HUMAN SACRIFICES UNEARTHED
News has broken that researchers at an archaeological site in northern Peru have made an unusually large discovery of nearly three dozen people sacrificed some 600 years ago by the Incan civilization. The bodies, some of which show signs of having been cut along their necks and collarbones, were otherwise found in good condition, said Carlos Webster, who is leading excavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap camp.
The sprawling 95-hectare archeological site is 20 kilometres outside the coastal city of Chiclayo, near the ancient tomb of Sipan, which was one of the great finds of the last century. The sacrifices were made just decades before Spanish explorers arrived in what is now Peru.
Although archaeologists regularly find evidence of human sacrifice from Incan and pre-Incan cultures, it is rare to find the remains of 33 people in one place. Human sacrifice was common within the Incan culture, which flourished immediately before the arrival of the Spanish in what is now parts of Peru, Chile and Ecuador between 1400 and the mid-1500s.
“Most of the remains belong to young women, around 15 years of age. One of them appears to have been pregnant because in her abdomen, the collarbone of a fetus, probably around four months, was found,” Mr Webster said of the latest find, made over the past year-and-a-half.
“The majority (of the bodies) are in good condition – skin tissues and hair have been preserved. They were found in a dry area more than 2.3 metres underground,” he said.
Incan civilization is best known for its beautiful city, Machu Picchu, the ruins of which are Peru’s top tourist destination and considered one of the new seven wonders of the world.
Although human sacrifice was common globally in ancient times, in the remotest past people were also as advanced as we are technologically. And today, I invite you to get your head into the following wonders from the past.
PHARAOH – NOT FRENCH – BUILT FIRST SUEZ CANAL
There are 15 ancient maps of the world which have fascinated me greatly. These maps are from the Medieval and Renaissance period, and they are infinitely superior to the regular maps made at that time.
Now I’ll share with you a secret. Many of the Medieval and Renaissance map makers admitted they were copying from sources whose origins were unknown. They are a product of an unknown people antedating recognised history.
The Hamy King chart (1502) actually shows an ancient Suez Canal! Contrary to common belief, the first construction of a Suez Canal was not by the French in 1869! In the days of the early Egyptian pharaohs, ocean vessels were using the Suez Canal to reach the Indian Ocean, south-western Asia and Australia.
Later, it became choked with desert sand. This canal is now known to have existed anciently, by satellite photos and infra-red photos, which still show its path.
AUSTRALIAN OIL IN MUMMIES
Chemical analysis of some ancient Egyptian mummies has revealed the presence of eucalyptus Oil – indicating contact with Australia in the days of the pharaohs.
Embalming in Egypt was practised from the first dynasty until the eighth century AD.
The intestines were removed, but not the heart and kidneys, and the brain was drawn through the nose by means of a metal hook. These organs were then put in a natron solution in four Canopic jars.
The body was placed in a salt solution for some time. After that, the cavities created by the removal of the internal organs were filled with myrrh, cassia, cinnamon and other spices.
The whole body was then rolled in linen bandages from 700 to 1,000 meters long.
The mummy was placed in a cartonnage shaped in the form of the deceased, imitating as much as possible his features. This cartonnage coffin was then placed into a wooden coffin. Or into a stone sarcophagus – if the deceased was wealthy enough to pay for one of these.
ANCIENT ISRAEL’S LUXURY METALS
Over now to Israel. From physical discoveries close to the Gulf of Aqaba, there is evidence that large smelting operations were carried on at Eziongeber, not far from present day Eilat.
This is close to where great ocean going ships were built for Solomon’s combined Red Sea fleet with the Phoenicians.
The ancient Hebrew Civilization, according to archaeological finds, attained periods of considerable luxury – at least in certain quarters… as evidenced by chairs of ebony, inlaid with ivory and lupis lazuli, as well as beds and ornaments of color-stained ivory along with floors and doors overlaid with gold.
You may be aware that King Solomon, in alliance with Hiram, a king of the Phoenicians, sent “ships of Tarshish” around the world in search of gold, silver, and other precious commodities.
SOLOMON’s BREATHTAKING TEMPLE
The tremendous wealth that poured into Israel from these global expeditions can be appreciated to some extent when we reflect on the magnificence of Solomon’s Temple.
It has been calculated that this famous building contained 86 tons of gold and 126 tons of silver. Today, we talk in mere ounces of gold!
And you wouldn’t believe the technological expertise involved. I’m going to let you in on a secret. Some of those massive stones were actually as long as a bus… from 10 to 40 feet long by 6 feet wide. At least one of them weighed approximately 445 tons.
They were pre-cut, then transported from the quarry and slid into place so accurately that it would be difficult to find the seams.
The splendor of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem would defy comprehension. Nowhere on the face of this planet did a structure of such size and beauty command the awe of man.
Travellers from many lands would come great distances just to set eyes on this temple, never to be disappointed.
CITIES OF GIANTS SURVIVE – EMPTY
Worldwide, most ancient cities have vanished. Not so Bashan, in Syria. It is literally crowded with towns and large villages – most of them, until recently, deserted.
Yet they are not ruined! Many of the houses in these cities are perfect, as if only finished yesterday. The walls are sound, the roofs unbroken, the doors, and even the window-shutters in place.
The walls of the cities are 15 feet thick and 30 feet high. The huge gates have been found still in place. Some of the buildings in the city of Bozrah would grace the proudest modern Western city. These ancient streets are paved – still perfect, not a stone out of place.
Even the walls of houses are up to eight feet thick, built of large squared blocks of basalt, without cement. The roofs are made of basalt slabs, cut like planks and reaching from wall to wall.
Heavy slabs form the ceilings. The massive doors hang upon pivots, working in sockets, as do the window-shutters. The black basalt used is almost as hard as iron.
One early explorer measured doors 9 feet high by 4½ feet wide and 10 inches thick. In one door was seen a place for a massive lock. The doors are tastefully ornamented with panels and garlands of fruit and flowers, sculptured in relief.
Rooms inside private houses measure up to 20 feet high. Here are huge rooms and apartments in perfect preservation.
Moss grows over the ruins. Groups of tapering columns spring up from the dense foliage of the oaks. Luxuriant creepers twist around the pillars. Brambles grow in festoons over the doorways. Branches of trees shoot through gaping cracks in some old walls. Owls flap their wings and foxes and jackals scamper along the streets.
So perfect is every street, every house, every room – so perfect, yet not a sound. Huge houses built among wild rocks, hundreds of houses per city, still perfect, but not a man to dwell in them. Remains of fountains and statues, too.
The private houses bear the marks of the most remote antiquity. They leave us to conclude that the cities were built by giants – a race of giants that has been extinct for more than 3,000 years.
As recently as the 1800s, the highways of Bashan were still in place, completely covered here and there, with the branches of oak trees and straggling brambles.
SHRINKING HEADS IN THE JUNGLE
On my first expedition into the wilds of the Amazon jungle, I brought out photographs of the shrunken head of a German engineer – as well as that of a Spanish priest.
I know of two white men who had fallen foul of the natives. In his escape, one man was separated from his companion.
Years later, the fortunate escapee again met his lost companion in a jungle hut. He recognised his friend’s face. The features were identical, except that the head was a fraction of original size – and now trussed up on a pole.
It takes about twelve hours to clean and shrink a head, then about eight hours more to smoke it.
Back in the civilised world, on the coast, fake shrunken heads are sold. However, a genuine one will have long hair – the lips sewn or pinned, and all facial hair removed except eyebrows, skin, black-smoked and polished.
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Ancient Patriarchs 