An A-Z Guide To The Search For Plato's Atlantis

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  • NEWS September 2023

    NEWS September 2023

    September 2023. Hi Atlantipedes, At present I am in Sardinia for a short visit. Later we move to Sicily and Malta. The trip is purely vacational. Unfortunately, I am writing this in a dreadful apartment, sitting on a bed, with access to just one useable socket and a small Notebook. Consequently, I possibly will not […]Read More »
  • Joining The Dots

    Joining The Dots

    I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato’s own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.Read More »
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Pyramids

Pyramids are designed and built to be very stable structures. They were first encountered in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC, known as ziggurats. Unfortunately, they were built of sun-dried mud bricks and so, over time have crumbled. These early pyramids were stepped with between two and seven tiers. Their function was ceremonial.

In August 2023, the first pyramid ever identified in the Central Asian Steppes was reported. This stepped (no pun intended) feature has been dated to the 2nd millennium BC and situated near the city of Karganda in Kazakhstan. There is also evidence of a horse cult associated with the site(fz).

Pyramids around the World

Pyramidal structures are now to be found around the globe; whether this is a consequence of diffusion or independent design is uncertain, possibly both.

For Ignatius Donnelly, the pyramids of Egypt and Central America were the results of a shared heritage originating in Atlantis. However, the millennia that separate their construction in the two regions would seem to militate against this idea. Nevertheless, in 1967 Egerton Sykes published a paper supporting diffusionism with particular reference to pyramid building on both sides of the Atlantic(fk).

Although most pyramids are four-sided, round pyramids, although fewer in number, have been identified in various parts of the world(fm).

The Mayan pyramid at Mirador in Northern Guatemala was thought to be the largest by volume in the world, at 2.8 million cubic metres, however, the Great Pyramid of Cholula is 4.45 million cubic metres(au)(bq). This is now rivalled by the Mayan pyramid at Toniná, Chiapas(bd). The Great Giza Pyramid is 2.5 million cubic metres in volume.

Even more spectacular was the 1996 discovery of pyramids on the southern Atlantic coast of Brazil dated as early as 3000 BC, predating the earliest Egyptian Pyramids by a few hundred years. However, two sites in Peru, Caral, and Sechin Bajo have claimed pyramid complexes with dates of 3500 BC(j). Very ancient pyramids have also been claimed for Crimea(af).

What is arguably the greatest concentration of pyramids in the world is to be found in the Lambayeque Valley of northern Peru, numbering 250, built of mud brick, and dated to circa 750-1100 AD. The late Philip Coppens referred to the valley in his book, The New Pyramid Age [0759] and it was also the subject of a BBC documentary(an).

Apart from Meso-America, pyramids have also been discovered as far apart as the Canaries (dx), Sicily(ga)*, Sardinia and Mauritius(k) as well as Ukraine(dw), and China(cp). Russia is claimed to have pyramids in the far east near Vladivostok(fc) and the Kola Peninsula(dc) in the west near Finland! A website by Gabriele Lukacs, dedicated to possible European pyramids is now available(g). The remains of three pyramids have also been identified on the Greek Peloponnese, one of which has been dated to 2720 BC ± 580 years. (dr)(ds)

In 2005, an ongoing debate was ignited when the Bosnian-American ‘archaeologist’ Semir Osmanagic announced that he had identified a gigantic manmade pyramid beside Visoko, 30km north of Sarajevo. Highly publicised excavations began in 2006. Readers should be aware that Osmanagic has expressed [0519] rather bizarre notions including a belief that the Maya were descendants of the Atlanteans who in turn arrived on Earth from the Pleiades!

Osmanagic has also published a fully illustrated paper on the Koh Ker pyramid in Northern Cambodia, which he claims to act as an energy amplifier(eb).

A French commentator, Douglas Moonstone, disagreed with Osmanagic’s suggested  origin for the Atlanteans suggesting instead that they came from the constellation of Orion and that the “Neanderthals fled their bases on another near planet, probably a planet of Sirius B and a planet of Alnitak, as we have seen in previous volumes, and they have saved Hopis, Sapiens, in a space station in orbit.”(cc)

On one side, we had Philip Coppens offering support for Osmanagic(cl), while on the other, an on-site investigation by Robert Schoch concluded that the Visoko ‘pyramid’ was probably not man-made!(cm).

Osmanagic updated his claims in December 2011(o) and as recently as August 2016, He was still offering a spirited defence of his views(bi).

Gigantic pyramids have also been proposed for Germany by K. Walter Haug(ab). and demonstrated on his heavily illustrated website(aj).

Maxim Yakovenko was the founder of the world-pyramids.com website(bf). in 2008. It has a range of interesting articles that relate to pyramids around the globe. Unfortunately, the news section does not appear to have been updated over the past two years.

A recent (2010) site, lists(h). the eight largest pyramids in the world. Also, a wide range of free papers, in pdf format, relating to the Giza Pyramids is available online(l).

Perhaps even more dramatic is a recent claim(q) of a pyramid older and larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza, known as Mount Sadahurip in Garut, West Java, Indonesia. However, the proliferation of step pyramids is not very well known, but Dhani Irwanto has, at least, partially redressed this in a 2019 article on his website(ey).

July 2012 saw Linda Moulton Howe publish(r) a two-part illustrated article about an anomalous feature in Alaska which has been identified as a buried pyramid larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza. This feature was first identified twenty years ago, but the story appears to have been suppressed, according to a retired U.S. Counter-intelligence officer who contacted Howe. A comparable claim has also been made for pyramids in Antarctica and later shown to be a hoax(w).

Now for some further light relief, earlier in 2012, a nonsensical report(s) of an underwater glass pyramid in the Bermuda Triangle emerged. I’m sure it will be soon followed by a sighting of Elvis creating crop circles in Antarctica.

In September 2013, it was reported(y) that “researchers have discovered an underwater pyramid 60 meters high with an 8000 meters square base near the Bank De João de Castro, between the islands of Terceira and São Miguel” in the Azores. Shortly afterwards the Portuguese Navy denied the existence of any such structure.(aa) This claim has now spawned its own website(ad).

However, in August 2013, the Portuguese American Journal reported that the many step-pyramids on Pico, one of the Azores, are clear evidence of extensive human activity in the archipelago long before the arrival of the Portuguese(fw). As a consequence, some have suggested that the seafaring ability of these pyramid builders to reach the Azores from Europe opens the possibility that they went further and reached America!

Even more ridiculous was a report in the UK’s Daily Star which claimed that an underwater pyramid estimated to be between 3.5 and 11 miles across had been spotted on Google Earth, situated off the coast of Mexico in the Pacific(cd).

Finally, it appears that to satisfy the public interest in pyramids the meaning of the term itself has been extended to include a range of natural features as well as man-made structures. Robert Schoch is happy to see Newgrange as a type of pyramid, others see Silbury Hill as a pyramid(e). while some writers apply the term to mountains as is the case with Jeff Nisbet(f). who sees ‘pyramids’ in Scotland. Nisbet attempts to justify his view with a very unconvincing suggested link between ancient Egypt and Scotland incorporating freemasonry and Princess Scota(bh). Similar stories are widespread in Ireland where Scota is allegedly buried in Kerry in Gleann Scoithin, now known as Foley’s Glen. Scotia was another ancient name for Ireland. Andrew Power expands on the Scota story in his Ireland: Land of the Pharaohs [1026] as well as Ralph Ellis [1684] and Loraine Evans [1781].

This claim of an Egyptian link with Ireland has been recently repeated by Steve Preston in his Egyptians in Ireland [1183]. David Halpin, an Irish writer from Carlow, has also written a three-part paper on the connections between Egypt with Ireland(av).

Pyramids of Egypt

The actual number of Egyptian pyramids recorded is variously cited as 118 or as many as 138. However, the greatest number of pyramids is to be found in Sudan, with around twice as many as Egypt, but are far less spectacular(df).

August 2012 brought a report(u) that two possible new Egyptian pyramid complexes have been discovered using Google Earth. However, subsequent inspection on the ground showed them to be less interesting(v).

Egypt’s oldest pyramid is generally accepted as that of King Djoser (2687-2668 BC), a six-stepped structure at Saqqara(dh).

Giza

For anyone coming to the subjects of the pyramids and Sphinx at Giza for the first time should begin by reading Giza The Truth [1690] by Ian Lawton and Chris Ogilvie-Herald, which offers a unique overview of the place, the personalities and the politics involved in the 3 square kilometres of this amazing site.

>Jason Colavito noted [1876.8] that with a height of 455 feet (139 metres) it was “the tallest building on Earth until it was finall surpassed in 1311” by Britain’s Lincoln Cathedral.<

A site providing a wonderful 360º view of the Giza Plateau is now available(m). while another site offers a remarkable panoramic aerial view(t).

Another site offers a remarkable collection of old images of the pyramids dating back to the mid-nineteenth century(be). Also in the 19th century, a book by Dr Everett W. Fish can give modern readers a flavour of ideas regarding the pyramids to be found in the 1880s(du).

Wim Verhart has written a paper in which he argues the pyramids on the Giza Plateau were designed with an overall mathematical plan in mind((dz).

Another matter that has caused continual controversy is the layout of the three Giza pyramids. Robert Bauval is probably best known as the original promoter of the Orion Correlation Theory, which claims that the layout of the three principal Giza pyramids mirrors ‘Orion’s Belt’ in that constellation. This received widespread coverage when it was outlined in The Orion Mystery [1707]. written by Bauval and Adrian Gilbert and in Keeper of Genesis [1050]. written with Graham Hancock, published two years later. In fact, Bauval first published his theory in 1989 in Discussions in Egyptology(cw).

In a paper(ft) published on Graham Hancock’s website in 2022, Freddy Silva proposed an additional OCT – in Scotland. He suggested that the Pyramids of Giza, and by extension, Orion’s Belt matched the layout of the three stone circles of Stenness, Brodgar and Bookan. In the same paper, he goes further identifying other megalithic monuments in Scotland with counterparts in Sardinia and Armenia!

However, Andrew Collins has disputed the OCT and has instead offered evidence that the alignment of the three principal Giza pyramids matches more closely the ‘wing’ stars of the Cygnus constellation than the ‘belt’ of Orion!(dg).

Early 2020 brought a claim by amateur historian Matt Sibson that there had been a fourth large pyramid at Giza. His contention is based on a sketch by a Danish sea captain, Frederik Ludvig Norden, in 1737, that appears to show this fourth edifice. The only explanation offered for its disappearance is that it was dismantled in the 1700s to build the city of Cairo! I would have thought that considering the effort required to dismantle a pyramid from the top down would have been much greater than quarrying new blocks. The larger pyramid blocks would need to be cut anyway. Then you would expect that at least the base or its location would still be identifiable today! This is just another incredible attention-seeking effort by Sibson(eo).

Manu Seyfzadeh wrote a lengthy paper(di). on the orientation of one particular minor stepped pyramid on Elephantine Island on the Nile. He concluded that it was associated with Sirius, which was so important to the ancient Egyptians as the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided with the summer solstice which heralded the next flooding of the Nile.

While the theory of Bauval & Gilbert is very well known, a more elaborate claim was proposed by Scott Creighton in his The Giza Oracle [1817], in which he suggests that 11 pyramids in the Giza complex along “with the Great Sphinx forms a grand ‘Precession Wheel’, indicating key dates from humankind’s remote past – and indeed, its future”!(cy)

Hans Jelitto has put forward the idea that the three pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure at Giza were intended to represent the three inner planets of our Solar System, Mercury, Venus and Earth(fl)!

