Why was the Sphinx Painted Red?

Part 1

The players:

The Valley temples and Sphinx are prime examples illustrating the ancient’s ability to create magnificent works of art. Crafted from granite and limestone, they have battled the worst of nature’s sandy storms and the savagery of humankind. There are wondrous tales explaining incredible events upon the Giza plateau: of kingdoms rising and falling, a religious battlefield, a site containing ancient knowledge, simple burial grounds for the elite, wisdom, devastation, and the unthinkable…the intentional destruction of monuments. Through it all, these structures, with their stones positioned with stunning accuracy, have outlasted the wrath of man…Giza and its many mysteries have survived to tell their tale.

Sir W. Flinders Petrie meticulously surveyed this site and it is his measures (see Topic 1 ) that are used for this presentation. Although there is no “set” length for the Royal cubit, it is generally accepted that Khufu’s pyramid (P1) has an approximate base length of 440 Rc for all sides. From Petrie, the southern base measure is 9069.5 inches; therefore, for the following illustrations, the ratio of the Royal cubit to inches is 1:20.61.

When Topic 3 (The Perfect Alignment) was first presented in September 2001, there was an automatic rejection to the suggestion that the pyramid designers were fully aware of true planetary motion. Combined with this theory was the possibility that the actual pyramid base length ratios represented the physical sizes of the four closest planets to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Although the placement and angular distances of the three pyramids were mathematically corresponding to planetary motion, the majority of readers dismissed the concept claiming the calculations much too difficult/advanced for any peoples living on Earth during the pyramid-building era (IV Dynasty).

Two years have past and many other topics relating to astronomy have been added to this site…now it is time to return…it is time to look deeper into the physical characteristics of Giza.

The angular separation (191.46 degrees) between the three pyramids is the greatest clue left by the designers; it is the average orbital distance Mars travels in one complete orbit of Earth. If the evidence at Giza indicates the ancient Egyptians having gained knowledge of planetary motion then it is most logical that we should continue to investigate further and verify or reject the concept. There is no documentation of significant value regarding this site and it is evident that any information locked within the monuments must be unlocked without the assistance of the written word; there is no other option available. Do or can the stones speak…if so…will it ever be possible for us to hear and understand their haunting words from millenniums past?

Is there an additional aspect to the design that we have overlooked? Is it possible that the designers “inserted” other physical features to the site in an attempt to guide us to a secondary story intermingled with others? The questions are simple but extremely challenging to resolve…where and how does one start?

It required extensive research, endless hours of calculations, and most of all…determination! I doubt if it could have been realized without the aid of an advanced computer graphic program. The results are complied. Using circular measures, the physical size of several orbiting objects in our solar system is demonstrated (Ill. 1). Although the measures are accurate, it is only the ratios to each other that are relevant and it is these ratios that we must compare to other known measures…be it size, weight, volume, rate, or distance.

Illustration 1. The Giza pyramid site showing several circular measures and their reference points. Each circle represents an orbiting object in our solar system.

Describing the points of measure:

1) The smallest circle (622 Rc) is measured from two opposite corners of P1.

2) The next larger circle (867 Rc) is measured from the center of P2 to the center of P3.

3) The third circle (1221 Rc) is measured from the center of P1 to the corner of P2.

4) The largest circle (2292 Rc) is measured from the junction of the west corner vertical of P1 and the center horizontal of P2 to the center of P3.

Much has been learned in the past one hundred years, most significantly in astronomy. Now we can see forever…thousands of light years away, and measure to unbelievable accuracy. We view and photograph exploding stars, quasars, binaries, and now the final proof is in…there are other solar systems out there, systems most similar to ours. New measuring techniques and satellite monitoring systems are used to record and register every square meter of any planet that a telescope can focus upon. And knowing these measures to be accurate provides us with the opportunity to compare planetary size ratios to the Giza site (Ill. 2).

Illustration 2. Comparing the circles to the inner planets.

Comparing the ratio of measures from the circles in illustration 1 to the known measures of our planets shown in illustration 2, the errors by ratio are as follows:

Note: Earth diameter set at unity…100%

1) Mars measure is larger…100.02% of modern.

2) Mercury measure is smaller…98.92% of modern.

3) Moon measure is smaller…99.59% of modern.

The accuracy is beyond belief!

The most inaccurate measure is less than 0.4 % of today’s measure and we use technically advanced electronic detecting equipment.

The findings could be claimed as coincidental measures; unfortunately the accuracy, selected objects involved, and limitation of points of measure suggest the designers being fully aware of planetary size. But that leaves us with the troublesome and unsolvable question. How did the ancient Egyptians gain this advanced knowledge? They certainly had no means to measure their wandering gods to such accuracy as they traveled throughout the heavens.

Part 2

The motion:

Although topic 3 illustrates the 191.4 degrees that Mars travels in one Earth year, it fails to indicate the exact distance these planets are from the Sun. Naturally the avid astronomer will wonder how this can be accomplished. The major obstacle is the large elliptical orbital of Mars (9.3%). What distance should the designers have chosen, or did they demonstrate all three measures (average, maximum, and minimum)? From above we see that Earth is represented when measured from the geometric intersect from P1 and P2. From curiosity, this point was now chosen as the “second” focal point representing our Sun.

In topic 3, the pyramids: P1, P2, and P3 represented Earth, Venus, and Mars and it was decided for them to remain as first chosen (Ill. 3).

The orbital path of Earth (blue) compared to the three measures for Mars (red).

A circle is drawn from the Sun to the center of P1 (blue), illustrating the orbital path of Earth. From this we can now insert the exact distance Mars is from the Sun compared to Earth.

Earth is set at 1Au (astronomical unit) from the Sun while Mars is 1.523 Au average, 1.67 Au maximum, and 1.38 Au minimum (red). From the illustration it can be noted that the maximum and average measures pass through P3, while the minimum limit passes through both valley temples. From closer investigation, the main causeway, with the short passage within the southern temple added, is equal to the minimum distance Mars would be from the Sun. It required little imagination to realize the obvious. Is the causeway a representation of the minimum distance Mars is from the Sun when compared to Earth?

Using the causeway as the location for the minimum orbital axis, the remaining three axis points are added and the elliptical path drawn (Ill. 4).

Illustration 4. The four axis locations forming the elliptical path traveled by Mars when compared to Earth.

Unbelievable was the only word uttered…what else can describe the results?

Not only does the elliptical path cut directly through P3, but also the diameter of this pyramid’s inscribed circle confirms the extents of the minimum and maximum orbital path for Mars.

Who…were these designers?

References:

The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh…..1882……………Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie

“1o6” The Dawn of Man………………………….1999 sb……….C. Ross

Larousse Astronomy………………………..….1987……………Philippe de la Cotardiere

Topics

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