Pyramid Quest (46 page)

If the Great Pyramid can be attributed to the reign of the pharaoh Khufu, then the dating of the Great Pyramid is essentially synonymous with the dating of Khufu’s reign. Baines and Málek (1980) give the reign of Khufu as 2551-2528 B.C. Other researchers have given the reign of Khufu as “about 4748-4685 B.C.” (Petrie, 1923,
History
) or, on the extreme young side, as the tenth century B.C. (Wathen, 1843, p. 64). Lepre (1990, p. 61) gives Khufu’s reign as 2789-2767 B.C. Pochan (1978, p. xi), according to his “reestablished” Egyptian chronology, dates the Great Pyramid to 4800 B.C. and gives the reign of Khufu (referred to as “Suphis I” in his table, p. 263) as 4829-4766 B.C. Taseos (1990), basically adopting the nineteenth-century dating scheme of Lepsius for the various dynasties, estimates the date for the Great Pyramid as 3104 B.C. El Mahdy (2003, p. 26) suggests that the Fourth Dynasty may have begun about 2450 B.C. and that Khufu’s father and predecessor ruled for 24 years (p. 51); thus the Great Pyramid would date to circa 2425 B.C. While not giving me actual dates, in a conversation with Zahi Hawass on the Giza Plateau, December 5, 2003, he told me that recent evidence suggest that Khufu reigned for 32 or 33 years.

Smyth (1877) dates the Great Pyramid to 2170 B.C. on the basis of his calculation that Alpha Draconis would shine down the Descending Passage when it crossed the meridian below the north celestial pole in that year. Proctor (1883) suggests a date of around 3440 to 3350 B.C. for the base or lower portion of the Great Pyramid, based on a similar analysis (see hereafter). Macnaughton (1932) accepts the theory of Proctor (1883) that the Great Pyramid was built in two stages: the lower portion, which served as an astronomical observatory, and the upper portion, which closed it over. On the basis of astronomical evidence and his interpretations of such, Macnaughton (1932, p. 98) dates the base of the Great Pyramid, up through the Grand Gallery, to about 5600-5100 B.C.

Radiocarbon dating of organic materials in the mortar of the Great Pyramid has tended to give dates one to a few centuries earlier than the now standard date of circa, 2551-2528 B.C. (Baines and Málek, 1980; see discussion in Schoch with McNally, 2003, pp. 14-16). Farrell (2003, p. 52) dismisses even the theoretical use of carbon dating, “since radiation occurring within the structure at any time would massively distort any obtained results,” and Farrell believes that the Great Pyramid was the target of a nuclear war, among other things (see further discussion hereafter).

Many “unorthodox” or “revisionist” analyses of the Great Pyramid place it in remotest antiquity (e.g., Farrell, 2001, 2003; DeSalvo, 2003). According to the Edgar Cayce readings, the Great Pyramid was built in 10,490 B.C. (Lehner, 1974, p. 131; see Robinson, 1958, p. 32, who says that the Great Pyramid was begun in 10,490 B.C. and completed in 10,390 B.C.). Ralph Ellis (cited in Brennan, 2001, p. 39), on the basis of supposed erosion rates and temporal scaling of the paving stones around the Great Pyramid and other structures, dates the Giza complex to 38,000 B.C. I disagree with these results; I don’t believe Ellis has taken human-induced damage and other factors adequately into account. On the basis of her research, as yet unpublished, the Argentinian math teacher and astronomer Carmen Cusó has speculated that the Great Pyramid (or a core structure later incorporated into the Great Pyramid) was built in two stages, separated by one precessional cycle of 25,920 years (personal e-mail correspondence from Carmen Cusó to Robert Schoch, November 26, 2004, and December 10, 2004). Thus the she dates the earliest portions of the Great Pyramid to some 30,000 years ago or more.

In my assessment, no single date can be assigned to the Great Pyramid as a whole, since I believe it was built in stages: (1) first the Descending Passage and Subterranean Chamber were built into a preexisting natural “sacred mound” that now underlies and is within the Great Pyramid’s superstructure; (2) the base of the Great Pyramid, up through the Grand Gallery, was built and used for some period of time as an ancient astronomical observatory; (3) the King’s Chamber, Relieving Chambers, and superstructure above the Grand Gallery were built, and the interior of the Great Pyramid, other than the Descending Passage and Subterranean Chamber, was sealed up; (4) the Well and access to the upper chambers of Great Pyramid were opened or reopened; (5) Al Mamoun’s tunnel was cut into the Great Pyramid.

I tentatively suggest the following as possible dates for these various stages.

