Gilgal Rephaim Table of Contents {A} Did Biblical ... - Bread of Life

Gilgal Rephaim
Table of Contents
{A} Did Biblical Giants Build the Circle of the Refaim?
{B} Gilgal
{C} Giants
{D} Rephaim
{A} DID BIBLICAL GIANTS BUILD THE CIRCLE
OF THE REFAIM?
Article by Israeli Journalist/Author, Barry Chamish
(chamish@netmedia.net.il) 12/97
[please note: some definitions and comments have been
added and are indicated by {..}]
One of the last great barely known wonders of the ancient
world is a Stonehenge-like monument sitting atop Israel's Golan
Heights. Called Gilgal Refaim (The Circle Of The Refaim) in
Hebrew, the monument consists of five concentric stone rings
whose diameter is 155 meters.
The best preserved of the rings is the outermost, whose
height reaches 2 meters and thickness 3.3 meters. Some of the
stones used to create the ring weigh twenty tons. The total weight
of the stones is 37,000 tons.
Circle of the Refaim
Graphic provided by Barry Chamish
In the middle of the rings is a cairn 1, topped by a tumulus 2,
measuring twenty meters across.
{1} cairn - a heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument,
tombstone, etc. {2} tumulus - a domelike swelling or mound
formed in congealed lava; a barrow (Webster's Dictionary)
Despite the obvious attraction to archaeologists, the rings
remained hidden while the suspicious Syrian regimes held the
Golan Heights and were only opened to inspection after Israel
won the area in the Six Day War of 1967.
One feature of the rings has particularly fascinated the few
people who have studied them. It is the meaning of two large
openings, somewhat like doorways, one facing northeast, the
other southeast.
In 1968 Professor Yonathan Mizrahi of the Department of
Anthropology at Harvard University and Prof. Anthony Aveni of
Colgate University discovered that in 3000 BCE, the first rays of
the summer solstice would have appeared directly through the
northeast opening as seen from the central tumulus. At the same
time, the southeast opening provided a direct view of Sirius.
One function of the circles then, was an astronomical
observatory and stellar calendar. Or was it?
Prof. Mizrahi is doubtful. "Why would they have undertaken
such a massive building project, collecting 37,000 tons of stone
and painstakingly laying them down to last forever, when
the same task could have been completed using one rock
and a stick?"
In fact, no one knows why the site was built -- thus
speculation is rife. Micah Ankouri, for instance, writing in
Teva Ve'aretz (Land and Nature) spends five pages trying
to provide a connection between the circles and Far Eastern
mandalas. He concludes that Gilgal Refaim was an
"astronomical observatory providing social harmony
through its communal construction and proof of the
perfection of the universe."
The astronomical dating confirms lichenometric tests
and carbon dating of potsherds found on the site. In fact,
the professors erred on the side of conservatism. The
sherds dated to the Early Bronze Age, 3rd millenium BCE,
5000 years ago. A three layered burial monument was
added to the central cairn a thousand years later. Thus, the
circles pre-date the pyramids and Babylonian temples,
making them the oldest astronomical complex in the
Middle East.
The mysteries continue. Gilgal Refaim is the only
megalithic astronomical complex on earth built of loose
stones. It resembles more ruins found on Malta and in
Zimbabwe than European sites
built at the same time and possibly for the same purpose.
But despite the similarity of purpose, supposedly the
simple nomads of the region had no contact with Europe.
Nor were the shepherd tribes prone to massive building
projects. Gilgal Refaim
was the only such undertaking in the Middle East at the
time. There was no apparent cultural reason for this unique
engineering project.
For those seeking a possible UFO connection: the
circles were built on a flat plateau. No one could have seen
the shape of the monument from ground level and there
were no hills nearby to gaze upon it. Yet the monument
could only have been appreciated from above. It was as
likely a message to the stars as a stellar observatory.
In the general region of the rings are hundreds of
dolmens 3 , similar in appearance to those found in
northern Britain and France. Moshe Hartal, Chief
Archaeologist of the Golan explains, "We have identified
8,500 dolmens of twenty separate styles on the Golan
Heights. Each tribe had its own dolmen style. The biggest
dolmen stones weigh over 50 tons and are seven metres in
height. Graves are found within some domens but not all.
Their function was not purely funereal."
