The Destination

To Know Thyself to be Thyself, yet One with the Whole

The Journey

  I understand the battle; I am learning the peace.

 D. Carroll

Peace is more difficult.

 

Egyptian Obelisks Unplugged: The Lost Chord

By Donald B. Carroll

 

Ancient Egypt: that cradle of civilization still drawing the attention of millions of people with its megalithic monuments and the mysteries they still symbolize twenty-five hundred years after its demise as an ancient world civilization.  Egyptologists today consider that approximately seventy percent of the remains of this ancient culture are still buried under the sands of time and the Sahara Desert. [i]If the general public today was asked to give an example that represents ancient Egypt their answer would probably be first, the Great Pyramid, second the guardian of the Giza Plateau; the Sphinx and third the Obelisks. All three monuments continue to hold their mysteries and fascination over the millennium and the world.

Great Pyramid: D.Carroll personal photo

Sphinx: D. Carroll personal photo

Obelisk at Karnak: D. Carroll personal photo

Of these three iconic examples of the accomplishments of ancient Egypt in architecture and engineering the vast attention has been given to the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx.  Even with hundreds of years of exploration and research many questions remain on the dating, the construction, their purpose and possible undiscovered chambers along with unexamined known chambers and voids both in the great Pyramid and the Sphinx.  Obelisks, on the other hand, have been comparatively neglected.  This disregard is quite remarkable in the aspect that the engineering and architecture in the design of these obelisks is a feat that, in many ways, is as extraordinary as the Great Pyramid.

First, not to denigrate any of the incredible monuments and before the protests of such a comparison begin a brief look of the data should be reviewed.  The Sphinx is considered to be a monolithic monument carved from the Giza Plateau bedrock in situ and repaired through the millenniums 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” (PT 251, PT 697). Hu (transliteration) (ḥw) was the deification, the personification, of the first word, the word of creation, possibly representing the creator itself. [ii]

The Great Pyramid, transliterated as “Mer” in the hieroglyphs, both in engineering and architectural design is considered the most advanced of all the pyramids.  Originally it was four hundred and eighty-one feet in height and seven hundred and fifty-six feet to each of its four sides and cover with polished white Tura limestone.  There is less than two-inch, difference to the length of each of its sides, it is aligned to the four cardinal points and to this day, even with its thirteen acres footprint, is less than an inch of being perfectly level.  It is estimated that it consists of approximately 2,300,000 blocks with an average weight of two and one-half tons, with the largest blocks weighing up to eighty tons[iii].  There is nothing else like it in the world and modern engineers' debate whether it could even be recreated to its level of sophistication today, thousands of years later, with all of our modern technology.  The Great Pyramid, the last remaining wonder of the ancient world remains a wonder and a mystery still today.

Perhaps because the Great Pyramid is such a massive engineering and architectural feat with internal shafts and chambers that still can be explored and studied it eclipses the accomplishment of the creation of obelisks.  The Great Pyramid seems almost designed to send minds on flights on imagination, besides possibly being a tomb; other theories abound as anything from a place of initiation or an electrical power plant to being created by extraterrestrials. On the other hand, obelisks give an individual, in comparison, nothing to explore, nothing seems to be hidden.  What will be presented in this article is the evidence, hidden in plain sight, that Egyptian obelisks played a very significant role in their spirituality not only in symbolism but in functional purpose, commensurate to the purpose of the Great Pyramid.

Egyptian obelisks deserve similar awe and consideration in their construction and architectural design that the Great Pyramid elicits.  Egyptologists date obelisks back to the Old Kingdom to around the same period of the Great pyramid though some researchers theorize they go back to pre-dynastic times.  It has been considered that the first center for obelisks was Heliopolis also known in ancient times as On or Iunu; Iunu is translated as “Pillar City” [iv]. Ancient records document dozens of standing obelisks in Heliopolis though today only one obelisk remains standing as the rest were either destroyed by earthquakes, invaders or taken as trophies by foreign conquerors.  

Obelisks, primarily, were created out a single piece of red granite, predominately from a quarry located near Aswan Egypt. They were not created in sections, or blocks but as a single monolithic piece of granite.  In general, they range from a height of approximately ten feet to over one hundred and thirty feet.  In weight, this gives a range of approximately 30 tons to almost 1200 tons (the unfinished obelisk still in the quarry near Aswan).  To reiterate, for comparison, the Great Pyramid’s largest single blocks are estimated at just eighty tons versus an obelisk being a single piece of carved granite that is almost fifteen times that weight (1,200 tons).  That should give one pause for consideration in the creation, transportation and erection of these monolithic monuments. To this day how this was accomplished is debated with no firm answer of such great feats.

 unfinished obelisk By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 wiki commons

Some examples of these engineering miracles still standing or re-erected include:

The only standing obelisk left at Heliopolis erected by Sensuret I which is considered the oldest temple obelisk still upright at its original site. It is 68 feet tall and weighs 130 tons.

