Editing Pseudohistory (section)

=== Various examples of pseudohistory ===
(These following examples can belong to a variety of the above mentioned categories, or ones not mentioned as well).

==== Ancient aliens, ancient technologies, and lost lands ====
{{main|Ancient astronauts}}

[[Immanuel Velikovsky]]'s books ''[[Worlds in Collision]]'' (1950), ''[[Ages in Chaos]]'' (1952), and ''Earth in Upheaval'' (1955), which became "instant bestsellers",<ref name="Fritze"/> demonstrated that pseudohistory based on ancient mythology held potential for tremendous financial success<ref name="Fritze"/> and became models of success for future works in the genre.<ref name="Fritze"/>

In 1968, [[Erich von Däniken]] published ''[[Chariots of the Gods?]]'', which claims that ancient visitors from outer space constructed the pyramids and other monuments. He has since published other books in which he makes similar claims. These claims have all been categorized as pseudohistory.<ref name="Fritze"/>{{rp|201}} Similarly, [[Zechariah Sitchin]] has published numerous books claiming that a race of extraterrestrial beings from the [[Nibiru cataclysm#Nancy Lieder and ZetaTalk|Planet Nibiru]] known as the [[Anunnaki]] visited Earth in ancient times in search of gold, and that they genetically engineered humans to serve as their slaves. He claims that memories of these occurrences are recorded in [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian mythology]], as well as other mythologies all across the globe. These speculations have likewise been categorized as pseudohistory.<ref name=heiser>{{cite web|title=The Myth of a Sumerian 12th Planet|url=http://www.michaelsheiser.com/nibiru.pdf|author=Michael S. Heiser|access-date=30 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120023753/http://www.michaelsheiser.com/nibiru.pdf|archive-date=20 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Skepdic">{{cite web|url=http://www.skepdic.com/sitchin.html|title=Zecharia Sitchin and ''The Earth Chronicles''|last=Carroll|first=Robert T|date=1994–2009|work=The Skeptic's Dictionary|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|access-date=30 July 2017}}</ref>

The ancient astronaut hypothesis was further popularized in the United States by the [[History (U.S. TV network)|History Channel]] television series ''[[Ancient Aliens]]''.<ref name="Fritze2009">{{cite journal|last=Fritze|first=Ronald H.|title=On the Perils and Pleasures of Confronting Pseudohistory|journal=Historically Speaking|volume=10|number=5|date=November 2009|pages=2–5|issn=1941-4188|doi=10.1353/hsp.0.0067|s2cid=144988932}}</ref> History professor [[Ronald H. Fritze]] observed that the pseudohistorical claims promoted by von Däniken and the ''Ancient Aliens'' program have a periodic popularity in the US:<ref name=Fritze/><ref name=Rorotoko/> "In a pop culture with a short memory and a voracious appetite, aliens and pyramids and lost civilizations are recycled like fashions."<ref name=Fritze/>{{rp|201}}<ref name=Rorotoko>{{cite web|last=Fritze|first=Ronald|title=Ronald H. Fritze, On his book Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-Religions, Cover Interview|url=http://rorotoko.com/interview/20090708_fritze_ronald_invented_knowledge_false_history_fake_science_pseudo/?page=4|work=July 08, 2009|date=8 July 2009|publisher=Rorotoko.com|access-date=July 17, 2012|archive-date=December 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228085921/http://rorotoko.com/interview/20090708_fritze_ronald_invented_knowledge_false_history_fake_science_pseudo/?page=4|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The author [[Graham Hancock]] has sold over four million copies of books promoting the pseudohistorical thesis that all the major monuments of the ancient world, including [[Stonehenge]], the [[Egyptian pyramids]], and the [[moai]] of [[Easter Island]], were built by a single ancient supercivilization,<ref>{{cite book|last=Sheiko|first=Konstantin|date=2012|title=Nationalist Imaginings of the Russian Past: Anatolii Fomenko and the Rise of Alternative History in Post-Communist Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74s0DwAAQBAJ&q=Graham+Hancock+Pseudohistory&pg=PA83|series=Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society|location=Stuttgart, Germany|publisher=Ibidem-Verlag|volume=86|page=83|isbn=978-3838259154}}</ref> which Hancock claims thrived from 15,000 to 10,000 BC and possessed technological and scientific knowledge equal to or surpassing that of modern civilization.<ref name=Fritze/> He first advanced the full form of this argument in his 1995 bestseller ''[[Fingerprints of the Gods]]'',<ref name=Fritze/> which won popular acclaim, but scholarly disdain.<ref name=Fritze/> [[Christopher Knight (author)|Christopher Knight]] has published numerous books, including ''[[Uriel's Machine]]'' (2000), expounding pseudohistorical assertions that ancient civilizations possessed technology far more advanced than the technology of today.<ref>Merriman, Nick, editor, ''Public Archaeology'', Routledge, 2004 p. 260</ref><ref>Tonkin, S., 2003, [http://www.astunit.com/astrocrud/uriel.htm Uriel's Machine – a Commentary on some of the Astronomical Assertions.]</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=The comforts of unreason: the importance and relevance of alternative archaeology|editor-last=Merriman|editor-first=Nick|title=Public Archaeology|url=https://archive.org/details/publicarchaeolog00merr_661|url-access=limited|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London|date=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/publicarchaeolog00merr_661/page/n274 260]|isbn=978-0415258890}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tonkin|first=Stephen|date=2003|url=http://astunit.com/astrocrud.php?topic=uriel|title=Uriel's Machine – a Commentary on some of the Astronomical Assertions|work=The Astronomical Unit|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>

