Orion correlation theory

Last updated
Representation of the central tenet of the Orion correlation theory: the outline of the Giza pyramids superimposed over a photograph of the stars in Orion's Belt. Orion Correlation 10,500 BC.png
Representation of the central tenet of the Orion correlation theory: the outline of the Giza pyramids superimposed over a photograph of the stars in Orion's Belt.
Orion's Belt superimposed on the Giza pyramid complex, illustrating the Orion Correlation Theory. From left to right: Alnitak on the Great Pyramid of Giza Alnilam on the pyramid of Khafre Mintaka on the pyramid of Menkaure Orion belt vs giza pyramid complex.jpg
Orion's Belt superimposed on the Giza pyramid complex, illustrating the Orion Correlation Theory. From left to right:

The Orion correlation theory is a fringe theory in Egyptology attempting to explain the arrangement of the Giza pyramid complex.

Contents

It posits that there is a correlation between the location of the three largest pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex and Orion's Belt of the constellation Orion, and that this correlation was intended as such by the original builders of the Giza pyramid complex. The stars of Orion were associated with Osiris, the god of rebirth and afterlife by the ancient Egyptians. [1] [2] [3] Depending on the version of the idea, additional pyramids can be included to complete the picture of the Orion constellation, and the Nile river can be included to match with the Milky Way.

The idea was first published in 1989 in Discussions in Egyptology, volume 13. It was the subject of the book The Orion Mystery, in 1994, [4] as well as a BBC documentary, The Great Pyramid: Gateway to the Stars (February 1994), and appears in some New Age books. [5] [6]

History

The Orion correlation theory was put forward by Robert Bauval, and mentioned that Mintaka, the dimmest and most westerly of the stars making up Orion's belt, was offset slightly from the others. Bauval then made a connection between the layout of the three main stars in Orion's belt and the layout of the three main pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex. He published this idea in 1989 in the journal Discussions in Egyptology, volume 13. The idea has been further expounded by Bauval in collaboration with pseudoscientific authors Adrian Gilbert (The Orion Mystery, 1994) and Graham Hancock ( Keeper of Genesis , 1996), as well as in their separate publications. The basis of this idea concerns the proposition that the relative positions of three main Ancient Egyptian pyramids on the Giza plateau was by design correlated with the relative positions of the three stars in the constellation of Orion which make up Orion's Belt, as these stars appeared in 10,000 BC.

Their initial ideas regarding the alignment of the Giza pyramids with Orion: "...the three pyramids were a terrestrial map of the three stars of Orion's belt" [7] are later joined with speculation about the age of the Great Sphinx. [8] According to these works, the Great Sphinx was constructed c. 10,500 BC (Upper Paleolithic), and its lion-shape is maintained to be a definitive reference to the constellation of Leo. Furthermore, the orientation and dispositions of the Sphinx, the Giza pyramids and the Nile River relative to one another on the ground is put forward as an accurate reflection or "map" of the constellations of Leo, Orion (specifically, Orion's Belt) and the Milky Way respectively. As Hancock puts it in 1998's The Mars Mystery [9] (co-authored with Bauval):

...we have demonstrated with a substantial body of evidence that the pattern of stars that is "frozen" on the ground at Giza in the form of the three pyramids and the Sphinx represents the disposition of the constellations of Orion and Leo as they looked at the moment of sunrise on the spring equinox during the astronomical "Age of Leo" (i.e., the epoch in which the Sun was "housed" by Leo on the spring equinox.) Like all precessional ages this was a 2,160-year period. It is generally calculated to have fallen between the Gregorian calendar dates of 10,970 and 8810 BC. [9]

The allusions to dates circa 12,500 years ago are significant to Hancock since this is the era he seeks to assign to the advanced progenitor civilization, now vanished, but which he contends through most of his works had existed and whose advanced technology influenced and shaped the development of the world's known civilizations of antiquity. Egyptology and archaeological science maintain that available evidence indicates that the Giza pyramids were constructed during the Fourth dynasty period (3rd millennium BC [10] ), while the exact date of the Great Sphinx is still unclear.

