31,125
where they found a layer
of what appeared to be silt

672
00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:33,375
about 13 feet thick,

673
00:34:33,583 --> 00:34:36,917
suggesting that flooding
had taken place at this time.

674
00:34:37,042 --> 00:34:40,083
And the team dug in
other spots, 14 in all,

675
00:34:40,250 --> 00:34:44,292
and found the exact same
thing in all 14 locations.

676
00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:48,500
And Leonard Woolley
believed this was evidence

677
00:34:48,667 --> 00:34:52,917
of the Great Flood found in
both the Bible and Sumerian texts.

678
00:34:53,125 --> 00:34:55,458
And that this was a real event.

679
00:34:57,208 --> 00:34:59,833
NARRATOR: But of all
the discoveries made at Ur,

680
00:35:00,042 --> 00:35:02,333
perhaps none are
more extraordinary

681
00:35:02,542 --> 00:35:05,333
or controversial than
a large stone tomb

682
00:35:05,542 --> 00:35:08,167
containing the body
of a Sumerian queen.

683
00:35:09,292 --> 00:35:12,083
HENRY: Leonard Woolley
unearthed this fabulous,

684
00:35:12,250 --> 00:35:15,417
incredible tomb of Queen Puabi,

685
00:35:15,625 --> 00:35:18,625
which was an astonishing
discovery at the time.

686
00:35:18,792 --> 00:35:21,083
They found her body intact,

687
00:35:21,250 --> 00:35:23,333
covered with gold
ornaments and wearing

688
00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:26,375
this incredible golden headdress

689
00:35:26,542 --> 00:35:28,500
with cylinder seals
attached to her body

690
00:35:28,667 --> 00:35:31,500
that identified
her as this queen.

691
00:35:32,583 --> 00:35:35,208
NARRATOR: Numerous
artifacts found within the tomb

692
00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,167
identified it as belonging
to Queen Paubi.

693
00:35:38,375 --> 00:35:42,125
And researchers believe
she was a very important figure

694
00:35:42,250 --> 00:35:44,250
based on the staggering
number of jewels

695
00:35:44,375 --> 00:35:45,958
that were buried with her.

696
00:35:46,125 --> 00:35:48,500
When researcher Zecharia Sitchin

697
00:35:48,708 --> 00:35:51,875
examined Puabi's
skull decades later,

698
00:35:52,042 --> 00:35:54,500
he determined that,
while severely damaged,

699
00:35:54,708 --> 00:35:58,000
it displayed some
remarkable anomalies.

700
00:35:58,167 --> 00:36:00,167
HENRY: As Zecharia
Sitchin investigated

701
00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:02,500
the discovery of
Queen Puabi, he found

702
00:36:02,667 --> 00:36:05,250
that her skull appeared
to be elongated.

703
00:36:06,417 --> 00:36:08,500
This led him on a
line of speculation

704
00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:12,542
that she must have been
a Anunnaki-human hybrid.

705
00:36:13,458 --> 00:36:16,500
Her characteristics
look almost alien.

706
00:36:16,625 --> 00:36:20,125
Was she possibly some
type of extraterrestrial?

707
00:36:21,542 --> 00:36:23,875
NARRATOR: Queen Puabi's
remains are now housed

708
00:36:24,042 --> 00:36:26,958
at the London Museum
of Natural History.

709
00:36:27,125 --> 00:36:29,583
For years, Zecharia
Sitchin implored

710
00:36:29,792 --> 00:36:33,833
the museum to test her
DNA, but they refused.

711
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,917
Unfortunately,
mainstream science said,

712
00:36:36,083 --> 00:36:38,167
"No, this isn't
worthy of our time."

713
00:36:38,375 --> 00:36:40,583
To me, this seems like,
you know, a-an eye-opener

714
00:36:40,708 --> 00:36:43,292
that we have actual
remains that could be tested

715
00:36:43,458 --> 00:36:46,833
and possibly confirm
an extraterrestrial origin.

716
00:36:48,625 --> 00:36:51,333
NARRATOR: Could the
remains of Queen Puabi provide

717
00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:55,000
incontrovertible evidence
that the Sumerian civilization

718
00:36:55,208 --> 00:36:58,167
was the product of
alien intervention?

