Magicians of the Gods: Sequel to the International Bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods

Magicians of the Gods is a sequel to Graham Hancock's bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods, presenting new scientific and archaeological evidence about Earth's past and lost civilizations. Hancock argues that 12,800 years ago, a giant comet that had entered the solar system thousands of years earlier broke into fragments. Multiple fragments struck Earth, including at least eight hitting the North American ice cap and others hitting the northern European ice cap. These impacts, traveling at over 60,000 miles per hour, generated extreme heat that melted millions of square kilometers of ice, destabilizing the Earth's crust and causing a global flood remembered in worldwide myths. A second series of equally devastating impacts occurred 11,600 years ago—the date Plato gave for Atlantis's destruction. According to the book, an advanced Ice Age civilization was destroyed in these cataclysms, but survivors—called 'the Sages,' 'the Magicians,' 'the Shining Ones,' and 'the Mystery Teachers of Heaven'—traveled the world preserving civilization. They settled at locations including Gobekli Tepe, Baalbek, Giza, ancient Sumer, Mexico, Peru, and Indonesia, carrying warnings of humanity's past discord with the universe. Hancock contends that a 20-mile wide fragment of the original comet remains hidden and poses a current threat to Earth, with astronomical messages encoded at Gobekli Tepe and Egypt's monuments warning of a 'Great Return' in modern times.