MUMMIFICATION

It is important to note that the mummification process varies depending on the financial position of the mummified person and the period of the mummy. According to Herodotus, there were three methods of mummification, which were divided into classes, rich, middle and poor. The wealthy citizens had the most lavish mummification performed while the middle class was a degraded version of the rich. The poorest citizens were carried out at least Äîenough to preserve the body.

The mummification process evolved throughout ancient Egypt. Early mummification was simple. The body was placed in a pit and desert heat quickly dehydrated wet flesh. This in turn kept the body. As Egyptians fine tuned the process they finally began removing the internal organs like the brain, intestine and stomach. These bodies decompose quickly and have been placed inside jars separated to prevent significant damage to the body due to decomposition.

  

  

 The process of mummification

After the death of an Egyptian embalmers when called by the members of the family and the body was transported to the IBU (the tent of purification). IBU, which was located on the west bank of the Nile, is where the body will begin the process of mummification.The first thing was to wash the body and the sacred anointing oil. Once purified, the body was then taken to the wabet (Palace of embalming). Here, it is believed according to Herodotus, a large incision was made on the left side of the abdomen. This incision was used to remove vital organs like the intestines, liver, lungs and stomach. Often, the kidneys were ignored because they thought they had little significance. Once removed, the bodies were wrapped and placed in canopic jars.

With bodies, mostly during the late Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom, the brain was removed. To do a large hole was drilled through the ethmoid bone located just above the nostrils. A hook-shaped tool was inserted into the hole and used to liquefy the brain and then drained through the nose. All that was left behind was removed with, Äúdrugs, AU, according to Herodotus.

After the body had been cleaned up and removed organs was then ready for the next step, the dehydration process Aith. This process is controversial because of Herodotus, the participant's choice of words describing it. He used the word Äúpickle, the AU which has led many Egyptologists to believe that the body was immersed in a solution of natron salt. The other method, which was tested and proved to be more logical, called for large amounts of salt natron to be packed in your body dry. Although we Äôll never know until a document is revealed, we can only speculate between the two methods.

After drying the body is then washed and all traces of soda are deleted. The corpse was then taken by nefer (beautiful house) where it is shaped plush and return to its normal size. Many perfumes and oils were rubbed on the body and open wounds sealed with wax. During the hot wax, a metal plate decorated with symbols of protection seals the incision wounds. After the anointing has been completed and the wounds sealed molten resin was added to cover the body. Men and women would color of ocher. The men were red and yellow women.

The packaging process has lasted fifteen to thirteen days. members of the bereaved family would donate tissue for embalmers and in many cases, special fine mesh with spells written on them were used. Most of the time sheets of fabric were used as primary packaging material. This process was done until the body was protected from head to foot in linen. During the packaging process of many charms have been added between the layers to ensure safe passage and protection.

  

 The body was then covered with a death mask papyrus or linen and reinforced with plaster. royal mummies, such as Tutankhamen, AOS, were made of gold and holding precious and semi-precious stones that were inlaid. The mummy was then placed in his coffin, and possibly his grave

The mummification process continues to be a bit of a mystery. There were no texts or books left to give an overview of the process. Instead, we relied on the representations and some fragments of papyrus to help understand how the process has been completed. More information is gathered by examining the mummies themselves and the great Greek historian Herodotus.



Boats Sun Pharaonic

1954 at the base of the Great Pyramid in Giza to Egypt was noted by chance,there is two holesMsagovin when Hadpherm Khufu South found at the bottom of Ihaddahmoaly ship Brokenelaborate sculpture of cedar wood and connectedtogether with ropes, does not detract from anypart has been installed, bringinglength of forty meters called the boat the sun, called the ship of Cheops andknown to be Funerary vessels to go to restore the life of the holy places Shipsspirit of the gods

And tells the legend of Ra that children from Crogah (Khepri) a man full pm (Ra) too old for the evening (Atom) live in two boats by the doctrine of the Pharaohs are the boats of Ra which is the disk of the sun and the sun ships at sea, heavenly. Inspired the journey of the sun daily through the sky myths that Re incorporated in the sun, where texts describe sunrise on the eastern shore where the remote greets a band of monkeys as they appear from the water if the animals are waking up to the appearance of gleeful dancing sun

Afterward riding Ra ship day-sail across the sky until the evening Badzlk transmitted from his ship day-to-ship night waiting for him in the underworld before Crogah again and wove legends and stories about the journey of the sun and the sun boats Oosevinp the sun, as in the doctrine of the ancient Egyptians began Kings Pharaohs in call themselves the son of Ra since the era of Khafre era builders of the pyramids and has been the relationship of solar titles of ownership until the end of Egyptian history, Pharaohs and Heliopolis was the headquarters of the god Ra, where he was headed Altasus on behalf of the Atom and chaired the Ra group gods official in the Fifth Dynasty to the back of Amun to be a priority He wrote, followed by Amon-Ra - Ra was Amenhotep IV had changed his name to Akhenaten and Akhetaten built the city and a symbol of his god Aten sun disk and called for unification

The Curse of the Pharaohs: Truth, Myth or Microbiology?

