1 00:00:02,083 --> 00:00:03,958 NARRATOR: It is the world's first known civilization 2 00:00:04,083 --> 00:00:07,583 and also its most mysterious. 3 00:00:07,792 --> 00:00:09,833 WILLIAM HENRY: What's remarkable about the Sumerians 4 00:00:10,042 --> 00:00:11,750 is they invent the wheel, 5 00:00:11,875 --> 00:00:13,000 they invent mathematics, 6 00:00:13,167 --> 00:00:14,625 they invent writing, 7 00:00:14,750 --> 00:00:16,875 but we don't know where they came from or who they were. 8 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,917 NARRATOR: The Sumerians are credited with dozens of innovations 9 00:00:22,083 --> 00:00:23,792 that are essential to modern society. 10 00:00:23,917 --> 00:00:27,083 We live with the legacy pioneered by 11 00:00:27,292 --> 00:00:28,708 the Sumerian civilization. 12 00:00:29,750 --> 00:00:31,958 NARRATOR: And they claimed that it was all made possible 13 00:00:32,167 --> 00:00:36,208 by beings who came down from the sky. 14 00:00:37,208 --> 00:00:39,792 DAVID CHILDRESS: These gods coming to Earth, 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,542 they gave them gifts. 16 00:00:41,708 --> 00:00:43,833 They gave them knowledge. 17 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,375 NARRATOR: Could it be that the ancient Sumerian tablets 18 00:00:46,542 --> 00:00:50,333 contain the secrets of our alien past? 19 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:52,708 GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: The first civilization 20 00:00:52,875 --> 00:00:54,708 began right there, 21 00:00:54,875 --> 00:00:56,583 due to a direct intervention 22 00:00:56,750 --> 00:01:00,167 by extraterrestrials visiting from another planet. 23 00:01:03,042 --> 00:01:07,458 NARRATOR: There is a doorway in the universe. 24 00:01:07,625 --> 00:01:11,083 Beyond it is the promise of truth. 25 00:01:12,042 --> 00:01:14,583 It demands we question everything 26 00:01:14,708 --> 00:01:16,833 we have ever been taught. 27 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,500 The evidence is all around us. 28 00:01:20,667 --> 00:01:24,583 The future is right before our eyes. 29 00:01:24,750 --> 00:01:27,208 We are not alone. 30 00:01:27,375 --> 00:01:30,458 We have never been alone. 31 00:01:37,583 --> 00:01:40,500 NARRATOR: In the heart of the Middle East, 32 00:01:40,667 --> 00:01:43,583 there is a region known as the Fertile Crescent. 33 00:01:44,708 --> 00:01:47,000 It is believed to be the very first place 34 00:01:47,167 --> 00:01:50,500 with organized farming, in which humans cleared 35 00:01:50,667 --> 00:01:53,458 and modified vegetation to grow crops. 36 00:01:53,625 --> 00:01:56,750 Within this region was Mesopotamia, 37 00:01:56,917 --> 00:02:00,125 where several of the world's first-known civilizations 38 00:02:00,292 --> 00:02:03,625 emerged thousands of years ago. 39 00:02:03,792 --> 00:02:06,000 In ancient Mesopotamia, 40 00:02:06,208 --> 00:02:08,417 you had gardens, you had control of water. 41 00:02:08,583 --> 00:02:10,167 Now it's completely different. Now it's arid. 42 00:02:10,333 --> 00:02:11,875 You look at that place and think, well, wait, 43 00:02:12,042 --> 00:02:13,833 what was this? 44 00:02:14,042 --> 00:02:15,333 The climate was different. 45 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:17,625 The vegetation was completely different then. 46 00:02:18,667 --> 00:02:21,250 NARRATOR: Often called the Cradle of Civilization, 47 00:02:21,375 --> 00:02:25,000 Mesopotamia was the home of the Akkadian Empire 48 00:02:25,167 --> 00:02:28,917 that arose in 2334 BC, 49 00:02:29,083 --> 00:02:33,583 the Assyrian Empire that began in 2025 BC, 50 00:02:33,750 --> 00:02:35,792 and the Babylonian Empire, 51 00:02:35,958 --> 00:02:38,500 established in 1894 BC. 52 00:02:40,333 --> 00:02:42,833 For centuries, archaeologists thought 53 00:02:43,042 --> 00:02:45,417 these were the earliest peoples to inhabit the area. 54 00:02:45,542 --> 00:02:49,458 But in the 1800s, ancient clay tablets 55 00:02:49,583 --> 00:02:51,625 were discovered that would dramatically alter 56 00:02:51,833 --> 00:02:55,500 the established timeline for human civilization. 57 00:02:55,625 --> 00:03:00,500 In the 19th century, it was a time of great exploration 58 00:03:00,708 --> 00:03:02,875 in Mesopotamia. 59 00:03:03,042 --> 00:03:06,792 And they're finding these cuneiform tablets. 60 00:03:07,833 --> 00:03:10,667 And there were various languages involved 61 00:03:10,833 --> 00:03:12,500 with these tablets. 62 00:03:12,708 --> 00:03:16,625 You had Akkadian, you had Assyrian, you had Babylonian. 63 00:03:16,708 --> 00:03:21,500 But in the mid-1800s, the Reverend Edward Hincks, 64 00:03:21,625 --> 00:03:24,750 an Irish scholar with Trinity College, Dublin, 65 00:03:24,875 --> 00:03:29,958 began to notice there was evidence of a much older script. 66 00:03:30,083 --> 00:03:33,500 And this was very important. 67 00:03:33,625 --> 00:03:38,000 It meant that there must be some other earlier civilization. 68 00:03:38,167 --> 00:03:43,958 NARRATOR: In 1869, more than two decades after Edward Hincks discovered 69 00:03:44,083 --> 00:03:46,000 this unique cuneiform language, 70 00:03:46,125 --> 00:03:49,208 archaeologists gave it the name "Sumerian." 71 00:03:49,375 --> 00:03:51,958 This was based on Akkadian writings 72 00:03:52,042 --> 00:03:53,958 that referenced the land of Sumer, 73 00:03:54,125 --> 00:03:56,167 which scholars believed to be the place 74 00:03:56,375 --> 00:03:59,417 where the mysterious language originated. 75 00:03:59,583 --> 00:04:04,833 Then, in 1877, at the ancient site of Girsu, 76 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:06,500 in present-day Iraq, 77 00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:09,833 nine massive stone statues were found, 78 00:04:10,042 --> 00:04:12,333 all depicting a king named Gudea, 79 00:04:12,458 --> 00:04:15,500 who ruled over 4,100 years ago. 80 00:04:16,583 --> 00:04:20,208 Engraved on each of the statues was Sumerian writing, 81 00:04:20,375 --> 00:04:22,417 indicating to scholars that these were 82 00:04:22,583 --> 00:04:25,875 the first depictions ever found of a Sumerian. 83 00:04:29,042 --> 00:04:32,500 HUGH NEWMAN: The discovery of the Gudea statues at Girsu 84 00:04:32,667 --> 00:04:38,000 was definitive proof that Sumerian cuneiform text 85 00:04:38,208 --> 00:04:40,500 came from a lost civilization. 86 00:04:40,625 --> 00:04:42,958 And the fact is, people have been discovering 87 00:04:43,125 --> 00:04:45,083 Sumerian structures and artifacts, 88 00:04:45,292 --> 00:04:48,333 and crediting them to other civilizations. 89 00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:51,208 So now they knew there was a civilization called 90 00:04:51,375 --> 00:04:53,333 the Sumerian, 91 00:04:53,458 --> 00:04:55,500 but it wasn't until the 1920s, 92 00:04:55,667 --> 00:04:58,708 when thousands of artifacts and cuneiform texts 93 00:04:58,875 --> 00:05:01,000 had been discovered, that they realized 94 00:05:01,208 --> 00:05:03,875 how far this civilization went back. 95 00:05:06,333 --> 00:05:08,208 NARRATOR: In 1928, 96 00:05:08,375 --> 00:05:11,958 an article appeared in the Scientific American Magazine 97 00:05:12,042 --> 00:05:13,167 with the subtitle, 98 00:05:13,333 --> 00:05:15,917 "Who Were the Ancient Sumerians? 99 00:05:16,083 --> 00:05:18,208 No One Knows." 100 00:05:18,417 --> 00:05:21,375 But after nearly a century of collecting clues, 101 00:05:21,542 --> 00:05:25,750 archaeologists had determined at least one indisputable fact: 102 00:05:25,917 --> 00:05:30,125 the Sumerians were the earliest civilization ever discovered, 103 00:05:30,292 --> 00:05:33,542 emerging around 5000 BC 104 00:05:33,708 --> 00:05:36,208 and pre-dating all other known civilizations 105 00:05:36,375 --> 00:05:39,958 by at least 2,500 years. 106 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,500 IRVING FINKEL: The Sumerians disappeared from sight entirely. 107 00:05:44,708 --> 00:05:47,500 They were extinct, like the dinosaurs. 