John Patrick Hill, an independent researcher, claims that “Barringer Crater, Stonehenge and Giza are all related to one another.” He tells us that the distance between the outside corners of the main Giza pyramids is 0.72 miles which is the exact diameter of the Barringer Crater! As Michael Caine would say “Not many people know that” (dv). Hill had this paper published on the Academia.edu website, but it has now been removed. I have saved a copy, without images, as Archive 6555. He has also managed to produce a paper(fu) combining catastrophism and Roman Catholicism!!!

Further alignment claims and debate relating to two shafts that some believe were originally directed at particular stars(cx).

Date of the Egyptian Pyramids

The Pyramids of Egypt are generally accepted today to have been constructed in the third millennium BC in the period 2700 – 2150 BC. However, some investigators have inferred much greater antiquity for some of these remarkable structures particularly the Great Pyramid (G.P.) at Giza. They believe that pushing back the date for the construction of the Great Pyramid and/or Sphinx endorses the possibility that Plato’s early date of 9600 BC for the Atlantean War is factual.

>Jason Colavito [1876.95] has noted that some of the Muslim scholars of the Middle Ages attributed an early date to the construction of the pyramids, possibly before Noah’s Deluge!<

Hossam Aboulfotouh calculated the date of the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza as 3055 BC, which he claims was also the time of the Deluge or what he refers to as the “tsunami of the Mediterranean”.(da)(db)

Perhaps related to the Deluge is the claim from archaeologist Sherif el Morsi that he has evidence that indicates that the Great Pyramid had been covered by seawater(em)(en).

David Rohl in his introduction to Andrew CollinsGateway to Atlantis [072]  refers to the work of Egyptologist Kate Spence who “demonstrated that the north alignment of all the Old Kingdom pyramids shifted through time in the relative position of the circumpolar stars. This tracking of the north celestial pole (relative to the stars) plots the known wobble in the earth’s axis of rotation (referred to as precession), which can be dated using astronomical retrocalculations.”  Spence concluded that the Great Pyramid had been built c.2470 BC(ej). Archaeastronomer Giulio Magli has taken issues with some of Spence’s claims(ek).

Ralph Ellis, a British researcher, has investigated the erosion to be seen at Giza, Meidum, and Dashur and concluded [0517] that there is evidence for 8000 BC or an even earlier date for the construction of these structures(a). Ellis also has an article on the internet outlining his evidence for an earlier date for the construction of the Great Pyramid. More recently Robert Schoch announced the discovery of evidence of erosion INSIDE the Great Pyramid suggesting that a more ancient core had been exposed to the elements for a long period before being built upon to give us the structure we have today.

Edgar Cayce ‘revealed’ in 1932 that the Great Pyramid was built over a hundred years from 10,490 to 10,390 BC(ap). At the other end of the time spectrum, Huang Heqing, a professor in the Department of Art & Archaeology at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, amused the world with the claim that the Egyptian pyramids were built in the 19th century, he goes further and maintains “that all the achievements of ancient Western cultures were fabricated in the nineteenth century”, including the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus in Athens and the ruins of Persepolis in Iran(cu).

The late Joseph Jochmans related [0518] how it was recorded that the outer casing stones showed water marks halfway up the height of the Pyramid before the Arabs removed them. Geologists have found evidence of a final catastrophic flooding event in Egypt circa 10,000 BC. Furthermore, radiocarbon dating of organic inclusions in a fourteen-foot layer of silt around the base of the Great Pyramid offered a date of around 9600 BC.

This suggested extended age for the pyramids has been incorporated into the argument to prove the possible existence of other advanced ancient civilisations that were concurrent with the 9600 BC date given by Solon for the antiquity of Atlantis.

Understandably, these revolutionary ideas have been met with fierce opposition by established archaeologists. This is a debate that will run for some time yet.

The earliest historical references to the pyramids can be found in early Egyptian and Greek documents(ch). However, the oldest known papyri, discovered at the Egyptian site of Wadi el-Jarf offer evidence supporting a date of about 2500 BC for the construction of the Great Pyramid, which reinforces conventional dating theories. One of the documents, written by Merer an overseer, records details of the construction of the final stages of the G.P.(ce). This, of course, seriously undermines the extended antiquity of the pyramids by proponents such as Graham Hancock.

Zecharia Sitchin, the controversial ‘alternative’ historian, entered the fray in 1980, with the claim that the only concrete evidence that the Great Pyramid had been built by Khufu, was an inscription forged by Colonel Richard Howard-Vyse(d). (see below). Philip Coppens has also written an article(cq). about Sitchin’s claim. The Howard-Vyse forgery debate has been stirred up again by a researcher, Scott Creighton, who produced copies of Howard-Vyse’s papers to support the claim of fraud(ah). If true, this would lend some support to a redating of the structure.

2014 began with a report that two Germans, Dominique Goerlitz and Stefan Erdmann, had chiselled off part of the ‘Vyse’ cartouche from inside the Great Pyramid, which led to an international incident. They claim that the objective of their foolhardy act was to demonstrate that the Pyramid is older than generally accepted and was a remnant of the Atlantean empire(z). A March 2015 statement issued by Dr Goerlitz offers a quite different view of the episode(ei). I have published an English translation as Archive 6944. The initial claim seems to have originated with Zahi Hawass in an attack on Robert Bauval(fn).

At the opposite end of the speculation spectrum is a recent book by Emmet Sweeney, The Pyramid Age [0520], in which he claims that the pyramids were in fact far more recent and bravely suggests a date of around 800 BC for their construction. In this regard, it is to be recorded that the Bible makes not the vaguest reference to one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world. It has been erroneously stated that Herodotus, a prolific recorder of trivia who claims to have travelled as far south as Elephantine, failed to mention the pyramids. This is not true, as can be seen in Book II of his Histories 124-134. However, it is possible that it was meant to say that Herodotus did not refer to the Sphinx! It has been claimed that he was describing the pyramids at Dashur and not Giza(ao)!

In May 2013, Peter James, a structural engineer, published a new theory on why the building of pyramids ceased(x).

The Pyramid Builders

For a long time, it was thought that the pyramids had been built by slaves, possibly Israelites. Recent years have seen this idea debunked(at)(fd). and reinforced by papyri put on display for the first time in July 2016, which indicates that the pyramid builders were paid and were not slaves (or extraterrestrials)(be)(dy). However, a 2017 paper by Damien Mackey has reverted to claiming that the Jews were slaves who contributed to the building of the pyramids(fs).

A more sober review of the development of pyramid building and the technology involved was offered by Owen Jarus in June 2016(bo).

Unfortunately, there are some commentators such as von Däniken [1333.95], who have attributed the construction of the Great Pyramid to extraterrestrials, who cannot accept that the Egyptians built the pyramids, in desperation have interpreted the existence of the pyramids as ‘evidence’ of extraterrestrial visitations!(ae).    

One such proponent is Peter Lemesurier who identifies the Elohim of the Old Testament as the designers of the GP and that they came from the star Sirius [1798]. He claims that they left prophetic messages in the structure of the GP for humanity.

Many and varied are the claims regarding the pyramid builders and their methods, including that they were built by refugees from Atlantis(bl). In October 2017 Gerry Cannon & Malcolm Hutton claimed (bx).  that the Great Pyramid was built by an advanced civilisation, which may have been Atlantis! Graham Hancock holds similar views.

Gernot L. Geise offers the following comment, “In order not to have to trouble some extraterrestrials for the construction of the pyramids, an early human high culture can certainly be assumed. The available periods of time for the development of such cultures are completely sufficient after Cremo & Thompson proved that “modern man” is already millions of years older than conventional science would have us believe.

The pyramids of Giza present me with the following picture: The builders of the pyramids – whoever they were, wherever they got their knowledge from and wherever they came from – possessed a high level of technology that was far superior to ours today. This is an inevitable fact, because the pyramids prove it: we cannot (yet) rebuild them with our current technology. However, Pharaoh Cheops (if he existed) would probably have laughed out loud if he had been told at the time that future archaeologists would have interpreted his little temples around the pyramid as a sign that he had built the gigantic structure…”(fj)

Even more entertaining is a claim by two Irishmen, Francis J. and Francis P. Ward, that druids from Ireland, which they consider to have been Atlantis, built the pyramids at Giza!(bt) 

Rico Paganini is the creator of the Giza Legacy website that offers some interesting titbits of background information relating to the Giza structures(eg). Much of the content consists of excerpts from his book of the same name. However, when he came to discuss a possible Atlantean connection he completely fell off the cliff of reality as the excerpt below reveals!

“According to the ancient tales, the Atlanteans lived according to the role model of the Lemurians. There were three Atlantean cycles or three periods when civilization flourished in the Atlantic era. People there are said to have had mental skills including telepathy (which remained active among the Aborigines in Australia until the 20th century), telekinesis, teleportation and similar powers. This made them seem like gods to other cultures to the east and west of Atlantis. The Atlanteans were technically adept and built megalithic structures, such as the great pyramids in Giza. However, in the later period the people in Atlantis had begun to place their own wills above that of their kings, and priests and even above the will of the gods, until, as happened before when Lemuria flourished, they were attacked from outer space.” Consequently, I suggest that you treat anything that he has written with great caution.

The Great Pyramid Building Methods

It has been suggested that the course of the Nile was different at the time of the pyramid building, which together with canals enabled the building materials to be brought closer to the Giza Plateau, saving time and effort(fh).

The idea that a gently sloping ramp was used has been a popular idea for a long time, but weaknesses in the concept were soon apparent. For example, the material required to build some of the proposed ramps, with the required incline, would have been greater than the pyramid itself. Franz Löhner developed what he calls a ‘rope roll’ to demonstrate that simple technology available to the Egyptians could have been used to lift the pyramid’s blocks into place. Löhner has worked in a quarry and consequently has an intimate knowledge of the practicalities involved. He has co-authored a book (German only) [1590], with Dr Heribert Illig which expands on his idea, and has developed an interesting website(cg), in English and German, with further information.

The most persistent question relating to the pyramids and in fact all megalithic structures is “how did they manage to build them using such large heavy rocks and blocks”? Many ingenious solutions are on offer but perhaps the most remarkable is that proposed by W. T. Wallington who has demonstrated(n)  that using basic materials, which were available to the Egyptians, one individual can manipulate a 4500kg stone block. His website includes a remarkable video clip of his method. A review(bu) of this video is worth a read. More recently a collaboration between Matter Design and CEMEX Global R&D has demonstrated that irregularly shaped cement objects weighing many tons can be moved easily by hand, suggesting that the manpower required to build many ancient monuments was far less than is generally assumed today. The conclusion is that technique is the key to how many of the ‘impossible’ structures of the past were constructed(ci)Ashley Cowie has written an article in which he looks at how these techniques may have been applied to the construction of the megalithic walls of Cuzco in Peru, the ancient capital of the Inca(cj).  Cowie also holds that a huge earthquake caused a major change in Inca construction methods(ck)

 Two suggestions that still have considerable support are that (A) many of the stone blocks were ‘cast’ in situ as proposed by Joseph Davidovits(bm) and (B) that an internal ramp within the pyramid was used as claimed by Jean-Pierre Houdin(bn).

Antoine Gigal has drawn attention to another proposal of some years ago from Hasan Sayid Ahmed, who claims that the ascending and descending passages were used as ramps(el).

In 2006, Dr Michel Barsoum of Drexel University of Philadelphia claimed to have proof that the Egyptians had used lime-based cement in the building of the pyramids(cz)

What may be relevant was what was found at Giza(bk) and described as ‘melted limestone’, which led Robert Schoch to consider it the result of a ‘plasma event’.

