The Giza Power Plant Read online

  As a craftsman and engineer, I have worked with machines for over thirty-five years. I began to apply my specialized knowledge to the data gathered about the Great Pyramid. For instance, scholars have suggested that the pyramids were built with primitive hand tools. This is a subject I know something about. I once apprenticed in England, where I worked many hours using nothing but hand tools. Saws, drills, files, and chisels were all we were allowed to use to create precision objects. At the time, I failed to see the benefit of this toil Why work eight hours a day bent over a piece of steel clamped in a vise when there was machinery in the area that would do the work more quickly and accurately? The result of this labor was several precision artifacts and—more important—the knowledge and appreciation of what it takes to produce something by hand. It also served to forge continuity between the craftspeople of the Old World and those of the New World. As I evaluated the opinions of Egyptologists about ancient building and machining techniques, my training told me that their theories were lacking at best—and outright wrong at worst. As I looked at the data, in fact, I began to suspect that the ancient Egyptians may have used technologically advanced tools.

  Bringing applications from my work as a machinist to bear on my speculations about Egypt and its Great Pyramid, this vague suspicion became a firm belief as I pondered for innumerable hours on the methods that might have been used to produce the various artifacts. I was filled with awe and wonder at the techniques used, and at the same time I began to be aware of a greater appreciation for the technology our own society has developed. I also wondered what future archaeologists would say about some of the artifacts we may leave behind.

  With the advances in manufacturing technology, my career has been a continuous educational experience that ultimately guided me into the field of laser processing of materials. During this period, I was asked to give a presentation to a local high school on career opportunities in manufacturing. In preparation for my presentation, I cut two identical cartoon characters out of stainless steel on as-axes YAG laser. The machine is a computer numerical controlled machine, and each character had fine detailing with a .010-inch kerf (cut width).

  Having a fascination for the analytical skills necessary to determine how prehistoric societies manufactured precision artifacts, I presented one of these laser-cut figures to the class and told them that if our civilization were to be destroyed, future archaeologists may be able to determine the manufacturing tools our civilization uses just by studying that object. The surface of the cut, when studied under a microscope, would show signs of a recast layer, indicating the use of heat in its production, and the fine kerf can only be produced by that heat being focused to a very small spot. The laser, I explained to the class, is the only method that is capable of producing the features found in this object. I then described the various disciplines involved in the creation of the laser. It required physicists, optical engineers, mechanical engineers, materials and electrical engineers, and a host of crafts people building equipment to their specifications. There were quite a few careers involved in the creation of this seemingly simple cartoon character.

  To envision this laser-cut object, think of a talented artist drawing freehand with a pencil. The lines where the laser has cut through the material are as thick as a pencil line. Using the law of Occam's razor, where the simplest solution is probably the correct one, it could be assumed that a talented artist created this stainless steel character by guiding a handheld laser. I then produced the other cartoon character and placed them together so that each feature overlaid the other perfectly. Now, I told the class, because the human hand and eye are incapable of producing two objects that have complex features with such precision, the scope broadens. There were obviously other disciplines and careers that had a hand in the cutout. There had to have been some mechanical device to guide the laser along its path. There had to have been controls to turn the laser off—as it passed over the metal—and on again to punch a hole through the metal and begin once again cutting the intricate lines. We need electronics engineers, machine tool designers and builders, and computer engineers and programmers, I explained, to build the computers and write the codes that guide the machine tool and control the laser. Besides introducing the class to the hidden work opportunities that are behind the most simple artifacts, my point was to teach the students that a tool is neither created or used in isolation. What I did not tell them was that the same analytical skills and analyses that are readily accepted when applied to modern artifacts can be equally beneficial when analyzing artifacts from ancient times. The difference is that the tools that created modern artifacts are still in existence, while those that created many ancient artifacts are not.

  It has been the practice of archaeologists to study the artifacts of a civilization and determine the minimum resources necessary to create them. Generally the primitive tools archaeologists uncover are sufficient to explain these artifacts. There are exceptions, however; and Egypt has an abundance of artifacts that still need to be evaluated correctly. Attempts have been made to explain some of these artifacts, but they fall short of determining how we could actually re-create the artifacts themselves. Part of this problem among academics is a persistent barrier in their beliefs which has resulted in their unwillingness to consider ancient civilizations as being advanced. It is my contention that until scholars select the methods that accurately replicate some of these artifacts under study, they will continue to underestimate ancient achievements and fail to learn their true significance.

