Accurate geographical and cartographical information concerning the Continent of Antarctica has only really been uncovered since AD 1822. However, in direct contradiction, ancient maps reveal Antarctica completely free of glaciation thousands of years beforehand.
According to experts in ancient cartography and oceanography only a very advanced maritime culture exploring Antarctica after the end of the last Ice Age, 11000 years ago, could possibly have created such maps. So, who was this suddenly, incredibly advanced Civilisation?
The failure to find an acceptable answer to this cartographic mystery led to speculation that ancient maps were produced by highly advanced aliens because to produce maps of huge Continental land masses could only be plotted accurately from an aerial perspective using surveying equipment especially designed for the purpose!
So, aliens excluded, which highly technically advanced cartographers could traverse our planet many thousands of years before the likes of Columbus, et al? Where did they come from and how did they come to possess the expertise and navigational ability to sail vast oceans and, most importantly, recorded their findings on maps alleged to have been the sources of information passed on to 'modern' explorers like Columbus, Cook, Magellan or Vasco da Gama, for example (1492-1785)
To quote an example, there is the 16th Century 'Buache' map which he (Buache) claims to have been made by a very ancient civilisation who accurately mapped the Continent of Antarctica completely free of its one mile deep ice cap. However, with no concrete proof to substantiate his claims, experts suspect Buache's map was probably the product of a vivid imagination. But was it... we shall see later?
Taken advantage of Antarctica's present narrow extension of coastal deglaciation and used remote sensing satellite photography to expose a number of absolutely astonishing human head and animal portraits together with inscriptive material clearly demonstrating someone had touched down on at least three separate areas of Antarctica coastline in the distant past.
Archaeologist,William James Veall's probing by remote sensing satellite (in red) and the extended ice free section of the Ross Sea coastline as shown on the AD 1512 maps of Oronteus Finaeus (marked green)
FIGURE 1: Modern map of Antarctica indicating the section of the Ross Sea coastline the subject of Space
Many of my readers already know I use the technique of remote sensing satellite photography to expose ground based imagery: rock sculptures, intaglios, pictographs, petroglyphs and epigraphy symbols. Currently, I am also involved in using satellite technology for the extremely important service of detection, preservation and protection of archaeological sites world-wide from theft and acts of vandalism. (GlobalXplorer)
Utilising this same technique I have been very successful tracing the coastline 'hops' of trans-oceanic voyagers around South America, the seaboard of North East America, Newfoundland, the West Coast of Africa, Uruguay and even down the eastern coast of Australia (see table 1) with some most incredible revelations.
FIGURE 2: Table 1.Ancient symbols discovered along the eastern coastline of Australia by William James Veall, March 2017. (Copyright WJV 2017)
Following the rather fruitful foray along the east coast of Australia I decided to chance my luck and put to the test the statement made by the Greek, Marinus of Tyre, who in 400 BC reported he had knowledge of an ancient map depicting Antarctica free of ice.
Logically, the nearest point of any trans-oceanic contact with Antarctica using the eastern Australian coastline as a guide would be to cross the South Atlantic, sail into the Antarctic circle and touch down at some point roughly in the region of Wilkes Land; the same area selected by Ross in AD 1840-1843.
It is not unreasonable to assume on the premise that the extreme eastern Australian seaboard runs southwards following roughly the 153º anti-meridian that ancient explorers would have 'coast hopped' this meridian in easily measured steps of latitude known in ancient navigational parlance as 'running the latitudes' in conjunction with certain overhead constellations (After Obregon) thus enabling them to cross the oceans until they reached the Continent of Antarctica.
After a preliminary scanning of most of the Antarctic perimeter, a deglaciated section of the Ross Sea region appeared to be the only area that might yield sufficient arctifactual data to make this 'shot in the dark' have any real significance to answer the question: Are there any signs of indigenous or external activity which may account for the fact that various ancient sea maps purport to show all or parts of the Antarctica coastline free of ice?
So firstly, how did Marinus of Tyre learn of the existence of 'Antarctica' in 400 BC and secondly, did Buache really have access to ancient maps which allowed him to construct what he claims to be a true representation of the Continent of Antarctica... minus its covering of frozen ice and snow?
Apparently it was Aristotle who told the Greek geographer, cartographer and mathematician, Marinus of Tyre, the existence of a Continent named 'Terra Australis' surrounding the South Pole. Marinus then marked the world bit-map he was compiling from other ancient maps with this same title. But, most fascinating of all his map showed Terra Australis (Antarctica) without the traditional ice shield. However, the ancient maps Marinus allegedly used mysteriously 'disappeared' so we have no way of verifying his story. (After Hapgood)
By the same token; this does not explain how other ancient cartographers, like Oronteus Finaeus and Hadji Ahmed could also claim they had access to maps 6000 years old (4000 BC) depicting the Continent of Antarctica completely free of an ice cap. From where did their maps originate and who compiled them? I believe I may have chanced upon an answer.
I must confess prior to my Antarctica 'shot in the dark', apart from knowing Antarctica housed the South Pole... and a few Penguins, I really had no preconceived ideas about this ice-coated region at the southernmost tip of Planet Earth. Imagine my surprise to discover quite by chance I had followed the now familiar 'modern' Explorers sea route to Antarctica and coincidentally 'landed' my remote sensing satellite probe virtually at the same anchorage chosen by Amundsen (1911-1912) and Scott (1910-1913).
Rounding Cape Adare and into the Ross Sea, I scanned the eastern coastline along a stretch where the Ross Sea borders Victoria Land. Quite coincidentally, a section of deglaciated shoreline had retreated a little inland leaving a roughly 2 Kilometre stretch exposed, albeit, some places still covered with traces of glaciation. According to the most recent scientific surveys the Eastern Antarctica ice shield has, even over just the last twenty years, begun to melt at an alarming rate suspected as a result of global warming.
I had barely crossed the halfway mark along the Ross Sea shoreline when I had the shock of my life!
The satellite had captured very clearly a human head image (portrait) staring out from the rocky terrain (Figures 7 and 7a) This was not supposed to happen - the presence of Mankind in any form, prehistoric or otherwise had never ever been detected on Antarctica - a Continent currently believed to have been ice covered for 8 to 9 million years and would logically be virgin territory free of any prehistoric indigenous inhabitants until well after the end of the great Ice Age, 12,000 years ago.
