Semir Osmanagić

Semir Osmanagic speaking with a tourist

Semir Osmanagić (born 1 June 1960 in Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia), also known as Sam Osmanagich, is the founder and executive director of the Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun Foundation, and owner of a metalworking company in Houston, United States. He is best known for promoting claims about the Bosnian pyramids being man-made. Archaeology describes the popular media coverage of his claims as "a standard-issue 'amateur/maverick confounds establishment with great discovery' story, which no doubt makes it appealing to uncritical reporters looking for a big story "[1] with archeologists saying his claims are "far worse than just misleading the gullible public" in that it has drawn from the limited government funding rather than "devoting their cash to the preservation of the endangered genuine sites and monuments".[1]

Professional activities

He has been the owner and CEO of the manufacturing company Met Company, Inc. in Houston, Texas, since 1995.[2]

Bosnian pyramids claim

Osmanagić was contacted in April 2005 by a Visoko Museum director, Senad Hodović, and began an investigation of Visočica hill.[3] He subsequently wrote a book promoting the claim that it was the remains of an ancient pyramid, which he claimed was one of five colossal stone structures in the shape of the pyramid with an extensive pre-historical underground tunnel network. He named those structures "Bosnian pyramids", and established a charitable foundation, the "Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun", to fund the promotion and investigation of the site.

Osmanagić's theories and credibility have come under considerable criticism since he came to prominence over the excavations at Visočica. For example, in an article in Archaeology Magazine, Mark Rose refers to the following quotations from Osmanagić's book The World of the Maya, which he suggests includes "bizarre notions", such as that "the Maya and others are descended from Atlanteans who came from the Pleiades".

“ It is my theory that the Maya should be considered watchmakers of the cosmos whose mission it is to adjust the Earthly frequency and bring it into accordance with the vibrations of our Sun ... Their ancestors, the civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, erected the first temples on energy potent points of the Planet. Their most important function was to serve as a gateway to other worlds and dimensions."[4] ”

One of the project goals was to complete excavations by 2012.[5] This is in order to "break a cloud of negative energy, allowing the Earth to receive cosmic energy from the centre of the galaxy", according to Osmanagić,[5] who also hopes that it will be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.[6]

In his book Alternative History he suggested that Hitler and other leading Nazis escaped to an underground base in Antarctica.

The Bosnian pyramid claims have in many ways done considerable damage to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian heritage. Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archeologists, said that "Osmanagich is conducting a pseudo-archaeological project that, disgracefully, threatens to destroy parts of Bosnia's real heritage."[7]

Ph.D. thesis

He holds a doctorate in social sciences obtained from the University of Sarajevo[8] His thesis claims that the Maya are older than the Olmec and that their culture mysteriously ceased to exist after the 10th century CE.[9] He also discusses in some detail the Maya crystal skulls saying that they were created by advanced technology and discussing the alleged psychological and parapsychological phenomena surrounding them.[10] He suggests that the Maya had contact with the Chinese on the basis of what he says is nephrite (found in China, not in South America in a jaguar statue, although others identify the material as jadeite.)[11]

His advisor was Hidajet Repovac, Professor of sociology at Faculty of Political Science in Sarajevo[12][13] who was part of the Foundation as early as 2007[14] and one of the co-chairmen of the 2008 International Conference on the Bosnian Pyramids.[15]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mark Rose (April 27, 2006). "The Bosnia-Atlantis Connection". Archeology.
  2. ↑ Beachy, Debra (2008-12-07). "Houston Business Journal article". Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  3. ↑ Cerkez-Robinson, Aida (12/5/2005). "Is Bosnian hill actually an ancient pyramid?". MSNBC/AP. Retrieved 17 April 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ Rose, Mark (2006-04-27). "The Bosnia-Atlantis connection". Archaeology. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Osmanagić, Semir (July 2006). "Energijsko središce sveta?" [The energy center of the world?] (in Slovenian). Misteriji. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-11-20. Mi razbijamo negativni energijski oblak. To mora biti narejeno pred letom 2012, da bi lahko sprejeli zgodovinski vpliv vesoljne energije iz koz- micnega centra naše galaksi- je.
  6. ↑ 5-year Plan of Research on Visoko’s Visocica 1 Jan 2006 - 31 Dec 2010, Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation. Accessed 13 July 2006.
  7. ↑ "The Mystery of Bosnia's Ancient Pyramids". Smithsonian magazine: 2. December 2009.
  8. ↑ insert date May 2010 and hit submit (2010-05-28). "University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, News archive, doctorate promotion,". Sociology. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
  9. ↑ Osmanagich, Sam Semir. "Dr.sci Sam Semir Osmanagich, PhD".
  10. ↑ Osmanagić's PhD thesis
  11. ↑ Sharer, Robert; Sylvanus Griswold Morley (1994). The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-8047-2130-1.
  12. ↑ "Interview with Hidajet Repovac". Dani.
  13. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Repovac Hidajet".
  14. ↑ "General Multidisciplinary Research Project Bosnian Region Pyramids In Visoko, Bosnia And Herzegovina". http://piramidasunca.ba//dokumentovano.com/piramida/dokumenti/generalni_multidisciplinarni_projekat_final.pdf''. rchaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun.
  15. ↑ "Presidency". International Conference on the Bosnian Pyramids. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

External links