  Because so many Egyptian artifacts, including the Great Pyramid itself, cannot be explained adequately or fully by anyone theory, the field of Egyptology is rife with controversy and speculation. There is no shortage of theories regarding the construction and meaning of the Great Pyramid—and the believers of a particular theory have a tendency to hold it passionately and religiously. In order to present my own view, I will address other theories and identify where they fall short. My purpose, however, is to promote cooperation between multidisciplined researchers in the quest for knowledge about our prehistoric ancestors. No single discipline is capable of analyzing and presenting the entire truth regarding the Great Pyramid. It requires experts from many different fields. And Egyptology is only one of them. The fact is that from laypeople to senior research scientists, the old theories are being rejected, and there are new views being presented by researchers with expertise in various fields. While faced with criticism and sometimes derision for their ideas, these new, often independent, theorists possess a high level of cooperation and dedication to the truth. For example, Robert Bauval, author of The Orion Mystery, has these qualities. His discovery of the stellar alignment of the Giza pyramids with the constellation Orion is a valuable lesson that challenges us to reconsider both the Great Pyramid's function and the ancient Egyptians' level of astronomical knowledge. Other independent researchers such as Graham Hancock, John Anthony West, and Robert Schoch have supported and energetically promoted the airing of views different from their own because they believe that each contributor to this research could bring a vital clue in our understanding of this ancient culture.

  This new understanding is important to us as a species for it supplies us with a history that is deeper and richer than we previously thought. At the same time, it provides us with a guidepost to a future that combines the best of both worlds—blending the technology of the present with the technology of a past that we are only now rediscovering. And perhaps more important, this new understanding will reveal a thread of consciousness that is connected with our distant ancestors, giving us a new perspective and sense of mortality.

  Chapter One

  A NEW PARADIGM, A NEW ORDER

  There is excitement in the air, and the Internet is buzzing. There is something going on in Egypt. There is intense anticipation that new discoveries and a tremendous amount of information are about to be uncovered. Why all this interest in the relics of an ancient civilization that flourished in an
area of the world so removed from our own? Egypt has always had the power to attract and mystify. To visit Egypt and enter the massive stone edifices still standing after eons is to be drawn into a spell that has been wielding its influence for millennia. What is going on at Giza? What revelations regarding prehistory are now forthcoming?

  Most information related to ancient Egypt has been in the control of Egyptologists, and it has typically been their research and discoveries that have held authority over all others. Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, the director of the Giza Plateau, recognizes that Egypt is in possession of archaeological sites that are the intellectual property of the world. At the same time, the pyramids and the Sphinx are valuable sources of income for Egypt from tourism and archaeological permits.

  In recent times, expert opinions—other than Egyptologists'—have been solicited regarding the relics of Egypt. For example, during a recent exploration on the Giza Plateau funded by Dr. Joseph Schor, an engineer was invited to participate in a search for the Hall of Records, which Edgar Cayce predicted was underground near the Great Sphinx. Tom Danley, an acoustics engineer and consultant to NASA, also conducted resonance tests inside and above the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid. The results of his tests are remarkable and will be addressed later in the book.

  The summer of 1997 was filled with reports of clandestine digging inside the Great Pyramid. Eyewitnesses testified that fresh tunnels were being dug above the King's Chamber; and while equipping the chambers above the King's Chamber with vibration sensors, Danley discovered evidence of fresh tunnels being dug there. Who was doing the digging? Who authorized it? And what are they looking for? Local officials expressed surprise at the news and stated they knew nothing about it. Danley wrote to me in an e-mail: "Who ever was doing it was being careful to 'hide' their work, there was NO dust downstairs at the time like is mentioned at Hoagland's site1 and the burlap bags of chips were hauled up to the next level UP and heaped against the wall, along with many water bottles and trash. I do not think that the officials knew about it either as they let us go up there with no chaperone and our inspector was very surprised when I told him I thought there was new digging going on.

  "My guess would be that the officials were now simply removing the bags for safety and that's how the dust got down to the Grand hall."

  In an interview on the Art Bell radio show on July 25, 1997, Danley described the tortuous path one has to take to access the upper chambers above the King's Chamber. In 1836, over a period of several months, English aristocrat Colonel William Richard Howard-Vyse created access to these chambers by blasting upward through the limestone and granite. The hole he created is more like a chimney, with rough sides enabling footholds to climb up. With the new hole, however, it was obvious the tunnelers had hauled the burlap bags of limestone chips up to the chambers above as they dug, instead of removing them completely from the pyramid. This is obviously a more difficult task and surely must have been a conscious effort to keep the digging secret. Boris Said, a documentarian and producer of the television documentary "Mystery of the Sphinx" with Charlton Heston, was being interviewed along with Danley, and he speculated that the purpose for the digging was the Egyptians' clandestine attempt to reach behind the "door" at the end of the southern shaft in the Queen's Chamber, discovered by robotics engineer Rudolph Gantenbrink in 1993. For now the issue rests, for officials are not admitting any knowledge of the new tunneling and probably will not until such time as they make a remarkable discovery.

