They teach, travel, transform the world—and sometimes leave over water. What happens when we put the stories back into their sources?
Which work is new? This is V2: the source-audit pilot, not a new run of the original similarity experiment. It assembles 29 passages for inspection. A stronger comparison study is proposed below; it has not been run.
A figure who brings knowledge and disappears over the sea is a compelling story. But a visitor from the sea, a creator who leaves by sea and a being who returns there every night are three different stories.
The first experiment found that AI judges often preferred the proposed civiliser pairs to the decoys provided. It did not establish how rare those parallels are among other teaching figures, or where they came from. Here the unit is a passage, not an AI-compressed biography.
29 passages · 10 source records · 10 figure entries
A deliberately selected reading set, not independent trials or a worldwide sample.
Sahagún's account attributes crafts to Quetzalcoatl and ends his journey with a raft made of serpents. Sarmiento's Viracocha instructs people, then walks over the sea with two servants. Instruction followed by an extraordinary sea departure is a genuine correspondence in these accounts—even though the teaching, companions and means of travel differ.
The crafts · Q1 / The serpent raft · Q3 / Walking over water · V3
Oannes explicitly emerges from the sea and returns there at night. Quetzalcoatl and Viracocha leave over it in the inspected endings. Piedrahíta's Bochica dies at Sogamoso and ascends to heaven; the road associated with his coming is inland. A single label, “came from the sea,” would erase much of what we need to explain.
Oannes arrives · O1 / His nightly routine · O3 / Quetzalcoatl leaves · Q3 / Viracocha leaves · V3 / Bochica's ending · B3
Oannes appears before the later flood assigned to Xisuthrus. Viracocha is a creator who destroys a population before the subsequent creation. Bochica opens a way for floodwater to drain. These are striking relationships to catastrophe, but not the same episode of a knowledgeable survivor arriving afterward.
Before the flood · O4 / Destruction and creation · V1 / The next creation · V2 / Flood relief · B2
Sarmiento's Viracocha promises messengers. The closing Quetzalcoatl paragraph inspected here gives no personal return promise; that is a statement about this paragraph, not every Quetzalcoatl tradition. Brinton's 1882 comparative introduction does make future reappearance part of its general hero formula. This gives us a later synthesis to trace—not a date when the belief was invented.
The messengers · V4 / The closing paragraph · Q3 / The later formula · R2
Prometheus claims writing, numbers, buildings, ships, medicine and more: a substantial alternative comparison for Oannes' catalogue of arts. In the Sumerian story of Inana and Enki, crafts travel between cities as divine powers loaded onto a boat. That is not direct teaching by a sea visitor, but it is an informative local analogue. Neither is assumed to be historically unrelated.
Oannes' curriculum · O2 / Prometheus' arts · P1 / Medicine and metals · P2 / The divine powers · I1 / The boat · I2
Sarmiento frames American origins through Atlantis and Mesopotamia. Piedrahíta proposes Saint Bartholomew as an explanation for Bochica. These interpretations belong to the recording authors, not automatically to the people whose traditions they report. Their presence makes source history essential; it does not show that all the underlying stories were invented.
Sarmiento's framework · V5 / Piedrahíta's interpretation · B4
In the inspected Garcilaso excerpt, Manco Cápac is associated with cultivation and waterworks, while Mama Ocllo teaches textile work. Compressing their contribution into one male civiliser would manufacture a broader individual curriculum. Keeping the actors separate preserves a richer story as well as a fairer comparison.
Read the wording as well as the status. “Not mentioned” means not in the passages inspected, not absent from an entire tradition. “Contradicted” marks a different ending in that account. “Uncertain” keeps ambiguous or only partly matching evidence visible.
