12.16.06
My, they’re big!
Bao and Yao have reminded me of my childhood fascinations with human giants. Stories like Jack and the Giant Beanstalk, Paul Bunyun, and David and Goliath were among my favorites. And for those of you in my age group, do you remember the TV series Land of the Giants? I loved that! I know I took a picture next to one of Universal Studio’s giant phone props when I was a kid. Wish I had that picture to share, now. I had always thought that “giants” were stuff of fairy tales. But where did those stories originate? Could those stories really have been inspired by real giants?
Ah, but who is Bao and Yao? While rummaging through the news online I came across an article of Bao Xishun, a Mongolian herdsman. If you saw his picture, you may understand why he caught my eye. It would be hard to miss him actually. Take a peek.
Bao Xishun is officially the tallest man alive according to the Guinness Book of World Records. He stands at 7′9″ tall, is 54 years old with an arm’s length of 41.7″ long. It was those long arms which russelled up news-worthy media coverage. The full story can be read here.
In 2005 a movie called Year of the Yao caught my eye for the very same reason Bao did, one very large man! Basketball fans know him as Yao Ming. He stands at 7′6″ tall, imported to Texas U.S.A. from China to play for the Houston Rockets.
Is it possible that the childhood stories I had loved so much were really based on real life giants? On the left is an old National Geographic photograph from 1922 depicting another giant Mongolian standing at 7′5″. Some say that there really were giants in the past even taller than the ones we see today. This site claims that Maximinus Thrax, the Tracian Emperor of the Roman Empire from 235 to 238 A.D. was 8′6″ tall (that same site contains the 1922 Mongolian shot).
Other sites claim the skeletal remains and mummies of giants have been discovered. 
The picture below is claimed to be the fossilized remains of an Irish Giant. He is believed to have been 12′2″ tall! As the caption states, “notice that the giant is leaning up against a railroad car.”
From the Biblical point of view, it appears that Goliath is not the only mention of a giant in the Bible. A few links regarding Biblical references to giants can be viewed here and here and here.
Some have claimed that these unusually tall people were like that because they suffered from a condition known as acromegaly wherein the pituitary gland releases too much growth hormone resulting in larger hands and head, etc. But that is a diseased condition, which eventually could result in death, from my understanding. These giants, however, don’t appear to be in a diseased condition. Their proportions “look” appropriate for their height, and as the BBC article above on Bao Xishun states, he is already 54-years-old. He appears healthy. Other websites indicate that human giants have been found in many other parts of the world including the U.S. Two more sites regarding that can be found here and here.
I wonder how they got so tall? And what do they eat? Probably not the same amount as tiny people like me! In the movie, Year of the Yao, Yao’s parents are shown (at least I remember the father). As far as I could see, his parents look like they are normal height. Recessive genes, perhaps? Such a curiosity. . .
Marlakins 
