THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA AND THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

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 aaaaa replica watches 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 replica gucci sunglasses 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 replica rolex submariner uhren 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 replica rolex datejust orologi 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.