Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Egyptian and Phoenician Quests to the Far East


The Phoenicians were perhaps the most prolific seafarers and traders of the ancient world. Theirs was an enterpresing maritime trade culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 to 300 BC. The first recorded appearance of the Phoenicians in the Indian Ocean is connected with the establishment of the port of Ezion-Geber in 950 BC. For more than a thousand years, the Phoenicians sailed under different flags (Lienhardt Delekat: Phönizier in Amerika, Bonn 1960). in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is also possible for them to sail by their own trading expeditions since they knew about the benefits of sailing to the Far East.

Wether they were at the service of the Hebrew, the Egyptians, or the Persians, there is no doubt they were capable of crossing vast oceans using currents and winds. For instance, the Hebrew Historian Flavius Josephus spoke of 6,500 tonnes able to carry up to six hundred passengers and cargoes as well as their crew. The Egyptian and Phoenician Ships that sailed from the Red Sea had to follow the traditional route, calling at Malabar, Taprobane (Ceylon) and the Golden Chersonese (Malayan peninsula) on to Zabai (Sabah). Herodotus (The History, Book IV; G.E. Gerini: Early Geography of Indo-China, Journal of the Royal Society, 1897) says that the ships of that period normally sailed a distance of 70,000 orguias (fathoms) by day, and another 60,000 by night, in all, 130,000 orguias (fathoms) in a day's run, every twenty-four hours. The three years given as the total length of the voyages both to Punt and Ophir (Kings I, 10 11,22)

The renowned maritime skills of the Phoenicians amazed King Solomon (973-33BC) that he asked the King of Tyre to send him Phoenician carpenters and veteran sailors to join his fleet to the land of Ophir in 945 BC (Kings 1: 9-26). There is no exact certainty thou about the location of the land of Ophir. The geographical location of Ophir is described in exactly the same way as the Land of Punt. Both countries lie ‘far away, to the south-east'; the ships set sail from a port on the Red Sea and the round voyage lasts three years in both cases. The goods brought from Ophir are more or less the same as those the Egyptians brought from Punt and their other ports of call: gold, precious woods, incense, spices, slaves etc. (Avezac – Macaya Marie Armand Pascal d': Memoire de le pays d'Ophir où les flotes de Salomón aillent chercher l'or, in l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres 30, Paris, 1864; Richard Hennig: Terrae Incognitae, Vol 4, Leiden, Brill, 1950).

The existence of the Biblical Eldorado of the Land of Ophir (I Kings 10:11, II Chronicles 9:21) is believed to be the final destination of the Lost Tribes of Israel. In Genesis 10 (the Table of Nations) is said to be the name of one of the sons of Joktan. Joktan or Yoktan was the second of the two sons of Eber,the great grandson of Shem- the son of Noah. In pre-Islamic literature, Ophir is metioned in the three pre-islamic Arabic and Ethiopic sources: The Kitab-al-Magall, The Cave of Treasure, and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan.
The Kitab al-Magall states that in the days of Reu, a king of Saba (Sheba) named "Pharoah" annexed Ophir and Havilah to his kingdom, and "built Ophir with stones of gold, for the stones of its mountains are pure gold." According to De Morga: (1,000 B.C. is when King Solomon’s navy of ships going to Ophir for gold)

Mines dating back to at least 1,000 B.C. have been found in the Philippines. When the Spanish arrived the
Filipinos worked various mines of gold, silver, copper and iron. They also seemed to have worked in brass using tin that was likely imported from the Malay Peninsula. The iron work in particular was said to be of very high quality in some cases, and occasionally in some areas, even better than that found in Europe.

When the Spanish arrived, the Philippines was so gilded with gold that most of the gold mines had been neglected. "... the natives proceed more slowly in this, and content themselves with what they already possess in jewels and gold ingots handed down from antiquity and inherited from their ancestors. This
is considerable, for he must be poor and wrethced who has no gold chains, calombigas, and earrings."


During the early stages of the European colonization of the world the existence of the biblical El Dorado of Tarshish and Ophir captured the imagination of the European mariners. In a book found in Spain entitled Collecion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas, the author has described how to locate Ophir. According to the section "Document No. 98", dated 1519-1522, Ophir can be found by travelling from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, to China, then finally Ophir. Ophir was said to be "[...] in front of China towards the sea, of many islands where the Moluccans, Chinese, and Lequios met to trade..." Jes Tirol asserts that this group of islands could not be Japan because the Moluccans did not get there, nor Taiwan, since it is not composed of "many islands." Only the present-day Philippines, he says, could fit the description. Spanish records also mention the presence of Lequious (big, bearded white men, probably descendants of the Phoenicians, whose ships were always laden with gold and silver) in the Islands to gather gold and silver. Other evidence has also been pointed out suggesting that the Philippines was the biblical Ophir.

So how did the early Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and the Old World of Europe learned about the Lands of Punt and Ophir? The historian James Innes Miller was possibly the first modern scholar to use Pliny and other evidence to suggest that Austronesian traders had brought spices to African markets via a southern maritime route. Miller connected the spice route with the prehistoric settlement of Madagascar by Austronesian seafarers. Cultural items that came from Southeast Asia, or at least tropical Asia, were diffused first to the southeastern coast of Africa before moving northward. An important factor in ascertaining the old spice routes from Southeast Asia is the trail of cloves from Maluku and the southern Philippines north to South China and Indochina and then south again along the coast to the Strait of Malacca. From there the cloves went to India spice markets and points further west. This north-south direction of commerce through the Philippines has recently been recognized by UNESCO as part of the ancient maritime spice route. The Philippine-Maluku hub persisted into Muslim times and is chronicled in Arabic historical and geographic writings.

While the clove route started in the south, cinnamon trade began in the north. The cinnamon route started in the cinnamon and cassia-producing regions of northern Indochina and southern China and then likely proceeded from South China spice ports southward during the winter monsoon down the Philippine corridor. The route likely turned southeast at that point to Sumatra and/or Java to pick up different varieties of cinnamon and cassia along with aloeswood and benzoin. From southwestern Indonesia the voyage then took the Austronesian merchants across the great expanse of the Indian Ocean to Africa.

Linguistically the clove route is supported by the distribution of names for ginger in the Malay Archipelago. These appear to have followed the clove route from China through the Philippines to the rest of insular Southeast Asia. In the medieval Chinese and Muslim texts we first get specific details about these routes although they probably were unchanged from the ones used centuries or thousands of years earlier. The Chinese records in particular gave detailed itineraries including directions and voyage length for each stop along the way to the southern spice markets. Of particular importance are the entrepots known to the Chinese as Sanfotsi and Toupo. The same marketplaces were likely known to the Muslim geographers likely by the names of Zabag and Waqwaq respectively.

The earliest recorded Egyptian expedition to Punt was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC) although gold from Punt is recorded as having been in Egypt in the time of king Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. During the New Kingdom period in Egypt (16th-11th Century BC) Egypt’s trade relations and voyages to the divine land of Punt became more frequent with large fleets bringing back impressive hauls of tribute for the Pharaoh. Subsequently, there were more expeditions to Punt in the Sixth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt.