Critique

Arguments made by Hancock, Bauval, Anthony West and others concerning the significance of the proposed correlations have been described as a form of pseudoarchaeology. [11]

Among these are critiques from two astronomers, Ed Krupp of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Tony Fairall of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Using planetarium equipment, Krupp and Fairall independently investigated the angle between the alignment of Orion's Belt and north during the era cited by Hancock, Bauval, et al. (which differs from the angle seen today or in the third millennium BC, because of the precession of the equinoxes). They found that the angle was somewhat different from the "perfect match" thought to exist by Bauval and Hancock in the Orion correlation theory. They estimate 47–50 degrees per the planetarium measurements, compared to the 38-degree angle formed by the pyramids. [12]

Krupp pointed out that the slightly bent line formed by the three pyramids was deviated towards the north, whereas the slight "kink" in the line of Orion's Belt was deformed to the south, and to match them up one or the other of them had to be turned upside-down. [13] Indeed, this is what was done in the original book by Bauval and Gilbert (The Orion Mystery), [14] which compares images of the pyramids and Orion without revealing that the pyramids' map had been inverted. [15] Krupp and Fairall found other problems with their arguments, including noting that if the Sphinx is meant to represent the constellation of Leo, then it should be on the opposite side of the Nile (the "Milky Way") from the pyramids ("Orion"), [12] [13] that the vernal equinox c. 10,500 BC was in Virgo and not Leo, [12] and that in any case the constellations of the Zodiac originate from Mesopotamia and were completely unknown in Egypt until the much later Graeco-Roman era. [15] Ed Krupp repeated this "upside down" statement in the BBC documentary Atlantis Reborn (1999).

BBC documentary

On 4 November 1999, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled Atlantis Reborn which tested the ideas of Robert Bauval and his colleague, Graham Hancock. Bauval and Hancock afterwards complained to the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) that they had been treated unfairly.

A hearing followed and in November 2000 the BSC ruled in favour of the documentary makers on all but one of the ten principal complaints brought by Hancock and Bauval. The one complaint upheld regarded the omission of their rebuttal of a specific argument against the Orion Correlation Theory. In regard of the nine remaining principal complaints, the BSC ruled against Hancock and Bauval, concluding that they had not been treated unfairly in the criticism of their theories concerning carbon-dating, the Great Sphinx of Egypt, Cambodia's Angkor temples, Japan's Yonaguni formation and the mythical land of Atlantis. [16]

The BBC offered to broadcast a revised version of the documentary, which was welcomed by Hancock and Bauval. It was broadcast as Atlantis Reborn Again on 14 December 2000. [17] The revised documentary continued to present serious doubts about Bauval and Hancock's ideas, as held by astronomer Anthony Fairall, Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory, Egyptologist Kate Spence of Cambridge University and Eleanor Mannikka of the University of Michigan. [18]

Leo and the Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza Egypt.Giza.Sphinx.01.jpg
The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza is commonly accepted by Egyptologists to represent the likeness of King Khafre [19] who is often credited as the builder as well. This would place the time of construction somewhere between 2520 BC and 2494 BC. Because the limited evidence giving provenance to Khafre is ambiguous, the idea of who built the Sphinx, and when, continues to be the subject of debate.

An argument put forward by Bauval and Hancock to support the Orion Correlation Theory is that the construction of the Great Sphinx was begun in 10,500 BC; that the Sphinx's lion-shape is a definitive reference to the constellation of Leo; and that the layout and orientation of the Sphinx, the Giza pyramid complex and the Nile River are an accurate reflection or "map" of the constellations of Leo, Orion (specifically, Orion's Belt) and the Milky Way, respectively. [20]

A date of 10,500 BC is chosen because they maintain this is the only time in the precession of the equinoxes when the astrological age was Leo and when that constellation rose directly east of the Sphinx at the vernal equinox. They also suggest that in this epoch the angles between the three stars of Orion's Belt and the horizon were an "exact match" to the angles between the three main Giza pyramids. These propositions and other theories are used to support the overall belief in an advanced and ancient, but now vanished, global progenitor civilization.

