The Cult Of Alien GOd

When Pharoah Thutmosis IV fell asleep before the head of the Great Sphinx at Giza, he recorded that the statue had spoken to him in a dream. He said the Sphinx had told him to clear away the centuries of sand that choked its body and hid all but its head from view. The Sphinx then promised the young Thutmosis (also spelled Tutmosis) the throne of Egypt for doing this work. And so he cleared the Sphinx of its sand and set up between the massive lion's paws a stela on which he recorded his dream and promised to restore the statue of the Pharoah Khafre. Or did he?


Alternative authors have long claimed that the traditional attribution of the Sphinx to Khafre is flawed because Egyptologist James Henry Breasted had said the stela before the Sphinx that bore Khafre's name did not contain a cartouche, the circle enclosing the name of a king or god. Alternative authors Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval quoted this belief in their Message of the Sphinx (1996):

"It is therefore extremely difficult to understand how on the granite stela between the paws of the Sphinx the name of as powerful a king as Khafre--or indeed any other king--could have been written without its pre-required cartouche." (p. 12)

New evidence shows this is not the case.




The original attribution of the Sphinx to Khafre came about when Egyptologist Henry Salt made a facsimile of the damaged stela set up before the statue by the later Pharoah Tutmosis IV. The last line still legible bore the syllable "Khaf," assumed to be Khafre. Other people copied this copy because the stela's inscriptions had worn off with time.

Thomas Young made the most famous secondary copy and based his translation on it. The accepted version of thirteenth line of the stela, the one bearing the syllable "Khaf," reads in the Young translation: "...which we bring for him: oxen... and all the young vegetables; and we shall give praise to Wenofer ...Khaf.... the statue made for Atum-Hor-em-Akhet." The last name refers to the Egyptian gods Horus and Atum in their joint form as the Sphinx. Young then added the syllable "re" to "Khaf" on the assumption that it referred to the Pharoah of that name.

In 1905 James Henry Breasted concluded that Young's translation was wrong because his copy of the stela showed no cartouche around the "Khaf" syllable: "The mention of King Khafre has been understood to indicate that the Sphinx was the work of this king--a conclusion which does not follow; Young has no trace of a cartouche."

However, Young had derived his copy from Salt, and no one thought to check on the condition of the original. Mystery of the Sphinx co-author Robert Bauval said on June 5, 2001: "No we didn't see Salt's manuscript... We accepted Breasted on this issue, and still do."

The next day everything changed.

Through a complicated maze of textual references, posters on Hancock's message board found that the later copies (from which Hancock and Bauval derived their knowledge of the stela) missed an important detail of the original facsimile: the 1820 copy showed a cartouche, implying the "Khaf" syllable belonged to King Khafre.

Bauval promised to consult the British Museum's copy of Salt's orginial facsimile. On June 6, he broke the news: "I can report that there is little doubt now that Henry Salt had recorded a half-cartouche in 1820 around the two syllab[les] 'Kh' (rising sun) and 'f' (slug) supposedly forming Khafre's royal name."

Bauval says this new finding contradicts his earlier claims but does not alter his view that someone earlier than Khafre built the Sphinx: "It still does not prove or disprove that Khafre actually 'built' the Sphinx, but it does show that Tutmosis IV associated his 'dream' and/or the Sphinx with Khafre."

In 1900, the French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero took the Khafre reference to imply that there was a clearing of the monument "under this prince, and consequently the more or less certain proof that the Sphinx was already covered with sand during the time of [Khafre's brother] Khufu and his predecessors..."

In Fingerprints of the Gods (1995), Graham Hancock presented opinions from 19th and early 20th century Egyptologists saying the Sphinx was older than Khafre. He quotes the British Museum's E. A. Wallis Budge's 1904 opinion that the Sphinx "was in existence in the days of Khafre, the builder of the Second Pyramid, and was, most probably, very old even at that period."

These opinions accorded well with the other important theory circulating about the origin of the Sphinx: that it was, in fact, a relic from a lost civilization.

EROSION AND THE SPHINX

In the early 1990s a small group of maverick researchers began to look at the distinctive pattern of rippling waves visible on the body of the Sphinx and the walls surrounding it. When they examined the erosion on the limestone body of the statue, they came to a stunning conclusion: the Sphinx had been weathered by water, not by wind. Up until that point, most Egyptologists had believed that wind had carved out channels on the Sphinx, abated only by long periods when the statue was hidden beneath encroaching desert sands.

