Monte d'Accoddi: Mesopotamian ziggurat in Sardinia

07. 11. 2019
6th international conference of exopolitics, history and spirituality

Monte D'Accoddi in Sardinia is one of the strangest mysteries of modern archeology. It is a real tiered pyramid of Babylonian style, standing on a plain inhabited for thousands of years as a reminder of ancient rituals and lost civilizations. Sardinia as such is a long-forgotten treasury worth exploring, which is gradually opening. Not far from Porto Torres in northwest Sardinia is a truly unique site - a pyramidal structure called the Primeval Altar (or Megalith) of Monte d'Accoddi, which is unprecedented in Europe. Due to its shape and dimensions it is compared to Babylonian ziggurats (stepped pyramids) with an elongated front ramp used to ascend to the highest degree.

Monte d'Accoddi Archaeological Complex

The entire archaeological area spanning several square kilometers contains megalithic architecture more or less coincident with the stepped pyramid. The prehistoric Monte d'Accoddi complex dates back to at least the fourth millennium BC - thus preceding the local nuragh culture. Sardinian ziggurat is accompanied by a number of cult and residential buildings. Archaeological research, which began in the 50s, has shown that the vast Monte d'Accoddi was built as a severed pyramid 20 meters wide and 27 meters high, at the top of which was originally a huge altar to perform sacrifices. Traces of it can now be found in plastered, except colored walls. Over the ages, the pyramid has been abandoned several times and rebuilt. During the third millennium BC, the structure was covered by another structure made up of large machined limestone boulders that gave it its present appearance.

New archeo-astronomical studies and surveys

Despite the initial skepticism of traditional experts, a team of scientists led by the well-known professor Giulio Maglim, a physicist, mathematician and archeoastronomer at the Politecnico University of Milan, examined the dimensions and orientation of the pyramid. They found similarities with Egyptian and Mayan buildings. The results of these surveys have been published in the prestigious Mediterranean Archeology & Archaeometry Magazine (MAA), published by The University of the Aegean since 2001. Looking from the top of the pyramid towards the great menhir in the southeast, the so-called "stopping points" of the Moon The Sun and Venus, the points at which they stop at the horizon. These three celestial bodies are to a small extent influenced by the phenomenon known as the equinox precession (caused by the oscillation of the Earth's axis over the millennia) and can be observed more or less in the part of the sky in which it was located at the time of construction and reconstruction.

The hypothesis put forward by amateur astronomer Eugenio Muroni is very interesting. According to Muroni, the altar on Monte d'Accoddi was oriented along the constellation Southern Cross, which is no longer visible due to precession. However, 5000 years ago, the Southern Cross was visible at these latitudes, which seems to support this theory, although not definitively, because of the fact that the stele north of the monument bears a depiction of a cross-goddess mother, not a common human figure. It is also known that the temple was dedicated to the two moon deities, the male god Nannar and his female counterpart to the goddess Ningale. When you go to the pyramid, you are captivated by a flood of emotions that are enhanced by the feeling that you are standing on the surface of something unique, rare and yet so little understood. You can also feel like this when you think that a civilization that has built megaliths and left their footprints across Europe, the Mediterranean, the cromleches in Senegal and the Philippines has disappeared without leaving anything more than the giant buildings that they represent the only evidence of her presence on Earth.

Omfalos

There are other buildings around the pyramid. Omphalos, or the navel of the world, a large round stone that you can see in the pictures below, was brought to its present location a few years ago. It has been found in nearby fields where other megalithic elements are found that have not yet been properly explored. During transportation the stone broke and today it is visible a large crack. Near it is another round stone of similar shape but smaller size. Both may refer to an attempt to create a point of contact between the divine sphere and the earth; the point at which the gods can deal with their worshipers, the navel of the earth of men whose umbilical cord has been cut in ancient times, but from which it is possible to speak to the gods of heaven in accordance with ancient traditions.

Omfalos

Dolmen or sacrificial altar

Another interesting building located to the east of the pyramid is the so-called sacrificial altar, a small dolmen formed of limestone, approximately 3 meters long slab, which is laid on supporting stones and provided with a number of holes. Most experts believe that animals were tied on this stone (the holes used to tie the rope) for sacrificial ceremonies. In fact, it seems that these openings were indeed created for this purpose and the stone was also provided with a sieve through which blood could flow into the chamber below it. There are seven openings that may indicate references to the Pleiades open cluster, whose images are found in many places throughout Italy, but especially in the Valle d'Aosta. This figure may also refer to the sacred numerology that can be noticed in these ancient civilizations.

Dolmen or sacrificial altar

Menhir

The presence of menhir, or a separately erected stone, which is also carved out of limestone and shaped into a rectangular shape classic for the Sardinian menhirs, is truly breathtaking. They are usually smaller, measuring 4,4 meters in height, weighing just over five tons. Often these stones are associated with phallic rituals, known in Mesopotamia as Baal's sacred posts. In the Middle Ages, they were used by infertile women to channel magic power: women rubbed their belly against the surface of the stone, hoping that the spirit living in the stone would give them offspring. It is believed that menhirs were one way in which megalithic cultures imagined life after death; the deceased entered the stone and lived in it - in more or less the same way cypresses were associated with ancient burial grounds.

Menhir

Thousands of shells

All around the pyramid can be found small white mussels, which are traditionally associated with sacred sacrifices. You come across them at virtually every step. For centuries, the locals, sons and heirs of those who led ceremonies at the top of the pyramid thousands of years ago gathered and maintained long-forgotten rituals.

Unanswered questions

The impressions that this site evokes are breathtaking: but what does Ziggurat do in Sardinia? No archaeologist has so far found a satisfactory answer: some argue that this is a common "homo religiosus" structure occurring all over the world, and that the construction of an elevated temple should help bring man closer to God. Pyramidal structures have existed for thousands of years and can be found in many countries, but the uniqueness of Monte d'Accoddi is that it is the only tiered pyramid of ziggurate style in Europe. Little is known. Little was investigated. So it is with most of the ancient history of Sardinia.

Resources are needed

Some time ago, I was with my wife in this wonderful country and accidentally came across the discovery (or resurrection) of the so-called Monte Parma giants. We were ecstatic, just as there were archaeologists and inhabitants of the area, and I wrote an article about it because no Italian national media was aware of the unusual nature of this finding - the oldest statue in Europe. It partially rewrites history. Only after this article was published on a website that had tens of thousands of visitors in a matter of hours did someone from the most important newspaper notice the discovery and mention it in the press; however, it did little.

Unfortunately, in Italy, resources are not allocated to local associations and universities, and in many cases they have to take care of their own. It hurts to see it. For example, in the Pran Mutteddu Archaeological Park, I saw a guide, an archaeologist, forced to work alone, lifting large menhirs out of the ground and straightening them only with his own hands. I talked to him and explained how things really were. It is a man who, out of pure passion for history and love for his country, bends his back and smears his hands by elevating megalithic buildings and thus deserving all support and respect. He performs a task that does not belong to him, but he performs it with determination and commitment despite the high cost of his health.

It would be good to bring together all enthusiasts and researchers of all nations, to contact patrons and financiers in Europe and elsewhere; to create an enthusiastic and capable community that can provide the means and people to collaborate with local authorities to advance exploration and archaeological research to lift an unprecedented area in the world.

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