  As much as the Great Pyramid has deteriorated over the passing millennia, one would think that another hole bored into the heart of this structure would not matter much. But it seems to be creating quite an emotional stir among those who revere this edifice and who view it as an inheritance for the world rather than the personal property of the Egyptians. Even with this deterioration, though, the quality of the workmanship that went into building the pyramid is still evident, and its tremendous significance has prompted many alternative theories as to its function. What scholars and laypeople must remember is that any theory that purports to explain the purpose of the Great Pyramid should be mindful of each aspect of its physical existence. The material evidence found within the Great Pyramid did not just spring into existence, but was the result of a physical event, whether the event was planned or not. Thus, every single discovery, observation, and peculiarity—carelessly noted or closely scrutinized by researchers—was the result of some planned action by the pyramid builders or was the effect of a definite cause. Everything about the Great Pyramid has an answer.

  The Great Pyramid is the largest, most precisely built, and most accurately aligned building ever constructed in the world. To my mind it represents the "state of the art" of the civilization that built it. (State of the art describes a condition of excellence, wherein the pursuit of any occupation and the product of that occupation is the best example of it, using the most up-to-date methods available for its completion.) There is no evidence to support the speculation that a civilization, for one brief period of time, could produce work that is so advanced it would be considered supernatural to the members of that society. We will get further in our understanding of the Great Pyramid if we follow the premise that it is an accurate reflection of the technology that was developed and used by the society that built it.

  Many technologists concur that the state of the art evident in the Great Pyramid is, by modern standards, very advanced. As the technological achievements of a society advance with time, the state of the art in any particular field continually improves as new methods are implemented. The technology we enjoy today has progressed gradually over the years, and each improvement has redefined the state of the art, and with it, our lives. These improvements are not designated to just one area, and many times an improvement or a discovery in a particular science has enabled other professions to advance. As a result, a balance is maintained between the sciences; and in climbing the ladder of technological progress, one area of science may install a rung with which another may climb higher.

  We are not unduly amazed when confronted with a display of our own society's technological advancements, for in viewing the end product, we are aware to some degree of the technology employed in its creation. For instance, as we stroll through our climate-controlled shopping malls, we take for granted the use of advanced machines and the high-tech methods of manufacturing and construction that make them possible. But if we were completely unaware of the techniques and machinery used to build such a complex, we would undoubtedly be stupefied as to how it came into being.

  This bewilderment has affected many students of ancient cultures, particularly of Egypt, because we have been taught that the only means of construction available to the builders of the Great Pyramid were manpower, ropes, and tools of copper, stone, and wood. As researchers attempt to reconstruct—in their minds, on paper, and sometimes even physically—the achievements of these ancient, technologically "primitive" builders, they are amazed at the lack of correlation between what they see rising from the desert floor and what they "know" to be history.

  Many theorists, unable to reconcile the rift between accepted theory and the fact of these magnificent structures resort to supernatural theories to explain who built the Great Pyramid and how. They surmise that:

  the Great Pyramid was built by super beings who came to Earth from another planet.

  the Great Pyramid was built through divine inspiration.

  the Great Pyramid was placed on Earth, completely intact, by the hand of God.

  Still other researchers and authors of books about the Great Pyramid speculate that it embodies an ancient and lost science. They subscribe to the belief that the practitioners of this science built the pyramid as testimony to the knowledge they had developed and because they believed in the prophecy of a future cataclysmic event. David Davidson, a structural engineer from Leeds, England, theorized that the Great Pyramid is similar to a time capsule left by some fantastic civilization for th
e benefit of a future generation that possesses the ability to unlock its secrets and reap the benefit of the knowledge stored there.

  In my view, however, the Great Pyramid reveals too much practical experience and technological knowledge on the part of its builders to suggest that they suddenly diverged onto a path of symbolism and occultism. If indeed we benefit through our study of the Great Pyramid, perhaps realizing that the ancient Egyptians were very advanced, then these more speculative theories might have some basic truth to them. As an engineer, however, I am mindful that our civilization's major construction projects are not financed on the collateral of some future generation thousands of years hence, but are built to serve the needs of today's society. It is likely that some of our larger construction projects would survive a world catastrophe and last for several thousand years. For example, if a disturbance around the globe returned us all to the Stone Age, the Hoover Dam, a colossal construction project of modern times, would be viewed with awe if the science and technology that were needed to build it had been lost to everyone. This dam, and others like it around the world, was not built to serve some far distant civilization, but to fill a need at the present time. Financing was provided on the basis that there would be some return on the money invested in it. It seems logical to assume, therefore, that the builders of the Great Pyramid, especially the financiers of its construction, were expecting some return on the resources they invested.

  The construction date of the Great Pyramid has been speculated to be from 4,800 years to 73,000 years ago. An Arab writer, Abu Zeyd el Balkhy, estimated the oldest date from an ancient scripture. He claimed that it was built at the time when the Lyre was in the constellation of Cancer, which has been interpreted as meaning "twice 36,000 years before the Hegira," or around 73,000 years ago.2 (The Hegira, or hijrah, was the flight of the prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution and is dated A.D. 622. The term hijrah also relates to the migrations of the faithful to Ethiopia, as well as those of Mohammed's followers to Medina before the fall of Mecca.3)