aymoib@mailer.scu.eun.eg
ABSTRACT
1. The author proves that the Heliopolitan cosmogony and the mighty Egyptian pyramids were inspired by the total eclipse of the Sun.2. The author proves that the Benben Stone is a representation of the diamond ring effect.
3. The author proves that the complete pyramid and the obelisk are representations in rock of the earliest sunlight appearing after totality of an eclipse.
4. The author gives evidence that the satellite pyramid and the pyramids of the queens were inspired by Bailey's beads seen close to totality.
5. The author gives new definitions to the step-pyramid.
6. The author proves that the Pyramids of Giza were not aligned to the stars of Orion.
INTRODUCTION
The author proved in Part I of this study, that in the Hermopolitan
cosmogony (creation myths), the Sun, the creator of the Universe, was
pictured to have been borne in a solar eclipse. The dark Cosmic Egg, out of
which the bird of light (the Sun) burst, was the dark New Moon (versions 1
and 2). The Cosmic Lotus Flower (versions 3 and 4) was the solar corona. The
scarab beatle (version 4) that transformed itself into the divine, child Sun
was the dark New Moon. In this study, the author introduces his
interpretation of the creation myths of the city of Heliopolis, the center
of the solar cult in ancient Egypt. It is of extreme importance to
investigate the influence of eclipses in the theology and cosmogony of the
City of the Sun. If the Heliopolitan cosmogony were inspired by a total
solar eclipse this would help us to solve the oldest, and one of the most
illusive riddles in history: The meaning of the pyramid-shaped Benben Stone!
THE CITY OF THE SUN
The city of Iunu (Heliopolis), near present Cairo, was the center of the
solar cult in ancient Egypt (1). It was believed that the Sun was borne
in the temple of the city (2). The Sun temple contained the sacred symbol of
the Sun, the Benben Stone
(3). Inscriptions from the reign of king Seti I (1294-1279 BC) referred to
Heliopolis as the horizon of heaven:
The Good god (the king), making monuments for his father,
Re-Horakhty, making for him in the temple, of good gritstone,
two pylons of white costly stone doorways of bronze, pairs
of a mesdet stone, two obelisks of black basalt, established
in Heliopolis the horizon of heaven.
(Source: James Henry Breasted, General Records, p. 100, The University of
Chicago, 1906.)
In this study we define what is meant by the "horizon of heaven"!
THE BENBEN STONE
From predynastic times, the Sun temple of Heliopolis contained the
sacred symbol of the Sun, the Benben Stone (4). The pyramid-shaped stone was
the capstone of a pyramid or the tip of an obelisk (5). It was a
representation in rock of the primordial rays of the Sun, it represented the Primeval Hill
(see below) (6). It was usually made of a polished, shining material (e.g.,
silver, gold, or certain types of rock) that gleams in sunlight (7). The
relation between the pyramid and the Benben is clear, a pyramid is a
gigantic Benben (8). However, it has been difficult to conceive the relation
between the Benben and Sun rays (9). This study gives the clue to crack the
ambiguous nature of the Benben. Please read another related study: Aymen
Ibrahem, An Astronomical Approach to the Nature of Complete Pyramids,
www.infis.org/aymenibr.htm, 2000.
THE HELIOPOLITAN COSMOGONY
The legend says that, in the beginning, before any god or creature
existed, there was only the primeval ocean Nun. The Sun created herself
from Nun, appearing as the Primeval Hill.The Sun then gave birth to Shu (the air) and Tefnut his twin and wife. In other versions, the Sun appeared on the Primeval Hill.
The Egyptologists have always believed that the ancient Egyptians must
have envisaged this as the Nile Valley land emerging from the receding waters of
the annual inundation (10). This seems plausible, but, I am not totally
convinced! I cannot see any similarity between the fiery Sun and the long,
wet Nile Valley! Two pieces of evidence make it clear that the Heliopolitan
creation myths picture a total solar eclipse. The first is a Pyramid Text,
the second is a hymn to the Sun.
THE PYRAMID TEXTS
From the last pharaoh of Dynasty V, and through Dynasty VI (2345-2181BC),
religious texts concerning the welfare of the deceased, known as the Pyramid
Texts, were inscribed on the walls of the burial chamber in the pyramids
(11). Scant sources of the Heliopolitan cosmogony are present in the Pyramid
Texts (12), however, I think they shed enough light. A Pyramid Text reads:
O Atum the Creator (the Sun), You became high in the height.
You rose up as the Benben Stone in the mansion of the Phoenix
in Heliopolis,(Source: Labib Habachi, The Egyptian Obelisks, p. 5, The AUC Press, 1988.)
I believe it to be one of the oldest eclipse records in history!
I find my following astronomical interpretation very plausible:
The Sun was high in the sky, totally eclipsed by the New Moon. Then it
started to reappear as a hill of brilliant light (the Diamond Ring or
Bailey's Beads seen around totality), the Benben Stone! The Phoenix or the
Benu bird, could be, very probably, the solar corona (by analogy with my
interpretation of the Hermopolitan cosmogony).