Margaret Morris offers a comprehensive account of the features of the Great Pyramid and possible construction methods on her website(bb) and in three books [683][1200][1201]. Morris is a supporter of Joseph Davidovits who proposed the controversial idea that the building blocks of the Pyramid were cast in situ.

In 2007, petrographer, Dipayan Jana, refuted Davidovits’ theory and as far as I’m aware, no rebuttal has been forthcoming from either Davidovits or Morris. Later in 2008, Ioannis Liritzis and his team also challenged the theory of Davidovits, when they pointed out that the material used to build Egypt’s most famous monuments “contain hundreds of thousands of marine fossils” that are distributed throughout the rock in a manner compatible with natural rock(dd)

However, it struck me that if Davidovits was correct, this ‘rock’ might instead be some of his liquid geopolymer that had been spilt and hardened in the sun!

In 2019, Fehmi Krasniqi produced a three-and-a-half-hour video(cv)  on the building of the Egyptian pyramids, primarily based on Davidovits’ claim that the Egyptians used a form of concrete to make the building blocks in situ. However, Krasniqi ventures beyond Egypt, suggesting that the ancient Egyptians travelled to America, stopping off for supplies in Atlantis, now the Azores.

Davidovits has also gone beyond Egypt for evidence of artificial stone being used to create some ancient monuments, in Tiwanaku, Puma Punku and Easter Island(ff). While it is beyond my competence to argue with Davidovits’ chemistry, there are a number of details that still trouble me. In Egypt, the proposal that pyramid blocks were cast rather than carved, there are no images in any of the tombs and temples portraying such a practice. Secondly, casting implies the use of moulds, of which no remains have been found and finally a study of the Great Pyramid reveals that the blocks are of many different sizes, which would require a multiplicity of different moulds in a country where timber is in very short supply.

The catchpenny.org  website agrees that “the theory is very nice and well-described. Unfortunately, it totally ignores a huge body of evidence. Davidovits works hard to explain away the existing quarries, the abundance of tools found during the Third and Fourth Dynasties, and the decrease in pyramid quality after the Fourth Dynasty.” (dq)

A 2014 study(ag)  revealed that the Egyptians were able to move the pyramid building blocks over wet sand. “By using the right quantity of water they could halve the number of workers needed.” This is comparable with the documented method employed by the Chinese to transport 200/300-ton blocks used in the construction of their ‘Forbidden City’(ai).  In October 2018 it was revealed that the remains of a ramp flanked by two staircases with postholes were discovered at an ancient quarry at Hatnub in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. “Using a sled which carried a stone block and was attached with ropes to these wooden posts, ancient Egyptians were able to pull up the alabaster blocks out of the quarry on very steep slopes of 20 percent or more.”(cf).  While this may explain how blocks could have been moved, with relative ease, to pyramid-building sites, it does not tell us how the pyramids were actually constructed.

Mario Pincherle in his book, La Grande  Piramide [1835], offers a radical explanation of how the Egyptians raised the huge granite slabs used to roof the King’s Chamber and the relieving chambers above it. Pincherle studied Herodotus’ references to the pyramids and concluded that an ingenious process of wetting and then drying wooden blocks, slowly forced the slabs up the slope of the Great Gallery(dk).

Twenty years ago Chris Dunn wrote an interesting article for Atlantis Rising magazine(es) in which he discussed the possible reasons for constructing the relieving chambers in the manner that the Egyptians did, concluding that they did so because the granite beams above the King’s chamber were an essential and integral part of making this pyramid machine……hum!!!! Subsequent editions of AR brought further comments from readers on the subject(et).

In an article(ew) by Steven Mehler, he wrote that “Chris Dunn suggests that there is evidence that the Great Pyramid may have experienced a cataclysmic event, an explosion, some time in its distant past which ended its role as an active power plant, a machine, which Dunn proposes was its primary function. I further advanced Dunn’s hypothesis of an explosion in the pyramid in my book, The Land of Osiris.”

Australian Paul Hai has now offered an ingenious suggestion for the construction of the pyramids using an unusual pulley system. He arrived at this theory based on components that are still available and decoding of chapter one of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel combined with some comments from Herodotus. He offers all this in an extensive and fully illustrated website(fg) as well as a book Raising Stone 1 [1941].

By way of complete contrast is the opinion of Gernot L. Geise, who, as a guest author offered a controversial paper on the Atlantisforschung.de website with the self-explanatory title of ‘The Giza pyramids were not built by ancient Egyptians’(dl). He maintains that the Egyptians lacked the technology to build the pyramids, but instead, were constructed by a much older and more advanced civilisation.

Naturally. there are those among us, who will never be happy with conventional explanations and the mystery of the Egyptian pyramid-building methods has provided an ideal opportunity to serve up exotic solutions. One of the most commonly offered is that some form of levitation was employed; a claim usually based on an account by Al-Masudi, who reported that a ‘magic papyrus’ was used(dn). Others have claimed the use of sound to achieve levitation. However, although this is theoretically possible it has been shown to be impractical(do). This idea of acoustics being used in some obscure manner was introduced in a theory that claimed the use of ‘tuning forks’(fr).

Nick Redfern, best known for his books on UFOs, alien abductions and conspiracy theories, has now published How Antigravity Built the Pyramids[2061], a title that tells you all you need to know(fy).

[I should mention that William Bramley also published a book entitled The Gods of Eden in 1989 [1942]+]

Lawton & Ogilvie-Herald discuss the possible use of sonic levitation in the building of the pyramids in Giza the Truth [1690.203]. However, They were at the receiving end of criticism from the late John Anthony West in 2000, when West published an article in Atlantis Rising magazine that ended with a scornful “The point is that the facile assurances given by Ogilvie-Herald/Lawton endorsing the orthodox view are illegitimate, their exclusion of contrary, genuinely informed opinion is typical of their selective bogus scholarship, and their long-winded acoustic levitation hypothesis is pure speculation and self-contradictory besides. We still don’t know how the pyramids were built/ Period. Full stop.”(er)

Alan Alford discussed the acoustics of the Great Pyramid in Pyramid of Secrets [010] and in a paper in Atlantis Rising magazine #50(ez).

Nevertheless, a paper entitled ORMUS and Pyramids by Barry Carter refers extensively to the work of Dr Philip Callahan (see: Smutny, Pavel | (atlantipedia.ie) who has associated paramagnetism and the Great Pyramid(dt).

Mike Molyneaux offers a study of the building techniques of the ancient Egyptians and their application to the construction of the pyramids and the raising of obelisks(dp).

In a paper by Domenic A. Narducci III entitled In Control of the Pyramids in which he outlines the need for Geometric Control (GC) that must have been employed in the building of the pyramids. He defines GC as “a system of procedures that establishes and then maintains the geometry of a structure during the course of the construction process.” He offers a detailed description of the procedures used by the Egyptians(ec).

Great Pyramid’s Function

Edward Malkowski supports(ax)  the ideas of Edward Kunkel(ay)  and John Cadman(az), who believed that the Great Pyramid was designed to function as a water pump. However, Malkowski goes further, suggesting that this pump was used to generate subtle electrical fields that were used to assist plant growth, which seems unnecessary, considering the fertility of the Nile Valley was renewed naturally by the annual flooding of the river.

Frank Joseph also referred to Kunkel’s theories in an Atlantis Rising article in edition #56(fa). Two issues later, Joseph returned to this idea of the Great Pyramid having an electrical function. The title of the article was Atlantis and the Great Pyramid, so to justify the inclusion of Atlantis he added The citadel of Atlantis, where the holy-of-holies was enshrined, as defined by Plato, was the same diameter (seven hundred fifty-eight feet) as the base side of the Great Pyramid. This revelation becomes clear only after the dimensions of the citadel, as given in Greek stadia for Plato’s account, are transposed into an original Egyptian unit of measurement, known as the aroura.” His fertile imagination did not bring him to explain what the other two huge pyramids at Giza were for!(fb)

The American scientist Philip Callahan, like Malkowski, proposed that the electromagnetic properties of the pyramid were used to enhance agricultural production and added “I am firmly convinced that the pyramids, both Egyptian and Central American, were huge antigravity structures for levitating the priests.

The pyramid acted like a huge “enlarger-type” condensing lens which concentrated the cosmic energy into the hollow resonant stone tower, which in turn was filled with the IR-paramagnetic, organic breath of chanting priests.”(fv)

Hermann Waldhauser has also proposed that a hydraulic system was used in the Great Pyramid as explained in a series of articles by Stefan Erdmann(fi).

Steven Myers has written two books(ba) on the subject of ancient Egyptian hydraulics.

In 2001, Joseph P. Farrell published The Giza Death Star [1917*], in which he claimed that the Great Pyramid had been designed as a weapon of mass destruction! His website has a number of papers relating to the pyramids(eu).

In 2009, Dean Talboys published his theory(co).  which suggests that the remarkable internal features of the GP, including the King’s Chamber and the Grand Gallery, were part of a device that used seawater to generate enough torque to drive an electric dynamo. Talboys suddenly ends his dissertation with the unexpected admission that “we are still left with the problem of what to do with the electricity it generates we could, at least, be a little closer to understanding why someone went to all that trouble”!

Nearly half a century ago, Kurt Mendelssohn (1906-1980), a physics professor put forward the idea in The Riddle of the Pyramids [1885] that “what mattered was not the pyramid – it was the building of it. The pyramid does not represent an aim in itself but the means to achieve an aim: the creation of a new form of society. These huge heaps of stone mark the place where man invented the state.”

Many and varied are the theories that have been put forward regarding the intended function of the Great Pyramid. A most recent (Jan.2021) has been offered by Konstantin Borisov, who suggested that the purpose of the Great Pyramid of Giza was to emit free electrons to the Ionosphere, to create light on the planet! This capability was enhanced by Giza’s location near the maximum geographical centre of Earth and the use of nummulitic limestone in the construction of the Great Pyramid! Further details are revealed in an article published on the Ancient Origins website(ct).

Donald E. Jennings has speculated that the Great Pyramid and its polished, and possibly painted casing stones, could have sent sunlight from the pyramids to other important locations.(dj) Today, only remnants of the original layer of casing stones remain. This is often explained as the result of being removed to be used as a building material for the expanding nearby Cairo. Another explanation on offer is that the casing stones were shed by earthquakes. Some years ago, Will Hart published an article in Atlantis Rising #42-43(ex) in which he questioned both of these theories.   

2014 also saw the publication of Pyramid Gravity Force(ac) by John Shaughnessy in which he claims that “The pyramids were built to prevent and/or control tectonic plate movement, volcanic activity, tidal waves, major earthquakes, land movements and the magnetic field movements on Earth.” I suggest that all the Amazon reviews be read before purchasing.

It was recently revealed(ar). that, Ben Carson, a former Republican candidate for the US presidency, once proposed to an assembly of students at Andrews University that the Egyptian pyramids were built to store grain! This idea has been traced back to the sixth century when there was a belief that the pyramids had been the granaries of Joseph, as Julius Honorius (Cosmographia, c. 500 CE), Antoninus of Piacenza (Itinerary 43, c. 570 CE), and Geoffrey of Tours (History of the Franks 1.10, 594 CE), among others, all testify! This theory was later popularized by works such as ‘The Book of John Mandeville’, a hugely popular 14th-century travelogue.”(bs). Jason Colavito has pointed out [1876.63] that this silly idea was debunked in 1646 by Professor John Greaves.

