Nephilim Bones and Giant Human Skeletons in Greece
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Images and tales of giant fossilized human remains called the Canaan or Nephilim skeletons have been circulating on the internet since at least 2004, though fantastic tales of giants have been around since biblical times. These viral stories usually contain some version of a “major discovery” of a giant skeleton or skeletons being found in the Mediterranean or the Middle East—something the mainstream media somehow has failed to report.
Who Were the Nephilim, and Where Was Canaan?
According to the Judeo-Christian Old Testament, the Nephilim were “sons of God,” a gigantic race of beings who were the offspring of human women and fallen angels. They lived in the ancient land of Canaan—which today stretches from Lebanon south to Israel—and were wiped out in the Great Flood.
Giant Skeletons
Tales of giant remains being found aren’t a recent phenomenon. More than 100 years ago, George Hull barnstormed the U.S. with his Cardiff Giant, the alleged petrified remains of a 10-foot-tall man. Cotton Mather, a noted Puritan minister and writer in the late 1600s, touted bones as evidence of the Nephilim that later proved to be remains of a mastodon.
Typical of this viral phenomenon is this email:
“GIANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND IN GREECE
These astounding photos are from a recent archaeological discovery in Greece. This totally unexpected find furnishes proof of the existence of ‘Nephilim.’ Nephilim is the word used to describe the giants spoken of in biblical times by Enoch as well as the giant David fought against (Goliath). It is generally believed that most of these Giants came about when the fallen angels had union with earthly women. Note the incredible size of the skull…
Gen 6:4
There were giants on earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.Num 13:33
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.”
But there’s a reason this “news” hasn’t been reported widely. The photos are fakes. The following images have frequently circulated online as “evidence” that Nephilim giants existed.
A Giant Skull
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Digital technology like Adobe Photoshop has made the practice of altering photos relatively simple. But it’s still fairly easy to spot a doctored photo. A blow-up of this image with brightness and contrast enhanced reveals unnaturally dark “shadows” around the skull. In the main image above, the shadows coming off the skeleton fall more or less toward the camera, while the worker’s shadow falls due left, suggesting that elements of two different photos were combined.
An Excavation
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The skull in this image is marked by incongruously bright highlights on the teeth and around the edges of the gaping temple wound. Although Photoshop can bring out detail that’s hidden in shadow, such clarity in the very dark region of the skull would be impossible under harsh daylight conditions where the remains are in a deep pit.
Gigantic Remains
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This viral image serves as clear proof that Photoshopping took place. It was created by inserting an outsized human skull into a photo of a 1993 University of Chicago dinosaur dig in Niger (see the original here). If you look at a blow-up of the doctored image, the skull appears flattened and unnatural (and one of the workers actually appears to be standing on it!).
A Map of Greece
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This image of a map purporting to show where the remains of the Nephilim giants were found began circulating around 2010, according to Snopes.com . In fact, this is merely a map of the region around Nafplio, a town in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The village that’s underlined is Prosymna.
Sources
- “When Giants Roamed the Earth ,” Archaeology, Nov./Dec. 2005
- ” The Cardiff Giant ,” The Museum of Hoaxes
- Nephilim may have been giants in the Bible, or they may have been something much more sinister. Bible scholars are still debating their true identity.
The term first occurs in Genesis 6:4:
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. (NIV)
Who Were the Nephilim?
Two parts of this verse are in dispute.
First, the word Nephilim itself, which some Bible scholars translate as “giants.” Others, however, believe it is related to the Hebrew word “naphal,” meaning “to fall.”
The second term, “sons of God,” is even more controversial. One camp says it means fallen angels, or demons. Another attributes it to righteous human beings who mated with ungodly women.
Giants in the Bible Before and After the Flood
To sort this out, it’s important to note when and how the word Nephilim was used. In Genesis 6:4, the mention comes before The Flood. Another mention of Nephilim occurs in Numbers 13:32-33, after the Flood:
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (NIV)
Moses had sent 12 spies into Canaan to scout the country before invading. Only Joshuaand Caleb believed Israel could conquer the land. The other ten spies did not trust in God to give the Israelites victory.
The men the spies saw could have been giants, but they could not have been part human and part demonic beings.
All those would have died in the Flood. Besides, the cowardly spies gave a distorted report. They may have used the word Nephilim simply to arouse fear.
Giants certainly existed in Canaan after the Flood. The descendants of Anak (Anakim, Anakites) were driven from Canaan by Joshua, but some escaped to Gaza, Ashdod, and Gath. Centuries later, a giant from Gath emerged to plague the Israelite army. His name was Goliath, a nine foot tall Philistine who was killed by David with a stone from his sling. Nowhere in that account does it imply Goliath was semi-divine.
Debate About the ‘Sons of God’
The mysterious term “sons of God” in Genesis 6:4 is interpreted by some scholars to mean fallen angels or demons; however, there is no concrete evidence in the text to support that view.
Further, it seems far-fetched that God would have created angels to make it possible for them to mate with human beings, producing a hybrid species. Jesus Christ made this revealing remark about angels:
“For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22:30, NIV)
Christ’s statement seems to imply that angels (including fallen angels) do not procreate at all.
A more likely theory for the “sons of God” makes them the descendants of Adam‘s third son, Seth. The “daughters of men,” were supposedly from the wicked line of Cain, Adam’s first son who killed his younger brother Abel.
Yet another theory links kings and royalty in the ancient world with the divine. That idea said rulers (“sons of God”) took any beautiful women they wanted as their wives, to perpetuate their line. Some of those women may have been pagan temple or cult prostitutes, who were common in the ancient Fertile Crescent.
Giants: Scary But Not Supernatural
Because of inadequate food and poor nutrition, tall men were extremely rare in ancient times. In describing Saul, Israel’s first king, the prophet Samuel was impressed that Saul was “a head taller than any of the others.” (1 Samuel 9:2, NIV)
The word “giant” is not used in the Bible, but the Rephaim or Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim were all reputed to be exceptionally tall. Several pagan myths featured gods mating with humans. Superstition caused soldiers to assume that giants like Goliath had godlike power.
Modern medicine has proven that gigantism or acromegaly, a condition that leads to excessive growth, does not involve supernatural causes but is due to abnormalities in the pituitary gland, which regulates growth hormone production.
Recent breakthroughs show the condition can also be caused by a genetic irregularity, which may account for entire tribes or groups of people in biblical times reaching extraordinary height.
Is the Nature of the Nephilim Crucial?
One highly imaginative, extra-biblical view theorizes that the Nephilim were aliens from another planet. But no serious Bible student would give credence to this preternatural theory.
With scholars ranging widely on the exact nature of the Nephilim, fortunately, it’s not crucial to take a definitive position. The Bible does not give us enough information to make an open-and-shut case other than to conclude that the identity of the Nephilim remains unknown.
(Sources: NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing; Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Trent C. Butler, general editor; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, general editor; The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger; gotquestions.org, medicinenet.com.)