The History of Giants

What is a giant?

According to Merriam-Webster, a giant “is a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength: a living being of great size: a person of extraordinary powers: something unusually large or powerful.”

There are a lot of misconceptions about giants. Many people believe whatever it is their religion or belief system tells them. However, since the beginning of humanity, there has always been a group of highly tall and strong people. Likewise, there has always been a time when a group of shorter and considered weaker people.

To better understand who these giants were, I had to use what was available to me, starting with religion; why religion? Well, for starters, that’s where I first heard about the giant Goliath. However, the story about Goliath came later in the Bible, 1 Samuel 17, so I started from the beginning of the Bible.

The first indication in the Bible about giants was in Genesis. I mean, the word is actually used, so there is no confusion.

Genesis 6:4

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.

From what I understand from reading the Holy Bible from front to back, including both the King James Version and the New International Version, it is that the sons of God were here on planet earth before and after the great flood. After God created humanity, starting with Adam and Eve, and after the world was populated for some time, Angels or sons of God fornicated with the daughters of men. Some even had relationships that led to marriage.

Basically, some were having sexual relationships, and others were creating families with the daughters of men.

Numbers 13:33

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.

In the Bible, it is written that God wanted to flood the earth because he was upset that the sons of God, also known as Angels or Fallen Angels, were mingling with the daughters of men. So the flood was created and sent by God himself to destroy all living creatures.

But because of the confusion written about giants and who they were exactly, I wanted to know the first known written documentation indicating anything about what a giant is. And since the Sumerians are considered the first to have a writing system, why not start there?

So I did.

Inana and Enki: c.1.3.1 So Inana got hold again of the divine powers which had been presented to her, and the Boat of Heaven; and then for the second time the prince spoke to his minister Isimud, Enki addressed the Sweet Name of Heaven: “Isimud, my minister, my Sweet Name of Heaven!” “Enki, my master, I am at your service! What is your wish?” “Where has the Boat of Heaven reached now?” “It has just now reached the holy …….” “Go now! The fifty giants of Eridug are to take the Boat of Heaven away from her!”

The Written Origins

One of many earliest known descriptions of what could be considered a giant is credited to the Sumerians, about a man named Gilgamesh, a king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk.

Many assumptions surround Gilgamesh. But from what I understand, he probably ruled sometime during the early part of the Early Dynastic Period, which dates to around 2900 – 2350 B.C. He is also mentioned on the Sumerian King List.

There is evidence that shows that Gilgamesh went from being a man to being revered as a god, being two-thirds divine.

Many depictions of Gilgamesh show him being a very tall and well-built man that is powerful and big enough to hold a lion in one arm.

But there are depictions much earlier than the famous one above that show him with a more reasonable size compared to the lions.

And because of these multiple artist depictions of Gilgamesh, my question was, could these depictions be exaggerated?

I mean, you can find descriptions and depictions of giants from all around the world, from ancient Mesopotamia to the ancient Greeks, the ancient Egyptians, and even the Native Americans in the Americas.

But what is the actual truth behind the theory of giants mingling with humans?

The Tallest and Shortest people of Africa

Whenever I want to know the origins of something, I tend to see if I can find a trace of it in Africa. What I mean is that if all humans on planet Earth originated from Africa, and the oldest homo-sapien bones date back to around 300,000 years ago, then obviously, there is a lot of history between the oldest homo-sapien bones and what is considered the first civilization.

And because there is a lot of history between those time frames, I wondered how much of the myths about giants were carried from Morocco, Africa, to ancient Mesopotamia, no matter the route that was taken to get there.

So what I did was google who are the tallest people in Africa. What I found is that it goes to the Watusi Tribe in Africa, which comes from the African Great Lake region, the Democratic Republic of Congo Rwanda.

These men and women can reach heights of 7-8 feet tall or taller. And from what I read is that that’s normal for that area. Here’s another interesting fact I learned about them: this tribe’s Haplogroup falls under E1B1B.

This is the same Haplogroup that has been found throughout ancient Mesopotamia, including the Sumerians. The Sumerians may have migrated from Ethiopia and the surrounding areas to ancient Mesopotamia. Haplogroup E1B1B, “it is believed to have first appeared in the Horn of Africa approximately 26,000 years ago and dispersed to North Africa and the Near East during the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods.” Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA) – Eupedia

I have had many discussions with people who say they are very serious about wanting to know the history of ancient times, and they will research everything they can, to understand the history of the ancients. Some people believe in the ancient alien theory or their monotheistic or polytheistic religion. And then there are people who believe in science.

But what I’ve learned from all of these individuals is that no matter what, I always find a group of people who only want to go back maybe 10,000 years ago. They truly believe life began maybe 6-10,000 years ago, yet we have artifacts dating hundreds of thousands of years old.

And science says that the oldest homo-sapien bones were found in Morocco, Africa dating back possibly 300,000 years ago.

If I compare the Watusi tribe to the pygmy peoples of Africa, which average height of the pygmy peoples is about 3-4 feet tall, I get a clearer understanding of how a myth of giants may have come to be. All myths, from what I understand, come from a traditional oral story that was once verbally shared.

There is no doubt in my mind that the many stories about giants could have been exaggerated given the thousands of years in between each story told; think about how many ears and mouths were involved. Think about the corrupted people at those times, think about the “my god is better than your god,” and the many different levels of education to understand what is precisely being told to each individual are astonishing possibilities of exaggeration.

There are 300,000 years of homo-sapien history on planet earth. There are millions of years of human-like species that were on planet earth. Considering that the Sumerians are considered the founders of the first writing system. It makes me wonder why that is so, mainly since the ancient Egyptian writing system dates to about the same time as the Sumerians. And then understanding how E1B1B is a common factor between the Watusi Tribe, the ancient Egyptians, and the Sumerians. It makes me want to dig deeper into humanity’s history.

With all that I’ve learned about giants, the idea of a man who is tall, strong, and powerful enough to carry or hold a lion with one arm could have been exaggerated. Unfortunately, much of the earliest Sumerian text, the first writing system, mentions very little of what could be a giant, and that’s why my search continues.

Until next time, Knowledge is Power.