The claim that a lost continent known as [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]] once existed in the Pacific Ocean has likewise been categorized as pseudohistory.<ref name="Fritze"/>{{rp|11}}

Furthermore, similar conspiracy theories promote the idea of embellished, fabricated accounts of historical civilizations, namely [[Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry|Khazaria]] and [[Tartarian Empire|Tartaria]].

==== Antisemitic pseudohistory ====
{{see also|Blood libel}}
[[File:1934 Protocols Patriotic Pub.jpg|thumb|upright|American edition of ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' from 1934]]
''[[The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion]]'' is a fraudulent work purporting to show a historical conspiracy for world domination by Jews.<ref name="ushmm.org">{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion|title=Protocols of the Elders of Zion|website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org|access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref> The work was conclusively proven to be a forgery in August 1921, when ''[[The Times]]'' revealed that extensive portions of the document were directly plagiarized from [[Maurice Joly]]'s 1864 satirical dialogue ''[[The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu]]'',<ref>{{cite journal| author = Philip Graves| title = The truth about "The Protocols"| journal = The Times |date=August 16–18, 1921| location = London| url = https://archive.org/details/truthaboutthepro00londiala}}
</ref> as well as [[Hermann Goedsche]]'s 1868 anti-Semitic novel ''Biarritz''.<ref name = "translated97">{{Citation | last = Segel | first = Binjamin W | title = A Lie and a Libel: The History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion | editor-link = Richard S. Levy| editor-last = Levy | editor-first = Richard S | page = 97 | year = 1996 | orig-year = 1926 | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | isbn = 0-8032-9245-7}}.</ref>

The [[Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry|Khazar theory]] is an academic [[fringe theory]] that postulates the belief that the bulk of [[History of the Jews in Europe|European Jewry]] is of [[Central Asia]]n ([[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]) origin. In spite of the [[genetic studies on Jews|mainstream academic consensus]] which conclusively rejects it, this theory has been promoted in [[Antisemitism|Anti-Semitic]] and some [[Anti-Zionism|Anti-Zionist]] circles, they argue that Jews are an alien element in both Europe and [[History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel|Palestine]].

[[Holocaust denial]] in particular and [[genocide denial]] in general are widely categorized as pseudohistory.<ref name="Shermer"/>{{rp|237}}<ref name="Lipstadt">{{cite book|last=Lipstadt|first=Deborah E.|date=1994|title=Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory|location=New York |publisher=Plume|page=[https://archive.org/details/denyingholocaust00lips/page/215 215]|isbn=0-452-27274-2|url=https://archive.org/details/denyingholocaust00lips/page/215}}</ref> Major proponents of Holocaust denial include [[David Irving]] and others, who argue that the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], the [[Holodomor]], the [[Armenian genocide]], the [[Sayfo|Assyrian genocide]], the [[Greek genocide]] and [[Genocides in history|other genocides]] did not occur, or accounts of them were greatly exaggerated.<ref name="Lipstadt"/>