The supposition that the Sphinx is far older has received very limited support from geologists. Robert M. Schoch has argued that the effects of water erosion on the Sphinx and its surrounding enclosure mean that parts of the monument must originally have been carved at the latest between 7000–5000 BC. [21] Colin Reader has suggested a date only several hundred years prior to the commonly accepted date for construction. These views have been almost universally rejected by mainstream Egyptologists who, together with a number of geologists including James Harrell, Lal Gauri, John J. Sinai, and Jayanta K. Bandyopadhyay, [22] [23] stand by the conventional dating for the monument. Their analyses attribute the apparently accelerated wear on the Sphinx variously to modern industrial pollution, qualitative differences between the layers of limestone in the monument itself, scouring by wind-borne sand, or temperature changes causing the stone to crack.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zodiac</span> Area of the sky divided into twelve signs

The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Also within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts ("signs"), each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axial precession</span> Change of rotational axis in an astronomical body

In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In the absence of precession, the astronomical body's orbit would show axial parallelism. In particular, axial precession can refer to the gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation in a cycle of approximately 26,000 years. This is similar to the precession of a spinning top, with the axis tracing out a pair of cones joined at their apices. The term "precession" typically refers only to this largest part of the motion; other changes in the alignment of Earth's axis—nutation and polar motion—are much smaller in magnitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Sphinx of Giza</span> Limestone statue of a reclining sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre. The original shape of the Sphinx was cut from bedrock, and has since been restored with layers of limestone blocks. It measures 73 m (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20 m (66 ft) high from the base to the top of the head and 19 m (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches.

Pseudoarchaeology consists of attempts to study, interpret, or teach about the subject-matter of archaeology while rejecting, ignoring, or misunderstanding the accepted data-gathering and analytical methods of the discipline. These pseudoscientific interpretations involve the use of artifacts, sites or materials to construct scientifically insubstantial theories to strengthen the pseudoarchaeologists' claims. Methods include exaggeration of evidence, dramatic or romanticized conclusions, use of fallacious arguments, and fabrication of evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Hancock</span> British writer (born 1950)

Graham Bruce Hancock is a British writer who promotes pseudoscientific theories about ancient civilizations and hypothetical lost lands. Hancock proposes that an advanced civilization with spiritual technology existed during the last Ice Age until it was destroyed following comet impacts around 12,000 years ago. He speculates that survivors of this cataclysm passed on their knowledge to primitive hunter-gatherers around the world, giving rise to all the earliest known civilizations. Hancock's investigations of archaeological evidence, myths and historical documents superficially resemble investigative journalism, but they lack accuracy, consistency and impartiality. Relevant experts define his work as pseudoarchaeology and pseudohistory because it is biased towards preconceived conclusions by ignoring context, misrepresenting sources, cherry picking, and withholding critical counter-evidence. Hancock portrays himself as a culture hero who fights the 'dogmatism' of academics, presenting his work as more valid than professional archaeology. He has not submitted his writings for scholarly peer review and they have not been published in academic journals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orion's Belt</span> Asterism of three stars within the constellation of Orion

Orion's Belt is an asterism in the constellation of Orion. Other names include the Belt of Orion, the Three Kings, and the Three Sisters. The belt consists of three bright and easily identifiable collinear star systems – Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka – nearly equally spaced in a line, spanning an angular size of ~140′ (2.3°).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giza pyramid complex</span> Archaeological site near Cairo, Egypt

The Giza pyramid complex in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between c. 2600 – c. 2500 BC. The site also includes several temples, cemeteries, and the remains of a workers' village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramidology</span> Various pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids

Pyramidology refers to various religious or pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, most often the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Some "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian America, and the temples of Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bauval</span> Egyptian writer

Robert Bauval is an Egyptian writer and lecturer, perhaps best known for the fringe Orion Correlation Theory regarding the Giza pyramid complex.