Research carried out by Reading University in the UK strongly suggest an advanced civilisation did exist many thousands of years before the Egyptians, Sumerians or Babylonians; this culture of Black Peoples (the Kiffian Era) due to climatic changes were driven south from their homelands of the "Green Sahara" (9000 - 4000BC ) to eventually merge their alleged quite advanced technology with the more primitive 'white' races in the southern regions, Egypt, for example. (see Bibliography: 'Black Mummy of the Sahara' - an excellent video).
Scanning the Ross Sea rocky coastline eventually exposed some forty or so human head portraits, including animal heads and, including those in Table 2, nearly one hundred pecked symbols. My method of analysis has been developed over many years studying literally hundreds of satellite imagery situations across the mountains and deserts of the World enabling the creation of extremely critical rules for precise imagery interpretation.
FIGURE 3: Table 2 Chart depicting the ancient symbols uncovered along the Ross Sea coastline of Antarctica by Space Archaeologist, William James Veall in April 2017. (Copyright WJV 2017)
FIGURE 4: Table 3: Comparing Linear A and Linear B scripts from Tables 1 and 2
Authors note: The backgrounds to Figures 5 to 12 have been lightly diffused to improve image clarity, but this original satellite imagery has not been retouched in any way. The added silouette is not intended to be a 'portrait' but simply an aid to identifying the pose of the satellite image. Figs 5 to 12 are published under the Google Earth 'Permissions of Fair Use'.
FIGURES 5 and 5a: A petroglyph, located on Marambio Island in the north west corner of the Antarctic, has a most unusual monkey-face profile, subtending the head of an eagle. The head is marked with an open loop GIS symbol on the left cheek.Three circles (stones) are conjoined at the rear of the eagle's head. A date perhaps?
Which particular culture used this motif as its signature icon to announce its presence on Antarctica? The head is 34ms high x 50ms wide, the Eagle 18ms high x 39ms in length. The two conjoined 'Gods' appear to represent Hanuman, the all powerful Hindu Monkey God and the Eagle, the Hindu God, Garuda (after Lehrburger )... but in the ANTARCTIC?
FIGURE 6: I originally ignored this rock strewn debris but careful manouvering of the remote sensing camera shot exposed a pattern of rocks seemingly set in the form of an ancient legend embedded into the seashore. Unfortunately, the seaward portion of the text is now submerged under (melt) water. Exposed size 50ms in length x 25ms wide.
Was this message a Dedication to celebrate a long held dream of stepping ashore on Planet Earth's most iconic land mass; acting a counterweight to balance Global Earth with another great land mass in the north - the Arctic? I believe so.
The characters appear very similar to the Minoan Linear A 'accountancy' script, circa 1800 - 1400BC; this is immensely interesting because the 'dots and dashes' just might translate into chronological data, in other words - announcing the arrival and date of European mans' first footfall on the Continent of Antarctica?
Interestingly, Table 3 quite clearly depicts characters are both Linear A and B types, whereas virtually all the subsequent inscriptive material (see table 2) along the Ross Sea coastline is 'pecked' in a more advanced alphabet of Phoenician genre. Thus, by inference, the landing must have taken place well before 1200 BC because after that time the Phoenician genre (1100 BC) began to dominated 'writing'.
One further fact that might confirm the message was a 'Dedication of Arrival'; the triangle symbol gives an exact Latitude 72 21 04 00 S and Longtitude 170 15 37 00E. In my experience, a triangle followed by a capital 'A' almost always signified a geodetic of importance.
Further, why set this co-ordinate on a fragile shoreline when all others are carved into the cliff face? Answer: many years earlier the coastline was greatly extended - as proven by both the Oronteus Finaeus and Buache' ancient maps (see Figure 1 map, green extension)
. FIGURES 7 and 7a: The very first portrait I discovered on Antarctica; this amazing figure wearing a tricorn hat is carved into a deglaciated rock surface, some 25metres in height x 32metres width, it features a human head, caucasian in appearance with gentile facial features and lightly epicanthic, expressive eyes. The left cheek (facing) is pecked with a Cretan style 'star'; the forehead with a diamond point GIS. Beneath the right eye (facing) is a small pecked triangle. Just opposite are pecked two Linear A characters.
FIGURES 8 and 8a: This figure, 23ms high x 20ms in width is clearly of 'Native' ancestry. The head appears to have has a unusual projecting jawline A gnomon records the 170.16.26.00 longitude co-ordinate of this particular image.
FIGURES 9 and 9a: Amongst the plethora of Antarctica imagery I have recorded each piece of imagery brought forth its own particular surprise. The two animals depicted in this exciting figure were no exception.
Reading the back history of Antarctica, references clearly state that there was never any indigenous flora and fauna of any kind present on the Continent because the land mass had been completely covered in an ice sheet for at least 9 million years... before even prehistoric Man.
Now this discovery begs the question: Who carved with such finesse two massive Deer heads which by their conformation suggest they may be of the Huemel species. Sculpture size (per each) averages 18ms length x 6ms width.
Were the two sculptures homeland icons or had successive waves of immigrants imported deer as a source of live food or milk provision; this begs the question from where? The nearest habitat for the Huemel species of deer would likely be Patagonia, South America.
There is a possible solution. During a period of temperate climate, did a sea route open between Cape Horn (Patagonia) and the Shetland Islands. I am quite confident in putting forward this suggestion because distinct traces of rock art activity are visible on the rock faces of some of the islands in the Shetland group. (to be published later)
Also, Nelson Island directly faces Peninsula Antarctica where I have recorded more human head portraiture, one of which is MS 3815 depicted in Figure 5 located on Marambio Island. Did some Peoples set foot on Antarctica before or after those who landed at Ross Sea. Also did the same people in a great period of climatic change either circumnavigate or use a deglaciated land route across Antarctica to reach the Ross Sea community? Hence, explaining why there are different races immortalised in its human head portraiture.
The answer to such questions is a huge and separate project in itself, probably even greater than the Ross Sea investigation because it must take into account transient movement of humans and animals between the tip of South America and Peninsula Antarctica, likely intervals of glaciation and deglaciation during periods of climatic change.
If the current glacial melt-down continues there will inevitably be the discovery of more human head portraits, with, perhaps, some very important inscriptive material. All of which will make fascinating comparison with the Ross Sea anchorage and solve the question of who really were the first to set foot on Antarctica?