For only the second time since their discovery, some of the treasures of Tutankhamen are visiting United StatesSoil. Wherever they go, the treasures of Tutankhamen inspire wonder. But when they were first discovered in 1922 they also inspired a little bit of fear – fear of a pharaoh’s curse.

The idea of a pharaoh’s curse didn’t originate with King Tut. The tombs of many pharaohs have carried warnings against thieves who would steal – a common and significant problem in Egypt, where ancient Egyptians buried their royalty with treasures in the belief that the wealth could be taken into the afterlife.

But as the discovery of the undisturbed tomb of “the boy king” created mummy mania around the world, a kind of morbid fascination with curses fueled rumors that the archeologists who opened King Tut’s tomb would soon meet with mysterious fates.

Journalists reporting on the find weren’t above embellishing the truth in an effort to tell a good story. Before the tomb was formally opened, reporters were filling their dispatches with accounts that the pharaoh’s seal contained warnings of death coming on swift wings.

But the morbid fascination with the mummy’s curse really took off several months later with the death of Lord Carnarvon, the expedition’s chief financier. Carnarvon had been present at the opening of King Tut’s tomb where, so the popular story goes he received a mosquito bite which he later nicked while shaving. The wound became infected, and Carnarvon died of blood poisoning on April 5, 1923.

Shortly thereafter, Carnarvon’s death became linked to a series of almost supernatural events. Supposedly, at the time of his death, all the lights of Cairo went out. At his estate back in England, Carnarvon’s dog is said to have howled and then died at the exact moment that he did.

As further proof of a curse, it was said that head archeologist Howard Carter’s pet canary was eaten by a cobra on the day the tomb was opened. Journalists noted that a cobra was often portrayed as sitting on the brow of the pharaoh in protection.

The story of the pharaoh’s curse gained steam with the sudden and unexpected death five months later of Lord Carnarvon’s brother. A handful of other people who either visited the tomb or worked around it also sickened and died, including two workmen and financier George Jay Gould I.

As the years have passed, nay-sayers scoff at the idea of a curse, particularly after compiling a list of the alleged victims of the curse. If there were a curse, why didn’t either Carter or Carnarvon’s daughter, Evelyn die as well? Both were present at the opening of the tomb.

But more recently, scientists are starting to believe in the curse --or at least in an explanation for why the series of curse-like coincidences could have happened.

Here’s a recipe for a curse: Take one coffin filled with human remains. Add in enough food and drink to sustain a person in the afterlife. Bury it in a tomb and let it sit for several thousand years. The result? Deadly, toxic mold and bacteria.

The idea of deadly bacteria fueling a pharaoh’s curse isn’t a new one. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who was also responsible for popularizing the story of the Mary Celeste) speculated that ancient Egyptians may have deliberately put harmful gasses or diseases in the pharaoh’s tombs in retribution for tomb robbers.

Scientists have recently explored newer tombs and found that harmful bacteria and mold is present there. And while the toxic mold and bacteria might not be in levels that would harm most humans, they pose a threat to someone with a compromised immune system – such as someone who may have an infected mosquito bite.

Fortunately, you can see the treasures of King Tut’s tomb (along with several other tombs) without risking a curse, bacterial or otherwise. Two exhibitions are in the United Statesfor limited engagements. Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will remain in Dallas through May 17 before traveling to San Fransisco, and Tutankamun The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs will also conclude in Atlanta in May and then move to Indianapolis.

Discover of the Pyramid of Djoser

Transversely the Great Court of the Step pyramid of Djoser (as well known as Zoser), the subsequent king of the 3rd family, sets the Step Pyramid of Djoser, positioned at Saqqara on the brink of contemporary day Cairo. It is supposed to have been fashioned by single man, Imhotep. In addition, he has been identified as Doctor, Architect, Sage, Astronomer as well as High Priest. All through a dig that was been carried out in the year 1924-26, a stand of a statuette of Djoser (aka Zoser) was located. This compound represents the foremost most important work made in stone. To be exact, you will come across various other works, which have up till now to be found.

On the step Pyramid of Djoser, the majority of the outer covering is disappeared. In a number of places the interior masonry has vanished additionally. It is apparent that there were diverse stages of building. The eastern surface gives the most excellent picture, however it can be perceived from the southern and northern surface as well.

