Oannes, the Fish-Man of Babylon
A Babylonian priest wrote that a fish-man rose from the sea to teach humans writing, farming and law.
What was reported
Around 290 BC, the Babylonian priest Berossus wrote a history of his people in Greek. In it he described Oannes, a being with a fish's body and a man's head and feet, who came out of the sea each day to teach the first people writing, mathematics, building, farming and law, and returned to the water at night.
In the 20th century, ancient-astronaut writers suggested Oannes was a memory of visitors in diving suits or spacecraft.
Explanations offered
Historians link Oannes to the apkallu, wise sages of Mesopotamian myth often carved wearing fish cloaks, who were believed to have brought civilisation from Enki, god of the waters. They belong to Mesopotamian religion; there's no evidence for an extraterrestrial reading.
- When
- Written down around 290 BC
- Where
- Babylon, Iraq
- Witnesses
- The Babylonian priest Berossus
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.