The team consisted of geologist Robert Schoch and maverick archaeologist and tour guide John Anthony West. West did extensive work on the statue, measuring and photographing all of the weathering on the body of the lion and the walls of the "Sphinx enclosure" surrounding it. His conclusions were mind-blowing.

West concluded that the weathering occurred by falling water, not blowing wind. This meant that extensive rainfall must have weathered the statue before the desert sands had buried it. Since the last Egyptian rainfall of that magnitude was over 7,000 years ago, this meant that history as we know it needed an overhaul. A team of geologists led by Dr. Robert Schoch of Boston University reached the same conclusions, and it seemed a number of prominent geologists agreed, though today that is in dispute.

Archeaologist Michael Brass says "West said to me he couldn't supply any names because they hadn't paid attention and gotten names. Yet he still continues to claim this anonymous support, which cannot be tested, and to say these names can be provided."

West says he can provide names "but before going to the time and trouble it takes to dig this out of our files, I think it only fair that we are first provided with [the] qualifications and credentials [of those who ask]."

As of June 2001*, West had not supplied any of the 250 names he claimed supported the water-weathering hypothesis, but a few scientific journal articles have appeared both for and against the West-Schoch theory.

Egyptology regrouped and arrived at a new theory, that the Sphinx was weathered by "salt crystal exfoliation" where Nile salts were sucked into the sand-covered Sphinx enclosure and performed a leeching of the limestone walls. Geologist August Matthusen sums up the criticisms of Schoch:

"Schoch's ideas ignore several things. 'Precipitation-induced weathering' versus 'wind-induced weathering' producing different weathering morphologies is not an accepted idea, rather variations in the rock usually account for the different weathering morphologies."

Matthusen claims that different densities of the layers of Giza limestone account for the weathering pattern. However, neither side has absolute proof, and the water-weathering is a seductive hypothesis, much simpler to understand and agree with than an obscure "hydrostatic exfoliation."

West went on to say that Schoch's proposed building date of 5,000-7,000 B.C. did not go far enough. Without any formal geological training, West revised the figure to 10,500 B.C. based on French mathematician R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz's 1961 book Sacred Science. In it, Lubicz postulated, "A great civilization must have preceded the vast movements of water that passed over Egypt [in 10,000 B.C.], which leads us to assume that the Sphinx already existed... whose leonine body, except for the head, shows indisputable signs of aquatic erosion."

West, Hancock and Bauval then go on to use the assumption that the Sphinx predated dynastic Egypt to prove that the a lost civilization existed. Their proof? The Sphinx already existed. In other words, based on Lubicz's assumption of an old Sphinx, they conclude that an ancient civilization existed because the "evidence" shows they built the Sphinx. Thus the assumption is also the conclusion.

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

It has been proposed that the Great Pyramid of Giza is the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" symbolized in stone. This was first proposed by Marsham Adams in 1895. He said that the Egyptian Book of the Dead refers to an "ideal structure and to the passages and chambers therein, and that these passages and chambers followed precisely the order and description of those of the Great Pyramid "

Above: The dead before Osiris, the supreme judge

"The intimate connection," writes Adams, "between the secret doctrine of Egypt's most venerated books, and the secret significance of her most venerable monument, seems impossible to separate, and each form illustrates and interpenetrates the other. As we peruse the dark utterances and recognize the mystic allusions of the Book, we seem to stand amid the profound darkness enwrapping the whole interior of the building... Dimly before our eyes, age after age, the sacred procession of the Egyptian dead moves silently along as they pass to the tribunal of Osiris. In vain do we attempt to trace their footsteps till we enter with them into the Hidden Places and penetrate the secret of the House of Light (compare the ancient Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid - "Khut," or "Light"). But no sooner do we tread the chambers of the mysterious Pyramid than the teaching of the Sacred Books seems lit up as with a tongue of flame".

Marsham Adams proposed that the unique system of passages and chambers (particularly the Grand Gallery, obviously unnecessary in a tomb), has an allegorical significance only explained by reference to the Egyptian "Book of the Dead". The famous Egyptologist, Sir Gaston Maspero endorsed his thesis and added "The Pyramids and the Book of the Dead reproduce the same original, the one in words, the other in stone." Can we find meaning and answers to the mystery of the Great Pyramid by studying the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" and its relationship to the Great Pyramid?