<i>Fingerprints of the Gods</i> 1995 book by Graham Hancock

Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization is a 1995 pseudoarcheology book by British writer Graham Hancock, which contends that an advanced civilization existed in prehistory, one which served as the common progenitor civilization to all subsequent known ancient historical ones. The author proposes that sometime around the end of the last ice age this civilization ended in cataclysm, but passed on to its inheritors profound knowledge of such things as astronomy, architecture and mathematics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall of Records</span> Mythical library under the Great Sphinx of Giza

The Hall of Records is a purported ancient library that is claimed to exist underground near the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt. The concept originated with claims made by Edgar Cayce, an American who claimed to be clairvoyant and was a forerunner of the New Age movement. He said in the 1930s that refugees from Atlantis built the Hall of Records at Giza to preserve their knowledge. Cayce's assertions had many precursors, particularly the pseudohistorical theories about Atlantis that Ignatius Donnelly promulgated in the late 19th century, as well as claims about hidden passages at Giza that date back to medieval times.

The Indestructibles was the name given by ancient Egyptian astronomers to two bright stars which, at that time, could always be seen circling the North Pole. The name is directly related to Egyptian belief in constant North as a portal to heaven for pharaohs, and the stars' close association with eternity and the afterlife. These circumpolar stars are now known as Kochab, in the bowl of Ursa Minor or, the Little Dipper, and Mizar, in Ursa Major, at the middle of the handle of the Big Dipper.

The Upuaut Project was a scientific exploration of the so-called "air shafts" of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was built as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. The Upuaut Project was led by Rudolf Gantenbrink under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo during three campaigns. According to Bauval, it was "marshalled into two stages: the first stage, to improve ventilation in the Great Pyramid using the shafts in the King's Chamber, and the second stage to explore the presumed 'abandoned' shafts in the Queen's Chambers." The latter was accomplished by sending a miniature mobile robot designed by Rudolph Gantenbrink, named Upuaut-2, into the shafts.

<i>From Atlantis to the Sphinx</i> Pseudohistory book by Colin Wilson

From Atlantis to the Sphinx: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of the Ancient World is a 1996 book about the Great Sphinx of Giza by British author Colin Wilson. Wilson proposes that the Sphinx was constructed by a technologically advanced people "nearly 10,000 years before Egyptologists have hypothesized" by the same people who provided plans for the construction of the pyramids of Egypt, Central and South America.

<i>The Mysterious Origins of Man</i> Pseudoarchaeological television special

The Mysterious Origins of Man is a pseudoarchaeological television special that originally aired on NBC on February 25, 1996. Hosted by Charlton Heston, the program presents the fringe theory that mankind has lived on the Earth for tens of millions of years, and that mainstream scientists have suppressed the fossil evidence for this. Some material included was based on Forbidden Archeology, a 1993 book written by Hindu creationists Michael Cremo and Richard L. Thompson about anomalous archeological finds reported mainly in early scientific journals. The film covers topics such as The Paluxy tracks, the Zuiyo-maru carcass, the Missing Link, the Java Man, Lucy, Tiwanaku, Stonehenge, the Giza pyramids, the Piri Reis map, Atlantis, and the Pole shift hypothesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphinx water erosion hypothesis</span> Fringe theory on the age of the Great Sphinx of Giza

The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is a fringe claim, contending that the Great Sphinx of Giza and its enclosing walls eroded primarily due to ancient floods or rainfalls, attributing their creation to Plato's lost civilization of Atlantis over 11,500 years ago.

John Anthony West was an American author and lecturer and a proponent of the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis. His early career was as a copywriter in Manhattan and science fiction writer. He received a Hugo Award Honorable Mention in 1962. After recovering from cancer, West died from pneumonia at the age of 85.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeocryptography</span> Pseudoscientific study of ancient monuments

Archaeocryptography is the attempt to decode an ancient monument or structure by supposing an underlying mathematical order beneath the proportions, size, and placement to find any re-occurring or unusual data in respect to that which is being studied, or within another monument or structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star shaft</span> Pyramid engineering feature

"Star shafts", or sometimes "air shafts", commonly refers to two narrow ducts leading out of the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It may also refer to two similar shafts in the walls of the Queen's Chamber, though these are discussed less frequently due to being blocked off on both the outside and inside of the pyramid.