108 00:05:47,708 --> 00:05:50,583 And the only reason that we know about them today 109 00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:53,333 is with the advent of archeology, 110 00:05:53,542 --> 00:05:55,333 when people excavated in the Middle East, 111 00:05:55,542 --> 00:05:57,708 and they found evidence of the Sumerians 112 00:05:57,875 --> 00:05:59,708 and their archeology and their writing. 113 00:06:01,375 --> 00:06:04,750 NARRATOR: Once archaeologists became aware of the Sumerian civilization, 114 00:06:04,917 --> 00:06:08,583 they launched major excavations in Iraq, 115 00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:12,333 and began to discover that the Sumerians were responsible 116 00:06:12,458 --> 00:06:15,000 for many world-changing innovations, 117 00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:16,833 like the wheel. 118 00:06:16,958 --> 00:06:19,500 The first stone potter's wheel with an axle 119 00:06:19,708 --> 00:06:21,375 was found in the Sumerian city of Ur, 120 00:06:21,542 --> 00:06:25,500 and dated to 3129 BC. 121 00:06:25,667 --> 00:06:29,875 This eventually led to the first wheeled vehicles. 122 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,708 Most of the things that we take for granted, 123 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:34,792 the Sumerians invented. 124 00:06:34,875 --> 00:06:37,583 That's why they're so crucially important. 125 00:06:37,708 --> 00:06:40,500 The Sumerians are key in writing. 126 00:06:40,667 --> 00:06:43,667 The Sumerians are key in mathematics. 127 00:06:43,833 --> 00:06:47,417 The Sumerians are the ones that invent the plow. 128 00:06:47,583 --> 00:06:50,500 They're the ones that first start to work copper. 129 00:06:50,667 --> 00:06:53,792 They're the ones that first understand how to smelt metals. 130 00:06:54,833 --> 00:06:57,500 NARRATOR: The Sumerians also built some of the first known 131 00:06:57,708 --> 00:06:59,667 pyramidal structures. 132 00:06:59,833 --> 00:07:02,125 NEWMAN: When it comes to the Sumerian ziggurats, 133 00:07:02,292 --> 00:07:04,542 and the temples they constructed, 134 00:07:04,708 --> 00:07:07,750 most of the construction was made of mud brick. 135 00:07:08,792 --> 00:07:12,042 So, much of this is either washed away 136 00:07:12,208 --> 00:07:13,833 or been buried over time. 137 00:07:13,958 --> 00:07:16,958 But there are elements of the temples, 138 00:07:17,083 --> 00:07:20,292 such as the giant statues, which have survived. 139 00:07:20,500 --> 00:07:21,958 They are made of stone. 140 00:07:22,125 --> 00:07:24,667 And some of them are in amazing condition. 141 00:07:27,542 --> 00:07:29,542 NARRATOR: According to mainstream historians, 142 00:07:29,708 --> 00:07:33,833 the first ziggurats were built around 4000 BC, 143 00:07:34,042 --> 00:07:36,875 predating the earliest step pyramids in Egypt 144 00:07:37,083 --> 00:07:39,042 by 1,300 years. 145 00:07:39,208 --> 00:07:43,875 But perhaps even more impressive is that the Sumerians designed 146 00:07:44,042 --> 00:07:47,667 these structures by using an advanced counting system. 147 00:07:47,792 --> 00:07:49,500 TRAVIS TAYLOR: One of the first civilizations 148 00:07:49,708 --> 00:07:52,667 to really implement mathematics was the ancient Sumerians. 149 00:07:52,833 --> 00:07:56,500 And the interesting thing is they used mathematics 150 00:07:56,708 --> 00:08:00,458 on a base 60 system-- that's called sexagesimal-- 151 00:08:00,625 --> 00:08:03,958 as opposed to the decimal system, with ten, 152 00:08:04,125 --> 00:08:06,708 that we use today. 153 00:08:06,833 --> 00:08:09,083 FINKEL: It gives you much more flexibility 154 00:08:09,292 --> 00:08:10,708 in the use of numbers 155 00:08:10,875 --> 00:08:13,167 than if you just use a decimal system. 156 00:08:13,375 --> 00:08:16,500 And it led to all sorts of extraordinary discoveries 157 00:08:16,667 --> 00:08:19,667 in mathematics, in astronomy and other things as well. 158 00:08:19,875 --> 00:08:22,333 For example, they could make 159 00:08:22,458 --> 00:08:25,542 accurate plans of a major building to scale, 160 00:08:25,708 --> 00:08:27,667 and they could calculate how many bricks they needed. 161 00:08:27,875 --> 00:08:30,292 In fact, they had a very modern approach 162 00:08:30,417 --> 00:08:33,333 to the practical problems of, for example, 163 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:35,250 architecture and calculation. 164 00:08:36,375 --> 00:08:40,333 NARRATOR: While much has been discovered over the past 100 years 165 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:42,958 about the Sumerians and their accomplishments, 166 00:08:43,125 --> 00:08:46,167 the origin of this highly developed culture 167 00:08:46,375 --> 00:08:47,917 remains a mystery. 168 00:08:48,083 --> 00:08:49,958 What's remarkable about the Sumerians 169 00:08:50,167 --> 00:08:52,167 is nobody knows where they came from. 170 00:08:53,375 --> 00:08:56,125 We don't know who they were. 171 00:08:56,250 --> 00:08:58,458 RABBI ARIEL BAR TZADOK: The ancient Sumerians had technology, 172 00:08:58,542 --> 00:09:00,375 they had science. 173 00:09:00,542 --> 00:09:03,833 And this is even thousands of years before 174 00:09:04,042 --> 00:09:07,625 the great rise of the civilizations in Egypt. 175 00:09:07,833 --> 00:09:10,042 Where did this knowledge come from? 176 00:09:10,208 --> 00:09:15,167 How did they acquire such profound information? 177 00:09:16,208 --> 00:09:19,875 NARRATOR: What could explain how this mysterious group of people 178 00:09:20,042 --> 00:09:21,917 so rapidly advanced from hunter-gatherers 179 00:09:22,083 --> 00:09:25,042 to form the world's first civilization? 180 00:09:25,208 --> 00:09:28,500 According to ancient astronaut theorists, 181 00:09:28,708 --> 00:09:30,250 the answer can be found 182 00:09:30,417 --> 00:09:33,917 by examining the recently translated Sumerian tablets 183 00:09:34,125 --> 00:09:37,292 that describe otherworldly beings 184 00:09:37,458 --> 00:09:39,875 who descended from the sky. 185 00:09:45,875 --> 00:09:48,958 NARRATOR: When archaeologists began uncovering Sumerian relics 186 00:09:49,125 --> 00:09:51,292 in the 19th century, they knew nothing 187 00:09:51,417 --> 00:09:54,750 about this long-lost civilization. 188 00:09:54,958 --> 00:09:59,375 Artifacts offered few clues about the Sumerian culture, 189 00:09:59,542 --> 00:10:01,417 and many of their structures, 190 00:10:01,583 --> 00:10:03,333 which were made from mud bricks, 191 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:05,958 had almost completely eroded. 192 00:10:06,083 --> 00:10:10,667 But fortunately, what did manage to survive the ravages of time 193 00:10:10,833 --> 00:10:14,958 were thousands of clay tablets containing Sumerian writing. 194 00:10:17,250 --> 00:10:19,417 LYNN: The Sumerians had a fully developed phonetic language 195 00:10:19,542 --> 00:10:22,125 that they had written on clay tablets 196 00:10:22,333 --> 00:10:23,792 in what's called cuneiform. 197 00:10:23,958 --> 00:10:26,250 "Cuneiform" comes from the Latin cuneus, 198 00:10:26,375 --> 00:10:28,917 meaning, literally, "wedge." 199 00:10:29,083 --> 00:10:31,667 And what they did is they had reed styluses 200 00:10:31,875 --> 00:10:35,333 that had a wedge shape, and they would use wet clay 201 00:10:35,542 --> 00:10:38,417 and imprint those into such a way 202 00:10:38,583 --> 00:10:40,333 that it would be writing. 203 00:10:41,417 --> 00:10:43,917 HUSSAIN: One of the great things that the Sumerians did was 204 00:10:44,042 --> 00:10:47,625 precisely writing with a stylus in clay, 205 00:10:47,792 --> 00:10:50,625 and then firing the clay so it becomes a brick. 206 00:10:50,792 --> 00:10:52,083 And over the centuries, 207 00:10:52,250 --> 00:10:54,500 that brick becomes essentially stone. 208 00:10:54,708 --> 00:10:56,167 And so, unlike papyrus, 209 00:10:56,333 --> 00:10:57,583 that gets damaged, you know, 210 00:10:57,708 --> 00:10:59,500 we find out all the time 211 00:10:59,708 --> 00:11:01,042 about papyri that get discovered, 212 00:11:01,250 --> 00:11:03,125 and we can't open them. They're too fragile. 