Egypt as a descendant of Atlantis
Atlantis is probably the "mystery" that has most stimulated the imagination of enthusiasts, writers, and researchers. It all starts with a passage from the philosopher Plato in the "Dialogues" Timaeus and Critias, written in the 4th century BC, which states:
"Beyond that strait of sea called the Pillars of Hercules, there lay an island larger than Libya and Asia put together, and from it travelers could reach other islands, and from these islands to the opposite continent (...). On that island called Atlantis, there was a kingdom that ruled not only the entire island but also many other islands as well as some mainland regions beyond: its power extended, moreover, beyond the Pillars of Hercules; including Libya, Egypt, and other regions of Europe up to Tyrrhenia."
The passage is reported by Critias, a relative of Plato, and refers to an event that occurred in 590 BC during the visit of the legislator Solon to Sais, the administrative capital of Egypt. Solon's attempt to impress the priests of Isis with ancient Greek traditions fails as the Egyptians were aware of a people who had lived long before, on whom they possessed much written documentation and whose civilization had been destroyed 9000 years ago by a cataclysm. A broad description of the territory where this people, the Atlanteans, lived is also given, namely an island approximately 540x360 Km, surrounded on three sides by mountains and open to the south to the sea. At the center of the island there is a plain with a mountain in the middle. Moreover, the plain is artificially irrigated and is therefore very fertile. Atlantis, the capital, is located in the south and is surrounded by walls that have a circumference of about 71 Km, followed by other rings of water and earth to defend the actual city which had a diameter of about 5 Km. The climate is temperate, as among the animals present there were elephants.
This fascinating theory, initially formulated by an independent Egyptologist named René Schwaller de Lubicz, has gained traction in recent years thanks to studies conducted by John Anthony West. He argues that the Sphinx, the pyramids of Giza, and other Egyptian temples were built around 10,500 BC by a highly advanced civilization.
According to West, the body of the Sphinx, clearly more eroded than the rest, was eroded by water.
Studies conducted by various geologists in Egypt show how the Sahara was once rich in vegetation and marked by numerous rains.
Herodotus noted how the Egyptians, given the wickedness of Cheops and Chephren, preferred to call the pyramids after Philitis, a shepherd who grazed his animals in that area. This suggests that there was rich vegetation. Some scholars, including Henry Lhote, believe that the Sahara was a vast green plain until 2500 BC.
It should be noted, as has been demonstrated, that the Sphinx is made of the same material as the surrounding tombs which, however, have not suffered the same type of deterioration.
In the Giza plain, in addition to the Sphinx, there are also two temples that present the same characteristics. They are made of heavy blocks up to 200 tons. Even today, with modern cranes, lifting such heavy stones would still be a great challenge.
Supporting these hypotheses was Flinders Petrie who in 1893 unearthed the village of Naqada, 300 miles south of Cairo. Vases, dishes, and other objects were found whose perfection of workmanship suggested the use of very sophisticated techniques. Objects of the same type were also found under the step pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara (more than 30,000 specimens) and in other areas. The neck of the vases was so thin as to prevent the passage of a hand and, sometimes, were narrower than a finger. Even a quartz rock pierced by an artificially made hole was found.
Christopher P.Dunn concluded that only by following the principle of modern pneumatic hammers could results of this type be achieved. At the end of his studies, Dunn asserted that the Egyptians would have used a kind of ultrasonic drill.
Thomas L.Dobecky, the geophysicist who collaborated with West, discovered through the use of vibrations the existence of one or more underground chambers beneath the Sphinx. In October 1984, a secret passage leading under the body of the Sphinx was discovered, but the necessary permissions were denied. Dobecky also made another important discovery: the front part was thousands of years older than the back part, which means that even if it is admitted that the back part belongs to the era of Chefren, the front part would have at least twice as many years. During a conference at the Geological Society of America, attended by about 300 geologists, no one was able to object to these hypotheses, which were indeed supported.
Between the paws of the Sphinx, a stele erected by Thutmose IV, who ascended the throne around 1425 BC, was found, commemorating the restoration of the Sphinx. Among the inscriptions, the name of Chefren also appears, but some inscriptions are unfortunately unreadable. This is the proof why the Sphinx is attributed to Chefren. Assuming that the Sphinx was really built by Chefren, it would have had to suffer erosion of about 30cm every 100 years to require restoration 350 years later, and this would mean that the Sphinx would have had to disappear at least 500 years ago.
A staunch opponent argued that the restorations to the sides were typical of the Old Kingdom, but for some strange reason, they were done during the New Kingdom, thus inadvertently lending credence to West's theory.
Robert Schoch noted how some mud brick tombs found near the Saqqara pyramid do not exhibit the same amount of erosion although they are about 15Km from the Sphinx and are made of much less resistant material.
In 1912, Prof. Naville, after Petrie's attempts, managed to unearth a temple below the temple of Seti I. Like the Temples of the Sphinx, it had no decorations and showed the same style of construction.
Another proof supporting this theory was provided by Auguste Mariette who found a stele among the ruins of the temple of Isis, near the Great Pyramid. On the stele, known as the Inventory Stele, it stated that the Great Pyramid was erected by Cheops to commemorate the restructuring of the temple of Isis, lady of the pyramids, near the temple of the Sphinx. The hieroglyphs clearly dated to around 1000 BC, that is, 1500 years after Cheops. This shows that at the time of Cheops there already existed the Sphinx, the temple of Isis, and at least one pyramid.
The evidence brought by Howard-Vyse on the origin of the Great Pyramid (the inscriptions found in the Campbell's Chamber) are also dubious. Howard-Vyse, during his expedition, found himself working with uncomfortable collaborators like Giovanni Battista Caviglia. The excavations led to the discovery of 4 other rooms that bore inscriptions on all the walls, but never on those exploded by Vyse.
The cartouches examined by Samuel Birch showed that, in one of them, the name of Cheops was written although Birch himself admitted that some details left him perplexed. First of all, many of these inscriptions were upside down, then he noticed that some symbols were characteristic of periods later than Cheops to conclude by saying that many hieroglyphs were unknown or traced by inexperienced hands that made them unrecognizable. The most surprising fact, however, is that the names of two pharaohs, Khufu (Cheops) and Khnem-Khuf, were mentioned. Writer Zechariah Sitchin gave an explanation for this mystery. Sitchin first noted how the signs were found only in the chambers discovered by Vyse after he had fired both Caviglia and the foreman. According to Sitchin, the lack of interest that Vyse's discoveries aroused, led him and his collaborator Hill, to draw those signs. The knowledge of hieroglyphs was still rudimentary and this caused the mistake. John Wilkinson, at that time, one of the major scholars of hieroglyphs wrote some texts on their interpretation. Howard-Vyse and Hill relied on Wilkinson's texts to write the name of Khufu, but then saw themselves corrected to correct their inscription because in the meantime Wilkinson corrected his interpretation of the name of Khufu. Subsequently, Wilkinson went back on his steps stating that the correction he reported was inaccurate. A nasty surprise for Vyse and Hill who by then could no longer erase what they had written (Raufu instead of Khufu).
One of the latest theories advances evidence obtained from carbon 14 analysis performed on pollen deposited inside the Great Pyramid. The results, produced by three different laboratories, affirm with certainty that the analyzed pollen dates back to 10,500 BC.
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