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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has led to the conclusion that this temple was sacred to the star Sirius. <strong>The</strong> structure stands on a terraced platform facing<br />
east. After excavating the foundations, the Hungarian team found that this eleventh-dynasty temple was actually built on<br />
top <strong>of</strong> the ruins <strong>of</strong> an archaic-period temple dating from probably about 3200–3000 BCE, which had a similar floor plan<br />
but had an axis 2 degrees farther south: “<strong>The</strong> Hungarian team that excavated these structures believes this difference may<br />
be attributed to the shift in astronomical alignments over the intervening centuries. <strong>The</strong>ir research indicates that the later<br />
brick temple was aligned to Sirius. In the archaic period the same star would have appeared just over 2 degrees farther<br />
south in the eastern sky—exactly the difference visible in the orientation <strong>of</strong> the earlier building. Thus, rather than simply<br />
follow the physical orientation <strong>of</strong> the earlier sacred structure, the Middle Kingdom architects had carefully adjusted the<br />
temple’s orientation in order to align the new building once more precisely to Sirius. 73<br />
We can recall from chapter 2 that the name <strong>of</strong> the pharaoh Mentuhotep (ca. 2010 BCE) was found in the<br />
inscriptions at Jebel Uwainat in the <strong>Egypt</strong>ian Sahara, which were discovered by Mark Borda and Mahmoud Marai in<br />
2007. If the <strong>Black</strong> prehistoric people <strong>of</strong> Nabta Playa were the same people that once occupied Uwainat, and if these<br />
people came to the Nile Valley around 3200 BCE and brought along their astronomical knowledge <strong>of</strong> tracking the stars,<br />
especially Sirius, then it is not at all surprising to us now to find that King Mentuhotep knew <strong>of</strong> an archaic temple at<br />
<strong>The</strong>bes, which was aligned with Sirius, and, consequently, that he built his own temple above it and knew that its axis had<br />
to be 2 degrees farther north.<br />
<strong>The</strong> whole historical puzzle seems slowly to be taking shape, revealing a remarkable scenario that flows from the<br />
astronomical alignments <strong>of</strong> Nabta Playa as mentioned in the 1998 Nature letter <strong>of</strong> Malville and Wendorf. Before we<br />
look at possible conclusions, however, let us examine further evidence that the tradition <strong>of</strong> the long-term tracking <strong>of</strong> the<br />
star Sirius persisted throughout the whole <strong>of</strong> pharaonic civilization until its closure around 30 BCE, when it fell under<br />
the dominion <strong>of</strong> Rome.<br />
THOSE WHO FOLLOWED THE SUN<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the greatest and most magnificent temples <strong>of</strong> ancient <strong>Egypt</strong> is the temple <strong>of</strong> Hathor at Dendera, located on the<br />
west side <strong>of</strong> the Nile near the modern town <strong>of</strong> Qena, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north <strong>of</strong> Luxor. <strong>The</strong> temple complex<br />
stands at the edge <strong>of</strong> the desert and is so well preserved that from a short distance it looks as though it was built only a<br />
few years ago. In fact, the temple is more than two thousand years old, and its origins may even hark back to earliest<br />
times.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cult <strong>of</strong> the cow goddess Hathor goes back to the archaic period and ranked very high in the <strong>Egypt</strong>ian religion.<br />
Evidence <strong>of</strong> her cult has been detected from the very early dynasties, and many <strong>Egypt</strong>ologists believe that it was even<br />
much older than this. Her name, Hat-Hor, literally means House <strong>of</strong> Horus. *60 74<br />
As such, Hathor was very closely associated with the goddess Isis, mother <strong>of</strong> Horus. Indeed, so closely identified<br />
with each other were these two goddesses that in Ptolemaic times, when the extant temple at Dendera was built, their<br />
names were <strong>of</strong>ten fused or interchangeable. 75 At Dendera there are tombs that date to the first dynasties, indicating that<br />
the site was sacred in very remote, perhaps even prehistoric, times. <strong>The</strong> temple we see today, however, was founded by<br />
Ptolemy XII Auletes in 54 BCE. It is known with certainty that at the same place stood an older temple built under<br />
Tuthmoses III around 1450 BCE. In additon, there are inscriptions at Dendera that refer to Pepi I <strong>of</strong> the sixth dynasty,<br />
circa 2350 BCE. More intriguing still, there are inscriptions in a crypt that refer to the Shemsu-Hor, or Followers <strong>of</strong><br />
Horus, 76 whom the pharaohs regarded as their remote ancestors, although <strong>Egypt</strong>ologists tend to consider these as<br />
mythical ancestors. 77 One <strong>of</strong> these inscriptions actually claims that the original blueprint <strong>of</strong> the temple was provided by<br />
the Shemsu-Hor and was later preserved on the temple walls by Pepi I:<br />
King Tuthmoses III has caused this building to be erected in memory <strong>of</strong> his mother, the goddess Hathor, the Lady <strong>of</strong><br />
Dendera, the Eye <strong>of</strong> the Sun, the Heavenly Queen <strong>of</strong> the Gods. <strong>The</strong> ground plan was found in the city <strong>of</strong> Dendera, in<br />
archaic drawing on a leather roll <strong>of</strong> the time <strong>of</strong> the Shemsu-Hor [Followers <strong>of</strong> Horus]; it was [also] found in the<br />
interior <strong>of</strong> a brick wall in the south side <strong>of</strong> the temple in the reign <strong>of</strong> king Pepi. 78<br />
According to the so-called Royal Papyrus <strong>of</strong> Turin, also known as the Turin Canon, <strong>Egypt</strong> was ruled in prehistoric<br />
times by the Shemsu-Hor kings (and Shemsu-Hor is commonly translated as the Followers <strong>of</strong> Horus). Horus was the<br />
solar deity par excellence <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Egypt</strong>ians; he personified the sun, especially when it rose on the horizon. In this specific