Not only ethnographers, but also astronomers are interested in the small (about 200 thousand people) Dogon tribe, living in isolation on the Bandiagara plateau in the territory of the state of Mali in West Africa. Why? Adobe huts, dancing on stilts, millet-sown fields, burials in caves are the most primitive culture. In the 1930s, the French ethnographer Marcel Griaule lived for a long time among the Dogons, studied everyday life, wrote down legends, and even by the decision of the council of elders was admitted to the secret title of priest. Griaule published a series of articles in African studies magazines after the end of World War II. And they did not become a sensation. Which astronomer is interested in ethnography? An unthinkable combination. But quite by accident, Griaule's articles fell into the hands of the English astronomer McGree … The second star of the Sirius system - Sirius B - was discovered in 1862,its unusually high density was determined shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, which made it possible to classify the star as a "white dwarf". The spiral nebulae were sketched by Ross in the mid-19th century. Hubble proved in 1924 that they are composed of stars. The rotation of our Galaxy was proven in 1927, and its spiral shape - in 1950.
Why is this listing? It turns out that in the archaic mythology of the Dogon all this has long been known! It is known to the people, all of whose science is limited to the manufacture of ritual masks. Dogon rituals are tied to the 50-year orbital period of Sirius B around Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It is impossible to find the satellite of Sirius, determine its color, calculate the period of revolution and density, without having astronomical instruments. Even the satellites of Jupiter, which the Dogon know about, cannot be seen with the eye. There is only one way out - borrowing from another culture. The Dogon could get information about the structure of the Universe from the ancient Egyptian priests, especially since the tribe moved to West Africa only 5-6 centuries ago. But the ancient Egyptians could not know anything about the explosion of Sirius B in the II century AD - their civilization died much earlier. And among the Dogons, this explosion is one of the central points of mythology. The idea of the existence of superdense matter in the Universe, "white dwarfs", generally refers to the most modern ideas.
Medieval Arab culture? Canadian Ovenden put forward a hypothesis about contact with a Muslim university in Timbuktu, where the knowledge of the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks was kept. But this is a false trail - the scientists of antiquity did not have such a deep knowledge of astronomy. Finally, a rally on the part of Marcel Griaule cannot be ruled out. But, firstly, this scientist has an impeccable reputation. And secondly, he was guided by the principle of "describe and only describe." Astronomers took notice of his work many years later, which would be unbearable for any joker. One more possibility remains. Not even a possibility, but a direct explanation arising from the Dogon mythology. All their knowledge, according to their legends, people received from God, who descended from the third star of Sirius. He appeared in the ark, this ark was turning. And the rotation was supported by "breathing" through the nozzle. Upon landing, the ark raised a cloud of dust. There is also a drawing linking one direct system Sirius and our Sun. But modern science knows nothing about the existence of a third star in the Sirius system. Although there are supporters of Sirius C among astronomers.
The famous American physicist Carl Sagan said that either indisputable "artifacts" or the existence in myths of "clear messages about astronomical realities that primitive people could not learn about themselves" can serve as evidence of the visit of our planet by aliens from outer space. The hypothesis that the archaic but astronomically advanced mythology of the Dogon is evidence of the paleovisation of aliens was formulated by the American scientist Robert Temple in 1975. Since then, controversy has not stopped around this hypothesis. Of all the plots associated with aliens, whose unprofessionalism is visible a mile away, one cannot dismiss the Dogon mythology. But one cannot count on a close end to the dispute. "White Dwarf", spiral star systems and the Milky Way,the rotation of Sirius B around its axis - these facts cannot be seen with the most powerful telescope, they are the result of understanding what astronomers observe, and suggest a high level of culture. It turns out that there is no escape from the hypothesis of paleovisite? The inhabitants of the planet from the Sirius system arrived on Earth, told the earthlings about their home, and along the way passed on general information about the Universe. This idyll fully satisfies Sagan's criterion.