Four named comparisons come first; other teaching figures and local analogues follow. Their coverage is uneven. This is a reading aid, not a leaderboard.
| Figure | Arrives from the sea? | Named skills / institutions | Sea departure? | Promises own return? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viracocha Named comparison |
Creator before the flood; later goes to Titicaca. not mentioned V1 · V2 |
General instruction; this passage does not list the same specific crafts. uncertain V3 |
Walks over the sea with two servants. present V3 |
Promises future messengers, not his own return. not mentioned V4 |
| Quetzalcoatl Named comparison |
The inspected episodes start with him already in Tollan. not mentioned Q1 |
Stone-working, metalworking and other crafts. present Q1 · Q4 |
Sails away on a raft of serpents. present Q3 |
No personal return promise in the closing departure paragraph. not mentioned Q3 |
| Bochica Named comparison |
An inland road from the plains; sea origin is not stated. not mentioned B3 |
Preaching is reported; weaving needs an earlier witness. uncertain B1 · B3 |
This ending is death and ascent to heaven, not sailing away. contradicted B3 |
Succession is reported, not a personal return promise. not mentioned B3 |
| Oannes Named comparison |
A fish-bodied being emerges from the sea. present O1 |
Writing, buildings, laws, measurement and food gathering. present O2 |
Returns to the sea each night; not a final leave-taking. present O3 |
Daily recurrence, not an explicit future-return promise. not mentioned O3 |
| Prometheus Role comparator |
No sea arrival in the inspected speeches. not mentioned P1 · P2 |
Writing, number, buildings, medicine and other arts. present P1 · P2 |
The speaker is suffering, not describing a sea departure. not mentioned P1 |
Not in these inspected speeches. not mentioned P1 · P2 |
| Demeter Role comparator |
Not covered by these selected teaching and departure passages. not mentioned D1 · D2 |
Ritual mysteries; growth restored after famine. present D1 |
Leaves for Olympus, not over the sea, in this ending. contradicted D2 |
Not in this closing passage. not mentioned D2 |
| Fuxi Role comparator |
A ruler in a succession account. not mentioned F1 |
Nets for fishing and hunting; trigrams. present F1 |
Dies and is succeeded; no sea departure in this sequence. contradicted F1 · S1 |
Not in the inspected paragraphs. not mentioned F1 · S1 |
| Shennong Role comparator |
Succeeds Fuxi; no sea arrival is stated. not mentioned S1 |
Cultivation and markets. present S1 |
Dies and is succeeded in this account. contradicted S1 |
Not in the inspected paragraphs. not mentioned S1 |
| Inana Local analogue |
Boat journey between Eridug and Unug; not stated as arrival from the sea. uncertain I2 |
Receives and transports crafts as divine powers; direct teaching is different. uncertain I1 · I2 |
Leaves a city by boat; this is not a final departure from humanity. uncertain I2 |
No such promise in these selected episodes. not mentioned I2 |
| Manco Cápac & Mama Ocllo Local analogue |
Sent by the Sun and placed at Titicaca. not mentioned M1 |
Cultivation and waterworks; textiles attributed to Mama Ocllo. present M2 |
No final departure in the inspected excerpts. not mentioned M1 · M2 |
Not in the inspected excerpts. not mentioned M1 · M2 |
On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways. Follow any passage ID to its source-linked record below.
Short excerpts are followed by this project's paraphrase and a qualification. The edition, chapter, page or line is linked so you can read beyond the selection. The longer English explanations of Spanish passages are paraphrases, not published translations.
No passages match both filters. Change the figure or search, or choose “Show all.”
“a general flood”
Viracocha precedes creation and destroys a disobedient population; the text then recounts differing survival stories.
This account does not begin with an ordinary visitor arriving from overseas.
Sarmiento, 1572 / Markham, 1907 · Chapter VI, initial creation and flood
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“went, with his servants”
After the flood, Viracocha goes with servants to Titicaca and creates the luminaries.
Do not turn a journey to a lake into emergence from it; other versions need separate records.
Sarmiento, 1572 / Markham, 1907 · Chapter VII, opening paragraphs
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“travelling over the water”
He instructs people, reaches the coast, and departs over the water with two servants.
The passage describes general instruction, not Oannes' same named curriculum.
Sarmiento, 1572 / Markham, 1907 · Chapter VII, final Viracocha episode
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“he would send his messengers”
He warns against false claimants and says future messengers will protect and teach.
That is a future-contact motif; it is not an explicit promise to return personally.
Sarmiento, 1572 / Markham, 1907 · Chapter VII, speech before departure
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“primeval Mesopotamians and Chaldæans”
Sarmiento himself connects American origins to Atlantis and Mesopotamia.
This is the author's framework, not an Indigenous quotation and not proof that he invented each reported detail.