<i>The Pyramids of Giza: Facts, Legends and Mysteries</i> 2006 book by Jean-Pierre Corteggiani

The Pyramids of Giza: Facts, Legends and Mysteries is a 2006 illustrated monograph by French Egyptologist Jean-Pierre Corteggiani. The book was published on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of 'Découvertes Gallimard', together with Néron : Le mal-aimé de l'Histoire, L'affaire Qumrân : Les découvertes de la mer Morte and a new edition of À la recherche de l'Égypte oubliée.

References

  1. ↑ The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology, Edited by Donald B. Redford, p302-307, Berkley, 2003, ISBN   0-425-19096-X
  2. ↑ Mackenzie, Donald A. (1907). "Triumph of the Sun God". Egyptian Myth and Legend. Gresham Pub. Co. pp. 167–168. ISBN   978-0-517-25912-2.
  3. ↑ "Orion". Constellationsofwords.com. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  4. ↑ Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert, The Orion Mystery: Unlocking The Secrets of the Pyramids (London: Heinemann, 1994). ISBN   0-434-00074-4
  5. ↑ Adrian Gilbert (2001). Signs in the sky: the astrological & archaeological evidence for the birth of a new age. Three Rivers Press. pp. 61–66. ISBN   978-0-609-80793-4.
  6. ↑ Philip Coppens (2004). The Canopus Revelation: The Stargate of the Gods and the Ark of Osiris. Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 30. ISBN   978-1-931882-26-2.
  7. ↑ Fingerprints of the Gods , Hancock, 1995, p. 375
  8. ↑ Keeper of Genesis , Hancock and Bauval, 1996, 1997, in the US published as The Message of the Sphinx.
  9. 1 2 Hancock, Graham; Bauval, Robert; Grigsby, John (1998). The Mars Mystery: A Warning from History that Could Save Life on Earth. Penguin. p. 189. ISBN   9780140271751 . Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  10. ↑ (January 21, 2004) (2006) The Seven Wonders. The Great Pyramid of Giza Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine .
  11. ↑ Fagan, Garrett G. (2006). "Diagnosing pseudoarchaeology". In Fagan, Garrett G. (ed.). Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. Psychology Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN   978-0-415-30592-1 . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 Fairall, A. (1 June 1999). "Precession and the layout of the ancient Egyptian pyramids". Astronomy & Geophysics. 40 (3): 3.4. doi: 10.1093/astrog/40.3.3.4 .
  13. 1 2 Krupp, E.C. (February 1997). "Pyramid marketing schemes". Sky & Telescope. 93 (2): 64.
  14. ↑ Bauval, Robert; Gilbert, Adrian Geoffrey (Aug 16, 1994). The Orion mystery: unlocking the secrets of the Pyramids . Crown. ISBN   9780517599037 . Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. 1 2 Krupp, Ed (2002). "Astronomical Integrity at Giza". The Antiquity of Man. Archived from the original on 2018-06-02. Retrieved 2006-08-08.
  16. ↑ Corporation, British Broadcasting. "BBC – Science & Nature – Horizon – Atlantis Reborn Again".
  17. ↑ Corporation, British Broadcasting. "BBC – Science & Nature – Horizon – Atlantis Reborn Again".
  18. ↑ Corporation, British Broadcasting. "BBC – Science & Nature – Horizon – Atlantis Reborn Again".
  19. ↑ Zahi Hawass, The Secrets of the Sphinx: Restoration Past and Present, page 24 (Columbia University Press, 1999). ISBN   977-424-492-3
  20. ↑ British Broadcasting Corporation. "BBC – Science & Nature – Horizon – Atlantis Reborn Again" . Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Schoch, Robert (1999). The Date of the Great Sphinx of Giza. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  22. ↑ K. Lal Gauri, John J. Sinai, and Jayanta K. Bandyopadhyay, "Geologic Weathering and Its Implications on the Age of the Sphinx". Geoarchaeology, Vol. 10, No. 2 (April 1995), pp. 119–133
  23. ↑ James A. Harrell, "The Sphinx Controversy: Another Look at the Geological Evidence," KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 1994), pp. 70–74.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.