In early 2021, Konstantin Borisov published his hi-tech explanation for the purpose of the GP which he proposed “was to emit free electrons to the Ionosphere, to create light on the planet . The hydrogen gas produced in the subterranean chamber was used as a source of electrons needed for the process.” (ef).

John DeSalvo has gathered a collection of old theories, many dating from the 19th century, regarding the purpose of the pyramids. They range from interesting to amusing(fo).

Perfection of the Great Pyramid!

Among the numerous mysteries related to the Great Pyramid is the fact that each side of the structure is actually slightly concave, making it the only known eight-sided pyramid (pedants would probably claim nine sides, including the base). This feature was first photographed in 1940(al). Jean-Paul Bauval has written a paper on this concavity, arguing that it was a design feature and not a construction error. He goes further and proposes “that the geometry generated by the concavity on the overall shape of the monument shows a clear relationship, whether intended or by accident, between the Egyptian Royal Cubit (RC) to the meter unit (m). Finally, this geometrical design has the peculiarity of creating a ‘virtual space’ at the top of the monument on which might have been placed a spherical object”(cr).

The assumed accuracy of the orientation and dimensions of the Great Pyramid was recently called into question by Mark Lehner and Glen Dash(bj).

Apart from the disputed question of the age of the Great Pyramid, its very structure has prompted its own share of debate with persistent claims that its location, dimensions, and orientation have significance in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and geography. Lists of these connections are available online(p).

A June 2016 report revealed(bc). that the builders of the Great Pyramid had made a very minor miscalculation resulting in the west side being around 5 inches longer than the east side. The research team, led by Dash and Lehner, also noted that the pyramid is not oriented as precisely with the cardinal points as we have been led to believe since “The pyramid’s north-south axis (or meridian) runs 3 minutes 54 seconds west of due north while its east-west axis runs 3 minutes 51 seconds north of due east, he told Live Science. The east-west axis also runs through the center of a temple built on the east side of the pyramid. These measurements mean that the Great Pyramid is oriented just slightly away from the cardinal directions, the degree of error from north-south and east-west being almost the same.” However, these very minor defects cannot detract in any way from the magnificence of the structure constructed so long ago.

In a 2018 paper(ca), Glen Dash returned to the very slight misalignment of the Great Pyramid with the cardinal points.“The builders of the Great Pyramid of Khufu aligned the great monument to the cardinal points with an accuracy of better than four minutes of arc or one-fifteenth of one degree.” Dash claims that the engineers who designed the plans for the Great Pyramid used the fall equinox to seamlessly align this pyramid to the cardinal points. “He also claims that all three major Giza pyramids exhibit the same degree of error in that they are rotated slightly counter-clockwise from the cardinal points.”(fe)In fact, all three of the largest Egyptian pyramids – two at Giza and one at Dahshur – are remarkably aligned, in a way you wouldn’t expect to see from an era without drones, blueprints, and computers.

Manfred Greifzu has also written a fairly forensic study of the orientation of the Giza pyramids for the atlantisforschung.de website(dm).

November 2017 began with an exciting claim published in Nature magazine(bv). that a huge cavity had been identified above the Grand Gallery in the Great Pyramid of Giza. This discovery was made using non-invasive technology, which suggests that physical verification will require some degree of interference with the structure of the pyramid, which may not be allowed by the Egyptian authorities. The initial announcement was quickly followed by a refutation of the claim of a void over the Grand Gallery by Zahi Hawass(bw). Nevertheless, further investigation now (2019) seems to have confirmed the existence of this void(cn).

Not long after, it was reported in the UK’s Daily Mail that an Italian archaeoastronomer, Giulio Magli, believes that the void at the centre of the Great Pyramid houses a throne made from meteorites, used to help the pharaoh in the afterlife(bz). Magli has previously received public notice with a paper that explored the possibility that Göbekli Tepe had been constructed to “celebrate and successively follow the appearance of a new, extremely brilliant star in the southern skies: Sirius.”(ca).

Moving forward to March 2023 we had the dramatic announcement that a 30 feet-long and over 6-foot wide corridor had been identified inside the north side of the Great Pyramid. This was the result of investigations by the ‘Scanpyramids‘ project carried out since 2016(fp)(fq).

PYRAMIDIOCY

In 2020, some notes of Isaac Newton’s from the 1680s were auctioned, which revealed Newton’s interest in the pyramids. It seems that “Newton was trying to uncover the unit of measurement used by those constructing the pyramids. He thought it was likely that the ancient Egyptians had been able to measure the Earth and that, by unlocking the cubit of the Great Pyramid, he too would be able to measure the circumference of the Earth.” (cs).

The pseudoscience of pyramidology took off in the 19th century, with a range of outlandish claims(aq), based on external and/or internal dimensions of the Great Pyramid, supporting anything from the British Israelites or the early Jehovah’s Witnesses to being a source of divine prophecy!

In the 20th century, Adam Rutherford, a British Israelite, founded The Institute of Pyrmidology in 1940. Between 1957 and 1974, Rutherford published a set of four books on the subject, although a fifth volume was planned [1772]. When Adam died, his son James took over the Institute, but following his death in a car accident, the Institute ended.

Also in the mid-20th century, we had crazy pyramid ideas being offered by John O. Kinnaman including a report that “Dr Kinnaman said that during their 1924 investigation of the Great Pyramid they (Kinnaman & Petrie) located a hidden vault which contained amazing technical objects, including what appeared to be an anti-gravity machine or parts of such a machine, and thousands of crystal prisms which they speculated may all have been brought from Atlantis.”(ed). Unsurprisingly, no evidence was produced.

Richard W. Noone is the author of 5/5/2000: The Ultimate Disaster which seems to have achieved near cult status. J. Douglas Kenyon wrote a favourable review of Noone and his book in Issue 14 (1999) of Atlantis Rising magazine (AR). Noone published a further article in AR #22 supporting his doomsday claim(eq)

 “Noone studied the mysterious mathematics of the Great Pyramid and calculated its cosmic calendar. He concluded that the end of history was pinpointed on May 5, 2000, and he correlated the doomsday date to a cataclysmic melting of the polar ice caps.” However, when Noone’s date for the promised catastrophe passed without any major event occurring, comments became more critical(ep).

Nevertheless, pyramidology was given a new twist in November 2015 when a Spanish architect, Miquel Pérez-Sánchez, added the old alphanumeric system of gematria to the mix and claimed that he had identified the name ‘Atlantis’ when ‘translating’ some of the dimensions in the structure of the Great Pyramid(by). Scott Onstott is also a modern advocate of the existence of Mathematical Encoding in the Great Pyramid.(as)

For those interested in the possible significance of numbers and the Great Pyramid, there are three related papers available on Keith M. Hunter’s website(aw). However, readers should be aware that “fringe pyramidologists persist in their claims despite a 1992 effort to debunk them by Dutch astrophysicist Cornelis de Jager, who demonstrated the dimensions of any object can be manipulated to yield a desired outcome; he derived the speed of light and the distance between the Earth and Sun from his measurements of a bicycle.”(fx)

Ralph Ellis, mentioned above, is a controversial English revisionist of biblical and ancient Egyptian history, who bravely argues(b) that Mount Sinai, of Ten Commandments fame, was in fact the Great Pyramid of Giza [656]! John Taylor (1781-1864) claimed in 1859 that Noah was the builder of the Great Pyramid [1451]. Even more imaginative was the claim by C.E. Getsinger in the 1920s that Noah’s Ark was in fact the Great Pyramid(bp)!

[1942]+ https://www.academia.edu/27402718/Bramley_William_The_Gods_of_Eden 

(a)  Archive2925

(b) Archive 2926

(d)  Archive 2494

(e) http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=207802

(f) Jeff Nisbet’s Mythomorph — Myth, History, and the Quest for Truth (archive.org) 

(g) EUROPEAN-PYRAMIDS – AMAZING DISCOVERIES IN EUROPE (archive.org)  

(h) http://www.touropia.com/largest-pyramids-in-the-world/

(i) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/worlds-oldest-pyramids-are-discovered-1353095.html

(j) Archive 2138

(k) http://www.gigalresearch.com/uk/pyramides-maurice.php

(l) (99+) (PDF) dating civilizations Jonathan Gray | NoStarPanel TruthSeeker – Academia.edu

(m) http://www.360cities.net/image/pyramid-of-khafre#105.63,0.00,96.0

(n) Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island and the Great Pyramid explained by Wallace Wallington! (archive.org)

(o) https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe-opinion-guest-authors/world-history-and-bosnian-pyramids-00220 *

(p) Archive 3620

(q) http://realitysandwich.com/132648/great_pyramid_garut/        

(r) Updated Part 1: Is There A Large Pyramid Underground Between Mt. McKinley and Nome, Alaska? – Earthfiles

(s) http://www.apparentlyapparel.com/2/post/2012/03/pyramids-of-glass-submerged-in-the-bermuda-triangle.html

(t) http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Egypt-Cairo-Pyramids

(u) https://www.seeker.com/lost-egyptian-pyramids-found-1765918313.html

(v) https://web.archive.org/web/20161202051640/http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/04/13661093-see-the-google-pyramids-up-close?lite

(w)  https://web.archive.org/web/20150905142440/http://www.mountainguides.com/report_2006.shtml  (See Last Image)

(x) http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/mystery-solved-a-new-theory-about-why-egypt-stopped-building-pyramids/275738/

(y) http://beforeitsnews.com/beyond-science/2013/09/giant-underwater-pyramid-found-near-azores-island-associated-with-atlantis-portuguese-navy-investigating-2443658.html

(z) Why did two German ‘hobbyists’ deface a cartouche of Khufu inside the Great Pyramid and what does it have to do with Atlantis? (archive.org)

(aa) http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=255178&st=75

(ab) http://www.migration-diffusion.info/article.php?year=2013HYPERLINK “http://www.migration-diffusion.info/article.php?year=2013&id=375″&HYPERLINK “http://www.migration-diffusion.info/article.php?year=2013&id=375″id=375

(ac) https://web.archive.org/web/20200225142822/http://www.pyramidgravityforce.com/

(ad) https://web.archive.org/web/20190604070011/https://www.azores-pyramid.org/

(ae) http://robertjrgraham.com/?s=Pyramids  (link broken) 

(af) Archive 3619

(ag) http://phys.org/news/2014-04-ancient-egyptians-pyramid-stones-sand.html

(ah) Archive 2806

(ai) http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/incredible-discovery-reveals-how-chinas-forbidden-city-was-built-001001#!bdmL22

(aj) megalith-pyramiden.de (archive.org) 

(al) http://www.catchpenny.org/concave.html

(am) See: Archive 2564

(an) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00792v2

(ao) See: Archive 2818

(ap) The Stars Above, the Great Pyramid Below: 10,400 BCE | Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. (archive.org)

(aq) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramidology

(ar) Ben Carson: Egyptian Pyramids Built For Grain Storage, Not By Aliens Or As Tombs (archive.org)

(as) http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa-opinion-guest-authors/mathematical-encoding-great-pyramid-002323

(at) http://www.jpost.com/Features/War-of-the-pyramid-theorists

(au) http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/once-hidden-plain-sight-and-surprisingly-ignored-great-pyramid-cholula-020650?utm_source=Ancient-Origins+Newsletter&utm_campaign=56d12fe000-Top_Trending_Stories_Dec_No2_REAL_14_12_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2dcd13de15-56d12fe000-85158329

(av) http://www.ancient-origins.net/opinion-guest-authors/thoth-s-storm-new-evidence-ancient-egyptians-ireland-005187

