Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
Frostbite said:I was thinking more of a trans-pacific boatride.
I'll start by disproving that the Great Pyramid was built by Khufu. The only evidence pointing to that conclusion are 1) inscriptions up in the Construction Chamber and 2) a statuette of Khufu which was found in the temples surrounding the pyramids. Records indeed say that Khufu built mortuary temples and mastabas on the plateau, yet there is no mention of him actually built one of the seven wonders of the old world! I do not dismiss the possibility that such records could have been destroyed due to jaelousy or Khufu's cruel ways.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding here, one that a lot of people make. The misunderstanding is that pyramids usually contained a lot of text, specifically mentioning the king himself, or making references to him. The opposite is actually the truth - that is, after Djoser's step pyramid in the early 3rd Dynasty, and until Unas's pyramid at the end of the 5th Dynasty, there were no pyramids with decorations or inscriptions in them anywhere in Egypt. The oft-touted "lack of inscriptions" in the Great Pyramid is by no means unique - it's to be expected, and the very lack of interior decorations would indeed place the construction of the pyramid squarely in one of the three dynasties between Djoser's and Unas's reigns. But with no identifying marks, how do we know which king built which pyramid?
A second misunderstanding, held by even more people, is that pyramids are monuments in and of themselves. Pyramids were actually built as complexes - the pyramid itself, the satellite pyramids, the mortuary temples, and all related statuary, stelae, causeways, and related works are all part of the self-same monument. The pyramid's builder is identified by the inscriptions adorning the structures in front of his pyramid. Khufu's mortuary temple is worn down to the foundation, but the remains of the connecting causeway and the secondary mastabas clearly identify Khufu by name; therefore, the pyramid connected with them should be his.
Frostbite said:Concerning the Construction Chambers red ochre paint writings, there was a certain amount of secrecy during Vyse's excursions. Many men were fired from his team for knowing too much, the name Khufu is mis-spelled "Re-ufu", and I believe Vyse wrote these himself. All of the Construction Chamber's walls feature writings, except for the east wall, which was partly blown apart by Vyse with dynamite.
Vyse's wheelings and dealings are not necessarily indicative of fraud on his part; but it doesn't matter. His findings are of subdued importance now that more definitive evidence in the form of the mastaba village and causeway inscriptions identifying Khufu (using his properly spelled name) has been unearthed and studied.
Frostbite said:There is enough evidence however to believe that Khufu adopted the Great Pyramid as his own.
- Cement found between some of the Great Pyramid's blocks contained straw particles carbon-dated back to 3,100 BC, right around when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified under Narmer.
I'd need a source before I can argue this point.
Frostbite said:- Unlike Menkaure and Sneferu, Khufu and Chephren are never credited for building their pyramids. They are however credited for building mortuary temples.
Menkaure and Sneferu are associated with their respective pyramids in the exact same way Khufu and Khefren are - related stelae, mortuary temples, and/or valley temples which feature their names. If mentions of Khufu's name on structures outside his pyramid are not enough to identify the pyramid as his, then no pyramid built between Djoser's and Unas's can be positively identified as belonging to any particular king. The pyramids are all identified through objects associated directly with them. There is enough independent evidence that this is simply the way things were in the Old Kingdom.
Frostbite said:- The Great Pyramid does not fit Egyptian dynastic history. The builders used revolutionary features (such as advanced portcullis systems, a "King's Chamber" surrounded by granite walls, an all-around over-engineered design, etc.) which were never found in later pyramid designs. In some cases, features were found to replicate those at Giza, but with a negligeable quality.
This is indicative of nothing but old-fashioned R&D and subsequent results. And Khefren's pyramid cannot compare in the least to Khufu's - the internal layout is completely different, and the pyramid is imperfect. This makes it obvious that two different sets of engineers built those two pyramids.
Frostbite said:- The use of monoliths is contrary to practical uses, and is found exclusively at Giza. The weight of the blocks average at 2.5 tons, and the biggest blocks are made of granite and reach 80 tons. Other pyramids throughout the world use much smaller blocks and mud bricks.