Sarmiento, 1572 / Markham, 1907 · Chapter V, concluding discussion of American origins
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“estas artes todas hovieron origen”
Stone-working and metalworking among Quetzalcoatl's followers are traced to him.
An explicit origin-of-crafts claim survives; it is not merely an inference from a prosperous reign.
Sahagún, Book III · Book III, chapter III; PDF p. 148
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. PDF page visually checked; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“el maíz era abundantíssimo”
The description celebrates plentiful maize and naturally coloured cotton.
Abundant crops alone do not state that the figure introduced agriculture.
Sahagún, Book III · Book III, chapter III; PDF pp. 148–149
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. PDF page visually checked; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“una balsa hecha de culebras”
At the coast, Quetzalcoatl has a serpent raft made and sails away.
This is departure by sea. No personal return promise appears in this closing paragraph.
Sahagún, Book III · Book III, chapter XIV, final paragraph; PDF p. 157
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. PDF page visually checked; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“dexad todas las artes mecánicas”
Opponents demand that he leave metal, stone, wood, painting and featherwork skills behind.
Read within his flight from Tollan, not as arrival after a worldwide flood.
Sahagún, Book III · Book III, chapter XIII; PDF pp. 155–156
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. PDF text inspected; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“the useful arts”
Brinton assembles an outline of a teaching figure who leaves after establishing human institutions.
This is a comparative synthesis; it cannot verify every trait for each named figure.
Brinton, 1882 · Chapter I, introductory outline of the hero-god
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“awaiting the appointed time”
Brinton's generalised hero comes from the east and awaits a future reappearance.
A useful witness to nineteenth-century comparison, not an additional early Quetzalcoatl account.
Brinton, 1882 · Chapter I, paragraph after the introductory outline
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“vn hombre estrangero”
The chronicler reports one stranger with three names, but notes a version with three preachers.
Do not silently collapse the variant figures into one individual.
Piedrahíta, 1688 · Book I, chapter III, printed p. 17 (PDF p. 43)
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Original printed page visually checked. Long-s normalised to s; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“abrió camino a las aguas”
Bochica drains the flooded plain by opening a mountain with his staff; Huytháca is implicated in the flood.
This is flood relief, not arrival as a survivor. Other versions may assign the flood differently.
Piedrahíta, 1688 · Book I, chapter III, printed p. 18 (PDF p. 44)
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Original printed page visually checked. Long-s normalised to s; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“murió en Sogamoso”
Bochica dies at Sogamoso and is taken to heaven; an inland road is associated with his coming.
The account also reports teaching and succession. It does not supply the same sea-departure episode.
Piedrahíta, 1688 · Book I, chapter III, printed p. 19 (PDF p. 45)
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Original printed page visually checked. Long-s normalised to s; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“a San Bartolomé”
Piedrahíta proposes Saint Bartholomew as the explanation for Bochica.
The apostolic identification is the author's argument, not an unmediated Indigenous statement.
Piedrahíta, 1688 · Book I, chapter III, printed p. 19 (PDF p. 45)
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Original printed page visually checked. Long-s normalised to s; English explanation is a project paraphrase.
“emerged from the Red Sea”
Oannes enters from the sea with a fish body, a human head and human feet.
The translation's sea name is retained rather than silently modernised to a precise coastline.
Berossus via Eusebius · Book I, [4], Oannes paragraph
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“letters and the techniques”
The passage lists writing, building cities and temples, laws, measurement and gathering seeds and fruit.
A catalogue of arts is explicit. It is not a dated record of their historical introduction.
Berossus via Eusebius · Book I, [4], instruction paragraph
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“when the sun went down”
Oannes spends daylight with people and returns to the sea overnight.
This is a recurring routine, not a final departure or a promise of a distant future return.
Berossus via Eusebius · Book I, [4], sunset paragraph
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“during which time the great Flood occurred”
The flood is assigned to Xisuthrus after the earlier kings and teaching beings.
Oannes is not introduced here as a survivor arriving after that flood.
Berossus via Eusebius · Book I, [6]–[7], Xisuthrus account
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“the combining of letters”
Prometheus claims buildings, seasonal knowledge, writing, number, animal harnessing and ships.
Specific technical instruction is not confined to the four named civilisers.