Hatshepsut is well known for her ambitious building projects in Egypt particularly the erection of several Obelisks’ at Karnack and her funerary Temple at Deir el-Bahri. Apparently, in order to eliminate the middlemen in their acquisition of trade commodties, Hatshepsut built her Red Sea fleet in 1480 BC to facilitate trade between the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold.

During the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC ships regularly crossed the Red Sea in order to obtain bitumen, copper, carved amulets, naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with frankincense and myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea. Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt. A report of that 5 ship voyage survives on reliefs in Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. Throughout the temple texts, Hatshepsut "maintains the fiction that her envoy" Chancellor Nehsi, who is mentioned as the head of the expedition, had travelled to Punt "in order to extract tribute from the natives" who admit their allegiance to the Egyptian pharaoh. In reality, Nehsi's expedition was a simple trading mission to a land, Punt, which was by this time a well-established trading post. Moreover, Nehsi's visit to Punt was not inordinately brave since he was "accompanied by at least five shiploads of [Egyptian] marines" and greeted warmly by the chief of Punt and his immediate family. Apparently, even foreigners desired Filipino gold products. Recent discoveries show that gold jewelry of Philippine origin was found in Egypt near the beginning of the era. These finds are mentioned in Laszlo
Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art," (Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131) along a discussion of Philippine Tantric art. Some outstanding examples of Philippine jewelry, which included necklaces, belts, armlets and rings placed around the waist, are showcased in J. T. Peralta's "Prehistoric gold ornaments from the Central Bank of the Philippines," Arts of Asia 1981, no.4, p.54.

The Puntites "traded not only in their own produce of incense, ebony and short-horned cattle, but [also] in goods from other African states including gold, ivory and animal skins. According to the temple reliefs, the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati. This well illustrated expedition of Hatshepsut occurred in Year 9 of the female pharaoh's reign with the blessing of the god Amun. Hatshepsut's 18th dynasty successors, such as Thutmose III and Amenhotep III also continued the Egyptian tradition of trading with Punt. The trade with Punt continued into the start of the 20th dynasty before terminating prior to the end of Egypt's New Kingdom. After the end of the New Kingdom period, Punt became "an unreal and fabulous land of myths and legends

The Muslim geographers and historians still record trade activity between Africa and Southeast Asia in aloeswood, tortoise-shell, iron and other products centuries after the Arabs had established themselves on the Tanzanian coast. By the time the Portuguese reached this area though it appears this trade had disappeared. All that was left were traces of the Austronesian contact including the local boats with their outriggers and lateen sails made of coconut fiber. With the end of the cinnamon and clove route and the advent of the European control of the spice trade, the Far East component of this commerce almost completely faded away. However, some three thousand years of spice trade from the New Kingdom to the late Muslim period left a lasting legacy that reshaped the world.


References
1. ^ Philippines is Ophir. Accessed February 16, 2009.
2. ^ Vedic Empire. Retrieved on 2008-10-11.
3. ^ Legeza, Laszlo. "Tantric Elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art," Arts of Asia, July-Aug. 1988, pp.129-136. (Mentions gold jewelry of Philippine origin in first century CE Egypt)
4. ^ Peralta, J.T. "Prehistoric gold ornaments from the Central Bank of the Philippines," Arts of Asia 1981, no.4, p.54.
5. ^By Paul Kekai Manansala, Quests of the Dragon and Bird Clan, p. 426
6. ^Wikipedia, Land of Punt
7. ^The Philippines is the Ophir of the Bible

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Tracing the Ethymology of Luzon and Maharlika

Pyrard De Laval, a French Navigator (1578-1623) in his book entitled Suma Oriental described how the Europeans particularly the Portuguese mariners knew about the existence of an archipelagic island called Lucoes situated from its north western-most island –present day Luzon. The Indians referred to the biggest island as Lucon. In 1545, a Portuguese called Pero Fidalgo left Borneo on a junk and where he was driven northward by the wind (9 or 10 Degrees) to an island called dos Lucoes as the islanders called themselves. This voyage was recorded in the atlases of Luis and Dorado’s beautiful inscription drawing called Costa De Lucoes (Luis, 1563) or OS Lucois (Durado, 1580). This is the first time Lucoes appeard on a map of the Europeans. In 1522, the south-east portion of the nation was included in the Torrens Map as a consequence of Magellan’s voyage. Around 1540, better maps of the islands were represented on the Penrose Map. The Genoese Pilot Leon Pancaldo said that when Magellan landed in an island called Malhou in the south-eastern part of the Philippines they said they have already been visited (Cardeal Saraiva edition, Obras Completas, VI, 126) by Caucasian people like them even before 1521.

Tom Pyres describes in his notes that the land of Lucoes is ten days of sail from Borneo. The Lucoes do not believe in God and they have no king but ruled by different leaders. The locals were robust people who came to Borneo sailing in two or three junks to trade before heading to Malacca. The Borneans described how they also would sail to trade in the land of Lucoes and its surrounding islands which abound with gold and food stuff. The increasing number (about 500) of the traders from Lucoes who lived in Malacca were depicted by Pyres
as one people who are hard-working and very useful people. Many among them are reported as important men and good merchants.

During the early stages of the European colonization of the world the existence of the biblical El Dorado of Tarshish and Ophir captured the imagination of the European mariners. Tarshish and OPhir are the biblical lands (I Kings 10:11, II Chronicles 9:21) believed to be the final destination of the Lost Tribe of Israel which possess untold wealth. Samuel Purchas (1575? – 1626) was a well-known English travel writer who published the book Purchas His Pilgrim and devoted the entire first chapter to a discussion of Tarshish and Ophir.

The Italian Advernturer/Traveler Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri (1651–1725) stayed two months in the Philippines and reportedly said that he would not go into any arguments whether the Philippines was inhabited by the descendants of the biblical Tarshish. Early Europeans believed that Tarsis and Ofir were some lands far to the east of biblical Israel since King Solomon built a port at Ezion-Geber on the coast of the Red Sea and the ships took three years to return from the east. Duarte Barbosa also wrote that the natives of Malacca described to him a group of islands they call the island of Lequios which was inhabited by people "rich and more eminent than the Chins (Chinese)," that traded "much gold, and sliver in bars, silk, rich cloth, and much very good wheat, beautiful porcelains and many other merchandises." A decade after Magellan’s journey, Ferdinand Pinto while sailing across the Malayan archipelago was shipwrecked in Lequios and described it as a group of islands rich in gold and silver. Pinto even recorded the exact nautical location of the island group as being in the same meridian as Japan. Ferdinand Magellan himself rewrote part of Duarte Barbosa's book referring to the Lequios, and in his version Magellan substituted "Tarsis" and "Ofir" for the world "Lequios”, and this would play a great role in the rediscovery of the Philippines by the Europeans. Other names referred to the island of gold from the far east were Chryse “The Golden One” (Greek) situated east of India, Chin-lin (Chinese) or Golden Neighbour, Medieval Muslims called the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago (Indonesia, Philippines) as the Kingdoms of Zabag and Wakwak.

