Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt

the largest stone. Again, the distance (altitude) of these stars as measured from the horizon matched the distance of the
corresponding stones measured from the rim of the Calendar Circle.
If our conclusions are correct, then the Calendar Circle becomes far more than a snapshot of a single observation of
Orion in the night sky. Instead, it is an elegant and profound device to show the change caused by precession on the stars
of Orion over vast periods of time. In other words, the Calendar Circle becomes a teaching instrument that demonstrates
the precession of the stars. We are not proposing that the Calendar Circle was constructed eighteen thousand years ago *12
but rather that it commemorates two important dates in the precession cycle of Orion—4900 BCE and 16,500 BCE—
with the former date being the actual date of its construction and use as indicated by the radiocarbon dating and the latter
date being some sort of memorial of an important event, perhaps a beginning in the history of those sub-Saharan herders
who came to Nabta Playa in prehistoric times. In additon, the two dates bracket symbolically the two sides of the whole
twenty-six-thousand-year precession cycle.
Figure 4.4. Orion’s head and shoulders matching the Calender Circle stones at altitude, azimuth, and date
This, of course, presupposes an ability to predict the effect of precession on the stars, namely the cyclical changes in
angular tilt and altitude of the constellations over the centuries and millennia. The usual opposition to this is the modern
belief that ancient cultures were too primitive and did not have the knowledge or ability to accomplish these predictions.
In fact, however, predicting the effects of precession—even without telescopes and sophisticated mathematical
knowledge—is not as difficult as it seems to be. This is because the apparent motion of precession is essentially the same
as the yearly apparent motion of the sun across the sky—except not in one year but over twenty-six thousand years. An
intelligent mind of either today or thousands of years ago that was attuned to careful observation of the changes in the
sky and privy to records kept over many generations need only have made a conceptual link in order to create such a
device as the Calendar Circle at Nabta Playa and enable it to work with the yearly cycle as well as the precession cycle.
In other words, there are essentially two ways to grasp the effects of precession on constellations: (1) adding
together incremental measures over many years and building up a mathematical model for how the sky moves gradually
(as it is generally believed the ancient Greeks did), or (2) making a sort of vision-logic mental leap that suddenly grasps
the geometric shifting of the whole cycle. Of course, such a conceptual mental leap required a particularly subtle and
astute mind, but the Neolithic human’s brain was perfectly able to perform such an intellectual task. Albeit, the design of
the Calendar Circle involved a stroke of genius—indeed, probably many such strokes over many generations—but once
constructed, the Calendar Circle was so user-friendly that all those who chanced upon it could easily have realized its
meaning, especially those who had been avidly observing and studying the night sky, as did the ancient dwellers of the
Sahara. In addition, it is likely that as part of the whole ceremonial complex at Nabta Playa, the Calendar Circle was
understood and used by generations of astronomer-priests not merely in isolation, but as part of a broader context of the
other structures in the area. We can see that some of the stones, especially those from the north gate, are composed of
finely worked and shaped hard stone, which further indicates a refined sense of design and significant effort on the part of
the Calendar Circle builders. We can discern in the Calendar Circle the product of minds that were keenly attuned to the
subtleties of annual cycles and the long-term cycles of the heavens, and to the ability to represent such awareness
elegantly in a stone diagram. Indeed, after people today see animated graphics of how the Calendar Circle works, they
immediately understand and appreciate the plausibility of these conclusions. We have presented similar graphic