==== Ethnocentric or nationalist revisionism ====
{{see also|Historiography and nationalism|National mysticism}}

Most [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentric]] (i.e. [[Pre-Columbian Africa-Americas contact theories]], see [[Ancient Egyptian race controversy]]) ideas have been identified as pseudohistorical,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dcn.davis.ca.us/~gizmo/2001/clarence.html |title=Clarence Walker encourages black Americans to discard Afrocentrism |access-date=2007-11-13 |last=Sherwin |first=Elisabeth |publisher=Davis Community Network }}</ref><ref name="Ortiz1997">{{Cite journal|author=Ortiz de Montellano, Bernardo & Gabriel Haslip Viera & Warren Barbour|year=1997|title=They were NOT here before Columbus: Afrocentric hyper-diffusionism in the 1990s|journal=Ethnohistory|pages=199–234|volume=44|doi=10.2307/483368|issue=2|publisher=Duke University Press|jstor=483368}}</ref> alongside the "[[Indigenous Aryans#Pseudoscience and postmodernism|Indigenous Aryans]]" theories published by [[Hindu nationalists]] during the 1990s and 2000s.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Meera|last= Nanda|title=Response to my critics|journal= Social Epistemology|volume= 19|issue=1|date= January–March 2005|url=http://physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/Nanda_SocEpist.pdf|pages=147–191|doi=10.1080/02691720500084358|s2cid= 10045510}}
{{Cite book| last =Sokal | first =Alan | author-link =Alan Sokal|chapter=Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow-Travelers?|editor-last= Fagan|editor-first=Garrett|title=Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year= 2006 |isbn=0-415-30592-6}}</ref> The "crypto-history" developed within [[Ariosophy|Germanic mysticism]] and [[Nazi occultism]] has likewise been placed under this categorization.<ref>[[Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke]]. 1985. ''[[The Occult Roots of Nazism]]: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890–1935''. Wellingborough, England: The Aquarian Press. {{ISBN|0-85030-402-4}}. (Several reprints.)  Expanded with a new Preface, 2004, I.B. Tauris & Co. {{ISBN|1-86064-973-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kristkoiz |first=Suzanne |date=2021-04-21 |title=The Utilisation of Historically Revisionist Narratives by the FPÖ and the AfD |url=https://www.e-ir.info/2021/04/21/the-utilisation-of-historically-revisionist-narratives-by-the-fpo-and-the-afd/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=E-International Relations |language=en-US}}</ref> Among leading Nazis, [[Heinrich Himmler]] is believed to have been influenced by occultism and according to one theory, developed the SS base at [[Wewelsburg]] in accordance with an esoteric plan.

The [[Sun Language Theory]] is a pseudohistorical ideology which argues that all languages are descended from a form of proto-Turkish.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Aytürk, İlker |date=November 2004 |title=Turkish Linguists against the West: The Origins of Linguistic Nationalism in Atatürk's Turkey |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=1–25 |location=London |publisher=Frank Cass & Co (Routledge) |doi=10.1080/0026320042000282856 |issn=0026-3206 |oclc=86539631|url=http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/11693/49528/1/Turkish_linguists_against_the_West_the_Origins_of_linguistic_nationalism_Ataturks_Turkey.pdf |hdl=11693/49528 |s2cid=144968896 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The theory may have been partially devised in order to legitimize Arabic and Semitic loanwords occurring in the Turkish language by instead asserting that the Arabic and Semitic words were derived from the Turkish ones rather than vice versa.<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (2003), [[Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew]]. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. {{ISBN|978-1403917232}} [http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232], p. 165.</ref>

A large number of nationalist pseudohistorical theories deal with the legendary [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of ancient Israel. [[British Israelism#Claims and criticism|British-Israelism]], also known as Anglo-Israelism, the most famous example of this type, has been conclusively refuted by mainstream historians using evidence from a vast array of different fields of study.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaprot00melt_306|url-access=limited|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|isbn=0-8160-5456-8|year=2005|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaprot00melt_306/page/n656 107]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cross|first1=Frank Leslie|last2=Livingstone|first2=Elizabeth A.|title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0192802903|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUqcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA241|language=en|year=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Shapiro|first1=Faydra L.|title=Christian Zionism: Navigating the Jewish-Christian Border|publisher=Cascade Books|location=Eugene, OR|year=2015|page=151}}</ref>

