Ancient Egyptians in Australia
In Australia, about a hundred kilometers from Sydney, there is the Hunter Valley National Park. In the park there is a forest, and among the rocks found there lies the mystery I want to tell you about.
Climbing on the remains of a small rocky landslide, you arrive at a large block of sandstone, into which a crack makes it possible to enter. Upon entering the crack you reach a small "chamber", and the contents of this are decidedly surprising. This cave was discovered in the seventies, casually like many important discoveries, by a man who was looking for his dog.
At the bottom of the cave there is a graphite which reproduces the Egyptian god Anubis, the Judge of the Dead and Guardian of the Underworld. On the walls there are approximately two hundred and fifty Egyptian hieroglyphs carved, partially corroded by the passage of time. These bear no resemblance to animal graffiti made by Aboriginal people, so there is no way to confuse them.
According to Paul White, a researcher who is working on these hieroglyphs, they are unquestionably of Egyptian origin, in the archaic style of the early Dynasties, and date back to around 4,500 years ago. Egyptologists, accustomed to reading hieroglyphics from more recent times, found themselves faced with primitive and bizarre forms, and this caused them to doubt their authenticity.
Ray Johnson, an elderly Egyptologist who during his career has worked on the translation of very ancient texts for the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, has also worked on the translation of the hieroglyphics contained in the cave, obtaining a story that seems to be about ancient shipwrecked explorers in an unknown land, and of the death of their head of royal lineage, “the Lord Djes-Eb”.
The three cartouches contain the name of Djedefre, or Ra'Djedef, King of the Upper and Lower Nile of the 4th dynasty from 2528 to 2520 BC, brother of Khafra and son of Khufu, better known by the Greek name of Cheops.
This cartouche dates the expedition precisely, in fact it occurred after the reign of Khufu, during the reign of Ra'Djedef. Since Djes-Eb was of royal lineage, he was probably one of Pharaoh's sons.
The inscription was probably created by order of a ship captain or a priest, since the title of a high officer or priest is found on the angular glyph of the same.
This is the account of the scribe, speaking on behalf of His Highness “The Lord Djes-Eb”:
“For two seasons, Djes-eb, the leader of the expedition continued westward exhausted but strong to the end. Always praying and happy. He, the servant of the gods... We went through hills and deserts, in the wind and in the rain, without finding lakes. He (Djes-Eb) was killed while carrying the banner of the Falcon God high in a foreign land, through the mountains, the desert and the water. He, who died before, was left to rest here. May he have eternal life. He will never again stand by the waters of the Sacred Pool of Mer, whose name means love."
In the second part of the inscription, which unfortunately is worse preserved, the tragedy that occurred is described:
“The snake bit twice. The followers of the lord Khufu, vigorous King of Lower Egypt, Lord of the two Kingdoms, will not all return. All the banks of the rivers and streams are dry. Our boat is damaged and tied with rope. We gave the egg yolk from the medicine chest and prayed to Amen, the Hidden One, as he was hit twice.We walled up the side entrance to the shelter with stones and aligned the chamber with the western skies. The three gates of eternity were connected to the back end of the royal tomb and were sealed. We placed a vessel at his side, the holy offering, in case he ever woke up from the grave. The royal body and all the others are separated from the house.
Here is inscribed the extraordinary story of the death and burial of the Lord Djes–eb, one of the sons of Pharaoh Ra'Djedef.”
The state of deterioration of the hieroglyphs demonstrates long exposure to atmospheric agents, supporting the theory of their antiquity.
How was it possible that ancient Egyptian populations crossed the ocean and reached Australia? Is there perhaps other evidence of this incredible journey?
LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE
If these hieroglyphs were authentic, it would mean that the ancient Egyptians had reached as far as Australia during their travels. But is there other evidence of the presence of ancient Mediterranean peoples in Australia?
Queensland, Gympie
On the outskirts of this town is a terraced pyramid, about thirty meters high, with an estimated age of six thousand years. This pyramid was reported by the first white men who inhabited the area in 1850. In 1966, near this pyramid, two stone statues representing monkeys were unearthed, and according to estimates they are at least three thousand years old. According to scholars, it could represent the Egyptian God Thoth, who until 1000 BC was represented as a monkey.