What is the Egyptian "Book of the Dead"? It was believed by the ancient Egyptians that the "Book of the Dead" was written by "Thoth". He was the scribe to the gods and was the one responsible for speaking the words of creation and putting it into effect. It's name is not a correct description of it. It should be named the "Chapters of the Coming Forth by Day". It is mainly concerned with the state of the departed soul and its trials and existences in the afterlife. According to one of the world's experts on the "Book of the Dead", Sir Wallis Budge, it was not of Egyptian origin but its ideas were brought to Egypt by a different culture and people. Scholars speculate that these people were in existence prior to the first dynasty. There has been much speculation of who these people were but the bottom line is that no one knows. We do know that the changes in Egypt at that time were sudden and highly radical. The building of the Great Pyramid is a good example. It appeared out of nowhere from a primitive stone and flint culture and has never been repeated. Also it appears since iron has been found in the Great Pyramid and was part of the original structure, this invading culture brought the Iron Age to Egypt 2000 years earlier than scholars date it.

As mentioned above, the singular most conspicuous correspondence between the Great Pyramid and Book of the Dead is that the ancient Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid is "Khut" which means "Light" and the various stages traversed by the dead, according to the Book of the Dead, are of the deceased going from the light of the earth to the light of eternal day. It appears that the author or author's of the Book of the Dead believed this book was the Greatest of Mysteries and did not feel that everyone should have access to it. There is a statement in the Book of the Dead which reads "This is a composition of exceedingly great mystery. Let not the eye of any man whatsoever see it, for it is an abominable thing for (every man) to know it: therefore hide it." It seems that the teachings were not only to teach about the nature of the Creator and his relation to the creature, but also to teach how the creature is admitted to participate in the mysteries of the Creator.

An interesting idea was proposed by Marsham Adams in 1895 and later by Basil Stewart in the 1929 publication of the Mystery of the Great Pyramid. He suggested that a very, very ancient "common source" (a person, group, culture, etc.) before the Egyptian culture was responsible for the building of the Great Pyramid. The purpose of building the Great Pyramid was to enshrine their knowledge and understanding of the mysteries they knew for future generations. The structure like the Great Pyramid was chosen since it would remain unchanged and uncorrupted over the generations. It would withstand environmental disturbances like earthquakes, floods, etc. and not be able to be tampered with by man. Written and oral records would not be satisfactory since they can be changed and edited very easily over time. It would be more difficult to corrupt a large brick structure. The Great Pyramid is probably an excellent choice to meet these requirements. Just look at it today. Man has worked away on it, blasted it, etc. but for the most part it is still intact. Thus the Great Pyramid may enshrine the earliest known knowledge of man.

There has been much speculation about who this "original culture" was. It is also possible that is original culture may have left a written document of their teachings which have to come to us today as the Book of the Dead, but it has been corrupted thoughout the years. Like any ancient work, it would be subject to editors throughout time changing and adding to meet their beliefs and ideas.

Stewart states that "the allegory contained in the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" is merely a corrupt survival of the allegory enshrined in the Great Pyramid itself". He feels that it was paganized by the ancient Egyptians and applied to their god. Thus, The Book of the dead which is a representation of the Great Pyramid has been corrupted over the years. That does not mean the Book of the Dead is meaningless. It may be possible to siphon out the original teaching from the later additions and changes. Also we can correlate the Book of the Dead with the Great Pyramid and see where they correspond. The goal would be to discover the original teachings of this "common source" and maybe try to identify who they were. It is possible that the information encoded in the Great Pyramid of Giza may be the oldest that man possesses.

It is extremely important to note that we are not assuming that this "original teaching" is correct or indeed is the truth. It may be just be very ancient myths, ideas, superstitions, ritual, paganisms, etc. that these ancient people thought were true and just wanted to preserve. This information would be interesting to us from a historical, archeological and sociological view.

LEGENDS REGARDING THE GREAT PYRAMID

It is not surprising that there have been many myths and legends about the Great Pyramid of Giza. Even though we may not be able to distinguish which ones are true and which ones are false, it is interesting to read about some of them. Many times we find that there was an actual event that occurred in history and different myths originate from this actual event. Thus if we look at enough myths, there may be a common denominator that we can distinguish.