[[Antiquization]] or Ancient Macedonism is a nationalistic pseudohistorical theory which postulates direct demographic, cultural and linguistic continuity between [[ancient Macedonians]] and the [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|main ethnic group]] in present-day [[North Macedonia]].<ref>Anastas Vangeli, Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. {{doi|10.1080/00905992.2010.532775}} Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Todorović |first1=Miloš |title=Nationalistic Pseudohistory in the Balkans |journal=Skeptic Magazine |date=2019 |volume=24 |issue=4 |url=https://www.academia.edu/41295763 |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> The [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] medieval dynasty of [[Cometopuli dynasty|the Komitopules]], which ruled the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] in late 10th and early 11th centuries AD, is presented as "Macedonian", ruling a "medieval Macedonian state", because its capitals were located in what was previously the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|ancient kingdom of Macedonia]].<ref>Svetozar Rajak, Konstantina E. Botsiou, Eirini Karamouzi, Evanthis Hatzivassiliou ed. The Balkans in the Cold War. Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World, Springer, 2017, {{ISBN|1137439033}}, p. 313.</ref> [[Historiography in North Macedonia|North Macedonian historians]] often replace the ethnonym "Bulgarians" with "Macedonians", or avoid it.<ref>[https://novini.bg/sviat/balkani/689565 Македонски историк призна: Да, има фалшификации в историографията ни]</ref><ref>Коста Църнушанов [https://www.strumski.com/books/Kosta_Tsyrnushabnov_Makedonizmyt_Sbit.pdf "Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него"]. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 1992. стр. 428</ref> North Macedonian scholars say the theory is intended to forge a national identity distinct from modern [[Bulgaria]], which regards North Macedonia as an artificial nation.<ref name=nyt-macedonia/> The theory is controversial in [[Greece]] and sparked mass protests there in 2018.<ref name=nyt-prespa/> A particular item of dispute is North Macedonian veneration of [[Alexander the Great]]; mainstream scholarship holds that Alexander had Greek ancestry, he was born in an area of ancient Macedonia that is now Greece, and he ruled over North Macedonia but never lived there and did not speak the local language.<ref name=nyt-macedonia>{{cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |title=Who Owns Alexander the Great? It's a Diplomatic Minefield. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/world/europe/north-macedonia-history-statues.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-access=limited |date=June 19, 2024 |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Willi |first=Andreas |title=Whose Is Macedonia, Whose Is Alexander? |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=105 |number=1 |date=October–November 2009 |pages=59–64 |doi=10.5184/00098353.105.1.59 |url=https://doi.org/10.5184/00098353.105.1.59 |access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref> To placate Greece and thereby facilitate the country's entry into the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]], the Macedonian government formally renounced claims of ancient Macedonian heritage with the 2018 [[Prespa Agreement]].<ref name=nyt-macedonia/><ref name=nyt-prespa>{{cite news |last=Kitsantonis |first=Niki |title=Macedonia Agrees to Change Its Name to Resolve Dispute With Greece |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/world/europe/macedonia-greece-name-dispute.html |url-access=limited |date=June 12, 2018 |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref>

[[Dacianism]] is a Romanian pseudohistorical current that attempts to attribute far more influence over European and world history to the [[Dacians]] than that which they actually enjoyed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Boia|first1=Lucian|title=Istorie și mit în conștiința românească|date=1997|publisher=Humanitas|location=Bucharest, Romania|pages=160–161}}</ref> Dacianist historiography claims that the Dacians held primacy over all other civilizations, including the [[Roman people|Romans]];<ref>{{harvnb|Boia|1997|pp=149–151}}</ref> that the [[Dacian language]] was the origin of [[Latin]] and all other languages, such as [[Hindi]] and [[Akkadian language|Babylonian]];<ref name="George Pruteanu">{{cite web | date=26 March 1996 | title=Doar o vorbă SĂȚ-I mai spun | website=George Pruteanu | url=http://georgepruteanu.ro/4doarovorba/emis000-protv-960325-traco-daci.htm | language=ro | access-date=21 January 2020}}</ref> and sometimes that the [[Zalmoxis]] cult has structural links to Christianity.<ref>{{harvnb|Boia|1997|p=169}}</ref> Dacianism was most prevalent in [[National Communism in Romania|National Communist]] [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], as the [[Nicolae Ceaușescu|Ceaușescu]] regime portrayed the Dacians as insurgents defying an "imperialist" Rome; the [[Romanian Communist Party|Communist Party]] had formally attached "protochronism", as Dacianism was known, to [[Marxism|Marxist]] ideology by 1974.<ref>{{harvnb|Boia|1997|pp=120, 154–156}}</ref>

