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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astronomical function for the Bagnold Circle.<br />
Figure 4.15. Bagnold Circle north–south alignment<br />
Another clue are twenty-eight stones that form the circumference <strong>of</strong> the circle, which is not only implicit <strong>of</strong> the<br />
lunar phase cycle <strong>of</strong> 29.5 days but, more important for us, also brought to our attention a clear connection to the<br />
Calendar Circle at Nabta Playa, which also had twenty-nine stones around its circumference. We also noted that north <strong>of</strong><br />
the circle there was an elongated low hill that suggests observation <strong>of</strong> the low northern sky, possibly for marking the<br />
passage <strong>of</strong> a circumpolar constellation or star. *35<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the most nagging questions that constantly comes to mind in this totally desolate and extremely remote place<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Egypt</strong>ian Sahara is this: Why build anything here at all? What could have influenced the ancient people who<br />
roamed the deep desert to go to the trouble <strong>of</strong> constructing a stone circle in the middle <strong>of</strong> nowhere and, furthermore, to<br />
align it to the four cardinal directions? <strong>The</strong> answer, ironically enough, may actually be that they did so because <strong>of</strong> the<br />
location itself—or, to be more specific, <strong>of</strong> the latitude <strong>of</strong> the place. Today Bagnold Circle is approximately 23.5 degrees<br />
north and just a fraction north <strong>of</strong> the Tropic <strong>of</strong> Cancer. †36<br />
Using the circle’s precise latitude and checking the earth’s ancient obliquity at various epochs, we found out that<br />
from 13,110 BCE to 1490 BCE, the circle was located just south <strong>of</strong> the Tropic <strong>of</strong> Cancer. This means that within that<br />
range <strong>of</strong> epochs the sun passed directly overhead exactly at the zenith a few days before and a few day after the summer<br />
solstice. This time <strong>of</strong> year was when the monsoon rains started drenching the desert and may be a reason—though perhaps<br />
not the only reason—for locating the stone circle here. We can recall from chapter 2 that in 1999 Carlo Bergmann<br />
discovered the Abu Ballas Trail, an ancient donkey trail that ran across the 500 kilometers (311 miles) <strong>of</strong> waterless desert<br />
between the Dakhla oasis and Gilf Kebir. Although anthropologists and <strong>Egypt</strong>ologists have agreed that this trail was used<br />
by ancient <strong>Egypt</strong>ians <strong>of</strong> the late Old Kingdom, Bergmann believes it was used as early as the Late Neolithic, about 5500–<br />
3400 BCE. Bagnold Circle is located a bit west <strong>of</strong> this trail, and it is quite possible that it served as a point for a shortcut<br />
route to Gilf Kebir, perhaps by the same Neolithic people who once populated Gilf Kebir and Jebel Uwainat.<br />
We also found more evidence <strong>of</strong> prehistoric astronomy in the region when southwest <strong>of</strong> Bagnold Circle, 250<br />
kilometers (155 miles) away in the wadi Karkur Talh region on the north <strong>of</strong> Jebel Uwainat at a latitude <strong>of</strong> 21.98 degrees<br />
north, we found an apparent solstice sunset marker. At a large rock face with western exposure, which contains glyphs <strong>of</strong><br />
giraffes and human figures, there is an outcrop or mound on the cliff face about twelve feet high. Scrambling up the rock<br />
mound, we found on it a number <strong>of</strong> skillfully engraved marks, including an obvious arrow pointing toward the northwest<br />
horizon. Returning with our electronic compass we measured the arrow as pointing approximately 26 degrees north <strong>of</strong><br />
west, for an azimuth <strong>of</strong> 296 degrees, which marks the sunset on the day <strong>of</strong> summer solstice. This type <strong>of</strong> skillfully<br />
engraved rather than painted art tends to be on the more ancient end <strong>of</strong> the spectrum <strong>of</strong> rock art in the region. Given that<br />
the rock face also contained images <strong>of</strong> giraffes, we estimate that this solstice marker may predate 6000 BCE. In addition,<br />
when we were en route from Bagnold’s Circle to the Gilf Kebir region, traveling not far from the Libyan border, we<br />
came across a large, isolated standing stone that protruded more than 1 meter (3 feet) out <strong>of</strong> the ground. Located in the<br />
middle <strong>of</strong> a long, narrow, flat basin, or wadi, that was convenient for our jeeps to drive on because <strong>of</strong> its featureless<br />
flatness, this stone was smooth, cylindrically shaped, and standing only a few degrees <strong>of</strong>f vertical. It appeared likely to