(aw) Lost Age Secrets, World Mysteries & Forbidden Knowledge (archive.org) 

(ax) http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.ie/2012/01/new-theory-for-great-pyramid.html

(ay) https://web.archive.org/web/20191118024438/http://www.linux-host.org:80/energy/ebuilt.html 

(az) https://web.archive.org/web/20200318074200/http://sentinelkennels.com/Research_Article_V41.html

(ba) http://www.thepump.org/

(bb) Archive 3057

(bc) http://www.livescience.com/55118-great-pyramid-giza-is-slightly-lopsided.html

(bd) http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/researchers-confirm-recently-discovered-tonina-pyramid-largest-pyramid-mexico-020433?nopaging=1

(be) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3692283/The-diary-pyramid-builder-Oldest-papyrus-existence-details-workers-shifted-stones-sheep-ate-reveal-secrets-inside-Great-Pyramid-Giza.html 

(bf) https://web.archive.org/web/20180723084725/http://world-pyramids.com/en/

(bg) https://www.ancient-code.com/15-extremely-rare-ancient-images-of-the-pyramids-of-giza-youve-probably-never-seen/

(bh) http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/scota-mother-scotland-and-daughter-pharaoh-003798

(bi) http://dailygrail.com/Hidden-History/2016/8/The-Man-Who-Discovered-the-Bosnian-Pyramid-Answers-Critics

(bj) http://www.archaeology.org/issues/227-1609/trenches/4738-trenches-egypt-pyramid-measurement

(bk) http://www.dailygrail.com/Hidden-History/2016/8/What-Created-Melted-Limestone-Beside-the-Pyramids-Giza

(bl)  https://web.archive.org/web/20150627184535/https://dublinsmick.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/the-atlanteans-built-the-great-pyramid-not-the-egyptians/

(bm) https://www.geopolymer.org/archaeology/pyramids/are-pyramids-made-out-of-concrete-1/

(bn) Archive 3631

(bo) http://www.livescience.com/32616-how-were-the-egyptian-pyramids-built-.html

(bp) The Thomson Review, Thomson, Illinois, July 19th, 1922 – p.3

(bq) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/04/mexico-is-hiding-the-world-s-largest-pyramid.html 

(br) https://web.archive.org/web/20200218000652/http://gizapyramid.com/oldphotos1.htm

(bs) http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-bizarre-theories-about-the-pyramids-that-dont-involv-1648634533

(bt) http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/02/the-great-pyramid-was-built-by-the-druids-of-ireland-1795923.html

(bu) https://www.anvilfire.com/bookrev/index.php?bodyName=wallington/forgotten_technology.htm&titleName=The%20Forgotten%20Technology%20by%20Wallace%20Wallington

(bv) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaap/ncurrent/full/nature24647.html

(bw) https://phys.org/news/2017-11-egypt-archaeologist-criticises-pyramid-void.html

(bx) Archive 3618

(by) http://www.lavanguardia.com/lacontra/20151031/54437578233/la-contra-miquel-perez-sanchez-pla.html

(bz) https://nypost.com/2018/01/15/great-pyramid-may-have-throne-carved-from-ancient-meteorite/ *

(ca) http://www.nescientist.com/article/mg21929303.400-worlds-oldest-temple-built-to-worship-the-dog-star.html

(cb) An Archaeologist May Have Finally Unraveled The Mystery Of The Flawless Alignment Of The Great Pyramid Of Giza – The Inquisitr (archive.org) *

(cc) https://earthistheaim.wordpress.com/

(cd) https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/713508/Atlantis-found-proof-conspiracy-google-earth-underwater-pyramid-Mexico-video-google-maps

(ce) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/

(cf) https://www.livescience.com/63978-great-pyramid-ramp-discovered.html 

(cg) https://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/khufu-pyramid/e-mail.html

(ch) https://web.archive.org/web/20190105210122/http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/ghizahistoricaccounts.htm 

(ci) https://www.archdaily.com/915358/these-smart-megalithic-stones-can-move-and-assemble-easily-with-the-hands

(cj) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/ancient-megalithic-structures-0011761

(ck) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/machu-picchu-earthquake-0011195

(cl) https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/nap_art4/ 

(cm) https://web.archive.org/web/20200219065954/http://www.robertschoch.net/Bosnian%20Geology%20Robert%20Schoch%20%20Pyramids%20Colette%20Dowell.htm

(cn) https://www.dailygrail.com/2019/11/mysterious-hidden-chamber-in-great-pyramid-confirmed-by-new-scans/

(co) https://old.world-mysteries.com/dtalboys_gp1.htm

(cp) https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/nap_art8/

(cq) https://web.archive.org/web/20190128150937/https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/nap_art9/

(cr) https://www.academia.edu/27541864/THE_CONCAVITY_OF_THE_GREAT_PYRAMID_a_design_feature_Did_the_designer_know_the_Meter_Unit?email_work_card=view-paper 

(cs) Revealed: Isaac Newton’s attempts to unlock secret code of pyramids | Isaac Newton | The Guardian

(ct) Has the Function of the Great Pyramid of Giza Finally Come to Light? | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)

(cu) Art History Professor in China Claims Egyptian Pyramids Are Modern Fakes – JASON COLAVITO

(cv) The Movie Great Pyramid K 2019 – Director Fehmi Krasniqi – Bing video

(cw) Discussions in Egyptology, volume 13, 1989, pp. 7-18

(cx) https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/are-the-egyptian-pyramids-aligned-with-the-stars

(cy) The Giza Oracle: A New Theory Concerning the Design of the Pyramids of Giza – Graham Hancock Official Website 

(cz) Solving the Mysteries of the Pyramids | Drexel Engineering (archive.org) 

(da) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266350431_THE_HORIZON_THEORY_PART-I_ORIGINAL_CONCEPT_PLAN_OF_THE_PYRAMIDS_PLATEAU

(db) https://web.archive.org/web/20190603114325/http://www.geocities.ws/fotouh28/H-Aboulfotouh-Horizon-II.pdf

(dc) https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/nap_art10/ 

(dd) Pyramids packed with fossil shells › News in Science (ABC Science) (archive.org)

(de) Zangkunchong : Ancient Art Homepage (archive.org)

(df) In The Reign Of The Black Pharaohs (freerepublic.com)

(dg) (99+) (PDF) Orion: The Eternal Rise of the Sky Hunter | Andrew Collins – Academia.edu 

(dh) https://www.ancient.eu/article/862/the-step-pyramid-of-djoser-at-saqqara/ 

(di) https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=79265

(dj) https://www.dailygrail.com/2021/04/the-shining-ones-did-the-egyptian-pyramids-produce-reflections-that-illuminated-other-sacred-sites/ *

(dk) http://www.gizapyramid.com/pincherle.htm  

(dl) Die Pyramiden von Gizeh wurden nicht von Altägyptern erbaut – Atlantisforschung.de  (Ger)

See: Archive 6401 | (atlantipedia.ie) (Eng)

(dm) Pyramid Puzzles – Atlantisforschung.de (German)

(dn) Understanding the Ancient Art of Levitation (liveabout.com) 

(do) https://brucedrinkwater.com/2016/12/01/acoustic-levitation-of-the-pyramids-is-theoretically-possible/

(dp) http://www.catchpenny.org/mmbuild.html

(dq) http://www.catchpenny.org/theories.html

(dr) https://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/the-pyramids-of-ancient-greece/

(ds) Diamantis Koutoulas – Elliniki Agogi. Dec. 2001 p 1823

(dt) http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/tw/pyramids.htm

(du) https://archive.org/details/egyptianpyramids00fish/page/n1/mode/2up?q=hyksos

(dv) Archive 6555 | (atlantipedia.ie)  

(dw) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/07/ukraine.tomparfitt

(dx) https://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=8693.0

(dy) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/who-built-the-pyramids/ 

(dz) https://www.academia.edu/51260091/The_Mathematical_Layout_of_the_Giza_Plateau_RESUME

(ea) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chinese-pyramids-of-xian

(eb) https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/revealing-mysterious-story-koh-ker-pyramid-cambodia-008013 

(ec) In Control at the Pyramids – World Mysteries Blog (world-mysteries.com) 

(ed) http://thesecondsight.blogspot.com/2006/12/great-pyramid-of-lunacy.html 

(ef) https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/has-function-great-pyramid-giza-finally-come-light-009861 

(eg) https://evol-forum.ch/giza-en/?noredirect=en_US

(eh) Prehistorical History – GIZA-LEGACY (archive.org) 

(ei) Press Release by Dr. Dominique Goerlitz & Stefan Erdmann – Atlantisforschung.de 

(ej) (99+) (PDF) Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids | Kate Spence – Academia.edu

(ek) https://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0307/0307100.pdf

(el) Who Solves The Mystery Of The Great Pyramid Building ? (gigalresearch.com) 

(em) The Menkara petrified shallow marine creature (gigalresearch.com) 

(en) https://curiosmos.com/fossil-discovery-suggests-the-pyramids-and-sphinx-were-submerged-under-water/ 

(eo) Missing Fourth Great Pyramid of Giza may Finally Have Been Found (thevintagenews.com) 

(eq) Atlantis Rising magazine #22  https://media.oiipdf.com/pdf/8cc846c3-42b2-4ec1-b499-50cb1008e2c0.pdf 

(er) Atlantis Rising magazine #23  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(es) Atlantis Rising magazine #29  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(et) Atlantis Rising magazine #31 http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(eu) https://gizadeathstar.com/?s=great+pyramid  

(ev)Atlantis Rising magazine #35  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(ew)Atlantis Rising magazine #39  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(ex) Atlantis Rising magazine #42/43  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(ey) Pyramids Building | Atlantis in the Java Sea (atlantisjavasea.com) 

(ez) Atlantis Rising magazine  #50 http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(fa) Atlantis Rising magazine  #56 http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(fb) Atlantis Rising magazine  #58 http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  

(fc) https://culturacolectiva.com/travel/russia-pyramids-kola-peninsula-discovery-older-egypt/ 

(fd) Records of the pyramid builders: discovering eye-witness accounts of a legendary construction project | The Past (the-past.com) 

(fe) The Secret of The Pyramids’ Perfect Alignment Might Be Explained After All (sciencealert.com) 

(ff) https://www.geopolymer.org/library/video/they-came-from-america-to-build-easter-island/ 

(fg) Ezekiel 1-29 decoded via the re-discovery of ancient Egypt’s four-lobe pinion-pulley via composite artifacts, proves Khufu’s Great Pyramid was constructed with mass production techniques requiring well developed critical flow analysis for perfect completion within the historically documented twenty year time-frame. (haitheory.com)

(fh) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/pyramid-builders-0017205  

(fi) Hermann Waldhauser’s Theory of the Great Pyramid Stefan Erdman (erdmann–forschung-de.translate.goog) (English) 

(fj) Die Pyramiden von Gizeh wurden nicht von Altägyptern erbaut – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog) (Eng)

(fk) Is Atlantological diffusionism ‘old news’? – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog) 

(fl) Hans Jelitto – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog) 

(fm) Round pyramids – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog) 

(fn) URGENT URGENT! BREAKING NEWS: EGYPT – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog) 

(fo) THEORIES ON WHY THE GREAT PYRAMID WAS BUILT (gizapyramid.com) 

(fp) New discovery in Great Pyramid of Giza: A 30-foot hidden corridor (usatoday.com) 

(fq) Precise characterization of a corridor-shaped structure in Khufu’s Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons | Nature Communications 

(fr) Mystery Of Tools Used To Build Giza Pyramids: What If They Were Never Lost? (howandwhys.com) 

(fs) https://mosesegyptianised.wordpress.com/2019/10/16/israelite-slaves-did-build-egypts-mighty-pyramids/ 

(ft) Scotland’s Hidden Sacred Past – Graham Hancock Official Website 

(fu) https://www.academia.edu/67887392/The_Younger_Dryas_Impact_A_Catholic_Perspective_Eden_was_our_shared_time_of_peace_on_Earth_From_Land_Dotted_with_Holy_and_Famous_Landmarks 

(fv) https://ayda.net/healthy-living-research-and-development/philip-callahan-an-entomologist/philip-callahan-and-round-towers/ 

(fw) http://portuguese-american-journal.com/pico-new-archeological-evidence-reveals-human-presence-before-portuguese-occupation-azores/ 

(fx) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/no-really-there-is-no-secret-code-in-the-pyramids-17662247/ 

(fy) Acoustic Levitation Today – Graham Hancock Official Website 

(fz) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/pyramid-kazakhstan-0019062 

(ga) Archive 2006 | (atlantipedia.ie) *

Lake Izabal

Lake Izabal2Lake Izabal is the largest lake in Guatemala and nominated by at least two ‘researchers’ as the location of Atlantis. Duane K. McCullough has been a supporter of the Guatemalan site for a number of years(a). His views(b) are contained in his book, Spirit of Atlantis.