==== Matriarchy ====
{{main|Matriarchy}}
The consensus among academics is that no unambiguously and strictly matriarchal society is known to have existed, though many societies are known to have or have had some matriarchal features, in particular [[matrilineality]], [[matrilocality]], and/or [[matrifocality]].<ref>Goldberg, Steven, ''The Inevitability of Patriarchy'' (William Morrow & Co., 1973).</ref><ref>{{harvp|Eller|2000}}</ref> Anthropologist [[Donald Brown (anthropologist)|Donald Brown]]'s list of [[cultural universal|human cultural universals]] (''viz.'', features shared by nearly all current human societies) includes men being the "dominant element" in public political affairs,<ref>Brown, Donald E., ''Human Universals'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991), p.&nbsp;137.</ref> which is the contemporary opinion of mainstream [[anthropology]].<ref name=":0" />  
Some societies that are matrilineal or matrifocal may in fact have [[patriarchal]] power structures, and thus be misidentified as matriarchal.
The idea that matriarchal societies existed and they preceded patriarchal societies was first raised in the 19th-century among Western academics, but it has since been discredited.<ref name=":0">"The view of matriarchy as constituting a stage of cultural development now is generally discredited. Furthermore, the consensus among modern anthropologists and sociologists is that a strictly matriarchal society never existed." ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2007), entry ''Matriarchy''.</ref>

Despite this however, some [[second-wave feminist]]s assert that a matriarchy preceded the patriarchy. The [[Goddess Movement]] 
and Riane Eisler's 1987 book ''[[The Chalice and the Blade]]'' cite [[Venus figurines]] as evidence that societies of [[Paleolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] Europe  were matriarchies that worshipped a goddess. This belief is not supported by mainstream academics.<ref name="Nelson">Ruth Whitehouse. "The Mother Goddess Hypothesis and Its Critics," in ''Handbook of Gender in Archaeology'', Sarah Milledge Nelson (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=EtIQUpgo2cEC&q=mother+goddess+hypothesis pp. 756–758]</ref>

==== Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories ====
{{main|Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact}}
Excluding the [[Norse colonization of the Americas]], most theories of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact have been classified as pseudohistory, including claims that the Americas were actually discovered by Arabs or Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hnn.us/article/23662|title=Did Muslims Visit America Before Columbus?|website=hnn.us|date=8 May 2006 }}</ref> [[Gavin Menzies]]' book ''[[1421: The Year China Discovered the World]]'', which argues for the idea that Chinese sailors discovered America, has also been categorized as a work of pseudohistory.<ref name="Fritze"/>{{rp|11}}

==== Racist pseudohistory ====
[[Josiah Priest]] and other nineteenth-century American writers wrote pseudohistorical narratives that portrayed [[African Americans]] and [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] in an extremely negative light.<ref name=Williams>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Stephen|title=Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory|url=https://archive.org/details/fantasticarchaeo00will|url-access=registration|location=Philadelphia|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|date=1991}}</ref> Priest's first book was ''The Wonders of Nature and Providence, Displayed'' (1826).<ref>{{cite book|first=Josiah|last=Priest|title=The Wonders of Nature, and Providence Displayed|publisher=E & E Hosford|location=Albany|year=1826|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJsRAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name=Williams/> The book is regarded by modern critics as one of the earliest works of modern American pseudohistory.<ref name=Williams/> Priest attacked Native Americans in ''American Antiquities and Discoveries of the West'' (1833)<ref>{{cite book|first=Josiah|last=Priest|title=American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West |publisher=Hoffman and White|location=Albany|year=1835|url=https://archive.org/details/americanantiqui05priegoog}}</ref><ref name=Williams/> and African-Americans in ''Slavery, As It Relates to the Negro'' (1843).<ref>{{cite book|first=Josiah|last=Priest|title=Slavery, As It Relates to the Negro|publisher=C. van Bethuysen & Co|location=Albany|year=1843|url=https://archive.org/stream/slaveryasitrela00priegoog#page/n7/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name=Williams/> Other nineteenth-century writers, such as [[Thomas Gold Appleton]], in his ''A Sheaf of Papers'' (1875), and [[George Perkins Marsh]], in his ''The Goths in New England'', seized upon false notions of [[Vikings|Viking]] history to promote the superiority of [[white people]] (as well as to oppose the [[Catholic Church]]). Such misuse of Viking history and imagery reemerged in the twentieth century among some groups promoting [[white supremacy]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Regal |first=Brian |date=2019 |title=Everything Means Something in Viking |magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |publisher=[[Center for Inquiry]] |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=44–47}}</ref>

