Who Were the Watchers? The Mysterious Beings of the Ancient World

Among the annals of ancient lore, there are few stories more enigmatic and intriguing than that of the Watchers. These celestial entities, popularly referred to as angels, are reputed to have come down from heaven to the world, compelled by the desire to engage with mankind in manners that would cause history to take an irrevocable course. In the Book of Enoch, 200 Watchers, led by Semjaza, made a pact to take human wives and impart forbidden knowledge, and the Nephilim, giant sons whose mere existence threatened the order of creation, were the offspring. Their story is not an isolated one; other cultures have their own versions, such as the Mesopotamian Apkallu, which suggests a shared fascination with the intersection of the divine and the human. Watchers have been explained in various ways over the centuries, and some contemporary theorists have even speculated about their potential extraterrestrial origins. But underlying their myth is the serious exploration of such matters as temptation, knowledge, and the dangers of challenging natural order.