The inventive structure of step Pyramid of Djoser was a subversive burial chamber. The chamber was exceptional in, which it was actually a square; the majority of the mastabas were in the rectangular shape. The magnificent tomb is around 28m anti establishment with a perpendicular beam leading to it. The doorway was conserved by means of a 3 ton section of granite. The facade of the mastaba was a superior Tura limestone. It materializes that it was planned for this to be the concluding strokes to the structure. It was after that enlarged all in the region, with 10 ft of added limestone as well as after that over again with an expansion on the eastern surface.

The lean-to was 25 ft of limestone to craft the mastaba in the rectangular shape. Once more, it was increased as well as a two-tiered arrangement was made. A sequence of corridors in addition to a burial place chamber was excavated. A number of the chambers are feint by means of blue tiles. A number of scholars consider this burial place was planned for an associate of family of Djoser (aka Zoser), however not for him. The merely additional site, which has alike tiling is sited within the South Tomb that is positioned within the step Pyramid of Djoser complex as well.

Subsequent to the third period was completed; the procedure was to build it an accurate step pyramid was started. In excess of 200,000 tons of the stone was utilized to build the extra two tiers, which went on top of the accessible two-tiered arrangement. One more 2 tiers were further added on top of the accessible 4 to build it into the 6-tiered pyramid that is there in the present day. A face of Tura limestone was as well further added on

Egyptian Myths

The ancient Egyptian temples were built as cult temples for the worship of pharaohs considered the sons of the god Amun, the principal deity worshiped at Thebes.

The temple of Luxor, built by King AmenhotepIII between 1390-53 BC was the site of a yearly festival bringing together the people with the divine deities and through them, reiterating the divine rule of the current pharaoh. The temple was connected by a sphinx-lined entrance way to the temple of Karnak, and statues of the kings and ancient Egyptian gods were paraded down the Nile river in front of the people. Used as a place of worship continuously up to the present the temple was first a cult temple dedicated to the god of gods, Amun-Ra. During the Roman period it became a Christian church, later turned into a Coptic church. Eventually, a mosque was built over the site which to this day, is an integral part of the complex as a place of worship.

The best preserved of the cult temples is the Temple of Horus at Edfu. Built between 237-57BC, it was dedicated to the original falcon-headed Egyptian god, Horus, who was considered the sky god with eyes that represented the sun and the moon. Ancient Egyptian mythology has it that Horus was the child of the divine couple, Isis and Osiris. Raised by Isis and Hathor after Osiris was murdered by his brother, Seth, Horus avenged his father's death in a great battle at Edfu. Horus took the throne, with Osiris reigning through him from the underworld. Thus, all pharaohs claimed to be the incarnation of the "living king", Horus. The annual Festival of Coronation at Edfu re-enacted the divine birth of Horus and empowered the reigning pharaoh.

The temple of Abu Simbel, built by Ramses II in 1257BC in what was known as Nubia, was dedicated to the Sun god Re. This rock cut temple is the greatest massive façade of the seven temples built by Ramses II and is dominated by four colossal seated statues of the pharaoh and smaller statues of his family.

Among later cult temples built on the east banks of the Nile are those of Kom Ombo and the temple of Philae. These temples, built during the Ptolomaec and Roman periods still followed the more ancient practice by which temples of worship were erected on the east banks of the Nile, associated with life, while the west bank, linked to death, were the places of tombs and funerary rituals.

The unusual double temple of Kom Ombo was dedicated to Horus, the falcon god and Sobek, the crocodile god. A favored spot of crocodiles basking in the sun, Sobek protected locals from the threat of crocodiles. The best preserved Greco-Roman temple of Philae was dedicated to the goddess Isis, the "mother of god" - the giver of life, healer and protector of kings- who was a cardinal figure associated as well with funeral rites in the ancient world.

The Nile river has been pivotal to life and death in Egypt. On its eastern banks, its Egyptian temples were built to honor and worship the gods and living pharaohs. Egypt's tombs and funerary rituals were set on the river's west banks, marking death. Defined by east and west, Egypt's ancient temples tell the tales of its history, culture, mythology and rites of worship.

