Tag Archives: J. Huston McCulloch

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The Mounds that were Imagined by the Army

Hanukkiah Earthworks as surveyed by the Army before they were destroyed.

Hanukkiah Earthworks as surveyed by the Army before they were destroyed.

By B.L. Freeborn © 2013, updated Nov. 2018

What else does Dr. McCulloch have to offer? As a long time advocate for the stones his website has a few things not found anywhere else. If one visits his Archaeological Outliers Page1 one will find an image of a great earthwork that no longer exists. It met with the colonial plow and lost. Formerly, this great earthwork was to be found east of Cincinnati near the East Fork of the Little Miami River. Fort Ancient and Chillicothe both have large concentrations of mounds and are relatively close.

It takes little imagination to see in this image an oil lamp and a candelabra particular to Jewish tradition called a Hanukkah menorah. McCulloch explains in detail the different surveys done at this site. One survey was done by the US Army but in accordance with the anti-debaters logic the earthworks never existed. It is a short leap after seeing this to concluding the Decalogue Stone is Jewish. But again we must hesitate to make that leap since if it is Jewish, present day Jews would have some understanding of what the earthworks are all about. The Jewish are a people who tenaciously adhere to tradition. If the earthworks are of Jewish origin, then would there not be a tradition of making earthworks in their religion? Since there is not, we continue looking for an explanation.

The East Fork Works is portrayed in this image. The 2000 foot length on the image is believed to be incorrect. (See full resolution image at McCulloch’s link below.) It is noted in two places as 200 feet and then later someone has written in a zero to make it 2000 feet. Frank Otto proposed in 2006 that the correct dimension is probably 900 since 9’s and 2’s can look similar and this was probably a mistake in taking the information from field notes. The spacing on the candles is 66 feet. Scaling the image accordingly the 900 foot dimension is confirmed in the locations shown in the image below. The overall dimensions on the bottom and left are 924 x 935 = 863,940 or 864,000 square feet. This 864 looks familiar. We saw it in the Decalogue Stone.

Hanukkiah Earthworks with Dimensions Added.

Hanukkiah Earthworks (East Fork) with Dimensions Added.

The other numbers found on the stone were: 56, 5656, 69.2, 69, 70, 79, 58 and 16. The 79 appears in the East Fork Works at the bottom as 792. The average diameter of the Earth is 7920 feet. The 56 appears at the bottom of the candlestick as 560′. The lower branch actually bumps out to give the dimension. The 58 appears at the top closer to its correct value of 584 which reminds one of the distance Earth travels in a year or 584 million miles. Easily summed and used to check the scale is 66 x 8 = 528. The 528 was found by James Marshall at the High Bank Works south of Chillicothe2 as the radius of the giant circle there. 528 feet is exactly 1/10th of a mile.  Its prominent display here is also indicating measurement by the mile. The distance 660 feet is called a furlong. There are eight in a mile. The candles are then set at 1/10th of a furlong. The radius of the small top circle is also 66 feet making the diameter the noted 132 feet. The 132 feet appears as the length of the bottom small square. Its vertical height of 110 feet is 1320 inches. The area of this square is .333 acres. We saw on the back of the Decalogue Stone the number 9 and recalled that it is 3 + 3 + 3 = 9. The 3’s appear in the area .333 but more so the 9 appears as the 900′ dimensions. The area of a 900′ x 900′ square is 18.59 acres.

This value repeats. The side lengths 935′ and 924′ sum to 1859′.

The topic of the Sumerian inch of .66 inches has previously been studied.3 The value 66 reminds us that Earth travels at 66624 mph. Furthermore, one cannot possess a really important length of .66 inches unless one’s standard is actually one full inch. The same follows for the Indus inch of 1.32 inches. The value 1.32 is reflected in this image as well.

If one has taken the time to follow this, it leaves more questions than answers. Why are there all these odd elements in one place: English measurement, numbers of Sumerian and Indus importance, Jewish symbols, Jewish letters, and an accurate measurement of the Earth’s diameter? Not to mention in the last post we brought into play the deity Baal. The mystery grows in complexity rather than being solved.

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  1.  McCulloch, J. Huston, “Archaeological Outliers Page.”    See: http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/outliers.html
  2. Marshall, James, Intelligence Inscribed before the Printed Word in North America, Caxton  Club of Chicago, 2004. See: http://www.caxtonclub.org/reading/2004/jul04.pdf
  3.  Freeborn, B.L., “The Inch, The Megalithic Yard, and The Sumerian Inch,” 2013. See:  https://noahsage.com/2013/01/13/the-inch-the-megalitic-yard-and-the-sumerian-inch/

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Looking for a Better Explanation

By B.L. Freeborn © 2013, updated Nov. 2018

J. Huston McCulloch’s website, “The Newark Holy Stones,” 1 and his 1992 paper, “An Annotated Transcription of the Ohio Decalogue Stone,” 2 are the most thorough description of the stones to be found. In the latter article he gives all 256 letters plus the 2 unidentified symbols with the matching Hebrew word and its English translation. Clear images are found on the website, as well as a good overview of its history and past debates.