FIGURE 10 and 10a What an amazing discovery. Carved entirely from white rock, an oval shaped human head with a round eyed, rather chilling stare marked with ancient symbols. Dots in a circle about a centre point motif is typical late 13th century BC. Mycenaean. (after Higgins ) (Size 44ms high x 33ms width).
FIGURE 11 and 11a:
A superbly sculptured human head in a 'Romanesque/Greco' style helmet with an open loop GIS mark on the front panel.The portrait, nearly 800 metres in height x 400 metres wide is carved into the steep face of a mountain ridge. Immediately to the right (facing) is a very distinct GIS symbol which gives a latitudinal reading of 82º 25 15 00S Six hundred metres to the east is 'pecked' a diamond point GIS indicating the longitude of the site.
Satellite photographs show the sculpture is on a mountain side in the Holyoake Range. The very fact this colossal bust was carved in such a remote snowbound location greatly puzzled me, although I do accept the bust may have been carved if this area of Antarctica had once upon a time become ice free and accessible. When and by whom, and for what purpose was this massive figure set in this particular location?
And then, I remembered reading from an excellent book by the late Prof. Charles Hapgood, (FRGS) "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings" that Oronteus Finaeus had plotted the position of the South Pole from ancient maps he had acquired. Hapgood cannily computed that Oronteus Finaeus' South Pole was in fact 7.5º (800 Kms) from the true South Pole we recognise today.
Now came the moment of truth! My satellite navigator had, on the 9th May 2017, recorded a latitudinal reading of 82º 25' for the statue, almost the 7.5º from the true South Pole. I then checked out the longitudinal co-ordinate, 160º 32'.
Each co-ordinate confirmed almost exactly the position of the South Pole - precisely as Oronteus Finaeus had marked upon his AD 1531 map.
I firmly believe the gigantic 800 metre high sculpture was carved, not only to permanently mark what was believed to be, at the time, the true South Pole but to honour and record in Memoriam the first Peoples ever to knowingly reach the 'South Pole'.
Summary: The very last thing I expected to end up doing - writing an article some 5000 words in length, analyse and create artwork for numerous portraits, draw maps, plus epigraphy tables, all resulting from a fun-loving hunch to circumnavigate the vast Continent of Antarctica by remote sensing satellite - out of sheer curiosity.
To find a whole host of human head portraits, seemingly of at least five differing cultures, plus animal heads, all interspersed with a mass of inscriptive material and, romantically, 'a message on the seashore', was mind-blowing to say the least.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, against all the known odds, Antarctica had been visited in the ancient past with possibly some long term habitation along, at least, the coastal regions in periods of more temperate climate; this proof completely rebuts the long held belief that "Antarctica NEVER had any native people living there, in fact until AD 1822, NO ONE had even set eyes on Antarctica."
But surely the 'icing on the cake' was when I discovered the importance of the massive figure carved in the Holyoake mountain range to commemorate the discovery of and record the exact location of the South Pole as extrapolated from Oronteus Finaeus' ancient maps.
I have a slight reservation about this point having recorded by remote sensing hundreds of GIS (Geodetic and Identification) markers. I have always been astonished at the incredible accuracy achieved by the ancient map makers - and I am not talking in 'degrees' but 'minutes' of accuracy - quietly suggestive of an ancient civilisation possessing knowledge of astronomy, navigation and map-making with superlative scientific equipment not equalled by 'modern' man until at least the 19th century.
Dating of artifactual material is at best very much trial and error. The dress code of any ancient statue or portrait is almost always a sound clue to provenance. Here, one clue is in the rather 'romanesque/greco' style of helmet. In fact along the Ross Sea section there appears to be at least four busts similarly helmeted suggesting an expeditionary force from the Mediterranean had indeed succeeded in reaching Antarctica.
As a Space Archaeologist, I make no claims to having expertise in Epigraphy; this does not preclude making observations about the material I have uncovered in the course of my research. Therefore, is it possible to derive a time frame simply from the inscriptive material I have charted in Tables 1 - 3? The answer is Yes. Firstly, by observing the historical extremities of the tabulated charts.
The very earliest stage of the Antarctican epigraphy chain would need to have Egyptian hieroglyphs, there are NONE. An end point to my tabulated chain would need to include the 'modernised' Greek alphabet, Hebrew and perhaps even Roman lettering.There are NONE.Thus we have established the limits of the charted inscriptive material.
Table 1 "Symbols discovered along the east coast of Australia". MS 3755, Col 5, depicts a Proto-Sinaitic character, (man joyously waving arms about) circa 1850 BC. Is this the first link in the hypothesis? As we examine other characters in Tables 1 and 2 we find a bias towards the Minoan script, Linear A. Now, Linear A was developed, circa 1800BC - 1400 BC, and used essentially as an 'accounting script'. Hence 'dots and dashes' signifying a base 10 script. (see table 3 and the "message on the sands")
However, one will notice within the 'mix' (Tables 1, 2 and 3) are characters from the Mycenaean script Linear B, developed circa 1500 BC - 1200BC and mainly used for 'communication'.
Thus we have a start date in our timeline made up from Proto-Sinaiatic (1850 BC) paralleled with Linear A (1800BC - 1400 BC), followed by Linear B (1500BC - 1200BC). Linear B was followed by the Phoenician alphabet (1100 BC) which continued down into the Iron age (1050 BC) thence to be taken over by Greek alphabetical variants (800 - 750 BC).
Thus to summarise: According to the inscriptive material, the Ross Sea region of Antarctica was subject to visitations and possible semi-permanent habitation during a period(s) of deglaciation 1850 BC through to,say at least 1050 BC - a time scale allowing for overlap - not far off 1000 years.
Also, I believe, over this 1000 year time span Antarctica was eventually circumnavigated 'en total' hence the map of Antarctica was actually bit-mapped thus producing the historically reported series of slightly disjointed local maps.
An indepth appraisal of glaciation and deglaciation of Antarctica even over just 10,000 years is extremely complex and outside the remit of this article, Suffice to say, if perchance the 'message in the sands' was one of 'Farewell', why was it 'written' in Linear A / Linear B and not the same alphabet as the mass of inscriptive material shown in Table 2. Were there successive visitations over the 1000 year period; the latter waves using a more 'modern' form of written communication.