But how one does not want to believe in aliens! And the opponents managed to find a weak spot in this version. Astronomical knowledge of the Dogon looks still not perfect enough for potential aliens. The aliens who made their way through the Universe could not consider Sirius B the smallest and heaviest star, for they would surely know, as we know today, about the existence of much smaller and heavier stars. And why, one wonders, the space teachers reported only about 4 satellites of Jupiter, because there are already 16 of them, and this is not the final number? However, no one guaranteed that the aliens can count to more than five … So, Dogon astronomy is closer to the level of, albeit rather developed, but yesterday's terrestrial astronomy. Is this the key? This is how the hypothesis of the anonymous "missionary" arose. In the 1920s, missionaries from the White Fathers Catholic brotherhood appeared in this tribe. And a well-read cleric might have noticed that the Aboriginal mythology attaches great importance to Sirius. To establish contacts with the tribe, the missionary decided to enrich the Dogon ideas about the divine luminary.
In the West, during the 1920s, Sirius became the subject of numerous publications. By that time, the monstrous density of its companion had been established, and science concluded that a new type of stars existed - "white dwarfs". "Smallest and heaviest star" - this characteristic of Sirius B corresponds to the state of astronomical knowledge in the 1920s. The missionary conscientiously recounted to the Dogon everything that he had read about Sirius V. The priests included invaluable information into mythology, and the French ethnographers perceived the borrowed astronomical knowledge as an organic part of it.
Sounds convincing. But why did an educated missionary tell the curious Dogon only about 4 satellites of Jupiter, after all, then they already counted 9 satellites? And it is also surprising: Dogon astronomy is characterized by a distinct chronological layering. The first layer: notions characteristic of archaic culture, when a person knows only about the planets visible to the naked eye - neither missionaries nor aliens are needed here. The second layer - knowledge, for example, about the moons of Jupiter - corresponds to the astronomical ideas of the Galilean era. Finally, knowledge about the Sirius system or the spiral structure of the Galaxy corresponds to the level of science of the first half of the 20th century. Maybe the Dogon, possessed like no other people by astronomical mania, interrogated everyone,who visited them? Is there a stretch here? Ethnographers do not see in the Dogon legends "white threads" and a hasty adjustment of new borrowings to old myths. Each astronomical fact among the Dogons is tied to certain rituals, which can be traced in relics until at least the 12th century! German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space "a hopeless case": it is impossible to unambiguously refute or confirm any version, but for a respectable scientist it is still more decent to adhere to the version of the missionary. New astronomical discoveries could resolve the dispute. Now, if a third star was discovered near Sirius. Or if traces of a scattered nebula left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe, were found near Sirius …Each astronomical fact among the Dogons is tied to certain rituals, which can be traced in relics until at least the 12th century! German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space "a hopeless case": it is impossible to unambiguously refute or confirm any version, but for a respectable scientist it is still more decent to adhere to the version of the missionary. New astronomical discoveries could resolve the dispute. Now, if a third star was discovered near Sirius. Or if traces of a scattered nebula left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe, were found near Sirius …Each astronomical fact among the Dogons is tied to certain rituals, which can be traced in relics until at least the 12th century! German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space "a hopeless case": it is impossible to unambiguously refute or confirm any version, but for a respectable scientist it is still more decent to adhere to the version of the missionary. New astronomical discoveries could resolve the dispute. Now, if a third star was discovered near Sirius. Or if traces of a scattered nebula left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe, were found near Sirius …German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space "a hopeless case": it is impossible to unambiguously refute or confirm any version, but for a respectable scientist it is still more decent to adhere to the version of the missionary. New astronomical discoveries could resolve the dispute. Now, if a third star was discovered near Sirius. Or if traces of a scattered nebula left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe, were found near Sirius …German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space "a hopeless case": it is impossible to unambiguously refute or confirm any version, but for a respectable scientist it is still more decent to adhere to the version of the missionary. New astronomical discoveries could resolve the dispute. Now, if a third star was discovered near Sirius. Or if traces of a scattered nebula left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe, were found near Sirius …left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe …left after the explosion of Sirius B, in which the Dogon so sincerely believe …
Sergey Leskov
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