213 00:11:03,250 --> 00:11:06,750 That's not the case with these tablets. 214 00:11:08,125 --> 00:11:09,875 NARRATOR: The first tablets were discovered 215 00:11:10,042 --> 00:11:12,500 before archaeologists were even aware 216 00:11:12,667 --> 00:11:15,375 that there was a Sumerian civilization, 217 00:11:15,542 --> 00:11:17,958 but linguists received an important tool 218 00:11:18,125 --> 00:11:21,167 to help decipher them in 1850. 219 00:11:21,333 --> 00:11:24,708 British archeologist Austen Henry Layard 220 00:11:24,875 --> 00:11:27,167 was leading excavation efforts 221 00:11:27,333 --> 00:11:28,792 at an ancient Assyrian palace 222 00:11:28,958 --> 00:11:30,917 when he came upon a library 223 00:11:31,042 --> 00:11:34,667 of more than 30,000 cuneiform tablets. 224 00:11:35,917 --> 00:11:39,542 Some of the tablets contained not only the mysterious writing 225 00:11:39,708 --> 00:11:42,833 that would later be identified as Sumerian 226 00:11:43,042 --> 00:11:46,167 but also Babylonian cuneiform next to it, 227 00:11:46,333 --> 00:11:49,625 which linguists had deciphered a few years earlier. 228 00:11:49,792 --> 00:11:52,792 Finally, scholars had what they needed 229 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,167 to translate the unknown language, 230 00:11:55,333 --> 00:11:57,500 but it would be several more decades 231 00:11:57,708 --> 00:12:00,833 before they could effectively read the texts. 232 00:12:01,042 --> 00:12:02,958 HENRY: It wasn't until the early 20th century 233 00:12:03,083 --> 00:12:07,000 that we could actually translate these cuneiform tablets. 234 00:12:07,125 --> 00:12:09,667 And so we went for a period of many thousands of years 235 00:12:09,875 --> 00:12:11,167 not knowing about these people. 236 00:12:11,333 --> 00:12:13,000 Then, suddenly, there's an explosion 237 00:12:13,208 --> 00:12:15,750 of knowledge about them in the 20th century. 238 00:12:16,750 --> 00:12:18,250 FINKEL: The ancient Mesopotamians, 239 00:12:18,458 --> 00:12:20,708 they used those clay tablets 240 00:12:20,875 --> 00:12:22,375 for all sorts of documents-- 241 00:12:22,542 --> 00:12:24,792 private and permanent, and long term and short term. 242 00:12:24,875 --> 00:12:27,542 And we can read them today as if they've just been written. 243 00:12:28,708 --> 00:12:31,667 NARRATOR: Researchers discovered detailed business ledgers, 244 00:12:31,833 --> 00:12:34,375 official government correspondence, 245 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:36,833 and even medical texts. 246 00:12:37,875 --> 00:12:40,292 But most interesting to ancient astronaut theorists 247 00:12:40,458 --> 00:12:44,917 is a set of seven tablets known as the Enuma Elish, 248 00:12:45,042 --> 00:12:49,458 that describe powerful beings who came down from the sky. 249 00:12:49,667 --> 00:12:51,917 The Enuma Elish consists 250 00:12:52,042 --> 00:12:54,375 of two different books, 251 00:12:54,583 --> 00:12:55,667 and in both books, 252 00:12:55,833 --> 00:12:58,167 it speaks that long ago, 253 00:12:58,375 --> 00:13:02,333 the gods created humans in order to spread knowledge 254 00:13:02,542 --> 00:13:04,500 here on planet Earth. 255 00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:08,750 LYNN: The Enuma Elish is a very important creation myth. 256 00:13:08,917 --> 00:13:10,958 And it indicated that these gods-- 257 00:13:11,083 --> 00:13:14,750 what they call the Anunnaki, which quite literally means 258 00:13:14,958 --> 00:13:16,667 from the sky to the earth-- 259 00:13:16,833 --> 00:13:21,417 came to create man in their image. 260 00:13:22,625 --> 00:13:24,667 NEWMAN: The Anunnaki are the founder gods 261 00:13:24,875 --> 00:13:27,167 of their civilization. 262 00:13:27,333 --> 00:13:28,875 And they were masters 263 00:13:29,042 --> 00:13:30,292 of the arts and sciences, 264 00:13:30,458 --> 00:13:32,917 bringing civilizing qualities 265 00:13:33,042 --> 00:13:35,042 to this part of the world. 266 00:13:36,167 --> 00:13:37,833 HUSSAIN: So for the Sumerians, 267 00:13:38,042 --> 00:13:40,792 their knowledge wasn't self-derived. 268 00:13:40,875 --> 00:13:42,875 Their inventions, their great things 269 00:13:43,042 --> 00:13:44,708 were not of their own design. 270 00:13:44,875 --> 00:13:46,500 They were taught by the gods. 271 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,542 CHILDRESS: The Anunnaki nurtured the Sumerians 272 00:13:51,708 --> 00:13:54,333 to create this great civilization. 273 00:13:54,542 --> 00:13:56,292 But who were the Anunnaki? 274 00:13:56,458 --> 00:13:58,042 Were they extraterrestrials? 275 00:13:58,208 --> 00:14:00,125 That's what the Sumerians are saying. 276 00:14:01,417 --> 00:14:04,375 NARRATOR: Could it be that the Anunnaki were not gods 277 00:14:04,542 --> 00:14:06,583 but otherworldly visitors? 278 00:14:07,750 --> 00:14:10,792 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 279 00:14:10,917 --> 00:14:13,917 and suggest further evidence can be found 280 00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:16,833 in a recently translated Sumerian tablet 281 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,958 that sheds new light on a famous story of the Bible. 282 00:14:27,708 --> 00:14:29,333 Dr. Irving Finkel, 283 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:32,542 one of the world's foremost experts on cuneiform writing 284 00:14:32,708 --> 00:14:34,875 and a curator at the British Museum, 285 00:14:35,042 --> 00:14:38,083 publishes a translation of a Sumerian tablet 286 00:14:38,250 --> 00:14:41,250 that dates back 3,700 years. 287 00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:45,875 The text contains a passage that is nearly identical 288 00:14:46,042 --> 00:14:50,167 to the biblical story of Noah and the Great Flood. 289 00:14:50,333 --> 00:14:53,042 Now, anybody who's ever read the Book of Genesis 290 00:14:53,208 --> 00:14:56,000 and knows about the flood there with an ark and Noah 291 00:14:56,125 --> 00:14:59,000 and the animals of both genders and so forth... 292 00:15:00,292 --> 00:15:02,167 ...is astonished when they read 293 00:15:02,375 --> 00:15:04,333 the Sumerian text for the first time. 294 00:15:05,375 --> 00:15:09,292 Because it's a funny thing. They are the same story. 295 00:15:09,458 --> 00:15:12,000 When this tablet came across the desk to me, 296 00:15:12,167 --> 00:15:14,792 it was one of those heart-stopping moments. 297 00:15:14,958 --> 00:15:18,833 The tablet is at least a thousand years older 298 00:15:19,042 --> 00:15:21,292 than the story in the Bible. 299 00:15:23,042 --> 00:15:24,958 So, of course, this means 300 00:15:25,125 --> 00:15:28,792 that the Sumerian story and the biblical story 301 00:15:28,958 --> 00:15:30,875 are inseparably bound together. 302 00:15:31,042 --> 00:15:32,833 There's no doubt about it. 303 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,583 NARRATOR: The tablet deciphered by Dr. Finkel 304 00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:39,833 is part of a Sumerian story known as the Epic of Gilgamesh, 305 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,333 whose protagonist is believed to be based 306 00:15:42,542 --> 00:15:47,000 on a historical king who ruled in the third millennium BC. 307 00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:50,542 HUSSAIN: The oldest story in the Western world is 308 00:15:50,708 --> 00:15:53,125 the Epic of Gilgamesh. 309 00:15:53,333 --> 00:15:56,833 This is a story that's at least 4,000 years old. 310 00:15:57,875 --> 00:15:59,833 FINKEL: It covers a lot of things, but among other things, 311 00:16:00,042 --> 00:16:01,375 the restless search for immortality 312 00:16:01,542 --> 00:16:04,417 and the fact that man was deprived of immortality. 