We have already discussed it was Aristotle who informed Marinus of Tyre in 400BC of the existence of a Continent called Terra Australis (Antarctica) which he had gleaned from (local) maps hundreds of years old.
Now, if we accept the ancient maps Aristotle referred to, stretch back hundreds of years, 1450 BC is well within an acceptable time frame. A time frame that encompasses the period when the Minoans were extremely active commercial maritime traders, superb artisans at producing amazing gold and bronze human figurines and natural forms ( animals (deer), birds, flowers and fish) and obviously would have included a range of iron and bronze tools for shipbuilding to fine arts.
The Ross Sea sculptures could only have been carved by highly skilled artists working with possibly some of the hardest rock known to man; these artisans would surely have needed 'mauls and chisels' made from durable bronze or iron. This fact is very important because the dates of the Minoan Bronze Age (1500 - 1200BC) and subsequent slight overlap into the Early Iron Age (1050 BC) firmly keep the Minoans in our postulated timeframe.
One very interesting point arises when considering, in such a short stretch of shoreline, there are at least five completely differing cultures depicted by the physiognomy of the busts; I do not believe they are a generation arising from linear development because quite simply we would be looking at tens of thousands of years, not just 10,000 years of deglaciated history.
What is more, the ancient artists have carefully selected their rock face work-pieces to reflect the colour tones of the faces they desired to portray, hence, presenting us with everlasting original portraits of inhabitants 'in the flesh' exactly as they were centuries ago.
Strangely, even the portraits of the most primitive peoples are marked with the same 'international' loop or diamond point GIS clearly indicating the statues are contemporaneous alongside the copius amounts of inscriptive material; this, as we have already said, is readily dateable between the limits of 1850 BC - 800BC.
I cannot state categorically that Minoans were the very first to see or set foot upon the shores of Antarctica; that is something we will never know for certain. The very fact that 'primitive' busts were evident amongst the sculptures suggests local native 'Fisherfolk' from say Patagonia, New Guinea or Southern Australia, for example, could equally have taken advantage of a temperate climate window and were actually in residence before the Minoans arrived.
Clearly without close forensic examination I am unable to say one way or the other whether the Minoans with their passion for recreating all living creatures in paintings or sculptural form
conceived the Ross Sea shoreline as a museum masterpiece, or whether the more primitive residents had the capability and tools to fashion imagery according to their own likeness before the Minoans arrived... and use a GIS insignia, I don't think so?
The question everyone now will ask: Do you believe, now that Antarctica has been partially exposed, this Continent will turn out to be the real 'Punt' and mysterious island of 'Atlantis'?
FIGURE 12 and 12a: Fig 12 is the original untouched satellite photograph. Fig. 12a has been lightly retouched by pencil only.
This latest satellite capture shows here again we have the strange juxtaposition between the primitive form and symbolic material. Just where does this 'prehistoric' specimen of humanity fit into Antarctica's exposed chain of humanity?
Note the low forehead embellished with floral headband, small eyes set under a heavy brow (cranial) ridge. Broad squat nose over a large mouth showing very clearly a set of protruding sharp canines. Notice the flower,lower bottom right, amongst the inscriptive material.
Bearing in mind the previous Australia/Antarctica contact mentioned above, I suspect the image represents an early Aboriginal arrival on the Continent, but associated with inscriptive material… its a continuing mystery!
Finally,the fascinating question everyone will ask: Do you believe, now that Antarctica has been partially exposed, this Continent will turn out to be the real 'Punt' and mysterious island of 'Atlantis'?
Authors Notes:
GIS means GEODETIC IDENTIFICATION SYMBOL. (after Veall)
Open Loop (Venus), Diamond Point and Square Face are the three basic styles of GIS markings.(after Veall)
See "Portraits of the Gods", Nascodex Publications, Page 132.
Pixilation: When using Remote Satellite Imaging beware of 'square' pixels giving a false impression of buildings.
Latitude or longitude co-ordinates not quoted here can be supplied to persons or official bodies but permission must be obtained to research archaeological sites on Antarctica.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Recommended reading to accompany this article.
ANTARCTICA. Booksellers have a huge selection of excellent books about Antarctica.
FELL B. AMERICA B.C. Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster Inc.) USA 1989
GLOBALXPLORER: [email protected]
HAPGOOD C.H. MAPS OF THE ANCIENT SEA KINGS. Souvenir Press . UK 2001
HIGGINS R. MINOAN and MYCENAEAN ART. Thames & Hudson. UK 1974
IFRAH G. HISTOIRE INIVERSELLE DES CHIFFES. Editions Seghers. Paris. 1981
LEHRBURGER C. SECRETS OF ANCIENT AMERICA.Bear & Co. (I/T International) 2015
OBREGON M. BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE SEA. Random House, USA 2001
PARCAK,S. SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING FOR ARCHAEOLOGY. Routledge UK 2009
POPE M. DECIPHERMENT (The Story of). Thames & Hudson. UK 1975
VEALL W.J. PORTRAITS OF THE GODS. Nascodex Publications. Catalunya. 2016
BLACK MUMMY OF THE SAHARA: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2942jGCy2s
"ANTARCTICA WRITING" UP-DATE DECEMBER 2017
TRANSLATIONS SUGGEST TAMILS AND SUMERIANS WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO REACH AUSTRALIA AND ANTARCTICA?
Remote satellite photograph showing the beautiful cove along the Australian eastern seaboard believed by the Author to have been a Waystation used by ancient Trans - Oceanic Seafarers. Photo courtesy Google Earth.
Up-date to include an alternative opinion piece by Epigrapher, Educator and Anthropologist, Dr Clyde Winters, Ph.D. Chicago, USA, concerning the identification and transliteration of the inscriptive material.
Before commencing, a brief summary of the back-ground history of the Tamils and their script together with the Sumerians and what is meant by a Linear Sumerian script.
The TAMILS. Nothing is really certain about the Tamil peoples history. They lived in a southern part of India called Tamil Nadu, circa 2200 BC, then migrated mainly into the north eastern areas of Sri Lanka which became the permanent homeland of the Sri Lanken Tamils around the 2nd century B.C.
The Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of Brahmi script, circa 2200 BC, with literature emerging circa 300 BC - AD300. It is currently used to write the Tamil language in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well as in Sri Lanka.
