Giants
In this article we will focus more on the interpretation of the giant as beings closely comparable to the human race, ie. without the Titans (which are often symbolic representations of celestial bodies), without the Ice Giants (in Norse mythology analogous to the Titans), and without any other non-human giants and mythological creatures (such as huge sepia, animals, plants, insects).
Giants and the Bible
Before the Flood – According to biblical texts before the Flood (Genesis), the Nephilim (the “fallen”) and the Giborims – “the mighty” on the earth which are also translated as “giants”. Some cite the two terms as interpreting that the giants were the “fallen”, of which existence is contrary to God’s will.
Book of Baruk / Baruch – one of the apocryphal books, which in many versions of the collection of the Bible is excluded or not recognized. The book was discovered in Greek, although it is believed that the original is in Hebrew, and translations have been found in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian and others.
There are some interesting passages in this book, such as:
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.
Baruch 26:28
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.
And ever more interesting is the following passage:
10 destruction of the first created, how is it now so useful? And the angel said, Thou askest aright. When God caused the deluge upon earth, and destroyed all flesh, and four hundred and nine thousand giants, and the water rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, then the water entered into paradise and destroyed every flower; but it removed wholly without the bounds the shoot
Baruch 4:10
Book of Enoch – one of the apocryphal and most mysterious texts that are not included in the anthology of the Bible, but definitely give perspective on what happens to demons, angels and the mention of giants.
Nimrod the Giant – in the Biblical texts (Genesis) is described as a king “in the lands of Shinar” (Mesopotamia). Reigning over the cities of Babel, Erek, Akkad, and Kalneh, the records reveal the story of a cunning ruler who stood against God’s will and underpinned the construction of the Tower of Babel.
Researchers and scholars cannot accurately associate the myth with a real historical figure (some associate it with Nebuchadnezzar). Various theologians describe him, but the greatest impression is made by Hungarian legends, where he is described as “Nimrod the Giant” or “the great Nimrod”, who is a descendant of “Noah’s worst sons”. Some even believe that the giant built the Tower of Babel with great strength.
David and Goliath – the most famous Biblical story of King David, the successor of King Solomon, who defeated Goliath, who was huge. He knocks him down with a stone and kills him with the sword of the fallen Goliath.
Here are a few more passages from the Bible:
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.
Genesis 6:4
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.
Numbers 13:33
Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.
Deuteronomy 2:11
Albion – the old name of Great Britain (described in the 4th century BC) and the incredible story that in legends it is described as “the island of giants”. The historian Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th century) tells of Brutus of Troy, who is considered the legendary founder of Britain. Expelled from Italy, he founded Troy Nova (present-day London) with a group of Trojans. The island was inhabited by giants, which he defeated, and after the founding of Troy Nova, it is said that few surviving giants remained, who were later killed, and the most famous of them Gogmagog was thrown from a rock by Corineus (another legendary ruler of Britain). ).
One interpretation of Stonehenge’s origins is that the huge stones were carried by giants.
Giants around the World
Hayk – It is believed that this is the founder of the Armenian state. Hayk was of the race of giants he helped to build the Tower of Babel.
Hayk was handsome and personable, with curly hair, sparkling eyes and strong arms. Among the giants he was the bravest and most famous, opponent of all who raised their hand to become absolute ruler over the giants and heroes
Movses Khorenatsi (Armenian historian, 410-490 BC)
Chiki (Txiki) – a legend from one of the most mysterious peoples in the world – the Basque. The giants lived on the outskirts of the Basque lands, who did not want to be baptized and decided to follow their old beliefs and way of life in the forests. They are believed to have secrets that Christians did not know. According to the Basques, giants were the basis of ancient buildings, stone walls, dolmens and megalithic structures.
Gigantes (γίγαντες) – in ancient Greek legends, a race of giants, children of Uranus (sky) and Gaia (earth), clearly distinguished that they are not titans, but children of titans. They were originally depicted with normal human height, but after 380 BC. are described as 3-meter with snakes for legs or snake scales on legs. They are known in Gigantomatia in the great war of giants against the Olympic gods.
Cyclops are also equated with giants.
Daityas – in Hinduism they were called the race of giants. They were the children of Diti (Mother Earth) and the sage Kashiapa. The virgins were their half-brothers and sisters (as in the Biblical texts, especially in the book of Enoch, it is implied that there are angels, nephilim and humans – three separate classes / castes / races). The Daityas were blood thirsty and envious of their half-brothers and sisters, and waged wars against them, sometimes in alliance with other races.
