Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt

Recommendations

Info

animation 7 at meetings of professional scholars in Atlanta, Georgia, 8 and Rhodes, Greece, 9 in 2004, as well as at meetings and public conferences in San Diego, California, in 2007; in Dubai, UAE, in 2008; and in Rome, Italy, in 2009 —and the audiences immediately grasped how and why the Calendar Circle was used by the ancients. Regarding the scholars, however, although they easily grasp the idea, their academic conditioning often blocks them from changing their own preconceived beliefs about the Nabta Playa ancient people. Others who are more skeptical suggest that the data of field archaeologists, especially having to do with the astronomy that matches the stones, may have been in error. *13 We, however, have double-checked the source of the Calendar Circle data and have ourselves examined the remains of the circle. Further, with regard to the nearby megalithic structures, we also have undertaken measurements and have relied on both the field maps provided by archaeologists as well as very accurate satellite photography of Nabta Playa. What clinches our interpretation and conclusions that the ancient Nabta Playa astronomer-priests paid significant attention to Orion’s belt as part of a unified system of tracking the changes in the sky is the fact that similar astronomical activities are also attributed to the other megalithic structures in the ceremonial complex. SPACE AGE MEETS STONE AGE In chapter 3 we saw how the ceremonial complex at Nabta Playa consists essentially of two major features: large stones, many of which are shaped and placed on the sediments of the ancient dry lake; and large, sculpted rocks and sculpted lumps of bedrock beneath the sediments. The 1998 Nature letter and other early CPE reports on Nabta Playa dealt only with the astronomy of the Calendar Circle; they did not attempt to interpret the astronomy of the megalithic alignments, although they did report some of these megaliths’ various orientations. Finally, however, in 2001 the CPE published their report and in it gave their tentative interpretation of the megalithic alignments and the GPS coordinates of each megalith. They determined that the twenty-two megaliths formed six alignments that radiated out from Complex Structure A, and they proposed that these alignments were intended to designate the rising locations of two important stars, Dubhe and Sirius, and also the stellar asterism of Orion’s belt. Three alignments (A1, A2, A3) pointing north aligned to Dubhe at three different dates in the fifth millennium BCE; a fourth alignment (C1) pointed, also in the fifth millennium BCE, toward Sirius; and two alignments (B1 and B2) pointed toward Orion’s belt at two different dates in the fourth and fifth millennium BCE. Yet a serious problem with their data invalidated the dates they gave for these alignments. It is an understandable fact that most people do not question or verify the data and conclusions given in a technical or scientific publication by university professors of the caliber of Fred Wendorf, Kim Malville, and Romuald Schild of the CPE. Having already developed our own interpretation for the Calendar Circle before the CPE’s 2001 site report was published, we were keenly interested in their alignment data for the megaliths. In order to verify the link among the alignments of the six rows of megaliths and the rising point of stars on the horizon, it was necessary to convert into azimuths the GPS coordinates of the megaliths given in the 2001 report and then to match them to the calculated azimuths of the proposed stars. Yet when we tried to convert these GPS readings into azimuths, we found that they did not match the published azimuths in the 2001 report! This meant that the dates for the stars’ rising were also off. Only the azimuth given for Orion’s belt was more or less the same as ours—but those given for Sirius and Dubhe differed radically from our calculations, which were in fact based on the GPS readings published in the 2001 report. Something clearly was not right. To make matters worse, the azimuths for the six megalithic alignments in the 2001 report were significantly different from those previously given in the 1998 Nature letter. Further, some of the CPE’s calculations of ancient star locations differed from our calculations, even before they were matched to rising azimuths. All this was very confusing, for it was impossible to tell from these reports whether the raw GPS readings taken on location were in error or that the CPE calculations to convert these into azimuths was in error. We determined that it was best to ask the CPE about this. The lead author replied that we should contact another author who was responsible for the data in the relevant 2001 report. While we waited for the response, as luck would have it, the Space Age provided us with another and better way to clear up this confusion: DigitalGlobe, a high-tech corporation, was in the process of developing the first high-resolution satellite-imaging system for commercial use. In November 2000 they twice attempted to launch their Quickbird 1 satellites from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, but both rockets failed and the satellites were destroyed. On October 18, 2001, however, the Quickbird 2 satellite was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and after testing and calibration, DigitalGlobe began making commercially available 60-centimeter, high-resolution imagery from space. With this kind of resolution, we estimated that we could probably identify the Nabta Playa megaliths from space and obtain for ourselves the coordinates for our calculations. We
