Ancient Sumerians living in what is now Iraq built the first airport 7,000 years ago so they could explore the (former) planet Pluto, according to Iraq’s transportation minister.
The first airport was built near Dhi Qar, in southern Iraq, by the Sumerian civilization in 5,000 BC, according to Kazem Finjan. He cited Russian professor and Sumerian expert Samuel Kramer’s work on Sumerian mythology to back his assertion, reported The New Arab.
“The first airport that was established on planet earth was in this place,” said Finjan Saturday. “Sumerian spaceships used to launch from here towards the other planets.”
He also cited historian Zecharia Sitchin’s 1976 book “The 12th Planet” which claims, among other things, that aliens from a planet called Nibiru traveled to earth 450,000 years ago to colonize and mate with humans.
Sitchin’s work is generally not accepted within scientific circles, despite being widely read.
“The Sumerians were the first to discover the 12th planet, which was acknowledged a few days ago by NASA and named Nibiru, and which completes its orbit around the sun every 3,600 years,” said Finjan.
NASA has noted that stories about Nibiru and other such planets are “an internet hoax.”
Sumer, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, was established in Iraq’s southernmost region between 5000 and 4000 BC. Sumerians are known for having pioneered advanced agricultural techniques and building some of the world’s first cities. The civilization also helped establish legal codification, which would serve as precedent for the Code of Hammurabi in Babylon.
While the accomplishments of ancient Sumeria were undoubtedly impressive for their time, historians generally credit the Wright brothers with the first successful aircraft flight in North Carolina in 1903. Wilbur Wright is believed to have created the first modern airport College Park, Maryland in 1909.
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