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Scientists are beginning to tap into a wellspring of knowledge buried in the ancient stories of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. But the loss of indigenous languages could mean it is too late to learn from them.
Aboriginal legends reveal ancient secrets to science
A variety of strange natural phenomena that involve luminescence have been recorded for centuries, ranging from things like ball lightning and other mysterious nocturnal illuminations, to strange bands of light that shoot from the earth around the time of earthquakes.
We also find that luminous phenomena can occur in the realms of biology just as well, with various fish, bioluminescent plankton, and other glowing sea life populating Earth’s oceans. But among the places where bioluminescence seems to occur, stories of so-called “human glow worms” must be among the very strangest.
The Light From Within: Stories of Humans That Glow
Two hours’ drive from Dubai in the mountains of Musandam lives a reclusive tribe of people who appear culturally unrelated to any others in the Arabian Peninsula, yet who may well be its original inhabitants. They are the Shihuh, the ‘hill people’.
According to Paolo Costa, former head of Oman’s Department of Antiquities, the Shihuh are a mystery. “They are a most extraordinary people,” says Costa. “Ethnically, we don’t know who they are. There is speculation that they are the original inhabitants of Arabia,” pushed back into the mountains by successive Muslim and Portuguese invasions.
Are the Reclusive Shihuh People of Musandam the Original Arabians?
The name Ben Bulben, also spelt as Benbulbin or Benbulben, is said to be an anglicized version of the Irish Binn-Gulbain, meaning ‘Gulban’s Peak.’ This jaw-shaped rock formation (the word ‘gulban’ may be translated as ‘jaw’) is part of the Dartry Mountains, and is located in County Sligo in northwestern Ireland.
Ben Bulben: An Irish Site that Inspires the Imagination