The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered to be both divine deities as well as mortal rulers. Throughout the 30+ dynasties in ancient Egyptian history, it is speculated that some 170 or more rulers reigned over the great land of Egypt during a three thousand year time span. The throne of Egypt was primarily intended to be succeeded from father to son, however in many cases this line of kingship was interruptedby murder, mayhem and mysterious disappearances. Each time a new family took control of the throne, a new kingdom began in the history of this fascinating nation. While rulers often intermarried with daughters, granddaughters, sisters and brothers to keep the throne within the family the throne still managed to shift hands multiple times; creating a dynamic, and often, complex ancient pharonic history.


The First King

King Menes of Egypt

King Menes

There is contradictory information regarding the first king of Egypt. Some authorities believe he might have been Aha, while others contend that Menes held this title. Very little information on the Egyptian pharaohs of the first and second dynasties is known. The few facts that are known about the sixteen or so ancient Egyptian pharaohs who ruled Egypt during this time has been gleaned from the Palermo stone, an ancient stone tablet that contains information such as lists of pharaohs and other facts of daily life from the ancient pharonic periods.




Famous Egyptian Pharaohs

Tutankhamen

Tutankhamen aka King Tut

Perhaps the most well known of famous Egyptian pharaohs is Tutankhamen, commonly referred to as King Tut. The mysterious death of this boy king has interested the world since his tomb was first discovered in 1922. Only 18 when he died, it is speculated that both is wife and grandfather might have played key roles in themysterious and probably fatal blow to the back of his head.




Ramses 2

Ramesses II

Ramses II, during his 67 year reign of Egypt, seemed to do everything over the top. He is probably the most prolific of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, siring over 100 children with more than a dozen wives. He is well regarded as the builder of more temples and statues than any of the other ancient Egyptian pharaohs.



Queen Hatshepsut

Not all of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs were men and Hatshepsut proves that even in an ancient culture dominated by men, women were capable of making their own mark on the world. Taking control of the throne following the death of her father Hatshepsut ruled for 20 years and during that time proceeded to expand trade relations and build a number of impressive temples, including the shrine in Deir-al-Bahari. Her prosperous reign was cut short when shemysteriously disappeared. It is speculated that she might have been murdered by her own nephew in order for him to gain access to the throne.


Cleopatra

Queen Cleopatra

Commonly referred to as the last of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs before the nation tumbled into the hands of the Roman Empire, Cleopatra has been the subject of many novels and movies and is often portrayed as extremely beautiful and seductive. While her affair with Mark Anthony has become legendary, Cleopatra's intelligence and political astuteness may be the most interesting pieces of information of all regarding this female pharaoh.

The Ancient Secrets of Levitation

Did ancient civilizations possess knowledge that has since been lost to science? Were amazing technologies available to the ancient Egyptians that enabled them to construct the pyramids - technologies that have somehow been forgotten?

The ruins of several ancient civilizations - from Stonehenge to the pyramids - show that they used massive stones to construct their monuments. A basic question is why? Why use stone pieces of such enormous size and weight when the same structures could have been constructed with more easily managed smaller blocks - much like we use bricks and cinder-blocks today?

Could part of the answer be that these ancients had a method of lifting and moving these massive stones - some weighing several tons - that made the task as easy and manageable as lifting a two-pound brick? The ancients, some researchers suggest, may have mastered the art of levitation, through sonics or some other obscure method, that allowed them to defy gravity and manipulate massive objects with ease.

The Egyptian Pyramids

How the great pyramids of Egypt were built has been the subject of debate for millennia. The fact is, no one really knows for certain exactly how they were constructed. The current estimates of mainstream science contends that it took a workforce of 4,000 to 5,000 men 20 years to build the Great Pyramid using ropes, pulleys, ramps, ingenuity and brute force.

