End of Eden, The by Graham Phillips © 2007 Bear & Company ISBN
1-59143-069-0 256 pages with color insert Paperback
$16.00 (U.S.) $20.00 (Canada)
I am not sure that I agree with the basic premise of this book, but that
did
not stop me from ordering it and reading it. I am not one of those folks
who feel that you MUST have an academic degree to know what you are
talking
about. The author has written on a variety of topics from the Knights
Templar to Atlantis, none of which are likely to endear him to the world
of
academia. Nonetheless he presents his theories clearly and succinctly.
I do not have the background to comment on his assumption that a cometary
near miss poisoned the atmosphere for a relatively short time, leading to
an
outbreak of aggressive behavior, and the destruction of megalithic,
pre-Olmec and Harrapan cultures. It is a documented fact that these
cultures, spread across the face of the Earth and unconnected by trade or
emigration, all disappeared at nearly the same time, and their demise was
sudden, catastrophic, and unexplained.
Equally inexplicable, to historian and layperson alike, is the fact that
the
aggression which signaled the demise of these civilizations, and others,
was
short-lived. Within a matter of decades violence became the order of the
day, destroyed peace-loving cultures, and ended, allowing new cultures to
spring up.
Within a matter of a couple of decades the aggression died out and the
status quo was restored, albeit with changes. New gods sprang into
existence - most of them conceived as ONLY gods or supreme gods; thus
leading to the birth of monotheistic religions. New religions replaced,
or
at least challenged old religions
Whether this could have been caused by the aerial explosion of a cometary
fragment which released vasopression (an amino acid involved in the
fight-or-flight reaction to danger) may never be provable, but it makes
for
interesting speculation. Agree with the author's conclusions or not, he
does manage to pique interest, and should spark some interesting
discussions.
I found the premise interesting, the presentation quite reasonable and
readable, and the conclusions easy to understand. It may not be for
everyone, but it certainly is worth looking into.
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