313 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:08,167 NARRATOR: In addition to descriptions of a Great Flood, 314 00:16:08,333 --> 00:16:10,917 the Epic of Gilgamesh also includes 315 00:16:11,083 --> 00:16:13,000 the story of the Anunnaki 316 00:16:13,167 --> 00:16:16,042 and their relationship with humankind. 317 00:16:17,167 --> 00:16:21,000 According to the text, Enlil, who is the Anunnaki king, 318 00:16:21,167 --> 00:16:23,500 is in conflict with his brother Enki, 319 00:16:23,625 --> 00:16:27,042 who is the creator of the first humans. 320 00:16:27,208 --> 00:16:30,000 HENRY: Enki is seen as benevolent and an advocate 321 00:16:30,167 --> 00:16:33,042 for the advancement of humankind. 322 00:16:33,208 --> 00:16:37,208 But Enlil is seen as sort of militaristic and anti-human. 323 00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:40,167 And so throughout the Sumerian epics, 324 00:16:40,333 --> 00:16:42,167 there's this continuing battle 325 00:16:42,333 --> 00:16:45,042 between these two opposing forces, these brothers. 326 00:16:46,042 --> 00:16:48,250 The two brothers have very different thoughts 327 00:16:48,417 --> 00:16:51,875 about this new human race that is rapidly multiplying. 328 00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:54,167 King Enlil wants to send 329 00:16:54,333 --> 00:16:57,167 a great deluge to Earth to destroy humankind, 330 00:16:57,333 --> 00:17:00,167 which he sees as getting out of control, 331 00:17:00,333 --> 00:17:03,750 but Enki fights to save the civilization 332 00:17:03,875 --> 00:17:05,708 he had helped to create. 333 00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:09,000 HENRY: In the story we're told that the god Enki takes aside 334 00:17:09,167 --> 00:17:10,792 one of the human beings 335 00:17:10,958 --> 00:17:14,708 and tells him to build an ark and to take them to safety. 336 00:17:17,750 --> 00:17:19,875 CHILDRESS: According to the Sumerians themselves, 337 00:17:20,042 --> 00:17:22,833 there's this other civilization that's pre-flood, 338 00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:26,167 and it had all of this knowledge as well. 339 00:17:26,375 --> 00:17:29,000 They had writing, they had the wheel, 340 00:17:29,125 --> 00:17:31,000 they had mathematics, they had... 341 00:17:31,167 --> 00:17:33,167 all these agricultural sciences, too. 342 00:17:33,250 --> 00:17:36,625 But the flood wiped out these people. 343 00:17:36,833 --> 00:17:39,917 What was left were the Sumerians. 344 00:17:40,083 --> 00:17:42,750 NEWMAN: After the flood, it was said 345 00:17:42,917 --> 00:17:45,667 that the gods imparted specific knowledge 346 00:17:45,875 --> 00:17:48,000 and wisdom and teachings 347 00:17:48,167 --> 00:17:51,667 to certain Sumerians to go and restart civilization. 348 00:17:51,792 --> 00:17:54,792 And this is where the whole Sumerian culture 349 00:17:54,958 --> 00:17:56,583 is said to have emerged from. 350 00:17:57,917 --> 00:18:01,167 NARRATOR: Could the fact that the same account of a Great Flood 351 00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:04,500 appears in both the Hebrew Bible and a Sumerian story 352 00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:07,083 written at least a thousand years earlier 353 00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:08,625 support the notion 354 00:18:08,792 --> 00:18:10,500 that this was a real event? 355 00:18:10,667 --> 00:18:14,458 One caused by otherworldly visitors? 356 00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:18,833 And if so, who were these beings? 357 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,875 Perhaps further clues can be found 358 00:18:21,042 --> 00:18:23,500 by examining an alternate translation 359 00:18:23,708 --> 00:18:25,125 of the Sumerian tablets 360 00:18:25,292 --> 00:18:29,667 that reveals incredible and highly controversial details 361 00:18:29,833 --> 00:18:32,083 about the Anunnaki. 362 00:18:42,167 --> 00:18:43,583 NARRATOR: A controversial book is published 363 00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,333 called The 12th Planet which contains 364 00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:49,708 a new translation of ancient Sumerian tablets. 365 00:18:50,708 --> 00:18:54,542 Its author, 56-year-old Zecharia Sitchin, 366 00:18:54,708 --> 00:18:56,167 is a Sumerian researcher 367 00:18:56,333 --> 00:18:57,792 who has spent more than a decade 368 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,083 studying the cuneiform writing. 369 00:19:01,167 --> 00:19:03,208 Sitchin's translation suggests 370 00:19:03,375 --> 00:19:05,833 that the origins of the Sumerian civilization 371 00:19:06,042 --> 00:19:08,167 and their gods, the Anunnaki, 372 00:19:08,375 --> 00:19:09,792 are far more profound 373 00:19:09,917 --> 00:19:12,417 than mainstream scholars suggest. 374 00:19:13,375 --> 00:19:15,417 Zechariah Sitchin was in a unique position, 375 00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:17,458 being raised on the Hebrew Bible... 376 00:19:18,375 --> 00:19:20,750 ...being able to speak ancient languages, 377 00:19:20,917 --> 00:19:24,708 and, specifically, being able to translate cuneiform script. 378 00:19:24,833 --> 00:19:27,500 He was able to deduce the story 379 00:19:27,667 --> 00:19:31,500 and tell us what's the meaning behind a lot of these tablets. 380 00:19:31,583 --> 00:19:35,625 VON DÄNIKEN: My friend Zecharia Sitchin was a brilliant man, 381 00:19:35,833 --> 00:19:38,292 and the idea of the Anunnaki, in his meaning, 382 00:19:38,417 --> 00:19:40,500 were the teachers from outer space. 383 00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:42,833 The Anunnakis were extraterrestrial visitors. 384 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,500 They were here. 385 00:19:44,708 --> 00:19:49,500 And they created humans according to their own image. 386 00:19:51,417 --> 00:19:54,458 HENRY: In Sitchin's interpretation of the Sumerian stories, 387 00:19:54,625 --> 00:19:57,750 after the flood, the Anunnaki returned to the Earth. 388 00:19:57,875 --> 00:20:01,500 But they start to take a... sort of a step away from humanity. 389 00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:04,208 In fact, they start to vanish from the story, 390 00:20:04,417 --> 00:20:08,667 but they leave behind teachers who instruct humanity 391 00:20:08,875 --> 00:20:10,583 in the various arts and sciences 392 00:20:10,750 --> 00:20:13,250 and rudimentary knowledge about civilization 393 00:20:13,417 --> 00:20:16,083 and how to conduct themselves. 394 00:20:16,250 --> 00:20:17,667 And this, according to Sitchin, 395 00:20:17,875 --> 00:20:19,167 is the origin of the Sumerians. 396 00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:21,167 This is where they got their knowledge. 397 00:20:21,375 --> 00:20:23,208 This is why they're the first with all of their 398 00:20:23,375 --> 00:20:26,792 discoveries and inventions, and it comes from the Anunnaki. 399 00:20:28,958 --> 00:20:32,125 NARRATOR: While the Sumerians themselves identified the Anunnaki 400 00:20:32,292 --> 00:20:34,667 as beings who came down from the sky, 401 00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:38,583 most scholars interpreted them as fictional characters. 402 00:20:38,750 --> 00:20:42,167 But Sitchin claimed that the texts are clearly 403 00:20:42,375 --> 00:20:44,958 historical accounts of extraterrestrials 404 00:20:45,125 --> 00:20:46,958 that the Sumerians encountered, 405 00:20:47,125 --> 00:20:49,333 and he says they even specify 406 00:20:49,542 --> 00:20:52,458 what planet these visitors came from. 407 00:20:52,625 --> 00:20:54,833 Zecharia Sitchin postulates 408 00:20:55,042 --> 00:20:58,333 that the Anunnaki were actually ancient astronauts 409 00:20:58,458 --> 00:21:00,458 coming from a planet he called Nibiru. 410 00:21:00,583 --> 00:21:05,208 A planet that was out of our vision, 411 00:21:05,375 --> 00:21:07,583 and that it was on an elliptical trajectory, 412 00:21:07,792 --> 00:21:11,500 and that it only came by Earth every 3,000 or so years. 