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?

An Arab who got the shock of his life on the summit When you look up at the Great Pyramid, it's apex seems to be missing. It is flap topped and not pointed like a pyramid should be. Usually, when a pyramid was constructed, the top part, or capstone (also called top-stone), was the last thing to be placed on it. It was considered the most important part of the pyramid and was made of special stone or even gold. The capstone was usually highly decorated.

An example of a capstone in the Cairo museum Was the great pyramid always without a capstone or was it stolen, destroyed, etc? No one knows but the accounts of visitors to the pyramid from the ancient past (as far back as the time of Christ) always reported that the pyramid lacked a capstone. It is possible that it was never finished. Another possibility is that capstones were sometimes made of gold and maybe the first thing looted. The only problem is that this would be a very large capstone. If you climbed to the top, you could walk around very freely on the pyramid as many have done. It is about 30 feet in each direction. Thus, this capstone would have been huge and weighed a tremendous amount. Also on the summit you would see something that looks like a mast or flagpole. Actually it was placed there by two astronomers in 1874 to show where the Pyramid's actual apex would have been if finished.


On the back of a dollar bill, you can see a pyramid with a flat top. No one has been able to explain why the Great Pyramid would have been built without a capstone. This is an interesting story associated with a visit to the top of the great pyramid. Many tourists have climbed to the top, which is not an easy journey. One such person was Sir Siemen's, a British inventor. He climbed to the top with his Arab guides. One of his guides called attention to the fact that when he raised his hand with outspread fingers, he would hear an acute ringing noise. Siemen raised his index finger and felt a distinct prickling sensation. He also received an electric shock when he tried to drink from a bottle of wine that he had brought with him. Being a scientist, Siemen than moistened a newspaper and wrapped it around the wine bottle to convert it into a Leyden jar (an early form of a capacitor). When he held it above his head, it became charged with electricity. Sparks then were emitted from the bottle. One of the Arab guides got frightened and thought Siemen was up to some witchcraft and attempted to seize Siemen's companion. When Siemen's noticed this, he pointed the bottle towards the Arab and gave him such a shock that it knocked the Arab to the ground almost rendering him unconscious. When he recovered, he took off down the pyramid shouting loudly. What kind of natural phenomena on the top of the Great Pyramid could produce such an electo-static effect? It would be interesting to conduct additional physics experiments on the top of the Great Pyramid.

ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION MADE THE PYRAMID SHINE LIKE A STAR
It was originally covered with casing stones (made of highly polished limestone). These casing stones reflected the sun's light and made the pyramid shine like a jewel. They are no longer present being used by Arabs to build mosques after an earthquake in the 14th century loosened many of them. It has been calculated that the original pyramid with its casing stones would act like gigantic mirrors and reflect light so powerful that it would be visible from the moon as a shining star on earth. Appropriately, the ancient Egyptians called the Great Pyramid "Ikhet", meaning the "Glorious Light". How these blocks were transported and assembled into the pyramid is still a mystery. Many theories have been proposed, but none of them are really feasible.

I wrote your name in the sky,
but the wind blew it away.
I wrote your name in the sand,
but the waves washed it away.
I wrote your name in my heart,
and forever it will stay.

Never Have I Fallen

Your lips speak soft sweetness Your touch a cool caress I am lost in your magic My heart beats within your chest I think of you each morning And dream of you each night I think of your arms being around me And cannot express my delight Never have I fallen But I am quickly on my way You hold a heart in your hands That has never before been given away

The illuminati Diamond

Illuminati

"Illuminati" is the name that refers to several groups, both real and fictitious. Most commonly it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment era secret society founded in the late eighteenth century. However, in modern times it refers to a purported conspiratorial organization which acts as a shadowy hand behind the throne, allegedly controlling world affairs through present day governments and corporations, usually as a modern incarnation or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati. In this context, Illuminati is often used in reference to a New World Order (NWO). Many conspiracy theorists believe the Illuminati, The People of The Light, or illuminated ones, are the masterminds behind events that will lead to the establishment of such a New World Order.

In rarer cases, the Illuminati refers to an elite set of enlightened individuals who may not cooperate but are uniquely empowered by their enlightenment, much like the intelligentsiailluminated classes of today are empowered by their education and intelligence. These are people who have become and have achieved a higher mystical understanding of the universe. Many secret societies and mystical traditions are concerned with this kind of illumination or enlightenment, such as the Rosicrucian Societies, the Martinists and the original Bavarian Illuminati.

History

Adam Weishaupt

This movement was founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830)^{[citation needed]}, who was the first lay professor of canon law^{[citation needed]}. The movement was made up of freethinkers, as an offshoot of the Enlightenment^[2].&#160, which some believe was a conspiracy to infiltrate and overthrow the governments of many European states^[3]. The group's adherents were given the name Illuminati, although they called themselves "Perfectibilists". The group has also been called the Illuminati Order, and the Bavarian Illuminati, and the movement itself has been referred to as Illuminism. In 1777, Karl Theodor, Elector Palatine, succeeded as ruler of Bavaria. He was a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and in 1784, his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati.

While it was not legally allowed to operate, many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members, including Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack.^[4] Although a few Freemasons were known^{[citation needed]} to be members there is no evidence that it was supported by Freemasonry as an institution. Indeed, membership in the Illuminati, unlike that in Freemasonry, did not require belief in a Supreme Being.^{[citation needed]} As a result, atheists having only the former organization open to them, congregated disproportionately in it; this over-representation, taken along with the Illuminati's largely humanist and anti-clerical bent, likely accounts for many of the claims of atheism leveled at the alleged world conspiracy of which the Illuminati supposedly remain a part.^{[citation needed]}

The Illuminati's members pledged obedience to their superiors, and were divided into three main classes: the first, known as the Nursery, encompassed the ascending degrees or offices of Preparation, Novice, Minerval and Illuminatus Minor. The second, known as the Masonry, consists of the ascending degrees of Illuminatus Major and Illuminatus dirigens. It was also sometimes called Scotch Knight. The third, designated the Mysteries, was subdivided into the degrees of the Lesser Mysteries (Presbyter and Regent) and those of the Greater MysteriesMagus and Rex). Relations with Masonic lodges were established at Munich and Freising in 1780 by Alexander Gibson and Joseph Vincent respectively.^{[citation needed]} (

The order had its branches in most countries of the European continent;^{[citation needed]} it reportedly had around 2,000 members over the span of 10 years.^{[citation needed]} The scheme had its attraction for literary men, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder, and even for the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar. Internal rupture and panic over succession preceded its downfall, which was effected by The Secular Edict made by the Bavarian government in 1785.^{[citation needed]}

Illuminati after 1790

Conspiracy theorists such as David Icke and Was Penre, have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati survived, possibly to this day, though very little reliable evidence can be found to support that Weishaupt's group survived into the 19th century. However, several groups have used the name Illuminati since to found their own rites, claiming to be the Illuminati, including the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) of Theodor Reuss and Aleister Crowley (England),^[5] Grand Lodge Rockefeller of David Goldman (USA), Orden Illuminati^[6] of Gabriel López de Rojas^[7] and others. (Spain), The Illuminati Order

Cultural effect

The Bavarian Illuminati have cast a long shadow in popular history thanks to the writings of their opponents; the allegations of conspiracy that have coloured the image of the Freemasons1797, Abbé Augustin Barruél published Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism outlining a vivid conspiracy theory involving the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, the Jacobins and the Illuminati, during the course of which Barruél blamed all of what he regarded as the disasters of his times such as the French Revolution on the said groups.^{[citation needed]} A Scottish Mason and professor of natural history named John Robison started to publish Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe in 1798. Robison claimed to present evidence of an Illuminati conspiracy striving to replace all world religions with humanism and all nations with a single world government. have practically opaqued that of the Illuminati. In ^{[citation needed]}

More recently, Antony C. Sutton suggested that the secret society Skull and Bones was founded as the American branch of the Illuminati.^[8] Others think Scroll and Key also had Illuminati origins.^{[citation needed]} Writer Robert Gillette claimed that the Illuminati ultimately intend to establish a world government through assassination, bribery, blackmail, the control of banks and other financial powers, the infiltration of governments, mind control, and by causing wars and revolution to move their own people into higher positions in the political hierarchy.^{[citation needed]}Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, claimed they intended to spread information and the principles of true morality. He attributed the secrecy of the Illuminati to what he called "the tyranny of a despot and priests" referring to the governments and religious beliefs of the time.^{[citation needed]}

Both sides seem to agree that the enemies of the Illuminati were the monarchs of Europe and the Church; Barruél claimed that the French revolution in 1789 was engineered and controlled by the Illuminati through the Jacobins, and later theorists even claimed that the Illuminati were responsible for the Russian Revolution of 1917, although the order was officially defunct prior to 1789.^{[citation needed]} Few historians give credence to these views; they regard such claims as the products of over-fertile imaginations.^{[citation needed]}Conspiracy theorists highlight an alleged link between the Illuminati and Freemasonry.^{[citation needed]} They also suggest that the United States' founding fathers—some of whom were Freemasons—were rife with corruption from the Illuminati, and that the symbols of the All-seeing Eye and the unfinished pyramid in the Great Seal of the United States are an example of the Illuminati's ever-present watchful eye over Americans.^{[citation needed]}

While Weishaupt's group did not survive into the 19th century, several groups have since used the name Illuminati to found their own rites, claiming to be the Illuminati. Groups describing themselves as Illuminati say they have members and chapters throughout the world.^{[citation needed]}

According to Principia Discordia, the Bavarian Illuminati were revived or rediscovered in the 20th century under the leadership of Mordecai Malignatus.^{[citation needed]}

The British writer David Icke also claims that the Illuminati secretly manipulate world events, citing bloodline connections between the British Royal Family, the Windsors and Mountbattens, and United States Presidents and, he says, a connection to the Illuminati.^{[citation needed]}

The idea of a secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati is currently deep-rooted in popular culture. The Illuminati were for example used in the fiction novel by Dan Brown called Angels & Demons. According to Brown the Illuminati was originally founded by scientists, amongst others Galileo Galilei, who had become infuriated with the refusal of the Catholic Church to accept their work, merely condemning their research as heresy. Interestingly enough, the poet John Milton is also included by Brown.

Reaching the Eternities

“The whole premise of this Egyptian religious system was do the right thing and when you get to the gates, you’ll have eternal life.”
—Photographer Kenneth Garrett

Twelve centuries after the Giza Pyramids were built, a gifted general named Horemheb took the throne and had his tomb carved into a slope in the Valley of the Kings. On a mural inside he offers wine to Osiris, god of the underworld, at far left. Such scenes were meant to assist the deceased ruler through the tests and trials that stood between him and eternal life.

Ancient Marvels
Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

Pyramid building in Egypt reached its zenith during the 4th dynasty (about 2575-2450 B.C.), when, over a period of some 80 years, crews of Egyptian laborers constructed the tombs of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure (front to back). Excavations near the pyramids are beginning to reveal how this ancient society assembled, fed, equipped, and managed tens of thousands of laborers to carry out one of the largest building projects in the history of humankind.

Image from national geographic channel!

House of the Dead

Momadouh Taha, an archaeologist on Zahi Hawass’s team, examines pottery in the tomb of Weser-Petah, who one inscription identifies as overseer of the officials. Because of his importance Weser-Petah’s tomb is much larger and more elaborate than most in the builders’ cemetery. A false door was carved in the rock of the hillside to allow his ka, or spirit, to come and go in the afterlife. The cemetery shows that while the builders labored to ensure the immortality of their pharaohs, they were also concerned about their own.