However, many extra-biblical records corroborate the existence of giants, including sober accounts from early explorers like Magellan and ancient texts like the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew Book of Enoch, and the Book of Giants.
Now, a mummy skeleton found in Peru looks like a giant toddler. If that is indeed what it is, then it adds more weight to the idea that giants were real.
Researchers found the mummy near Cuzco, Peru. It is currently housed at the Ritos Andinos Museum, which is located far southeast of Lima. A hole in the mummy's skull indicates that it had a fontanel, which is an area of connective tissue atop a baby's head that later fills in with bone. Like modern babies, the skull is larger than the rest of the body. But the strangest feature is that the skull is 20 inches long, which is larger than normal adult skulls.
Lima anthropologist Pablo Bayabar examined the mummy and told the Chinese news source New Tang Dynasty Television:
Children's heads are proportionally bigger than their bodies. Here we have two points. First, the fontanelle is open, which usually closes at 31 months. And it has molars that usually appears [sic] between approximately 13 and 19 months. So we are looking at a child under two years old with an enormous head.1
If the youngster had fully matured, he would have qualified as a giant. The skeleton has other unique features, including large eye sockets, a unique molar structure, and an unusual shelf on its chin. Ritos Andinos Museum Director Renato Davila said, "It's 20 inches tall, which doesn't coincide with the stereotypes of humans."1 Some anthropologists are reluctant to call it human.2
Evolution maintains that humans evolved from smaller, ape-like ancestors. But according to the Bible, humans were created in the image of God, and men since then have descended from Adam.3 The Bible also teaches that giants existed, further contrasting with the standard evolutionary stereotype of human history.
The book of Numbers says that a handful of Israelites under Moses' leadership reconnoitered the land of Canaan and reported their discoveries:
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.4
Since the Bible refers to giants, it stands to reason that other historical records and artifacts would also testify to their existence.5 And a giant toddler mummy appears to be just such an artifact confirming that the history related in Scripture is trustworthy.
References
- Giant Mummy Discovered in Peru. NTD Television. Posted on english.ntdtv.com November 19, 2011, accessed January 28, 2012.
- Milligan, P. Is this an alien skull? Mystery of giant-headed mummy found in Peru. Daily Mail Online. Posted on dailymail.co.uk November 24, 2011, accessed January 30, 2012.
- Genesis 5:3.
- Numbers 13:32-33.
- For example, the 2006 discovery of a pottery shard in Gath (Goliath's home town) and dated from the tenth century B.C. has two inscriptions that use Hebrew-like letters to spell Philistine words. Both are phonetically close to the name "Goliath." See New Finds: Gath Inscription Evidences Philistine Assimilation. 2006. Biblical Archaeology Review. 32: 02.
Image credit: Copyright © RPP Noticias / César Zapata. Adapted for use in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holders.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.