Story of Tutankhamun's Tomb

If you think that the golden mask of Tutankhamun which you always see in the tourist posters is just a monument like any other one..then take a while to know the importance of that mask and all the other treasures which had been discovered on that young pharaoh's tomb.
Tutankhamun's tomb is one of the most famous and monumental finds in the history of Egyptology, because it is the only undisturbed royal tomb found in Egypt. All the other royal tombs were robbed in antiquity, and indeed so was Tutankhamun's. Luckily, these burglaries were small, and the majority of Tutankhamun's goods were found intact.
In 1914, Egyptologist Howard Carter and his benefactor Lord Carnarvon started excavating in the Valley of the Kings, just after another excavator, Theodore Davis, who had worked in the area for some time, claimed that 'The Valley of the Tombs is now exhausted.' How wrong can one man be?
Carter and his team did uncover a number of tombs in the Valley, and in 1917 Carter began to search for the missing tomb of Tutankhamun (a number of objects had been discovered showing the existence of a tomb in the area).
However, by 1921 the team still had not discovered the tomb, and Lord Carnarvon considered withdrawing his funding. After much debate, Carter convinced him to fund one final season. Luckily for Carter this final season was a cracker. On 4 November 1922 his team uncovered the first stone step of Tutankhamun's tomb. The next day they cleared the steps to reveal the door, complete with ancient seals showing the tomb was intact.
The first doorway was opened on 23 November 1922, and the second doorway within the tomb on 26 November. At the opening of this door, Carter and Carnarvon saw for the first time the wonderful objects hidden for three millennia. These include solid gold coffins, gilded shrines, scores of pieces of golden jewelery, and the famous solid gold death mask.
The first chamber was officially opened on 29 November, and the burial chamber on 17 February 1923. The cataloguing of the objects started, and on 28 October 1925 the team finally opened the coffin and gazed at the face of the king who lived and died so long ago. Cataloguing and recording all the artefacts in the tomb was finally completed on 10 November 1930, eight years after the discovery.

Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo

No visit to Egypt is complete without spending time wandering the galleries and rooms of the Antiquities Museum in Cairo. Unfortunately, many itineraries only allow a few hours to explore the more than 120 000 objects in 107 halls. Unless you are a resident of Cairo and have the leisure to return again and again, it is impossible to see everything. So it is important that visitors have a plan.

For a quick overview of 3000 years of Egyptian history in chronological order, you can move clockwise around the Ground Floor, but it is best to view only the objects of the early dynasties, then at the end of the western corridor, proceed to the Upper Floor which is arranged in themes and features special exhibitions. Among these is the collection of the stunning treasures discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter in 1922. This display is spread over a large part of the Upper Floor (rooms 4 and 25, galleries 9, 25,30,35,40 and 50 and hall 10). This could be followed by a visit to the eerie, temperature-controlled Royal Mummy Room, also on the Upper Floor, that allows you to come face to face with eleven of the greatest rulers of ancient Egypt, including Ramesses II. These bodies are remarkably preserved and displayed in glass cases with detailed descriptions as to cause of death. The presentation is tasteful and does not take too long to reverently pay your respects to these great pharaohs.

For those with more than two hours to spare, there is so much more to see and the following is a list of some of these other significant objects and displays.

1. The Narmer Palette - This pictorial document represents symbolically what the Egyptians regarded as a 'First Time' event in their history: the political union of the 'Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt'. It is also a record of early Egyptian kingship (Lower Floor, room 43).
2. The painted limestone statue of King Djoser - Djoser was the builder of the Step Pyramid and this is believed to be the oldest life-size statue found in Egypt (Lower Floor, room 43).
3. The Meidum Geese - This magnificently coloured panel of painted plaster, in near pristine condition, reveals the technical ability and observational skills of the leading artists of the day and is the earliest ornithological record in history (Lower Floor, room 32).
4. The life-sized double-statue of prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret - The marvellously preserved double-statue is one of the earliest examples of members of the court who were involved in the construction of the pyramids.
5. The enthroned statue of King Khafre with Horus falcon - This stunning statue is carved from hard diorite and is the ideal manifestation of an Old Kingdom monarch (Lower Floor, room 42).
6. The exceptional bust of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) - This room also features a beautiful unfinished head of Nefertiti and other examples of the revolutionary art of the Amarna period (Lower Floor, room 3).
7. The priceless 7.5 centimetre-high ivory statuette of King Khufu - This is the smallest royal statue ever found and the only portrait of the supposed builder of the Great Pyramid (Upper Floor, hall 48).
8. The furniture and possessions of Queen Hetepheres - Hetepheres was the most influential and powerful female of the Old Kingdom and her elegant possessions are of the highest quality workmanship. They comprise the most important finds from the old kingdom (Upper Floor, room 2)
9. The unique Middle Kingdom painted wooden models - These models are almost perfectly preserved and provide an intimate three-dimensional view of how the Egyptians lived and worked. They are like a modern snap-shot of a life long vanished (Upper Floor, rooms 27 and 37)
10. Faiyum mummy portraits - These realistic mummy faces, usually painted on primed wooden panels, are exceptional because they combine Egyptian symbolism, Greek pictorial technique and the social context of the Romans. They engage the modern viewer by the directness of their gaze and their evocation of a long-gone society (Upper Floor, room 14)

It is impossible to see even a small part of what is in the Egyptian Museum in the time allocated for most tours. It is better to appreciate a few treasures than leave feeling stunned, remembering little of what you have seen.

