Egyptian Obelisks Unplugged: The Lost Chord Divine
The magic of ancient Egypt, with its megalithic monuments and the mysteries they symbolize, still mesmerizes millions of people 2,500 years after its decline as an ancient cradle of civilization. Egyptologists today reckon that approximately 70 percent of the remains of this ancient culture are still buried under the sands of time and the Sahara desert. Today iconic architectural and engineering representations of ancient Egypt are the Great Pyramid; the guardian of the Giza Plateau, the Sphinx; the temples and the obelisks.
Even after centuries of archaeological exploration and research many questions remain regarding their dating, construction, purpose and possible undiscovered chambers along with unexamined known chambers and voids in the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx and the temples. Obelisks, on the other hand, have been comparatively neglected, which is quite remarkable since the engineering and architecture behind the design of these obelisks is a feat that, in many ways, is as extraordinary as the Great Pyramid.
The Great Sphinx or Hu (Image: Courtesy Donald B Carroll)
Engineering the Sphinx and Great Pyramid
The Sphinx is considered to be a monolithic monument carved from the Giza Plateau bedrock in situ and repaired over millennia with limestone blocks. ‘The Sphinx’, the Greek name of this monument is not its original name, nor is ‘Hor-em-akhet’ (Horus in the horizon), a name given to it by Thutmose IV during the New Kingdom Dynasty when it was honored as a solar deity. According to the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts its name was “Hu” (transliteration: ḥw) the deification or the personification of the first word, the word of creation, possibly representing the creator itself.
