Gizacorrelation

Fig. 4 The solstice and equinox points on the eastern and western horizons, when viewed from a centered and stationary position.

The obliquity of the ecliptic is a repeating sun cycle that can be used to determine the time of year by noting the sun’s horizon point within the ecliptic range. The changes in sunset and sunrise positions on the horizons must be viewed from a fixed position in order to see the horizon points changing day by day and month by month.

A marker on the horizon due east or west of the fixed viewing position helps to monitor the changing horizon points of the sun on the horizon in relation to the set marker. The position of change each day is slight, but in the course of a year the distance between the maximum north and maximum south sun positions on the eastern and western horizons is substantial (a 63-degrees angle markes this distance when in Egypt.)

The sun’s journey along the horizon at contact points (for the Northern Hemisphere) is seen at the southernmost point for winter solstice on December 21 and slowly shifts horizon points north until it reaches its northernmost position for summer solstice on June 21. The two equinox positions of the sun on the horizons occur when the sun is in the center of the ecliptic journey …or in other words, when the Earth’s equator precisely aligns with the sun. This occurs twice a year between March 20 and 22 for spring or “vernal” equinox and between September 21 and 23 for fall or “autumnal” equinox. The days of equinox change from year to year with the official days of the equinoxes being the day in March and September when the sun appears above and below the horizon for an equal number of hours. The word equinox is taken from the old French word “Equinox”, which was in-turn derived from the root Latin word “Aequinoctium” …which literally means “Aequi”=equal, and “nox” meaning “night.” …“equal-night”

The photos taken by Anthony Ayiomamitis (Fig. 5) were taken on location in Athens, Greece. His photographic talents and patience have produced a perfect example of the sun’s changing horizon positions at sunrise in the course of one year. The distance of range between the (north-south) sun positions is very clear from this set observation point and line of sight. To a viewer facing east - the azimuth of winter solstice sunrise is in the south (right of center) on the eastern horizon. The two equinox sun positions share the same centered location and the azimuth for summer solstice sunrise is in the north (left of center). In contrast, to an observer who is facing west and monitoring sunset positions on the western horizon, winter solstice is still in the south (but is now left of center), and summer solstice is still in the north but is now right of center. In other words the eastern and western points are a mirror of each other.

The ecliptic motion of the sun on the horizon when viewed from a fixed position reveals a drifting motion that occurs in a back-and-forth pattern, traveling north and south on the eastern and western horizons in the course of one year. The sun’s movement on the horizons is constant with the exception of the stationary appearance of the sun while in the extreme solstice sun positions. At solstice times the sun appears to remain in the same horizon position for five days as Earth swings around the Sun. This phenomenon actually gives the solstice sun positions their name, as the word solstice is an old French term from the Latin word portmanteaux-root “solstitium”. This word combines “sol” (sun), plus the past-participle- stem “stit-” or “sistere” meaning “to stand still.” Often the term “standstill” is used to define the solstice sun positions that flank each end of the ecliptic range of the horizons.

The discovery of Egyptian ecliptic symbolism began as a very simple observation of a sunset as described at the beginning of this chapter. The sun forming the image of the solar-boat in nature sparked the idea which led to years of research and six more trips to Egypt. By documenting sun locations and comparing them to horizons, pyramids and temple structures, a new-realization of Egyptian symbolism and mythology began to form. It turns out that the solar-boat is indeed the symbolic image for the sun’s ecliptic motion as it traveles north and south on the horizons. By understanding the solar-boat and rope together as the symbolic representation of the sun’s ecliptic journey on the horizon, the puzzles of ancient Egypt begin to unfold, revealing the sacred wisdom of the ancient Egyptian culture as seen in the art.

One of the best ways to measure time is by observing the cyclical shift of the sun traveling the ecliptic range of the horizon. It sounds simple enough except that there is a third sun cycle called “precession” which is the wobble of the Earth around an imaginary vertical center. One gyration takes approximately 26,000 years, although another source claims the cycle takes 24,000 years. The affect this cycle has on sun observations from earth is that the entire ecliptic range as a whole shifts to the south for 12,000-13,000 years and then shifts north for 12,000-13,000. The shift of the ecliptic range is very slight, reported to gyrate only one degree every two thousand years so in this case it takes thousands of years for this cycle to cause misalignments with megalithic structures. This misalignment is what is seen today occurring at Giza when the equinox and solstice points are compared to the three pyramid structures when viewed from the fixed reference point of theValley Temple.