Ohio HebrewThere is something missing in all of the above excellent reports and that is numbers. When studying the Indian mounds of North America or European earthworks the first items noted are lengths, areas, and heights. Numbers are intrinsic to this study. So we begin looking at the numbers related to the stone.

According to Altman this is a ritual artifact in incantation format. If it is real, the numbers should repeat numbers of historical ritual significance. McCulloch states there are 256 letters on the stone. 256 is 16 x 16.  The stone, as measured by it’s copy, measures 6 7/8″ x 1 3/4″ x 2 7/8″ (or 6.875 x 1.75 x 2.875). Its rough volume is then 34.59 cubic inches. Twice this value is 69.18.

1.75 is 2 x .875. From prior work in the subject it can be predicted that the correct value is .864″ which gives a corrected thickness of 1.73″.

Two times 2.875 is 5.75. This can be rounded to 5.8 which indicates the correct measurement is 2.9″.

6.875 can be rounded to 6.9 which is the desired value as well.

Substituting these corrected values for its measurements and determining the volume once again gives us 34.62 cubic inches or virtually the same value. Twice this value is 69.23 cubic inches.

The circumference is then 3.46 inches. Two times this is one-tenth the same value just obtained or 6.92″. The circumference in the opposite direction is 17.26 or 2 x 8.63. This is almost the desired correct value of 8.64.

Why is this all important? How can one know the expected correct values? The expected values are determined by repetition. They appear at ancient sites. Again and again in ancient artifacts they will appear. The measurements will be in English inches. The distances in English feet and miles. If this is a valid ancient object the expected numbers must be present. If it is a forgery, any value can be found. In a similar manner, the New Hampshire Mystery Stone portrays the diameter of the Earth in its circumference.

The numbers do not end here. Hebrew does not have a separate set of signs for numerals. All Hebrew letters double as numbers which makes the Torah a document that is dually written. It is written both in words and in numbers. Each letter on the decalogue equates to a number. This is called gematria. Take for example the three letters over the head of Moses. They convert to 5, 300, 40 which sums to 345 and twice this number is 690 which reminds us of the height of the stone 6.9″. Two further examples are found in numbers we just found on the stone. The gematria of Noah is 58 and that of Elohim (a name of God) is 86.

It was mentioned in the prior post that there were two symbols ignored by Altman. If the symbol at the top center front is an Ayin it is nearly the standard letter. Yet Ayin in the text is depicted by a square. The double depiction then indicates that the one was used to contain the magic of the incantation and the second to depict the meaning of the letter ie. a wye, a junction of lines. Its value is 70 very nearly the value of 69 and if one is talking about 69.2 miles between lines of longitude at the equator then 70 is a good close approximation of the value. All of these lines meet at the pole and wye out from there.

On the back of the stone is a nearly closed circle symbol that could easily be a Hebrew tet. The value of tet is 9. What is important about 9? Consider 9 x 9 = 81, 9 + 9 = 18 (its reverse) and 3 x 3 = 9 and 3 + 3 + 3 = 9. All this makes the number look very magical. But its importance in this position confirms that one of the most important numbers in this ancient secret system is present and prominent, yet hidden. The front symbol ayin, 70, plus the rear symbol tet, 9, creates 79. The diameter of the Earth is 7920 miles and any good navigator or surveyor knows the diameter of the Earth. But where is the 20? Is it here? The symbol for 20 is Kaf in Hebrew and its shape is a half circle, a sideways arch. The arch is the top of the stone. Historically and right up to today the arched tablet carrying a message whether it is the Ten Commandments, church windows, or a headstone is ever present. This completes the number.

The other number that should be present is 56. This number appears in the text of the Decalogue. It appears three times. It appears twice as words noted as being misspelled. See McCulloch’s Transcription in line 5. In this rendition it is het, vav, het, vav or 5656. It should be het, yod, het, yod and means he-shall-be. It is also a misspelled word in line 8 and is situated on the back just above-right of the tet. It is also het, vav, het, vav or 5656. It should be spelled het, vav, het, yod for 5, 6, 5, 10 = 26 or the Hebrew word we know as Yahweh. The third instance is on the front right midway in the line and it is composed of three letters lamed-kaph-vav and means or-anything. This sums to 56.

The number 56 also appears in a second hand manner in the number of letters inscribed on the stone or 256. This method of emphasizing the importance of 56 is still present in modern measures. The length of two miles is 10560 feet or to say it another way, a fifth mile is 1056 feet. (This number will become important later.) And the number of feet in an acre is a very odd value….43,560.

If this was faked then it was well done for there is one more instance of 69 that should be noted. The 5656 that appears above the tet is immediately preceded by the letter aleph or 1. So that the two letters directly above the tet are 1 and 5. 1 + 5 = 6 with tet, 9, creates 6 9 once again. We might say the incantation is sealed front to back by the 69 of 2 x 345 in Moses on the front and this 69.

In summary, in this stone we have these numbers appearing: 56, 5656, 69, 69.2, 70, 79, 864, 58 and 16. The reasons why some of them are important have been discussed. Others will appear in a later posts.