413 00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:14,292 NARRATOR: As Sitchin anticipated, 414 00:21:14,458 --> 00:21:17,667 when he introduced the world to his controversial translation 415 00:21:17,833 --> 00:21:21,167 of the Sumerian creation story in the 1970s, 416 00:21:21,375 --> 00:21:24,667 the academic community was quick to dismiss it. 417 00:21:24,792 --> 00:21:27,417 His critics claimed that a planet 418 00:21:27,583 --> 00:21:29,667 with an elliptical orbit like Nibiru 419 00:21:29,792 --> 00:21:32,417 could never exist in Earth's solar system. 420 00:21:32,542 --> 00:21:36,875 But 40 years later, in 2016, 421 00:21:37,083 --> 00:21:40,667 astronomers at Caltech announced that they had found evidence 422 00:21:40,875 --> 00:21:44,042 of a new celestial object just beyond Pluto. 423 00:21:45,333 --> 00:21:46,917 KAKU: The recent discovery 424 00:21:47,083 --> 00:21:49,083 by two astronomers at Caltech 425 00:21:49,208 --> 00:21:50,792 is incredible. 426 00:21:50,917 --> 00:21:52,208 They find evidence 427 00:21:52,375 --> 00:21:54,250 that in our solar system, 428 00:21:54,417 --> 00:21:55,958 there could be a Planet X 429 00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:58,167 that goes around the solar system, 430 00:21:58,333 --> 00:22:00,500 perhaps once every few thousand years, 431 00:22:00,667 --> 00:22:03,333 in a highly elliptical orbit. 432 00:22:03,542 --> 00:22:06,292 NARRATOR: While astronomers have yet to confirm 433 00:22:06,458 --> 00:22:08,708 the existence of Planet X, 434 00:22:08,875 --> 00:22:10,250 some researchers believe 435 00:22:10,417 --> 00:22:12,625 its theoretical location and orbit 436 00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:15,417 align exactly with what Zechariah Sitchin 437 00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:17,583 claimed to find 40 years earlier 438 00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:20,083 in the ancient Sumerian tablets. 439 00:22:22,375 --> 00:22:24,667 And another discovery in the 1980s 440 00:22:24,875 --> 00:22:28,500 echoed one of his even more profound theories. 441 00:22:28,708 --> 00:22:31,167 HENRY: A pillar of Zacharia Sitchin's hypothesis 442 00:22:31,250 --> 00:22:33,167 was his belief that the Anunnaki 443 00:22:33,333 --> 00:22:35,750 had genetically altered the human genome 444 00:22:35,917 --> 00:22:38,667 around 250,000 years ago. 445 00:22:38,875 --> 00:22:41,583 Now, we have discovered something quite remarkable. 446 00:22:41,750 --> 00:22:44,875 Scientists looking into the human genome 447 00:22:45,042 --> 00:22:47,167 discovered a genetic alteration 448 00:22:47,375 --> 00:22:49,500 that fused two of our chromosomes 449 00:22:49,667 --> 00:22:52,000 into one very important chromosome 450 00:22:52,167 --> 00:22:54,333 around 250,000 years ago 451 00:22:54,500 --> 00:22:57,042 that suddenly unlocked human potential, 452 00:22:57,250 --> 00:22:58,542 gave us our human abilities, 453 00:22:58,708 --> 00:23:01,167 including the ability to do mathematics, 454 00:23:01,375 --> 00:23:03,500 to produce art, to do science. 455 00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:07,042 NARRATOR: Might the discovery that the human genome 456 00:23:07,208 --> 00:23:11,208 underwent a major change 250,000 years ago 457 00:23:11,375 --> 00:23:13,792 help to validate Sitchin's translation 458 00:23:13,958 --> 00:23:15,833 of the cuneiform tablets? 459 00:23:16,042 --> 00:23:19,750 Could the Anunnaki have played a role in creating humans, 460 00:23:19,875 --> 00:23:23,208 as described in the Sumerian texts? 461 00:23:23,375 --> 00:23:26,542 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 462 00:23:26,708 --> 00:23:30,042 and suggest this also lends support to the notion 463 00:23:30,208 --> 00:23:32,875 that human DNA was manipulated 464 00:23:33,042 --> 00:23:34,875 by extraterrestrials. 465 00:23:36,208 --> 00:23:37,667 TSOUKALOS: It's amazing to see 466 00:23:37,792 --> 00:23:41,292 that somewhere this new genetic makeup began, 467 00:23:41,458 --> 00:23:44,167 and there is nobody before that that had this. 468 00:23:44,333 --> 00:23:46,292 So, how did this all happen? 469 00:23:47,375 --> 00:23:50,417 VON DÄNIKEN: A group of extraterrestrials arrived on our planet. 470 00:23:50,542 --> 00:23:52,000 And one of our ancestors, 471 00:23:52,208 --> 00:23:54,875 call it an ape or whatever, it doesn't matter. 472 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,333 They took a few cells. 473 00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:00,292 They changed the DNA code in the cell. 474 00:24:00,417 --> 00:24:02,667 Because of this artificial mutation, 475 00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:04,958 we are breaking out of the family tree. 476 00:24:05,125 --> 00:24:08,833 This is handed down in Sumerian cuneiform. 477 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000 It is always a question of translation: 478 00:24:12,208 --> 00:24:14,167 How do you look at these things? 479 00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:18,875 NARRATOR: Could Zechariah Sitchin's translation be correct? 480 00:24:19,083 --> 00:24:23,333 Were the Anunnaki real extraterrestrial beings 481 00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:26,667 who helped the Sumerians develop their civilization 482 00:24:26,875 --> 00:24:30,583 and also taught them about the creation of humankind? 483 00:24:30,750 --> 00:24:34,500 And if so, is there any physical evidence 484 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:37,542 to support their stories of alien visitation? 485 00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:41,417 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes 486 00:24:41,625 --> 00:24:43,708 and point to a site that contains 487 00:24:43,875 --> 00:24:45,833 the largest megalithic stone blocks 488 00:24:46,042 --> 00:24:47,833 ever discovered. 489 00:24:56,167 --> 00:24:59,167 NARRATOR: Archaeologists from the British Museum 490 00:24:59,375 --> 00:25:02,000 are excavating the ancient site of Girsu 491 00:25:02,208 --> 00:25:06,042 when they uncover ancient walls made of mud bricks. 492 00:25:06,250 --> 00:25:07,917 It would soon be determined 493 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:10,417 that these walls were part of two temples 494 00:25:10,583 --> 00:25:13,500 built roughly 4,500 years ago 495 00:25:13,667 --> 00:25:16,917 to venerate the Sumerian god Ningirsu. 496 00:25:17,917 --> 00:25:22,792 NEWMAN: They announced the discovery of the Lord Palace of the Kings 497 00:25:22,958 --> 00:25:25,167 and the White Thunderbird Temple. 498 00:25:25,375 --> 00:25:28,792 Now, these are mythical sites 499 00:25:28,958 --> 00:25:31,750 that have been looked for for generations. 500 00:25:31,875 --> 00:25:36,417 These were only recorded in tablets and text previously, 501 00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:39,125 and the whole Thunderbird mythos 502 00:25:39,333 --> 00:25:41,500 is related to Ningirsu. 503 00:25:42,542 --> 00:25:44,667 Ningirsu was a thunderbird 504 00:25:44,833 --> 00:25:47,917 that was like the avatar of this kind of great god. 505 00:25:49,417 --> 00:25:52,417 The reason why this temple was constructed 506 00:25:52,542 --> 00:25:55,542 is that a king of the local city-state 507 00:25:55,708 --> 00:25:58,458 had had a series of dreams 508 00:25:58,625 --> 00:26:01,833 about the god Ningirsu. 509 00:26:03,125 --> 00:26:06,000 NARRATOR: The story of the thunderbird god Ningirsu 510 00:26:06,083 --> 00:26:08,583 comes from the account of King Gudea, 511 00:26:08,750 --> 00:26:11,292 the same king whose statues were found 512 00:26:11,417 --> 00:26:14,250 at this very site in 1877. 513 00:26:15,417 --> 00:26:18,500 Discovered alongside those statues 514 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:22,125 were the largest cuneiform cylinders yet discovered, 515 00:26:22,333 --> 00:26:25,542 inscribed by King Gudea himself. 