From: gpalo@digi.lonestar.org (Gerry Palo)
Newsgroups: sci.archaeology
Subject: Re: Religion & Physics Don't Mix (really Khufu's Pyramid)
Date: 23 Nov 92 18:08:10 GMT
Organization: DSC Communications Corp, Plano, TX

Dale Bass writes,

        [much good material deleted]

     A number of boxes have been found.  It is speculation to call
     them sarcophagi.  In the unfinished pyramid near Zoser's step
     pyramid, a sealed 'tomb' was found in 1954 to contain a sealed
     'sarcophagus' which contained, as usual, nothing.  Even the 'tomb'
     of Hetepheres (Khufu's mother), found at the base of the Great
     Pyramid in 1925 was found to have a sealed 'sarcophagus' that 
     contained nothing.  Her viscera *were* found found in a chest
     in the tomb (as well as some rather beautiful furniture), but
     no body.  It is not unreasonable to suggest that our identification
     of every large box as a sarcophagus may well be flawed. 

     In addition the pyramid of Khaba, the ruined one at Meidum, the Bent
     pyramid, the northern pyramid at Dahshur, and the pyramid of
     Djedefre at Abu Roash show no evidence of ever having had
     'sarcophagi'.   That means, of the nine large pyramids excluding
     Zoser's, only four even had the boxes.  And one of them, in the
     pyramid of Sekhemket, was another sealed empty box. Also, the
     one in Menkaure's pyramid was probably a Saite intrusion.  Unfortunately,
     it lies on the bottom of the Mediterranean, so we won't know
     with any certainty until and unless someone retrieves it.

     It is not unreasonable to suggest that the large pyramids held some
     liturgical purpose, but why no evidence of burial and why several per
     ruler at times?  The only body parts to ever be found in a large
     pyramid were intrusions dated to well after the time they were built.

     In any case, tradition has it that Khufu is buried *below* his
     pyramid.  While we can be pretty certain that there are
     no large chambers in most of the Great Pyramid (due to remote sensing), 
     the same cannot be said for the ground under it.   I have
     this feeling that there are still interesting things to be
     discovered at Giza.


This relates to a couple of current threads here in sci.archeology

So now we have at least opened up the discussion about the use of the pyramids
as tombs.  I think these are the recent discoveries I remember reading about.

Withdrawing any previous statements about shreds of evidence, the evidence that
we do have that the pyramids were built as tombs is very questionable.  That they had a l
ot to do with death is certainly a reasonable conclusion, but the whole of
Egyptian culture was built around the cult of death and the relationship of
the living to the world on the other side of it. And on the basis of this culture,
which I suggest we don't understand, they built an astonishing civilization that
lasted for thousands of years. This again to point out that our image of a cruel
tyrant imposing his ego on the people against their will does not quite fit the
magnitude of what ancient Egypt was.

It is interesting that after the Old Kingdom the pyramid forms were never again 
used, for tombs or anything else.  Question: Did all the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom 
have pyramids, of whatever size?  This might help resolve the question of whether 
the pyramids were built to bury the pharaohs or for other purposes of life.

The "tradition" that Khufu is buried *below* the pyramid is nothing but that, a
tradition.  Indeed, if he were buried in the grounds around the pyramid it would
be below the pyramid. I too have a feeling that there are still interesting things 
to be discovered at Giza (and I am not looking for alien spacecraft). 

I would appreciate it if you could cite some specific references for this material. 

Thanks for the enlightenment.

Gerry Palo (73237.2006@compuserve.com)
Newsgroups: sci.archaeology