On the rocky plateau of Giza, 10 miles southwest of the centre of Cairo, stands the Great Pyramid, 'the most majestic and most mysterious monument ever erected by the hand of man' [1]. The Great Pyramid is the largest stone building on earth, and the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. Its base covers just over 13 acres, and it is composed of some 2.3 million blocks of granite and limestone, weighing from 2.5 to 70 tons apiece, which rise in 203 layers to the height of a forty-story building. The Pyramid was originally covered with 21 acres of polished, marble-like casing stones, which, shining resplendently beneath the sun's rays, earned for it the ancient title The Light.
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The Pyramid is an unrivaled feat of engineering and craftsmanship. It is aligned with the four cardinal points more accurately than any contemporary structure, including the Meridian Building at Greenwich Observatory in London. The 350-foot-long descending passage is so straight that it deviates from a central axis by less than a quarter of an inch from side to side and only one tenth of an inch up and down -- comparable with the best laser-controlled drilling being done today. The casing stones, some of which weighed over 16 tons, are so perfectly shaped and squared that the mortar-filled joint between them is just one-fiftieth of an inch -- the thickness of a human nail. Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie described such phenomenal precision as 'the finest opticians' work on a scale of acres'; work of this calibre is beyond the capabilities of modern technology. The casing stones show no tool marks and the corners are not even slightly chipped. The granite coffer in the King's Chamber is cut out of a solid block of hard red granite -- so precisely that its external volume is exactly twice its internal volume. Engineer and master craftsman Christopher Dunn rejects the theory that it could have been cut and hollowed using bronze saws set with diamond cutting points, because when pressure was applied, the diamonds would have worked their way into the much softer copper, leaving the granite virtually unscathed. In his opinion, the evidence shows that the Egyptians possessed ultra-modern tools, including tubular drills that could cut granite 500 times faster than modern drills.[2]
But that is not all. The Great Pyramid embodies an advanced knowledge of geometry, geodesy (the science of earth measurement), and astronomy. It incorporates not only the value of pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, but also the golden section, phi, found in the growth patterns of living things. For example, the angle of slope of the Pyramid's outer casing was 51.85 degrees, the tangent of which is equal to 4/pi, and the cosine to the value of the golden section. The Pyramid squares the circle: the perimeter of its square base is the same length as the circumference of a circle with a radius equal to its height. The Pyramid stands at the centre of the earth's land mass: the lines of latitude and longitude on which it lies pass through more land and less water than any others. It represents the earth's northern hemisphere on a scale of 1:43,200: its perimeter equals a half minute of latitude at the equator; the perimeter of the corner sockets equals a half minute of equatorial longitude, or 1/43,200 of the earth's circumference; and its height, including the platform, is 1/43,200 of the earth's polar radius.[3] It is only since the carrying out of satellite surveys from space in the 1970s that scientists have obtained measurements of the earth as accurate as those contained in the Pyramid. The Pyramid also embodies various astronomical data [4]. To suggest -- as most Egyptologists do -- that all this is merely a matter of 'coincidence' and 'chance' is simply laughable.
In addition to the Great Pyramid, there are two other large pyramids and six small ones (plus traces of two even tinier ones) on the Giza plateau. Most Egyptologists believe that the Great Pyramid was built about 4600 years ago by Khufu (Greek: Cheops), the second king of the 4th dynasty. His son and successor, Djedefre, is thought to have begun the pyramid at Abu Roash, 5 miles northwest of Giza; little remains of it today, and it was probably never finished. The next king, Khafre (Greek: Chephren), another of Khufu's sons, is believed to have built the Second Pyramid of Giza, the second largest stone building in the world, and Menkaure (Greek: Mycerinus), the smaller Third Pyramid. Although these two pyramids are very impressive, they do not match the craftsmanship of the Great Pyramid. Menkaure may have been preceded by Nebka, who is thought to have planned the large, unfinished pyramid at Zawyat Al Aryan, a few miles south of Giza [5]. The pyramids built for 5th dynasty kings -- supposedly just a few decades after those at Giza -- were vastly inferior in terms of size, materials, and workmanship, and such a startling loss of construction skills would be incomprehensible if true. The dozens of pyramids built by later dynasties were smaller and shoddier still.