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in southern India, amongst others, but surprisingly as we shall see, spoken in Australia!
The Sumerian culture, after Sumer, flourished along the floodplains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient southern Mesopotamia, now Iraq, circa 4500 BC.
The Sumerians not only created a system of language and writing but also excelled in astronomy, mathematics and architecture. Indeed, it is currently believed that the ancient Sumerians had developed an expertise in medical matters by at least 2500BC.
Rather like the Tamils, Sumerian origins remain a mystery. Some students claim Sumerians came from India and were actually of Caucasian origin.
There is strong evidence of Linear Sumerian script in Bolivia, in the form of the enscribed POKOTIA MONOLITH; this makes a firm case for the presence of Sumerians in South America, at least, during the Tiahuanaco Early Intermediate Period 200 BC - AD 600, which eventually culminated sometime between AD 1000 and AD 1100.
PLATE (ii) POKOTIA MONOLITH
Courtesy of Dr Clyde Winters
Dr C.A. Winters has freely given permission to quote from his spontaneous report posted to the author almost immediately upon publication of "Astonishing Human Heads: Do satellite photographs now prove existence of humans on Antarctica... 6000 years ago?" (Ancient Origins 26th August 2017)
Readers of that article may remember Table 1 listed some of the symbols I had exposed by remote sensing satellite along the Australia's eastern seaboard. Shortly after publication I discovered another amazing rock-cut legend. I immediately sent the satellite photograph to Dr Winters for his expert opinion.
PLATE (iii) The original satellite photograph of the rock carved legend in Tamil with an outline sketch of the legend for clarity.
PLATE (iv) Dr Winters translation of the 'Noticeboard' carved in Tamil script.
The huge 6m x 3m ( 20ft x 10 ft ) slab of rock was discovered face upwards amongst debris from a cliff-face that had collapsed on to the beach.
According to Dr Winters, and I quote: "I have looked at the inscriptions from Australia and they appear to be written in TAMIL writing derived from the Indus Valley script, called TAMILI "
The inscription says:" Act to give birth to Relief from Trouble. Shelter " (here).
Modern advertising might interpret the signboard as: "Welcome. Eat, Drink and be Merry at the Shelter Cove'". Just a thought ! (Author)
The main picture, Plate (i), shows the beautiful Australian Cove less than 700 metres northwards from the 'Noticeboard '. Set high up on a cliff-face the huge legend would be clearly visible during the day to coastal seafarers seeking a safe anchorage.
One might perhaps conjecture that in ancient times the Cove was a Waystation able to supply freshwater and replenish food supplies on a regular basis to passing voyagers.
The 'port of call' is 782 Kms, say 2 weeks sailing, from the pinnacle of Cape York Peninsula which coincidentally is directly opposite the Island of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia - a little over 150 Kms across the Ocean from Australia.
Continuing his opinion piece, Dr Winters commented on Figure 5, "Head subtending the head of an Eagle". Here entitled PLATE (v).
Dr Winters was of the opinion: "it was unlikely that there was any connection between Hanuman and the Indus Valley because Monkey figures do not appear on Indus Valley seals "
He further stated: "I believe this is a human figure. It would appear that these heads are leaders from various Sumerian centers that formerly existed on Antarctica".
"These people were probably from the Sumerian colony in South America called Kuga Ki".
"The Marambio Island head has three signs. The signs near the eye reads 'Ta ga' or 'Open (up) esteem'.
"At the bottom of the figure we see two signs: a 'ga' sign, and three circles which reads as 'se'; these signs say 'The Patron is Mighty' "
Commenting on article Figure 7 (herebelow Plate vi), Dr Winters wrote, and I quote directly from his opinion piece:
PLATE (vi).
Using Sumerian we can easily read the inscriptions. There are four characters inside the 'box'. This appears to be the name of the individual and reads NALILISU which means : The human being that glistens and shines (with) wisdom.
The letters across the forehead include from right to left a single sign 'u' and a compound sign that reads from top to bottom Pa u mi Mash, or "The leader a powerful man is an Oracle and Shaman",
The sign on the cheek appears to be a mash sign with an 'I' in the middle of the mash sign, or the determinative placed before Divine names. There is no name following the sign so I read it as "I Mash'", Witness here the Shaman'.
PLATE vii
Title: 'Mash' Determinative sign used before Divine names.
We end Dr Winters fascinating report on the "Antarctica Writing" with his transliteration of the 'Message on the Shore'; the ancient legend embedded into the Ross sea shoreline, and again I quote verbatim:
The ancient legend embedded into the seashore is also a Sumerian inscription dedicated to one of the Arctic Chiefs.
Title: PLATE: viii The 'Message on the Shore' embedded into the Ross Sea shoreline annotated with Dr Clyde Winters transliteration.
Note: Further examples of Linear Sumerian Writing used in South America can be found in Dr Winters excellent book entitled "Ancient Scripts in South America" (Amazon.com/1519257546) .
CONCLUSION. There is no doubt the powerful evidence extrapolated by Dr Winters transliterations from satellite photographs taken over Antarctica provide irrefutable evidence that trans - oceanic voyagers from far distant lands were able to, and did, reach the Southern Continent of Antarctica at least 6000 years ago.
Add to this, the discovery of the huge Signboard enscribed in Tamili, the Linear Sumerian 'writing' associated with the human head portraiture - not forgetting the 'message on the seashore', the "Patron is Mighty' imagery from Marambio Island then this evidence of human occupation on the Continent of Antarctica becomes difficult to dispute.
Not only was evidence obtained epigraphically but the characters engraved on the portrait in Plate (iv) even announced a name and ranking:"NALILISU: a Leader and Powerful Man".
Dr Winters further commented: "Perhaps, He (NALILISU) was a colonist from the Sumerian colony in South America called Kuga Ki".
PLATE (ix) Map of Kuga Ki.
Curious to view the homelands of the Tamils, I took a satellite scan across the regions of Tamil Nadu, southern India, and the north-east and southern coastlines of Sri Lanka (ex Ceylon).
In the south-east corner of coastal Sri Lanka, on a beach directly south of the Yala National Park, I discovered a human head sculpture very similar to that on Mariambio Island. (See Plate v)
Compare the human head from Marambio Island, Antarctica, to the bust I photographed on the Yala Beach of Sri Lanka ! Notice each have the same basic 'shape' and also have the Ta ga or 'Open (up) Esteem' signature on the cheek.
