THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
In describing the supposed "evolutionary march" of the history of mankind, Darwinist scientists are quite helpless on another subject: Man's mind, by which mankind has built universities, hospitals, factories and states, composed music, held the Olympic Games and traveled into space—in short, one of the most important characteristics that makes Man what he is.
Evolutionists maintain that human mind assumed its present capacities by evolving after Man diverged from chimpanzees, our so-called closest living relative. They ascribe the alleged leaps that took place in the mind's evolution to random changes occurring in the brain, and to the improving effect of tool-making skills. You'll frequently encounter such claims in television documentaries and in articles in magazines and newspapers, telling tall tales concerning ape-men who first learned how to make knives out of stone, and then spears. But this propaganda is not valid. Although they attempt to portray the scenarios they set out as scientific, they are actually based solely upon Darwinist preconceptions, and completely unscientific. The most important point of all is that human mind cannot be reduced to matter. By documenting the invalidity of materialism, this fact alone totally undermines any claims regarding the evolution of mind.
 Phillip Johnson |
Evolutionists maintain that mind emerged through evolution, but they have no means of experiencing what a primitive level of intelligence is like, nor of replicating the conditions in the supposed evolutionary process. Despite his being an evolutionist, Henry Gee, editor of Nature magazine, well known for its evolutionist content, openly admits the unscientific nature of such claims:
For example, the evolution of Man is said to have been driven by improvements in posture, brain size, and the coordination between hand and eye, which led to technological achievements such as fire, the manufacture of tools, and the use of language. But such scenarios are subjective. They can never be tested by experiment, and so they are unscientific. They rely for their currency not on scientific test, but on assertion and the authority of their presentation. 61
Besides being unscientific, such scenarios are also logically invalid. Evolutionists maintain that thanks to the intellect that supposedly emerged through evolution, the ability to use tools emerged and developed, thanks to which, in turn, intelligence developed. Yet such a development is possible only when human intelligence is already present. According to this account, the question of whether technology or mind first emerged through evolution goes unanswered.
Phillip Johnson, one of the most effective critics of Darwinism, writes this on the subject:
A theory that is the product of a mind can never adequately explain the mind that produced the theory. The story of the great scientific mind that discovers absolute truth is satisfying only so long as we accept the mind itself as a given. Once we try to explain the mind as a product of its own discoveries, we are in a hall of mirrors with no exit. 62
The fact that Darwinists are quite unable to account for their own human minds reveals that the claims they make about Man's cultural and social history are also invalid. Indeed, all the facts and findings we have reviewed so far makes Darwinists' claims regarding the "evolution of history" totally meaningless.
Contrary to what evolutionists claim, the history of mankind is full of proofs that ancient peoples possessed far superior technologies and civilizations than had been believed. One of these civilizations is that of the Sumerians. The artifacts they left behind are some of the proofs of the accumulated knowledge possessed by mankind thousands of years ago.
The Sumerians: An Advanced Civilization
Mesopotamia means "between rivers" in Greek. This region is one of the most fertile in the world, which has made it the cradle of great civilizations.
One group of people who emerged from south of these lands—from the region now known as Kuwait and northern Saudi Arabia—spoke a different language from other communities, lived in cities, were ruled by a monarchy based on a legal structure, and used writing. These were the Sumerians, who developed rapidly by founding great city-states from 3,000 BCE on, and brought great numbers of people under their sway. 63
 From 3,000 BCE onward, the Sumerians brought large areas under their control by constantly founding large city-states. |
At a later date, the Sumerians were defeated by the Akkadians and passed under their yoke. However, by adopting the Sumerians' culture, religion, art, law, state structure and literature, the Akkadians enabled civilization to preserve in Mesopotamia.
In their time, the Sumerians made significant developments in all fields, from technology to art and from law to literature. They had well-developed trade and a powerful economy. Bronze work, wheeled vehicles, sailing boats, statues and monumental structures are some of the evidence of their rapid progress that has survived to the present day. In addition, the Sumerians are known to have possessed many handcrafts that have not survived. The weaving and dyeing of wool—an important export commodity for Mesopotamian cities—can be cited as one of their developed lesser arts. 64
The Sumerians also had a developed social structure. Their state was a monarchical one, with the priest-king ruling with the help of a series of officials. After the harvest, these would share the produce among the people, and visit and inspect the fields. Bureaucracy formed the basis of the Sumerian administrative system. The priest in every region would assume responsibility for the people living there and thus ensure that food was equitably distributed, in big cities especially. Work carried out by the priests was recorded and archived.
The deep-rooted civilizations founded by ancient societies show that Darwin's thesis of "progress from the primitive to the civilized" does not reflect the facts. Sumerian civilization is one example of this.
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In the social, artistic, scientific and economic spheres, the Sumerians, who lived some 5,000 years before our own time, are at total variance with the evolutionist model of Man supposedly advancing from the primitive to the developed. The great civilization built by the Sumerians was not only exceedingly advanced for its own time, but also considerably advanced in comparison to a great many societies of our day. This level of cultural development cannot be explained by evolutionist claims of human beings first ridding themselves of ape-like features, including communication in grunts, then beginning to socialize and raise animals, and only just learning about agriculture. It is clear that human beings have always been human, with all their intelligence, abilities and tastes, in all periods of history. The images of ape-men sitting by the fire in caves and spending their days making crude stone implements, as so frequently depicted by evolutionists, are entirely fictitious, and conflict with all historical, archaeological and scientific evidence.
Sumerian Science
The Sumerians had their own number system. Instead of the
present-day base-10 system (decimal), they constructed a mathematical
system based on the number 60 (sexagesimal). Their system still occupies
an important place in our own day, in the way that we have 60 minutes
in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute, and 360 degrees in a circle.
For these reasons, the Sumerians, whose mathematical knowledge produced
the first geometrical and algebraic formulae, are regarded as the
founders of modern mathematics.
In addition, the Sumerians attained a rather advanced level in
astronomy, and their calculations of the years, months and days were
almost exactly the same as ours. The Sumerian calendar, with its year
consisting of 12 months, was also used by the Ancient Egyptians, the
Greeks and a number of Semitic societies. According to this calendar, a
year consisted of two seasons—summer and winter. Summer began on the
vernal equinox, and winter on the autumnal equinox.
The Sumerians used a 12-month
calendar, drew maps of many constellations, and followed the movements
of planets such as Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. The accuracy of their
calculations has been confirmed by discoveries and computer calculations
made in our time. Based on their observations, the Sumerians thought that our Solar System was made up of twelve planets, counting the Sun and Moon. Their 12th planet, referred to as Nibiru in some sources, is actually the tenth planet, also known as Planet X whose existence many scientists have recently accepted. The picture below shows Sumerian drawings of the Solar System. The Sun appears in the middle, with the planets orbiting around it. |
The
Sumerians also studied the heavens from towers they referred to as
"ziggurats." 65
They were able to predict solar and lunar eclipses, as can be seen
clearly in a number of records. To record their astronomical
discoveries, the Sumerians made charts of a great many constellations
of stars. In addition to the Sun and Moon, they also studied and noted
the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The
calculations that the Sumerians produced 5,000 years ago have now been
confirmed by the images sent back to Earth by spacecraft.
No doubt this is in complete conflict with claims of the evolution of history. We are looking at information originally discovered 5,000 years ago, which we have reacquired only recently thanks to giant telescopes, advanced computers and technology of various kinds. That being the case, evolutionist scientists should set aside their preconceptions and act in the light of the scientific and historical facts. That truth shows the invalidity of the idea, advocated by Darwinists, that civilizations always progress from the primitive to the more advanced. A number of ideological concerns underlie the attempt to account for the history of Man—who founds civilizations, composes music, produces works of art, constructs impressive buildings, explores space and makes scientific and technological discoveries—in terms of a supposed process of evolution. The correct approach for scientists is to behave in the light of the facts determined by experiment, discovery and observation, not ideological concerns.
 A ziggurat |
The
kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs to God. God has power over all
things.
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The Nimrud Lens
A lens-like fragment dating back some 3,000 years has been described as an important discovery that "could rewrite the history of science." That history shows that humankind has possessed the same mind, abilities and tastes from the moment he came into being. |
A discovery made by the archaeologist Sir John Layard in 1850 raised the question of who actually used the first lens? During a series of excavations in what is now Iraq, Layard discovered a piece of a lens dating back 3,000 years. Currently on display in the British Museum, this fragment shows that the first known lens was used in the days of the Assyrians. Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome believes that this rock-crystal lens—which, according to him, is a major discovery shedding considerable light on the history of science—could also explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy, having discovered the planet Saturn and the rings around it. 66
To what use was this lens put? That answer may be debatable, but it's still obvious that not all bygone societies lived simple lives, as evolutionist scientists maintain. Past societies made use of science and technology, built deeply-rooted civilizations and enjoyed advanced life styles. Only limited information regarding their daily lives has come down to us today, but practically all we know shows that none of these societies ever underwent evolution.
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God
created the heavens and the Earth with truth. There is certainly a sign
in that for the believers.
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The Baghdad Battery
 Research into this object, known as the "Baghdad battery" and dating back 2,000 years, suggests that it was used as a battery to generate electricity. |
In 1938, the German archaeologist Wilhelm König discovered a vase-like object now known as the "Baghdad Battery." But how was it concluded that this object, some 2,000 years old, was used as a battery? If it actually was used as a battery—which the research carried out certainly indicates—then all theories to the effect that civilization always progresses and that societies in the past lived under primitive conditions, will be totally demolished. This earthenware pot, sealed with asphalt or bitumen, contains a cylinder of copper. The bottom of this cylinder is covered with a copper disk. The asphalt stopper holds in place an iron rod, suspended down into the cylinder, without making any contact with it.
If the pot is filled with an electrolyte, a current-producing battery is the result. This phenomenon is known as an electrochemical reaction, and is not far different from the way that present-day batteries work. During experiments, between 1.5 and 2 volts of electricity was generated by some reconstructions based on the Baghdad Battery.
This raises a very important question: What was a battery used for 2,000 years ago? Since such a battery existed, obviously there must have been tools and devices that it powered. This once again shows that people living 2,000 years ago possessed far more advanced technology—and by extension, living standards—than was previously thought.
61. Henry Gee, In Search of Deep Time: Beyond The Fossil Record to A
New History of Life, The Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster,
Inc., 1999, p. 5
62. Phillip E. Johnson, Reason in the Balance: The Case Against
Naturalism in Science, Law & Education, Downers Grove, Illinois:
InterVarsity Press, 1995, p. 62.
63. Temel Britannica, Vol. 16, Ana Yayıncılık, Istanbul: June 1993,
p. 203.
64. Georges Contenau, Everday Life in Babylon and Assyria, London:
Edward Arnold Publishers, 1964.
65. Samuel Noah Kramer, History Begins at Sumer:
Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History, Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
66. Dr. David Whitehouse, "World's Oldest Telescope?", BBC News, 1
July 1999,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/380186.stm