All three Giza pyramids were allegedly built as grandiose tombs, yet none of them was found to contain the body of its presumed builder. According to one account, in 820 AD, Arab workmen, under the direction of Calif Al Mamun of Baghdad, tunnelled into the Great Pyramid (the entrance being concealed by a hinged stone), hacked their way around the granite plugs blocking access to the ascending passage (and which appear to have been built in from the start), and finally reached the 'King's' Chamber; it was completely bare except for a 'sarcophagus', which was lidless, uninscribed, and empty. However, since access to the King's Chamber can also be gained via the torturous 'well shaft', tomb theorists can still argue that Khufu's body and all the objects 'buried' with him were removed by thieves at a much earlier date. It should be borne in mind, though, that no Egyptian pyramid has ever been found to contain the body of its presumed royal builder; even sealed sarcophagi in pyramid chambers that have never been entered by tomb robbers have been found to be empty.
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Fix cites evidence to show that the quarry-marks and cartouches that have been used to attribute pyramids to kings have been misinterpreted. Some of the cartouches of 4th-dynasty kings may originally have been sacred symbols identifying different schools of religious thought, rather than primarily the names of individual pharaohs. The historically known kings Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure may well have appropriated, and possibly restored, the three Giza pyramids as their own memorial monuments, and may have been responsible for some of the surrounding auxiliary structures -- small subsidiary pyramids, temples, tombs, and boat pits -- but there is no conclusive evidence that they built the three major pyramids themselves.
'Khufu' is an abbreviated form of 'Khnum-Khufu', which means 'Khnum protects me'. The god Khnum was the divine potter who carried out the works of creation planned by Thoth. Thoth (or Djehuti) was the god of wisdom, the directing intelligence of the universe, and was known in later times as Hermes, Mercury, and Enoch. Thoth-Hermes was the inventor of the arts and sciences, the patron of the secret wisdom, and an initiator. The name was adopted by many initiated adepts, who were known as 'serpents of wisdom'; the caduceus or staff of Hermes is entwined with either one or two serpents. Khnum later became known as Kneph or Chnuphis, who was represented as a huge serpent; he stood for divine creative wisdom, and was the patron of the initiates.[10] These considerations are in keeping with the Arab legends that associate the Pyramid with Hermes.
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The online hangout MySpace.com will organize 20 concerts featuring bands promoted on its site as part of a campaign to raise awareness and money for humanitarian relief in Sudan.
The site, which grew in popularity thanks to its early adoption by emerging bands and their fans, has in recent months taken a more active role in promoting social causes, such as environmental awareness and voter registration.
"The crisis in Darfur is a global concern and as a global community we have a responsibility to take action," Chris DeWolfe, MySpace's chief executive, said in a statement. "MySpace's reach gives us an extraordinary opportunity to spread the word and empower individuals to help address the horrors in Darfur."
Some 2.5 million people have been made homeless by three years of fighting between the Sudanese government and rebel groups in the vast, arid Darfur region of western Sudan. At least another 200,000 people have been killed since hostilities erupted.
Just last week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that Darfur is creeping ever closer to catastrophe, with rape and violence on the rise and humanitarian access at its lowest level since 2004.
The concerts will take place Oct. 21. Artists include TV on the Radio in Philadelphia, Alice in Chains in Winston-Salem, N.C., Ziggy Marley in Medford, Ore., Citizen Cope in Seattle, Gov't Mule in Spokane, Wash., and Insane Clown Posse in St. Petersburg, Fla. Other concerts will take place in Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, Calif.; Melbourne, Fla.; Atlanta; Louisville, Ky.; St. Paul, Minn.; Reno, Nev.; Baltimore; Asheville, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Milwaukee; and Washington, D.C. A Canadian show will take place in Toronto.
Bands pop, rock, country and reggae, among others agreed to donate part of their ticket proceeds to Oxfam's relief efforts in Sudan and neighboring Chad.
The campaign also includes a public service announcement featuring Samuel L. Jackson. Besides MySpace, it will appear on television and in movie theaters before films released by 20th Century Fox, which like MySpace is owned by News Corp.
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