1a. The preexisting mound held a special, sacred position back in the midst of Predynastic times, at least circa 5000 B.C. or earlier, contemporaneous with the earliest stage of the Great Sphinx (see Schoch with McNally, 2003).

1b. The Descending Passage and Subterranean Chamber were carved in Predynastic times, perhaps in the mid-fourth millennium B.C. (Proctor, 1883, p. 59, suggests that Alpha Draconis would have shined down the Descending Passage in 3440 B.C., although on p. 100 he gives the date as around 3350 B.C.)

1c. The core of the lower portion of the base, up through the level of the floor of the Queen’s Chamber, may have been built at around the same time as the Descending Passage and Subterranean Chambers were carved out. The final, finished casing stones on the base and the rest of the pyramid may not have been put in place until later, during the final completion of the Great Pyramid during the Fourth Dynasty.

2. The upper portion of the base of the Great Pyramid, up through the level of the floor of the King’s Chamber, was built in Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty times, quite possibly under Khufu. The orientations of the shafts originating from the Queen’s Chamber would support this contention.

3. Construction of the King’s Chamber, Relieving Chambers, and superstructure, along with the sealing of the Great Pyramid above the Descending Passage and Subterranean Chamber, took place later in Khufu’s reign, and was perhaps even completed after he was deceased.

4. The Well and access to the upper chambers was opened or reopened in ancient times, perhaps during the Middle Kingdom, or possibly not until the New Kingdom, or even the Late Period. At any rate, once access to the upper chambers was regained in ancient times, the interior of the Great Pyramid was quite possibly used for ritualistic and initiatory purposes, and the final Saite Recension (c. 600 B.C.) of the
Book of the Dead
(see the following section) may have been based in part on the use of the Great Pyramid, such that the
Book of the Dead
was reworked to conform to the interior of the Great Pyramid. It was during the time of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (or Saite Period) that the cult of Khufu was revived (Hawass,
Update to Petrie,
1990, p. 98).

5. In the ninth century A.D., Al Mamun’s tunnel was cut into the Great Pyramid.

The Pyramid Texts are hieroglyphic inscriptions found on the walls of the sarcophagus chamber, and also usually on the walls of the antechamber and horizontal passage, and occasionally in the accompanying vestibule, in pyramids of the Fifth and Sixth dynasties (late Old Kingdom), such as those of Unas (also known as Wenis, Fifth Dynasty) and Teti, Pepy I, Mernere, and Pepy II (Sixth Dynasty). Such texts have also been found in the pyramids of queens and in private tombs. So-called Pyramid Texts have been found dating to the Middle Kingdom, and also as late as the Late Period (Saitic Period; see Grinsell, 1947, p. 84). Most of the Pyramid Texts consist of “utterances,” which were spells believed to have been spoken by the priests during the mortuary rituals. Maspero discovered the first Pyramid Texts in the pyramid of Pepy I in 1880; Breasted (1912) discusses the Pyramid Texts, and a recent compilation and translation is provided by Faulkner (1969).

During the Middle Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts were supplemented by more texts and spells, written using either hieroglyphics or the “cursive” hieratic script within the coffins of officials and commoners (as opposed to the Pyramid Texts that had at first been restricted to the tombs of royalty). These texts are, accordingly, commonly called the Coffin Texts. One of the larger compositions within the general category of the Coffin Texts is referred to as “the Book of the Two Ways.” It was the Coffin Texts that were the direct predecessors of the various texts written on papyri and buried with the deceased, beginning in New Kingdom times (the earliest such papyri date to the mid-fifteenth century B.C.) and collectively referred to as the
Book of the Dead
(Carol Andrews, introduction to Faulkner, 1990; see Budge, 1967 [1895] for an earlier translation of the
Book of the Dead
). Early versions of the
Book of the Dead,
with little regularity in the order and number of chapters in any particular copy, are often referred to as the “Theban Recension,” whereas the
Book of the Dead
papyri of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and later are characterized by a regular order and number of the chapters and are commonly known as the Saite Recension (Andrews, introduction to Faulkner, 1990).