The obelisk of Thutmose I located at Karnak which stands at a height of 71 feet having a weight of over 140 tons.

Queen Hatshepsut’s Obelisk located at Karnak having a height of 97 feet and a weight of 320 tons. 

The obelisk of Ramses II located at Luxor temple which stands at a height of 75 feet and weighs an estimated of 250 tons.

The Egyptian obelisk now in Rome, Italy, in St. Peter’s square in front of the Vatican with a height of 82 feet and a weight of 365 tons. 

Finally, the tallest and largest of standing Egyptian obelisks is the “Lateran Obelisk” located at the Lateran Basilica in Rome with a height of over 105 feet with a weight of over 500 tons. [v]

 Vatican Obelisk By jeffwarder, CC BY-SA 3.0

This is a partial list of obelisks originally created in ancient Egypt that are standing today which gives testimony of the highly advanced skills of their engineers and architects.  Though these noted as standing, the unfinished obelisks still in the Aswan quarry should be distinguished with it height of more than 135 feet and a weight estimated of almost 1,200 tons. It was not completed apparently due to fissures that occurred in it, ruining its ability to be a pure monolith. What has to be considered is that, if the fissures had not occurred, the builders had every intent to move and erect this massive obelisk along with the means to do it. Other obelisks from this quarry had already been created, transported anywhere from 100 miles to over 400 miles, then erected at sacred sites and often erected in pairs in front of the entrances to their temples.

In researching the original purpose of obelisks and why the builders went to such great efforts in all the aspects of these massive monoliths, the information is scant.  There are probably less than a dozen books on obelisks and these books are mainly filled about the transportation of these monoliths by the Roman Empire, the resurrection of them by the Popes in Rome and the 19th century transportation to and re-erecting in foreign cities such as New York, London and Paris. All these books go into great detail about the engineering challenges and costs to accomplish all this, ad infinitum, but little is written or known about obelisks original purpose. They have been basically considered symbols of the “Sun Cult” of the Egyptian Deity Ra, monuments to Pharaohs, or possibly gnomons marking seasons or time of day and funerary memorials. Even with what is known there are ongoing discussions of their age, possibly being pre-dynastic, to the hieroglyphs carved on their sides being added later, not an aspect of their original creation.

To address this dearth of knowledge of Egyptian obelisks it is important to begin with their original name, rather than the Greek term of obelisk as they are known today. The Greek term, obelisk, means roasting spit; the ancient Egyptians called them Tekhen or Tekhenu which is translated as “To Pierce the sky” or heavens; to rise up in brilliance.  The Tekhen (Obelisk), shaft represented a frozen ray of light from the sun and its pyramidion capstone (Benben stone) represented the Bennu bird, the Egyptian symbol of spiritual rebirth and resurrection, where the Greeks found the genesis of their Phoenix; a much different meaning then the Greek “roasting spit”. [vi]

This Egyptian symbolism of their Tekhen is similar to the symbolic representation of their pyramids. The pyramids also symbolized frozen light with the same Benben capstone at the top. Pyramids were considered stairways or ramps of light a place where heaven and earth came together; a site of glorification (the horizon) where the Ka and Ba, aspects of the soul, could be united creating an Akh or Akhuu; a radiant being of light. The Egyptian Ka represented their eternal connection to their god that had to be reawakened for spiritual rebirth and resurrection for the unity with their god.  The Ba was the individuals own unique persona of the soul manifested in physical existence.  The Akh (Akhuu) can be considered as the reuniting of god consciousness with the individual’s consciousness. While the uniting of these aspects, the Akhuu radiant being of light, represents such a unitive spiritual enlightenment. This was the goal of all Egyptians, not just the pharaohs. [vii]

The Egyptian Musuem, Cairo: Ka symbol

D. Carroll personal photo

Egyptian Ba: Abydos, Egypt. D. Carroll personal photo

Pyramids (Mer), the Sphinx (Hu), and Obelisks (Tekhenu) also represent the significance the Egyptians had of light and sound in their spiritual philosophy and cosmology. The Sphinx, as noted earlier was the material manifestation of the sound of creation and later, in the New Kingdom, was considered a solar (light) deity guarding the Giza Plateau.  The pyramid, as described by an Egyptologist; …the original appearance of the pyramid when most of its surface was newly covered with smoothed white limestone.  The reflected light must have been so brilliant as to be almost blinding. …In one sense the pyramid may have been a giant reflector, a stone simulacrum of sunlight and a window to the sky…” [viii]. The symbolic representation continues; (Pyramids)…many indications they were symbols of the sun.”[ix] Obelisks had a similar symbolic representation, though rather than a figurative image of a star or sun to facilitate one becoming a radiant being of light, they depicted one single ray of light and still sharing the same Benben capstone of spiritual rebirth and enlightenment; to pierce the heavens and rise up in brilliance whereas the pyramid was light that was a window to the sky.