The legend also associated creation with the image of the scarab beatle and
the Benben at Heliopolis (13). By analogy with the results I obtained from
the Hermopolitan cosmogony, the scarab beatle can be interpreted as the dark
New Moon. The Primeval Hill was sometimes depicted in the hieroglyphs as a
semi-circle (14). I find this very similar to the view of the daimond ring.
Some ancient Egyptian total solar eclipse visible over Heliopolis must have
inspired the legend and provided enough reason for the city's priests to
claim that the Sun was borne in its temple, the mansion of the Phoenix.
The legend then describes the creation of the world:
you sneezed Shu, you spat Tefnut, and you put your
arms around them, as the arms of ka, that your ka
might be in them.
(Source: Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, p. 34, The AUC Press, 1997.)
Atum then gave birth to Shu (the air), and his twin sister and wife Tefnut
(this could have been inspired by Bailey's Beads, I believe). They married,
and bore Geb (the Earth) and Nut (the Sky). Geb and Nut married, their
children were Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys.
A HYMN TO THE SUN
The author has shown that the term 'horizon of heaven' means eclipse (15).
In a hymn to the Sun which the author has shown to be an ancient Egyptian
eclipse record mentions:
Thou risest in heaven's horizon (eclipse), and thy disk is adored when
it resteth upon the mountain to give life unto the world.
(Source: W. Budge, Egyptian Religion, p.147, University Books, NY)
The dark disc of the New Moon is practically a horizon in the sky, on which
the Sun sets and then rises, with a brief night (totality) of a few minutes
in between. Thus the hymn is an explicit statement that the Sun was born in
the horizon of heaven, a solar eclipse.
The hymn continues:
Thou risest, thou risest, and thou comst forth from the god Nun.
Thou dost renew thy youth, and thou dost set thyself in the place
where thou wast yesterday. O thou divine Child, who didst
create thyself, I am not able [to describe] thee.
Thus, it is clear that the ancient Egyptians believed the Sun to be reborn
after every total solar eclipse and renews her youth. So, the solar eclipses
had a direct relation to the royal jubilees, especially those celebrated in
untraditional dates and had no satisfactory explanation for the
Egyptologists (Please review: Aymen Ibrahem, The Philosopher Pharaoh and the
Total Solar Eclipse, www.infis.org/, 2000).
Thus, we are now sure that in the Heliopolitan cosmogony, the Sun was born
in a solar eclipse. We can now define the Benben Stone as the earliest rays
of the Sun to emerge after totality, the diamond ring.
THE PYRAMID AS A TOMB
Now, we can define the function of a pyramid: it is to transport the dead
pharaoh to his horizon (eclipse). That's why the Great Pyramid of Khufu was
named 'The Horizon (eclipse) of Khufu'. There the pharaoh is united with his
devine father Re.
THE SATELLITE PYRAMID
Another enigma, is the small satellite pyramid located to the south or
southeast of the king's pyramid. Examples are the satellite pyramid of the
Bent Pyramid of King Snefru (Dahshour) and that of the Great Pyramid (Giza).
Earlier explanations suppose it was for the ka of the king.
Also, to the east or south of the king's pyramid we find the pyramids of
the queens. Notable examples are the three small pyramids to the east of the
Great Pyramid and those to the south of Menkaure's pyramid (Giza). I
believe the satellite pyramid and the of the Queens were most probably
depicted from Bailey's Beads.
THE STEP PYRAMID
The magnificent Step Pyramid of King Djoser (2668-2649 BC) in Saqqara was
the first pyramid to be built in Egypt. The step pyramids were some kind of
stairs for the dead pharaoh to use them to reach heaven (16). However, they
were short lived, being built only through Dynasty III (2668-2613 BC) (17).
Then a glorious era began: the massive complete pyramids of Dynasty IV
(2613-2498 BC) (18). The change from the step to complete pyramids must have
corresponded to a revolution in the solar cult (19). I believe solar
eclipses, a spectacular phenomenon in which the day turns to night for a few
minutes were the reason behind this revolution.
In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, sometimes the Primeval Hill was represented as
a step pyramid (20). I now believe a step pyramid might have represented the
gradual appearance of the Sun after totality. It could be also a
representation of the daily change of the azimuth of the rising Sun over the
year, which is a step pyramid of many degrees. That is, the Sun seems to
climb in steps from one solstice to the other (Please review: Aymen Ibrahem,
An Astronomical Approach to the Nature of Complete Pyramids). Also, a step
pyramid could have been depicted from the view of the Sun's disc on the
horizon.
THE PYRAMIDS AND ORION'S BELT
Recently, some amateur archaeo-astronomers debated that the three Pyramids of
Giza were aligned to the stars of Orion's Belt. One book contained a map
of the Giza Plateau shown in comparison with a photo of the Orion belt (like
the ones in fig (1)). Another illustration compares the map of the Memphite
Necropolis from Giza to Dahshour to the winter constellations including
Orion and Taurus (like the one in fig (2)). The writer of that book
concluded that:
The Pyramids of Giza were corresponding to the stars of Orion's belt.
The Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid of Dahshour were corresponding to the
stars Alpha Tau and Epsilon Tau.
