Ancient people, what were they like? The mysteries of our past
Huge ancient stone monuments. Developed construction of buildings and structures. Lost civilizations … No, this is not the plot of an adventure film at all! But if we look at our ancient past, we will see a true story, which is much more interesting than any film …
Did aliens from outer space help build the huge pyramids of Egypt and Central America?
Do we need advanced technology from extraterrestrial civilizations to explain how ancient people could move huge boulders, build monumental structures, create complex works of art, and shape advanced cultures? Some people think so. And this judgment is the result of their evolutionary belief in "primitive" ancient people.
If evolution were true, then our retrospective look into the depths of history would open before us a lot of clear evidence of a gradual decline in the rationality of ancient people, right down to the intelligence of ape. But biblical creation testifies to the opposite. Man, created in the image of God, has always been intelligent. People make discoveries, invent different things, and the knowledge they have accumulated is passed on to the next generation. Thus, the technological level of society will gradually increase, but this does not at all mean that a person becomes more reasonable.
Ancient people, true history
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Almost immediately after creation, the ancients already invented various objects, such as musical instruments and metalworking tools (Genesis 4: 21-22). By the time the Flood began, humanity had already reached a high level of technical development. Today we do not know exactly how high this level was, but there are some clues.
First, Noah and his assistants were quite capable of building a huge ocean-going ship. The dimensions of Noah's Ark were approximately 135 meters long, 27 meters wide and 13.5 meters high (Genesis 6:15). We know these dimensions were ideal for building a solid ark. To accomplish such a massive task required deep design knowledge, not to mention special timber handling techniques (also see Q&A: Noah's Ark).
Second, the level of civilizations that formed on the earth immediately after the Flood can also give us a clue. Noah and his family tried to preserve as much knowledge as possible, necessary for their survival and the beginning of a new civilization in the "new world".
It is obvious that the ancient people had a very high level of knowledge!
The Bible says that shortly after the Flood, mankind built a huge city. This city was located in the fertile river valley of Mesopotamia around present-day Iraq. Even evolutionists cannot ignore this evidence, and usually speak of this territory as the "cradle of civilization." What it actually was, but only in a world that began its existence after the Flood.
The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9) was probably the first type of pyramid. In the future, structures similar in style were erected both on this territory (around modern Babylon) and in other ancient civilizations around the world. Evolutionary historians believe that each culture invented the same architectural style independently of each other. However, it would be wiser to believe that the similarity of these structures is due to their common origin from Babylon.
Like today, the groups of ancient people who lived during the Tower of Babel had different skills and abilities. Some were builders, others were painters, and still others were farmers. However, when God divided them into different groups, speaking different languages, huge reserves of knowledge were also divided. The first groups of people who formed, for example, the civilizations of the Egyptians and the Mayans, undoubtedly included people talented in the design and construction of structures, etc., as evidenced by the rapid formation of their cultures. In other groups, on the contrary, such knowledge was lacking.
Imagine that you and your relatives are suddenly moving into a wild, uninhabited area. And although you and your family come from a society with a huge technological level, you cannot carry all the necessary knowledge with you in order, for example, to discover ore deposits, smelt metals and work with them. For your split group to survive, you would simply have to use stone tools.
Ancient people - cave people?
After the Flood, individual groups of ancient people began to take refuge in caves. In a more severe climate, caves were more reliable protection than hand-made dwellings. However, this does not mean that their inhabitants were “primitive” or unreasonable. And today there are people who choose a simpler lifestyle, moving to the vicinity, away from the hustle and bustle of big cities. Some will consider their choice "primitive", but at the same time everyone understands that they are no less intelligent than others.
The typical "caveman" is depicted as a hairy, stupid and unreasonable creature with animal habits. However, many cave wall paintings show a level of skill that some of the great artists of our time have.
Recently, to their surprise, scientists have discovered musical instruments dating back to the Stone Age, which is evidence of a high level of thinking and musical ability.
Stonehenge. Its massive, heavy and precisely placed slabs defy the explanation of those who believe their creators were "less advanced." It has recently been shown that this structure could only have been built with oiled ropes, ropes, and the skill of fully intelligent people.
It is very easy to see how many skills and abilities can be lost today if people are resettled in separate small groups. Consider an example where farmers and architects are included in one of these groups, but there are no mechanics, geologists, or blacksmiths. This group would undoubtedly be well versed in mechanics, but would not know how to apply it. Likewise, after the events in Babylon, those groups of people who had great knowledge were able to quickly restore the previous culture. It would look as if a new civilization emerged in just one night.
The real history of mankind does not at all testify to the evolution from a primitive "ape-man" to a modern rational man. On the other hand, past evidence shows that humans have always been intelligent.
There seems to be no evidence of where the knowledge for building the pyramids came from. Notice the following two statements from evolutionary researchers:
Some of the groups of ancient people who were forced to use stone tools, over time, acquired other skills and knowledge, although today you can find cultures that use stone tools quite effectively. However, these groups represent fully intelligent people. There is also evidence that culture can lose technological skills. In ancient Egypt, earlier pyramids were built better than later ones, that is, the quality of construction decreased. As one secular researcher remarked:
Huge structures and original solutions of ancient people
The ancient city of Tiahuanaco is located on an unprotected plateau at an altitude of 3900 meters on the Bolivian coast of Lake Titicaca in South America. When the ancient Incas came to this area, their imaginations were captivated by the beauty and splendor of these majestic ruins. Spanish treasure hunters of the 16th century did not believe the local Native American belief that Tiahuanaco was quickly built after the great Flood by unknown giants. Today, the remains of huge statues and stones are scattered throughout the landscape. In Reader's Digest, the author writes: “… the best modern engineers are still wondering how they could cut and move the huge masses of rock used to build the city. Huge stone blocks look like they were cut with a special cutter - a taskwhich is not solved today by any of the means of modern technology "and" … the architects who designed and created them were truly ingenious ancient people."
