On the Orientation of Ancient Egyptian Temples: (3) Key Points at Lower Egypt and Siwa Oasis, Part II

Shaltout, Mosalam; Belmonte, Juan Antonio; Fekri, Magdi

doi:10.1177/002182860703800402

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…However, the monument was left unfinished and is now in a very bad state, so it is frankly difficult to believe that a modern measure of the orientation of this building can be done with an accuracy greater than, say, 0.5°. Further, both Petrie [1883] and a recent re-evaluation [Shaltout, Belmonte and Fekri 2007] give values much closer to true north, at least for the rock cut passage, which is more precisely measurable.…”

mentioning

confidence: 72%

“…This god was represented in hieroglyphs as a falcon in the horizon , and it was observed by Wilkinson (1994) that this symbol might have been inspired by the Sphinx as seen in the middle of the two pyramids. Actually, if the hierophany is observed standing in front of the Sphinx, the hieroglyph formed by the sun and the pyramids resembles this last one (Shaltout, Belmonte and Fekri 2007). 9 Perhaps by chance, this phenomenon recalls the hieroglyph associated with the glare of the sun rays.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…However, to accommodate an inverse chronology at Giza within the wellestablished historical succession of kings, I had to propose that the tomb of Khafre might have originally been the fourth-dynasty pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan, which is unfinished and whose attribution is unclear. This was of course the weak link of the theory and, immediately thereafter, Juan Belmonte proposed giving up the idea of an inverse chronology in favour of a common project of the two buildings, an idea on which today we both agree (see [Shaltout, Belmonte and Fekri 2007] for further details). According to this proposal, Khufu planned the construction of two pyramids, exactly as his father Snefru did in Dahshur, and later Khafre claimed for himself the one which is slightly smaller.…”

Section: Hints At a Global Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Akhet Khufu: Archaeo-astronomical Hints at a Common Project of the Two Main Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Magli

2009

Nexus Network Journal

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Abstract. The architectural complexes composed by the two main pyramids of Giza together with their temples are investigated from an interdisciplinary point of view, taking into account their astronomical alignments as well as their relationships with the visible landscape. Combining already known facts together with new clues, the work strongly supports the idea that the two complexes were conceived as parts of a common project. IntroductionThe Giza Plateau overlooks today's city of Cairo, Egypt. Here, in a short period of time (certainly comprised between 2600 and 2450 B.C.) during the so-called Old Kingdom, the expert workmen and architects of the pharaohs of the fourth Egyptian dynasty constructed for their rulers two pyramids which are, still today, among the most remarkable achievements in the whole of human history. We shall call these pyramids Giza 1 and Giza 2; with side lengths of 230.3 and 215 m, and heights of 146.6 m and 143.5 m respectively, Giza 1 and Giza 2 are far greater than the third famous pyramid present on the Plateau, the tomb of the pharaoh Menkaure. This pyramid indeed hardly reaches 65 m in height and is therefore also much smaller than the three pyramids constructed some eighty years before by the pharaoh Snefru in the sites of Meidum and Dahshur, south of Giza, all of which reach an height of more than 90 m. The present paper deals only with Giza 1 (the so-called Great Pyramid ) and Giza 2 as well as with their architectural complexes.It is very well known that the Giza pyramids were constructed with an extremely high degree of accuracy, in spite of their tremendous building difficulties. In the course of the last two centuries, the accuracy of construction compared to the gigantism of the projects stimulated hundreds of "theories" which have nothing to do with the ingenuity and the way of thinking of the ancient Egyptians nor with the way their architects worked. Thus, unfortunately, a noisy background of non-scientific theories tends to interfere with any serious approach to the structural, technical and anthropological problems posed by such wonderful monuments. In particular, it is easy to find in books (or websites) plenty of strange triangulations, criss-crossing lines or even complex curves traced on maps of the Plateau, which allegedly represent the hidden legacy of the pyramid builders. On the other side, however, it is clear -at least in the opinion of who writes -that a re-examination of these monuments from an interdisciplinary point of view would be worthwhile. Such a reexamination would have to take into account, of course, what Egyptology has established in 150 years of research on ancient Egypt, but knowledge gained in other fields as well, for instance, geology, architecture and structural engineering.1 In the present paper, an interdisciplinary approach is used to study the layout of the Giza 1 and Giza 2 complexes from the point of view of the relationship between architecture, astronomy and landscape. As we shall see, understanding such relationships involves the ...

