Egyptian Dawn
The author is well known for his television documentaries which challenge various widely accepted views on early Egyptian history. Here, he argues that the Great Pyramid is of too early a date to have been built by Cheops. He discusses the mathematics and astronomical thinking behind the layout of the buildings on the Giza plateau, and predicts the exact locations of seven royal Old Kingdom tombs. He explores the rarely entered ‘Tomb of Osiris’ and re-dates it. He discovers previously unreported passages and chambers in the Valley Temple of Giza. And he looks at the spread of megalithic stone circles, including our own Stonehenge, which spread from North Africa up the Atlantic coast, and makes a possible connection with the pyramids.
What I like about this book is that he has plainly done his research. He has tracked down 19th century excavation reports in obscure publications, checked them out and then posed awkward questions about possible fakes and why some important early discoveries are ignored. I think he’s right about the power of ‘consensual blindness’ which fears rocking the academic boat by allowing other academic disciplines to challenge its ideas. Fascinating and thought-provoking.