One of the earliest legends about the Great Pyramid come from an early Arab source, a writer, Ben Mohammed Balki, who stated that the pyramids (the three Giza pyramids) were built as a refuge against an approaching destruction of mankind either by fire or by water. Another Arab historian, Masoudi ( died A.D. 967) also cites a similar legend that the three pyramids were built as a result of a dream that appeared to King Surid, in which the flood was foretold, 300 years before it occurred. It is told that he ordered the priests to deposit within the pyramids written accounts of their wisdom and acquirements in the different arts and sciences... and of arithmetic and geometry, that they might remain as records for the benefit of those who would afterwards be able to comprehend them. Another Arab writer, Ibn Abd-al-Latif, said that the Second Pyramid was "filled with a store of riches and utensils... with arms which rust not, and with glass which might be bended and yet not broken". It is interesting to note that Masoudi also stated that "the Great Pyramid was inscribed with the heavenly spheres, and figures representing the stars and planets in the forms in which they were worshiped. Also the position of the stars and there cycles, together with the history and chronicles of time past, of that which is to come, and of every future event which would take place in Egypt." Another source says that written upon the walls of the pyramid was "the mysteries of science, astronomy, physics, and such useful knowledge which any person understanding our writing can read." Is there any evidence that confirms the Great Pyramid was once covered with the above writings?

Since the original casing stones were destroyed and removed for the building of mosques after an earthquake in 1301 AD, we do not know if there was any original writing upon them. It does not seem likely since there still remains some casing stones at the pyramids lowest level and they do not have any inscriptions on them. There are several possibilities.

1) This is a completely made up legend with no basis or fact.

2) All the casing stones that had writing on them were destroyed.

3) This legend got confused like many do and the writings are actually inside the pyramid in an undiscovered chamber or passageway.

4) The legend of the writings on the exterior of the Great Pyramid got confused with the writings in the Book of the Dead? That is they wrote the above not on the pyramid, but on papyrus to preserve it, which became the Book of the Dead. Is the Book of the Dead what remains of this writing in a corrupt fashion? Basil Stewart states "we know that it (the Great Pyramid) contains no such hieroglyphic inscriptions or representations of the heavenly stars and planets such as these traditions infer. It is only when we turn to the Book of the Dead that we find the passages and chambers of its "Secret House" inscribed with such hieroglyphic texts and formulae, and adorned with mythical figures and stars. That is to say, Coptic and Arab traditions have erroneously identified the inscribed passages of the allegorical Pyramid of the Book of the Dead with the actual passages and chambers of the Great Pyramid itself."

A very interesting account is given by Josephus in his Antiquities. Josephus states that "the descendants of Seth, after perfecting their study of astronomy, set out for Egypt, and there embodied their discoveries in the building of two "pillars" (i.e. monuments), one in stone and the other in brick, in order that this knowledge might not be lost before these discoveries were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed by a flood... and in order to exhibit them to mankind...Now this pillar remains in the land of Siriad (the Siriadic, or Dogstar, land of Egypt) to this day."

There is a similar tradition ascribed to Enoch. "Enoch, foreseeing the destruction of the earth, inscribed the science of astronomy upon two pillars."

It is interesting that almost all the traditions agree that the construction of the Great Pyramid was pre-deluge, and was built to preserve knowledge, etc. They agree in the main events with only variations of detail.

LEGENDS REGARDING THE BUILDERS OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

There have been many theories regarding who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some proposed builders include: Seth, Enoch, Shem, Noah, Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, Melchizedek, and even Atlantians. As mentioned before, no one knows for sure. I think the key to the date of the building of the Great Pyramid and the builders will be the result of the C14 studies on relics found in the Great Pyramid. Also the recent studies of water erosion on the Sphinx and other structures on the Giza plateau is very promising. Some results put the date of the building of the sphinx and great pyramid at 10,000 BC or earlier. This is obviously long before anyone has imagined. If we date the reign of Khufu to around 3600 BC, we are talking about the Great Pyramid being constructed in a time that scholars never considered. Since the Great Pyramid has been around for such a long time, ancient people would normally attribute it to some great hero of the past like (Noah, Seth, Melchizedek, etc.) but we are talking about a time that little if anything remains to this day. This unknown culture or people that lived in a time so remote would be the "original source" we have been talking about. We assume that the origin of man was that of a stone age people and we have advanced and progressed to the present time. What if man at the beginning was very intelligent and advanced in technology. Almost every religion and culture talks about a Golden Age when man walked with God and was superior than we are now. What happened? The bible talks about Adam and Eve and the fall of man, the Babylonian stories are similar, and you can find stories like these in almost every culture. What if man knew he something was going to happen and he wanted to preserve the knowledge he knew would be lost? Is it in the Great Pyramid? To find the "original teachings", if such a thing exists, would be the goal of all religions to say the least. This hypothesis that the Great Pyramid may contain "original teachings" may or may not be true. Like any hypothesis it must be researched and tested. We feel at this point no one has discovered what it is and that is why this is an area open to further research.