The Luzon Empire was first noted in the Laguna Copper Plate in the year 900 AD. The next historical reference to it can be found in the Ming Shilu Annals which record the arrival of an envoy from Luzon to the Ming Dynasty in 1373 AD. Her rulers, based in their capital, Tondo (Pinyin in Chinese) and were acknowledged not as mere chieftains, but as kings. According to Zhufan Zhi (Description of the Barbarous People) written in the year 1225 during the Song Dynasty, there was a group of islands called Ma-i. Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90-168) a Roman geographer astronomer and astrologer noted in his maps the beautiful islands in the far east south of China called Maniolas.

What was real name of the archipelago of the Philippines before the Europeans arrived. Where the early Filipinos united politically and ruled by a single ruler? What is the ethymology of the name Luzon and Maharlika? Is Luzon truly the biblical El Dorado whose inhabitants are called Lucoes or Lequois? How about Liu Song which possibly can be traced as people from the remaining empire of the Song Dynasty of 1279?

PRABHAT RANJAN SARKAR, Indian philosopher, historian, spiritual leader, and seer said that the pre-colonial name of the Philippines is Maharlika. MAHARLIKA came from the following Sanskrit derivative: MAHA means good and great. MAHAR is used when referring to something with many good and great qualities, resources and attributes. MAHA became MAHAR , LA means a cup or container, IK means small, and A as a suffix puts it in the feminine gender. So MAHARLIKA comes from MAHA + R + LA + IK + A means small entity or country containing good and great qualities and resources in the physical, mental and spiritual sense. And since a beautiful country is referred to as motherland, the suffix A puts it in feminine gender form. - MAHARLIKA, (Wikepedia)

Whatever the source of the name maybe, the island nation of the pre-colonial Maharlika captivated the eyes of many travelers for thousands of years and her charm, wealth, and beauty motivated many kingdoms to launch a thousand ships just to win her.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Proto Maharlikan (Philippines) History

By the time the most advanced species of modern man, Homo sapiens, had evolved, about 120,000 years ago, there is evidence of rapid population growth around the globe. So how did Homo sapiens spread?

While it is generally accepted that the forerunner to Homo sapiens - Homo erectus, left Africa about 1.5 million years ago to populate other parts of the world, there are two main theories about the spread of Homo sapiens.

The first theory, known as the 'Out of Africa' model, is that Homo sapiens developed first in Africa and then spread around the world between 100 and 200,000 years ago, superseding all other hominid species. The implication of this argument is that all modern people are ultimately of African descent.

The other theory, known as the 'Multi-regional' model, is that Homo sapiens evolved simultaneously in different parts of the world from original Homo erectus settlers. This means that people in China descended from the Homo erectus population there, while Australians may have descended from the Homo erectus population in South East Asia.

Both theories have their staunch defenders who cite DNA evidence - analysis of the genetic blueprint passed down from generation to generation - to advance their case.
First Human Migration

The Human saga began 160,000-120,000 years ago when the hominin specie called Homo Sapiens lived and roamed Africa for thousands of years. With mental capability combined with an erect body carriage that frees the forelimbs for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. But not until 90,000 to 85,000 years ago did early humans started its first exodus eastward crossing the Red Sea.

Wandering along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula they turned beachcombers and journeyed far across the Indian Ocean coastline towards Indonesia which by then was connected by land. Between 30,000 BCE and 50,000 BCE the earth has been experiencing recurring warm periods and this helped in preventing th northern ice caps from advancing across Scandinavia into northern Europe. This warming up period prompted early humans from central Asia to move to eastern Europe while others made their way to present day north-eastern Eurasia; and would eventually cross the Bering land bridge situated between Alaska and Siberia -later reaching north America.

As the Palaeolithic clock rolled towards 20,000 BCE. the earth began to receive a minimum of the sun's heat at the northern hemisphere during summer. The weather became colder and the recurring warm weathers stopped. The ice caps started to advance from the north while the sea levels started to drop at 130 meters (430 ft.) allowing land briges to be accesible. In short, the world has entered into another Ice Age.

Scientists believe that during the period between 30,000 BCE TO 20,000 BCE. remnants of the early group of Homo Sapiens who left Africa 85,000 years ago that remained isolated in the Malayan Peninsula crossed the land bridges from Borneo and moved inward to the Philippines . The Semarangs or the Aetas as we call them have become extremely nomadic due to social and economic strain on their culture and way of life that had previously remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Since humans first populated the rest of the world they started civilizations, established religions, colonized distant lands, waged wars, spreaded pandemics and left marks in our genetic make-ups.

Some Anthropologists hypothesize that man's presence in the Philippines could be as early as 250,000 B.C. during the Ice Age or Middle Pleistocene Period. They came by way of the land bridges which linked the archipelago with Asia. This hominin specie was a cousin of the "Java Man," "Peking Man," and other earliest men in Asia. Professor H. Otley Beyer, eminent American authority on Philippine archaeology and anthropology, called him the "Dawn Man", for he appeared in the Philippines at the dawn of time. Brawny and thickly-haired, the "Dawn Man", had no knowledge of agriculture. He lived by means of gathering wild edible plants, by fishing, and hunting. It is probable that he reached the Philippines while hunting. At that time the boars, deer, giant and pygmy elephants, rhinoceros, and other Pleistocene animals roamed in the country.

The latest archaeological finding showing early human habitation of the Philippines was found 300 km north of Manila indicating human presence in our land 67,000 years ago. The find shows that the bone fragments belonged to the genus HOMO. It is still unclear at this point whether the find is a Homo Habilis, or Homo Erectus or something else. It is possible that these humans reached our lands from mainland Asia when the Philippines was still connected by land bridges from mainland China. The Callao Cave Man predates the Tabon Man by 42,000 years and is oldest proof of human existence in the Southeast Asia today.

The Birth of the Filipinos

The Aetas

Although the great majority of the people of the Philippines are Tagalog, the country is not ethnically homogeneous. In spite of their small numbers the original inhabitants of the Philippines are the Agta (diminutive Africoids), who still live there in some numbers and are commonly and pejoratively called Pygmies.The Semangs (Aetas or Negritos)came around 30,000 BCE to 25,000 BCE and lived widespread throughout the Philippines. Today they are present mostly in the remote higland areas of Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros and Mindanao.

It is commonly thought that they migrated over land bridges, which existed at that time between Borneo and the Philippines. The Negritos are among the smallest people on earth. They are below five feet in height, with black skin, dark kinky hair round black eyes, and flat noses. Because of their black color and short stature, they were called Negritos (little black people) by the Spanish community in life, hence they developed no government, writing, literature, arts, and sciences. They possessed the crudest kind of religion which was a belief in fetishes. They made fire by rubbing two dry sticks together to give them warmth. They had no pottery and never cooked their food. However, they were among the world's best archers, being skilled in the use of the bow and arrow.

However, they were driven back by several waves of immigrants from Taiwan, Indonesia, only to be followed by the maritime peoples of the Malayan islands.

