How much did THE SUMERIANS know about our SOLAR SYSTEM?

An exceedingly popular video by Bright Insight proposes that the ancient Sumerians, who lived thousands of years ago, had surprisingly accurate knowledge about our solar system, including knowledge that we ourselves don’t possess. He relies heavily on arguments made by armchair history buff, and ancient astronaut theorist, Zecharia Sitchin. But does Bright Insight’s video tell the truth about history, or does it instead mislead people? Find out where Bright Insight goes wrong as Dr. Miano busts the myth of Sumerian advanced astronomical knowledge.

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We hope you enjoyed watching this #mythsofancienthistory episode about the #sumerians.

ADDENDUM: In the video, I suggested that the figure pictured in the middle of the seal might be the seal's owner, but in fact, that person is probably a minor god. The horned helmet is an indication of divinity. He is leading by the hand the figure on the far left, which is more likely the seal's owner, who is holding a sacrificial lamb, which he is presenting to the major god on the right.

References and recommended reading:

Bright Insight’s original video:

Definition of Anunna/Anunnaki:

Analysis of the word Nibiru/Nēbiru in Mesopotamian texts:

Michael Heiser’s analysis of cylinder seal VA 243:

Comprehensive analysis of Sumerian astronomical texts by Wayne Horowitz:

English translation of the Enuma Elish:

On the Sumerian version of the Great Flood:

On the origin of the asteroids in the asteroid belt:

On the idea that cuneiform tablets are gathering dust in museum basements:

Professor Miano's handy guide for learning, "How to Know Stuff," is available here:

Follow Professor Miano on social media:

[kevincrady]

Looking through some of your comment threads, I see that fairly often you get criticized for being "too sarcastic" and the like. I think that from a persuasion standpoint you've got it just about right, but watching the clips (and in the past, some of the LAHT crowd's whole videos) I'm impressed with how well you're able to hold yourself back. ;) 1) These guys spend their whole videos sneering at "mainstream" "orthodox" archaeologists and historians and accusing them of being part of an evil cabal out to deliberately hide the truth from us. 2) Then, with nearly unlimited cockiness, they toss out their hypotheses as Proven Fact on the flimsiest of evidence ("Look! A picture of one circle surrounded by a bunch of other circles, but I can't be arsed to find out what the rest of the pictures are or what the text says!"), and from there they often climb out on an even thinner branch of wild speculation of the "so they *must* have had psionic power crystals!" variety. 3) They do this without even knowing what the "mainstream" "orthodox" archaeologists and historians think or why they think it. 4) Because the "mainstream" "orthodox" scholar they're actually sneering at is their high school history teacher, and the three-page chapter on the Sumerians (or Egyptians, Mayans, or whoever) in their school textbook, from which they were expected to extract a few names and dates to regurgitate for a test at the end of the week.

It would be one thing if these folks could fairly represent the mainstream position and the evidence used to get there, and still make compelling arguments for their own side. Heck, I wish they could, because who wouldn't want to discover a mysterious ancient lost civilization rich in astonishing capabilities and deep esoteric wisdom?

[michaelburbidge]

Man the amount of research you must do is incredible. Thank you for doing this. I'm extremely interested in these topics and there's so much rubbish out there it's great to find someone clearing it up a bit.

[lugal_pcz]

Minor quibble about the imagery on the VA 243 cylinder seal impression: the figures with horned headdresses are both gods. The human in the scene is the one on the left, without horns. This type of scene is called a “Presentation Scene, ” and shows a minor god interceding between the human and a major god (i.e., the minor god is presenting the human to the major god). The human here is carrying a sacrificial goat.

The horned headdresses are markers of divinity, and Naram-Sin only starts being depicted wearing one late in his reign, after he’s declared himself divine.

[gangadharhiremath]

I only have great great admiration towards you.
You are doing a stupendous work.
Demolishing the false arguments of sensation seeking, ignorance spreading ppl is not easy.
You are doing it with a lot of patience, deep knowledge and great passion.
May your tribe grow.

[tank]

I am a middle school social studies teacher and the Sumerians are covered extensively in 6th grade, a whole chapters worth

[eduardocidade]

As a fellow PhD (in Anthropology in my case), I congratulate you for dismissing all these conspiracy theories with eloquence! Thank you! :D

[naciremasti]

I discovered you from Stefan Milo, and I was not disappointed. Great work. Newly subscribed.

[Kasamira]

Really enjoying your videos! I went to two high schools and can confirm both covered the Sumerians. In the first— We covered Sumer in freshman history, I believe it was a full unit, but minor focus could also have been given to Assyria and Babylon. And in the second (although I didn’t take it myself) Ancient Civ covered Sumer because that was the freshman diorama project every year

[tieck]

Butterflies migrate thousands of kilometers: cool

Ancient humans have long trade routes or travel far for raw materials or religious purposes: they must have had charging stations for their Teslas.

[AliceAndriani]

I’m so happy that I’ve found your channel! I used to be an ancient aliens fan 😅 I don’t even know if I believed the theory for real, but it was so exciting. Honestly, it’s easier for someone like me to find conspiracy content since it’s so popular. You are doing a great job! Thank you 🥰❤️

[juliankirby]

I’ve developed quite a disdain for the “bright insight” type channels. Lies and misrepresentations of facts, being used to manipulate those who fee the desire to fight an authority figure, and feel superior to said authority figure

[venus_envy]

We did a whole unit (several weeks worth of study) on Mesopotamian history in 7th grade, not totally exclusive to just studying Sumerians, to be fair, but we started with them and it was more than just a few sentences. I'm sure our textbook was lacking and outdated in many ways, but it was still a decent study for 12 year olds. This was in Canada about 15 years ago for what it's worth. Love your channel so far by the way. Thanks for doing what you do! :)

[elliefors]

Love the amount of research put into these videos! 👍🏻 Great stuff. Keep up the good work!

[tinotrivino]

I consider myself an expert in near orient ancient history. And i must say, its been a while that I watch a real good video in english like yours.
I am very tired to see mediocre videos about the Summerians etc... So I value a lot your knowledge.
Hugs from Toledo, Spain

[andrewkircher]

I found your channel through Matt of Ancient Architects. As someone who is subscribed to Bright insight and other channels alike, I value the work you do and appreciate the historical academic perspective.

[PoliticalFuturism]

As one of your newest subscribers, I have to say, this video and channel are amazing! I found it through SAMA, and boy am I glad I did!

[stainlessdoom]

Amazing video, very informative and easy to understand. You definitely deserve more subscribers!

[exittomenu]

Found your channel from the atun-shei atlantis video and you’ve become one of my favorite channels on here

Perfect for learning while picking away at the tedium of invoices and expense sheets

[joshuas]

I was in High School in the 90's and we definitely learned about the Sumerians in World History. Maybe not a comprehensive amount, considering we had to learn about all of world history in a single school year, but it covered the basics.

[Bombsuprise]

"Pass by 7 planets" pretty much invalidates Bright's entire approach. Would his brain explode at how big the orbits are? Or that Mercury, on average, is the closest planet to ALL the other planets? It's like he saw an image with all the planets in their order in the solar system and just thought you'd have to cruise past all of them to get to Earth.