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We
were awestruck just as millions before us must have been. There
are no words to describe how we felt as we viewed The Great
Pyramid, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, on the
windy, sand-swept plateau. Contemplating the machinery that we
have available to us in our day and age, and the buildings that
we constructed and then to look at what was crafted without any
of these tools, should put our architects, engineers,
contractors, builders, and workmen to shame!
The pyramids at GIZA, sometimes spelled "Gizeh", were
constructed during reigns of the 4th Dynasty Pharaohs, and
Khufu's (the Egyptian name for Cheops) Great Pyramid, built
during the end of his 23-year reign, comprises more than two
millions blocks of stone. (Okay mathematicians, that indicates
daily-- that roughly 285 blocks of 2 1/2 ton stones were
quarried, placed, transported to the site from the quary, and
set in place, before enterment, does it not?) Imagine the
ancient excavation crew and equipment used in constructing its
subterranean chambers?
It is believed that there was a gold capstone (which was
supposed to be re-capped via helicopter, by the Department of
Antiquities, as part of the New Year's festivities, at mid-night
of the new millenium-- but was canceled)atop the pyramid and an
outercasing was of fine white limestone.
A well- preserved wooden boat (1,224 pieces of cedar; measuring
44 metres long and 6 metres wide) was found (by Egypotologist,
Kamal el-Mallakh in 1954)
next to Khufu's pyramid, and it is theorized that it may have
transported the Pharoh's body, and all his earthly possessions
to the pyramid complex. In preparation for burial, the
procession, after landing, entered the valley temple and
religious ceremony was performed, and the procession went down
the causeway to the mortuary temple for continued rites,
including the chanting of magical spells to facilitate in the
joining of the Pharaoh to sun god Re'. The boat may have
transported the Pharaoh when he sailed around the sky as he went
to co-join with Re'! This is currently "housed" in a
stand-alone building right next its original burial site.
Inscriptions from the spellbinding Pyramid texts include:"A
ramp to the sky is built for him, that he may go up to the sky
on it... he flies as a bird, and he settles as a beetle on an
empty seat that is the ship of Re." The ramp was probably
the pyramid and the magic cast by the spell was believed to
enable the Pharaoh's body to rise to the sky.
... or was it the ramp...
...we walked down
the causeway/RAMP... which once may have connected the banks of
pyramids to the river which leads us to the GREAT SPHINX...?! |
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The
Great Sphinx....the huge RIDDLE with the body of a lion and the
head of King Chephren (Khafre)
watching over the Pyramids like a watchdog has remained an
inigma throughout history. The Sphinx is carved from solid rock,
and its paws and legs are built of stone blocks. It is 240 feet
(73 meters) long and about 66 feet (20 meters) high.
Some profess that the sphinx has great astrological
significance, as the zodiac and astronomy is depicted
extensively throughout many of the monuments in Egypt and the
thought that the sphinx symbolizes the cycle, the Age of Leo
--the "sixth day"; and it may have been built to
symbolize the evolution of man from the animal or yet, the
triumph of the human spirit over the beast. Is the sphinx
respresentative of the two
races of mankind, the heavenly(created)man and the counterpart
-- earthly/animalistic man?
Until recently, the Sphinx was buried to its neck in sand.
Tradition has it that a secret chamber, a vault, exists under
the great paws of the Sphinx.
Does it house "records" a gift to "modern"
mankind from the ancients? Maybe documents from ATLANTIS?
A recent study by Seismologists who look for signs of ancient
civilizations that may be buried deep in the sand, have located
the position of a possible chamber under the front paws of the
Sphinx.
Controversy still runs rampant in the new millenium as we still
await verdict out of EGYPT! |
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Next
to the Pyramid of Cheops, two other kings -- Khafre and Menkure,
also had pyramids built.
Khafre was Cheops' brother, and Menkure was his nephew. Khafre's
pyramid appears larger than Cheops' as it was built on higher
ground, thus creating this illusion.
SEE: Part 11.
TOP PHOTO: BY A UN-KNOWN "BY-STANDER."
MIDDLE PHOTO BY BARBARA STIENSTRA
BOTTOM PHOTOGRAPH BY GREGORY J. STIENSTRA
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