thus sent in an order to Quickbird to task the satellite for us and obtain an image of Nabta Playa with their highresolution data. As it turned out, we were likely the first to use Quickbird for archaeoastronomy. On December 31, 2002, Quickbird flew directly over Nabta Playa on a cloudless day and snapped the image with the coordinates we had supplied. After receiving and preparing the Quickbird data for analysis, we were thrilled to find that the Nabta Playa megaliths could be seen in the satellite image. Using the descriptions of individual megaliths given in the 2001 CPE report alongside some ground-based photographs published by Fred Wendorf, we were able to identify in the satellite image all the megaliths as well as Complex Structures A and B (and also other intriguing features, which we will discuss later). After georectifying the image and then correlating it to latitude and longitude, we were able to measure latitude and longitude coordinates for each of the megaliths. These coordinates were similar to those published by Wendorf and Malville in the 2001 report. This suggested, of course, that it was not the GPS readings obtained by them that were incorrect but rather that the CPE had made errors in their calculations. Because there was still a shift in our satellitedetermined measurements, in order to be absolutely sure of our results we decided to go to Nabta Playa and take our own GPS measurements. The stakes were too high to rely only on the data we had thus far compiled, and we felt that a journey to Nabta Playa was well worth the cost and effort. Figure 4.5. Zooming into the Nabta Playa satellite image (Digital Globe, Quickbird). Complex Structure A is labeled CSA. Also labeled are megalith lines B1 and B2, megalith X-1, and Complex Structure B (CSB). Note that that circular rings near CSA and CSB are the detritus left after excavation of these structures, not their original formation. The bright features in the center of the playa (seen in the upper two images) are actively moving sand dunes. In October 2003 we used the service of a British safari tour company to secure the necessary permits from the Egyptian government to visit Nabta Playa, and we arranged for a very small safari tour to make a deviation from their route and deliver us to the site. Egyptian regulations also required that we be accompanied by an Egyptian military officer as well as an inspector from the Egyptian antiquities department, a Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Egyptologist. After a long trek by jeep from Cairo via the desert oases route, we arrived in the evening near Nabta Playa and set up camp 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) away in order not to cause any environmental disturbance of the important archaeological site. Before leaving from Cairo, we had coded into our handheld GPS receiver the coordinates of the megaliths obtained from the Quickbird satellite data. Now, some two hours before dawn, we were ready to walk from camp to the Nabta Playa ceremonial complex. As we prepared to set out alone, however, the SCA Egyptologist who had come along asked if he could accompany us, perhaps out of curiosity but also to educate himself, because we were amazed to find that he knew nothing about Nabta Playa.
Page 3 and 4: For my daughter, Candice, and my so
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book was not a
Page 7 and 8: More Mysteries at Nabta Playa The S
Page 9 and 10: INTRODUCTION ANCIENT EGYPT REBORN N
Page 11 and 12: 1 STRANGE STONES In Nabta there are
Page 13 and 14: desert” emerge from the surroundi
Page 15 and 16: stage the CPE anthropologists were
Page 17 and 18: arguments—and especially on the B
Page 19 and 20: This time, some archaeologists took
Page 21 and 22: who’s who of famous men: it inclu
Page 23 and 24: huge rocky massif sprouting out of
Page 25 and 26: Almasy planned an expedition to Gil
Page 27 and 28: of Setu and Irtet after having expl
Page 29 and 30: Sahara, and their bones were brough
Page 31 and 32: Djedefre Water Mountain, as Bergama
Page 33 and 34: Figure 2.5. Abu Ballas Pottery Hill
Page 35 and 36: can imagine how these scholars felt
Page 37 and 38: followed by the same determinative
Page 39 and 40: The surface of the now-covered bedr
Page 41 and 42: indeed, one of the main objectives
Page 43 and 44: In addition to tumuli tombs of catt
Page 45 and 46: since fallen. The largest ones were
Page 47 and 48: ALIGNMENTS TOWARD THE STARS: WHEN A
Page 49 and 50: elated not only to the gates of the
Page 51 and 52: dates within thousands of years of
Page 53: the largest stone. Again, the dista
Page 57 and 58: Finally, to our relief, the light f
Page 59 and 60: degrees and azimuth 22.5 degrees an
Page 61 and 62: associated with the heleical rising
Page 63 and 64: ight angle. After that date, Nabta
Page 65 and 66: also note that several megalithic a
Page 67 and 68: ceremonial complex of Nabta Playa.