BOOK OF THE DEAD (16th Century BC)

In the New Kingdom and later they were written on papyrus rolls or sometimes on leather. These rolls are known to us as the Book of the Dead. The texts often contained colorful illustrations and were sold to individuals for burial use. They are not uniform in content or arrangement and no two copies are exactly alike. Numerous authors, compilers, and sources contributed to the work. They not only differ in choice of spells, but the same spell may differ from one manuscript to another. These spells are in effect magic formulae, which enable the deceased to pass from the tests and dangers, confronted after death. Since the spells are from many different sources, no uniform idea of the afterlife may be gained. Of the copies found in Egyptian tombs, none contain all of the approximately 200 known chapters. The collection, entitled "The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day", received its present name from Richard Lepsius, German Egyptologist who published the first collection of the texts in 1842.

There are many variations of the afterlife. Here are a few:

- The deceased regains the use of his mortal body and enjoys life as before. –OR

- He joins the sun god Re (Ra) as he traverses the heavens. –OR

-He is transformed into a swallow, a serpent, or a crocodile. –OR

- He becomes the god Osiris, primeval creator of all.

EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

The Pharaoh's ascent to heaven

The Pyramid Texts almost exclusively are concerned with the postmortem destiny of the King. As we mentioned above the doctrine was not systematized but we find many variations.

The majority of texts state that the Pharaoh, son of Re, brought into existence by the Great God before the creation of the world, cannot die. In other texts, they only assure that his body will not suffer decomposition. These two different ideologies have not adequately been integrated into their religious system. However, the majority of texts refer to the pharaoh's celestial journey. He flies away in the form of a bird, a falcon, a heron, a wild goose, a scarabaeus, or a grasshopper. The winds, the clouds, and the gods are bound to help him. In certain texts the King ascends to the sky by a ladder. During his ascent the king is already a god and is different in essence from human beings.

Now the goal of the Pharaoh was to arrive at the celestial abode in the East, named the Field of Offerings. Before arriving he had to undergo certain ordeals. The entrance was defended by a lake "with winding shores", and the ferryman had the power of a judge. To be admitted into the boat, the pharaoh must have completed all the required ritual purifications. He must also specifically answer questions by stereotyped formulas that served as passwords. Sometimes the King had recourse to magic or to pleading, or even to threats. He implores the gods, (Re, Thoth, and Horus) and begs the two sycamore trees between which the sun rises every day to let him pass into the "Field of Reeds".

When the pharaoh arrives in heaven, he is received in triumph by the Sun god, and messengers are sent to the four quarters of the world to announce his victory over death. In heaven, the king continues his earthly existence. He is seated on the throne and receives the homage of his subjects and still judges and gives orders.

The Great Pyramid at Giza is an awesome sight, thirty times larger than the Empire State Building(in mass), the Pyramid's features are so large they can be seen from the Moon. The oldest structure in existence, having been started 4,617 years ago, it is the sole remnant of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Great Pyramid did not always look as "rough" as it does today. Originally it was encased with a layer of tight-fitting, highly polished 20-ton stone slabs.W.M. Flinders Petrie determined the exact dimensions of the sides of the Pyramids and he found that they were almost exactly the same length to a accuracy of 0.1 +/- inch.

The Great Pyramid is the most comprehensively studied building in the world. It sited at the northern edge of the Giza plateau. It was estimated that 2,300,000 blocks of stone, weighing between 2-70 tons each, were used in its construction, but recent computer calculations estimated the total number of slabs to be 590,712. The mortar used is of an unknown origin. It has been analyzed and it's chemical composition is known but even using today techniques it can't be reproduced.

The Pyramid contains two interior chambers and a number of interior shafts. Below is a computer generated image of the pyramid:

Facts about The Great Pyramid

The temperature inside The Great Pyramid is at a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is exactly the same at the earths internal temperature.

The side of the pyramids used to be covered in mantle slabs, 144,000 in all, and would have been visible from the mountains in Israel and the moon.