What other things can we see in this stone that help to prove its validity? Well… there are a few things that are quite clever!

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References/Footnotes:

  1. McCulloch, J. Huston, The Newark, Ohio Decalogue Stone and Keystone. See:  http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/decalog.html
  2. McCulloch, J. Huston, An Annotated Transcription of the Ohio Decalogue Stone, “The Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers,” Vol. 21. See:  http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/wyrick/transcrpt.pdf
  3. Freeborn, B.L., “The Deep Mystery: The Day the Pole Moved,” Tiw & Elddir, 2013.

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Altman’s Penny Theory

By B.L. Freeborn © 2013,

updated Nov. 2018

Rochelle Altman’s “First,…recognize that it’s a penny”: Report on the “Newark” Ritual Artifacts describes the penny theory like this: if a US penny is found at a dig, it is still a US penny. In other words, forget about where they were found and just look at the artifacts.1

Dr. Altman has given us two things in her interesting and well written article. She has used her many decades of experience in ancient languages to give us a clear picture as to why the Newark Stones are not forgeries but actual ritual artifacts. There is no question that she makes a series of valid explanations as to why the artifacts could not have been faked. She concludes they originated from medieval southern Europe. The second part of her report delves into explaining how these real articles came to be in Ohio in 1860, a bit of a who dunnit involving a murder and theft. She proposes these articles were stolen from the person whose remains were found at the Stone Mound site. She asserts the victim was a European settler who had brought them as family heirlooms to the region. Sherlock Holmes would have cringed at her theory but … it is possible they were family heirlooms and were acquired for the dubious reason of perpetuating a hoax on Wyrick. Alas, the problem with this theory is that as medieval family heirlooms they would have been priceless. It would have required a substantial outlay of cash to obtain them, and then the hoaxer would have had to expend the time to go to the site (7 ½ miles each way by foot or horse) to bury them in tough clay and then hope they would be found by his would-be victim. All for what?

Stone bowl found with Decalogue Stone.

Stone bowl found with Decalogue Stone.

If we toss out the attempt to explain how they got there, the stones at least have a ring of validity they have not had since Dr. Arnold Fischel made the same claim in 1861. So it took a mere 150 years to prove what they knew at the start but did not have enough archaeological knowledge to accept as fact then.

But…there always is a but….although it was easy to believe Dr. Altman, it was mistakenly assumed while reading her article that she was trying to prove an origin date of 1500 BC +- . However, she concluded it was medieval. A second read through clarified the misunderstanding … almost.

These then are the reasons from her report that seemed to indicate a date far earlier than she concluded:

See article at:   http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Altman_Newark.shtml

Sec. 2) Format: Incantation format dates back to Babylon 8th century BC. (This is the style in which the stones are inscribed.)

Sec. 3) Sculpture: Body portrayed in profile dates back to oldest known stele from Akkad (2371-2255 BC). “In the classic Semitic pose, the figure is in profile, one hand is raised or the arm is bent forward pointing at something or holding something.”

Note:  In this case both are true, the right arm is raised and the left is bent forward.

Sec. 4) Script: Base script in which eleven letters match is late Medieval Hebrew squared fonts. (Yet, 1st century BC fonts are extremely similar.)

The “m” she calls South Sinaitic from the 16th century BC. The tsadik is from 16th century BC as well. Both are converted from cuneiform letters. She discusses the possible “magic” reasons why it would have been used as opposed to a more modern version.

Perhaps we should pause to question how a forger in the 1860’s would have known about Cuneiform letters when the symbols were newly discovered and their decipherment still being debated. The same question can be asked of an artist in the Medieval period who certainly should have not known of these letter forms. Does this not indicate a far earlier period?

Sec. 4) Script: The ayin is in a South Semitic form dated to 10th century BC.

She notes the vav and zayin are consistently reversed. Their forms are dated to 10th century BC Phoenician. The gimel (g) is similar to a Phoenician g from the same period. The straight line yod was used in the late BC. The L she calls Nabatean is also Phoenician from the same era. The Hebrew alphabet had its beginning in 10th century BC when the letters were borrowed from Phoenician.

The Keystone was written in modern Hebrew letters using stress and durational notation. This “modern” style of letters dates back to 1st century BC and durational notation to the age of Sumer.

At the center top front there is a symbol she says is unidentified. It looks like a modern Y or the Hebrew Ayin. On the center back no comment is made about the symbol at the top of the inner arch that looks like an incomplete circle. Ironically, both Altman and the Epigraphic Society Report by McCulloch state the letter tet is not represented, yet this symbol is the modern way of denoting a tet.

Overall, her explanation of the stones’ appearance, script, and use is complete and thorough. She believes the items to be of medieval origin. Furthermore, it turns out the small bowl is by far the most important artifact indicating an age between 1st century BC and 2nd century AD. As far as her theory as to how they came to be in Ohio …. well … let us look for a better explanation.

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References / Footnotes

  1. Altman, Rochelle, ” First,…recognize that it’s a penny”: Report on the “Newark” Ritual Artifacts.”  See:  http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Altman_Newark.shtml