Stargate SG-1 n°2, p. 6-7, Mythology

Behind the Myth of the Pyramids

Stargate SG-1 n°2, p. 6-7

Mythology

Mysterious Sites

Behind the myth of the
Pyramids

For centuries, the Egyptian pyramids have been a source of fascination and controversy. Having discovered that they are part of Goa'uld ship technology, the SGC investigates the myths and theories surrounding these magnificent structures.

File notes:
SGC Dept. of Archaeology
and Ancient History

Size of the pyramids

The various shapes and sizes of the pyramids match different Goa'uld technologies. The center of the ha'tak mothership (top) has the same tetrahedral shape. Step pyramids resemble ha'tak landing platforms. The small pyramids may be those of personal ha'tak cruisers.

The structure

The ship of the System Lord Heru'ur (above) resembles the Egyptian pyramids of Giza.

Unknown builders

The "true" identity of the pyramid builders remains in question. Everyone agrees that they were technologically advanced, like the Goa'uld. The "Age of the Gods" theory fits the attitude of the Goa'uld, who insist on being regarded as gods.

The three largest pyramids, legendary monuments, stand on the Giza plateau. Given their size and the precise dimensions of their bases, many experts find it hard to believe that they were built by an ancient civilization without the help of modern tools or technology.

Majestic tombs

The most common explanation is that the pyramids were built as majestic tombs for the pharaohs, to honor their memory and protect their mummies. Each pyramid was meant to be part of a royal necropolis, a city of the dead built by ordinary Egyptians. Until the early 21st century, Egyptologists believed they had been built by gangs of slaves. Recent discoveries suggest they were in fact teams of short-term volunteers, performing a kind of national service. Opponents of the tomb theory point out that no pharaoh's mummy has ever been found in the pyramids of Egypt, although fragments of mummified bodies have been discovered there. If the main purpose of the pyramids was to serve as lavish tombs, at least one royal burial with an intact mummy should have been found, despite tomb robbers.

The Orion hypothesis

In 1994, *The Orion Mystery* by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert sparked a lively debate among Egyptologists. Bauval and Gilbert claimed to have discovered why the three great pyramids of Giza were built along an offset diagonal, while their other dimensions are so precise. By comparing their layout with a star map, they showed that the pyramids occupy the same positions as the stars of Orion's Belt. Strange air shafts found in the Great Pyramid also point toward the constellation of Orion. The authors conclude that the ancient Egyptians had an in-depth knowledge of astrology, central to their religion, far more advanced than that of other civilizations of the time.

The Age of the Gods

Traditional Egyptologists maintain that the first pyramid tomb was built around 2700 BC. The concept was refined, reaching its peak with the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, around 2600 BC. Other experts argue that texts by ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Arab scholars all state that the pyramids of Giza were built in the "Age of the Gods", thousands of years earlier.

Another theory holds that the Great Pyramid was built to preserve the knowledge of an advanced civilization threatened by a flood that wiped out its people. Geologists date the last great flood in Egypt to around 10,000 BC. Salt deposits and water-level marks supporting this date have been found on the Great Pyramid.

Many scholars believe the Giza pyramids are superior in design to all other pyramids, earlier or later; they conclude that the others are inferior copies of the works of the advanced race that built them, and that the Egyptian pharaohs credited with building them merely restored three existing structures.

Atlantis

The idea that the pyramids were built by an advanced civilization was also put forward by the psychic Edgar Cayce. In 1923, Cayce claimed to remember a past life as a priest in the sunken city of Atlantis. In 10,500 BC, he said, his people fled to Egypt. He designed the pyramids and passed his knowledge on to the Egyptians, who built them. Cayce also predicted that a hall of records holding the secrets of Atlantean civilization would be found near the Great Pyramid in the last twenty years of the century. So far, nothing has been found.

Alien visitors

Some believe the pyramids of Giza are too vast and complex to have been designed and built by humans. In 1969, Erich Von Daniken wrote *Chariots of the Gods?*, a book in which he claimed to have proof that Earth had been visited by highly advanced aliens. The pyramids, among other ancient monuments, were supposedly left as evidence of their visit. Von Daniken also believed that Earth's religions and mythologies were a direct result of this visit, and that tales of superior beings handed down through the generations were based on real encounters.

Osiris's personal cruiser lay hidden in the Egyptian sands for thousands of years

File notes:
SGC Dept. of Archaeology
and Ancient History

Age of the pyramids

Unanswered questions about the age of the pyramids could support the theory that they are the fossilized remains of Goa'uld ships. Since they were abandoned on Earth at different times, the sand and debris collected outside the pyramids and analyzed to date them could mislead us about the true age of these structures.

The Orion theory

The offset diagonal of the pyramids could match the landing formation of a fleet of ha'tak ships.

The tetrahedral center of the ha'tak warship was hollow, to hold the landing platform, or "pyramid".

The formation of the Goa'uld ships is similar to that of the three pyramids of Giza.

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