Although the earliest known recorded Pyramid Texts date to the late Fifth Dynasty (c. 24th century B.C.), they include some material that originated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years earlier. For instance, there are allusions and references to burial practices dating back to Predynastic times, before circa 3100 B.C., and also to earliest Dynastic times. The Pyramid Texts consist of hymns and supplications to the gods, magical recitations, material referring to the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony performed on the mummy or certain tomb statues, and various other rituals carried out on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the deceased. Andrews (introduction to Faulkner 1990, p. 11) says: “The
Pyramid Texts
also reflect a belief in an astral afterlife among the circumpolar stars which predates the ideas of the pyramid-builders who believed in a solar afterlife spent in the company of the sun-god” (italics in the original). In effect, Andrews is arguing that the Pyramid Texts contained beliefs older than and different from those actually held by the pharaohs who occurred earlier, in the Fourth Dynasty for instance, or even by those in whose pyramids they are found, a theory held by many Egyptologists but not universally accepted. Another interpretation is that the pyramid builders of the Fourth Dynasty placed more emphasis on the stars than has generally been accepted. The possible use of the Great Pyramid as an astronomical observatory before “completion,” as suggested by Proctor (1883), supports the latter view.

Following an emphasis on the stars, reflected in the Pyramid Texts, and then the apparent ascension of the supremacy of the sun god, with whom the deceased might travel through the sky and the underworld, by the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts, the god Osiris had taken a prominent role as the ruler of the underworld, judge of the deceased, and the entity with whom the dead were to be joined or assimilated. It should be noted, however, that Osiris is often mentioned even in the Pyramid Texts, as is the sun god (see Faulkner, 1969). By the Middle Kingdom, it was generally believed that the deceased would have to carry out various daily and agricultural tasks, and the shabti, or ushabti, figurines were buried with the deceased to carry out manual labor in the “Field of Reeds.” In the
Book of the Dead
found in New Kingdom and later times, the three differing traditions of (1) an astral afterlife, (2) the supremacy of the sun god, and (3) the prominence of Osiris as ruler of the dead are found (Andrews, introduction to Faulkner, 1990, p. 12). The title “Book of the Dead” is a modern conception; the ancient Egyptians referred to the texts as the “Book of Coming Forth by Day,” in reference to the idea of the spirits of the deceased being granted the freedom to continue to live and “come and go as they pleased in the afterlife” (Andrews, introduction to Faulkner, 1990, p. 12).

Different etymologies have been proposed for the word “pyramid,” as summarized by Pochan (1978, p. xiv). According to some, it is derived from the Greek root
pyr
(fire), as a pyramid resembles the shape of a flame (Sandys, 1621, p. 127). It has been proposed that the word derives from the Hebrew
bur a-mit
(the vault of the dead, or the tomb; Pochan, 1978, p. xiv). Or
pyramid
may be derived from the Greek version of the Egyptian
peri m uisi
(or
per-em-us,
see Herz-Fischler, 2000, p. 38), a mathematical phrase found in the Rhind Papyrus, possibly referring to the ridge of the pyramid where two sides meet. Ebers ([1879-1888?], 1:117 n.) says: “The hieroglyphic word ‘per-am-us’ (edge of the Pryamid) is the supposed origin of the word to which many fanciful derivations have been given. The solid content was called ‘abumir,’ the word ‘peramus’ meaning the four lines of the angles of the face or edge.” Pochan (1978, p. xv) says that the ancient hieroglyphic word for pyramid was
mr
(stairway), but he does not think this is the derivation of our word
pyramid.
Rather, Pochan believes it may derive from the Egyptian
pr m it
(abode of laments, or house of the dead), or possibly
pr m mwt
(abode of the sarcophagus). Petrie (1911, p. 683, n.1) says: “The vertical height [of an ancient Egyptian pyramid] was named by the Egyptians
pir-em-us
. . . hence the Greek form
pyramis,
pl.
pyramides
(Herod[otus].), used unaltered in the English of Sandys (1615 [see Sandys, 1621, pp. 127-129]), from which the singular
pyramid
was formed” (italics in the original).

D. H. Lewis (1980, p. 9) says “the Greek word ‘pyramidos’ . . . is derived from a composite of Phygian and Phoenician form of ‘Purimmiddah’ of the Chaldeau . . . [these ellipses in the original] a Hebrew word for ‘Urimmiddin.’ . . . The word ‘Urim’ means ‘Lights’ or a revelation; and ‘middin’ carries the meaning of measures; thus denoting a revelation in measures.”

Hall (1945, 2003, p. 118) notes that a popular derivation of the word
pyramid
is from the Greek “fire,” as noted earlier, “signifying that it is the symbolic representation of the One Divine Flame, the life of every creature” (see also Hall, 1922). Hall (1945, 2003) further notes that John Taylor (1859) believed the word
pyramid
to mean “a measure of wheat” (from the Greek
puros,
wheat, and
metron ,
measure; Bonwick, 1877, p. 22), and C. Piazzi Smyth (1864) thought it might derive from the Coptic for “a division of ten” (
pi-re-mit
; Bonwick, 1877, p. 22). H. S. Lewis (1936, 1939, 1945, 1994, p. 95) writes: