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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alignment is part <strong>of</strong> a symbolic system repeated again and again, and that it occurs not simply in any time in the star’s<br />
cycle, but at the special time <strong>of</strong> culmination. Still, objectors would say that other examples <strong>of</strong> the same alignment are<br />
needed for verification. To honor this, we can examine other subterranean passages.<br />
Actually there are only two extensive subterranean passages associated with the six giant pyramids: 12 third-dynasty<br />
Djoser’s step pyramid at Saqqara, fourth-dynastry founder Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dashur, the great<br />
pyramids <strong>of</strong> Khufu and Khafre at Giza, and the fourth-dynasty Unfinished Pyramid at Zawiyet el-Aryan. Besides Khufu’s<br />
Great Pyramid, the other subterranean passage is beneath Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid at Dashur. Located 21 kilometers (13<br />
miles) south <strong>of</strong> the Great Pyramid <strong>of</strong> Khufu, the giant Bent Pyramid <strong>of</strong> Sneferu is at latitude 29.79 degrees. We learn<br />
from <strong>Egypt</strong>ologist I. E. S. Edwards 13 that the subterranean passage <strong>of</strong> the Bent Pyramid starts at the entrance to the<br />
pyramid on its north face, about 12 meters (39 feet) above ground. It continues down through the masonry for 25 meters<br />
(82 feet), first at an angle <strong>of</strong> 28.36 degrees, and then shifts to an angle <strong>of</strong> 26.33 degrees before moving from the masonry<br />
down into the bedrock after another 48 meters (157 feet). <strong>The</strong> passage continues, precisely directed at a constant angle<br />
through the bedrock to a chamber under the center <strong>of</strong> the pyramid, and the entire subterranean length <strong>of</strong> the passage into<br />
the bedrock is at a constant angle <strong>of</strong> 26.33 degrees. This angle, combined with the latitude <strong>of</strong> the Bent Pyramid, points to<br />
a location in the sky with a precise declination <strong>of</strong> 86.54 degrees—identical to the subterranean passage <strong>of</strong> the Great<br />
Pyramid <strong>of</strong> Khufu at Giza. So if the subterranean passage that is now under the Bent Pyramid existed at Zep Tepi,<br />
plunging into the bedrock beneath a horizon-viewing platform on the surface, essentially the same starry drama as at Giza<br />
could have been observed at Dashur—with the only difference being that at Dashur, Sirius would rise to a slightly higher<br />
altitude by about 20 arc minutes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ancient name <strong>of</strong> the Bent Pyramid was the Southern Shining Pyramid. 14 Perhaps, when Sneferu marshaled his<br />
kingdom to build the Bent Pyramid, the location was already known and revered as the Southern Shining—the place on<br />
Earth, and especially south, where the ruler <strong>of</strong> the heavens, Sirius, shines eternally and never disappears beneath the<br />
horizon. Sneferu built three large pyramids. <strong>The</strong> first, at Meidum, bears an exalted personal ancient name: Sneferu<br />
Endures. <strong>The</strong> last, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) north <strong>of</strong> the Southern Shining Pyramid, had the ancient name <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Shining Pyramid. Sneferu’s son, Khufu, built the pyramid called the Horizon <strong>of</strong> Khufu. <strong>The</strong> Bent Pyramid and its<br />
subterranean passage are also located topographically so that the distant southern horizon was nearly perfectly flat and<br />
unobscured.<br />
<strong>The</strong> subterranean passage under the Bent Pyramid has not been surveyed as extensively and repeatedly as has the<br />
subterranean passage under the Khufu Great Pyramid, thus we don’t know whether the Bent Pyramid passage may also be<br />
as precisely wrought as the Khufu Pyramid passage. *75 We do know, however, from measuring the structures that the<br />
builders <strong>of</strong> both <strong>of</strong> these giant pyramid complexes were capable <strong>of</strong> and in fact implemented great precision over long<br />
distances. If it can be shown, then, that the only two subterranean passages under the two key true giant pyramids were<br />
oriented to the same declination in the sky with the same high precision, then that alone would contribute evidence that<br />
the builders indeed had astronomical intent—whether or not that intent was Vega. In light <strong>of</strong> these findings, perhaps<br />
another survey <strong>of</strong> this aspect <strong>of</strong> the Bent Pyramid could further illuminate the origins <strong>of</strong> these two subterranean passages.<br />
We also note that the two other great pyramids on the Giza plateau, the Menkaure and Khafre pyramids, have<br />
shorter, less surgically precise subterranean passages that don’t extend down all the way under the center <strong>of</strong> their<br />
structures. Menkaure’s bedrock passage descends 31 meters (102 feet), about half <strong>of</strong> that length through the lower<br />
courses <strong>of</strong> masonry and the rest down into the bedrock at an angle <strong>of</strong> 26.03 degrees, and Khafre’s passage descends a<br />
much shorter distance at an angle <strong>of</strong> 25.92 degrees. <strong>The</strong>se yield declinations to the sky <strong>of</strong> about half <strong>of</strong> one degree lower<br />
than their Great Pyramid partner, and the broader angular spread <strong>of</strong> their openings means that they would have captured<br />
the light <strong>of</strong> the culminating Vega during the same times as did the passage under Khufu’s pyramid. *76<br />
Finally we must look at the dual nature <strong>of</strong> many aspects <strong>of</strong> the Bent Pyramid. First there is the bend in the slope <strong>of</strong><br />
the pyramid itself. Further, the north descending entrance passage is bent, within the masonry <strong>of</strong> the lower part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
pyramid that is not bent, and the west entry passage is bent (from 30.15 degrees to 24.28 degrees), 15 also entirely within<br />
the lower courses <strong>of</strong> masonry that are not bent. Many <strong>Egypt</strong>ologists believe that the Bent Pyramid was bent due to a<br />
series <strong>of</strong> accidents and poor planning <strong>of</strong> the construction, but there seems to be ample evidence that it was planned in its<br />
structure. As Schoch puts it:<br />
I suspect strongly that the Bent Pyramid was meant to be bent from the beginning. Unlike any other <strong>Egypt</strong>ian<br />
pyramid, it expresses duality—two angles, two geometries, two tunnel and chamber complexes. <strong>The</strong>re is something