Sound appears to be incorporated into the design of the Great Pyramid itself.  Though there have been no definitive scientific acoustic studies done on the interior architectural chambers sound projection and resonance, many including this researcher, who have been inside the Great pyramid note its ability to project and amplify sound. This author can also personally speak how sound travels and resonates inside the Great Pyramid and of very significant resonance while in the Great Pyramid coffer and sounding a note with three witnesses present. Dr. Robert Schoch in his book: Pyramid Quest writes that he and researcher John Anthony West did their own sound experiment with Mr. West chanting in the King’s Chamber while Dr. Schoch was in the subterranean chamber.  Dr. Schoch writes that even with poor hearing he could hear Mr. West Chanting. [x]

In these examples of Ancient Egyptians incorporation of light and sound in their philosophy and monuments, this leaves the obelisks. Their physical representation of a frozen ray of light with the Bennu bird of spiritual rebirth and resurrection at its apex is accepted; but what of sound? That is their aspect that has been hidden in plain sight.  At the Karnak site there is the top portion of an obelisk; this section is approximately 36 feet in length, estimated to weigh almost 100 tons and is attributed to the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. This section was mounted horizontally on stands. Though not a well-known this obelisk section could create a sound when struck. This researcher personally experienced this phenomenon several times during several visits to Karnak.  By putting one’s ear at the pyramidion point while another would go to the other end a simply slapped the far end of the obelisk with their hand a tone could be heard.  A tone that travelled 36 feet through 100 tons of granite! Fortunately, besides this researcher’s personal experience a television documentary; The Mystery of the Sphinx, narrated by Charlton Heston, released in November 1993 records this exact tone creation by this obelisk. (For those interested it can be still found on YouTube: Mystery of the Sphinx - YouTube and this is recorded in it at 48:42-49:05).  Unfortunately, though well-meaningly, in April 2022 this obelisk portion was re-erected by engineers and architects at Karnak, so this phenomenon can no longer be experienced. 

Obelisk section at Karnak that emits a tone when struck. 

D. Carroll personal photo

Same obelisk section as above. Re-erected April 2022

D. Carroll personal photo

This documented occurrence of a tone being created through an obelisk by striking it provides the evidence of sound creation and its concurrent symbolism in the construction and design of obelisks. It also provides the evidentiary clues to the original purpose of obelisks and why they were erected in front of the entrances to temples.

The use of sound in the design of ancient sacred sites is neither unknown nor unexpected; designs of ancient sites around the world have incorporated sound in their projects.  There is even a field of study called archaeoacoustics to examine them. This presented research provides evidence of the high level the Egyptian civilization brought such acoustics to their sacred sites.

Pairs of obelisks erected in front of Egyptian temples and often not quite the same height or dimensions.  In such a case it would be expected that then the pair of obelisks would not have the same tone when struck and it is through this aspect that the incredible advancement in design and engineering of these ancient Egyptian comes to light, in this case of sound. Having the paired temple entrance obelisks emitting two close but distinct tones when struck is the key to their purpose. Imagine a pharaoh, priest or initiate coming to the entrance of a sacred temple and standing in contemplation between the paired obelisks before entering. Then the two obelisks being struck with an instrument such as a leather bag filled with sand causing each obelisk to emit a tone. The individual between the two obelisks would hear one tone in the right ear and a slightly different tone in the left ear. Today, modern science shows that such an experience creates what is call a binaural beat.  A binaural beat is created by the brain processing the two slightly different and separate tones, one in each ear, and interpreting the difference between the frequencies of the two tones as a third tone. This occurs in the area of brain called the super olivary complex.  In the internal creation by the brain of a third tone, a chord is formed; in musical theory three notes comprise a chord.

Why this occurs, according to neural science is: “Located in the brain stem, the superior olivary complex is the first part of the brain that processes sound input from both ears. The superior olivary complex synchronizes various activities of the many neurons in the brain. This complex responds when it hears two close frequencies and creates a binaural beat, which changes the brain waves. The synchronization of the neural activities across the brain is called entrainment.”[xi]  As an example, if the human brain is receiving a tone (frequency) of 440hz, the musical note A over middle C in one ear and a tone (frequency) of 432hz in the other ear the brain processing creates an internal third tone of the difference of the two external tones; in this case a tone of 8hz that effects the brain neural activities and is evidenced of the EEG.

What has brought binaural beats to the attention of modern-day scientists and medical researchers is the potential effect of binaural beats has on the brain in particular the synchronization of brain neural activities as evidenced in changes of brain EEG recordings; specifically in keeping the frequencies of the two external tones to a difference of 40 hertz (Hz) or less.  The interest being because what has been discovered about brain activities entrained to this narrow span of frequencies. Generally, five different brain waves have been identified:

Delta wave – 0.5 – 4Hz

•             Theta wave – 4 – 8Hz

•             Alpha wave – 8 – 13Hz

•             Beta wave – 13 – 30 Hz

•             Gamma wave – 30 – 100 Hz

Delta wave patterns are considered to represent dreamless (non-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep).