Fig. 6 Today’s equinox and solstice sunset positions in relation to the pyramids and the Great Sphinx when viewed from the east.

The ancient Egyptian year begins with the summer solstice sunset, a time when the sun is in its extreme northern position on the eastern and western horizons. After this five-day standstill, the sun’s setting and rising points shift to the south on the horizon each day until the sun reaches the southern extreme at winter solstice standstill. An example of the sun traveling the ecliptic range of the horizon can be made using the three pyramids of Giza as fixed horizon markers in the west.

When comparing the three pyramids of Giza to the present sunset positions at times of winter solstice, equinox, and summer solstice the alignments are slightly off. Fig. 6 depicts today’s sun positions showing the winter-solstice sun point (left) with graphic spheres representing the current equinox and summer-solstice sun positions. The photos were taken from a rooftop due east of the Valley Temple and Great Sphinx (from the Sphinx Guest House). From this location the sun sets left of the Khufu Pyramid for summer solstice, left of the Khephre pyramid for equinoxes, and left of the Menkare pyramid for winter solstice. The distances between the pyramids are such that the alignments are consistently off from the center of the three pyramids. The reason the 3rd (Menkare) Pyramid appears to be off by a greater degree is because the pyramid is smaller, but in fact the distance is still off consistently from the center point of the pyramid. In other words if the Menkhare Pyramid was the same size as Khaphre and Khufu then the sun point would also be on the left corner of the pyramid. I believe there are several reasons why the solstice and equinox sun points made alignments with the center of the Giza Pyramids at the time of their inception which is explained in chapter two.

For now explanations why the pyramids are not aligning today are examined. One reason is the consideration of precession. The drift of the solar ecliptic range to the south over a long period of time is one reason why the alignments are consistently off. A second reason to consider is the drift of the continental land mass to the north, and a third reason the alignments are off, specifically in the photographs, is due to the incorrect distance of the pyramid from which the pictures are taken and also includes the factor of incorrect elevation. In working with the theory and considering several observation points it has come to my conclusion that the intended viewing point used by the Egyptians for observing sun alignments with the three pyramids was the Sphinx and Valley Temple at the end of the Khaphre Pyramid causeway. The Valley Temple actually connects to the Sphinx Temple by the causeway and the Sphinx Temple faces the Great Sphinx so the view is eye to eye, face to face with the Great Sphinx while facing west. The Valley Temple, Sphinx Temple and Causeway’s point of reference are located on a lower terrace of the plateau where as the photographs are taken high on a rooftop equal to the horizon plane.

An aerial photograph is now used to calculate the lines-of-sight from the Valley Temple’s point of reference. Today’s equinox sun points (shown in solid lines in Fig.8) do not change when moving the viewing position from the rooftop to the Valley Temple because moving closer due west does not change the equinox line-of-sight, only precession, tectonic drift, and elevation can change the equinox line of sight. Moving farther west does change the azimuths of the two outer solstice alignments and in this case the sun points move more in-alignment with the outer pyramids and become consistent by degree with findings for the center marker. From the Valley Temple, our point of reference, the correlations between the three pyramids, two solstice sun points, and shared equinox sunset point become consistently misaligned with each other. This consistency is a sure sign that the Valley Temple is the ideal viewing point. To clarify what was said above the photographs from the Sphinx Guest House rooftop are slightly off. The center point is correct but the outer winter solstice and summer solstice sun points are slightly wider than calculations made from the Valley temple.

Seeing sun alignments with the pyramids from the Valley Temple has been impossible for me. The Giza Plateau closes at 5:00 which is before sunset. It therefore is necessary to use aerial photography to calculate the azimuths, which is quite accurate when compared to most maps, but does not take into account the elevations of the uneven terrain. In considering that the pyramids themselves and the Giza Plateau are much higher than the Valley Temple I have placed a dashed-line to the left of the pyramid apexes in fig .8 to represent the approximate past azimuth alignment with the center of each pyramid. The difference is off today by approximately 3-derees south. With solar procession considered this 3-degree discrepancy rolls back the solar clock to approximately 6,000 years ago. However, when considering that the north-northeastern continental drift of the African Plate must also be taken into consideration, the accepted date for the pyramids 4,500 years could be absolutely correct. When both tectonic shift and solar procession are taken into account the combined movement in opposite directions has shifted by roughly the distance of one football field or half the distance of the Khaphre Pyramid over the past 4,500 years, which does indeed place the sun points on the southern corner of the Khufu and Khephre pyramids.