Great Sphinx statue

On the Giza plateau, facing the rising sun, the Great Sphinx statue remains. Visit it is impossible to remain indifferent, the Sphinx is huge, 241 m long, 20 meters wide and 66.34. It is one of the oldest and largest statues in the world, but apart from these measures, we know very little about it. Nobody knows for certain whose face bares the statue, which was built or why. We know that the Great Sphinx is so old as the pharaohs (including Rameses II), considered one of the workers incredibly old and sent to restore it, as their time almost all of the ancient statue had disappeared beneath the sands .Beyond there is no written mention of its inception and we do not know his name. Why do we call him "The Sphinx"?

Greek mythology tells of a mythical beast who had the body of a lion and the head of a woman. This beast guarded the city of Thebes, Thebes, but this is Greek, not Egyptian city of the same name. According to the legend of this beast has asked each traveler passing an enigma. "Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at midday on two, and three in the evening, and it has more legs, the lower it?" Any person unable to meet the riddle was immediately strangled and eaten by the monster. According to the legend of Oedipus escaped death with this answer "The man who walks on all fours like a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age. " The monster, then jumped off the cliff where she lived until his death. This monster that the Greeks called a sphinx, the Greek word meaning "strangling" the result is that all these monuments of a mythical beast with the body of a lion, if the Greek state or Egyptian statues are now called "Sphinx .

Anyone who has watched an Egyptian statue of a sphinx may be confused - it does not seem like a statue of a monster. Could there be some sort of error? There are many similar statues showing Egyptian lion-bodied creatures with heads of other animals (often men or rams) as the main avenue of 900 Sphinx at Thebes in Egypt, but the sphinx (we do not really know what 'they Ancient Egyptians called them) were not monsters. A statue of the Egyptian Sphinx was a guardian, the body represented the lion god of the sun And it's not the only difference.

A statue of a sphinx Greek shows a body of lions, a tale of snakes and a woman's face.The lion is sitting, legs vertical font, but its most remarkable feature is the pair of eagles' wings extending over her shoulders. Egyptian statues represent the body of a lion lying down and usually the head of a human or another animal. Specifically, they have no wings at all.

It seems strange that this single word could represent two different forms of these ancient statue, but the Great Sphinx itself has even more mysteries.

In 1950, RA Schwaller de Lubicz noticed traces of what he thought was water erosion inside the Sphinx enclosure. In 1989, a further investigation by geologist Robert Schoch revealed that this "tampering" was caused by rain, but the average annual rainfall in the region since 2600 BC (when archaeologists believe the Sphinx was built) was only an inch. This has led some authors to assert that the Sphinx is actually much older than previously thought and date of the pre-dynastic Egyptian statue making it over 5000 years. While many famous archaeologists say it can not be true and give further explanations for the effect of water erosion, the fact that no other building located on the Giza plateau shows no signs of this alteration leaves the question unanswered.

Although he lacks the flamboyance of a statue of a winged sphinx Greek, the Great Sphinx is magnificent. We do not know it's age or why he was so carefully carved into the rock of the Giza plateau, but we have the chance to enjoy this ancient statue and its mysteries, and I look forward to the day when they can be fully understood

Pyramids

According to standard orthodox Egyptology the pyramid complex on the Giza plateau are funerary structures of the three Pharaohs from the fourth dynasty approximately 2575 - 2465 BC. The Great Pyramid is attributed erroneously to Khufu (Cheops) - with the other two being those of

Khafre (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerinus).

Author Miroslav Verner writing in The Pyramids stated:

"To suppose that the pyramid's only function in ancient Egypt was as a royal tomb would be an oversimplification."

This is now more true than ever and I am of the opinion that if the pyramids, or more specifically the Great pyramid, was built solely for burial purposes of the given King (Khufu/Cheops) then it was and will remain an unprecedented farce. It is simply unimaginable that so much effort be placed into building a structure of such gargantuan proportions, with such amazing a

stronomical alignments, with such perfect precision, by thousands of human souls, all for the one purpose of burying their God-King.