Theta wave patterns are considered to represent REM sleep, creative states and deep meditation.

Alpha wave patterns are considered to represent a state of relaxation, a sense of flow, a light meditative state.

Beta waves are considered to represent a normal, standard waking state.

Gamma waves are considered to represent improved cognitive processing, memory recall, learning and attention to detail. [xii]

In the example given above of the two external tones creating an internal tone in the brain of 8Hz, this tone borders on putting the individual between a Theta and Alpha state of meditation, what some would allude to as higher consciousness. 

This science background provides what would possibly transpire when paired obelisks that are actually being struck. Egyptian hieroglyphs also provide further evidence that the obelisk purpose were to be struck to create such tones. It was noted earlier that an obelisk was named a Tekhen.  The identical word, Tekhen, was also used to mean; to strike or beat as a drum. The only differences in the hieroglyphs was instead of a depiction of an obelisk a depiction of an arm was used.  The hieroglyphs essentially seem to be providing instructions on the use and purpose of an obelisk; to beat or strike them to create a tone.

The evidence that an obelisk produces a tone when struck, that they were erected in pairs in front of temples, that the hieroglyphs use the same word, Tekhen, with a small change in its determinative to translate as to strike or beat like a drum and that slightly different tones being received through each ear create a binaural beat and can put an individual into a meditative state, provides compelling indications that this was all designed purposefully to create a “higher consciousness” state prior to entering a sacred temple.

Obelisk Hieroglyph E. A. Wallis Budge: 

An Egyptian Hieroglyph Dictionary

To strike as a drum Hieroglyph E. A. Wallis Budge: 

An Egyptian Hieroglyph Dictionary) [xiii]

It is not difficult to picture a pharaoh proceeding down the avenue of sphinxes from Karnak to the temple at Luxor and standing between its two original obelisks at its entrance as they were struck to prepare the pharaoh, through brain entrainment, to enter the temple in a meditative state for a prepared ritual that’s culmination would be advancing to its “holy of holies”. This preparation would be particularly apt for Luxor Temple, a temple that was not dedicated to a specific deity or pharaoh.  A temple that Egyptologist R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz studied, in great detail for 12 years and publishing an exhaustive work; The Temple of Man and an abridge work; The Temple in Man, on the esoteric meanings and purpose of Luxor Temple, considering it a temple for the birth of the divine human.[xiv]  This purpose is ideally fitting in that the spiritual goal of ancient Egyptians was to unite their Ka and Ba and in so doing become an Akh (Akhuu) a radiant being of light and what an enhanced way to begin such a ritual journey than having the brain entrained into a meditative state at its beginning then by binaural beats created by standing between the entrance obelisks while they are being struck. What is being described here is a process designed by the Egyptians for creating a meditative state to reach a spiritual higher consciousness, an enlightenment, that has been the purpose and similarly described by religious philosophies around the world all sharing a goal to become spiritual radiant beings of light.

Obelisk at entrance to Luxor Temple

D. Carroll personal photo

"Photoshop" Twin Obelisks at Luxor Temple

D. Carroll personal photo

This postulation of the purpose of Obelisk is not unprecedented at ancient sacred sites; recent studies of the Megalithic stone circle site of Stonehenge have reached similar conclusions for one of its purposes. One research study on the acoustical properties of Stonehenge; The Sounds of Stonehenge, by Dr. Rupert Till a professor at the University of Huddersfield along with Dr. Bruno Fazenda an associate professor in Acoustics at the University of Salford came to the conclusion that the acoustic design at Stonehenge, in its configuration at approximately 2200 BCE, (In the same era of the construction of the Great Pyramid) would put participants within the stone circles in meditative states. Their study found that chanting or drum beating, as examples, could create a resonance inside the stone circles, depending on the participants’ position, could induce a Theta or Alpha increased brainwave state. Specifically, they write:

“These low frequencies are very similar to the brainwave frequencies of alpha and beta types of activity. It is possible that those around the edge of the stone circle would have chanted at the speed of the percussive sounds or sung long notes with a vibrato wobbling at 5.2Hz, in time with the music, in order to entrain their brainwaves to the music, to make the dominant frequency of their brain activity slow to a theta pattern, typical of deep meditation, hypnosis or trance. This is a similar state to the hypnogogic or twilight state between waking and sleeping, and the eyes would be shut for this practice. In the centre a different frequency could have been produced by modal vibration and echoes, one of 10.4Hz, still associated with closed eyes and meditation, and to some with healing. 10.4Hz is associated with alpha wave brain activity, a more active state. It may be that at the centre, a leader was able to stay alert because of this alpha state, continuing to drive a rhythm along and communicate with those at the edge of the stone circle, as they gradually became lost in a deep reverie” [xv]

Though Doctors Till and Fazenda could not state whether this effect at Stonehenge was purposely designed or coincidental, the experience at the site occurred in any case. Fortunately, another research study soon after Doctors Till and Fazenda’s work provided evidence that Stonehenge was constructed and designed to create such brain entrainment result. A Royal College of Art research team led by Paul Devereux and Jon Wozencroft investigating the possibility of stones at different Neolithic sites were chosen and dressed with acoustical qualities in mind, with a musical (tonal) function producing sounds, when struck, similar to drums, bells, and gongs, possibly with a hammer. In 2013, their team was able to test the theory at Stonehenge with the actual stones—these tests confirmed the stones’ acoustical qualities! As a side note that aids in supporting there results faint hammer symbols have been found carved in some of the stones.

