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Authors: Erich von Däniken
Tags: sci_phys
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unattractive creature, he suggests that he should be given a lovely woman so that he will become estranged from the cattle. Enkidu, innocent fellow, is taken in by the king's trick and spends six days and six nights with a semi-divine beauty. This little bit of royal pandering leads us to think that the idea of cross-breeding between a demi-god and a half-animal was not taken quite as a matter of course in this barbaric world.
And the third tablet goes on to tell us about a cloud of dust which came from the distance. The heavens roared, the earth quaked and finally the 'Sun God' came and seized Enkidu with mighty wings and claws. We read in astonishment that he lay like lead on Enkidu's body and that the weight of his body seemed to him like the weight of a boulder.
Even if we grant the old story-tellers a fertile imagination and discount the additions made by translators and copyists, the incredible thing about the account still remains: how on earth could the old chroniclers have known that the weight of the body becomes as heavy as lead at a certain acceleration? Nowadays we know all about the forces of gravity and acceleration. When an astronaut is pressed back into his seat by a force of several G's at take-off, it has all been calculated in advance.
But how on earth did this idea occur to the old chroniclers?
The fifth tablet narrates how Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out to visit the abode of the 'gods' together. The tower in which the goddess Irninis lived could be seen gleaming in the distance long before they reached it. The arrows and missiles which the cautious wanderers rained on the guards rebounded harmlessly. And as they reached the precincts of the 'gods', a voice roared at them:
'Turn back! No mortal comes to the holy mountain where the gods dwell; he who looks the gods in the face must die.'
Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live ...', it says in Exodus.
On the seventh tablet is the first eye-witness account of a space trip, told by Enkidu. He flew for four hours held in the brazen talons of an eagle. This is how his story goes literally:
'He said to me: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the land was like a mountain and the sea was like a lake. And again he flew for four hours and said to me: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the earth was like a garden and the sea like the water channel of a gardener. And he flew higher yet another four hours and spake: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the land looked like porridge and the sea like a water-trough.'
In this case some living creature must have seen the earth from a great height. The account is too accurate to have been the product of pure imagination. Who could have possibly said that the land looked like porridge and the sea like a water-trough, if some conception of the globe from above had not existed? Because the earth actually does look like a jig-saw puzzle of porridge and water-troughs from a great height.
When the same tablet tells us that a door spoke like a living person, we unhesitatingly identify this strange phenomenon as a loudspeaker. And on the eighth tablet this same Enkidu, who must have seen the earth from a considerable height, dies of a mysterious disease, so mysterious that Gilgamesh asks whether he may not have been smitten by the poisonous breath of a heavenly beast. But where did Gilgamesh get the idea that the poisonous breath of a heavenly beast could cause a fatal and incurable disease?
The ninth tablet describes how Gilgamesh mourns for the death of his friend Enkidu and decides to undertake a long journey to the gods, because he is obsessed by the idea that he might die of the same disease as Enkidu. The narrative says that Gilgamesh came to two mountains which supported the heavens and that between those two
And the third tablet goes on to tell us about a cloud of dust which came from the distance. The heavens roared, the earth quaked and finally the 'Sun God' came and seized Enkidu with mighty wings and claws. We read in astonishment that he lay like lead on Enkidu's body and that the weight of his body seemed to him like the weight of a boulder.
Even if we grant the old story-tellers a fertile imagination and discount the additions made by translators and copyists, the incredible thing about the account still remains: how on earth could the old chroniclers have known that the weight of the body becomes as heavy as lead at a certain acceleration? Nowadays we know all about the forces of gravity and acceleration. When an astronaut is pressed back into his seat by a force of several G's at take-off, it has all been calculated in advance.
But how on earth did this idea occur to the old chroniclers?
The fifth tablet narrates how Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out to visit the abode of the 'gods' together. The tower in which the goddess Irninis lived could be seen gleaming in the distance long before they reached it. The arrows and missiles which the cautious wanderers rained on the guards rebounded harmlessly. And as they reached the precincts of the 'gods', a voice roared at them:
'Turn back! No mortal comes to the holy mountain where the gods dwell; he who looks the gods in the face must die.'
Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live ...', it says in Exodus.
On the seventh tablet is the first eye-witness account of a space trip, told by Enkidu. He flew for four hours held in the brazen talons of an eagle. This is how his story goes literally:
'He said to me: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the land was like a mountain and the sea was like a lake. And again he flew for four hours and said to me: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the earth was like a garden and the sea like the water channel of a gardener. And he flew higher yet another four hours and spake: "Look down at the land. What does it look like? Look at the sea. How does it seem to you?" And the land looked like porridge and the sea like a water-trough.'
In this case some living creature must have seen the earth from a great height. The account is too accurate to have been the product of pure imagination. Who could have possibly said that the land looked like porridge and the sea like a water-trough, if some conception of the globe from above had not existed? Because the earth actually does look like a jig-saw puzzle of porridge and water-troughs from a great height.
When the same tablet tells us that a door spoke like a living person, we unhesitatingly identify this strange phenomenon as a loudspeaker. And on the eighth tablet this same Enkidu, who must have seen the earth from a considerable height, dies of a mysterious disease, so mysterious that Gilgamesh asks whether he may not have been smitten by the poisonous breath of a heavenly beast. But where did Gilgamesh get the idea that the poisonous breath of a heavenly beast could cause a fatal and incurable disease?
The ninth tablet describes how Gilgamesh mourns for the death of his friend Enkidu and decides to undertake a long journey to the gods, because he is obsessed by the idea that he might die of the same disease as Enkidu. The narrative says that Gilgamesh came to two mountains which supported the heavens and that between those two
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