Chariots of the Gods?
![]() Cover of 1971 Bantam paperback edition, United States, in English | |
Author | Erich von Däniken |
---|---|
Original title | Erinnerungen an die Zukunft: Ungelöste Rätsel der Vergangenheit |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Publisher | Econ-Verlag (Germany), Putnam (US) |
Publication date | 1968 |
Media type | |
Pages | 267 |
Followed by | The Eyes of the Sphinx |
Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past (German: Erinnerungen an die Zukunft: Ungelöste Rätsel der Vergangenheit; in English, Memories of the Future: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past) is a book written in 1968 by Erich von Däniken and translated from the original German by Michael Heron. It involves the hypothesis that the technologies and religions of many ancient civilizations were given to them by ancient astronauts who were welcomed as gods.
The first draft of the publication had been rejected by a variety of publishers. The book was extensively rewritten by its editor, Wilhelm Roggersdorf (a pen name of the German screenwriter Wilhelm "Utz" Utermann).[1][2]
Summary[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Nazca-lineas-condor-c01.jpg/220px-Nazca-lineas-condor-c01.jpg)
The main thesis of Chariots of the Gods is that extraterrestrial beings influenced ancient technology. Von Däniken suggests that some ancient structures and artifacts appear to reflect more sophisticated technological knowledge than is known or presumed to have existed at the times they were manufactured. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were produced either by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from extraterrestrials.[1][3][4] Many of those theories have now been debunked.
Such artifacts include the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Moai of Easter Island.[5][6] Further examples include an early world map known as the Piri Reis map, which von Däniken describes as showing Earth as it is seen from space,[7] and the Nazca Lines in Peru, which he suggests may have been constructed by humans as crude replicas of previous alien structures, as a way to call the aliens back to Earth.[8][9][10] He uses this same explanation to argue that cart ruts in Malta may have had extraterrestrial purposes along with similar lines in Australia, Saudi Arabia, and the Aral Sea.[8][11]
The book also suggests that ancient artwork throughout the world can be interpreted as depicting astronauts, air and space vehicles, extraterrestrials, and complex technology. Von Däniken describes elements that he believes are similar in the art of unrelated cultures.[1][12][13] Among the artwork he describes are ancient Japanese Dogū figurines (which he believes to resemble astronauts in spacesuits) and 3,000-year-old carvings in an Egyptian New Kingdom Temple that appear to depict helicopter-like machines.[7]
The book further suggests that the origins of many religions, including interpretations of the Old Testament of the Bible, are reactions to contact with an alien race. According to von Däniken, humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. Von Däniken asks if the oral and literal traditions of most religions contain references to visitors from stars and vehicles traveling through air and space. These, he says, should be interpreted as literal descriptions which have changed during the passage of time and become more obscure.[1][2][3][14]
Examples include Ezekiel's vision of the angels and the wheels, which Von Däniken interprets as a description of a spacecraft; the Ark of the Covenant, which is explained as a device intended for communication with an alien race; and the destruction of Sodom by fire and brimstone, which is interpreted as a nuclear explosion.[1][14][15][16] Von Däniken attempts to draw an analogy with the "cargo cults" that formed during and after World War II, when once-isolated tribes in the South Pacific mistook the advanced American and Japanese soldiers for gods.[2][12]
Von Däniken also spends around one-third of the book discussing the possibility that humans could theoretically offer primitive civilizations on interstellar worlds advanced technology by the year 2100. This would, he writes, mimic the ancient extraterrestrial contact von Däniken believes to have occurred on Earth.[4][17]
Reception[]
Academic dismissals[]
Von Däniken's book, and much of his subsequent publications such as Gods From Outer Space and The Gold Of The Gods, have drawn largely negative receptions from the academic mainstream despite being popular best-sellers. Many scientists and historians have rejected his ideas, claiming that the book's conclusions were based on faulty, pseudoscientific evidence, some of which was later demonstrated to be fraudulent or fabricated, and under illogical premises. For example, Ronald Story wrote a book rebutting von Däniken's ideas in 1976 titled The Space Gods Revealed. A similar internationally bestselling book, titled Crash Go The Chariots and written by Clifford Wilson, had already been published in 1972. Another negative criticism of von Däniken's book came from archeologist Kenneth Feder in his book Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries in 2018. Referring to von Däniken's support of the ancient astronauts hypothesis, Feder explains how his evidence is used and presented in a misleading manner in order to convince the reader that extraterrestrial life was involved in the development of ancient civilizations.[18]
Plagiarism controversies[]
Soon after the publication of Chariots of the Gods?, von Däniken was accused of stealing the ideas of French author Robert Charroux.[19]
A 2004 article in Skeptic magazine[20] states that von Däniken plagiarized many of the book's concepts from The Morning of the Magicians, that this book in turn was heavily influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos, and that the core of the ancient astronaut theory originates in H. P. Lovecraft's stories "The Call of Cthulhu" and At the Mountains of Madness.
