Pax Arcana
One of these things is not like the others…
Like every sophisticated raconteur with an eye for the finer things, I spend a good amount of my time watching the History Channel. I am quite fond of ancient history, as long as it’s presented by people with British accents in 7-minute digestible nuggets broken up by Plavix commercials.
In fact, I enjoy the History Channel nearly as much as I enjoy polo, yachting, and bemoaning the deplorable state of the country club’s hedgerow (Raymond, the hedge trimmers can’t use themselves you know…).
So imagine my surprise when I put down the latest Robb Report and picked up Newsweek (the gardener is learning to read), only to find that the latest Egyptology documentary may be full of enough shit to fill the Sphinx’s litter box.
According to the article, the forthcoming documentary “The Lost Pyramid of Giza” purports to break the news that scientists have discovered the location of a fourth Giza pyramid that was even taller than the so-named Great Pyramid.
The only problem is that everything written above may be completely false:
Egyptologists have known about Djedefre’s pyramid for years. It was discovered a century ago—or rediscovered, since tomb raiders and stonemasons had been picking it over for centuries. If it hasn’t been explored until recent years, that’s in part because the pyramid sits close to a military exclusion zone, probably the site of nearby surface-to-air missiles. For the record, the structure isn’t really on the Giza plateau, which is five miles to the south, and while it may appear larger than Cheops, that’s only because Djedefre’s hill is so high—the Great Pyramid is more than twice as tall in absolute terms. Some Egyptologists say that the slope of Djedefre’s walls—60 degrees, as opposed to the 52-degree slope of the major pyramids—mean that the star of “The Lost Pyramid” is really just a sun temple. “It has never been lost,” says Vassil Dobrev of Cairo’s French Institute of , “and it is not even a pyramid.”
I am not qualified to judge whether Vassil Dobrev is right about this. However, I am qualified to judge who has the tastiest strawberry shortcake in Minnesota. Well done, Mrs. Anna Hoekestra of Duluth!!
TV’s Not-So-Great Pyramid [Newsweek]
The Lost Pyramid [History.com]
paxarcana.wordpress.com 
I am critical of the program ” THE LOST PYRAMID ” where it says that the Sphinx is NOT that of King Khephren, ( Khafre ). The program completely ignores the fact that Pharaoh Tuthmose IV refers to the Sphinx in an inscription known as the Sphinx stela situated between the paws of the statue, as being the image of King Khephren. It is true that Tuthmose live over 1,300 years after the time the Sphinx was built, but there would be no reason for Tuthmose to lie about who built the Sphinx. He would gain nothing from that.
The logic of this reply is weak. Instead of offering proof one way or the other, it merely casts a vote for the opinion of Tuthmose IV. First, Tuthmose was neither historian, nor archaeologist. And his opinion was offered thirteen centuries after the fact. That’s like me offering an unsupported opinion about King Arthur and my future descendants claiming I must be right because I lived closer to his time than they do. As to Tuthmose having no reason to lie, who needs a reason to be wrong? More than a century ago Josiah D. Whitney, the head of the California Geological Survey, stated emphatically that Half Dome in Yosemite would never be climbed and that John Muir was wrong in claiming that glaciers helped shape the Yosemite Valley. Referring to Muir, Whitney said: “Sheep herders should stick to sheep herding.” Whitney had no reason to lie. But he was decidedly wrong on both counts!
why would anyone lie about anything? how do you know that tuthmose was not lying. scholars cannot definitively, or factually prove to us who actually built the sphinx, or when it was built (reference John Anthony west). Why would you believe the words of someone who lived 1300 years after the fact, when those who lived within 100 years of the supposed date it was built don’t even know. I’m not trying to be mean, I just saying spend a little more time looking into things…and be logical in your deductions. Just because someone claims to know something doesn’t mean that it is true
We don’t really know much about the actual use nor age of these megalithic structures. What I find disturbing is the inability of the orthodox sciences to open their minds and explore alternative theories. Sure, some are going to be super crazy – but some are logical and possible. For example, we know that in “accepted” theory – humans went from essentially mud huts to pyramids in a very short period of time. We do not know what really could have caused this massive spurt in knowledge and science to perform these feats of architectural excellence. Why don’t we explore the idea of a lost people who created great feats like this?
As for Vassil Dobrev, he is nit-picking in many cases. The “lost pyramid” is only five miles from Giza, and the program never actually claimed that it was in Giza proper. The current excavation is the first scientific examination of the ruins, and the fact that it was known to tomb robbers and stone thieves is hardly pertinent. As to the size of the pyramid, if the archaeologists take a little poetic license in sensationalizing its dimensions because it stood on a hill, so what? Newspapers and television do much worse than that every day just to sell advertising space. And the claim that the lost pyramid was only a sun temple due to the exact angle of the slope of its walls, is mere semantics.
Who is this limey dumbass!!!
i dont think it was ever built or finished,where did all the blocks go
grag up hill, tere it down ,how
where did all the blocks go
Leon:
It was built, it was torn down by the Arab invaders, who have routinely destroyed ancient temples so they could build their own in their place.
This has been very common wherever they have invaded. It is the cultural form of genocide.
If it were not for the western museums preserving antiquities, much would be lost already.
Antonio:
While offering nothing to the conversation, you disparage someone who does. Why cares who this person is; it is the ideas that are important.
Necho:
Much ancient history was passed down via the oral traditions. Often these stories were well preserved and can be cross checked in different geographical locales.
Then again, some oral traditions were used to disinform and multiple surviving accounts contradict each other (witness “The Koran” a document that did not exist until a caliph wanted to have a written copy of what was a widely divergent oral tradition.)
Well, keep on thinking folks!
Chicago Johnny
I don’t know if you are familiar with the work of Graham Hancock. He hosted a show years ago which states that the Sphinx is actually much older than recorded history. This from an examination of the weathering patterns of the Sphinx which shows heavy rains and not sand eroded it. There hasn’t been heavy rains in this region for at least 8000 years. Also, there isn’t any evidence that the Great Pyramid is a burial chamber other than an empty “coffin” – not one hieroglyph. This chamber could have had a different function than we think. We need to keep an open mind. And why won’t the the authorities in Egypt let us explore the chamber under the paws of the Sphinx?
I found another good site for this discussion to examine. http://www.Eridu.co.uk
Apparently, Hancock and his friends have since recanted their theory on the age of the Great Pyramid. But this site raises issues about this. Highly interesting.
I agree. Where did they get that British lady ? The whole thing was a sham, including the showing briefly of the “helicopter ” gliph when the Egyptian woman was in the necropolis talking about the boat, she points to an arch above a hallway.it looked altered maybe?