In all the pyramids in Egypt, not one h

as delivered the full body of a Pharaoh. There have been parts - a supposed mummified foot at Djoser; fragments of a mummy in the pyramid of Unas and Pepi; an arm and shoulder at Teti and a skeleton of a young woman in the coffer of the pyramid of Menkaure. But never a full mummified body of a pharaoh that was supposed to be buried within. The Egyptologists claim that this was due to the tombs having been raided over the vast period of time. This may be true, but alternatively it may be that pyramids were used for other purposes as well, or instead of. These body parts discovered within the pyramids may be pharaonic remains, but they could just as easily be more modern burials, placed within the pyramids at a later date. A similar thing is found in the burial mounds of Europe and elsewhere. Here, the burial mounds, as sacr

ed images of the primordial mound, womb of the mother earth or world mountain were Gateways to the Otherworld and for centuries progressive generations would cut into them and make fresh burials. This did not take away the purpose or meaning of the mounds as Gateways. In fact this use utilised the main purpose.

Were these great feats of human ingenuity and skill just for the purpose of encasing the carcass of one man? No. I will show in the book and DVD Gateways to the Otherworld that there was much more to the whole thing. In fact, if they were built for just one man then why did Amenemhet III have two pyramids built, one at Dashur, which contained his granite coffer and one at Hawara with a quartzite coffer? It is claimed that one

of these was a cenotaph, which comes from the Greek kenotaphion, meaning "empty tomb". Of course, this is even more remarkable, that a tomb should be built empty, and the reason given by Egyptologists is simply that it would confuse the "tomb raiders". So thieves were stupid then?

The only so-called evidence that the Great Pyramid was built for Khufu is scant to say the least. Herodotus, the infamous Roman historian visited the pyramids in 443 BC and claimed that Khufu was buried underneath the pyramid, not in it. This was two thousand years after the supposed event. We simply cannot trust what we read today in our newspapers, let alone believe Herodotus and his interpretation of what he was lead to believe.

The next piece of "evidence" is extremely controversial as it relies upon some difficult to see, let alone decipher "inscriptions" on a funerary complex near the Great Pyramid claiming to be "in the time of Khufu." Again, and lastly, in the pyramid itself the hieroglyphic symbol for Khufu himself as a quarry mark was discovered by archaeologist Richard Howard-Vyse who is now believed to have forged it under pressure of competition from contemporary foreign archaeologists - namely the Italian Caviglia.

So, we are left with an inscription "near" the pyramid, a fake hieroglyph and a two and a half thousand year old text based upon hearsay. This is hardly evidence for it to be the burial place of Khufu, let alone for anything else, although it is perfectly possible that Khufu was buried at this "special" place where later or earlier a pyramid was constructed. The pyramid however remains an enigma; regardless of what we are led to believe.

This unproven nonsense has pervaded Egyptology ever since, regardless of any other reason for the existence of the pyramids.

Now there is another reason.

The Great pyramid of Giza is to be found arguably at the centre of the earth's landmass (30 degrees north, 31 degrees east) - both north-south and east-west. It is in the perfect location - at the centre - for collecting the "earth energy" as Tesla proved with his experiments on resonance as we shall see, it is also the perfect shape and size. To add to this, the two materials used were also perfect, as I shall explain. But first we need to take a foray into the world of Tesla.

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an eccentric and brilliant inventor who managed to harness the alternating current we use today as well as radio, florescent lighting and much more. Tesla believed he could send waves of electricity directly to our homes through the earth and/or ether without the use of wires and without harming anybody along the way by simply applying a subtle push-pull resonator. In 1901 Tesla said "my next step was to use the earth itself as the medium for conducting the currents..." and he did.

Tesla successfully sent electricity 26 miles and extracted it using a "magnifying receiver". This is an incredible thought that energy waves, even extremely low frequency waves, could be sent around the globe and then with a magnifying receiver they could be picked up and understood or used. In fact Tesla even "tuned" in his pyramid shaped magnifying transmitter to the resonance of the earth and found that his co-workers were becoming ill with symptoms of "extreme tension of the nerves."

Tesla discovered that "The Earth was found to be literally alive with electrical vibrations, and soon I was deeply absorbed in this interesting investigation." Tesla continued and revealed his feelings; "My first observations positively terrified me, as there was present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatural." This remarkable supernatural energy will be explained fully in the new book and it has incredible ramifications for us all, and the future of mankind.

"It was some time afterward when the thought flashed upon my mind that the disturbances I had observed might be due to an intelligent control."

It would be many years later that Schumann would discover the resonance of the earth and prove that it had its own wave-particle pattern and that it can be altered by the surrounding universe and any number of other external influences. How does it do this? The chaotic beginnings of the big bang are still very much in the realms of theory and there is another theory, which goes that the universe is a standing wave being pushed and pulled by some impulse. This impulse pushes and pulls the standing wave, which then does the same to its neighbour and hey presto light can travel across the universe as a wave cascade, without loss of energy - a perpetual motion.