This might seem true at a first glance. However, the pyramids cannot be
related to the stars of Orion simply because:
A little scrutiny shows that the map of the Giza Plateau and the Memphite
Necropolis have north at bottom, while the photos of the Orion's belt and
the winter constellations have north at top. That is, the writer had to
invert the maps to fit the view of the sky.There are no stars in the sky corresponding to the three pyramids of Abu
Seir and the Step Pyramid and its many neighboring pyramids in Saqqara and
Southern Saqqara.A pyramid is now, certainly, a symbol of the eclipsed Sun and not any star.
I rather speculate that the Giza Pyramids and the temple of Heliopolis are
located on the totality path of a prehistoric solar eclipse.
Thus, it cannot be accepted that the Pyramids of Giza and Dahshour have any
relation to the constellation Orion.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Below, I introduce some of the results I obtained through all of my studies
of the solar cult objects:
1. The Heliopolitan cosmogony pictured the birth of the Universe as a solar eclipse.2. The term 'horizon of heaven' means eclipse.
3. The correct translation of the name of the Great Pyramid is 'The Eclipse of Khufu'.
4. The correct translation of the name of the city of Akhetaten is the 'Eclipse of Aten'.
5. The correct translation of the name of the mighty Sphinx of Giza is 'Hor in the Eclipse'. The Sphinx was the image of the eclipsed Sun.
6. In the Sphinx's temple, some special cult must have been performed in response to solar eclipses as indicated by the stelle of Priest Raemheb.
7. The temple of the city of Heliopolis was a representation of the Horizon of Heaven, the birth place of the Sun. The same is true for Karnak in Thebes. The pyramid complex and the cult temple are representations of the horizon of heaven. The first is the king's horizon, and the latter is the horizon of a god.
8. The Hermopolitan, and the Heliopolitan and the closely similar Memphite and Theban, creation myths, were inspired by the total solar eclipse.
9. The Benben Stone, and, consequently, the pyramid and the obelisk are representations of the primordial rays of the Sun.
10. A pyramid serves to transport the dead pharaoh to his horizon (eclipse).
11. The satellite pyramids were depicted from Bailey's Beads, or possibly from the planets Venus and Mercury seen in proximity of the totally eclipsed Sun. A satellite pyramid could be also Sopdet (Sirius) the brightest star.
12. The step pyramid probably represents the gradual reappearance of the totally eclipsed Sun, or the change of the azimuth of the rising Sun through out the year.
13. Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BC) erected her hefty obelisks at Karnak to light the Two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt) when it gets dark through a solar eclipse. The same seems true for the pyramids especially those of Giza and Dahshour.
14. The text on the base of the standing obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut describes the oldest recorded solar eclipse.
15. King Senusert I (1971-1928 BC) erected his Sun-temple and obelisk pair at Heliopolis for the same purpose.
16. The obelisks were given usually in pairs, one for the eclipsed (Atum) Sun and the other for the emerging Sun (Re-Horakhty).
17. The history and monuments of ancient Egypt cannot be separated from their contemporary celestial events, specially the solar eclipses.
18. The pyramids of Giza and Dahshour cannot be related to the stars of Orion and Taurus.
19. The city of Heliopolis seems to have been built according to the totality path of a solar eclipse, much like the city of Akhetaten.
Aymen M Ibrahem
Email: aymoib@frcu.eun.egNote: The chronlogy of the Old Kingdom used in this study is from:
Labib Habachi, The Egyptian Obelisks, The American University in Cairo Press, 1988. The author has proided an eclipse-based Old Kingdom Chronology in which the advent of Dynasty IV was in 2635 BC. The author uses his New Kingdom chronology in the article.
References:
1.Margaret Bunson, A Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, p. 110, Oxford University Press, 1991.
2.Ibid.
3.Ibid.
4.Labib Habachi, The Egyptian Obelisks, p. 5, The American University in Cairo Press, 1988.
5.Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, p. 35, The American University in Cairo Press, 1997.
6.Ibid.
7.Labib Habachi, The Egyptian Obelisks, p. 59, The American University in Cairo Press, 1988.
8.Ahmed Fakhry, The Pyramids, Arabic Translation, p. 15, The Anglo-Egyptian
9.Publisher, 1995.
10. Ibid.
11.Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, p. 35, The AUC Press, 1997.
12.Labib Habashi, The Egyptian Obelisks, p. 5, The AUC Press, 1988.
13.Margaret Bunson, A Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, p. 57, Oxford University Press, 1991.
14.Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, p. 35, The AUC Press, 1997.
15.Ahmed Fakhry, The Pyramids, Arabic Translation, p. 15, The Anglo-Egyptian Publishers, 1995.
16.Aymen Ibrahem, The Power Stations of Queen Hatshepsut, www.jas.org.jo/article.html, 2000.
17.Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, p. 35, The AUC Press, 1997.
18.I. E. S. Idwards, The Pyramids of Egypt, Arabic Translation, p. 73, The Egyptian General Book Organization, 1997.
19.Ibid., p. 74.
20.Ancient Cosmologies, edited by: C. Blacker and Michael Loewe, p. 29, Goerge Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1973.
Copy rights: Aymen Ibrahem, 2000.