And that very well may have been the case. But there is an intriguing passage in a history text by the 10th century Arab historian, Abul Hasan Ali Al-Masudi, known as the Herodotus of the Arabs. Al-Masudi had traveled much of the known world in his day before settling in Egypt, and he had written a 30-volume history of the world. He too was struck by the magnificence of the Egyptian pyramids and wrote about how their great stone blocks were transported. First, he said, a "magic papyrus" (paper) was placed under the stone to be moved. Then the stone was struck with a metal rod that caused the stone to levitate and move along a path paved with stones and fenced on either side by metal poles. The stone would travel along the path, wrote Al-Masudi, for a distance of about 50 meters and then settle to the ground. The process would then be repeated until the builders had the stone where they wanted it.

Considering that the pyramids were already thousands of years old when Al-Masudi wrote this explanation, we have to wonder where he got his information. Was it part of an oral history that was passed down from generation to generation in Egypt? The unusual details of the story raise that possibility. Or was this just a fanciful story concocted by a talented writer who - like many who marvel at the pyramids today - concluded that there must have been some extraordinary magical forces employed to build such a magnificent structure?

If we take the story at face value, what kind of levitation forces were involved? Did the striking of the rock create vibrations that resulted in sonic levitation? Or did the layout of stones and rods create a magnetic levitation? If so, the science accounting for either scenario is unknown to us today.

Other Astonishing Megaliths

The Egyptian pyramids are not the only ancient structures constructed of huge blocks of stone. Far from it. Great temples and monuments around the world contain stone components of incredible size, yet little is known about their means of construction.

* The Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, Lebanon has a foundation that contains the three largest stone blocks ever used in a man-made structure. Each block is estimated to weigh as much as 1,000 tons! No super crane in existence today could lift one, yet they are positioned together with such precision that not even a needle could fit between them. Nearby is an even bigger stone. Known as Hajar el Hibla - the Stone of the Pregnant Woman - it lies abandoned in its quarry, never used. But the giant rectangular block is the largest piece of stone ever cut by humans, weighing an incredible 1,200 tons. It is estimated that it would require the strength of 16,000 men to even budge it, and represents a formidable challenge to 20th century machines and technology.
* On an isolated plateau at Tiahuanaco Bolivia, 13,000 feet above sea level, stands an impressive monument called Puerta del Sol, or Sun Gate. The elaborately carved gate weighs an estimated 10 tons, and how it arrived at its present location is a mystery.
* Nan Madol, sometimes called "the Machu Pichu of the Pacific," is a great ruins on the island of Pohnpei, capitol of the Federated States of Micronesia. This lost city, constructed around 200 B.C., is made up of hundreds of stacked stone logs, each about 18-feet-long and several feet in diameter. The logs, stacked like cordwood, constitute walls that are 40 feet high and 18 feet thick. Each stone log is estimated to weigh about 2.5 tons. How they were moved and lifted into position is unknown.

What was the secret these diverse and ancient cultures possessed to manipulate these great stone blocks? A massive supply of slave labor straining human muscle and ingenuity to their limits? Or was there another more mysterious way? It's remarkable that these cultures leave no record of how these structures were constructed. However, "in almost every culture where megaliths exist," according to 432:Cosmic Key, "a legend also exists that the huge stones were moved by acoustic means - either by the chanted spells of magicians, by song, by striking with a magic wand or rod (to produce acoustic resonance), or by trumpets, gongs, lyres, cymbals or whistles."

The Secret of The Great Pyramid

There are dozens of these guys hanging around: the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Red Pyramid: each bigger and uglier than the last.

There are 118 of them still standing in Egypt after all these years. Or maybe more ... but they come and go. Sandstorms take their toll, as do vandalism, grave-robbers, and optical illusions. You would think something that weighs in at 500,000 tons couldn't just disappear like that but it happens.

In addition, we can all wonder why someone in 4,500 B. C. --- an era without tractors, construction cranes, or the Blackwater Group --- would spend twenty years hauling two million 40 - 70 ton blocks of granite around and about to construct a tomb in the air.

The Great Pyramid is the biggest of them all, sticking up 500 feet, occupying over thirteen acres. It is also a rat's nest of bat shit and secret compartments and heat and humidity and mysterious ramps. In 1870, the British went in with dynamite and discovered four or five "relieving chambers." These are, I hasten to assure you, not indoor bathrooms but were designed to relieve a different kind of pressure ... the pressure of all those blocks stacked up top.

It is one thing to stand there on the Plateau of Giza admiring this hulk weighing in at so many tons. It's quite another thing to try to figure out how they put the whole pot together. Remember, they had no machinery at all outside of cedars of Lebanon (which, apparently, they used as rollers). So how did they get thousands of blocks of marble up there? All is explained here, and I would explain it to you if I could figure it out.

Suffice it to say that the authors have spent over 200 pages explaining the secret of the construction of the Great Pyramid, but as Lord Byron says of Coleridge's metaphysics: he explained it "to the nation / I wish he would explain his Explanation."

These notches, pyrmidions, dolerite pounders and corbelling are way over my head which may well be --- for the writers, perhaps for the pyramid itself --- the very point.

Hamunaptra - The City of the Dead

Hamunaptra - City of the Dead 

Hamunaptra built circa 1998 A.D.
 

Luxor built circa 1200 B.C.
 

First let us look at the architecture of Hamunaptra. As you realise there are many temples in Egypt which the designers could have used as their inspiration. I have just put an example of the temple Ramses (Seti I's son) built at Luxor here as a reference, but you can play 'spot the column' and see if you can see a similar one in the two pictures. You see the problem with Hamunaptra is that it is a big mess of many parts of temples and many periods Egyptian Archintecture built higgledy piggledy with no logic to it. I would love to see the original plans used by the designers and see if I can locate the where and when of all the pieces of the architecture which they have used to make up the temple.

Now then, those jars.... I could jump up and down and fume about these for several days because of the mess the film made of things.

There never should have been five jars, only four as this picture of some from the British Museum shows.

The inscription on the jars comes from King Tut-ankh-amen's canopic chest, it held the four little coffins he had instead of jars. Ankh's jars even have his name (Neb-kepheru-ra) shown right) on in a cartouche if you look.

Canopic Jars were fashioned with heads in the shape of the four sons of Horus and each held part of the deceased's internal organs.

Imsenti had a human head and held the liver.

Hapi had a baboon's head and held the lungs, the jars used in the film were also far too small - about 4x too small and did not smash when they were finally knocked off the altar in the final fight between O'Connell and the mummies. There was no way that anyone could have carried a real jar about in their pockets. Interestingly however there is a dummy jar their size in the British Museum created later in history when dummies were used to reperesent the real thing.

Duamutef had a jackal's head and held the stomach. Qebehsenuef had a falcon's head and held the intestines.
 
The Book of The Dead does exist - there are lots of copies in many museums but it was nothing but prayers and spells to keep the soul safe in the underworld. You might be interested to see the drawing which is a copy done by Sir Wallace Budge of Ani's book of the dead kept in the Egyplology department at the British Museum and compare it with the film version.

Secrets of Egypt

It may simply have been the luck of the draw, but no one has probably furthered the interests of Egyptology, and indeed the world's archaeological focus on Egypt more than Howard Carter. His discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun has inspired almost a century of Hollywood movies, books and media attention for this greatest of all living museums we call Egypt.

While Howard Carter's find of the mostly intact tomb of a pharaoh may have been lucky, it was the result of a dedicated career in Egyptology and the culmination of consistent exploration.