Tesla had discovered "intelligent" signals by pure accident and stated the case. Unfortunately through circumstances outside of his own control he never did get around to seriously working on the phenomena and nobody since him has had the intelligence or will to see the issue through. What Tesla discovered however was found within the ELF (electro-magnetic frequency) field, the low frequency band widths. Many people are out there, not least of whom are SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) looking on the megahertz level, when they should be redirecting their search back down to earth and to the extremely low frequency, before the mobile phone masts completely engulf us.

What struck me though was, Tesla's receivers were great towers with pyramids on top and Tesla's insistence that to be at the centre of the land mass (dependent upon where you are) would be far more beneficial to the purpose of the machinery.

So, Tesla discovered the resonance of the earth and that this resonance had intelligent or supernatural attributes. The resonance of the earth is in the same 0-40 Hz as the human "mind", the same mind, which is constantly emitting signals into the environment around it. These signals are much more than just waves, they are also particles - they are therefore "matter".

We see stars in the sky, little lights flickering billions of light years away. Many of these lights are no longer there; they are stars that have died, and yet we still see the light. This light, we now know to be wave-matter-particle; we know it is the continued life of that star. We ourselves, as part and parcel of the whole universal constants and laws of chaos and order, are nothing different to those stars. We are also putting out signals, which will continue as wave-matter-particles, even after we have died.

Amazingly Tesla described these electromagnetic signals as stationery parallel circles forming on the surface of the earth. These are no different to the circles mankind has been perceiving and materialising here on the earth for thousands of years, as stone circles, rock art and all manner of mysterious artefacts. And where would the most powerful, collective electromagnetic current collect other than at the centre of the landmass. As the great and mystical saying Om turns from a circle into a square as it reaches "mmm", so too this great collection of human thought and quantum emotion turns into a square base at the great pyramid in Giza.

So, the Great Pyramid, at the centre of the earth's landmass and as a perfect shape for receiving the resonance of the earth, simply must have a better reason for existing than as a large coffin for one man.

Lets break it all down and move through the various elements one piece at a time.

Great Pyramid

Made up of mainly solid mass with the interior spaces being the Descending and Ascending passages, the Grand Gallery, a subterranean chamber, another chamber unnamed and the King and Queens chambers. The King's chamber (so named by Arabs who attempted to raid the tomb, but found it empty) is 10.46 meters east to west; 5.23 meters north to south and 5.81 meters high. This is an architectural 3 dimensional representation of the Golden Mean or Phi - a sacred geometry well before Pythagorus.

The sides of the Great Pyramid line up almost exactly with the cardinal points (NWSE) on the compass, with an accuracy that would defy today's builders, leaving a fifth point on top. The dimensions of the earth's size and shape can be calculated using the dimensions of the pyramid, it being a scale model of the hemisphere with information on the latitude and longitude of the earth. Adding to this the element of the earth's pre-historic tilt of very approximately 22-25 degrees being built into the whole structure, then we have a truly powerful mathematical building.

The very foundations of the pyramid also defy modern building techniques as it rests perfectly level with not one corner of the base more than 13mm higher or lower than the others. When we remember that the base covers 13 acres we can suddenly understand just how this was an incredible feat of human engineering.

The King's chamber is made of solid red granite transported from the quarries of Aswan six hundred miles away.

In the chamber itself there is a coffer, thought by Egyptologists to be the remains of Khufu's sarcophagus. Nothing was ever found in the coffer, neither was there a lid. It is too big to take out of the corridor leading to and from it - indicating that it must have been laid inside as the building was erected around it, which is opposite to the funerary custom of the period. There is not the slightest piece of evidence to suggest that Khufu be ever laid to rest in this 3 ton granite container. There is nothing, not even any funerary implements or embalming materials, not a scrap. And yet, short of any other ideas, the orthodox situation remains that a building with 2.3 million blocks, weighing between 2.5 and 50 tons each, of perfect size and orientation was built for one man to be buried within. To add to this not one of the fourth dynasty Pharaohs put their names upon the pyramids supposedly built for them, whereas from the fifth dynasty onwards official inscriptions are in their thousands. No wonder I am constantly told by academics that they don't believe the pyramid was a tomb!

So what is the truth of the Great Pyramid? Well, firstly I decided that I should run through some of the theories that have been put forward and some of the more esoteric beliefs, which related to my own quest.

There are legends and traditions that claim the King's chamber to be a place of initiation. I would in part go along with this theory, especially in relation to the rituals required or made surrounding the Gateway mythology. There are also many stories of individuals who have felt peculiar presence's or had mystical experiences within the chamber. There is also the tradition that Napoleon himself actually refused to express what happened to him in that enigmatic place, saying, "You would not believe me if I told you".

According to these modern popular folk tales the coffer itself is the centre of the process or "energy vortex." Writer C. Dunn in his book The Giza Power Plant: Technologies of Ancient Egypt (Bear & Co, Santa Fe) goes so far as to say that the Great pyramid was a huge geomechanical power plant that responds to the earth's vibrations or resonance and transforms it into energy. Dunn conjectured that the geometric and physical design of the chamber inside the pyramid turned it into a large transducer and has produced a highly scientific analysis of the subject. So there is now scientific experimentation behind these folk tales - but with a very different purpose.

On the medical and scientific side there are stories of amazing healing and sharpened razors. In the 1920's Antoine Bovis discovered that the heat and humidity of the King's chamber reduced the decay rate of dead animals - something denied by orthodoxy still today. Bovis went on to construct a small-scale pyramid and oriented it in the same fashion. He placed a dead cat inside and found the result to be the same. Following this in the 1960's US and Czech researchers repeated the process and achieved the same results.

In the ancient Egyptian language of Khemitian (black people or people from the black) the pyramid was known as Per-Neter, which can be translated in two ways - House of Nature, or more importantly the House of Energy, remarkably like "pyramid", which means Fire in the Middle. It is interesting of course to note that Nature and Energy are interchangeable in this way, indicating that the Khemitians truly saw the energy as from nature itself (herself). Not to mention that the word Neter (NTR) also means neutral, which is the position one supposedly has to be in to gain entry into the Otherworld - i.e. between the gates. Another title of course for the Giza area is Rostau, which means Gateway and is sacred to Osiris and his progenitor Sokar, the God of the Underworld. In the Book of Am-Duat, Sokar inhabits a place of the dead that even Ra, the sun god cannot access - this is therefore a place of darkness or black. Sokar can also be seen in the representations of the fourth and fifth hours of the Duat, standing upon his mound within what seems to be a hill topped by a black conical symbol of some sort. Incidentally and perfectly related, the only way that Ra can traverse this mystical realm is by taking the form of the snake!

According to Reginald Aubrey Fessenden - author of The Deluged Civilisation of the Caucasus Isthmus (1927) - The term 'Rostau' is again a literal translation of E-kur or Akur - meaning the "great mountain" or "great house."
Ak is the first half and comes from Akh, which is "one of the five elements forming the human being seen as an aspect of the sun, the link between the human and the luminous life force. It left the body at death to join the circumpolar stars." Ur is the second half and means city. And so, the location of Akur, where the pyramids are situated means simply the city where the dead leave the body to join the stars. Add this to Rostau, meaning gateway and we truly do have the Stargate.

Writer Zecharia Sitchin tells us that the Sumerians also called their Ziggurat temple in Nippur - (a truncated, stepped-pyramid) - Ekur, a "house which is like a mountain" - but quotes a poem which exalts the goddess Ninkharsag as the mistress of the "House with a Pointed Peak" - a perfect pyramid. This is interesting in that the Sumerian goddess Ninkharsag is synonymous with the Egyptian Goddess Isis. The Inventory Stele - said to have been written by Khufu - states that the monument (Great Pyramid) was dedicated to Isis.

It's possible then that Akur and Akhu both come from the same root words, as does the name Aker, which, according to the studies made by Egyptologists, is also connected with the Sphinx - being the "guardian of the entrance of the Underworld."

The Akhu or 'Shining Ones' - variously named 'Ancestors,' 'Sages,' 'Ghosts' or 'Spirits,' can also mean 'Astral spirits' as associated with the stars.

As for the serpent link, there are many ancient Egyptian illustrations showing human figures on the backs of 'feathered serpents' about to ascend to the stars.

So, why would all three meanings of the Giza area and pyramid, and the myths, relate to both a gateway and to illumination? And why would the people associated with this area be deemed to be special "bright" or "shining" people if not for their seeming ability to access the illumination and hence go through the Rostau or Gateway.

The truth of the Great Pyramid from its history, folklore, legend and language is that the ancient Egyptians saw it as the portal to another world. Not a world of aliens or a parallel universe, but as the perfect ancient machine to enable and to even magnify an internal altered state of consciousness. For thousands of years the tribal shaman would be the guide to the life-after and bring back fortune. He would access caves, holes in the ground and eventually man-made mounds such as Newgrange in Ireland. Over time the shaman became priest, leader, king and pharaoh. He alone could contact the gods and the pyramid is the ultimate extension of this very humanly evolved process.

But this is just the beginning of an amazing tale that will lead us into a world of wonder. For there is something much more amazing about a world full of gateways to the otherworlds.....

Taken from the book and dvd Gateways to the Otherworld by Philip Gardiner