====Soviet communist pseudohistory====
Supporters of Soviet communist pseudohistory claim, among other things, that [[Joseph Stalin]] and other top Soviet leaders did not realize the scope of mass killings [[Stalinism#Purges and executions|perpetrated under the Stalin regime]], that executions of prisoners were legally justifiable, and that prisoners in Soviet [[gulag]]s performed important construction work that helped the Soviet Union economically, particularly during [[World War II]]. Scholars point to overwhelming evidence that Stalin directly helped plan mass killings, that many prisoners were sent to gulags or executed extrajudicially, and that many prisoners did no productive work, often being isolated in remote camps or given pointless and menial tasks.<ref>[https://meduza.io/cards/mne-govoryat-chto-repressiy-v-sssr-ne-bylo-kak-s-etim-sporit Мне говорят, что репрессий в СССР не было. Как с этим спорить?]</ref>

==== Anti-religious pseudohistory ====
{{see also|Bible conspiracy theory|Christ myth theory}}

The [[Christ myth theory]] claims that [[Jesus]] of Nazareth never existed as a historical figure and was imagined by early Christians or arose from earlier beliefs such as [[Worship of heavenly bodies|star worship]]. This argument currently finds very little support among scholars and historians of all faiths and has been described as pseudohistorical.<ref name="Ehrman285">In a 2011 review of the state of modern scholarship, [[Bart Ehrman]] (a secular agnostic) wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees" B. Ehrman, 2011 ''Forged : writing in the name of God'' {{ISBN|978-0-06-207863-6}}. p. 285</ref><ref>[[Robert M. Price]] (an atheist who denies the existence of Jesus) agrees that this perspective runs against the views of the majority of scholars: Robert M. Price "Jesus at the Vanishing Point" in ''The Historical Jesus: Five Views'' edited by James K. Beilby & Paul Rhodes Eddy, 2009 InterVarsity, {{ISBN|028106329X}} p. 61</ref><ref name="GrantMajority">[[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] (a [[classicist]]) states that "In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary." in ''Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels'' by Michael Grant 2004 {{ISBN|1898799881}} p. 200</ref><ref name="Burridge34">[[Richard A. Burridge]] states: "There are those who argue that Jesus is a figment of the Church’s imagination, that there never was a Jesus at all. I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that anymore." in ''Jesus Now and Then'' by Richard A. Burridge and Graham Gould (2004) {{ISBN|0802809774}} p. 34</ref><ref>[[Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman)|Did Jesus exist?]], [[Bart Ehrman]], 2012, Chapter 1</ref><ref>Sykes, Stephen W. (2007). "Paul's understanding of the death of Jesus". Sacrifice and Redemption. Cambridge University Press. pp. 35–36. {{ISBN|978-0-521-04460-8}}.</ref><ref name="Powell1998">{{cite book |author=Mark Allan Powell |url=https://archive.org/details/jesusasfigureinh0000powe |title=Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-664-25703-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jesusasfigureinh0000powe/page/168 168] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Houlden2003">{{cite book |author=James L. Houlden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GjvmQgAACAAJ |title=Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture: Entries A–J |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-57607-856-3}}</ref><ref name="VVoorst14">{{cite book |author=Robert E. Van Voorst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwzliMSRGGkC |title=Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8028-4368-5 |pages=14–16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickson |first1=John |date=24 December 2012 |title=Best of 2012: The irreligious assault on the historicity of Jesus |url=http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/12/24/3660194.htm |access-date=17 June 2014 |website=Abc.net.au}}</ref>