The results of the research teams studying the acoustic of Stonehenge, showing that the sounds created within the stone circles had the ability to put the participants in an altered/meditative state of consciousness, and the further evidence that stones at Stonehenge were purposely chosen and dressed for their acoustic qualities lends credence that the Egyptians in creating obelisks and placing them in pairs at the entrance to their sacred temples in the same period, like the builders of Stonehenge, understood the acoustic of stones and the effect on mental states, thus purposely designing them and placing them to have similar consciousness altering effects.

This researcher’s hope is that further studies pursue this evidence of acoustical brain entrainment through binaural beats created by tones of paired obelisks. At this time with no originally paired obelisks together such a study would have to be done through computer recreation or dimensional modeling, both which are in the realm of possibility. 

As a postscript there is a curious poem by a well know 19^th century British Victorian poet; Adelaide Anne Procter, titled The Lost Chord.  It is about an organist idly practicing who inadvertently who struck a chord that brought the Organist into a spiritual state of higher consciousness and connection with the Divine.  It makes one pause, whether through science, ancient sacred sites or poetry that such a spiritual experience can be induced through sound and brings an elegant synthesis to human consciousness.

 

A lost Chord by; Adelaide Anne Procter (Public Domain)

SEATED one day at the organ, I was weary and ill at ease, and my fingers wandered idly Over the noisy keys.    

 I do not know what I was playing, or what I was dreaming then, But I struck one chord of music, Like the sound of a great Amen.            

It flooded the crimson twilight, Like the close of an angel’s psalm, and it lay on my fevered spirit, With a touch of infinite calm.   

  It quieted pain and sorrow, like love overcoming strife; It seemed the harmonious echo                         from our discordant life.           

 It linked all perplexed meanings into one perfect peace, and trembled away into silence as if it were loath to cease.               

I have sought, but I seek it vainly, that one lost chord divine, that came from the soul of the organ, and entered into mine.             

It may be that Death’s bright angel Will speak in that chord again; It may be that only in heaven I shall hear that grand Amen. [xvi]               

---

[i] Zahi Hawass: Egypt discovered only 30% of its antiquities: Zahi Hawass: Egypt discovered only 30% of its antiquities - EgyptToday

 

[ii] Egypt: The Egyptian God, Hu (touregypt.net)

[iii] The Complete Pyramids 2008 pp.108-109 by Mark Lehner

[iv] The Meaning of Obelisks 1977  p.5 by Labib Habachi

[v] Moving the Obelisks 1991p.59  by Bern Dibner

[vi] Obelisks: A History 2009 p. 13-15 by Brian A. Curran (Author), Anthony Grafton (Author), Pamela O. Long  (Author), Benjamin Weiss (Author)

[vii] The Complete Pyramids 2008 pp.23-24 by Mark Lehner

[viii] The Complete Pyramids 2008 p. 35by Mark Lehner

[ix] . The Complete Pyramids2008 p.34by Mark Lehner

[x] Pyramid Quest 2005pp.323-324 Dr. Robert Schoch and Robert Aquinas McNally

[xi] Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors; Medically Reviewed by Dan Brennan, MD on April 12, 2021 https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-are-binaural-beats

[xii] Binaural Beats for Behavior Modulation and Brainwave Entrainment | Knowing Neurons

[xiii] An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary Vol.II 1978 p. 887 by E.A. Wallis Budge

[xiv] The Temple in Man 1977 pp. 11-12, 33 by R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz

[xv] .” Conclusions | Sounds of Stonehenge (wordpress.com) Till and Fazenda 

[xvi] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord

D. Carroll personal photos cannot be used without permission of owner and credit citation.

Archaeological Metrology: The Spirit Of Light Cubit In Ancient Sacral Architecture

By Donald B Carroll 

Has the source of Plato’s tale of a lost Atlantis been found?

This book is a journey of discovery of an ancient lost civilization that is more than 12,000 years old provided through solid archeological standards and evidence.  The archeological evidence further provides indications that its global reach was not for domination that is unfortunately too common in the rise of civilizations but instead for illumination and common unity of worldwide cultures.  The archeological evidence that provides this firm confirmation of a global ancient civilization with a purpose of sharing both its science and spiritual philosophy is through a culturally distributed unit of measurement of 27.5 inches (70cm); in the ancient Egyptian record it is called a nebiu (nbj: to yoke together) or an aakhu meh (Spirit of Light measure).

The evidence of this civilization is provided through the neglected branch of archeology called ancient metrology; the study of cultures weights and measures. Ancient metrology is an area of study that does not receive the deserved attention of most other archeologists or the general public. In general archeologists themselves are literally and figuratively buried in their own specific area of study, be it Maya cultures, Ancestral Puebloan or Egyptology as examples, not only digging for history but digging for funding and ending up in “silos” of their field of expertise.  Ancient metrology studies, for the public, do not receive 24 pt. font size press headlines such as Howard Carter discovering “Wonderful Things” in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, nor do they become blockbuster movies of dashing swashbuckling archeologist s traveling the world to find battle foes for sacred lost relics. So, studies of ancient measurements languish hidden in mountains of archeological papers or museum examples walked by, unseen, caused by the draw glittering and eye-catching relics needed to draw the public.

27.5-inch Egyptian measuring rod MMNY

Yet, the actual incredible discovery of wonderful things and a true global adventure beyond any movie is to be found in multiple civilizations sharing a common measurement and measurement system in far ancient times. To place this in archeological terms is a quote from a recent paper about the importance of ancient metrology:

“As early as Sir William Petrie (1879), archeologists argued that metrology could provide valuable cross-cultural data and show historical relationships, but metrology studies tend to be infrequent and limited in scope. They haven’t been placed within general anthropological framework, which is unfortunate given that metrology impacts and reflects a culture’s cosmological, economic, and technological structure.  (Vanpool, Todd & Royall, Travis & Vanpool, Christine. (2013). Archaeological Metrology: A Case Study from Paquime.)

They clearly point out the importance and the challenges of such studies, especially noting the cross cultural and historic relationships it provides for multi-civilization contact and communications, not only for technological sharing, i.e., for constructing sacred sites, but also for cosmological beliefs sharing.  Perhaps it is not so much that such studies would provide evidence of contact through the architecture of multiple cultures sacred sites, but it would also provide evidence of a shared cosmological, spiritual philosophy belief system across oceans and continents for a common transcendent purpose. How cultural measurement and measurements systems were used by ancient societies to unite their scientific advancements such as architecture and astronomy with their spiritual beliefs.

The importance of ancient societies uniting their science and spiritual beliefs at their sacred sites, their axis mundi’s, where heaven and earth were brought together, should not be understated; as multiple archeologists point out:

Measurement systems have provided the structure for addressing key concerns of cosmological belief systems, as well as the means for articulating relationships between human form, human action, and the world – and new understanding of relationships between events in the terrestrial world and beyond.” (Iain Morley and Colin Renfrew, The Archeology of Measurement 2010)

From the stones of Stonehenge to the alignments and calendars of Mesoamerica, measurement stands at the dawn of cosmology. The term ‘cosmology’ is used here not just in the sense of explanation of the celestial, but in the sense of conception of the universe – the set of beliefs about the world, material and immaterial, and the rules through which interaction can occur.   (Iain Morley and Colin Renfrew, The Archeology of Measurement 2010)

Architecture is the place where the ethereal and non-material qualities of the cosmos were interpreted by the ancient architects and emphasized in material form. (The Archaeology of Albert Porter Pueblo (Site 5MT123): Excavations at a Great House Community Center in Southwestern Colorado. Edited by Susan C. Ryan. 2015, p.84.)

The unit of measure presented in this book meets all the criteria cited by archeologists in the building construction and architectural sciences of diverse cultural sacred sites and the symbolic and spiritual meanings that are infused in the use of such a measure.

Specifically, this measurement affords not only evidence of a Mesolithic, pre-Neolithic civilization spanning at least four continents and an ocean, it shows the evidence of this measurement's origins and symbolic meaning at sacred sites providing evidence it not only measured space and time, such as seasonal solar and stellar events, it also brought together heaven and earth in spiritual symbolism at such sites around the world.

Now, prior to continuing further in this journey, briefly delivered here are examples of this ancient unit of measurement (27½ inches/70 cm) from ancient cultures:

–Egyptian unit: Nebiu (NB) – 27.5 inches (70 cm) … Possibly linked to aakhu meh unit and Great Pyramid; note the aakhu meh (transliterated as Spirit/Light cubit) is recorded in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but this research has yet to reveal any further information on it, other than its name.

–Paquime (Mogollon: Ancestral Puebloans) culture (Mexico-Arizona-New Mexico) – 27.5 inches (70 cm) = 1 nebiu

–Mayan Cubit: Zapal – 55 inches (142 cm) … exampled in the Kukulkan Pyramid of Chichen Itza= 2 nebiu

-Stonehenge: megalithic rod: (100 megalithic inches, 2.5 Megalithic Yard = 81.6 inches {207.3 cm}) = 3 nebiu 82.5 inches (210 cm)

-Indus Valley: the Harappans used an “Indus foot” of 34.55 cm and a “double foot” of 69.11 cm. These results are equivalent to the length of the spirit light cubit and its half.

(Sites using shared measurement system)

Authors note; since the writing of this book further research at the 12,000-year-old sites megalithic of Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe in Turkey by Professor Klaus Schmidt and Professor Necmi Karul respectively, have noted entryways into structures measuring 27.5 inches.

At all these sites this specific measure or a similar measurement system has been documented; by archeological standards thus finding this mutually used measure or measurement system has these significant ramifications:

“Among the various tests of the mental capacity of man one of the most important, ranking in modern life on an equality of with language is the appreciation of quantity, or notions of measurement and geometry. (Flinders Petrie. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume VIII. London 1879: p.107.)

The study of ancient measures used in a country is a basis of discovering the movements of civilization between countries.”  Sir Flinders Petrie. (Flinders Petrie. Measures and Weights. London: Methuen & Company Ltd. 1934, p.1)

 …Thus the possession of the same unit of measurement by different people implies either that it belonged to their common ancestors or else that a very powerful commercial intercourse has existed between them.”  (Flinders Petrie. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume VIII. London 1879.)

Cultures sharing similar measurement systems likely had some form of contact. Should such a measurement be located in architectural remains, and appear in halves or doubles, then the probability that this measure reflects a real historical unit of measure increases. (Flinders Petrie. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume VIII. London 1879: p.107.)

As can been seen, to this point this unit of measurement found unambiguously being used in cultures spanning vast distances or in other cultures measurement system in their architecture provides powerful evidence of these cultures sharing common ancestors and/or having contact and communication.  By these standards, prima facie evidence for a lost global civilization has been laid out. The ramifications of this evidence to our understanding of the much more ancient world and its cultures are staggering.

Addressed to this point are the straightforward archeological standards of the science of ancient metrology providing the framework in various cultures architectural design and engineering of sacred sites which are measurements and measurement systems. Besides strictly measurements these archaeological standards further include the aspect that such sites architecture are the places “where the ethereal and non-material qualities of the cosmos were interpreted by the ancient architects and emphasized in material form.”  Sites that were an intimate part of their cosmological belief system; “The term ‘cosmology’ is used here not just in the sense of explanation of the celestial, but in the sense of conception of the universe – the set of beliefs about the world, material and immaterial, and the rules through which interaction can occur. “This additional aspect will now be addressed and show the utter elegance this unit of measurement represented in all these cultures building together their concepts of time and space; heaven and earth.

To do so it is important to ask; from where units of ancient measurements were derived. The answer is forthright: body proportions. Think of the ubiquitous term used in the study of ancient metrology, the cubit. The cubit is a catchall term used for multiple units of measurements from multiple civilizations. Cubit is Latin for elbow and is a term used, in umbrella fashion, to categorize measurements approximately the length from elbow to fingertip, though these lengths range from anywhere around fifteen inches to twenty-eight inches. It is believed that almost all ancient linear measurements resulted from body proportions. This concept is exampled in Da Vinci’s “The Vitruvian Man,” ink and paper drawing.

 (DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man with units of measure image)

This is DaVinci’s homage to the Roman engineer and architect Vitruvius, who wrote in volume III of his work on art and architecture:

The design of Temples depends on symmetry… Hence no building can be said to be well designed which wants symmetry and proportion. In truth they are as necessary to the beauty of a building as to that of a well-formed human figure…If Nature, therefore, has made the human body so that the different members of it are measures of the whole, so the ancients have, with great propriety, determined that in all perfect works, each part should be some aliquot (Author note: aliquot means a portion of the larger whole: I had to look it up) part of the whole; and since they direct, that this be observed in all works, it must be most strictly attended to in temples of the gods…( Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. de Architectura, Book III, Ch.1.)

Vitruvius is basically stating that sacred structures should use body proportions in their design and construction. Since the human body was divinely designed, these are the best proportions and measurements to design a sacred site, to create an axis mundi; a place where Heaven and Earth come together.

The linchpin at the heart of these sacred structures, these “cosmic engines” uniting Heaven and Earth, is the unit of measurement of 27.5 inches (70 cm). This unit of measurement seems to have its origins in ancient Egypt, with the presented compelling evidence that this unit of measurement or multiples of it was also used by other cultures on multiple continents, and so it presents itself as an ancient international unit of measurement commensurate to the modern international unit of measure, the meter.