Si-Te-Cah – According to the Paiute Indian tribe, the Si-Te-Cah are a legendary tribe of red-haired ferocious giants. According to the myths of the spiders, the giants treated with great cruelty one of the their children who was born with deformities, and therefore the Great Spirit punished them by allowing other nations to persecute and exterminate them.
Quinametzin – In Aztec mythology, there were giants who lived in the “previous era of the Sun” (according to the Aztecs, there are 5 eras of creation and destruction). They were over 3 meters long and because of their great transgressions, the gods punished and destroyed them. The pyramid at Cholula and the city of Teotihuacan are considered the work of giants.
Tirthankara – In Jainism (a religion based on Hinduism), Tirthankara are considered to be very advanced “saviors” who descend in group by 24 in each cycle and overcome the traps of creation, freeing themselves from the Wheel of Rebirth and showing the way. to others. They are described as giants who, depending on the period in which they live, can be the height of an ordinary person.
In this doctrine, it is interesting thing to mention the wheel itself, that can explain the beliefs all over the world and the disappearance of the giants:
The Cycle of Time – the cosmological eternal cycle Kalachakra (Kālacakra), which rotates forever, is divided into several segments of 2 semi-rotations: ascending rotation Utsarpiṇī and descending. The ascending is of prosperity, harmony and happiness, and the descending of misery, chaos and suffering. According to the Jains in this cycle, the giants that incarnate in the downward stream acquire a smaller size, ie. with human height, but in the more ancient times were huge.
Origin in Antiquity
Here we cannot fail to mention the huge statues in Egyptian civilization and the Sumerian cuneiform tablets, where man is up to half of the Sumerian deity in a sitting position.
According to the author Zechariah Sitchin, the deities called “Anunnaki” come from the “Heavens” (beyond our planet), from the planet Nibiru. When the seated figure “stood up”, it would be about 3 meters. According to him, the tile shows our solar system and the planet they come from.
He also interprets that “Eden” (Paradise) in Biblical texts is here on Earth – the name of the colony E-Dem, where man was created.
Even if we deny this interpretation, the tablet shows the difference in heights, and the Sumerian text precedes the Biblical one, as the two finds suggest the first recorded meeting between a man and a giant (perhaps its creator):
Mix the heart of the clay that is over the abyss,
(Kramer, History Begins 109)
The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay,
You, [Nammu] do you bring the limbs into existence;
Ninmah [earth-mother or birth goddess] will work above you,
The goddesses [of birth] . . . will stand by you at your fashioning;
O my mother, decree its [the newborn’s] fate,
Ninmah will bind upon it the image (?) of the gods,
It is man . . . .
Giants in Present Day
Two types can be called “giants”: pituitary giant – have a problem with growth hormone and lead to potential problems with the musculoskeletal system, bones, abnormalities; and those who are normal people but genetically very tall.
In modern times we can see both types, but the second (very tall normal people) arouse interest and definitely raise the question of the race of giants in the past. In the following examples they will also be referred to as nationalities, to make it clear that are all across the world.
Many examples can be seen in basketball: Gheorghe Muresan from Romania (2.31 meters), Slavko Vranes from Montenegro (2.29 meters), Shawn Bradley from Germany (2.29 meters), Yao Ming from China (2, 29 meters), Chuck Nevitt from the USA (2.26 meters), the famous Shaquille O’Neal from the USA (2.16 meters) and others.
The African Watusi tribe also consisted of very tall people over 2.13 meters tall, and their king Charles Rudahuagwa III was 2.10 meters tall.
The tallest people are in South Sudan, descendants of the Dinka tribe – almost all the inhabitants are over 190 centimeters. Basketball player Manute Bol is from there and is 2.29 meters, and his father was an elder in the tribe.
One of the strongest people on the planet is Hafthor Bjornsson (Iceland), who is 2.05 meters, nearly 200 kg (withstands such a huge muscle mass, while many pituitary giants will not be able to).
The tallest bodybuilder is Olivier Richters (known as the “Dutch Giant”), who is 2.18 meters and about 140 kg.
The tallest athletes in martial arts are Choi Hong-Man (South Korea) 2.2 meters; Giant Silva (Brazil) 2.18 meters; Stefan Struve (Netherlands) 2.13 meters.
The tallest person recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records is Robert Wadlow – a good and kind giant who was 2.72 meters tall.
