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.