Howard Carter was born on May 9th, 1874 in the small town of Kensington, London, England. His father, an artist named Samuel John Carter who drew portraits (mostly of animals) for local landowners, trained Howard in the fundamentals of drawing and painting. He was Samuel Carter's youngest son. But Howard Carter developed an early interest in Egypt, so when he was 17 years old, under the influence of Lady Amherst, a family acquaintance, he set sail for Alexandria, Egypt. It would be his first trip outside of England, and he hoped to work with the Egyptian Exploration Fund as a tracer. Tracers copied drawing and inscriptions on paper for further study.

His first assignment came at Bani Hassan, where he was tasked with recording and copying the scenes from the walls of the tombs of the princes of Middle Egypt. It is said that he worked diligently, throughout the day, and slept with the bats in the tombs at night.

It was under the direction of William Flinders Petrie grew into his own as an archaeologist. Considered as one of the best field archaeologists of this time, Petrie really did not believe that Carter would every become a good excavator. Yet Carter could have had no better teacher at this point in time. At el Amrna, Carter proved Petre wrong by unearthing several important finds. During this training period, Carter also worked under Gaston Maspero, who would later become the Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service.

After being appointed as the Principle Artist of the Egyptian Exploration Fund's excavations at Deir el Bahbri under the direction of Edouard Naville, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Carter was able to perfect his drawing skills and strengthen his excavation and restoration techniques. His admirable efforts on the project led to his appointment by the Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, at age 25, as the first Inspector General of Monuments for Upper Egypt. This was obviously an important area of Egypt that included the ancient Thebes area. He became responsible for supervising and controlling archaeology all along the Upper Nile Valley. It is interesting to note that during this time, he erected the first electric lights in the Valley of the Kings (in various tombs) and at the temples at Abu Simbel.

Regrettably, he was forced to resign from the Antiquities Service in 1905. An incident occurred between Egyptian archaeology site guards at Saqqara and a few drunken French tourists. When the tourists became violent, Carter allowed the guards to defend themselves. The tourists protested to various high officials including the Egyptian Consul General Lord Cromer. Cromer called for Carter to make formal apology, but Carter refused, and was relieved of his post and re-stationed to Tanta, a place with very little archaeological involvement. Carter had very little choice but to leave the service.

After his resignation from the Antiquities Service he spent the next four years as a watercolor painter and dealer in antiquities. However, seeking private funding for excavation work, Carter became the Supervisor of Excavations for the 5th Lord of Carnarvon (George Herbert). While World War I delayed Howard Carter's work, by 1914, Lord Carnarvon owned one of the most valuable collections of Egyptian artifacts in private hands. He would eventually discover six tombs in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Luxor. But Carter had become somewhat obsessed with finding the tomb of a fairly unknown pharaoh named Tutankhamun, and year after year, searched in vane for this the pharaoh's lost tomb.

In fact, Lord Carnarvon was becoming frustrated with Carter's efforts, and by 1922, issued an ultimatum to the Egyptologist that this would be his last season of funding. Confident of his eventual success, on November 1, 1922, Carter began digging for his final season and three days later unearth the staircase to Tutankhamun's tomb. After excavation down to the plaster blocks of the tomb, at 4 PM on November 26, 1922, Howard Carter broke through and made one of the 20th century's most amazing discoveries. It would take another ten years just to catalog the artifacts from this one tomb, which are currently in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo, though they are scheduled to be moved in the near future.

During this time, Lord Carnarvon died in Cairo of pneumonia. This sent the already sensational press into a frenzy. Media hype about the mummy's curse set the media on fire, and much to Carters displeasure, he began receiving letters from spiritualists from around the world. Legend has it that by 1929, eleven of the people connected with the discovery of the tomb had died, including two of Lord Carnarvon's relatives, and Carter's personal secretary, Richard Bethell. This would spawn mummy movies through the end of the the twentieth century and beyond.

After his discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, Howard Carter retired from active field work. He began collecting Egyptian antiquities himself, and became moderately successful. He could often be found at the Old Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, mostly keeping to himself. He returned to Kensington, England in 1939, and died on March 2nd in that year at the age of 65.