The Arrival of the Austronesians

The first Austronesian speakers are believed to have originated on the island of Taiwan following the migration of a group, or groups, of Pre-Austronesian speaking peoples from continental Asia approximately 10,000-6000 B.C. According to linguist Robert Blust, due to a lengthy split from the Pre-Austronesian populations, the Proto-Austronesian language and cultures emerged on Taiwan (Blust,1988).

Beginning around 5000-2500 B.C., the large scale Austronesian expansion began. Population growth triggered this expansion. A society that gives prestige and a higher status to the descendants of a community's founder added more incentive to settle new lands.

These first settlers landed in northern Luzon in the Philippines intermingling with the earlier Australo-Melanesian (Aetas)population who had inhabited the islands 23,000 years previously. Over the next thousand years up until 1500 A.D., their descendants spread south to the rest of the Philippine islands, Celebes (modern-day Sulawesi), Borneo, the Moluccas (modern-day Maluku), and Java.

The Austronesian settlers in the Moluccas sailed eastward and spread to the islands of Melanesia and Micronesia between 1200 B.C. and 500 A.D. respectively. Those that spread westward reached Sumatra, the Malay peninsula and what is now southern Vietnam by 500 B.C.(See Champa)

Sailing from Melanesia and Micronesia Austronesians discovered remote Polynesia by 1000 B.C., which unlike Melanesia, Micronesia and the Malay Archipelago were previously uninhabited, and settled its three extremities Easter Island by 300 A.D, Hawaii by 400 A.D. and New Zealand by 800 A.D In the Indian Ocean sailing from from Celebes (modern-day Sulawesi) and Borneo, they reached Madagascar by 200 A.D. Trade with India and China flourished within the first millennia A.D., which allowed the creation of Indianized kingdoms such as Srivijaya, Melayu, and Majapahit and Muslim traders began arriving during the 10th century and brought with them Islam as well as the sultanates.

There is much written on the Austronesian peoples of the Southeast Asia area and their descendants. These people were the seafaring people who traveled to distant parts of the world during this period of history. Some historians believe that these peoples settled in the southern regions of the Philippines and eastern regions of Indonesia. What is known, about this period, is that blade stone technology, dating back to around 5000 BCE reached the northern portions (Luzon area) of the Philippines. There are several postulates concerning migration and maritime trade during this time period.

The Indonesian Waves

The Indonesian migration to the Philippines happened in two waves. In 5,000 B.C. to 3,000 B.C., the first wave of Indonesians arrived in the Philippines. They were tall and slender, with relatively light complexion, thin lips and face, a high aquiline nose, a broad and high forehead, and deep-set eyes. These new settlers bring with them polished stone tools, boat building, bark and animal skin cloth making, pottery, rice planting, the process of cooking food in bamboo tubes, the techniques of making fire by rubbing two sticks together. The Negritos begin to move out of caves and settle in a scattered manner along the coasts and rivers.



During 3,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C. A second wave of Malay immigrants arrived in the Philippines by sea. Each of their ships accommodated one small clan. Such a ship load of people was called a barangay. The Indonesians who arrived in the Philippines in the second wave were shorter in height and bulkier in body, with darker complexion, thick lips, large round eyes, thick-set jaws, and large rectangular faces. The Indonesian culture was more advanced than that of the Negritos. It belonged to the New Stone Age (Neolithic). The Indonesians lived in grass-covered homes with woodenframes, built above the ground or on top of trees. They practised dry agriculture and raised upland rice, taro (gabi), and other food crops. Their clothing was made from beaten bark and decorated with fine designs. They cooked their food in bamboo tubes, for they knew nothing of pottery. Their other occupations were hunting and fishing. Their implements consisted of polished stone axes, adzes, and chisels. For weapons, they had bows and arrows, spears, shields, and blowguns (sumpit). They had one domesticated animal - the dog.

Exodus of the Malays to the Pacific World:

The seafaring Malays also navigated the vast stretches of the uncharted Pacific, discovering and colonizing new islands, as far south as Africa and Madagascar. Their unchronicled and unsung maritime exploits impressed the British Orientalist A.R. Cowen, who wrote: "The Malays indeed were the Phoenicians of the East, and apparently made even longer hauls than the Semitic mariners, their oceanic elbowroom giving them more scope than the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea."

The prehistoric Malays were the first discoveries and colonizers of the Pacific world. Long before the time of Columbus and Magellan, they were already expert navigators. Although they had no compass and other nautical devices, they made long voyages, steering their sailboats by the position of the stars at night and by the direction of the sea winds by day.

Malayan Immigration to the Philippines:

In the course of their exodus to the Pacific world, the ancient Malays reached the Philippines. They came in three main migratory waves. The first wave came from 200 B.C. to 100A.D. The Malays who came in this wave were the headhunting Malays, the ancestors of the Bontoks, Ilongots, Kalingas, and other headhunting tribes in northern Luzon. The second wave arrived from 100 A.D. to 13th century. Those who came in this migratory wave were the alphabet-using Malays, the ancestors of the Visayans, Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Bicolanos, Kapampangans, and other Christian Filipinos. The third and last wave came from the 14th to 16th century A.D. The Muslim Malays were in this migratory wave and they introduced Islam into the Philippines.


Culturally, the Malays were more advanced than the Negritos and the Indonesians, for they possessed the Iron Age culture. They introduced into the Philippines both lowland and highland methods of rice cultivation, including the system of irrigation; the domestication of animals (dogs, fowls, and carabaos); the manufacture of metal tools and weapons; pottery and weaving; and the Malayan heritage (government, law, religion, writing, arts, sciences, and customs). They tattooed their bodies and chewed betelnuts. They wore dresses of woven fabrics and ornamented themselves with jewels of gold, pearls, beads, glass, and colored stones. Their weapons consisted of bows and arrows, spears, bolos, daggers, krises (swords), and sumpits.

Legends and Hoaxes about the Malay Settlers

The legends surrounding the settling of the Philippines by Malay migrants are notably celebrated in the ati-atihan festival and perpetrated by hoaxers in the fraudulent documents containing the Maragtas chronicle and the Code of Kalantiaw.

According to one legend, at around 1250 A.D., ten datus and their families left the kingdom of Borneo and the cruel reign of sultan Makatunaw to seek their freedom and new homes across the seas. In Sinugbahan, Panay, they negotiated the sale of Panay's lowlands from the Negrito dwellers, led by their Ati king Marikudo and his wife Maniwantiwan. The purchase price consisted of one gold saduk (native hat) for Marikudo and a long gold necklace for Maniwantiwan. The sale was sealed by a pact of friendship between the Atis and the Bornean Malays and a merry party when the Atis performed their native songs and dances. After the party, Marikudo and the Atis went to the hills where their descendants still remain, and the Malay datus settled the lowlands. One of Aklan, Panay's fascinating festivals to this day is the ati-atihan, a colorful mardi gras celebrating the legendary purchase of Panay's lowlands. It is held in Kalibo annually during the feast day of Santo Niño in January. The riotous participants, with bodies painted in black and wearing bizarre masks, sing and dance in the streets, re-enacting the ancient legend of the welcome held by the Atis for the Malay colonizers. The Maragtas goes on to describe the formation of a confederation of barangays ("Madya-as") led by one Datu Sumakwel, who passed on a code of laws for the community. The fictitious story also alleges the expansion of the Malay datus to other parts of the Visayas and Luzon. Although previously accepted by some historians, including the present authors, it has become obvious that the Maragtas is only the imaginary creation of Pedro A. Monteclaro, a Visayan public official and poet, in Iloilo in 1907. He based it on folk customs and legends, largely transmitted by oral tradition.