Discredited artifacts[]
One artifact offered as evidence in the book has been disclaimed by von Däniken himself. Chariots asserts that a supposedly rust-free iron pillar in India was evidence of extraterrestrial influence, but von Däniken admitted in a Playboy interview that the pillar was man-made and that as far as supporting his theories goes "we can forget about this iron thing." Neither this nor any other discredited evidence, however, has been removed from subsequent editions of Chariots of the Gods?[21][22]
Popular response[]
Chariots of the Gods? was on The New York Times bestseller list and helped to launch von Däniken's career as a public speaker. Von Däniken had sold 70 million copies of his books as of January 2017.[6][23][24]
Adaptations[]
The book was adapted as a German documentary film, Chariots of the Gods, produced by Terra-Filmkunst. The film was released in 1970 in West Germany and first appeared in the United States the following year. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 43rd Academy Awards in 1971.[13][25] In 1972, an edited version of the film appeared as a TV documentary called In Search of Ancient Astronauts on NBC and was produced by Alan Landsburg Productions. The documentary was narrated by Rod Serling.[26]
A follow-up called In Search of Ancient Mysteries aired the following year, and it was also narrated by Rod Serling.[27][28] The documentary series In Search Of..., which Leonard Nimoy hosted (Serling having died in 1975), was premiered on the basis of those two "pilot" films.
A different TV documentary, Horizon Special: The Case of the Ancient Astronauts directed by Graham Massey, was released in 1977 and examined von Däniken's claims.[29][30][31]
In 1993, von Däniken produced a 25-part series titled Auf den Spuren der All-Mächtigen (Pathways of the Gods) for German television station, Sat.1. In 1996, a one-hour television special called, Chariots Of The Gods - The Mysteries Continue, aired on ABC and was produced by ABC/Kane. ABC/Kane produced another television special with von Däniken the following year called The Mysterious World – Search for Ancient Technology. It aired on the Discovery Channel in the United States and on RTL in Germany.[32][33][34][35]
The global media rights to the book have since been purchased by Media Invest Entertainment which is developing a "360-degree entertainment" franchise entitled Chariots of the Gods.[36][37] Today, documentaries espousing alien mythology can be found on most streaming platforms and are plentiful on YouTube.
Legacy[]
Chariots of the Gods? spawned multiple sequels, including Gods from Outer Space and The Gods Were Astronauts. The theory in the original book is said to have influenced a variety of science fiction books, films, and television series. For instance, it is considered the inspiration for the History Channel television series, Ancient Aliens.[38]
It has also been used as a plot element in television shows and movies like Star Trek (which actually addressed the question before von Däniken's book was published), Stargate, The Thing, The X-Files, the Alien franchise (most notably, Prometheus), and the Indiana Jones franchise (specifically, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).[17][39][40][41]
See also[]
- Ancient Aliens, TV series
- Out-of-place artifact
- The Sirius Mystery
- Vaimanika Shastra
- Vimana
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Story, Ronald (1976). The space-gods revealed : a close look at the theories of Erich von Däniken. New York: Harper & Row. p. 2. ISBN 0-06-014141-7. Citing Der Spiegel, in issue 12/1969 (March 17, 1969), p. 184 and issue 12/1973 (March 19, 1973), p. 145.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Fritze, Ronald H. (2009), Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions, Reaktion Books, pp. 206, 212, footnote 76 in p. 286, ISBN 978-1-86189-817-3
- ^ Jump up to: a b Legrand, H.E.; Boese, Wayne E. (May 1975). "Chariots of the Gods? And All That: Pseudo-History in the Classroom". The History Teacher. 8 (3): 359–370. doi:10.2307/491740. JSTOR 491740.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Clegg, Brian (June 5, 2007). "Review - Chariots of the Gods - Erich von Daniken". Popular Science. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Bolton, Doug (December 7, 2015). "Stonehenge: The most unusual theories about why the mysterious monument was built". The Independent. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Lingeman, Richard R. (March 31, 1974). "Erich von Daniken's Genesis". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Kroth, Jerry (November 1, 2010). Aliens and Man? A Synopsis of Facts and Beliefs. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0875868165.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Lehmann, Fritz (April 7, 2015). "Beatenberg: "Besuche von Ausserirdischen würden nicht schaden"". Berner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Magin, Ulrich (February 10, 2002). "Nazca – Ein Flughafen für die Götter?" (in German). Mysteria3000. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ "Die Nazca – Linien" (in German). Astrolymp. April 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Vassallo, Raphael (January 3, 2017). "Unearthing the mysteries of the past". Malta Today. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Krassa, Peter (1978), Erich von Däniken: Disciple of the Gods, London: W.H. Allen & Co, pp. 82–83, ISBN 0-352-30262-3
- ^ Jump up to: a b Weiler, A.H. (February 28, 1974). "Sifting Past for Space Visitors' Tracks". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Eschhofen, Dave (March 25, 1974). "Stellar Spectra". The Bryan Times. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Price, Randall (February 15, 2005). Searching for the Ark of the Covenant: Latest Discoveries and Research. Harvest House. ISBN 978-0736910521.