The Yala sculpture has a large 'ga' sign carved overhead. As with the Marambio effigy each has the same three circles 'se', These two signs 'ga' and 'se' say "The Patron is Mighty".
The box-like character with the vertical centre line, carved directly above the whole, represents the sign
Gi i li "The Progenator of (many) people sends forth light".
Pecked into the base of the monument is the familiar 'star-wheel 'Mash' sign - a determinative placed before Divine Names - does this sign infer we are looking at the monument of a Goddess ?
Discovery of the near identical Yala Beach and Marambio sculptures suggests that both are almost certainly of Tamil origin; this argument is further supported by the fact that both the Marambio head and the head of the Eagle are conjoined forming an important national icon of Tamil Nadu and of Sri Lanka.
The influence of the mighty Hindu Eagle God, 'Garuda', became so powerful that it crossed the Bay of Bengal and on to the islands of Indonesia: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sumba and Timor where, even today, in these countries the Eagle remains a national icon.
One can now hypothesise how this gradual cultural symbiosis of religion, language and maritime trade eventually evolved into a ready made line of communication whereby trans-oceanic voyaging could be undertaken without serious fatigue, disease or starvation, and most importantly, without losing touch with a friendly landfall should conditions become unfavourable for onward travel... to Australia and the Antarctic? A very strong argument for the long distance Tamil 'Waystation' discovered along the Australian eastern seaboard. (see Plate iv)
Title: Plate (x). The Yala Beach sculpture compared with that on Marambio Island. (see Plate v)
The dark line appearing to separate the nose, mouth and chin from the main bust is caused by the stem of a small shrub growing out of the rocks below.
In conclusion I would like to express my most sincere thanks to Dr Clyde Winters for taking much of his valuable time to freely write his opinion piece and making an extremely important, and may I say, historical transliteration, of the 'writing' exposed on the Continent of Antarctica.
Recommended reading material.
FELL, B. America B.C. Pocket Books. (Simon and Shuster Inc) USA 1989
BAILEY, J. Sailing to Paradise. Simon and Schuster. New York, USA. 1994
GLOBAL EXPLORER 2017 (on line) available at http://www.globalexplorer.org/
HAPGOOD, C. Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings. Souvenir Press. UK 2001
KRAMER, S. N. History Begins at Sumer. Amazon.com
PARCAK, S. Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeologists. Routledge. UK 2009
VEALL, W.J. Portraits of the Gods. Nascodex Publications. Catalunya, 2016 www.nascodexpublications.com
WINTERS, C.A. Ancient Scripts in South America. https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Scripts-South-America-Sumerians/dp/1519257546
http://www.ancient-origins.net/opinion-guest-authors/was-bolivia-peru-sunset-land-sumerians-006708
VEALL,W.J.
part 1 http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-antarctica/astonishing-human-heads-do-satellite-photographs-now-prove-existence-021580?nopaging
part 2 http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-antarctica/message-shore-do-satellite-photographs-prove-existence-humans-021582?nopaging
ANTARCTICA UP-DATE Issue2:
Deglaciation reveals more amazing secrets of Antarctica's ancient origins.
MAY 2018
I have tabulated just a few more of the inscriptions and legends exposed by the remote sensing, NASA and DigiGlobe platforms.
Discoveries of significance follow the table in separate entities as each need to be supported by explanatory text and satellite photographs.
Authors Note: All symbols, characters and imagery are interpreted within the limitations of the workpiece which may have been subjected to severe environmental distortions leading to occasional unavoidable misinterpretations.
PLATE 2 Fig 2(a) Fig 2(b) Fig 2(c) Lucianna
Additional to the original hominin portrait from Nelson Island, (see Figure 2(a))
I have added two new hominin images discovered on Marambio Island.
An obvious question but do these images, whomsoever carved them, record the remnants of an indigenous population living on Antarctica long before the first emigre's arrived - whether they came 'Out of Africa', were Minoans,Tamils, Hindus, Egyptians or Sumerians from Bolivia, et al?
Many of the human head and animal portraits I have exposed are either individually marked with legends or closely associated with inscriptive material, thus, as I have already pointed out in the past, generally epigraphy enables a reasonably realistic and logical chronological time frame to be constructed for the artifact in question.
Authors Note: Hominids include all modern and extinct great apes. Hominins are any species of early human that is more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees; this also includes modern humans.
That said let us study Figure 2(a); without doubt a hominin. Observe the headware - garlanded with a flowered headband, another flower in the hair and even the associated script is embellished with a flower! See also figure 4(a)
This is no primitive hominid but a socially organised homo sapien many generations advanced from its ancestors of, say, 100,000 years before. A species that evolved cognitively either by cross breeding or natural selection.
According to current anthropological and geanological thinking such hybridisation between, for example, the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon would have an overlap time frame of 50,000 - 30,000 years, after which time the Neanderthals gradually died out to be replaced by the artistic, cave painting, Cro-Magnon - who struck and used tools, wove cloth, made jewellery and may have had an elementary form of speech. The Cro-magnon spanned the era 35,000-10,000 years, i.e. about 8,000 BC.
If the headbands worn by Figures 4(a) and 4(b) are accepted as a signature of group identity then, in my humble opinion, one can hypothesise that they fall into the category: homo sapiens australiopithecus (southern apes).
PLATE 3 Figure 3(a) Figure 3(b)
Figure 3(a) is, indeed, a very strange, almost alien-like humanoid with a long elongated skull, large eye sockets set with rather globular eyes each partially closed by epicanthic eye lids. A light cranial ridge is visible and the large mouth exposes the same crude and irregular incisors as Figure 2(a)
There is no visual evidence that the nose is other than flat, or non existent; the profile has a typical receding chin and jawline. Most noticable is the lack of hair enscribed either on the face or over the skull. The fact that there are none of the usual sutures caused by cultural deformation to the cranium, suggests the elongated head is completely natural.
Original examination of the artifact showed no obvious facial adornment, however, light highlighting, to improve printout, exposed a familiar 'star' marking on the left cheekbone, thus elevating this hominid into the ranks of hominin.
