December 28, 2007

Surprise Finds at Egypt Temple "Change Everything" "Archaeologists are particularly intrigued by the discovery of the embankment wall, which they say is the first evidence that the Nile once ran alongside the temple." Some outsider Egyptologists have theorised that the Egyptians used the Nile, diverted and dammed, as a means to construct the huge buildings including the Pyramids, structures which still have many unanswered questions about their engineering. Could this be another piece in the puzzle?

I don't know, I didn't RTFA. :D

  • Also, A Case for Mistaken Identity - is the Egyptian sun god Ra really not the sun? If not, what celestial object did the ancient Egyptians venerate as Ra? Saturn, says some guy trying to sell his book.
  • Well, to be fair, the development of Ra is pretty complicated. First off, much of what we know about Egyptian religion comes from the Greek, who were not shy about equating their gods with Egyptian ones. (Oh, he's in charge of the Pantheon? Then I guess he's like Zeus!) Also, the character of Ra changed dramatically over the dynasties. The trouble here is that there was no "Egyptian Pantheon" at all, but a mishmash of regional and supra-regional entities that were merged, split, and shuffled around constantly. We talking Ra, Horus, Amun-Re, what? Also: that book is self published, FWIW, and the idea that the Egyptians would elevate some star to the top of their pantheon is just silly. (This is not a dis-of the main article. Karnak is supra-cool, and am always looking for more stuff on it. Thanks.)
  • I love theories on how the pyramids were built. Add this new one, now my favorite: Dams and walls were built to create a giant reservoir. This reservoir was used to float float the giant blocks to the top of the pyramid. Previously, my favorite pyramid theory was that they used soundwaves to make the blocks levitate.
  • Where do the aliens come in?
  • Third.
  • The ramp probably served as the ruler's personal landing area, extending directly into the Nile to allow the pharaoh to transfer directly from his boat to the temple. Hm. If those "rulers" also carried the Ark of the Covenant around, and, say, it fell off the boat at some point and sunk into the silt... /scurries off to buy plane ticket and shovel
  • Bring something to prevent your face from melting.
  • SPF 4,000 or so.
  • Yeah, that's what I was on about, bernockle, the water theory thingy. I was too knackered to find a link to any of that, though.
  • Hmmmmm, no ancient (or alien) graffiti mocking the closing and subsequent walling off of NileScape, the program used to construct the pyramids? (I know, I'm reaching. Work with me here.
  • When firewalls were Ra-walls. amirite?
  • God of the Sun? What about God of the Cheerleaders? Ra Ra Ra. Gedddit? So where are all the mummified LOLCats?
  • ...she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet. Ah yes. Bastet. The feline goddess of yowling.
  • ...she was believed to be protected by the feline deity Bastet. Ah yes. Bastet. The feline goddess of yowling.