PYRAMID HISTORY - PART 4

Right: The entrance to the Great Pyramid as it appeared before it was barred-up by the Egyptian authorities. (from an old print 1912)

In the early part of the 20th century, there were no facilities in the interior parts to assist the tourist in exploring the steep and dangerous passages of the pyramid. Today there are ramps, lights, handrails, etc. I would like to quote from an account of the explorations of John and Morton Edgar in 1909. Not only is it fascinating reading, but explains the inner passageways in excellent detail.

"There is but one original entrance to the interior of the great pyramid. High up the face of the northern flank, and nearly twenty-four feet to the east of the middle line of it, a small doorway leads into the descending passage, which, like all the passages, runs from north to south. So low is the roof of this passage (barely four feet), that we required to stoop considerably, and the difficulty of progression was increased by it slipperiness and step downward inclination. A few feet further down the passage we noticed a depression in the roof, into which a rectangular, dark granite block is fitted. This is the lower end of a series of three large granite stones, named collectively the granite plug, because they completely stop up the lower end of the ascending passage.

The lower portion of the descending passage is in direct continuation of the part above, but instead of being built with masonry, it bores through the solid rock on which the pyramid is erected. It ends in a small horizontal passage which, in its turn, leads past a small ante-chamber or recess on its west side, to a large subterranean chamber. Hewn in the solid rock a hundred feet vertically below the base-line of the pyramid.

In the unfinished floor of the subterranean chamber appears the large, squarish mouth of a deep vertical shaft. We had always to avoid walking to near its edge, for the rough uneven floor of the chamber is covered with loose crumbling debris.

Directly opposite the doorway of the passage through which we had gained access to the chamber, we perceived by the light of our candles another low doorway. On investigating this we found it to be the beginning of a small-bore passage, running horizontal southward for fully 50 feet to a blind end.

(they returned back up and started there ascent up the ascending passage)

To proceed up the ascending passage, we required to stoop uncomfortably low, for like the descending passage, its roof is scarcely four feet above its floor. When, however, we reached the southern upper extremity of the passage, we emerged into a large place, where to our joy we found a level floor and abundance of room to stand erect and so relieve our aching backs. We were now at the lower end of the noblest passage in the great pyramid, which has been named the grand gallery. The grand gallery is narrow, being only seven feet in width, but with the aid of a good light its lofty vaulted roof, twenty-eight feet in vertical height, is seen sloping upward into deep obscurity, a most impressive sight. About 160 feet away from us at a level of 70 feet above us, there was the dark square opening of still another low passage. This low passage, which is only three and a half feet square, leads horizontally southwards to a small peculiarly marked apartment called the ante-chamber. From its south wall, a similar low passage leads to a large rectangular hall known as the King's chamber.

Left: Morton Edgar is here stopping to enter the King's Chamber

The King's chamber, constructed entirely of immense beautifully squared and leveled blocks of dark polished granite, is the chief apartment in the great pyramid. The granite coffer is near the west wall of the chamber, and is the only movable article of furniture in the building. Above the King's chamber there are five shallow spaces called "chambers of construction", the lowest is known as "Davidson's chamber" after its discoverer. Access is gained to these chambers by a small passage entering from the top south-east corner of the grand gallery. (these relieving chambers were built to give stability and protection to the King's chamber in the event of an earthquake). We did not get an opportunity to explore these upper chambers; and a visit to them is attended with danger.

" The Edgar brothers made measurements, observations, and recorded many details of the great pyramid. Their photo's are one of the earliest ever taken of the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Not many people know of an obscure work by the famous Sir Isaac Newton entitled:

"A Dissertation upon the Sacred Cubit of the Jews and the Cubits of several Nations: in which, from the Dimensions of the Greatest Pyramid, as taken by Mr. John Greaves, the ancient Cubit of Memphis is determined".

Newton had an obsession of establishing the value of the "cubit" of the ancient Egyptians. This was no mere curiosity. His Theory of Gravitation was dependent on an accurate knowledge of the circumference of the earth. The only figures he currently had were the inaccurate calculations of Eratosthenes and his followers. With these figures his theory did not work out.

Newton felt that if he could find the exact length of the Egyptian "cubit", this would allow him to find the exact length of their "stadium", reputed by others to bear a relation to a "geographical degree". This measurement, which he needed for his theory of gravitation, he believed to be somehow enshrined in the proportions of the Great Pyramid. Thus, he would have the necessary measurements for his Theory of Gravitation.