Of the two statues, the larger one is crouching and is made of stony conglomerate. The smallest, most damaged by the passage of time, held a Tau. The Tau is the lower part of the Ankh, the cross of the ancient Egyptians.
Furthermore, the Aboriginal tribes of this area worshiped a Mother Goddess similar to that which was worshiped in the Middle East.
Widgee Shire
In this location a worker found a statuette representing a crouching monkey.
Sunshine Coast, Noosaville
An ancient Ankh has been unearthed at this location.
Toowoomba
Seventeen granite stones containing Phoenician inscriptions were found here.
Bowen
Graffiti that looked like hieroglyphs similar to those of the ancient Egyptians were also found in this location.
New South Wales, Penrith
A carved onyx scarab was found near the Neapean River. Also in Penrith there is also a stepped pyramid about fifteen meters high.
Blue Mountains
To the west of these mountains there is another step pyramid, built using enormous blocks of granite, about thirty meters high.
Hawkesbury River
Near this river there are very old drawings, made by Aboriginal people, depicting unknown visitors.
Kimberley
The Aboriginal people of this area still venerate a Mother Goddess similar to those worshiped in the Middle East. Furthermore, some groups of these tribes have Middle Eastern racial characteristics, and many ancient Egyptian words are found in their language.
Also in this area, in 1931 Professor Apelkin, professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney, discovered an Aboriginal tribe that had never had contact with white man. The elders of this tribe greeted the professor with ancient Masonic signs. Furthermore, the aborigines worshiped the Sun, Mother Earth and the Rainbow Serpent, and numerous words in their language were of Egyptian origin. This area is famous for the Wandjina rock art, and according to ancient legends these people arrived on large boats from the Indian Ocean.
Kimberley, Tjuringa
In this locality a solar symbol was found identical to that of Aten, the solar deity venerated in 1000 BC in Egypt.
Arnhem / Torres Strait
In both these locations the dead were mummified.
Darnley Island
In 1875 a mummy found on this island was examined by Sir Raphael Cilento, a famous doctor of the time. According to the doctor, the method used for mummification was the same one that was used in Egypt 2900 years ago.
New Hanover Island
In 1964 Ray Sheridan, a health official, discovered the remains of an ancient sun temple built in the Egyptian style. In this temple there was also an idol two meters high, weighing four tons, representing a half-man, half-bird creature, facing the rising sun. The ruins reminded Sheridan of a temple he had seen in Egypt during World War II.
I can't give you the exact location of these discoveries:
- 1910: Discovery of a coin minted in the time of Ptolemy IV
- 1931: Mummified remains were found in a New Zealand cave and examined by anthropologist Grafton Elliot-Smith. According to the scientist, the skull belonged to an Egyptian, and was at least 2000 years old.
- 1950: An Egyptian sun disk was discovered, carved into a cliff.
- 1978: Inside a cave, ancient Egyptian Masonic symbols were discovered and identified by Rex Gilroy. This cave is located a few kilometers away from the place where the Ptolemaic coin was found in 1910.
We now look for evidence of Australian contact in Egypt:
- 1922: When Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered by Carter, way back in 1922, a collection of boomerangs, from 26 to 64 centimeters long, made of wood and majolica, was found inside the antechamber of the tomb.
- 1982: According to what was reported in the Cairo Times, archaeologists working in Fayum, near the Siwa Oasis, discovered fossil remains of kangaroos and other Australian marsupials.
CONCLUSIONS
The evidence for the presence of people from ancient Egypt in Australia is too much to ignore. Even if we consider the Hunter Valley hieroglyphics to be fake, the other evidence is still sufficient to prove the theory.
Furthermore, based on this evidence, it was not a single meeting between two cultures, given that 1500 years pass between the hieroglyphics found in the Hunter Valley (4500 years ago) and the solar disk of Aten found in Tjuringa (3000 years ago).
Based on the evidence collected, it can be stated that, in remote times, there was a maritime connection between Australia and ancient Egypt, which certainly occurred via a port on the Red Sea.