An even more colourful advocate is the retired German schoolteacher, Joachim Rittstieg. On March 1st 2011 it was reported(c) that an expedition, sponsored by the German tabloid newspaper, Bild, and led by Rittstieg headed for Guatemala in search of the gold.  Unfortunately all they found was a pot(e), following which Rittstieg managed to declare the expedition a ‘success’(d). Rittstieg has combined information he has gleaned from the Icelandic Eddas, Plato, Mayan calendars as well as oral sources and concluded that the capital of Atlan can be found submerged in Lake Izabal in Guatemala along with over 2,000 gold tablets(f).

The indefatigable Erich von Däniken(g) has added some support for Rittsteig’s claim of a sunken city in Lake Izabal although commenting that the treasure there is not gold, “just engraved messages from the past”!

(a) https://03a9ef9.netsolhost.com/duanemcc/index.htm

(b) See: (a)

(c) https://haecceities.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/atlantis-is-located-in-lake-izabal-guatemala-not/

(d) https://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/03/30/search-mayan-gold-bild-findsa-pot-stirs-outrage/ (offline April 2015)

(e) https://tcmam.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/bild-found-something-and-these-numbers-are-odd-thig-7/

(f) https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/cracked-mayan-code-may-pave-way-to-lost-gold

(g) https://tcmam.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/short-update-and-erich-von-daniken-thig-4/

Atlantis and 2012

Atlantis and 2012. Some years ago there was a widespread rumour that an impending global disaster was about to befall us in December 2012, supposedly based on a particular reading of Mayan inscriptions. However, this interpretation was hotly disputed and of course, nothing happened, apart from the usual assortment of disasters which is the lot of the inhabitants of this cosmic speck that we live on.

A number of commentators attempted to link this ‘promised’ catastrophe with the story of Atlantis. One of the better known is Frank Joseph who has earned a comfortable living over recent years with his output of books on the subject of Atlantis. Not wishing that particular revenue stream dry up added Atlantis and 2012[0694], in which he claimed that the Mayan calendar was developed by Atlanteans and Lemurians. He suggests that we may be nearing the beginning of a new Ice Age invoking Hopi, Inca and Norse mythologies in support of his claims. Joseph’s credibility should now be clear. When the world did not end, Joseph revised his book and republished it as Atlantis and the Coming Ice Age[1074] in 2015!

harold-campingWe were then told to forget 2012, in fact, we had only days left. Harold Camping a then ninety-year-old American fundamentalist Christian decreed that May 21st 2011 was the date of the ‘Rapture’ and the end of the world as we know it and when that passed uneventfully, he then declared October 21st as the date.  He had previously suggested May 21st 1988, then Sept. 6th 1994 as the date of the Second Coming of Christ. Understandably, Camping’s biblical interpretation has been heavily criticised by scriptural authorities and lay people alike(a). Camping died in December 2013.

Camping had spent large amounts of money publicising his daft ideas. As usual, there were fools prepared to believe all this 2011 or 2012 nonsense. For my part, I planned a special holiday in 2013 to celebrate my 70th birthday. Which did occur.

Chris McCann

Chris McCann

Nevertheless, the spirit of Camping lived on in the person of Chris McCann (left) who announced that October 7th 2015 would be the Earth’s last day. It seems that this silliness is unending(h).

In 2010 a British service entitled Post Rapture Pet Care, run by atheists, offered to look after the pets of fundamentalist Christians when they are taken up to Heaven in the Rapture, for a fee of £69.99. A similar service is on offer in the US named Eternal Earth-Bound Pets.

National Geographic offers a rational explanation(d) of the reality behind this whole 2012 cynical scaremongering exercise. However, a somewhat less restrained view of the 2012 con job is provided by a ‘must read’ website(e)that highlights the harm being done to young and vulnerable people by this nonsense.

A recent discovery in Guatemala, reported in June 2012(f), has provided further evidence that the 2012 alarmist claims are unfounded and no more credible than the prognostications of Harold Camping. Let me spell it out, the latest find simply records that December 2012 will bring a Mayan time cycle (a baktun) to an end while another one will begin, in the same way, that we make a fuss at the end of a year, century or millennium.

However, for those that might be disappointed when 2013 arrives uneventfully, I can now reveal that in 2016 we shall, at last, have our catastrophe or so says Sylwester Kornowski(g). In a 94-page stew of religion and ‘science’, we are assured that April 2nd 2016 will bring on the cataclysm!

But don’t despair if 2016 fails to destroy us, because a newer prognostication is certain that 2027 will finally finish us off. Nevertheless, before getting too excited, it may be no harm to recall the words of Albert Einstein……Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.

(a) https://www.cogwriter.com/harold-camping-may-21-2011.htm

(b) See: Archive 2739

(d) https://belize-travel-blog.chaacreek.com/2012/01/end-of-world-in-2012-maya-doomsday-calendar-explained/ *

(e) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20140811054919/https://2012hoax.wikidot.com/oldstart

(f) https://phys.org/news/2012-06-maya-archaeologists-unearth-monument.html

(g) https://www.cosmology-particles.pl/files/GtoG.pdf (Mercifully now offline)

(h) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/10/what-happens-when-your-end-of-the-world-prediction-is-wrong/?utm_source=Secular+Sunday&utm_campaign=cc9e003fa2-198_copy_01_10_16_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_09cfdc0dd4-cc9e003fa2-113411293

Rittstieg, Joachim *

Joachim Rittstieg (1937-2014) was born in Berlin and was a retired schoolmaster, although that bastion of truth and accuracy, Fox News Latino, describe him as a professor emeritus at Dresden University.

He spent six years with his family in Central America and after decades of study, he claims to have decoded joachim rittstiegall the Mayan calendars and published the results in 1999 in ABC der Maya[717]. Rittstieg has combined information he has gleaned from The Icelandic Eddas, Plato, Mayan calendars as well as oral sources and concluded that the capital of Atlan, which he equates with Atlantis, can be found submerged in Lake Izabal in Guatemala. He also reveals that the sinking of the city took place on 30th October 666 BC. But there is more(a) the sunken city also has a cache of over 2,000 gold tablets on which the ‘Laws of Atlan’ are inscribed. Rittstieg wants someone to invest €3,000,000 in the recovery of this booty!  I would expect the Guatemalan government would have something to say about such an operation.

He also claimed that the Maya and the Vikings had contact for nearly 500 years (754-1224 AD)(f).

A rather critical review of Rittsteig’s ideas by Swedish commentator can be read online(d) as well as another that is slightly more technical(e).

Coincidentally, Duane McCullough has also identified Lake Izabal as the location of Atlantis. 

On March 1st 2011 it was reported(b) that an expedition, sponsored by the German tabloid newspaper Bild, led by Rittstieg had headed for Guatemala in search of the gold. Unfortunately, all they found was a pot, following which Rittstieg managed to declare the expedition a ‘success’(c)!

(a) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20160726193636/https://info.kopp-verlag.de/neue-weltbilder/verbotene-archaeologie/andreas-von-r-tyi/die-jagd-nach-dem-maya-gold.html

(b) A Visit With a Person of High Strangeness Craacking the Mayan Code — What Does It Hold? (archive.org) *

(c) https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/expeditions-quest-for-mayan-gold-finds-a-pot-stirs-outrage

(d) https://haecceities.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/atlantis-is-located-in-lake-izabal-guatemala-not/

(f)  https://tcmam.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/the-zuyua-than-language/

(f)  https://atlantisforschung.de/index.php?title=Joachim_Rittstieg

Maya

The Maya of ancient Mexico and Guatemala have generated much controversy regarding their origins(w).  Recent studies indicate that the story of the development of this remarkable civilisation may be more complex than previously thought(k). The demise of the Mayan culture (800-950 AD) has now been definitively shown to be the result of persistent drought, particularly in the southern lowlands(o).

maya_map

Maya Area of Occupation

Nevertheless, a recent (Sept.2021) article(ac) with contributions from several authorities, highlights the complexity referred to above, while one area might be collapsing another could be flourishing – “A number of Maya cities rose and fell at different times, some within that 800 to 1000 time period, and some afterwards, according to scholars. For example, while areas in southern Mesoamerica, such as Tikal in what is now Guatemala, declined in the eighth and ninth centuries due to environmental problems and political turmoil, populations rose in other areas, such as Chichén Itzá, in what is now the Mexican Yucatán Peninsula,”  and “When Chichén Itzá declined, largely because of a lengthy drought during the 11th century, another Yucatán Peninsula city, called Mayapán, started to thrive.”

“We should always remember, the last Maya state, Nojpetén, fell only in 1697 — pretty recent,” said Guy Middleton, a visiting fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University in the U.K. “It is really important to get the message out there that though classic Maya cities and states did collapse, and culture did transform, the Maya in no way disappeared,” said Middleton, adding that “we should pay attention to the story, the state and status of the Maya descendent population in Mesoamerica now.” 

The commonly held idea, that the Maya were destroyed by drought is now disputed(ah).

The Maya of Central America today are estimated to number seven million.

Inevitably the Maya have been linked with Atlantis by some writers such as Lewis Spence and E.H. Thompson who claimed that the Maya were descendants of Atlanteans. The maverick, Augustus Le Plongeon, was alone in identifying Atlantis as a colony of the Maya and that their language was in fact Greek!   Others, such as Jean-Frédérick Waldeck, included an Egyptian linkage as well.

Richard Cassaro has published a fascinating collection of parallels between the Mayan and Egyptian cultures on Graham Hancock’s website (ag).

The controversial American politician Charles Gates Dawes was convinced that there had been a connection between Atlantis and the Maya.

Joachim Rittstieg claimed that the Maya and the Vikings had contact for nearly 500 years (754-1224 AD)(ae).

However, trumping all that is a recent claim that the Maya had contact with extraterrestrials and that a documentary providing evidence is planned(b). In a similar vein is the latest English language publication from Erich von Däniken entitled: Astronaut Gods of the Maya[1422].  Semir Osmanagic, of Bosnian pyramid fame, added a twist to this proposed linkage when he claimed[0519]  that the Maya had come from Atlantis, which in turn had been founded by visitors from the Pleiades!