516 00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:29,333 Gudea wrote that the giant winged god Ningirsu 517 00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:31,875 instructed him to build these two temples 518 00:26:32,083 --> 00:26:33,542 to honor him. 519 00:26:35,083 --> 00:26:37,250 TSOUKALOS: The archeologists themselves say 520 00:26:37,417 --> 00:26:39,333 that this temple was built 521 00:26:39,458 --> 00:26:42,500 due to a vision that a man had, 522 00:26:42,667 --> 00:26:45,333 uh, where a gigantic thunderbird 523 00:26:45,542 --> 00:26:48,208 descended from the sky. 524 00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:49,625 And personally, I think that this 525 00:26:49,792 --> 00:26:51,542 has to do with extraterrestrials 526 00:26:51,708 --> 00:26:53,500 because if you know nothing 527 00:26:53,667 --> 00:26:55,708 about high technology 528 00:26:55,875 --> 00:26:59,042 and somebody descends from the sky in a vehicle, 529 00:26:59,208 --> 00:27:02,458 well, of course you're going to signify a person with wings 530 00:27:02,625 --> 00:27:04,958 because they came from the sky. 531 00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:10,833 NARRATOR: Could it be that King Gudea's account of a giant winged deity 532 00:27:10,958 --> 00:27:15,500 was in fact an encounter with some type of aerial vehicle 533 00:27:15,583 --> 00:27:17,875 carrying an extraterrestrial visitor? 534 00:27:18,917 --> 00:27:21,833 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes 535 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,042 and suggest further evidence 536 00:27:24,208 --> 00:27:26,375 that the Sumerians witnessed alien craft 537 00:27:26,542 --> 00:27:28,667 coming down from the sky 538 00:27:28,875 --> 00:27:31,375 can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. 539 00:27:31,542 --> 00:27:33,417 LYNN: In the Epic of Gilgamesh, 540 00:27:33,625 --> 00:27:35,500 Gilgamesh encounters the Anunnaki 541 00:27:35,708 --> 00:27:37,583 at what's called the Landing Place. 542 00:27:37,750 --> 00:27:40,208 The Landing Place is where the gods 543 00:27:40,417 --> 00:27:43,167 came to meet with Gilgamesh. 544 00:27:44,417 --> 00:27:47,083 HUSSAIN: In the text, it talks about sort of a ship 545 00:27:47,250 --> 00:27:50,875 that goes from here to the heavens. 546 00:27:51,875 --> 00:27:53,875 In the ancient world, that's the gods 547 00:27:54,083 --> 00:27:55,958 who are transporting in chariots, you know? 548 00:27:56,125 --> 00:27:58,167 In the modern world, is that a spacecraft? 549 00:27:58,333 --> 00:27:59,500 Is that a rocket ship? 550 00:27:59,708 --> 00:28:02,625 MARTELL: Gilgamesh was watching the gods 551 00:28:02,792 --> 00:28:05,833 descending and ascending from the planet. 552 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,292 He actually talks about hearing loud sounds 553 00:28:09,417 --> 00:28:10,917 and seeing fire and smoke 554 00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:14,125 as the gods took off into the heavens. 555 00:28:15,083 --> 00:28:17,875 To me, this sounds exactly like a rocket ship. 556 00:28:19,125 --> 00:28:21,333 NARRATOR: In his book The 12th Planet, 557 00:28:21,542 --> 00:28:24,042 Sumerian researcher Zacharia Sitchin 558 00:28:24,208 --> 00:28:28,208 proposed that the Landing Place described in the epic poem 559 00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:32,125 is a megalithic site that can be visited to this day. 560 00:28:33,458 --> 00:28:34,708 HENRY: According to Sitchin, 561 00:28:34,875 --> 00:28:37,500 the actual location is Baalbek in Lebanon, 562 00:28:37,625 --> 00:28:39,833 where we find this massive platform 563 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,833 that resembles what we would think of as a landing port. 564 00:28:44,875 --> 00:28:47,208 NARRATOR: Today, most people know Baalbek 565 00:28:47,375 --> 00:28:50,500 as being the site of the Roman Temple of Jupiter, 566 00:28:50,708 --> 00:28:53,333 built in the first century BC. 567 00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:57,583 But beneath the temple is a massive stone platform 568 00:28:57,750 --> 00:28:59,292 that is believed to have been built 569 00:28:59,458 --> 00:29:01,708 thousands of years earlier. 570 00:29:01,875 --> 00:29:05,000 It is constructed from megalithic blocks 571 00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:08,375 that weigh as much as 800 metric tons, 572 00:29:08,542 --> 00:29:11,333 or 1.6 million pounds. 573 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:16,625 That platform is incredible because it features 574 00:29:16,750 --> 00:29:19,500 some of the largest stones 575 00:29:19,667 --> 00:29:23,583 ever carved and created by humans long ago. 576 00:29:23,708 --> 00:29:26,458 These blocks are on the fourth level up. 577 00:29:26,625 --> 00:29:28,750 So, somehow, they had to be lifted up. 578 00:29:28,917 --> 00:29:32,792 And in my opinion, they had a technology 579 00:29:32,958 --> 00:29:35,250 imparted to the local population 580 00:29:35,375 --> 00:29:37,667 by the extraterrestrials. 581 00:29:38,875 --> 00:29:42,333 NARRATOR: As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 582 00:29:42,542 --> 00:29:43,792 the story of the Landing Pad 583 00:29:43,917 --> 00:29:45,542 in the Epic of Gilgamesh, 584 00:29:45,708 --> 00:29:47,667 along with King Gudea's encounter 585 00:29:47,750 --> 00:29:50,000 with a giant winged being, 586 00:29:50,167 --> 00:29:52,667 strongly suggest that the Sumerian people 587 00:29:52,875 --> 00:29:56,208 witnessed flying craft coming down from the sky. 588 00:29:56,375 --> 00:29:59,583 And they say the most compelling detail of all 589 00:29:59,750 --> 00:30:01,333 is the Sumerian description 590 00:30:01,417 --> 00:30:04,542 of the god Ningirsu as a thunderbird. 591 00:30:06,292 --> 00:30:10,167 When I hear that a giant thunderbird person 592 00:30:10,292 --> 00:30:13,417 descended from the sky, I'm like, wait a second. 593 00:30:13,583 --> 00:30:15,250 We've heard these stories before. 594 00:30:16,250 --> 00:30:20,667 In North America, many First Nation myths 595 00:30:20,833 --> 00:30:23,250 begin with thunderbirds, 596 00:30:23,417 --> 00:30:24,875 that thunderbirds existed 597 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,375 out of which the so-called kachinas came, 598 00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:31,000 and the kachinas were the first bringers of knowledge. 599 00:30:31,167 --> 00:30:35,167 You have other stories like that also in ancient India. 600 00:30:35,333 --> 00:30:37,833 Imagine you know nothing about technology 601 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,708 and then you see a big plane fly over your head. 602 00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:43,833 Well, first of all, it looks like a bird. 603 00:30:44,042 --> 00:30:46,542 And second of all, it makes a lot of noise, 604 00:30:46,708 --> 00:30:48,250 thundering noise. 605 00:30:48,375 --> 00:30:52,208 So, of course you would call that a thunderbird. 606 00:30:53,875 --> 00:30:55,625 And that to me illustrates 607 00:30:55,833 --> 00:30:59,083 an example of misunderstood technology. 608 00:31:00,458 --> 00:31:02,833 NARRATOR: Within the thousands of Sumerian tablets 609 00:31:02,958 --> 00:31:04,583 that have been translated 610 00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:07,125 are countless stories about the Anunnaki 611 00:31:07,333 --> 00:31:10,000 and their interactions with humans. 612 00:31:10,167 --> 00:31:12,083 Could they be the first written accounts 613 00:31:12,292 --> 00:31:14,583 of extraterrestrial encounters? 614 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:18,750 Perhaps further clues can be found 615 00:31:18,917 --> 00:31:21,833 by examining what some researchers believe 616 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,125 are the remains of an Anunnaki. 