Challenge to the Migration Theory:

The migration theory offered by H. Otley Beyer to explain the early settlement of the Philippines has been challenged by such scholars as Robert B. Fox and F. Landa Jocano. According to these scholars, Philippines prehistory is far too complex to be explained by "waves" of migration. It seems doubtful that early immigrants came in a fixed period of time and with a definite destination. Nor can archaeological and ethnographic data, show that each "wave" of immigrants was really a distinct racial and cultural group.

According to the other viewpoint, the early Filipinos were not passive recipients of cultures but also active transmitters and synthethizers of them. For example, comparative studies of Pacific cultures show that some of the inhabitants of Micronesia, Polynesia and other Pacific islands came from the Philippines. Moreover, by the time the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the early Filipinos had developed a distinctly Filipino, as opposed to Malayan civilization.

Whether one accepts the migration theory or not, it appears that out of the interracial mixture of the early settlers - indigenous tribes or Asian latecomers - was born the Filipino people. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Filipinos where already enjoying rapid advances in its socio-economic development including a propensity for intermarriage with the assimilation of multiple races and cultures.

The Art of War, Social, and Economic Developments

Archeologists found remnants of stone walls in the province of Ifugao. Based on dating techniques of the tools and artifacts found in the same area of these walls, it has been shown that they were build during this period, 2000 BCE. It is theorized that these stone wall outlines were the traces of an ancient fortress. This was thousands of years before any Spanish influences.

Mines have been found in the Philippines, dating back to at least 1000 BCE. These physical presence and the written history by the early Spanish settlers suggest that the Filipinos were actively mining for precious metals thousands of years before peoples in other regions of the area. The type of metals that were mined included silver, copper, gold and iron. Many of these metals were used as decorations for their homes as well as on their personages.

During this same period, in history, the peoples of the region were building the rice terraces and other agricultural wonders that are known as common place today through the Asian communities. One group, known as the Igorots, built stone walls, dams, and canals that still mystify engineers. These hydraulic works were created from stones greater in bulk than those of the Great Wall of China. Pottery finds, through out the Philippines, have been dated between 500 BCE through 500 C E (AD.) Some of this pottery included the unique burial jars found amongst the Ayub Cave pottery in Mindanao. This particular type of jar pre-date any found anywhere else in the southeastern regions of Asia.

Sixth and last of the prehistoric migrations, occurring between 300 and 200 BC, brought from the south our most numerous and advanced prehistoric people - the Iron Age group usually known as Malays. They filtered in fleets of dugout boats, up from thr west Coast of Borneo into Luzon via Palawan through the Celebes Strait to Mindanao and the Visayas. In addition to advanced, irrigated agriculture, these migrants brought four new industries:

(1) the smelting, forging and manufacture of tools, weapons, utensils and ornaments of iron and other metals;
(2) the manufacture of a great variety of turned and decorated pottery;
(3) the art of weaving cloth on a hand loom; and
(4) the manufacture of beads, bracelets and other ornaments of green and blue glass.

These crafts seem to have originated in India, and to have spread from there to Indo-China and Southern Malaysia, finally reaching the Philippines by way of Borneo and Celebes. This culture eventually was carried on north into Formosa, southern Japan, Korea and central Manchuria, where it finally disappears. These Iron Age folk built bamboo and wooden houses on When the Spanish began to colonize the Philippine islands the culture and technology was by no means that far behind most other areas of the world. Indeed, in many areas the Filipinos were quite advanced considering the timeline of the history of science. The metal smith, Panday Pira of Pampanga, was so skilled at weapons making and other types of metal working that the Spanish entrusted him with opening the first Spanish artillery foundry in the country. The Spanish found that the Filipinos made their own small arquebuses, or portable cannons, usually made of bronze. Larger cannons made of iron and resembling culverins provided heavier firepower. The iron cannon at Raha Soliman's house was about 17 feet long and was made from clay and wax moulds.

The most fearsome weapon though was the famed lantaka, or swivel gun. Unlike the Spanish cannons these guns were placed on flexible swivels that allowed the gunner to quickly track a moving target. The lantakas of the Moros gave the Spanish so much trouble that they always included native ships, like the karakoa, equipped with lantakas to counter the Moro weapons. The most impressive lantakas had two revolving barrels. These were eventually exported to South America, and may have become the precursor of the Gatling gun.
Pira started a tradition of high quality metal casting that lasted for centuries in many parts of the Philippines. Many individuals with surnames like Pira, Viray, etc., may have ancestors who were members of the guilds of smiths who followed the Pira lineage. The metal work involving authentic native swords was also of the highest quality. Unfortunately, this fell into disuse among most of the lowlanders of the North. However, the Muslims and animists of the South continued to make very fine kampilans, krisses, etc., that can take many years of work to complete. Sword makers were also astrologers who waited for auspicious conjunctions of planets before proceeding with each elaborate phase of the sword making ritual. The passage of the sword from the maker to the owner was a very mystical ceremony, replete with all types of supernatural beliefs. A well-made kampilan or kris is really one of the finest pieces of handicraft that can be found anywhere. In the North, they also had the kampilan, and another excellent weapon known as the bararao.


In addition to weapons, the Filipinos made good armor for use in the battlefield. The Moros in particular had armor that covered the entire body from the top of the head to the toes. Fortresses known as kuta or kota, and moog were built to protect large communities. These fortresses were protected with the cannons mentioned above. Governor Sande noted that when he asked local Filipinos to contribute their bronze cannons for use against the Moros, he received the equivalent of 400 quintals of bronze (about 21 tons) from an area with a radius of about eight leagues (24 miles). However, the large powerful cannons were more scarce. The fort at Tondo had less arnaments that an average Spanish warship. The problem was the big weapons often required the same complex, lengthy ritualistic procedure in manufacture as swords like the kampilan and the kris. Also, even small firearms were seen as status symbols for datus and rahas and thus, were generally too expensive for the ordinary warrior. However, the main disadvantage suffered by the Filipinos was that their guns were too often turned against themselves in service of "his Catholic majesty."

Although contemporary paintings exist of some Filipino forts, few remains exist. Strangely, in the far eastern corner of Ifugao Province remains of a very ancient fortress have been discovered. The fort had stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times the width in height. At first it was thought that these were the remains of an unknown Spanish fortress, but advanced dating methods and analysis of the tools, utensils and other artifacts showed that the most likely dating was about 2,000 B.C.

Some of the weaponry concocted by the Filipino was quite unusual. For instance, one weapon was the prototype of the

modern yoyo, and it returned to is owner after being flung at an opponent.