For some comic relief, I can suggest a 1976 book[833] by brothers Eric & Craig Umland which ‘reveals’ that the Maya ‘are remnants of space explorers whose attempts to colonise our solar system went awry more than 40,000 years ago.’ Nearly every page is full of hilarious nonsense and nearly worth the £0.01 currently quoted on Amazon.co.uk. A website(i) dealing with ‘unreason’ uses extracts from the Umlands as good examples! If you wish to read about the Maya in Antarctica, the Canaries as well as the Moon, this is the book for you.

July 2012 saw a report(j) on the discovery of the largest Mayan manmade dam at Tikal in Guatemala, which was 33ft high and 260ft long and included sand filters.

The Maya had a sophisticated writing system that occupied the attention of some 19th-century writers including Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg and Le Plongeon. Unfortunately, de Bourbourg followed the work of the 16th-century bishop of Yucatán, Diego de Landa whose interpretation was seriously erroneous. It was Constantine Rafinesque who partially deciphered some of the Mayan numerals in 1832. 

A report in 2013(l) indicated that substantial progress has been made in the decipherment of any outstanding difficulties in the translation of the Mayan script through Internet cooperation.

July 2012 saw a report(j) on the discovery of the largest Mayan man-made dam at Tikal in Guatemala, which was 33ft high and 260ft long and included sand filters. Ten years later, it was discovered that the Maya had also the ability to engineer a water fountain in their city of Palenque(v) and had advanced water management systems(z). A recent BBC article(ab) took an in-depth look at the remarkable hydrological capabilities of the Maya.

>Since Tikal was first seen by a European, probably in 1696, it became recognised as Guatemala’s largest archaeological site. In 2021 the use of lidar revealed that the city was four times more extensive than previous thought. The March 2024 edition of National Geographic has an article highlighting the wonderful discoveries regarding the sophisticated society of the Maya revealed by lidar. Unfortunately, looting continues to be a serious problem compounded by a lack of funds to properly exploit the tourism potential of places such as Tikal.<

In 2020, the largest and oldest Mayan monument in Mexico was identified. It is in the form of a ceremonial platform that is between 33 and 50 feet tall and is nearly a mile long(x). The structure, dated to around 3,000 years ago and was discovered with the help of LIDAR in the state of Tabasco.

James O’Kon, an engineer, has investigated Mayan technology for decades, including the discovery of a suspension bridge at the ancient Mayan city of Yaxchilan in Mexico in 1995, which is believed to be the longest bridge of the ancient world(r). This and other aspects of Mayan technology he explores in his book, The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology[1490]

One of those technological secrets was the unusual acoustics found at Mayan sites, particularly Chichen Itza(ad). In 1931 Leopold Stokowski, the renowned conductor, spent four days at the site to determine the acoustic principles that could be applied to an open-air concert theatre he was designing. He failed to learn the secret.

More recently, Lorraine Stobbart has written Utopia: Fact or Fiction[0476], which suggests that the ‘Utopia’ of Sir Thomas More was inspired by the Mayan culture although his text was written before Mexico was ‘officially’ discovered. Stobbart recently revealed that she is now revising her views.

However, a more serious claim relates to the idea that Mayan inscriptions revealed that a global catastrophe was to occur in 2012. This nonsense(g) turned into a minor publishing industry.  Some even tried to link this daft idea to Atlantis. Fortunately, May 2012 saw evidence from excavations in Guatemala that shows the Mayan calendar extending well beyond 2012(h).

The Mayan calendar has provoked speculation and controversy ever since its discovery. Its origins are obscure, but one interpretation is that the world we live in was created on this day in 3114 B.C. A quite different view was proposed over seventy years ago by Georg Hinzpeter of the German Hoerbiger Society who claimed that our Moon was captured by the Earth in June of 8498 BC and that it became the zero date for the Maya.(y)

Aloys Eiling, the German researcher, commented on the accuracy of the Mayan calendar “The Mayan calendar even surpasses the precision of the Gregorian calendar in use today. Not only did the Mayan calendar measure the duration of the Earth’s orbit around the sun more accurately than our current calendar, but the Maya gave an even more precise value for the average duration of the Moon’s orbit around Earth. The precision achieved is all the more remarkable as the Moon in deserts or regions with clear skies may have played an important role in everyday life as a nightly source of light. But of what use is its dull light in the rainforest or cloudy regions of the world?”(af)

The late David H. Kelley, a Harvard-educated archaeologist and epigrapher at Canada’s University of Calgary, had been investigating ancient links between Asia and pre-Columbian America. In that regard, he published a paper outlining similarities between the Mayan and ancient Chinese calendars that were too numerous to be explained by independent development(p). A more sceptical view is offered(q) by Jason Colavito, who traces the idea back to Alexander von Humboldt.

In a paper entitled On the Mayan Chronology, Emilio Spedicato offers several ideas regarding ancient Meso-American chronologies. For example, he proposes that the large numbers used by the Maya and Toltecs record days rather than years. Many of his ideas stem from the work of Immanuel Velikovsky, John Ackerman and the Tollmans.

The work of Teobert Maler at the end of the 19th century was invaluable in the advancement of Mayan studies. Subsequent researchers have seized upon his discovery of a frieze at Tikal, which he interpreted as a depiction of the destruction of Atlantis, as evidence of the existence of Atlantis in the Atlantic.  Apart from Maler’s conjectural ideas, no tangible link has been found between the Maya and Atlantis apart from the use in their glyphs of elephants, an animal that features in Plato’s narrative.

The authenticity of the photo of the frieze has been called into question by Jason Colavito and his related blog(n) is worthy of consideration.

 Otto Muck overstated it somewhat when he wrote “If Atlantis had not existed there would be no way of explaining the origins of the Maya civilisation”[098.243]

In late 2011 controversy erupted when it was claimed that the Itza Maya had migrated to North America, more specifically Georgia(c). It was also suggested that earthen pyramids in Georgia and Florida can be attributed to the Maya(e). Richard Thornton led the charge with this claim, which understandably generated considerable controversy. This led to a frosty exchange between Thornton and Jason Colavito(ai).

Among their other accomplishments is the claim that the Maya were capable of predicting meteor showers(s).

Gene Matlock, the well-known advocate of Atlantis in Mexico, is certain that the Maya were originally Tamils from Sri Lanka(a) and Sumerians!

Kurt Schildmann’s 2003 book [1759],  was reviewed by Dr Horst Friedrich who commented that “One of the provisional results of Schildmann’s decipherment of the Maya script, and study of the Maya language, is the rather sensational discovery that words from several Old World languages (Sumerian, Accadian, Indo-Iranian, Phoenician, Hebrew and Basque) have somehow found their way into the Maya language.”(aa) I’m sure this will be disputed!

A recent article(f) gives an interesting firsthand account of encountering the important Mayan city of Calakmul deep in the Yucatan jungle. Potentially even more important are recent LiDAR surveys carried out in Guatemala that have revealed an astounding number of previously unidentified Mayan structures. The number of additional Mayan sites identified through the use of LiDAR continues to grow at an incredible rate(u). It was estimated in 2022 that “researchers using laser technology have located nearly 1,000 previously unknown Maya settlements in Guatemala – the sites include ceremonial centers, sporting facilities, roads, and reservoirs”(ak).

In June 2023, it was announced that once again that LiDAR had enabled another forgotten Mayan city to be located in the Yucatan(aj).

Muddying the waters further is an Islamic site that claims that the Maya were Atlantean(m).

(a) https://viewzone2.com/ancientturksx.html

(b) Mayan Filmmaker Offers Photo as Proof of Aliens, Says Hawking Agrees (Exclusive) (archive.org) 

(c) http://www.billdawers.com/2011/12/22/is-there-an-1100-year-old-mayan-site-in-north-georgia/ 

(e) http://www.mayainamerica.com/2012/01/pyramids-in-florida-and-georgia.html

(f) https://travel4wildlife.com/deep-jungle-puerta-calakmul-mexico/#.U5K8MpAU9to

(g) https://web.archive.org/web/20140811054919/https://2012hoax.wikidot.com/oldstart

(h) https://www.christianpost.com/news/earliest-mayan-mural-contradicts-dec-21-2012-doomsday-74788/

(i) https://web.archive.org/web/20200925184903/https://www.jfk-online.com/exploring.html

(j) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120716191443.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ffossils_ruins%2Fancient_civilizations+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Fossils+%26+Ruins+News+–+Ancient+Civilizations%29

(k) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425142343.htm

(l) https://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/28/maya-script-glyph-language-decoding?INTCMP=SRCH

(m) https://mashiyah.blogspot.ie/ (offline 1/8/14)

(n) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/1/post/2014/02/did-the-maya-depict-the-end-of-atlantis-at-tikal.html

(o) https://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2015/article/new-findings-on-drought-and-the-ancient-maya-collapse

(p) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/mayan-calendar-similar-ancient-chinese-early-contact-006612

(q) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/newly-published-articles-claim-mexican-calendar-derives-from-chinese-original

(r) The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology (archive.org)

(s) https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/09/the-amazing-mayans-may-have-predicted-meteor-showers/

(t) https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/lasers-shed-some-light-on-the-maya-snake-kingdom/

(u) https://news.artnet.com/art-world/technology-transforming-mayan-archaeology-1558456

(v) https://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/03/maya-pyramid-plumbing-unearthed-by-archaeologists/1#.Xm-Nb2BFBVc (link broken) 

(w) Mexico and atlantis | Truth Control (archive.org)

(x)  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/largest-and-oldest-maya-structure-found-mexico-lidar-180975037/

(y) Atlantean Research, Vol 3, No.1, May, 1950

(z) Maya Water System Discoveries Show the Ancient Civilization in a New Light | Discover Magazine

(aa)  https://www.migration-diffusion.info/books.php

(ab) The Maya’s ingenious secret to survival – BBC Travel

(ac) https://www.livescience.com/why-maya-civilization-collapsed.html

(ad) https://www.nature.com/articles/news041213-5

(ae) http://atlantisorschung.de/index.php?title=Joachim_Rittstieg 

(af) https://grahamhancock.com/eilinga3/ 

(ag) The Ancient Egyptians and Mayans: Ten Unexplained Parallels – Graham Hancock Official Website 

(ah)  Ancient Maya lessons on surviving drought: Huge variety of plant foods made their starvation unlikely — ScienceDaily 

(ai) Richard Thornton and the “Maya” of Georgia – JASON COLAVITO

(aj) https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/lost-maya-city-discovered-deep-in-the-jungles-of-mexico 

(ak) https://news.artnet.com/art-world/guatemala-mirador-calakmul-karst-basin-lidar-maya-settlements-2235254 

McCullough, Duane Kent

Duane Kent McCullough is the author of Spirit of Atlantis, which places the seaport of Atlantis at the western end of Lake Izabal in Guatemala. The first version of his work is available on the Internet. His rambling website includes references to the Star of Bethlehem, The Golden Fleece, Biblical genealogies and Native American traditions. To add further confusion he has included support for the controversial views of A. T. Fomenko regarding the falsification of history and in that spirit places the end of the Atlantean Age to just prior to the first Olympiad (circa 776 BC). Incidentally, McCullough claims that the Games were held annually and consequently Graeco-Roman history is exaggerated in length by a factor of four! He further claims that the Atlantean seaport mentioned above probably existed less than a thousand years ago!

In 2014 he sought to regenerate interest in his theories(b).

To conclude this poorly focused magnum opus McCullough delights us with recollections of his carefree sailing experiences off Key Largo in Florida. If that were not enough we are treated to Duane’s poetry in which he daringly rhymes ‘paradise’ with ‘Christ’.

