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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Our hypothesis at this stage was thus that the ancient astronomer-priests <strong>of</strong> Nabta Playa had designed a device that<br />
locked together the summer solstice sunrise and the culmination <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt for ritualistic purposes and also for the<br />
practical purpose <strong>of</strong> marking the coming <strong>of</strong> the monsoon rains. Yet could such a hypothesis be scientifically tested? Yes<br />
—it could be accomplished by working out at which epoch the pattern <strong>of</strong> the three stars <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt would have<br />
matched the pattern <strong>of</strong> the three stones in the Calendar Circle and then comparing this result to the one resulting from<br />
radiocarbon and other dating methods. If these dates matched, then the hypothesis would stand. We need not be bogged<br />
down here in details regarding how the position <strong>of</strong> Orion’s belt can be worked out with precession calculations. This, in<br />
any case, can be verified easily on a home computer equipped with good astronomical s<strong>of</strong>tware. Any keen observer <strong>of</strong> the<br />
night sky will know that Orion’s belt forms a very noticeable asterism (small group <strong>of</strong> stars) in the southern sky. Indeed,<br />
so striking is this asterism that it was not only noticed but also used by many ancient cultures in their rituals and<br />
mythologies. <strong>The</strong> asterism is at the center <strong>of</strong> the great Orion constellation that today dominates the southern sky in the<br />
winter months.<br />
Figure 4.1. Plot <strong>of</strong> all the radiocarbon dates from Nabta Playa published by the CPE<br />
<strong>The</strong> current configuration <strong>of</strong> the constellation was formed about two million years ago *9 and will remain<br />
recognizable in the night sky for the next two million years or so, making it one <strong>of</strong> the longest observableby-humans<br />
constellations, and its familiar pattern was recognized by many ancient people, although these cultures represented it<br />
differently. Most <strong>of</strong>ten, however, it was respresented as a giant human figure striding across the heavens. Thus, the<br />
ancient <strong>Egypt</strong>ians saw Orion as a giant man representing the god <strong>of</strong> resurrection, Osiris. To the ancient Babylonians, the<br />
constellation was Mulsipazianna, the heavenly shepherd. <strong>The</strong> Greeks saw it as a giant hunter. Even the Bible speaks <strong>of</strong><br />
Orion and Orion’s belt in the books <strong>of</strong> Job and Amos. †10 Indeed, on a clear, cloudless night, it is almost impossible not<br />
to be drawn to this bright and impressive asterism, especially to the obvious three-star asterism forming the belt—and<br />
likely this pull was stronger for the ancient people <strong>of</strong> the Sahara, who, every night, had the opportunity to watch the stars,<br />
unhindered by either obstacles or the light pollution <strong>of</strong> towns and cities.<br />
Of course, it is important to note that the slow, twenty-sixthousand-year cycle <strong>of</strong> precession will change over time<br />
the angle that the Orion’s belt asterism makes with the meridian. If we bear this in mind, it is relatively simple to verify by<br />
computer simulation <strong>of</strong> the sky what the angle <strong>of</strong> the three stars is relative to the meridian and then match it to that <strong>of</strong> the<br />
three upright stones at the center <strong>of</strong> the Calendar Circle. What epoch does the circle then represent? <strong>The</strong> CPE concluded<br />
that the Calendar Circle must be dated to about 4800 BCE, because organic matter found nearby was firmly fixed at that<br />
date by radiocarbon analysis and other archaeological methods. Clearly, then, it was worth checking the angle <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Orion’s belt asterism around 4800 BCE in order to test our hypothesis. <strong>The</strong>re was a hiccup at this point, however: our<br />
s<strong>of</strong>tware went back only to Julian date zero, 4712 BCE. 3<br />
Scaliger’s Julian date counting Method<br />
We note that the commonly used astronomy programs (SkyMapPro and StarryNight) employ approximation methods to<br />
calculate the locations <strong>of</strong> stars. Because they approximate around the current date, they are extremely accurate for any