Posted on 09/27/2012 1:19:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
An ancient Buddhist statue that was recovered by a Nazi expedition in the 1930s was originally carved from a highly valuable meteorite.
Researchers say the 1,000-year-old object with a swastika on its stomach is made from a rare form of iron with a high content of nickel.
They believe it is part of the Chinga meteorite, which crashed about 15,000 years ago.
The findings appear in the Journal, Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
The 24cm (9-inch) tall statue is 10kg (22lb) and is called the Iron Man. Origins unknown
The story of this priceless object owes more perhaps to an Indiana Jones film script than sober scientific research.
It was discovered in Tibet in 1938 by German scientist Ernst Schafer. His expedition was supported by the Nazis, in particular by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Himmler was said to believe the Aryan race originated in Tibet and was keen to recover objects from the area.
Brought back to Germany, the statue became part of a private collection and disappeared from view until 2007. A new owner then sought scientific advice on the origins. He turned to Dr Elmar Buchner from the University of Stuttgart.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks all! Additional: To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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Thanks NormsRevenge, a fool in paradise, DogByte6RER, and Pollster1 for this two-list pingworthy topic.
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Through my lady friend, born in Shanghai, I have quite a few Chinese, now proud American friends. They are all Christians, that’s why they left China. But some of them are also of a dual personality. They are Buddhist/Christians. They feel that that Buddhism is a way of life, and that Jesus is is their Savior.
I hate to sound like that guy from Ancient Aliens TV show, but wouldn’t this metallic meteorite be extremely hard and difficult to carve?
How and who could do that?
Beat the hell out of it with granite for 40-50 years...........Just guessing.
Isn’t there a different meaning to Swastika as to the directions of the end flags this one seems to go backwards from the ones the nazi’s used
I didn’t read this first (in a hurry) so apologie if it’s been answered, but the swastika is ancient, and found both clockwise and counterclockwise. Some have claimed that the Nazis displayed it “backwards”, but that’s a smokin’ crock — it was always drawn either way, and even the Nazis would display it either way.
Maybe the good luck only works if you have the flags pointed in the proper spinner direction.
Thats cool i didn’t know if there was a difference or not i’ve only seen the Nazi ones in one direction that’s why i asked ...
I’ve seen that on candles in Mexican Prayer stores !
:’) I’m not too sure what the difference is, it probably depends on who was using it. Also, the backs of the flag would be reverse. :’)
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