Additionally, carved into the same workpiece (below right of the image) is a very indistinct legend implying by its closeness that it might relate directly to the hominin itself; these two features, the 'star' and the legend, when translated, might help construct a provenance.
Although 'writing' was invented circa 3500 B.C, i.e. about 6000 years ago in Mesopotamia, current thinking suggests simple inscribed trading tokens were in wide use as 'proto money' by the 8th Millenium B.C. Also believed by some scientists to be the basic symbols from which the very system of 'writing' evolved. If associated, then Figure 3(a) could date somewhere between 8000 to 7001 B.C.
For comparison, the earliest known elongated skulls are Early Neolithic, circa 10,000 BC. Other skulls have been discovered in Egypt, Australia, and Iraq. Elongated skulls from Brazil, for example, are dated circa 7500 BC. (after Dr R. Louise. PhD.)
Many skulls and bones have been discovered over time but, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time sculptures depicting what hominins actually looked like 'in the flesh' have been discovered anywhere in the World?
Anthropologically speaking, I have some doubts about hominin, Figure 3 (a), which is certainly not of the 'great ape' lineage with its gentle, amphibian-like, globular eyes, epicanthic eyelids and elongated head - great ape heads are rather rounded with small piggy eyes and heavy cranial ridges.
However, in common both have the ragged protruding incisors. Does this suggest a new and different hybrid lineage. If so, what was the original parentage?,
Any attempts to untangle the 'Out of Africa' theory and its multiple global migrations and connotations of integration effect, is beyond the scope of this up-date. Satellite imagery can only introduce a suspect situation; it cannot replace a full and proper 'on the ground' forensic evaluation.
The photograph of the elongated skull, Fig. 3(b) is reproduced with the kind permission of Fine Arts and Facial Reconstruction Artist, Marcia K Moore, Ciamar Studio, USA.. Her skeletal sillouette is used as a comparison piece with the unique sculpture discovered on Mariambo Island, Figure3(a).
PLATE 4 Fig 4(a) Fig 4(b) normal exposure Fig 4(b) overexposed
From the many new satellite portraits I have taken over Marambio Island, I have chosen to publish Figure 4(b); this dark toned image has an almost child-like quality. Small globular head with short black hair, large expressive eyes, small round mouth and pointed chin, and, like the hominin in Figure 4(a), besports a headband carrying a small flower motif.
My visual description, however, may be misleading: 'child-like quality' could also infer that the hominin is small of stature after the likes of 'Lucy', the hominid, Australopithecus afarensis discovered in Ethiopia 40 years ago.
Lucy was a rather lightly built hominid with a small, globular skull, thin brow ridge, large eye sockets, small mouth with neat teeth and short jawline. Her skeleton DNA recorded an age of 3.2 million years.
Is it possible that 'Lucy' and Figure 4(b) are from the same ancestral line, albeit 'Lucy's skeleton was discovered in Ethiopia and the portrait of 'Luciana' (well,why not?) was sculptured from a rock in Antarctica?
There is an alternative hypothesis: Figure 4(a) and Figure 4(b) are each located on the Antarctica Peninsula and wear the same garlanded headband. Could this infer the same group identity, same species and same provenance? The fact that 'Luciana' appears the more 'delicate' of the two might even suggest 'she' is the female of the species, Homo sapien australiopithecus.
Anthropologists believe at one point in time homo sapiens became socially organised, may have developed a 'closed' form of simple speech and symbolic behaviour (art) which they used for group identity or communication, e.g painting themselves with black or red ochre mineral pigments and wearing simple shell 'jewellery' adornment.
If this hypothesis is to be sustained we must not forget that the creation of a notation system and figurative art could not be achieved without the leap made in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) from the old fashion Acheulean tool kit to the Mousterian era which made available, amongst other tools, extremely sharp stone chisels, sometime between 100,000 B.C. and 40,000 B.C.
Hence is it fair to speculate that the indigenous population on Antarctica created their own rock-cut intaglios to which they added a system of 'written' notation? If so, did a coloured race of homo sapiens bring this knowledge with them 'Out of Africa'?
PLATE 5 Fig.5(a) Fig 5(b) Fig 5(c)
The fascinating account of finding two near identical human head portraits; Figure 5(a) and 5(b), one rock carved on Marambio Island, Antarctica, the other standing as a monument far across the oceans on the Yala Beach front, Sri Lanka, as demonstrated in the photo-strip above, placed the Tamils among the earliest exploreres to touch down on the Continent of Antarctica more than 6000 years ago. (Parts 1 and 2).
This important discovery strengthed my hypothesis that the Tamils established a trans-oceanic trading route from Sri Lanka, south along the coastlines of Indonesia to Papua New Guinea and across the Torres Strait directly on to Australia's Cape York Peninsula.
Sailing southwards along the eastern seaboards of Australia and Tasmania the voyagers would round the east coast of Antarctica and, initially, enter the continent via the Ross Sea anchorage. However, that said, the map below will show Marambio and Nelson Islands lie on the Antarctic Peninsula directly opposite the Ross Sea region.
PLATE 6
It is a matter of conjecture as to which route voyagers may have taken to reach the Antarctic Peninsula. I have made a preliminary satellite traverse along the western seaboard going clockwise from the Ross Sea to the Antarctica Peninsula but I could find no deglaciated areas that might indicate use in the past as a safe landing site.
There are, however, deglaciated patches along the northern coastline of Antarctica which show evidence of external interference. Arriving at Marambio Island and rounding the Antarctica Peninsular to Nelson Island there is ample evidence of human occupation with portraiture and inscriptive material. (To be expanded in a later up-date)
As I have already pointed out in my original article, migratory influx could also have reached the Antarctica Peninsular via a landbridge from Cape Hope, Patagonia - as well as the trans-oceanic path taken by the Tamils and Sumerians plying the southern Australian - northern Antarctica coastal route to the Antarctica Peninsula. (See PLATE 6)
For a moment, let's return to the "Message on the Shore" . Of all the inscriptive material I have uncovered across the Ross Sea region and the Marambio and Nelson Islands; the Ross Sea message is the only example of a 'sticks and stones' form of (Sumerian) writing. All the other examples of inscriptive material are inland and fall into the type of linear Sumerian (after Winters) depicted in the original Part 1 / Part 2, Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Why is this so ? Perhaps because the simplistic ' line and dot' characters of the 'message on the shore' , translated by Dr Winters, were created this way and could be preserved for posterity by rocks dug deep into the littoral moraine.
Provenance of the human head portraits cannot be truly tested until a transliteration of the closely associated inscriptive material and symbolic art has been made, but any transliteration primarily depends on knowing the language spoken and if its validity can be tested against any known comparisons. (after Winters).
PLATE 7 Fig 7(a) Fig 7(b)Fig 7(b) highlighted
Of the two satellite photographs above, Figures 7(a) depicts what appears to be the broken away half-section of a boat, whilst Figure 7(b) seems to resemble a prow emerging from a partially deglaciated ice-flow. I am not suggesting the two parts belong to the same artifact although it is tempting due to their close proximity.
There is not a lot I can say about Figure 7(a) except the boat's timbers appear in a good state of preservation and I believe it is the stern (rear) section because a steering paddle is shown in the expected position. Also, evident on the starboard side of the hull, a few feet inboard of the stern, a paddle, or oar, is shown, perhaps, set in a 'tacking' position. The boat does not appear to carry any identification characters or symbols.
Let's not be misled; this could be a 'modern' local fishing boat entrapped in a small estuary by glaciation and then partly released in the current phase of deglaciation. The boat is 420 metres inshore ( 345 yards) and lies exactly at a sea level, zero meters. (Google Earth)
The stern section measures approx. 42 metres x 15 metres (138' x 49') (Google Earth) Bear in mind, measurements estimated from satellite pictures are not necessarily exact 'on the ground' measurements which could be much less in reality.
The prow section, Figure 7(b), is fascinating to say the least. The prow is carved with a large, rather pointy streamlined human figurehead suggestive of speed, power and endurance. Ancestral clan motifs of this design are found on canoe prow heads of Papua New Guinea, for example.
The nose is enscribed with a white band. If by chance this is a ‘Kula Ring’ then almost for sure this is a trading boat from the New Guinea archipelago? (after Prog and Bates).
Enscribed on the forehead are two familiar characters, a circle and a cross in a square, each can be found in the Tables of Part 1.
Incredibly, the boat appears to be fitted with a 'modern' keel fin just aft of the prow extension on the starboard side. The total protruding section taken along the exposed keel line measures approx 33 metres (108 feet) in length - indicative of a very long boat indeed. (Google Earth measurements)
Remote satellite imagery cannot readily identify if either, or both, 'boats' are fossilised or well preserved wooden artifacts. An on-site forensic examination followed by laboratory tests would certainly confirm this and establish an age and possible source of the raw materials. Likewise, identification of the construction technique and any symbolic markings could also help solicit a provenance.
Authors note: Fossilisation does not necessarily take millions of years, it need only be a few thousand years. Dependent on the artifact's location, mineralisation can be relatively fast or very slow. By the same token, well preserved wooden artifacts might exhibit near identical ages to fossilised artifacts.
Conclusion: One of the basic keys to the whole Antarctica mystery would seem to lie in the epigraphy and its chronological relationship with the large number of multi-racial human heads. This raises a number of important questions:
Firstly, why are the prehistoric hominin images discovered on Antarctica closely associated with inscriptive material?
Secondly, I have found no sign of cuneiform or the proto-Sumerian script amongst either my Andean or the extensive Antarctican epigraphy I have exposed. (see Tables 1 - 4, Parts 1 and 2 of the topic article).
Thirdly, the Table show that most signs are of the same genre. So, had the Sumerians invented, or acquired from other Semitic speaking Peoples in South America, a more flexible system of writing to replace the rather cumbersome proto- Sumerian as engraved on the Pokotia Monument and the Fuenta Magna Bowl?
Dr Clyde Winters affirms that decoration on the mantas (robes) of Inca Priest-Kings, and also woven into their elaborate textiles, is a form of syllabic 'linear Sumerian' which he has been able to translate; thus confirming the Incas had, at some stage, acquired a system of writing but later abandoned it in favour of the Quipu. (See Dr C. Winters, Ancient Scripts in South America).
The historical record confirms that writing was widespread throughout South America many centuries before the Inca Kingdom came into being. From my own perspective, the satellite photograph, page 94 of "Portraits of the Gods" shows, what I believe, is the largest area of rock-cut Semitic writing found anywhere in Peru - or maybe even South America itself. (See Plate 8 below, area marked Scriptorium)
Title: Schematic map of the Semitic peoples "New World Kingdom" extracted from "Portraits of the Gods" by William J Veall.
Notice on Plate 6 how closely the "New World Kingdom" borders the "Tin Land of the West". One wonders if the two regions were, in fact, one unified region representing the Sumerian's Kuga Ki, the "Sunset Land of ancient Peru-Bolivia.
I have included the schematic diagram from "Portraits of the Gods" because the
"New World Kingdom'" in Peru has the same imagery and inscriptive material as present on the Continent of Antarctica.
Authors note: Location co-ordinates are not included within the text, photographs or diagrams for obvious reasons but may be supplied on request to recognised official bodies. Official Certificates of Permission must be granted before conducting ANY form of on-site research on Antarctica.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR CONTINUED INTEREST IN MY POSTS.
Recommended reading material.
BROTHWELL D Digging Up Bones. Oxford University Press. UK 1981
CLARKE G World Prehistory. Cambridge University Press. UK 1977
PARCAK S. Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeologists. Routledge UK 2009
REDMAN,C Rise of Civilisation. (The Near East) W.H. Freeman. USA 1978
UCKO P.J. Form in Indigenous Art (Edited by) Duckworth, London UK 1977
VEALL. WJ. Portraits of the Gods. Nascodex Publications. Catalunya. 2016
WINTERS C. Ancient Scripts in South America. Amazon .com/ 1519257546
WINTERS C. Archeaological Decipherment of Ancient Writing Systems. Amazon.com/ 1532967368
LOUISE, Dr R. www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena-guest-author/world-wide-mysterious-phenomena-elongated-skulls. 27 Oct 2013
MOORE. M.K. www.marciakmooreciamarstudio.com
Please support Marcia's exciting new venture on MarciaKMooreProposal.pdf
ROBERTS Dr. R. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencethech/Article-4883302
Note: "Portraits of the Gods can be purchased direct from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/portraits-of-the-gods/id655122031?mt=11