617 00:31:34,125 --> 00:31:38,000 NARRATOR: British archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Woolley 618 00:31:38,167 --> 00:31:40,583 undertakes an extensive excavation 619 00:31:40,792 --> 00:31:43,000 of the Sumerian city of Ur. 620 00:31:43,167 --> 00:31:45,875 The excavations began to reveal 621 00:31:46,042 --> 00:31:48,667 an extraordinary necropolis. 622 00:31:48,833 --> 00:31:52,833 And as more and more rich funerary goods, 623 00:31:52,958 --> 00:31:57,125 pieces of art and jewelry started to come up, 624 00:31:57,292 --> 00:32:02,125 it became clear that this was a very important center 625 00:32:02,292 --> 00:32:05,167 and had been since Sumerian times. 626 00:32:07,250 --> 00:32:09,333 NARRATOR: Woolley soon realized that what they had found 627 00:32:09,542 --> 00:32:12,625 in the center of Ur was a massive cemetery 628 00:32:12,792 --> 00:32:15,458 containing more than 1,800 graves 629 00:32:15,625 --> 00:32:19,500 filled with incredible artifacts and riches, 630 00:32:19,708 --> 00:32:22,500 including 16 royal tombs. 631 00:32:22,708 --> 00:32:27,667 It was a very spectacular find and astonished the world. 632 00:32:27,833 --> 00:32:30,167 And Woolley wrote about it in the press 633 00:32:30,333 --> 00:32:33,583 as these things became clear and people rushed 634 00:32:33,708 --> 00:32:36,958 to get the newspaper to find out the next episode. 635 00:32:37,083 --> 00:32:39,917 Because it was very dramatic and very exciting. 636 00:32:40,875 --> 00:32:42,208 NARRATOR: Woolley's team unearthed 637 00:32:42,375 --> 00:32:44,750 one extraordinary relic after another, 638 00:32:44,917 --> 00:32:47,667 including a gold cosmetic container 639 00:32:47,750 --> 00:32:49,375 in the shape of a cockleshell, 640 00:32:49,542 --> 00:32:53,042 a gold vessel in the shape of an ostrich egg, 641 00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:55,833 and the head of a lion made of silver, 642 00:32:56,042 --> 00:32:58,292 lapis lazuli and shell. 643 00:32:58,375 --> 00:33:02,708 FINKEL: Woolley's team of archeologists excavated more than one grave 644 00:33:02,917 --> 00:33:05,375 with musical instruments and gold and jewelry. 645 00:33:05,542 --> 00:33:08,583 They found this classical Sumerian civilization 646 00:33:08,750 --> 00:33:10,167 a very affluent one. 647 00:33:11,375 --> 00:33:14,417 NARRATOR: Ur was first discovered nearly 70 years 648 00:33:14,583 --> 00:33:18,083 before Woolley's excavations when, in 1853, 649 00:33:18,250 --> 00:33:20,667 archaeologists unearthed a ziggurat 650 00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:24,625 and found it inscribed with the name of the ancient city. 651 00:33:26,292 --> 00:33:29,167 It was considered an extraordinary find, 652 00:33:29,375 --> 00:33:31,667 because biblical scholars believed it was 653 00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:33,375 the same city of Ur 654 00:33:33,542 --> 00:33:35,792 that is mentioned in the Book of Genesis 655 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,375 and was the home of Abraham. 656 00:33:38,542 --> 00:33:43,500 The Bible tells us the story of Abraham. 657 00:33:43,667 --> 00:33:45,833 Abraham was raised 658 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,792 in this city of Ur. 659 00:33:49,958 --> 00:33:51,375 And this is important, 660 00:33:51,583 --> 00:33:54,417 because Abraham is considered to be 661 00:33:54,583 --> 00:33:57,292 the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, 662 00:33:57,500 --> 00:33:58,917 and Islam alike, 663 00:33:59,083 --> 00:34:02,250 because the message of Abraham 664 00:34:02,417 --> 00:34:06,250 was that there is only one true God. 665 00:34:07,333 --> 00:34:10,500 During Woolley's excavations in 1926, 666 00:34:10,667 --> 00:34:13,333 an even more compelling find was made 667 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:17,125 relating to an event described in both the Bible 668 00:34:17,292 --> 00:34:20,750 and the Sumerian text the Epic of Gilgamesh. 669 00:34:20,917 --> 00:34:24,875 NEWMAN: As Woolley and his team dug beneath the burials, 670 00:34:25,042 --> 00:34:27,417 they got to a depth of about 64 feet, 671 00:34:27,542 --> 00:34:31,125 where they found a layer of what appeared to be silt 672 00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:33,375 about 13 feet thick, 673 00:34:33,583 --> 00:34:36,917 suggesting that flooding had taken place at this time. 674 00:34:37,042 --> 00:34:40,083 And the team dug in other spots, 14 in all, 675 00:34:40,250 --> 00:34:44,292 and found the exact same thing in all 14 locations. 676 00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:48,500 And Leonard Woolley believed this was evidence 677 00:34:48,667 --> 00:34:52,917 of the Great Flood found in both the Bible and Sumerian texts. 678 00:34:53,125 --> 00:34:55,458 And that this was a real event. 679 00:34:57,208 --> 00:34:59,833 NARRATOR: But of all the discoveries made at Ur, 680 00:35:00,042 --> 00:35:02,333 perhaps none are more extraordinary 681 00:35:02,542 --> 00:35:05,333 or controversial than a large stone tomb 682 00:35:05,542 --> 00:35:08,167 containing the body of a Sumerian queen. 683 00:35:09,292 --> 00:35:12,083 HENRY: Leonard Woolley unearthed this fabulous, 684 00:35:12,250 --> 00:35:15,417 incredible tomb of Queen Puabi, 685 00:35:15,625 --> 00:35:18,625 which was an astonishing discovery at the time. 686 00:35:18,792 --> 00:35:21,083 They found her body intact, 687 00:35:21,250 --> 00:35:23,333 covered with gold ornaments and wearing 688 00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:26,375 this incredible golden headdress 689 00:35:26,542 --> 00:35:28,500 with cylinder seals attached to her body 690 00:35:28,667 --> 00:35:31,500 that identified her as this queen. 691 00:35:32,583 --> 00:35:35,208 NARRATOR: Numerous artifacts found within the tomb 692 00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,167 identified it as belonging to Queen Paubi. 693 00:35:38,375 --> 00:35:42,125 And researchers believe she was a very important figure 694 00:35:42,250 --> 00:35:44,250 based on the staggering number of jewels 695 00:35:44,375 --> 00:35:45,958 that were buried with her. 696 00:35:46,125 --> 00:35:48,500 When researcher Zecharia Sitchin 697 00:35:48,708 --> 00:35:51,875 examined Puabi's skull decades later, 698 00:35:52,042 --> 00:35:54,500 he determined that, while severely damaged, 699 00:35:54,708 --> 00:35:58,000 it displayed some remarkable anomalies. 700 00:35:58,167 --> 00:36:00,167 HENRY: As Zecharia Sitchin investigated 701 00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:02,500 the discovery of Queen Puabi, he found 702 00:36:02,667 --> 00:36:05,250 that her skull appeared to be elongated. 703 00:36:06,417 --> 00:36:08,500 This led him on a line of speculation 704 00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:12,542 that she must have been a Anunnaki-human hybrid. 705 00:36:13,458 --> 00:36:16,500 Her characteristics look almost alien. 706 00:36:16,625 --> 00:36:20,125 Was she possibly some type of extraterrestrial? 707 00:36:21,542 --> 00:36:23,875 NARRATOR: Queen Puabi's remains are now housed 708 00:36:24,042 --> 00:36:26,958 at the London Museum of Natural History. 709 00:36:27,125 --> 00:36:29,583 For years, Zecharia Sitchin implored 710 00:36:29,792 --> 00:36:33,833 the museum to test her DNA, but they refused. 711 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,917 Unfortunately, mainstream science said, 712 00:36:36,083 --> 00:36:38,167 "No, this isn't worthy of our time." 713 00:36:38,375 --> 00:36:40,583 To me, this seems like, you know, a-an eye-opener 714 00:36:40,708 --> 00:36:43,292 that we have actual remains that could be tested 715 00:36:43,458 --> 00:36:46,833 and possibly confirm an extraterrestrial origin. 716 00:36:48,625 --> 00:36:51,333 NARRATOR: Could the remains of Queen Puabi provide 717 00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:55,000 incontrovertible evidence that the Sumerian civilization 718 00:36:55,208 --> 00:36:58,167 was the product of alien intervention? 