Marduk, Nibiru, Planet X, 12th Planet, 2012

Let’s see what we mean:

In Ancient Egypt, there came a time when the central authority weakened and led to a turmoil which somehow resulted with the so-called “Hyksos Years” along the Nile delta. The time was around 1650 BC but we do not know much about how the “Asiatic nomads” dared to attack the mighty Egypt or even where did they really come from. This “obscured era” lasted for almost a hundred years and the order finally restored in Egypt around 1550 BC. But interestingly, no historical documents from the later years of the New Kingdom in Egypt ever mentioned the Hyksos disaster and the turmoil of the period. What kind of “opportunity”, had these nomadic plunderers got just after 1650 BC, to get the Egyptians down on their knees? Historians are silent, though some opinions float around mentioning the “administrative failure at the end of the Middle Kingdom” or “an economical crisis which had weakened the Egyptian armed forces”. Any solid evidence? No, not at all.

In Indus Valley, mainstream historical approach led us to a theory in the late 19th century, which was called “The Arian Invasion“. This theory marks about the very same period, around 1650 BC and is as much blurred as the Hyksos Era in Egypt. All the archaeological findings proposes an advanced civilization along the Indus Valley (especially in the ancient city Mohenjo-Daro) and around the banks of ancient Sarasvati River which started most probably back in 3100 BC or so. This people, now called The Harappans, had had their all sophisticated city forms, writing system and literature which seem as advanced as Sumerians’ and Egyptians’. But, strangely again, around 1650 BC something caused a “blackout” in history and the Harappan cities were destroyed, abandoned and finally invaded by a less civilized nomadic people who apparently came from northwest. Historians call these northern nomadics “The Arians” (the ancestors of all Europeans) and the blurred era of 1650 BC was widely believed as the “Arian Invasion” period in ancient India. No need to say that there were no enough evidence to explain the sudden collapse of the Harappan civilization and the disaster followed by the invasion. The “Arian Invasion” idea was “totally foreign to the history of India” as scholar David Frawley wrote, “whether north or south – has become almost an unquestioned truth in the interpretation of ancient history. Today, after nearly all the reasons for its supposed validity have been refuted, even major Western scholars are at last beginning to call it in question.” (1) – (See the Notes section)

In Asia Minor, another mysterious nomadic people which is believed to be of Indo-European origin, experienced a sudden rise around 1650 BC and dominated almost all the eastern and central parts of the peninsula, including the famous ancient city of Hattusa (Bogazkoy.) This people, now called The Hittites, was first discovered by Charles Texier in 1834 during a research in Central Anatolia and was hitherto unknown to historians, mentioned only in the Old Testament. In 1876, scholar A.H. Sayce suggested that the “writers” of the scriptures found in Central Anatolia was the Hatti or Hittite people of The Bible. Famous egyptologist W. Flinders Petrie‘s research on the “El Amarna Letters” (2) supported the idea of a previously unknown ancient power in Anatolia. Finally, in 1907, excavations directed by scholar Hugo Winckler proved the existence of the mysterious Hittites. The researchs showed that, during a turmoil in Ancient Neareast and Anatolia, this Indo-European people seized the power and established their state almost “suddenly” in the area, previously dominated by the Hatti people, at some time around 1650 BC. Another “blurred point” which is not explained thoroughly yet.

Furthermore, this same Indo-European warlords attacked Babylon and ceased the activities of Assyrian trade colonies in southwestern Anatolia soon after they seized the power in Asia Minor – around 1600 BC. A statement in an ancient document mentions about the “Babylonian operation” of Hittites: “In the time of Samsuditana, men of Hatti began marching towards the Land Of Akkad.” According to Hittite specialist Oliver R. Gurney, the most accurate date for the Hittites’ Babylonian conquest was 1600 BC: “The activities of Assyrian merchants in Cappadocia ceased suddenly, probably during the reign of Anittas” Gurney says. And he adds: “It is not certain what caused this: The conquests of Anittas or a natural disaster which destroyed the city of Assur” (3). This was a very “unlucky” time for Mesopotamia’s once proud Babylonian empire because they even couldn’t get the strength to resist the Hittites.

One of the most remarkable Assyrologists of the 20th century, Leo Oppenheim, mentions about a “Dark Age” of the Mesopotamian history. This time span, according to Oppenheim, begins with the last kings of the Hammurabi Dynasty and lasts until the first kings of Kassite period which corresponds approximately between 1680 BC – 1500 BC in the timeline. “Many problems related to the chronology of Mesopotamia are intimately linked to the span of time allotted to the Dark Age”, says Oppenheim, and he concludes: “There are different schools of thought, ‘short’ and ‘long’ chronologies, and intermediary solutions. None of them is based on more than circumstantial evidence. The discussion is sure to continue until more evidence and synchronisms will allow us to fit the few available facts into a more reliable time sequence.” (4)

The term “Dark Age” was first used by scholar Benno Landsberger in his article “<Assyrische Koenigsliste und ‘Dunkles Zeiter’” in 1954. The term usually refers to the lack of documentation and evidence of a specific time span and underlines an apparent “turmoil” in Mesopotamia, around 1650 BC.

“In the beginning of the 16th century BC” says Michael Roaf, “Hittite King Murshili destroyed Aleppo and ended the Hammurapi Dynasty in Babylon. When he got back in Anatolia, he was murdered by his brother-in-law who seized the crown. Shortly after this, Hurrian attacks and the civil war shrinked the Hittite land to their capital and its neighbourhood. Ancient Near East entered into a period of regression or at least, uncertainty. For the following century, there is almost no source” (5).

We can safely say that the time span between 1650-1500 BC was a real “blackout” in the Near East history, which scholars refer as the “Dark Age”. According to Roaf, Egypt was no exception but it became the first power in the ancient world to “revive”. Around 1525 BC, the first king of the 18th Dynasty, pharaoh Ahmose defeated the Hyksos at Lower Egypt and established the “New Kingdom.”

In the Aegean Sea, a very advanced civilization called The Minoans suffered a sudden decline around 1650 BC and collapsed slowly but steadily in almost a few decades (though parts of it remained “alive” during the eve of the early Greek civilization.) As far as we know, the people who established the Minoan civilization on the Aegean islands had arrived there from the Near East, approximately around 3000 BC. With their advanced cities, writing system and arts, Minoans were unique in the region but that strange “collapse” during the very same time period, around 1650 BC, almost erased them from the history. The cause of the decline is still a subject for some controversial theories, though there are some very solid evidence which suggest a serious catastrophe, occured between 1650 – 1630 BC.

Let’s turn our eyes to a very far land now: A land of jungle, beyond the Atlantic Ocean. In Meso-America, around the same date, 1650 BC, something caused a real “change” and a mysterious civilization managed to seize the power around the Yucatan peninsula. This people, now called The Olmecs, (the “Rubber People”) have no known origin in the continent (6) and still preserve a deep mystery. Scholars now begin to think that they were the descendants of a high culture called “La Venta Civilization” which existed probably between 2900 – 1600 BC. But with a little or no clue which could help to explain who these early Meso-Americans were, the “Olmec enigma” is still hard to solve as Gerald Messadie states (7).

In the Far East, the land of China, the mighty Xia kingdom experienced a sudden collapse and during the turmoil, its successor, the Shang Dynasty seized the power, almost around the same mysterious date: 1650 BC.