Ancient myths point to the Hollow Earth theory

 

Ancient myths about Hollow Earth and subterranean civilizations bring the imagination to life. Stories of vast cities hidden underground, connected by a great network of tunnels, arouse curiosity. Cueva de los Tayos in Ecuador, entrances to subterranean worlds in the Andes, the Himalayas, the Gobi Desert, Turkey, and even under the Giza Sphinx, provide the background for mysterious accounts of portals to the center of the Earth.

In ancient times, the Hollow Earth theory was born, claiming that our planet is hollow inside, with entrances to the underworld scattered all over the planet. Since the time of Edmund Halley, many scientists and thinkers, such as John C. Sims, have supported and developed this idea.

According to Sims, the interior of our planet hid an underground world, lit by a small sun, full of mountains, forests, and lakes. Without ceasing his efforts, he persuaded the United States Congress to support an expedition to the Arctic to discover the entrance to this inner world. Although Sims did not live to see this expedition completed, an expedition led by Charles Wilkes set out in 1838. Despite many discoveries, the entrance to the interior of the Earth has remained undiscovered.

The Hollow Earth Theory inspired writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, and H.P. Lovecraft, who cultivated the genre of fantasy literature. In the 20th century, despite advances in geology and geography, the theory continued to attract supporters. Some Nazi leaders, lovers of ancient myths and the occult showed an interest in such theories.

Over the centuries, many people have tried to prove the existence of the hollow interior of the Earth. Edmund Halley, Cyrus Teed, William Reid, and Marshall Gardner have argued that the evidence for an inner world lies on the surface of the Earth. They spoke of an anomaly in air and water temperatures near the poles, suggesting that this could be evidence of an underground civilization.

Myths about creatures living underground are as old as humanity itself. Stories of demons sent to the underworld as opposed to angels from heaven are common in the tradition. Buddhists speak of Agartha, a kingdom hidden in caves beneath the Himalayas, inhabited by ancient sages. In the legends of the Hopi, an ancient tribal community in northern Arizona in the United States, there are stories of underground cities where ancestors fled in times of disaster.

In ancient Rome and Greece, there were mythologies about underground kingdoms such as Hades, the underworld of the dead. Hindu scriptures contain stories about ancient civilizations that lived underground, called Patala.

While many of these myths about subterranean civilizations are symbolic and allegorical, there is no shortage of people who take them literally. Some of these people seek evidence of their existence by researching and exploring caves, tunnels, and other geological formations.

Nevertheless, to this day there is no scientific evidence of the existence of a hollow Earth interior or subterranean civilizations. All geological and geophysical evidence indicates that the Earth is dense and consists of several layers: crust, mantle and core. Nevertheless, myths and legends about subterranean kingdoms continue to live on in popular culture, influencing literature, movies, video games, and other forms of art and entertainment.