This is a fun story:
The part I found particularly interesting is this:
You can't discount oral traditions. Yes, they get altered over time, sometimes deliberately, but they are, after all, the original way we transmitted our history from one generation to the next.
A short intro to the project:
The two archaeologists had a hunch that the Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal held secrets that could transform how the world understood the emergence and spread of Buddhism.
Their pursuit would eventually see them excavate the sacred site of Lumbini as monks prayed nearby, leading to the stunning claim that the Buddha was born in the sixth century BC, two centuries earlier than thought.
The part I found particularly interesting is this:
Prior to this discovery, most scholars said that the Buddha — who renounced material wealth to embrace and preach a life of non-attachment — lived during the fourth century BC, founding a religion that now counts 500 million followers.
Buddhists in Nepal and Sri Lanka, however, have always believed that the sage was born around 623 BC, a date that now seems more accurate.
You can't discount oral traditions. Yes, they get altered over time, sometimes deliberately, but they are, after all, the original way we transmitted our history from one generation to the next.
A short intro to the project:
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