The reptile man of Mesopotamia: another unanswered mystery from 7 thousand year
Traditional historiography establishes the beginning of human history as we know it in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, with the great civilization of the Sumerians.
Yet, archaeological findings testify to an even more ancient civilization, that of the Ubaid.
The Ubaids lived in Mesopotamia between 4 thousand and 5.5 thousand BC. And as with the Sumerians, the origin of the Ubaidian people is also unknown.
They lived in large settlements made up of mud brick houses, and their knowledge of architecture, agriculture and livestock breeding is evident.
The housing architecture included large T-shaped houses, open courtyards, paved streets, which was later noticed in the later Sumerian civilization.
Also in the archaeological site of Al Ubaid, a discovery that was as disconcerting as it was revolutionary was made. In fact, numerous artefacts dating back to around 7 thousand years ago have been found, many of which represent mysterious humanoids with evident reptilian features.
Some of them were also found in the Sumerian cities of Ur and Eridu.
The excavation brought to light several male and female figures in different postures and in most cases it appears that they are wearing some sort of helmet and have some sort of padding on their shoulders.
Other figures hold a sort of scepter, perhaps a regal and power symbol.
These reptilian-like humanoids have long heads, almond-shaped eyes and noses very similar to those of lizards, and some female figures are holding a lizard-like infant in their arms.
It is therefore clear that the Ubaid civilization and the Sumerian civilization, its predecessor, had a link, and when one reads the Sumerian myth of the creation of the Earth (Enuma Elish) found on a tablet from Nippur, an ancient Mesopotamian city founded in 5 thousand BC, one learns something interesting:
"When the Sky above was not yet named,
And the Earth below was not yet called by its name,
Nothing existed except Apsû, the ancient, their creator,
And Mummu and Tiāmat, the mother of them all,
Their waters mingled together
And the pastures were not yet formed, nor the reeds existed;
When none of the Gods were yet manifest.
None had a name and their destinies were uncertain.
Then, among them the Gods took form ."
From the story it is clear that none of the deities of the Sumerian pantheon are responsible for creation, indeed the gods themselves are part of creation.
Sumerian mythology holds that in the beginning humans were ruled by non-human 'divine' offspring. These beings were able to travel across the sky in round or cylindrical shaped vehicles.