719 00:36:59,542 --> 00:37:02,208 Ancient astronaut theorists believe another, 720 00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:05,417 perhaps even more important question 721 00:37:05,583 --> 00:37:08,167 lies in whether this mysterious civilization 722 00:37:08,292 --> 00:37:10,667 is much older than archaeologists 723 00:37:10,875 --> 00:37:12,833 have ever imagined. 724 00:37:19,167 --> 00:37:20,375 NARRATOR: Most mainstream historians agree 725 00:37:20,583 --> 00:37:22,500 that, according to the archaeological evidence, 726 00:37:22,708 --> 00:37:25,708 the Sumerians appeared in Mesopotamia 727 00:37:25,875 --> 00:37:28,375 around 5000 BC. 728 00:37:29,417 --> 00:37:32,417 But in the cuneiform texts that have been translated, 729 00:37:32,583 --> 00:37:35,417 the Sumerians themselves say that civilization 730 00:37:35,583 --> 00:37:37,583 actually began with their ancestors, 731 00:37:37,708 --> 00:37:40,625 who lived thousands of years earlier... 732 00:37:41,958 --> 00:37:45,083 ...in a time before what the Epic of Gilgamesh 733 00:37:45,250 --> 00:37:46,958 and the Hebrew Bible describe 734 00:37:47,125 --> 00:37:49,292 as the Great Flood. 735 00:37:50,292 --> 00:37:54,083 NEWMAN: The origins of the Sumerians is still under scrutiny. 736 00:37:54,250 --> 00:37:56,167 Some people have speculated 737 00:37:56,333 --> 00:37:59,333 that they may have come from a lost sunken land. 738 00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:01,250 Now, this is an intriguing possibility 739 00:38:01,417 --> 00:38:03,458 with all the flood myths and so forth. 740 00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:06,167 What is quite interesting, related to this, is the fact 741 00:38:06,333 --> 00:38:08,250 that off the coast of Israel, 742 00:38:08,417 --> 00:38:11,500 we have the submerged town of Atlit Yam, 743 00:38:11,667 --> 00:38:15,625 which dates back to over 7000 BC. 744 00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:19,375 This is a series of stone circle structures, 745 00:38:19,542 --> 00:38:23,042 avenues, and communal and domestic buildings. 746 00:38:23,250 --> 00:38:26,333 And so if there was a submerged area, 747 00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:28,625 which the Sumerians were said to come from, 748 00:38:28,792 --> 00:38:31,875 perhaps we need to look out into the Mediterranean. 749 00:38:33,667 --> 00:38:36,500 NARRATOR: Do the underwater ruins of Atlit Yam, 750 00:38:36,667 --> 00:38:39,167 which date back more than 9,000 years, 751 00:38:39,292 --> 00:38:41,667 serve as evidence that the Sumerian stories 752 00:38:41,875 --> 00:38:44,542 of a pre-flood civilization are true? 753 00:38:45,958 --> 00:38:48,500 Remarkably, even older stone structures 754 00:38:48,667 --> 00:38:51,000 have been discovered at the archeological site 755 00:38:51,167 --> 00:38:52,708 of Göbekli Tepe, 756 00:38:52,833 --> 00:38:55,875 which is located just 400 miles northwest 757 00:38:56,042 --> 00:38:57,875 of ancient Sumer. 758 00:38:59,083 --> 00:39:03,875 Göbekli Tepe was discovered in 1994 759 00:39:04,042 --> 00:39:06,792 by Professor Klaus Schmidt 760 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,292 of the German Archaeological Institute. 761 00:39:09,417 --> 00:39:12,292 He started finding huge standing stones. 762 00:39:12,417 --> 00:39:15,000 And many of these were carved 763 00:39:15,167 --> 00:39:17,500 into human form. 764 00:39:17,708 --> 00:39:20,000 They would have arms on the side of them, 765 00:39:20,208 --> 00:39:22,167 hands that come around to the front. 766 00:39:23,208 --> 00:39:27,292 NARRATOR: Radiocarbon dating of artifacts unearthed at Göbekli Tepe 767 00:39:27,458 --> 00:39:31,500 suggest the ancient site is over 12,000 years old-- 768 00:39:31,625 --> 00:39:35,625 more than 5,000 years older than the Sumerians. 769 00:39:35,792 --> 00:39:38,250 But some researchers have noticed 770 00:39:38,458 --> 00:39:41,333 a curious connection between the two cultures. 771 00:39:41,458 --> 00:39:44,333 Göbekli Tepe is a massive complex. 772 00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:46,875 And it features a carving of these three handbags 773 00:39:47,083 --> 00:39:49,542 that appear above this bird-like creature. 774 00:39:49,708 --> 00:39:52,000 And what's fascinating about this is that you can find 775 00:39:52,167 --> 00:39:55,208 carvings of similar handbags about 400 miles to the south 776 00:39:55,375 --> 00:39:57,333 where the ancient Sumerians lived. 777 00:39:57,458 --> 00:39:59,250 And there, the handbags are held 778 00:39:59,375 --> 00:40:02,042 by these winged figures called Anunnaki. 779 00:40:03,250 --> 00:40:05,125 This suggests that there is 780 00:40:05,250 --> 00:40:07,292 some previously unknown connection 781 00:40:07,458 --> 00:40:10,833 between the Sumerians and Göbekli Tepe. 782 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:12,750 Maybe this is the answer 783 00:40:12,875 --> 00:40:14,917 for where the Sumerians actually came from. 784 00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:18,917 NARRATOR: Is it possible that the builders of Göbekli Tepe 785 00:40:19,042 --> 00:40:22,500 are the ancient ancestors of the Sumerians? 786 00:40:23,875 --> 00:40:25,833 Ancient astronaut theorists believe 787 00:40:26,042 --> 00:40:27,875 the answer might be found in the thousands 788 00:40:28,083 --> 00:40:31,917 of Sumerian texts that have yet to be translated. 789 00:40:33,583 --> 00:40:35,667 HENRY: Experts estimate that up to 90% 790 00:40:35,792 --> 00:40:38,083 of the original texts have been lost. 791 00:40:38,208 --> 00:40:39,625 But there must be a treasure trove 792 00:40:39,833 --> 00:40:41,708 still out there waiting to be translated. 793 00:40:41,875 --> 00:40:43,167 And they could contain information 794 00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:44,792 that will force us to rethink 795 00:40:44,917 --> 00:40:47,333 everything we thought we knew about our past. 796 00:40:48,542 --> 00:40:51,000 TSOUKALOS: The fact that the Sumerians were the first to come up 797 00:40:51,167 --> 00:40:53,042 with mathematics... 798 00:40:53,208 --> 00:40:55,333 agriculture... 799 00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:57,125 astronomy... 800 00:40:57,292 --> 00:40:59,333 engineering. 801 00:40:59,542 --> 00:41:02,375 Our entire human civilization 802 00:41:02,542 --> 00:41:05,250 is built on exactly that. 803 00:41:05,417 --> 00:41:07,333 And they received this knowledge 804 00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:09,625 from the so-called gods. 805 00:41:09,792 --> 00:41:12,458 And to me, these people that came from the sky weren't, 806 00:41:12,625 --> 00:41:15,500 you know, ethereal beings... 807 00:41:15,708 --> 00:41:18,417 but extraterrestrials visiting from another planet. 808 00:41:20,042 --> 00:41:22,500 NARRATOR: Does the discovery of the Sumerians 809 00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:26,208 and the recent translations of their ancient clay tablets 810 00:41:26,375 --> 00:41:28,375 reveal that humankind 811 00:41:28,542 --> 00:41:30,292 and human civilization 812 00:41:30,458 --> 00:41:32,792 are the result of alien intervention? 813 00:41:33,792 --> 00:41:36,792 And might there be even more astounding revelations 814 00:41:36,958 --> 00:41:40,583 about our past contained within the hundreds of tablets 815 00:41:40,750 --> 00:41:42,958 that have yet to be deciphered? 816 00:41:43,125 --> 00:41:46,375 And the thousands more that may still lie hidden 817 00:41:46,542 --> 00:41:48,667 beneath the desert sand? 818 00:41:50,792 --> 00:41:53,542 Perhaps it will be the oldest known civilization 819 00:41:53,708 --> 00:41:56,000 on Earth that provides the truth 820 00:41:56,125 --> 00:41:59,083 about humanity's evolution on this planet... 821 00:42:00,542 --> 00:42:02,167 ...and our close encounters 822 00:42:02,375 --> 00:42:05,292 with extraterrestrial beings. 823 00:42:05,458 --> 00:42:08,167 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS