8.10 – THE FORBIDDEN ZONES (10.9.15)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION ^[11b]

Northern Iraq. the ancient Assyrian capital city of Nimrud. Built over 3,000 years ago in the 13th-century BC, the site is an archaeological treasure trove. Among the antiquities found here are monumental statues of winged lions with human-heads, and massive relief carvings depicting the ancient gods of Mesopotamia. But on March 6, 2015, militants from the Islamic State stormed the ancient site, violently destroying everything in their path. After obliterating irreplaceable relics, they wired the entire site with explosives and leveled it completely forever wiping it from the face of the Earth.

“This group seems to be more destructive than just about anything people can recall in history. It’s almost as if we’re being orphaned from our past. We are having our parentage, our ancestors, cut off from us; the record of them.” – Patrick Martin (Middle East Correspondent, The Globe & Mail)

“It is absolutely barbaric what is going on currently in the Middle East with some factions going deliberately to ancient sites and just eradicating our cultural heritage.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (Publisher, Legendary Times Magazine)

This volatile region is widely considered to have been the cradle of civilization. And its archaeological destruction could mean the loss of information about mankind’s historical past.

“Iraq, Syria what we call the Middle East, or the Near East, is called the cradle of civilization for a reason. Anthropologically, this appears to be the place where the first humans arose. This is where people came from. And all of the earliest civilizations, cities, governments, come from this region.” – Robert Cargill, Ph.D. (Former: Biblical Archaeologist, UCLA), (Current: Asst. Prof. of Classic & Religious Studies, Univ. of Iowa)

In the 21st-century, the violence and destruction have reached an unprecedented level, but the Middle East has been embroiled in conflict for thousands of years.

“The Islamic state today is doing what the Taliban did before, which is doing what Byzantine Christians and Jews before them have all done. They don’t want any graven images. So, because of their religious beliefs, they are basically destroying our own cultural heritage for religious purposes. And like human lives, many of these you can’t get back.” – Robert Cargill, Ph.D. (Former: Biblical Archaeologist, UCLA), (Current: Asst. Prof. of Classic & Religious Studies, Univ. of Iowa)

Since 1990, the Middle East has seen the destruction of cultural heritage on an unprecedented scale. A scale not seen since the Christian vandalism that began during the Roman Empire. Over 700,000 archaeological, cultural and religious artifacts have been stolen or destroyed. And over 200 significant historical sites have been completely left in ruins.

“The Middle East seems to be in an almost permanent state of instability. Is this deliberate? Is someone keeping it that way? Maybe to prevent us from discovering something? Is there something that would fundamentally change our understanding of who we are and where we come from?” – Nick Pope (British Ministry of Defense, 1985-2006), (Author, Open Skies, Closed Minds)

“It is absolutely horrifying to see the erasing of our history. And what’s worse all of these ancient sites are one giant piece of the puzzle that we might have been visited in the past by extraterrestrials.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (Publisher, Legendary Times Magazine)

For thousands of years, northern Africa, the Middle East and India have been in an almost constant state of unrest. But also in Southeast Asia, the regions of Kashmir and Tibet are considered among the most disputed territories in the world. And halfway across the globe, the northern triangle of Central America which includes Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras has been declared the deadliest region on Earth outside of active war zones. Could there be a reason that these specific areas experience so much chaos?

“It might be that on such places, the extraterrestrials descended some thousands of years ago, on such places, they have hidden something.” – Erich von Däniken (Author, Chariots of the Gods?)

“There could be something special about the sites. These are areas that are so important to the things that have happened on this planet. And, I still think that the knowledge, and the success of where we go as people on planet Earth is directly related to those areas.” – George Noory (Radio Host, Coast to Coast AM)

Is it possible that there is an otherworldly connection between certain areas of global conflict and places of significant archaeological importance? Ancient Astronaut Theorists say yes and suggest there could very well be so-called forbidden zones on planet Earth areas that extraterrestrial entities want to keep humans from exploring? But if so, why? Perhaps further clues can be found by examining a conflict in another volatile region, where some of mankind’s greatest treasures are being looted from beneath the desert sands.

Previous: Introduction | Next: Hidden Technology

References:

^[1] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: Season 8. [DVD Back Cover]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™.

^[2] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.1 – Aliens BC.[Episode Description]. Retrieved: July 24, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[3] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.2 – NASA’s Secret Agenda. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: July 31, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[4] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.3 – Aliens & Robots. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 7, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[5] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.4 – Dark Forces. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 14, 2014, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[6] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.5 – The Alien Evolution. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 21, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[7] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.6 – The Other Earth. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 28, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[8] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.7 – Creatures of the Deep. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 4, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[9] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 18, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

^[10] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.9 – The Alien Wars. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 25, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.

[11] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: October 9, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8. [11a] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Introduction]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11b] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Archaeological Destruction]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11c] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Hidden Technology]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11d] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Violence Triggers]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11e] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Human Origins]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11f] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: ET Portals]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [11g] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [DVD Footage: Purpose of War]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™.