Likewise, some minority historian views assert that [[Muhammad]] either did not exist or was [[Historicity of Muhammad#Minority views (Muhammad as mythical figure)|not central to founding Islam]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Review of: Crossroads to Islam: The Origins of the Arab Religion and the Arab State |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2004/2004.02.33 |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}</ref>

==== Religious pseudohistory ====
''[[Holy Blood, Holy Grail|The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'' (1982) by [[Michael Baigent]], [[Richard Leigh (author)|Richard Leigh]], and [[Henry Lincoln]] is a book that purports to show that certain historical figures, such as [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], and contemporary aristocrats are the lineal descendants of [[Jesus]]. Mainstream historians have widely panned the book, categorizing it as pseudohistory,<ref>{{cite book |first=Damian |last=Thompson |title=Counterknowledge. How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History |publisher=Atlantic Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84354-675-7|title-link=Counterknowledge }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Pierre |last=Jarnac |title=Histoire du Trésor de Rennes-le-Château |location=[[Saleilles]] |publisher=P. Jarnac |year=1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Pierre |last=Jarnac |title=Les Archives de Rennes-le-Château |publisher=Editions Belisane |date=1988 |quote=Describing ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' as a "monument of mediocrity"}}<br>{{cite book |first=Jean-Luc |last=Chaumeil |title=La Table d'Isis ou Le Secret de la Lumière |publisher=Editions Guy Trédaniel |year=1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Marie-France |last1=Etchegoin |first2=Frédéric |last2=Lenoir |title=Code Da Vinci: L'Enquête |publisher=Robert Laffont |year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jean-Jacques |last=Bedu |title=Les sources secrètes du Da Vinci Code |publisher=Editions du Rocher |year=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Bernardo |last=Sanchez Da Motta |title=Do Enigma de Rennes-le-Château ao Priorado de Siao – Historia de um Mito Moderno |publisher=Esquilo |year=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Neville |last=Morley |title=Writing Ancient History |page=19 |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-8014-8633-5}}</ref><ref name="Miller2004">{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Laura |title=The Last Word; The Da Vinci Con |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E0DD103AF931A15751C0A9629C8B63|date=22 February 2004 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> and pointing out that the genealogical tables used in it are now known to be spurious.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Secrets of the Code|year=2006|publisher=Vanguard Press|isbn=978-1-59315-273-4|author=Laura Miller|editor=Dan Burstein|page=[https://archive.org/details/secretsofcode00dani_0/page/405 405]|url=https://archive.org/details/secretsofcode00dani_0/page/405}}</ref> Nonetheless, the book was an international best-seller<ref name="Miller2004" /> and inspired [[Dan Brown]]'s bestselling mystery [[Thriller (genre)|thriller novel]] ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''.<ref name="Miller2004" /><ref name="Fritze" />{{rp|2–3}}

Although historians and archaeologists consider the [[Book of Mormon]] to be an anachronistic invention of Joseph Smith, many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) [[Archaeology and the Book of Mormon|believe that it describes ancient historical events in the Americas.]]

[[Searches for Noah's Ark]] have also been categorized as pseudohistory.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagan|first1=Brian M.|author1-link=Brian M. Fagan|last2=Beck|first2=Charlotte|year=1996|title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ystMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA582|location=Oxford, England|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-19-507618-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cline|first=Eric H.|author1-link=Eric H. Cline|year=2009|title=Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwNIDHSPsSMC&pg=PA72|location=Oxford, England|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-974107-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Feder|first=Kenneth L.|author1-link=Kenneth Feder|year=2010|title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlRz2symkAsC&pg=PA195|location=[[Santa Barbara, California]]|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-0-313-37919-2}}</ref><ref name="Rough Guides">{{cite book|last1=Rickard|first1=Bob|last2=Michell|first2=John|author1-link=Bob Rickard |author2-link=John Michell|date=2000|chapter=Arkeology|title=Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MO-TWKwyEh0C&pg=PA179|location=London|publisher=[[Rough Guides]]|isbn=1-85828-589-5|pages=179–83}}</ref><ref>Dietz, Robert S. "Ark-Eology: A Frightening Example of Pseudo-Science" in ''Geotimes'' 38:9 (Sept. 1993) p. 4.</ref>