- ^ Ingray, G.M. (September 24, 1972). "'Chariots' theory – how valid?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Frederiksen, Seth (May 29, 2016). "Book Review: Chariots Of The Gods". ComiConverse. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ Feder, Kenneth (2018). Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. Oxford Press. pp. 187–190. ISBN 978-0190629656.
- ^ "Däniken: Wer von Wem?". Der Spiegel: 184–185. March 17, 1969. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
- ^ "Charioteer of the Gods". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "The Case of the Ancient Astronauts". BBC 2. 1977. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "Playboy". Playboy. 21 (8): 64. August 1974.
von Däniken: "Oh, God, I have so many times tried to correct things, and my experience has been that the corrections are almost never made."
- ^ "A UFO convention is heading for Manchester". About Winchester. January 5, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ "'Aliens will return to Earth within 20 years', Chariots of the Gods author predicts". Yahoo UK. November 4, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ "The 43rd Academy Awards (1971) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "In Search of Ancient Astronauts (TV Movie 1973)". IMDb. January 5, 1973. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ Lambert, David (September 7, 2012). "In Search of... - High-Res Package Art and Exciting New Details for 'The Complete Collection' DVDs!". TVShowsonDVD. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "In Search of Ancient Mysteries". IMDb. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "The Case of the Ancient Astronauts". BBC 2. 1977. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "Horizon Special". BBC. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "Horizon Special". BBC. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
- ^ "Auf den Spuren der All-Mächtigen". IMDb. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ "Chariots of the Gods? The Mysteries Continue". IMDb. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ "The Mysterious World: Search for Ancient Technology". IMDb. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- ^ "Tales of Ancient Aliens With Erich von Däniken (Episode 49, GFM Media)". Global Freedom Movement. July 17, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ Ostojic, Magdalena (October 18, 2013). "Von Däniken wieder fest im Sattel". Jungfrau Zeitung (in German). Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ "Kinofilm, Videospiel, TV-Serie: Ufologe von Däniken bald übernatürlich präsent" (in German). Focus. July 9, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Shermer, Michael (July 2013). "How Beliefs in Extraterrestrials and Intelligent Design Are Similar". Scientific American. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "50 best cult books". The Daily Telegraph. March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "Secrets of Ridley Scott's 'Prometheus': An Earthquake, Never-Seen Photos and Nightmarish Monster". The Hollywood Reporter. May 16, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ Darlage, Dale (2011). "Odyssey of the Gods: The History of Extraterrestrial Contact in Ancient Greece". The SF Site. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
External links[]
- Erich von Däniken's "Chariots of the Gods?": Science or Charlatanism? by Robert Sheaffer
- Chariots of Lies: Did aliens really build the Pyramids?
- Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1970) IMDb Entry
- Chariots of the gods
- Center for Ancient Astronaut Research
- Blumrich, Josef F. (October–December 1974). "spaceships of the prophet Ezekiel, The" (PDF). Impact of Science on Society. UNESCO. XXIV (4): 329–336.
- Ancient astronaut speculation
- 1968 non-fiction books
- UFO-related literature
- UFO religions
- Books about extraterrestrial life
- Pseudohistory
- Pseudoarchaeological texts
- G. P. Putnam's Sons books
- Mythology books
- Non-fiction books adapted into films
- Books involved in plagiarism controversies