719
00:36:59,542 --> 00:37:02,208
Ancient astronaut
theorists believe another,

720
00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:05,417
perhaps even more
important question

721
00:37:05,583 --> 00:37:08,167
lies in whether this
mysterious civilization

722
00:37:08,292 --> 00:37:10,667
is much older
than archaeologists

723
00:37:10,875 --> 00:37:12,833
have ever imagined.

724
00:37:19,167 --> 00:37:20,503
NARRATOR: Most
mainstream historians agree

725
00:37:20,583 --> 00:37:22,500
that, according to the
archaeological evidence,

726
00:37:22,708 --> 00:37:25,708
the Sumerians
appeared in Mesopotamia

727
00:37:25,875 --> 00:37:28,375
around 5000 BC.

728
00:37:29,417 --> 00:37:32,417
But in the cuneiform texts
that have been translated,

729
00:37:32,583 --> 00:37:35,417
the Sumerians themselves
say that civilization

730
00:37:35,583 --> 00:37:37,583
actually began
with their ancestors,

731
00:37:37,708 --> 00:37:40,625
who lived thousands
of years earlier...

732
00:37:41,958 --> 00:37:45,083
in a time before what
the Epic of Gilgamesh

733
00:37:45,250 --> 00:37:46,958
and the Hebrew Bible describe

734
00:37:47,125 --> 00:37:49,292
as the Great Flood.

735
00:37:50,292 --> 00:37:54,083
NEWMAN: The origins of the
Sumerians is still under scrutiny.

736
00:37:54,250 --> 00:37:56,167
Some people have speculated

737
00:37:56,333 --> 00:37:59,333
that they may have come
from a lost sunken land.

738
00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:01,250
Now, this is an
intriguing possibility

739
00:38:01,417 --> 00:38:03,458
with all the flood
myths and so forth.

740
00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:06,167
What is quite interesting,
related to this, is the fact

741
00:38:06,333 --> 00:38:08,250
that off the coast of Israel,

742
00:38:08,417 --> 00:38:11,500
we have the submerged
town of Atlit Yam,

743
00:38:11,667 --> 00:38:15,625
which dates back
to over 7000 BC.

744
00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:19,375
This is a series of
stone circle structures,

745
00:38:19,542 --> 00:38:23,042
avenues, and communal
and domestic buildings.

746
00:38:23,250 --> 00:38:26,333
And so if there was
a submerged area,

747
00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:28,625
which the Sumerians
were said to come from,

748
00:38:28,792 --> 00:38:31,875
perhaps we need to look
out into the Mediterranean.

749
00:38:33,667 --> 00:38:36,500
NARRATOR: Do the
underwater ruins of Atlit Yam,

750
00:38:36,667 --> 00:38:39,167
which date back
more than 9,000 years,

751
00:38:39,292 --> 00:38:41,667
serve as evidence that
the Sumerian stories

752
00:38:41,875 --> 00:38:44,542
of a pre-flood
civilization are true?

753
00:38:45,958 --> 00:38:48,500
Remarkably, even
older stone structures

754
00:38:48,667 --> 00:38:51,000
have been discovered
at the archeological site

755
00:38:51,167 --> 00:38:52,708
of Göbekli Tepe,

756
00:38:52,833 --> 00:38:55,875
which is located just
400 miles northwest

757
00:38:56,042 --> 00:38:57,875
of ancient Sumer.

758
00:38:59,083 --> 00:39:03,875
Göbekli Tepe was
discovered in 1994

759
00:39:04,042 --> 00:39:06,792
by Professor Klaus Schmidt

760
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,292
of the German
Archaeological Institute.

761
00:39:09,417 --> 00:39:12,292
He started finding
huge standing stones.

762
00:39:12,417 --> 00:39:15,000
And many of these were carved

763
00:39:15,167 --> 00:39:17,500
into human form.

764
00:39:17,708 --> 00:39:20,000
They would have arms
on the side of them,

765
00:39:20,208 --> 00:39:22,167
hands that come
around to the front.

766
00:39:23,208 --> 00:39:27,292
NARRATOR: Radiocarbon dating
of artifacts unearthed at Göbekli Tepe

767
00:39:27,458 --> 00:39:31,500
suggest the ancient site
is over 12,000 years old...

768
00:39:31,625 --> 00:39:35,625
More than 5,000 years
older than the Sumerians.

769
00:39:35,792 --> 00:39:38,250
But some researchers
have noticed

770
00:39:38,458 --> 00:39:41,333
a curious connection
between the two cultures.