The angle of Khephre’s causeway road is another azimuth to consider for sun alignments (represented by the tiny dot- line in fig. 8) because it makes logical since that the causeway is marking the azimuth which observes the equinox alignment not with the pyramids but with an older structure that pre-dates the pyramid construction, a structure that was built into the same unified plan as the Valley Temple and causeway, a structure that the second pyramid is currently covering by the pyramid’s outer form. If the angle of the causeway was built with the intention of marking the line of site for equinox, this would make perfect since and explain the reasons why the causeway does not run due east and centered with the Khaphre pyramid or for that matter the original structure below it. Using the causeway road as a factor for observing the equinox line-of-site, the difference between the two is approximately 10-degrees. This means that according to precessional drift the original markers were set in place 18,500 years ago when also subtracting the same 1,500 years of continental drift into the equation. This pre-dynastic sum which was worked out using the findings above is of course not the date of the pyramid construction, nor do I claim this is the date of the pre-pharaonic construction that may be below the pyramid, but what I do suggest it that there is something amiss concerning how our understanding of sun cycles work. Personally I would totally disregard these findings and forget about the causeway azimuth possibility except that there is a second ancient solar site nearby in the Persian Gulf that has the same 10-degree misalignment taking place.

It seems very odd that one half of a degree every thousand years works out to be the accepted shift of sun precession because this second archeological site, claims to be only 500 years younger than the Giza Pyramids and the site is also out-of sync with a summer solstice sun alignment by 10-degrees. Yet there are indication concerning the site that does suggest that it is a summer solstice sun marker. The 4,000 year old site is called Saar of the ancient Dilmun civilization. The sight of Sarr is located at Dilmun, Bahrain in the Persian Gulf and is today a modern island nation located off the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia and northwest of Qatar. The remains of the ancient site reveal similar sun misalignments to what is found at Giza. The ruins contain a rare triangle-shaped room that is oriented towards the summer solstice sunset position, but as said before, the alignment is off today by 10-degrees.

A Saudi Arabian archeologist Nabiel Al Shaikh has been studying the site and has had several articles published concerning his findings. His observations suggest that the Dilmun calendar was based on the movement of the sun and marks the start of the new year with the horizon point of summer solstice, a time of new year which coincides with the Egyptian mindset.

Interestingly the written records of Sarr initially come from ancient Sumerian text, and also from the Epic of Gilgamesh which connects Sarr to the location of the Garden of Eden. Another interesting fact is that Dilmun is the scene of the Sumerian creation myth where the Sumerian hero of the great flood Ziusudra was taken by the gods to live forever. Additionally Dilmun is written in the epic story of Enki and Ninhursang as the site at which creation occurred. The island is also described as “the place where the sun rises” and “the land of the living” which reflects similar symbology to the Egyptian records. An excavation in Iraq (ancient Samaria) have shown evidence for a great flood occurring about 4,900-4,750 years ago and attests to the creation mythology of the area. The site of Sarr was therefore founded after the documented flood date.

Unfortunately the settlement of Sarr itself has no surviving written records except for a trading seal that would have been used to mark the origins of Dilmun goods for trading purposes. The symbols found on the seal significantly depict both the sun and the moon. A 1998 report by Khazal Al Majdee mentioned in Nabiel Al Shaikh’s articles adds another interesting claim by pointing out that the word “Sarr” is actually a Sumerian word which means “cycle or year”.

To account for the 10-degree solar misalignment Nabiel al Shaikh proposes that the sands have shifted the site by this degree, but I personally feel that drifting of African and Arabian plates, that are bounded together, would more likely account for the shift occurring at both sites since the Arabian and African plates move concurrently. The red sea separating the two plates today is caused by the spreading of the Rift Valley but geologically speaking this is a young separation. The out-of-sync alignments at both Giza and Sarr could also be accountable by a more drastic sun shift, or rather Earth shift, one that we are currently unaware of, or it could be a combination of both.

If the two sites are 4,000 and 4,500 years old and both sights are misaligned by 10 degrees due to celestial and terrestrial reasons then that makes the theory for older structures below the pyramids incorrect but on the other hand maybe they are both older. Another possibility needs to be considered as well and that is that Earth’s precession is not totally understood which in some ways is absolutely true. Precession may not be consistent and steady throughout the entire cycle but may move faster and further by degree during certain phases of Earth’s elliptical wobble.