{{3} dolmen - a structure usually regarded as a tomb,
consisting of two or more large, upright stones set with a
space between and capped by a horizontal stone.
(Webster's Dictionary)
The Palestinian dolmens "are usually very simple: one
or more horizontal blocks were laid over a few vertical
ones averaging a meter (39 in) or less in height, with a low
entrance on one side. These may have been monuments to
the dead, designed as imitations of everyday
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dwellings...Originally, they were probably covered with small
stones and earth, which has been washed away. Occasionally, one
or two circles of small stones surrounded them. Nearly always
they are clustered in 'fields' or groups, mostly in northwestern
Jordan on the slopes above the east bank of the Jordan River, or
in upper Galilee..." (Nelson's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible
Facts; page 75). }
If the dolmens surrounding Gilgal Refaim were an integral
part of the site, then it was an enormous project encompassing
more area than at the Giza pyramids. Hartel is reluctant to draw
such a
conclusion, taking the more conservative view that the dolmens
were built over time around the attraction of the circles.
One fact stands out. The local nomadic tribes of the time did
not build any other remotely similar monument. Circle building
was not a fashion of the era among the herdsmen and that,
combined with their unsuitable, primitive technology, seems to
rule out their construction of the circles.
If the local inhabitants didn't build the rings, then who did?
Surpisingly, there is strong evidence that the biblical giants or
Refaim were the architects and engineers who constructed the
monument.
Consider the following biblical clues, written in modern
terminology (The Book, Tyndale House Publishers):
In Genesis 14:5, we are told the Refaim inhabit the
place called Ashtherot-Karnaim. Just ten miles from the
rings is the site of an ancient Canaanite city called
Ashtherot. It is named after the Canaanite goddess of
war and, contradictorily, love. Ashterot was the
Canaanite name for Sirius, from which the Hebrew name
Esther was derived.
In Joshua 12:4, we learn that "King Og of Bashan,
the last of the Refaim, who lived at Ashtarot... ruled a
territory stretching From Mount Hermon in the north...
In 1 Chronicles 6:71, we are told that the half-tribe
of Manasseh later inhabited "Golan," in Bashan.
The most explicit description of the size of the
people of Bashan is found in Deuteronomy 3. King Og is
attacked and defeated. "King Og of Bashan was the last
of the great Refaim. His iron bedstead is kept at
Rabbah... and measures thirteen and a half feet long and
six feet wide." In the same chapter we are informed that
"The Sidonians called Mount Hermon, 'Sirion.'"
In Deuteronomy, we are told that the Refaim "were
a large and powerful tribe, as tall as the Anakim
(giants)."
In Chronicles 20, the last of the Anakim is killed. "A
giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each
foot, whose father was also a giant,... was killed by
David's nephew Jonathan. These giants were
descendants of the giants of Gath and were killed by
David and his soldiers."
The respected Jerusalem biblical author, Rabbi Yisrael
Herczeg, hardly an advocate of ancient alien theories, nonethless
confirms the possibility that giant heavenly beings or their
descendants could have constructed the circles.
"The Jewish oral tradition says Og, the King of Bashan,
stowed away on Noah's ark and was the only survivor of the flood
outside Noah's family. Og was descended from the
Nefilim, deities who fell from the heavens."
Aliens?
"No, more like fallen angels. Og had children with
Noah's daughters and they were hybrid giants called the
Anakim or Refaim. They existed in ancient times and the
Bible records their presence in the Golan Heights. They
could have built Gilgal Refaim."
Written by Barry Chamish
{B} Gilgal
(Josh 4:19-20 KJV) "And the people came up out of
Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in
Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. {20} And those twelve
stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in
Gilgal."
Commentary to above verse from - The Bible
Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament:
"Joshua led the people to Gilgal, their first
encampment in Canaan, about two miles from Jericho.
There the 12 stones... taken out of the Jordan were set up,
perhaps in a small circle. The name Gilgal means "circle,"
and may have been taken from an ancient circle of stones
of pagan significance. If so, the more recent circle
commemorating Yahweh's great work would serve to
counteract the idolatrous association of the site."
{C} Giants
(Gen 6:4 KJV) "There were giants in the earth in those
days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in
unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old, men of
renown."
