The so-called Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is some of the impressive and mysterious artifacts of the traditional state of Assyria, which was founded about 4,500 years ago within the territory of contemporary Iraq.
Archaeologists unearthed it in 1846 in town of Nimrud, and to this present day it is simply considered one of two completely intact Assyrian obelisks. Its height is 198 cm and it’s carved from black limestone.
This obelisk is a particularly interesting subject of research. It is believed to contain, for instance, the oldest image of a Jew. But we’re, after all, focused on anomalous things, i.e. strange “hybrids” of individuals and animals present within the on a regular basis scenes of the obelisk amongst strange people and strange animals.
This obelisk was created in honor of the thirty first anniversary of Shalmaneser III's reign and depicts how the conquered peoples made various offerings to the Assyrian ruler.
The victims include all types of animals – essentially the most common and depicted quite naturalistically – elephants, camels, lions, horses.
And next to them are unfamiliar beings with the body of an animal and the top and hands of a human. Proponents of the paleocontact theory consider them hybrids, believing that ancient aliens created such monsters either for a selected job or simply for fun.
There are only two scenes with these “hybrids” on the obelisk. In one, two individuals are holding two very large “hybrids” on a sequence, within the second, two “hybrids” are led behind an elephant on short leashes, and the third “hybrid” – a small one, probably a cub, is solely carried by an individual on his shoulders, like a tame animal. monkey.
There is a hypothesis that these creatures are literally just monkeys and never some improbable hybrids. They say they brought baboons or mandrills caught in Africa as exotic pets for the Assyrian king as a present.
However, the heads of those creatures are too human; neither baboons nor other large-tailed primates have such round heads with distinguished noses. Or perhaps it's a chimpanzee or a gorilla?
But their nose can also be designed in a different way and so they should not have tails, but within the obelisk scenes the tails are clearly visible. What can also be striking is how closely these “hybrids” resemble ancient Egyptian sphinxes. Same hairstyle, same body, much like that of a lion.
Judging by these scenes, the “hybrids” could walk on their hind legs and were all shorter than humans. There is not any visible clothing on them, and fur is visible on the upper torso and legs of considered one of them.
Unusual hybrid creatures can often be present in ancient reliefs and frescoes, in addition to within the myths and legends of assorted civilizations. Scientists consider that these are simply figments of human imagination.
And that is partly true, because with quite a lot of imagination you possibly can even provide you with a tribe of headless people whose mouths are on their bellies, or individuals with one large leg with which they protect themselves from the rain. But a few of these images could also be based on what someone saw with their very own eyes, meaning that these creatures were completely real.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