For those that require further enlightenment, his website(a) will reveal all.

(a) https://03a9ef9.netsolhost.com/duanemcc/index.htm

(b) https://03a9ef9.netsolhost.com/duanemcc/coverpge.htm

Guatemala

Guatemala in Central America is claimed by Duane K. McCullough as the site of the main city of Atlantis. He states on his website(a) that ‘new scientific research now suggests that the lost Atlantean capital seaport once existed in Central America near a Guatemalan lake named Izabal’ but fails to source the ‘new scientific research’. In his book Spirit of Atlantis, he argues his case, matching Plato’s text with the topography of the area. McCullough points out that west of the modern capital, Guatemala City, lies Lake Atitlán whose name has faint echoes of Atlantis.

Lake Izabal has also been identified as the location of Atlantis by Joachim Rittstieg based on his interpretation of the Icelandic Eddas, Plato and oral traditions of local Maya.

>Guatemala was also home to a giant carved head supposedly nearly 30 feet in height and known principally from a grainy 1950s black & white photo. The features shown in the photo are completely different to those of the Negroid characteristics on the giant Olmec heads found in neighbouring Mexico. It is claimed that the remains of the Guatemalan head were tracked down by Dr Oscar Rafael Padilla Lara and David Hatcher Childress in the 1980s(b). They report that the head had been damaged almost beyond recognition by being extensively used for target practice by revolutionaries.<

A.R.E. is also seeking Edgar Cayce’s third Hall of Records at Piedras Negras in the north of Guatemala.

Lake Izabal

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a) https://03a9ef9.netsolhost.com/duanemcc/index.htm

>(b) The Giant Stone Head Of Guatemala: Evidence of an Ancient Advanced Civilization? – Infinity Explorers<

America *

America as the home of Atlantis took off as an idea shortly after its discovery (or perhaps more correctly, rediscovery) by Columbus. Initially, reports sent back to Europe designated America as ‘Paradise’ Waldseemuller-America

until its identification as Atlantis quickly took hold. John Dee in the time of Elizabeth I was convinced that the newly discovered Americas were in fact, Atlantis, an idea endorsed by Francis Bacon. The first time that America was so named on a map was on the 1507(c) Waldseemüller map, sometimes referred to as “America’s birth certificate.” A rare copy of this map was recently found in Germany(e).

Nevertheless, from the early 1600’s dissenting voices were raised, such as those of José de Acosta, and Michel de Montaigne.

As late as 1700, a map of the world by Edward Wells was published in Oxford that highlights the paucity of information regarding the Americas at that time. However, in this instance the accompanying text notes that “this continent with the adjoining islands is generally supposed to have been anciently unknown though there are not wanting some, who will have even the continent itself to be no other than the Insula Atlantis of the ancients.”

For over five centuries a variety of commentators have associated Atlantis with America and many of its ancient cultures together with a range of location theories that stretch from Maine through the Caribbean and Central America to Argentina.

Although most proponents of an American Atlantis, particularly following the continent’s discovery, did not specify a location but were happy to consider the Americas in their entirety as Plato’s lost land. In 2019, Reinoud de Jonge published a paper declaring that from 2500-1200 BC America had been an Egyptian colony. He expanded on this in 2912(l), when he claimed that the American colonies, North and South had supplied the copper and tin for the Bronze Age of the Mediterranean. For good measure, he threw in a wildly speculative translation of the Phaistos Disk to support these contentions.

Over time attention was more focused on Mesoamerica and the northern region of South America, where the impressive remains of the Maya and Incas led many to consider them to be Atlantean.

North America received minimal attention until the 19th century when an 1873 newspaper report(i) claimed that there was support from unnamed scientists for locating remnants of Atlantis in the Adirondacks and some of the mountains of Maine! More recently Dennis Brooks has advocated Tampa Bay, Florida, while John Saxer supports Tarpon Springs, also in Florida as Atlantean. To confuse matters further, Mary Sutherland locates Atlantis in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and for good measure suggests that King Solomon’s mines are to be found in the same region!

For example, the discovery of the remains of the remarkable cultures of Mesoamerica generated speculation on the possibility of an Atlantean connection there. This view gained further support with the publication of Ignatius Donnelly’s groundbreaking work on Atlantis.

Some have seen an Atlantic location for Atlantis as a conduit between the culture of ancient Egypt and that of Meso-America(d).

Half a century ago Nicolai Zhirov claimed that Plato had knowledge of America [458.22] indicated by his statement that Atlantis was in a sea with a continent encompassing it. He thought that this was the earliest record of a continent beyond the Atlantic.

However, Plato also said that Atlantis was surrounded ‘on all sides’ by this continent, which is not compatible with the Azores, advocated by Zhirov as the location of Plato’s sunken island. In an effort to strengthen this claim Zhirov also claims that there is evidence that King Sargon of Akkad travelled to America in the middle of the third millennium BC, an idea that has gained little traction.

The idea of Sumerians in America was promoted by A.H. Verrill and his wife Ruth, who claimed [838] that King Sargon travelled to Peru, where he was known as Viracocha. The Verrills support their contention with a range of cultural, linguistic and architectural similarities between the Sumerians and the Peruvians.

More recently, Andrew Collins has promoted the idea of Atlantis in the Caribbean, specifically Cuba. Followers of Edgar Cayce are still expecting the Bahamas to yield evidence of Plato’s island. Gene Matlock supports the idea of a Mexican location with an Indian connection, while Duane McCullough opts for Guatemala. Ivar Zapp and George Erikson have also chosen Central America for investigation. Further south Jim Allen has argued strongly for Atlantis having been located on the Altiplano of Bolivia. A website entitled American Atlantis Research from Edward Alexander , now offline, was rather weak on content and irritatingly referred to the ‘Andies’.

Although much of what has been written about an American location for Atlantis is the result of serious research, it all falls far short of convincing me that the Atlantis of which Plato wrote is to be found there. No evidence has been produced to even hint that any American culture had control of the Mediterranean as far Tyrrhenia in the north and Libya in the south. No remains or carvings of triremes or chariots have been found in the Americas. How could an ancient civilisation from America launch an attack across the Atlantic and at the furthest end of the Mediterranean 9,000 or even 900 years before Solon? An even more important question is, why would they bother? There is no evidence of either motive, means or opportunity for an attack from that direction.

A number of Plato’s descriptions of Atlantis would seem to rule out America as its location.

(a) As mentioned above, the ‘opposite continent’ referred to by Plato (Timaeus 25a) is described as encompassing the sea in which Atlantis lay. America cannot be described as enclosing the Atlantic. Around 550 AD, Procopius noted that when viewed from the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar “the whole continent opposite this was named Europe”(m) (not America)!

(b) The Greeks only knew of three continents, Europe, Asia and Libya. Armin Wolf, the German historian, when writing about Scheria relates(f) that “Even today, when people from Sicily go to Calabria (southern Italy) they say they are going to the “continente.” I suggest that Plato used the term in a similar fashion and was quite possibly referring to that same part of Italy which later became known as ‘Magna Graecia’. Robert Fox in The Inner Sea[1168.141] confirms that this long-standing usage of ‘continent’ refers to Italy.

(c) Herodotus described Sardinia as “the biggest island in the world” (Hist.6.2). In fact Sicily is marginally larger but as islands were measured in those days (Felice Vinci) [019] by the length of their coastal perimeter Herodotus was correct. Consequently, it can be argued that since Cuba and Hispaniola are much more extensive than Sardinia, the Greeks had no knowledge of the Caribbean.

(d) Plato makes frequent references to horses in Atlantis. The city itself had a track for horseracing (Critias 117c). The Atlanteans had thousands of chariots (Critias 119a). The Atlanteans even had horse baths (Critias 117b). All these references make no sense if Plato was describing an American Atlantis as there were no horses there for over 12,000 years, when they died out, until brought back by the Spaniards millennia later. Furthermore, it makes even less sense if you subscribe to the early date (9600 BC) for Atlantis as it is thousands of years before we have any evidence for the domestication of the horse, anywhere.

A recent study of worldwide DNA patterns suggests that “no more than 70 people inhabited North America 14,000 years ago.”(b) But a more important claim has been offered by Professors Jennifer Raff and Deborah Bolnick who have co-authored a paper offering evidence(j) that the genetic data only supports a migration from Siberia to America. This certainly runs counter to any suggestion of transatlantic migration from Europe.In 1900,

Peter de Roo put forward the idea that the ancient Greeks had knowledge of America, despite the fact that Herodotus clearly said that only three continents were known to them [Histories 4.42]. A 2013 book, L’America dimenticata [1060], by Italian physicist and philologist Lucio Russo, also claims that the ancient Greeks had knowledge of America and it was gradually forgotten because of mistakes made by Ptolemy including a 15-degree error for the latitude of the Canaries(g).

However, the idea that the Greeks had an awareness of America persists, with some claiming that they had colonies in Canada. Among these are Lucio Russo, Ioannis Liritzis(n) and Minas Tsikritsis(p). Manolis Koutlis has gone one further and claims that not only were there Greek Colonies in Canada but that Atlantis had been situated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence(o).

The late Professor Antonis Kontaratos placed the capital of Atlantis at Poverty Point in Louisiana or it at least inspired some of Plato’s description since “there is also solid evidence that the Greeks were travelling to America in prehistoric times too and could have witnessed firsthand the impressive earthworks at Poverty Point, information which could have reached Plato independently as a fading legend [0750].” Kontaratos cited Plutarch to support his contention of Greek transatlantic travel in prehistory.

I note that there is a suspiciously disproportionate number of Greeks supporting the idea of pre-Columbian Hellenic visitors to America!

While there is extensive debate regarding the Americas being visited by ancient Greeks (Minoans), Phoenicians and even Sumerians, there seems little doubt that America had been visited by various other peoples prior to Columbus such as Welsh, Vikings or Irish. The case for the latter is strengthened by a 500-year-old report(h) of a long-established Irish colony in North America called Duhare.

America as Atlantis and the source of freemasonry knowledge was recently repackaged in a brief article on the Odyssey website(k) quoting Manly P. Hall who in turn cited Plato and Sir Francis Bacon. It then proceeds to speculate on what lessons the story of this original American Atlantis offers the America of today!

(b) https://www.sott.net/articles/show/228315-North-America-Was-Populated-by-no-More-Than-70-People-14-000-Years-Ago-Claims-Stunning-New-DNA-Research

(c) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldseem%C3%BCller_map

(d) https://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=5106.0

(e) Librarians find lost copy of Waldseemuller map, ‘America’s birth certificate’ | GlobalPost (archive.org)  *

(f) Wayback Machine (archive.org)

(g) Reconsidering History: Ancient Greeks Discovered America Thousands of Years Ago (archive.org) *

(h) https://web.archive.org/web/20161203182356/https://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.ie/2014/03/490-year-old-spanish-documents-describe.html

(i) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=PRP18730215.2.8.2&srpos=11&e=——-en–20–1-byDA-txt-txIN-Plato+Atlantis——-1

(j) https://phys.org/news/2016-01-genetic-ancient-trans-atlantic-migration-professor.html

(k) https://www.theodysseyonline.com/america-as-atlantis

(l) https://www.academia.edu/3894415/COPPER_AND_TIN_FROM_AMERICA_c.2500-1200_BC_

(m) Vandal Wars 1.1.7

(n)  https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/did-ancient-greeks-sail-to-canada/ 

(o) ENSKIA (archive.org)

(p) http://canada.greekreporter.com/2012/04/21/researcher-claims-ancient-greeks-made-it-to-america-before-columbus/