30-31. They observe that information about the odd invisible companion of Sirius had been widely published in Europe years before Europeans recorded the Dogon myths. found no evidence they knew Sirius was a double star or that Sirius B is The review was indeed consequently modified in parts where Temple explained portions of his book I may have misinterpreted. Saturn is not, as the Dogons insist, the farthest planet in the solar system. "We have in the Dogon information a predictive mechanism which it is our duty to test, regardless of our preconceptions." According to Thomas Bullard, van Beek speculates that Griaule Also, in the 1980s and 1990s, anthropologist Walter van Beek could find no evidence that the Dogon possessed knowledge about Sirius B today.9 But more enlightening is the fact that Griaule studied astronomy in Paris and brought star maps with him to Mali. The former study also concluded that while a triple system for Sirius could not be fully eliminated, the probability was low. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. To penetrate this supposed disguise (which might not be a disguise at all, other classical scholars maintain), Temple resorts to ancient puns, to hidden meanings, to "garbled versions" which he must amend to fit the theory, to the exchange of consonants in innocent-looking words, to similar-sounding words from James and Thorpe understate the problem when they say this is very worrying. Griaule claimed that about 15 per cent of the Dogon tribe possessed this secret knowledge, but Van Beek could find no trace of it in the decade he spent with the Dogon. Were aliens, lost technology or something else entirely involved? The tribe has a periodic Sirius festival called the "Segui" ceremony; each celebration lasts several years (the last was in 1968-72.) Could Sirius B have been a red giant a few thousand years ago? var d=new Date();var n=d.toLocaleDateString();var t=d.toLocaleTimeString(); document.write(n + "
" + t); Want to know your future? (2004). The Dogon are supposed to have known that Sirius B orbits Sirius and that a complete orbit takes different civilizations thousands of miles or thousands of years apart and to other equally questionable tactics. century technological matters brought to them by visitors from other parts The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. As anthropologists have known for a long time, primitive tribes have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting new stories into their traditional mythology. You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. Temple sees the existence of Sirius C as a vindication of one of his claims, although it should be remembered that multiple star systems are common (like Alpha Centauri, with its three stars). double star (Ortiz de Montellano).*. On this episode of MonsterTalk we chat with archeologist Dr. Ken Feder about giants, biblical archeology and one of the biggest hoaxes in American history. James, P., N. Thorpe, and I. J. Thorpe. To quote Ancient Mysteries: While Temple, following Griaule, assumes that to polo is the invisible star Sirius B, the Dogon themselves, as reported by Griaule, say something quite different. To quote the Dogon: When Digitaria (to polo) is close to Sirius, the latter becomes brighter; when it is at its most distant from Sirius, Digitaria gives off a twinkling effect, suggesting several stars to the observer. This description of a very visible effect causes James and Thorpe to wonder as anyone reading this should do whether to polo is therefore an ordinary star near Sirius, not an invisible companion, as Griaule and Temple suggest. based his account on an interview with one person, Ambara, and an Afrocentrists, on the other hand, claimed that the Dogon could see Another claim: that in Egypt the oasis of Siwa and the ancient Nile City of Thebes are both equidistant from the shrine city of Behdet, in the delta -- and the same exact distance, too. Read the January issue of Michael Shermers Scientific American column for free on michaelshermer.com: Kool-Aid Psychology: How optimism trumped realism in the positive-psychology movement. G. Stein (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp. Print versions available in Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Korean. We may never be able to reconstruct the exact route by which the Dogon received their current knowledge, but out of the confusion at least one thing is clear: Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. One problem with this idea is that Sirius B has been a white dwarf for at least tens of thousands of years. In 1991, Van Beek led a team of anthropologists to Mali and declared that they found absolutely no trace of the detailed Sirius lore reported by the French anthropologists. It was very unlikely that the Dogon had learned of this stars existence from Westerners prior to the visit by Griaule and Dieterlen. (Photo by John and Keturah. Nor does he establish a connection between the Dogon creator Nommo and the star Sirius. He points out that the Dogon myths also describe a third star (astronomers would call it "Sirius C"), as yet undiscovered. I disagree. Liam is the author of Urban Astronomy and is a Senior Scientist for Skeptic. "wished to affirm the complexity of African religions and questioned He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. There are innocent available explanations: typographical error or miscopied notes, for example. But other observers disagree. One of Temple's main Although Temple fails to prove its antiquity, the evidence for the recent acquisition of the information is still entirely circumstantial. WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. The Demon-Haunted World - Science as a Candle in the Dark (New On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Dogon. Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. Webplanet earth. Liam McDaid is Astronomy Coordinator and Professor of Astronomy at Sacramento City College. "their purpose in disguising their secrets was to see that the secrets could survive.". Swift appears to have taken the idea of two close (although not necessarily small) moons of Mars from Voltaire's novel Micromegos in which an A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. Noah Brosch explained in his book Sirius Matters that cultural transfer could have taken place between 19th century French astronomers and Dogon tribe members during the observations of the solar eclipse on 16 April 1893. "Robert Temple on three different occasions, by mail and phone, attempted to get support from me and I steadfastly refused," Asimov wrote. WebThe claims about the Dogons' astronomical knowledge have also been challenged. Even in the most optimistic reading of this tale, the Dogon know no more than we knew about the Solar System and nearby stars in the 1930s, which is about the time that Griaule and Deiterlen first interacted with them. "At first glance," Sagan admitted, "the Sirius legend of the Dogon seems In 1952, Young was one of nine people present during the first contact with the Council, an event initiated by Andrija Puharich, the man who brought Israeli spoonbender Uri Geller to America. [12] According to Oberg, the Dogons' astronomical information resembled the knowledge and speculations of late 1920s Europe, suggesting that the Dogon were influenced by European visitors before their mythology was recorded in the 1930s. The expedition, led by Henri Deslandres, stayed in the field for five weeks, and it is reasonable that during this time many contacts with the locals took place, and that relatively modern astronomical knowledge was then transferred. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. Figure 2. Temple's theory is heavily based on his interpretation of the work of ethnographers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. Ogotemmeli: An Introduction to Dogon Religious Did Oberg? In other words, the Dogon tribe would not only need the knowledge but also a telescope in order for them to have the information they already seemed to possess. interpreter. Press J to jump to the feed. Subscribe to eSkeptic: our free email newsletter and get great podcasts, videos, reviews and articles from Skeptic magazine, announcements, and more in your inbox once or twice a week. WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. Second, while it is difficult to obtain precise locations of many archeological sites referred to in The Sirius Mystery, Temple himself shows a map that gives the location of Behdet (31.23 degE, 31.50 degN) and Thebes (32.63 degE, 25.70 degN). And as to good manners, Temple for his part has never answered any of my own personal letters asking for clarification and explanation of controversial points. Therefore, if Sirius C exists, it must orbit Sirius A. Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. their knowledge without contact with an advanced technological Such criteria suggest that these periodic festivals have been going on for at least 600 years and possibly much longer. But the extraterrestrial hypothesis will not fade away so easily. In 1966, Temple then aged 21 became Secretary of Youngs Foundation for the Study of Consciousness. 68-70. by Philip Coppens. Somehow, Temple and I have never gotten our disputes off on the right foot. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. I suspect not.". Beware of mood swings. He was told that fishlike creatures called the Nommo had come to Earth from Sirius to civilizes its people. Such assimilation occurs most frequently when the subject is one of particular interest to a people -- as Sirius is to the Dogons. Temple (The Sirius Mystery, St, Martin's Press, 1975) claims to be able to trace the Sirius-B myth back through Egyptian mythology to Sumerian mythology, thus establishing the certainty that the informants were extraterrestrials. He has written of Temples belief that present-day authorities are unwilling to set aside the blinkers of orthodoxy, unable to admit the validity of anything that lies outside their field or that offers a challenge to the status quo. Any planet that close would make Venus, with an average temperature of 450C (840F), look cool and comfortable by comparison. "Perhaps (Oberg) is unaware," Temple went on, "that the differential curvature of the earth variously distorts distances shown on maps. Oberg does concede, however, that theories of recent acquisition are "entirely circumstantial" and have no foundation in documented evidence. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. Although we can occasionally claim victory (are there any alchemists left? Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. 1995. Temples solution referred to legends of a mythical creature, the god Oannes, who might have been an extraterrestrial, described as descending to Earth from the stars to bring civilising wisdom to the Dogon forefathers. Appleby also believes there exists a modern arrogance that cannot countenance the idea that ancient civilisations might have been scientifically superior. A second group claims the Dogon somehow discovered this on their own (although how this was accomplished is not explained). The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. things. Ancient The other five are still seen as red but from the time of Arab astronomers to the present day Sirius has been blue-white. The diagram is only convincing as a representation of Sirius B orbiting Sirius A when most of the original symbols are eliminated. seem curious. characteristics. That's one major characteristic of classical pseudo-science, its ability to incorporate any result and its ability to be immune from disproof from any result. Temple considers alternative possibilities other than alien contact, such as a very ancient, advanced, and lost civilization that was behind the sudden appearance of advanced civilization in both Egypt and Sumer. with the bright star Sirius (sigu tolo, "star of Sigui"), called The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. One of the pieces of evidence Temple cites is a sand picture made by the The second problem is that ancient writers seemed to use color for stars in a way different from the way that we do (they described Pollux, Arcturus, and Capella as red a modern observer would call them yellow-orange, orange, and yellow, respectively). Through the carbon dating of old ritual masks researchers have established the antiquity of the Segui ceremonies. [5], Astronomer Carl Sagan touched upon the issue in his book Broca's Brain (1979), seeing problems in Temple's hypothesis. Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. Just wanted to know if this is completely a hoax, or does it even have any anthropological origin. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? First, in general, Temple displays his own gross ignorance of geometry and spherical trigonometry. Ridpath concludes that any information that resembles the facts about Sirius was probably ascertained by way of cultural contamination. Griaule himself was aware of the discovery of Sirius B and in the 1920s before he visited the Dogon there were also unconfirmed sightings of Sirius C. The Dogon were well aware of the brightest star in the sky but, as Van Beek learned, they do not call it sigu tolo, as Griaule claimed, but dana tolo. It's fascinating. To recapitulate: Griaule claimed to have been initiated into the secret mysteries of the male Dogon, during which they allegedly told him of Sirius (sigu tolo in their language) and its two invisible companions. Bullard, Thomas. Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. this about a star that cannot be seen without telescopes, and he made no WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. But it is apparent that Temple was not aware of Van Beeks devastating research. Also, why would the Dogan people not divulge where they received such recent knowledge of transfer if they had of gotten this knowledge from Europeans. Carl Sagan's contribution to this discussion was in his book Broca's Brain (1979). WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. Obviously, no Earth-based species was flying to other stars back then! Precise maps at the NASA space photo interpretation lab in Houston list "Behdet" as an ancient name for modern Damanhur, located today at 31.03 degN, 30.28 degE, i.e., more than a hundred kilometers away from where Temple locates his "Behdet" at 31.50 degN, 31.23 degE. History Debunked then goes on to demonstrate the type of pseudo-scientific nonsense this has lead to by providing a link to an Ethnomathematics paper and reading out its conclusion. The difference in brightness between Sirius A and B is a factor of 10,000! Such is the case with the Dogon a West African people and their supposed advanced and inexplicable knowledge of the stars Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is the brightest star in our sky. One example: "If a Sirius-C is ever discovered and found to be a red dwarf, I will conclude that the Dogon information has been fully validated." According to Sagan, western Africa has had many visitors from sources for Temple's story. 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dogon sirius debunked