771
00:39:41,458 --> 00:39:44,333
Göbekli Tepe is a
massive complex.

772
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:46,875
And it features a carving
of these three handbags

773
00:39:47,083 --> 00:39:49,542
that appear above
this bird-like creature.

774
00:39:49,708 --> 00:39:52,000
And what's fascinating
about this is that you can find

775
00:39:52,167 --> 00:39:55,208
carvings of similar handbags
about 400 miles to the south

776
00:39:55,375 --> 00:39:57,333
where the ancient
Sumerians lived.

777
00:39:57,458 --> 00:39:59,250
And there, the handbags are held

778
00:39:59,375 --> 00:40:02,042
by these winged
figures called Anunnaki.

779
00:40:03,250 --> 00:40:05,125
This suggests that there is

780
00:40:05,250 --> 00:40:07,292
some previously
unknown connection

781
00:40:07,458 --> 00:40:10,833
between the Sumerians
and Göbekli Tepe.

782
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:12,750
Maybe this is the answer

783
00:40:12,875 --> 00:40:14,917
for where the Sumerians
actually came from.

784
00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:18,917
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the builders of Göbekli Tepe

785
00:40:19,042 --> 00:40:22,500
are the ancient ancestors
of the Sumerians?

786
00:40:23,875 --> 00:40:25,833
Ancient astronaut
theorists believe

787
00:40:26,042 --> 00:40:27,875
the answer might be
found in the thousands

788
00:40:28,083 --> 00:40:31,917
of Sumerian texts that
have yet to be translated.

789
00:40:33,583 --> 00:40:35,667
HENRY: Experts
estimate that up to 90%

790
00:40:35,792 --> 00:40:38,083
of the original
texts have been lost.

791
00:40:38,208 --> 00:40:39,625
But there must
be a treasure trove

792
00:40:39,833 --> 00:40:41,708
still out there waiting
to be translated.

793
00:40:41,875 --> 00:40:43,195
And they could
contain information

794
00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:44,792
that will force us to rethink

795
00:40:44,917 --> 00:40:47,333
everything we thought
we knew about our past.

796
00:40:48,542 --> 00:40:51,062
TSOUKALOS: The fact that the
Sumerians were the first to come up

797
00:40:51,167 --> 00:40:53,042
with mathematics...

798
00:40:53,208 --> 00:40:55,333
agriculture...

799
00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:57,125
astronomy...

800
00:40:57,292 --> 00:40:59,333
engineering.

801
00:40:59,542 --> 00:41:02,375
Our entire human civilization

802
00:41:02,542 --> 00:41:05,250
is built on exactly that.

803
00:41:05,417 --> 00:41:07,333
And they received this knowledge

804
00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:09,625
from the so-called gods.

805
00:41:09,792 --> 00:41:12,458
And to me, these people
that came from the sky weren't,

806
00:41:12,625 --> 00:41:15,500
you know, ethereal beings...

807
00:41:15,708 --> 00:41:18,417
but extraterrestrials
visiting from another planet.

808
00:41:20,042 --> 00:41:22,500
NARRATOR: Does the
discovery of the Sumerians

809
00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:26,208
and the recent translations
of their ancient clay tablets

810
00:41:26,375 --> 00:41:28,375
reveal that humankind

811
00:41:28,542 --> 00:41:30,292
and human civilization

812
00:41:30,458 --> 00:41:32,792
are the result of
alien intervention?

813
00:41:33,792 --> 00:41:36,792
And might there be even
more astounding revelations

814
00:41:36,958 --> 00:41:40,583
about our past contained
within the hundreds of tablets

815
00:41:40,750 --> 00:41:42,958
that have yet to be deciphered?

816
00:41:43,125 --> 00:41:46,375
And the thousands more
that may still lie hidden

817
00:41:46,542 --> 00:41:48,667
beneath the desert sand?

818
00:41:50,792 --> 00:41:53,542
Perhaps it will be the
oldest known civilization

819
00:41:53,708 --> 00:41:56,000
on Earth that provides the truth

820
00:41:56,125 --> 00:41:59,083
about humanity's
evolution on this planet...

821
00:42:00,542 --> 00:42:02,167
and our close encounters

822
00:42:02,375 --> 00:42:05,292
with extraterrestrial beings.

823
00:42:05,458 --> 00:42:08,167
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