Prometheus Bound / Smyth, 1926 · Lines 436–471
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“mix soothing remedies”
The speech adds medicine, divination and metals, then credits Prometheus with every human art.
A broad arts list can overlap Oannes without establishing either independence or a shared ancestor.
Prometheus Bound / Smyth, 1926 · Lines 477–506
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“taught them all her mysteries”
Demeter causes crop failure; later she restores growth and teaches ritual mysteries.
Here the crisis is famine, not flood, and the named instruction is ritual.
Hymn to Demeter / Evelyn-White, 1914 · Hymn II, lines 301–313 and 470–482
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“they went to Olympus”
Following the instruction, the goddesses leave for Olympus.
Teacher, crisis and departure can form a loose parallel while the particular events differ.
Hymn to Demeter / Evelyn-White, 1914 · Hymn II, lines 483–489
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“hunting and fishing”
Fuxi (Pâo-hsî) is credited with trigrams and making nets.
An invention account, not a sea-arrival episode. His death introduces the successor in §13.
Great Treatise / Legge, 1882 · Appendix III, section II, chapter II, §§11–12; pp. 382–383
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“ploughing and weeding”
Shennong succeeds Fuxi, teaches cultivation and establishes markets; later rulers follow his death.
Same source family as Fuxi. The succession should not be turned into a mysterious disappearance.
Great Treatise / Legge, 1882 · Appendix III, section II, chapter II, §§13–15; pp. 383–384
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“the craft of the scribe”
Inana receives a list of crafts, including carpentry, metalwork, scribal work and building.
Receiving or transporting powers is not identical to personally teaching each craft.
ETCSL 1.3.1 · Segment D, lines 10–13
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“the Boat of Heaven”
Inana takes the powers by boat toward Unug; Enki's attempts to retrieve them form the journey's conflict.
This is a named inter-city transfer, not evidence of an overseas visitor to an unknown people.
ETCSL 1.3.1 · Segment F, lines 1–13; segment H, lines 218–248
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“a little wedge of Gold”
The Sun sends a son and daughter, places them at Titicaca and gives a gold object to locate their settlement.
A local Andean comparator; the lake and paired founders should not be silently merged with Viracocha.
Garcilaso / Rycaut, 1688 · Book I, chapter VII in the linked Rycaut excerpts
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
“spinning and weaving”
Manco teaches cultivation and waterworks; Mama Ocllo is credited with textile instruction.
A compressed biography can wrongly assign all skills to one male civiliser.
Garcilaso / Rycaut, 1688 · Book I, chapter XII in the linked Rycaut excerpts
Short source excerpt; explanation is this project's paraphrase. Linked edition text inspected, September 2026.
The age of a surviving record, the date of its modern edition and the unknown age of a tradition are different things. A chain of translations is also not a series of independent confirmations. These records keep those distinctions visible.
This is an exploratory audit, not a rarity test. The figures and passages were deliberately selected after seeing the original result. There is no worldwide sampling frame, no blinding, no independent specialist validation and no probability estimate. Ten source records do not mean ten independent traditions.
It is not yet a complete source genealogy. These are early accessible witnesses, not a claim to have found the earliest attestation of every detail. Earlier Andean and Colombian accounts, a Nahuatl comparison, alternative Quetzalcoatl versions and specialist editions of the Berossus fragments remain important gaps.
The sources are uneven. A drama, a colonial chronicle and a reconstructed Sumerian composition have different purposes. Some figures receive more reading than others. A detail missing from a short excerpt is especially weak negative evidence. Later records allow influence; their date alone does not demonstrate borrowing.
The positive result is a clearer comparison. Some specific parallels survive. Others separate into different events or different actors. We can now point to the passages that a proposed explanation must account for. We cannot use this set to establish a lost civilisation, exclude deep inheritance, or choose between transmission and independent invention.
Proposed, not run. Ask whether these figures share a more distinctive story than other teachers and founders in a defined collection. Begin with the four named targets and roughly 20–30 plausible comparators, with comparable source coverage. The final collection, rubric and stopping rule still need to be fixed.
The first result should be an inspectable atlas of the best matches, with ranks limited to the actual collection—not a probability of a lost civilisation. Source-family dependence, uneven coverage and the AI's prior knowledge remain limitations. Read the proposed protocol and unresolved choices →