1. The word "giants" in this verse has been translated
from the Hebrew word 'nephiyl' or 'Nephilim' [Strong's
5303]. "It means a bully, a tyrant, a giant. It appears three
times in the O.T. There was much controversy concerning
these individuals. Since the etymology is uncertain, there is
much speculation among reputable scholars. The
translation 'giants' in the KJV came from the Septuagint
and may be misleading. Does Gen 6:4 refer to the fall of
angels? Were they apostates? It is possible that the word
means 'heroes' or 'fierce warriors.' Until more evidence
becomes available, perhaps it is wise to do as the RSV and
NIV translations did, to render it "Nephilim."
(The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible)
2. "The form of the Hebrew word [Nephilim] denotes
a plural verbal adjective or noun of passive signification,
certainly from 'napal', 'to fall,' so that the connotation is 'the
fallen ones,' clearly meaning the unnatural offspring that
were on the earth in the years before the Flood, 'and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men, and they bore children to them' (Gen 6:4). The
mention of the great stature of the Nephilim, the sons of
Anak, in the evil report that the ten spies brought of the
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land of Canaan (Num 13:33) together with the LXX rendering,
'gigantes,' suggested the translation 'giants.' They were
exceedingly wicked and violent so that 'every intent' of the
thought of men's hearts 'was only evil continually' (Gen 6:5).
(Unger, "The New Unger's Bible Dictionary", page 471.)
3. "The Hebrew word for giants (nephilim) literally means
the fallen-down-ones because these tall celestial beings fell from
the sky. Their half-breed progeny and their descendants are often
mentioned in the early books of the Old Testament until the last
of them were finally killed off. They were known as the
Rephaim, Emim, Anakim, Horim, Avim, and Zamzummim.
Some scholars speculate that this tradition of giants born from the
union of gods and humans formed the basis for the demigods of
Greek mythology."
(Raymond E. Fowler, The Watchers)
4. "Apparently these unnatural offspring, the Nephilim, were
monstrous and they have been memorialized in the legends and
myths of every ancient culture on planet Earth... The Nephilim
also seem to be echoed in the legendary Greek demigods.
Throughout Greek mythology we find that intercourse between
the gods and women yielded half-god, half-man Titans,
demigods, or heroes which were partly terrestrial and partly
celestial. Hercules is but one example. The seductions attributed
to Zeus include Thetis, Dione, Leda, Metis, and Europa."
(Chuck Missler, "Alien Encounters"; page 206.)
5. "That ancient figment, concerning the intercourse of angels
with women, is abundantly refuted by its own absurdity; and it is
surprising that learned men should formerly have been fascinated
by ravings so gross and prodigious."
(John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Volume 1 (Chapters
1-23))
{D} Rephaim
(Gen 14:5 KJV) "And in the fourteenth year came
Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the
Rephaims [7497] in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham,
and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,"
(Deu 2:10-11 KJV) "The Emims dwelt therein in times past,
a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; {11} Which
also were accounted giants [7497], as the Anakims; but the
Moabites call them Emims."
(Deu 2:20 KJV) "That also was accounted a land of
giants[7497]: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites
call them Zamzummims;"
(2 Sam 5:18 KJV) "The Philistines also came and spread
themselves in the valley of Rephaim [7497]."
[Strong's 7497]. rapha', raw-faw'; or raphah, raw-faw'; from
H7495 in the sense of invigorating; a giant:--giant, Rapha,
Rephaim (-s). See also H1051.
"Rephaim ('shades, ghosts') - the aboriginal giants who
inhabited Canaan, Edom, Moab, and Ammon. (Unger, "The New
Unger's Bible Dictionary", page 471.)
In Canaanite/Ugaritic mythology, Rephaim or
"shades" are deities of the underworld. Compare this to:
(Psa 88:10) "Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?
shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah ."
(Job 26:5) "Dead things are formed from under the
waters, and the inhabitants thereof."
The word "dead" in these verses is translated from
"rapha" [Strong's 7496] which "describes those flaccid,
feeble, weak persons who are living in Hades. They were
languid, devoid of blood and animal life, but not lacking
the powers of the mind, such as memory [ghosts, in other
words]. They were the dead inhabitants of the netherworld,
the ghosts of the dead, shades in Sheol." (The Hebrew-
Greek Key Study Bible, page 1777). Note that while
H7497 and H7496 are both "rapha", they are still
distinguishable, but nonetheless, related in the Hebrew.
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