He used the measurements of the base of the pyramid arrived by Greaves and Burattini in his calculations. Since there was much accumulated debris at the base of the pyramid, there figures were inaccurate. Thus the false measurements of the base failed to give Newton the answer he was looking for.

Newton did not work on his Theory of Gravitation for the next several years. In 1671, a French astronomer, Jean Picard, accurately measured a degree of latitude to be 69.1 English statute miles. Using these figures, Newton was able to announce his theory of gravitation. It is that all bodies in the universe attract each other in proportion to the product of their mass and inversely proportional to the square of their distance apart.

The pyramids measurements were forgotten for the time being. In the 1800's there was a revival in looking for astronomical and geophysical values enshrined in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

PYRAMID HISTORY - PART 1

Napoleon visits the King's Chamber

It is assumed by Egyptologists that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in the reign of the pharaoh Khufu (known as Cheops to the Greeks), in the fourth Egyptian dynasty around 2600 BC. This date has recently been questioned based on studies of water erosion on the sphinx. It may be that the Great Pyramid of Giza also is much older than previously thought.

Herodotus, in the 5th century BC, who has been called the "Father of History" wrote that Cheops never used the great pyramid as a tomb, but was buried elsewhere, "in a subterranean region on an island surrounded by the waters of the Nile". This was also confirmed by another ancient historian, Diodorus Siculus, who said that Cheops was buried "in an obscure place".

As far as we know, the first people to enter the great pyramid since the time of Khufu were the Arabs in 820 AD. Under caliph, Al mamoun, the Arabs broke into the great pyramid (since they could not find the hidden entrance) by boring into the limestone with crude instruments. After months they did manage to break in and find the descending passage. The connection of the descending passage with the ascending passage was blocked with granite plugs so they bored around these also. They finally reached the King’s and Queen’s chamber’s and found nothing (except the empty granite box called "the empty coffin". They were disappointed. No treasures, mummies, etc. were found.

There is a report by an Arab, edrisi, who died around 1166 AD. he entered the pyramid through the forced entrance made by Al mamoun and describes not only an empty granite box in the king's chamber, but also a similar one in the queen's chamber. It was uninscribed and undecorated just like the one in the king's chamber. What ever happened to this granite box in the queen's chamber is a mystery.

The earliest scholar to conduct the first scientific study of the great pyramid was John Greaves in 1637. He was professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford. He wrote the book "Pyramidographia" which was the first book ever published just on the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A Roman Catholic, Pere Claude Sicard visited the great pyramid in 1715. His account is interesting in that he describes an unusually feature of the empty coffin in the King’s chamber. He states " it was formed out of a single block of granite, had no cover, and when struck, sounded like a bell". Others have also reported about this strange melodic sound that the coffin emits when struck. Abbe Claude-Louis Fourmont visited the great pyramid in 1753 and also noted the sonorous coffin had not any inscription on it.

NAPOLEON'S VISIT TO THE GREAT PYRAMID

In the 18th century many foreign visitors came to the great pyramid. They were scholars, scientists, historians, explorers, etc. One of the most famous visitors to the great pyramid was Napoleon Bonaparte. His military expedition to Egypt in 1798 was not only military but archeological as well. He took with him engineers, surveyors, astronomers, artists and archeologists. They surveyed, measured, explored, and made drawings of the great pyramid. Their work was published in many volumes from 1809 to 1822 by order of Napoleon.

A remarkable picture of the Grand Gallery by the French architect Cecile during the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt A.D. 1798-1801

There is an interesting note to this story about Napoleon on his visit to the great pyramid. He asked to be left alone in the King’s chamber. When he emerged, it was reported that he looked visibly shaken. When an aide asked him if he had witnessed anything mysterious, he replied that he had no comment, and that he never wanted the incident mentioned again. Years later, when he was on his deathbed, a close friend asked him what really happened in the King’s chamber. He was about to tell him and stopped. Then he shook his head and said, "No, what's the use. You'd never believe me." As far as we know, he never told anyone and took the secret to his grave. (It is interesting to note that there is an unsubstantiated story that Napoleon had hinted that he was given some vision of his destiny during his stay in the King's Chamber).

Alexander the Great also spent time alone in the King's Chamber like many famous people throughout history. What draws these individuals to this place?