Ancient Religious Beliefs

The original religion of the early Filipinos was Animism (the worship of spirits). The Filipinos of that era practiced an animist religion which featured rituals aimed at pacifying malevolent spirits. The Muslim missionaries had come to Mindanao and the Sulu islands during the 15th century and, by the middle of the following century, a number of barangays, and some small communities in Cebu and Manila had submitted to the rule of Muslim sultans. While Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Cebu at the head of a Spanish expedition in 1521, and started baptizing animists and pagans to Christians in Visayas and Luzon islands. Manila was established seven years later and the Spaniards had gained effective dominion over the coasts and lowlands from Luzon to northern Mindanao by the close of the sixteenth century. The Spanish army had been accompanied by Catholic missionaries who converted the population to the faith. The Church in fact became a powerful institution in the Philippines, being frequently looked to by the people for guidance in political and social matters.
Though Chinese merchants dwelled in the Philippines from circa 1000 AD and a system of writing based upon Sanskrit was employed in some areas, neither Chinese nor Indian civilization exerted much influence in the islands. It is also noteworthy that the two great religions of the Asian mainland, Hinduism and Buddhism, found few adherents in the Philippines.

Custom and Traditions

Traces of their early customs and traditions remain evident in some rural areas. They were marks of success in resisting the impact of modern civilization. Therefore, many pre-colonial Filipino customs and practices are still operative in many parts of the archipelago -- giving observers first-hand materials for reconstructing the nation's distant past.

Take for example its tradition of clothing. The male attire is usually composed of the upper and lower parts. The upper was referred to as kanggan. It was a short-sleeved black or blue collarless jacket. The chosen color signified the wearer's rank -- the chief wore red, while those of lower stature wore black or blue. The lower part of the attire, called bahag, was usually a strip of cloth wrapped about the waist, passing down between the thighs; thereby leaving the wearer's thighs and legs exposed.

The womens dress was also comprise of the upper and lower parts. The upper was called camisa or baro. It was a jacket with sleeves. The lower part, on the other hand, was a lose skirt called saya by the tagalogs and patadyong by the Visayans. A piece of rfedred cloth, called tapis was often wrapped around the waste as an accent.

A headgear made of cloth, called putong, was worn by the men. It was wrapped around his head. Its color signified the "manliness" of the man. Red usually indicated that the wearer had once engaged in a battle and victoriously killed an enemy. But for someone who had slain at least seven was entitled to wear an embroidered headgear.

The women wore no head gear; they merely wore their hair gracefully knotted at the back of the head. With gold and precious stones abundant in the local mines and rivers. both male and female wore ornaments or jewelries-kalumbiga(armlets), pendants. bracelets, rings, earings, and leglets. As for their footwear, everyone walked barefoot in those early times, for the use of sandals and shoes didn't come about until the arrival and rule of the Spanish.


Contrary to the common misconception, when the Spaniards arrived in the islands they found more than just a loose collection of backward and belligerent tribes. They found a civilization that was very different from their own. The ability to read and write is the mark of any civilization and, according to many early Spanish accounts, the Tagalogs had already been writing with the baybayin for at least a century. This script was just beginning to spread throughout the islands at that time. Furthermore, the discovery in 1987 of an inscription on a sheet of copper in Laguna is evidence that there was an even more advanced script in limited use in the Philippines as far back as the year 900 C.E.

The pre-Hispanic Filipinos wrote on many different materials; leaves, palm fronds, trees but the most common material was bamboo. The writing tools or panulat were the points of daggers or small pieces of iron. Among the manuscripts in Charles R. Boxer's collection, known as the Boxer Codex, there is an anonymous report from 1590 that described their method of writing, which is still used today by the tribes of Mindoro and Palawan to write their own script

Once the letters were carved into the bamboo, it was wiped with ash to make the characters stand out more. Sharpened splits of bamboo were used with coloured plant saps to write on more delicate materials such as leaves. But since the ancient Filipinos did not keep long-term written records, more durable materials, such as stone, clay or metal, were not used. After the Spaniards arrived Filipinos adopted the use of paper, pen and ink.

During this same period in history, the Philippines was already established as an active trading center. It is known that many merchants and trading ambassadors from the surrounding areas, including Siam (Thailand) and China, came to Cebu to pay tribute to the king and arrange trade agreements.

Today, many historians dispute when modern Philippine history began. Some believe it to have started in the 13th century. It was during this time that 10 datus from Borneo, each with a hundred of his kinsmen, landed in what is now known as Panay Island in the Visayas. From this time to the early 16th century, the region, now known as the Philippines, was ruled by independent tribes of peoples who had seen rapid advances in social and economic development. For instance, around the year 1380, it is believed that the Arab-taught Makdum arrived in the Sulu archipelago, established what became a powerful Islamic sphere of influence over the next hundred years.

During this same period, the Philippines was already established as an active trading center. It is known that many merchants and trading ambassadors from the surrounding areas, including Siam (Thailand) and China, came to Cebu to pay tribute to the king and arrange trade agreements.

Spains

European historians credit the voyages of Magellan and succeeding expeditions from Spain as the official accreditation and discovery of the pacific region. and of the Philippines. When the Europeans reached our islands it was already inhabited by people whose culture and modernization was by no means that far behind from most other areas of the world.

The Spanish were surprised by the advances made by these people. For instance, the people of this land were skilled in weapons making and other types of metal works. The Filipinos were already making their own cannons -- large one of iron and small, portable, ones of bronze. They were surprised to find a swivel type gun, known as a 'lantaka' which allowed the gunner to track a moving target. These 'primitive' people, found by Magellan; were also 'people of the sea'. They used navigational instruments similar to a compass and were much more skilled and experienced in all types of fishing and fishery activities.

This 'discovery', the historians point out, is relevant, because it is what placed the Philippine archipelago on the maps of the world. It occurred when he, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, landed at Homonhon Islet, near present day Samar, claiming the lands for Spain. It is believed that this event occurred on the 17 day of March in the year 1521. He was later killed on the Mactan Island of Cebu in a clash with native warriors who were led by a chieftain named Lapu-Lapu.

The Philippines- A Treasure To Behold

During this time in world history, Spain was in fierce competition with Portugal to dominate, through colonization, the lands of the world. Clearly the Philippines was a prize catch for Spain, based on its number of islands and its size; which, at the time, was estimated to be larger than it actually was. However size alone was not what made it a great prize -- its location made it a worthy and valuable catch. The archipelago was formally named Las Felipinas, in 1543 by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos who followed Magellan to this territory. It was named in honor of Spain's King Philip II (actually the Crown Prince, who was actually excommunicated from the Catholic Church, by the Pope Paul IV in 1552). It was known to be composed of thousands of islands and islets (now known to be 7,107), and spanning over eighteen hundred (actually 1854) kilometers from north to south, stretching from China to the north to the Indonesian archipelago at the south. Permanent Spanish occupation began in 1565, and by 1571 the entire country, except for the strictly Islamic Sulu archipelago, was under Spanish control.