Page 69 and 70: Figure 4.14. Bagnold Circle in, top
Page 71 and 72: have been placed by humans, possibl
Page 73 and 74: 5 THE BIBLE, THE HAMITES, AND THE B
Page 75 and 76: Even allowing that scholars tend to
Page 77 and 78: May 11, 2001, vol. 292, no. 5519, p
Page 79 and 80: egions: the Nile Valley and the vas
Page 81 and 82: At any rate, suffice it to say that
Page 83 and 84: perspective. We must also acknowled
Page 85 and 86: Plate 2. Djedefre Water Mountain, c
Page 87 and 88: Plate 8. Robert Bauval with herder
Page 89 and 90: Plate 15. Models of cows, Eleventh
Page 91 and 92: Plate 22. The rock-cut tomb of Hark
Page 93 and 94: wagging tail. We found them on the
Page 95 and 96: BCE to 2500 BCE. What she found odd
Page 97 and 98: eassure us that all is not lost, af
Page 99 and 100: Figure 5.3. Numerous prehistoric ha
Page 101 and 102: themselves, our drivers uttered a b
Page 103 and 104: arely kill their cattle for food ex
Page 105 and 106:
to study the stars, perhaps even na
Page 107 and 108:
pointed star, which represents Siri
Page 109 and 110:
In the first century, some half-cen
Page 111 and 112:
Egyptologists have established that
Page 113 and 114:
Like the Nabta Playa prehistoric st
Page 115 and 116:
y the astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer
Page 117 and 118:
In appendix 1 we look in detail at
Page 119 and 120:
esynchronized every 1,460 years—t
Page 121 and 122:
÷ 10 = 3.9 years for the calendar
Page 123 and 124:
ole, he was known as Hor-Akhti, Hor
Page 125 and 126:
The rounded planisphere that is see
Page 127 and 128:
topped mound whose midpoint and end
Page 129 and 130:
POSTSCRIPT DISCOVERY OF THE KIFAH C
Page 131 and 132:
APPENDIX 1 BACK TO THE FIRST TIME V
Page 133 and 134:
TAKE A WALK AT THE FIRST TIME WITH
Page 135 and 136:
alignment is part of a symbolic sys
Page 137 and 138:
Pyramid at Zawiyet el-Aryan) is ass
Page 139 and 140:
APPENDIX 2 SOTHIC CYCLES AND IMHOTE
Page 142 and 143:
APPENDIX 3 SAVING NABTA PLAYA Will
Page 144 and 145:
Figure A2. Rubbish dumps in the cen
Page 146 and 147:
a huge pumping station (the Mubarak
Page 148 and 149:
In actual practice, though, the dev
Page 150 and 151:
are not now capable of this percept
Page 152 and 153:
*53. Actually, it is 365.242 days,
Page 154 and 155:
Endnotes CHAPTER 1. STRANGE STONES
Page 156 and 157:
Mentioning Yam and Tekhebet,” Sah
Page 158 and 159:
13. J. M. Malville, R. Schild, F. W
Page 160 and 161:
41. Thomas Brophy, The Mechanism De
Page 162 and 163:
34. G. A. Wainwright, “Seshat and
Page 164 and 165:
100. The story is told in the Westc
Page 166 and 167:
Bibliography Abed, Wael T. The Othe
Page 168 and 169:
Genzlinger, Neil. “Chasing Mummie
Page 170 and 171:
Millennium: A Reassessment.” Jour
Page 172 and 173:
About the Authors Egyptian-born Rob
Page 174 and 175:
BOOKS OF RELATED INTEREST Lost Know
Page 176:
Electronic edition produced by ePub
show all

Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?