Ruins of the ancient Mayan astronomical observatory. Note the similarities with the buildings of modern observatories.
Many ancient structures have stood for thousands of years and have survived in relatively good condition - will our buildings, built in the twentieth century, last as long?
The ancient city of Saxahuaman, located near the city of Cuzco in Peru, has a magnificent wall built by the Incas. Ancient people deliberately used irregularly shaped stone blocks in construction. Some blocks weigh more than 100 tons and fit together so tightly that even a sheet of paper cannot be squeezed between them. Even more surprising, however, is a boulder in the area, the size of a five-story building and weighing approximately 20,000 tons! The builders of the city of Saxahuaman managed to somehow move this huge block! Modern builders have never even tried to repeat this feat of moving such a huge block of stone. The largest and most powerful crane in the world is capable of lifting only 3000 tons.
It is no wonder that the people of the New Age, who accept evolution, believe that the ancient people were helped by some highly developed race!
Below are two examples that clearly show how inventive the ancient people were in the construction of the pyramids.
For the foundations of the pyramids, an absolutely flat surface was needed. This was achieved with the help of an ingenious building level. First, the Egyptians cut channels in the underlying rock and filled them with water. Then they inserted bars into the channels and marked the line of the horizon of the water, thus establishing the true level. Now read what one author writes about the construction of one burial room:
Alignment? Load distribution? Building with stress in mind? If we take into account all these features, then we can conclude that the ancient people had a very high level of knowledge. Architects and civil engineers study at the university for several years, acquiring all this knowledge. Many other examples of human ingenuity can be found in the ancient world.
Archaeologists who have studied ancient civilizations often report that they were simply "surprised" or "amazed" by the level of human skill in the distant past. In fact, it was only their own evolutionary beliefs and the expectation of finding evidence for the existence of "primitive" people, not rational people, that led them to such surprise.
Ancient people, amazing history
The truly astounding achievements of the ancient world, which require a high degree of intelligence, knowledge and skill, do not belong only to the field of architecture and engineering. For example, the ancient Maya people were surprisingly talented in timing. Dispensing with computers and sophisticated measuring instruments, they knew for sure that the length of a solar year was 365.2420 days. This was most recently confirmed by modern astronomers, who calculated that the solar year lasts 365.2422 days.
The Maya determined that 405 full moons occur in 11,960 days; modern measurements give an indicator of 11959.888 days. They also calculated that the synodic period of Venus is 584 days; modern science has calculated this figure - 583.92 days [synodic period is a cycle of phases observed from the Earth - the time between successive occurrences of a given phase, for example, an incomplete moon. The Maya, of course, were not familiar with Galileo's assertion that the phases of Venus can be explained by its rotation around the Sun (224.7 Earth days), and which are called the sidereal period, i.e. in relation to the starry background]. These small errors, established only with the help of modern technology, indicate an amazing degree of accuracy in calculations of ancient cultures.
It is interesting that if we take into account the desire of the Mayan people to keep accurate counting of time, then the chronology of this people dates back to the Creation of about 3114 BC. The Maya were also distinguished by their ability in mathematics. They used a positional system similar to the modern one, which was much less cumbersome than the system used by the Romans in Europe.
The ingenuity of ancient people
Facing an incredibly difficult task (even by today's standards), civilizations that erected huge statues on Easter Island and huge statues of Pharaoh Ramses in Egypt used human ingenuity and skill to build. The Inca Wall, made up of huge irregularly shaped stone blocks, is so strong that, despite centuries of earthquakes, even a thin sheet of paper cannot be placed between the blocks. One stone block weighs approximately 100 tons!
Did you know?
- In 1900, near Antikythera Island, Greek divers discovered the remains of an ancient ship that sank around 65 BC. At the site of its crash, a device was found with an incredibly complex system of precise mechanical metal gear couplings and engraved scale bars. It is believed to be a kind of navigational computing device, the astounding complexity of which certainly testifies to the incredible intelligence of its inventors.
- Located in the valley of the Indus River, the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro, presumably belonging to one of the first known ancient civilizations, had a sewer system that appeared in many European cities much later, after millennia.
- The ruins of the Roman columns of a temple in the Lebanese city of Baalbek are located on a single foundation stone (laid by an earlier civilization), which has been estimated to weigh 2,000 tons.
- Carved out of a single block of volcanic rock, the "gate of the sun" at Tiahuanaco weighs about 100 tons. How was it carried over and built up? This remains a mystery.
Ancient people, conclusion
The real history of mankind, as we know it today, absolutely does not testify to the evolution from a primitive "ape-man" to a modern rational man. On the contrary, the evidence of the past shows that ancient people were always intelligent, using their ingenuity to survive and develop civilizations in various, sometimes very difficult conditions.
Steve Cardno