The northern most tip of the country, Y'ami, of the Batanes Island group, is only 241 kilometers south of what is known as Taiwan today; while the southern most tip, Sibutu of the Tawi-Tawi group of islands, is just 14.4 kilometers north of what is known as Borneo. Thus, the Philippines, was located in a strategic location, both politically and economically. They were the window to the New World.

To its east is the Pacific Ocean and beyond it, the New World (the Americas). To the west are the kingdoms of Indochina including modern day Cambodia and Siam (Thailand) while southwest is Malaysia.

The Cross and the Sword



Spanish colonizers succeeded in introducing Christianity to the islands. Still today, Christianity represents over 85% of religious beliefs. They were highly successful in the region of modern day Luzon and Visayas but were unsuccessful in Mindanao, south region, where Moslems staved off the Spanish efforts. Of course there are many recorded horror stories, of historically significant, where the Spanish forced the induction of Christianity upon the 'heathens' of these islands leading to thousands of deaths and tortures of the residents of the islands. Still today, many small towns and remote barrios celebrate, through re-enactment in fiesta stage plays, called moro-moro, the forced conversion of the peoples to Christianity by the threatened force of the Spaniards. These plays always end the same way most of the people convert and find 'happiness' in their new found religion, while the remaining are either killed or flee to the mountains, to be hounded by the Spaniards the rest of their lives.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Adam and Eve Before Genesis - A Sitchinite View

Scepticisms on the veracity of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) abound heavily during the 19th century which gradually receded only after the result of numerous archaeological findings that confirm the veracity of biblical data taking each assertion instead farther back in time. From Elohim (deities) to Yahweh, the diverse versions pertaining to the Creator of humankind implies that an older source dealing with the same subject was in front of them as they write. For instance, Chapter 5 of Genesis states that its source of the generation of Adam was taken from an older book entitled The Book of the Generation of Adam. Numbers 21:14 refers towards another source The Book of Wars of Yahweh. These and much more must have been ample source of original information for the authors of the Old Testament.

The breakthrough on understanding the extinct Akkadian language which is the mother of the Semitic tongue revealed more basis pertaining to the making of the first humans. The account of the creation of mankind began when the Anunnaki/Elohim (Those who from Heavens to Earth came) splashed down at the Persian Gulf. The Sumerians believed that these “gods” came all the way from the outer edge of our solar system. It is a well-documented fact that the Sumerians believed that their “gods” practiced a two-way travel from their heavenly abode to Earth. The olden writings also indicated the familiarity of this people on the celestial system such us our sun and the planets in our solar system. The Sumerians always depicted in their pictograph writings an extra planet called Nibiru- the abode of the Annunnaki race. This massive planet often referred to as the “Winged Planet” or “Woodworm” possess an elliptical orbit that crosses our very own home every 3,600 years (Sar). Its expected comeback is in less than 120 years. Sumerian writings tell us that there were an initial fifty Anunnaki who came down to earth. This group was lead by a brilliant scientist named (i>E.A (Enki- Lord of the Earth) who built his colony in E.Ri.Du (Sumer) some 432,000 years ago. Other establishments were soon built in pursuit of their original mission: To find gold to save their dying world. It appeared that their first intention was to extract gold from the ocean floor but the result was unsatisfactory. Failing to obtain the amount of gold they need from the Persian Gulf, Enki’s brother Enlil(Lord of the Command)was dispatched from the planet Nibiru by their father, Anu together with six hundred other Anunnaki to Earth. Another three hundred, called the IGI.GI(Those who observe and see)or “Watchers”, were stationed in their crafts beyond our atmosphere to monitor the progress of the operation on Earth and to shuttle the refined ingots between Earth and Nibiru.

Enlil was a very strict disciplinarian who took over the command of the seven cities around E.Din (Home of the Righteous Ones), the future site of the earliest civilization on Earth – Sumeria. Each city was assigned their specific functions: A Mission Control Centre, a Spaceport, a center for Metallurgy, and a Medical Centre under the supervision of Ninmah- a half sister of Enki and Enlil. Enki was assigned to Southeast Africa to start and manage the mining operations there and spent most of his time there to avoid the increasing heated rivalry between him and Enlil.

When the Anunnaki arrived on Earth 432,000 (120 Sars before the Deluge) years ago humans did not exist yet. 144,000 years ago the Anunnaki assigned at the gold mines of South Africa (Abzu) grumbled and addressed their complaints to Enki about their hard labour in the dark and dusty gold mines. The rank and file Anunnaki protested it was not their duty as spacemen to toil in the pits of the Abzu. The book of Atra Hasis written in Akkadian described in detail the events that lead to their mutiny. In response, Enlil sought the punishment of the mutineers in case they refuse to continue working in the ancient mines.

Enki, being more lenient to his subordinates consulted his father Anu to come up with a better answer to the problem. Enki’s solution: to create a primitive worker that will take over the back-breaking work of the Anunnaki. According to Enki the creature required who can perform some of the mining task is the Hominid that existed already in Africa at that time. All they have to do is to make the creature an intelligent worker by giving the “mark of the Anunnaki”. 4.5 billion Years ago both Nibiru and our watery planet called Tiamat (Earth) collided and “exchanged” the common elements necessary to start life during one of Nibiru’s pass-over as told in the Epic of Creation. The Epic of Creation is a Sumerian version of how the world and the other planets of our solar system began.

The assembly of “gods” – their Anunnaki leaders, collectively agreed upon the idea and summoned Ninmah, their chief medical officer to support the undertaking. Enki was given the go-signal, “Create a Lulu,” a “primitive worker” he was told; “Let him bear the yoke of the Anunnaki.” Ninhursag/Ninmah- the chief medical officer assisted in the great scientist Enki in the undertaking.

Chapter One of Genesis sums up their decision. And Elohim said: “Let us make The Adam in our image, after our likeness.” The long and slow process of human evolution was does jumped-over by the help of the Anunnaki creating us sooner than we could have ever evolved on our own. Except for the Knowing and the Longevity, by increasing to the level desired by the Anunnaki, we can best understand how the first human were created in its simplified story in Genesis; it involved the use of “clay” and by “breathing” the life into its nostrils. The book of Atra Hasis and other ancient texts gave us a much more complex story that implied the process of genetic manipulation. It was not an achievement that resulted overnight. Working in a creation chamber called Bit Shinti(House where the wind of life is breathed in)the “essence” of the blood of a young Anunnaki male was drawn and mixed with the egg of a female hominid. The fertilized egg then was implanted into the womb of a female Anunnaki akin to modern day in vitro-fertilization. A lot of trial and error processes were involved until the wanted result by Enki and Ninmah was reached. Once perfected, a mass production took-off. Fourteen birth “goddesses” were implanted with the ape-woman’s genetically manipulated eggs. Seven of the surrogate Anunnaki females would bear male and seven other female Astronauts would bear female workers. But how long could the limited female Anunnaki take to perform the role of “birth goddesses”? Like any other hybrid, the Earthling could not procreate.

