The Bosnian Indiana Jones

Semir Osmanagic is the deus ex machina responsible for setting the whole series of events in motion. Osmanagic was born in Bosnia in 1960, but lived for many years in the U.S., where he owns a company that produces metal alloys. According to information found online, he is an Economics graduate and has a PhD in Sociology.

Some say that he is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Russia, a prestigious Russian institution whose founder was Peter the Great. But the institution of which he is in fact a member is actually quite another organization: the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, which was founded in 1990, and counts amongst its honorary members one Ramzan Kadyrov, whose biography we invite you to read.

In 2005, Osmanagic initiated the Bosnian Pyramids venture, which was to earn him the nickname of the Bosnian Indiana Jones. But he soon came into conflict with the Bosnian authorities.

In 2007, he presented a proposal for an interdisciplinary research project on the "Bosnian Pyramids". This was blocked by the Ministry of Culture, the refusal being signed by the then Minister, Gavrilo Grahovac. The Ministry, however, seems not to have made any detailed examination of the grounds for its refusal, relying on the negative ruling given by Lidija Mičić, Director of the Federal Office for the Preservation and Protection of Cultural Monuments [UFCPMC].

In a few words, Ms. Mičić explained that it was not possible to deliver the go-ahead on such a project, because it was clear that the planned work would put at risk the measures in place for the conservation of cultural heritage, and that the methodology and approach were not professional.

Osmanagic reapplied to the competent tribunal, filing an appeal against this refusal, and, in early 2012, the court gave a ruling against UFCPMC, as the latter had made procedural errors.

To give an idea of what took place during this judicial process, we quote the text of a subject that came up during the debate between the Foundation and the Ministry (extracted from a pdf available here only in Bosnian).

The question was: Does the multi-disciplinary research and archeology project have a scientific basis or not?

Minister:

We draw your attention to the lack of scientific basis for the project as a whole, as well as to the unscientific (amateur) and destructive methods employed during archaeological work in the area, a point repeatedly confirmed by the Balkan Research Institute ANUBIH (Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ed.).

Foundation:

Crucial judgments were formed on the basis of completely incorrect information. To the best of our knowledge, the presidential administration of ANUBIH has never had any formal relationship with the Valley of the Bosnian Pyramids Project. And the "professional opinion", the subject of a request by the Minister for Sport and Culture, was not signed by the ANUBIH president, academician Bozidar Matic: but instead by Prof. Dr. Blagoje Govedarica, the ANUBIH scientific adviser. But just who is Blagoje Govedarica? Is he competent to deliver a judgement that weighs so heavily against the interests of the BPS Foundation?

As is clear from this exchange, when the Ministry explains that it has received criticism of the work carried out by Osmanagic, the Foundation’s response consists of calling into question Professor Govedarica’s competence, without, however, going into any detail. Incidentally, Professor Govedarica is Professor of the Archeology of Southeastern Europe at the Institute of Prehistory and Early History of the University of Heidelberg.

Further details can be found here

Below you will find a rather illuminating exchange of emails between Dr. Govedarica and Dr. Nabil Swelim, Egyptologist.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/106547543/Swelim-Govedarica-Correspondence

(The previous document is public, and has already been posted here: we’ve just made it easier to access.)

In a nutshell, the aspect of particular interest here is that Dr. Swelim argues that the hills around the town of Visoko are huge pyramids. Prof. Dr. Govedarica invited Dr. Swelim to give further details of this theory, to be published in a scientific paper in a prestigious Bosnian journal devoted to this subject area, but Dr. Swelim, despite first accepting the offer, later withdrew his acceptance, which was rather puzzling (or, there again, maybe not).

Subsequently, however, Dr. Swelim did in fact write a scientific report, although he opted to publish it "in house." The link is below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/106548007

(The previous document is public, and has already been posted here: we’ve just made it easier to access.)

We will leave the reader to form his or her own conclusions. A hint: look for geological analysis.

Learn more about:

The Egyptians and Semir Osmanagic’s Theatre of the Absurd

Egyptologist Dr. Swelim to Dr. Govedarica: "You are arrogant and have no scientific qualifications"

Some thoughts about Dr. Nabil Swelim’s report

Returning to the subject of the relationship between Osmanagic and the Bosnian authorities, we at Eclisseforum.it (thanks to our Balkan language expert) contacted Dr. Lidija Micic Loučka for an opinion on this question, to which she has kindly responded. Amongst other things (that we shall be discussing in due course), she wrote, on the subject of permits, that the Foundation has never sought permission from the UFCPMC to carry out excavations on the hill of Visocica, despite the fact that this is a listed national monument and therefore subject to UFCPMC jurisdiction. It appears, however, that the Foundation directed its requests elsewhere.

Osmanagic is the author of several books on the Bosnian pyramids and apparently supports a theory according which the Maya were descendants of the ancient Atlanteans, who in turn originally came from the constellation of the Pleiades.

Here are some links to other articles that the reader may use to broaden his or her knowledge of this individual and the circles in which he moves.

Semir Osmanagic

Ghost scientists

Google doesn’t like Bosnian scientists

The "family circle"

Using the appeal to authority

http://www.bosnianpyramid.com/index_files/Semir.html

Acknowledgements to Irna for her assistance and web-presence