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confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Hints At a Global Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Akhet Khufu: Archaeo-astronomical Hints at a Common Project of the Two Main Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Magli

2009

Nexus Network Journal

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“…The astronomical analyses have become more sophisticated, without, however, seeking the extreme precision of earlier studies, as such precision went beyond what people could naturally perceive. Solar phenomena are no longer prioritized, but instead the net is kept deliberately wide so as to include also the moon and stars (see generally [Belmonte et al 2006[Belmonte et al , 2008Magli 2009Magli , 2011Magli , 2012Ruggles 1999;Ruggles and Urton 2007;Shaltout et al 2005Shaltout et al , 2007). The researcher now uses information derived from cult myths and rituals, where these are known, so that celestial bodies and their associated phenomena (rising, culmination, setting) are identified not arbitrarily but as being relevant on a local, cultural and indeed cultic level (for example, within the ancient Greek world: [Boutsikas 2007[Boutsikas , 2008a[Boutsikas , 2008b[Boutsikas , 2009[Boutsikas , 2011Boutsikas and Ruggles 2011;Boutsikas and Hannah 2012]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greek Temple Orientation: The Case of the Older Parthenon in Athens

Hannah

2013

Nexus Netw J

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Abstract. The study of the orientation of ancient structures has recently experienced a renaissance in scientific interest after languishing for much of the twentieth century. Under the umbrella of the new multi-discipline of archaeoastronomy, the analyses of orientations have become more sophisticated, with a wider range of celestial phenomena now included, along with information derived from cult myths and rituals, so that celestial phenomena are identified through being relevant on a local, cultural and cultic level. Ironically, this revival of interest in temple orientations largely matches in its methodology that of Dinsmoor [1931], yet his work has lost favour because of his insistence on the priority of solar phenomena. In this paper, I revisit Dinsmoor's analysis of one temple, the Older Parthenon in Athens, to assess his methodology and conclusions.

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“…Accordingly, the first campaign was devoted to Upper Egypt, the second to Middle Egypt, the third to the Oases of the Western Desert, the fourth to Lower Egypt, and the fifth with the fundamental aim of completing the sample and making some further tests. Four successive papers (Shaltout & Belmonte 2005;Belmonte & Shaltout 2006;Shaltout, Belmonte & Fekri 2007;Belmonte, Shaltout & Fekri 2008, hereafter Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively) have already been published about the temples in which, stage by stage, we have analysed the relationship of temple orientation and their location within the local landscape, understanding landscape in its broadest meaning of both terrestrial and celestial (astronomical orientations) aspects. Our studies have demonstrated that both components were necessary and indeed intimately correlated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of cosmic order: Astronomy and culture in Ancient Egypt

Belmonte¹

2009

Proc. IAU

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Over the past five years, the Egyptian-Spanish Mission on the archaeoastronomy of ancient Egypt and its collaborators has been performing an ambitious scientific project with the aim of studying the cosmovision of the ancient civilization of the pharaohs. Part of the project has consisted of a re-analysis of the iconographic and historical sources that has allowed, among other things, a reassessment of the calendar theory and a new proposal for the sky-maps of ancient Egypt. For various reasons, Archaeoastronomy has not been one of the favourite disciplines of egyptologists in the past. Probably because of this, important questions such as the orientation of Egyptian temples and the relevance of astronomy in this respect had never been afforded with the requisite seriousness and depth. Our work has had among its various priorities, the solution of this problem. In order to achieve this, our team has so far measured the orientation of some 330 temples in the Valley, the Delta, the Oases and the Sinai. The aim is to find a correct and almost definitive answer to the question of whether the ancient Egyptian sacred constructions were astronomically aligned or not. Our results may provide an affirmative answer.

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On the Orientation of Ancient Egyptian Temples: (3) Key Points at Lower Egypt and Siwa Oasis, Part II

Cited by 13 publications

References 3 publications

Akhet Khufu: Archaeo-astronomical Hints at a Common Project of the Two Main Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Akhet Khufu: Archaeo-astronomical Hints at a Common Project of the Two Main Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Greek Temple Orientation: The Case of the Older Parthenon in Athens

In search of cosmic order: Astronomy and culture in Ancient Egypt

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