This is easily explained by the presence of nearby quarries and the ambitious designs of the planners involved.
Frostbite said:- A pyramid design can be found on the Narmer palette. Some say it depicts a raft (?) but it appears clear to me that a rectangle (Upper and Lower Egypts united) containing a pyramid symbol in its upper part could mean the Giza plateau.
The entire symbol, including the rectangle, is of indeterminate meaning. The rectangle certainly is not known to represent Upper and Lower Egypt united, as it appears nowhere else in that context.
Frostbite said:Anyway, here's an incomplete list of similarities between the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan and the Great Pyramid of Giza. I _will_ include evidence which is nothing more than speculation, for the sake of the argument.
- Both pyramids were places where "men became gods", which means they were both burial places or at least an instrumental part of a burial ceremony.
But while the Egyptian pyramid was in fact a tomb for a king, the Aztec structure was a place where common sacrifices were performed - though I suppose one could call the actual act of killing an "instrumental part" of a burial ceremony...
Frostbite said:- Both pyramids have the same base measurements, which makes me believe that 230x230 meters somehow "means" something.
The Sun Temple is ever-so-slightly longer than it is wide. In any case, the width today is the result of unfortunate and inept "restoration" attempts - these attempts have enlarged the base of the pyramid, and even added a new "top level" that was originally never there.
Frostbite said:- A universal flood myth present in practically all of the old world's mythologies, which could link whatever cultures are responsible for building both pyramids. Charles Hapgood's book, Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, is a good place to start.
Perhaps...if you want to discuss the maps of Piri Reis, Oronteus, and Bauche - as far as their inaccuracies, and how they don't depict the coast of Antarctica "without ice", I'm perfectly willing to do that also, in another thread.
Frostbite said:- The Pyramid of the Sun is associated with Quetzalcoatl, the winged serpent god. The Pyramid of Giza is associated with Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge and wisdom. There are many similarities between the two dieties, mainly that they were teachers of mathematics, architecture, numerology, etc. Both share the symbolic number of 52, both gods are sometimes associated with a serpent or winged serpent. Allow me to speculate that both dieties were the same person.
There are many assertions in this point that are simply incorrect.
First, Quetzalcoatl actually has his very own temple pyramid at Teotihuacan, but I'll allow the possibility the Pyramid of the Sun was also dedicated to him, or that he was somehow associated with it.
The pyramid of Giza is not associated with Thoth; in fact, no pyramid in the whole of Egypt is associated with Thoth or any other god for that matter, save the king himself, who was considered to be the son of Re in the Old Kingdom. However, while Re or Horus may have had cameos as statues in the king's mortuary temple, the pyramid itself would've been associated only with the king whose body resided therein.
Thoth was the teacher of writing, but not architecture; I cannot find any relation between Thoth and any specific number, and Thoth was represented most often as an Ibis-headed man, or occasionally as a baboon, but never a snake. The only Egyptian deity represented by a snake was the cobra goddess Wadjet, who was the tutelary goddess of Lower Egypt (she appears together with Nekhbet the Vulture on the crown of Egyptian kings). She had nothing to do with wisdom or architecture, nor had she wings.
In addition, Quetzalcoatl was the chief diety of the Aztecs, while Thoth was subservient to Osiris, Horus, and Re.
Frostbite said:I'd just like to close this post by saying that I am biased in believing that there is indeed a correlation between both pyramids. Whatever link exists could lead thousands of years before they were actually built, which would explain the discrepancies in building material and techniques.
What we're dealing here is a puzzle old as civilization itself, and I find it foolish to dismiss certain theories because the status quo does not agree with them. Just look at what happened to independent researchers like Rudolf Gantenbrink, Robert Schoch and Graham Hancock when they tried to investigate the structures at Giza: they got kicked out, and the director of Egyptian antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, deals with "alternative views" with something that resembles religious zeal. I just think that he should stop dealing with people as if they were children and start answering questions.
It is foolish to dismiss any theory simply because it finds itself at odds with the mainstream; however, it is equally foolish to abandon the mainstream explanation in favor of a theory which has little supporting evidence, absolutely none of which is definitive.