In her books, starting with ''[[The Witch-Cult in Western Europe]]'' (1921), English author [[Margaret Murray]] claimed that the [[witch trials in the early modern period]] were actually an attempt by chauvinistic Christians to annihilate a [[Witch-cult hypothesis|secret, pagan religion]],<ref name="Purkiss1996">{{cite book|last=Purkiss|first=Diane|author-link=Diane Purkiss|year=1996|title=The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations|url=https://archive.org/details/witchhistoryearl00purk|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon, England|isbn=978-0415087629|page=[https://archive.org/details/witchhistoryearl00purk/page/n70 62]}}</ref> which she claimed worshipped a [[Horned God]].<ref name="Purkiss1996"/> Murray's claims have now been widely rejected by respected historians.<ref>{{citation|last1=Russell|first1=Jeffrey B.|last2=Alexander|first2=Brooks|year=2007|title=A New History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans|publisher=Thames and Hudson|location=London|isbn=978-0-500-28634-0|page=154}}</ref><ref name="Simpson1994">{{cite journal|last=Simpson|first=Jacqueline|author-link=Jacqueline Simpson|year=1994|title=Margaret Murray: Who Believed Her and Why?|journal=Folklore|volume=105|issue=1–2 |pages=89–96|doi=10.1080/0015587x.1994.9715877|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Purkiss1996"/> Nonetheless, her ideas have become the [[Origin myth|foundation myth]] for modern [[Wicca]], a contemporary [[Modern paganism|Neopagan]] religion.<ref name="Simpson1994"/><ref name="Rabinovitch2002">{{cite book|last1=Rabinovitch|first1=Shelley|last2=Lewis|first2=James|title=The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism|date=2002|publisher=Kensington Publishing Corporation|location= New York|isbn=0-8065-2407-3|pages=32–35|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuvLRbKvyGEC&q=Burning+Times+debunked&pg=PA35}}</ref> Belief in Murray's alleged witch-cult is still prevalent among Wiccans,<ref name="Rabinovitch2002"/> but is gradually declining.<ref name="Rabinovitch2002"/>

===== Hinduism =====
The belief that [[Ancient India]] was technologically advanced to the extent of being a nuclear power is gaining popularity in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://undark.org/article/indian-scientists-confront-pseudoscience/|title=The Threat of Pseudoscience in India|website=Undark|first=Ruchi|last=Kumar|date=12 October 2018|access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref> Emerging [[Hindutva|extreme nationalist]] trends and  ideologies based on [[Hinduism]] in the political arena promote these discussions. [[Vasudev Devnani]], the education minister for the western state of [[Rajasthan]], said in January 2017 that it was important to "understand the scientific significance" of the [[Zebu|cow]], as it was the only animal in the world to both inhale and exhale oxygen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cow-only-animal-to-inhale-and-exhale-oxygen-rajasthan-minister/story-a8nPi8XDxpvO8YKwibN5RJ.html|title=Cow only animal to inhale and exhale oxygen: Rajasthan minister|date=16 January 2017|newspaper=Hindustan Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427022930/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cow-only-animal-to-inhale-and-exhale-oxygen-rajasthan-minister/story-a8nPi8XDxpvO8YKwibN5RJ.html|archive-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> In 2014, [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Narendra Modi]] told a gathering of doctors and medical staff at a [[Mumbai]] hospital that the story of the [[Hindu god]] [[Ganesha]] showed [[genetic science]] existed in ancient India.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/28/indian-prime-minister-genetic-science-existed-ancient-times|author=Maseeh Rahman|title=Indian prime minister claims genetic science existed in ancient times|date=28 October 2014|access-date=26 April 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> New-age pseudohistorians who claim that Hindu mythology is historically factual have been well received by audiences. An example was the [[2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy]], when Capt. Anand J. Bodas, retired principal of a pilot training facility, claimed at the [[Indian Science Congress]] that [[Vimana|aircraft]] more advanced than today's aircraft existed in ancient India.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/01/04/indians-invented-planes-7000-years-ago-and-other-startling-claims-at-the-science-congress/?noredirect=on|title=Indians invented planes 7,000 years ago – and other startling claims at the Science Congress|last=Lakshmi|first=Rama|date=4 January 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref>