Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
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Sirius coincided with New Year’s Day (1 Thoth) <strong>of</strong> the calendar <strong>of</strong> ancient <strong>Egypt</strong>, but can we track these cycles back to<br />
Zep Tepi, the First Time . . . to the Year Zero <strong>of</strong> this calendar?<br />
THE GREAT PYRAMID AND ZEP TEPI<br />
In 1987, Robert Bauval sent a paper to the academic journal Discussions in <strong>Egypt</strong>ology presenting a new and<br />
controversial theory on the Giza pyramids. <strong>The</strong> theory had been developed when, in 1983, Bauval was working in Saudi<br />
Arabia in the construction industry. One night while there, in the open desert, he made an unusual discovery involving the<br />
stars <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt and the Giza pyramids. While looking at the three stars <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt, it struck him that their<br />
pattern and also their position relative to the Milky Way uncannily resembled the pattern formed by the three pyramids <strong>of</strong><br />
Giza and their position relative to the Nile. This curious similarity did not seem a coincidence, for not only did the<br />
ancient Pyramid Texts identify Orion with the god Osiris, who in turn was identified with the departed kings, but the<br />
ancient <strong>Egypt</strong>ians also specified Orion as being in the celestial Duat. 63 <strong>The</strong> correlation between the three stars <strong>of</strong> Orion’s<br />
belt and the three pyramids <strong>of</strong> Giza was striking, if only for one reason: Orion’s belt is made up <strong>of</strong> two bright stars and a<br />
less bright third star. This last is slightly <strong>of</strong>fset to the left <strong>of</strong> the extended alignment created by the two other stars, much<br />
the same way that the third, smaller pyramid is slightly <strong>of</strong>fset from the other two.<br />
A fact that adds to this correlation was discovered in 1964 by two academics from UCLA, the <strong>Egypt</strong>ologist<br />
Alexander Badawi and the astronomer Virginia Trimble, who proved that a narrow shaft emanating southward and<br />
upward from the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid had once pointed to Orion’s belt in about 2500 BCE, the date<br />
traditionally ascribed to the building <strong>of</strong> this monument. Later, in 1990, Bauval published another article in Discussions<br />
in <strong>Egypt</strong>ology showing that from the Queen’s Chamber is another shaft that points to the star Sirius at that same date. In<br />
1994, Bauval published <strong>The</strong> Orion Mystery, which presented his theory to the general public. *57<br />
Figure 6.1. <strong>The</strong> pyramids <strong>of</strong> Giza and the stars <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt as they appeared in 2500 BCE and 11,500 BCE<br />
<strong>The</strong> book, which has been the subject <strong>of</strong> numerous television documentaries, caused quite a stir at the time <strong>of</strong> its<br />
publiction and is still the subject <strong>of</strong> much controversy. More recently, in his book <strong>The</strong> <strong>Egypt</strong> Code, Bauval puts forward<br />
the final conclusion that the Giza pyramids may have been modeled on an image <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt not at the time <strong>of</strong> their<br />
presumed construction circa 2500 BCE, but at a much earlier time, circa 11,450 BCE. In other words, in deciphering the<br />
astronomy embedded in the design <strong>of</strong> the Giza pyramids, we can note the locking <strong>of</strong> two dates: 2500 BCE, which marks<br />
the time <strong>of</strong> construction, and 11,500 BCE, which marks the significant time that might allude to the First Time—Zep<br />
Tepi. This is our reasoning: If today you observe from the location <strong>of</strong> Giza the star Sirius cross the meridian it will be at<br />
43 degrees altitude. If you could see the same event in 2500 BCE when the Great Pyramid was built, Sirius would have<br />
culminated at 39.5 degrees altitude, which is where the south shaft <strong>of</strong> the Queen’s Chamber was aimed. Going even<br />
further in time the altitude <strong>of</strong> Sirius would drop and drop until, at about 11,500 BCE, Sirius would be just 1 degree<br />
altitude. Beyond this date Sirius would not have been seen at all because it would not break above the horizon.