Did The Dark Ages Exist? (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Ishmael]

[Ishmael]

[Ishmael]

So we now have every indication that Prince John and King Richard -- twin pillars of British "history" -- are no less mythical entities than is Robin Hood. Like Walter Scott, whose novels afforded characters of legend an historical context, British Historians appear to have inserted within their national history (itself likely not British in inspiration) at least two figures of myth: Richard Lionheart and his brother, John.

But if there is no King John....

....then who is responsible for the Magna Carta?

[Ishmael]

And then what are we to make of this?

A medieval market town has discovered it owns an original version of the Magna Carta

At the heart of the confusion about Faversham's Magna Carta is that it was issued by Edward I in 1300, not by King John who was forced by his barons to agree to Magna Carta on June 15, 1215.

Now just the other day, I was researching Robin Hood. By coincidence I learned that the earliest mention of Robin Hood has his nemesis being King "Edward" and not King John.

[Ishmael]

Taking a step away from the promised Mark Twain material....

I would like to offer you a riddle.

• I am one of the longest navigable rivers in the world.
  
• I flow almost directly along a north-south line of longitude.
  
• My head waters, instead of flowing directly to the nearest, large body of water, cross half a continent to empty into a distant sea
  
• I flood annually and thus irrigate my river-banks, making the entire region one of the most fertile places on the continent.
  
• I terminate in a massive, fertile delta.
  
• The people who rule my waters own slaves.
  
• I am divided politically, and almost evenly, north and south, into an upper and lower portion.
  
• The people who live along my banks are Africans.
  

What is my name?

[Mick Harper]

Mississippi-Missouri

[Mick Harper]

Remove the answer to encourager les autres.

[Hatty]

The Nile.

[Ishmael]

Of course both answers are correct. The Nile and the Mississippi (and the Mississippi-Missouri).

Many years ago, one of the first things I ever read from Mick Harper (outside of THOBR) was an essay he wrote pointing out the eerie resemblances between the Nile and the rivers of Mesopotamia. You can read that essay for yourselves.

In that essay, he accused me (that is, all readers of Graham Hancock's books) of lacking ambition. We failed to see the enormity of the strange goings on in the ancient world -- humbled by too much respect for the authority of inherited wisdom. In that essay, Harper brazenly suggested the the Nile (and the Tigress and Euphrates) had been artificially constructed to follow the paths they took.

In light of the remarkable parallels between the Nile and the Mississippi detailed above, to whatever degree we grant the artificiality of the Nile, surely we must to that same degree grant artificiality to the Mississippi river.

And if we grant that a North American river was constructed by some great feat of human engineering... well then -- there goes your entire conception of world history and the settling of North America by Europeans. Something much bigger is going on.

And something much bigger than that is likely going on too, if we accede to these givens. For if the Tigress, Euphrates, Nile and Mississippi are all linked and supposed artificial, then we really have no excuse for excepting any of the world's great river systems as natural in origin. The Amazon, the Congo, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Yangtze -- these must be presumed of artificial origin. There can be no special cases (unless proven otherwise). We must conclude that nature does not, in fact, create natural rivers on such a massive scale.

Any who would entertain this thought must place all conventional history aside.

[Ishmael]

Now here's a river that just might prove very important -- and until 20 minutes ago, I had never heard of it. It's called the Amur River and it flows out of Mongolia.

Take a look at the map. You may be amazed to learn (as I was) that this entire river system (including tributaries) is navigable. It's also home to the largest fresh-water fish in the world. Followers of the domestication threads on this site will note that the fish in question is highly endangered (having been hunted to near-extinction).

It is the location of the Amur that draws my attention. I initially went looking where it flows hoping not to find it -- that is, I hoped that the area above China would lack a giant river and thus boost my hypothesis that mega-rivers do not naturally occur. However, what I have found neither helps nor hinders that case.

But if the Amur river is artificial too, then it may be key to understanding the origin of the Tartars and the Cro-Magnon peoples.

Might this place be the true cradle of civilization?

[Ishmael]

Incidentally, the name "Amur" intrigues me.

Of course, it looks like, "Amour" -- that is, "love". But I have another thought too.

It is a small point of Trivia that "ancient" Romans held that Rome had a "secret name." Legend had it that speaking the "secret name" would bring about the downfall of the city -- so saying this name aloud was supposedly taboo (I presume then the secret name was learned via the written word -- or perhaps printed word).

For reasons that yet remain unknown to me, it is said that this "secret name" for Rome was simply the word Rome spelled in reverse (from right-to-left). Romans spelled the word Rome as "Roma" so, inverted, it reads "Amor."

It is no large thing to alter an "o" to a "u."

[Hatty]

[Ishmael]

[Chad]

[Tilo Rebar]