As they grew up and their numbers multiply, more physical work was assigned to them in the Abzu (ancient mines). The Anunnaki working under the leadership of Enlil in Mesopotamia grew jealous and clamoured for the Lulu to share in the bulk of work. Over the objection of Enki, Enlil seized many of the primitive workers and brought them to E.Din (The abode of the Righteous Ones) in Mesopotamia. The event is also mentioned in Genesis, “and the Lord took The Adam, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden, to till it and tend it”. Many ancient drawings depicted the first Primitive Workers, The Adam, or the "Black Headed Ones" performing their tasks naked as the animals of the field. In The Myth of Cattle and Grain, the first creatures were thus described:

When Mankind was first created, they knew not the eating of the bread, knew not the wearing of garments. They ate plants with their mouths, like sheep. They drank water from the ditch.

A Sumerian ancient writing called The King List measured the tours of duty for each Anunnaki in Sar (3,600 years). Some of the Anunnaki Commander’s assignment mentioned from this book lasted 28,800 to 36,000 or, even up to 43,200 years! Convert these figures to a Sar and their mission to their settlements would only be eight or ten of their life years. This is the very reason why ordinary humans regard them as immortal- “gods”. But the astronauts who came down to Earth were worried about their longevity. This is because their body clocks were set for their own planet. To maintain their longer life cycles on Earth, these astronauts consumed a “Food of Life” and “Water of Life” which were provided from their home planet.

Enki, a brilliant scientist as he is, tried to untangle the secrets of life, reproduction, and death on Earth. Questions such as why did the Homo sapiens lived longer lives than the ape men and ape women but lived shorter lives than the Anunnaki/Elohim who came down to Earth. Could it be genetic or environmental? Conducting more experiments on the genetics of their hybrids referred to as Lulu (Mixed One), Enki mixed his own sperm with their DNA and conducted the slow process of cloning until he created a perfect model giving them the ability to reproduce. He named the new creation Adam (Adapa), meaning human. He was granted greater intelligence than the previous creations and the ability to procreate; but not having the longevity like the Anunnaki/Elohim.

“With wide understanding he had perfected him. To him he had given Knowing; lasting life he did not give”.

Earliest depiction of Adam and Eve standing before the “Tree of Knowing” with an entwined serpent on the tree has survived up to our present time. The Hebrew word for “serpent” is Nahash. The word had two extra meanings. It could mean “He who solve secrets”, or “He of the Copper”. The last two meanings apparently could have stemmed from the old Sumerian appellation for Enki, BUZUR, which meant “He who solve secrets” and “He of the Copper”. Enki had always been associated with the entwined snake symbol since the earliest time.

And so goes the story in Genesis that the “improved” hybrid humans Adam and Eve were not only given the gift of “Knowledge” but also of “Knowing” – the Hebrew biblical term for “intercourse” for the purpose of reproduction. According to the Akkadian Tale of Adapa, Enlil became furious upon hearing the news that humans were granted by his brother Enki the ability to procreate. Speaking to his unnamed colleagues, Enlil was furious that Man,” having become as one of us,” might also help himself to the Tree of Life, “and eat, and live forever.” For this reason, Adam and his female companion Eve were casted out from the wonderful orchard which was planted in Eden; to toil in the fields, and to sustain themselves.

Their father Anu too was troubled about the news and summoned for the hybrid to appear before him in his Celestial Abode. Since Adam/Adapa (Man) is believed to be Enki’s son by an earth mother and too worried about being destroyed by his father Anu, he took steps instructing him to avoid any water or food being offered to him. As the creature of Enki stood before Anu’s throne, he was impressed by his intelligence imparted by his son Enki. Anu consulted his advisors on what to do with the hybrid since his son Enki had already made him very distinguished by sending him through a Shem/Mu (Rocket Ship) before his throne. Their decision was to keep Adapa/Adam in Marduk (Nibiru). In order to for his body to acclimatize in the slow-phase rotation of the planet Nibiru around our Sun, Adapa/Adam was offered “the Bread of Life” and, the “Water of Life” too. This could have made Adapa/Adam live the same longevity enjoyed by the Anunnaki on Earth. But, being forewarned before by Enki, Adapa/Adam refused to eat or drink. When his erroneous decision was discovered, it was already too late for he could have obtained an “immortal’s” life. Adapa/Adam was returned to Earth during which he saw the awesomeness of deep space “from the horizon of heaven, to the zenith of heaven.” When he got back to Earth, he was ordained by Enki as a High Priest of Eridu.

The Book of Jubilees which tells us the story about the expulsion of man from paradise informs us that when “Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of their Nativity, the land of their Creation.” This would mean from Eden they went back to the Abzu, in south eastern Africa. Adam “knew” his wife and she conceived and bore Cain, Abel, Seth, and a daughter named Awan. The Bible says that Adam and Eve had sons and daughters. Non-canonical books say there were sixty-three in all. Genetic evidence confirms that mankind originated not from the Mesopotamian Eden but back in the Abzu in south-eastern Africa. Anthropology and genetic researchers have placed an “Eve”- a single female, as the single source of whom all humans (Homo sapiens) came from about 250,000 years ago.

Ancient legends handed down in different generations continued to survive in different versions down until 2,000 years ago when The Book of Adam and Eve was written. It tells the story of how Adam felt sick when he was 930 years old. His son Seth, seeing his father sick brought Adam to the gate of Paradise appealing to the “gods”. “..Perchance He will hearken to me and send Him his angel to bring me the fruit, for which thou has longed” – the fruit of the tree of life. But Adam has already accepted his faith as a mere mortal and only wished to be anointed by the “oil” of life. He bid his son Seth and his wife Eve to go around the neighbourhood of “Paradise” and ask the “gods” from there for a drop of oil which flowed from the tree so his body pain might be relieved. Finally, an angel whose name is Michael approached them relaying the decision of the “gods” from inside paradise not to grant Adam’s supplication for his life is already fulfilled. Adam died six days later. Since Adam’s death was the first natural passing of a human, Eve and their son Seth did not know what to do. They just sat there at the “Gates of Paradise” until Adam’s soul departed his body. As they mourn and cry, Eve saw in her vision a bright craft (fiery chariot) coming from the heaven. She heard the voice of the Lord instructing the angels (Emissaries/Messenger) to bring linen cloths and shroud so they may burry Adam and Abel who was not buried yet. The two of them were consecrated and buried.

Since then, the population of mankind flourished. Man was no longer limited to work in the dusty mines and fields. They could perform tasks such as building temples for the “gods”, learned how to cook and dance for them as well. It did not take long when the Anunnaki who was short of females on Earth, can have sex with the daughters of man since both of them were biologically compatible. Their great leader Enlil was not happy about this and looked at it with anxiety. To him, it defeats their purpose of saving their own world as their primary mission here on Earth. But, nature would soon offer Enlil to put an end on all of these when on the end of the last Ice Age he will not deliberately warn man of impending disasters brought about by the advancement and retreat of the last Ice Age causing weather changes, crop failures, famine, and ultimately, the Deluge.

The expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden was not the end of link between Man and his Creators. Instead, their removal from The Garden of Eden was only the start of a new form of relationship in which direct encounters would be rare, and dreams and visions would become divine devices.

Source: The Earth Chronicles by: Zecharia Sitchin