Body proportions were codified into specific measures, such as the foot, the hand, still used to measure horse, and the yard. So, from what proportions could 27.5 inches (70 cm) be codified from? Posited here is that this measurement comes from the length of the spine, with initial evidence from research in the medical textbook Gray’s Anatomy (1918) that shows the average length of the human spine (male) is 27.9 inches (71 cm)—statistically valid to a measurement unit of 27.5 inches. In answer to the reader’s thought, yes, there were many people of such height through ancient times. Some will debate that 27½ inches is close to the average step length and hence then where this measurement came from. What will be shared is clear and compelling evidence that this is not the case for multiple reasons. For now, let it suffice, using Vitruvius’ recommendations of using body proportions since the body was divinely created, that a step length is not a body proportion. Further, there is an intrinsic elegance in representing the spine in sacred sites as the physical avenue of consciousness.

Harkening back to Egypt, a measuring rod of 27.5 inches (70 cm) was discovered at the pyramids of Lisht and is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of New York (see prior image); Egyptologists link the pyramids of Lisht to the pyramids on the Giza Plateau through portions of the Giza complex being incorporated into Lisht to infuse them with the spiritual energy of the Giza complex. The Giza Plateau was dedicated to the Egyptian deity Osiris, whose symbol was the “Djed” hieroglyph, meaning “Osiris’s spine.” The ancient Egyptians even had a specific ceremony rite of “Raising the Djed.” This Egyptian ceremony can be compared to the Hindu practice of “raising the Kundalini” (coiled serpent).

The recognition of the importance of the spine both physically and spiritually was not confined to the ancient philosophies of the Far East i.e., the Kundalini a coiled serpent of energy residing in the base of the spine to be risen up through meditative practices to reach enlightenment and Egypt’s raising Osiris’s spine... Its significance was acknowledged in the cultures of the New World also. Unmistakably this can be seen in the Hopi, Native American traditions. The Hopis are the descendants of the Ancient Puebloans, whose culture is considered to have spanned the Southwest area of what is now the United States: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico with links to the cultures of Mesoamerica. One of the major beautiful and significant centers of the Ancient Puebloans is in Chaco Canyon located in northern New Mexico. Archeology research has confirmed that the Ancient Puebloans had trade and communications with Mesoamerica with the discovery of macaw feathers and remains of cacao traced back to Mexico.

The Hopi, descendants of the Ancient Puebloans, in their customs understood the importance of the spine both for their physical world and spiritual journey. This is recounted by Frank Waters:

The First People then understood the mystery of their parenthood. In their pristine wisdom they also understood their own structure and functions—the nature of man himself.

The living of man and the living body of earth were constructed in same way. Through each ran an axis, man’s axis being the backbone, the vertebral column… Along this axis were several vibratory centers which echoed the primordial sound of life throughout the universe… (Frank Waters. Book of the Hopi. Penguin Books (June 30, 1977) p.9-10.)

…Palongawhoya (sacred twin), traveling throughout the earth, sounded out his call as he was bidden. All the vibratory centers along the earth’s axis from pole to pole responded to his call; the whole earth trembled: the universe quivered in tune. (Frank Waters. Book of the Hopi. Penguin Books June 30, 1977 p.4.)

It is abundantly evident the descendants of the Ancient Puebloan understood the symbolism of the human spine for uniting Heaven and Earth along with time and space.

The use and representation of the spine in the design construction and reason of sacred sites bespeaks of the elegance of purpose; to connect and commune with the Divine with the assistance of temple-structures designed for just such a consciousness-raising purpose. The Eastern traditions present this in a more straightforward fashion in attaining such a goal; through meditation and raising the Kundalini (coiled serpent), the spiritual energy, toward an awakening and spiritual transformation into higher consciousness. This occurs by raising this energy through the physical avenue from the base of the spine through the spinal canal to the brain. This concept and purpose of meditations is not the venue of the Eastern traditions alone; they were only the most direct in describing it. This purpose and the act of meditation are also in Western traditions, called by many appellations: contemplative prayer, Lectio Divina, and studying under the fig tree, to cite some examples. (See Cistercian monks, St. Bernard, St. Malachi, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, mystic Judaism, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Keating, Aldous Huxley.) Meditation is being used today by businesses and corporations to assist their employees, only the practice has had stripped away any metaphysical connotations and is labeled “mindfulness,” In any case its original purpose was to commune with the Divine and bring Heaven and Earth together within oneself.

What can also be found in these ancient cultures and almost all ancient cultures around the world is serpent symbolism with such symbolism and effigies being traced back as far as 70,000 BCE in Botswana.  In almost all cases the serpent is seen as positive symbolism; winged or upright serpent symbols of the Egyptians where serpent symbolism incredibly prolific, the Ancestral Puebloans, the Maya, the Aztecs, the Greeks and even now being uncovered in Gobelki Tepe to cite some examples. It is almost always the upright, winged representations that are symbolic of the “raised energy” along with warnings of improper handling of such “serpents” can be dangerous. It seems to be in Christianity that the symbolism of the serpent has been misconstrued as negative.  The word misconstrued is used due to the fact of multiple examples of positive serpent symbolism in the Bible. Some positive Biblical examples are; Moses staff being turned into a serpent by God as proof he is God’s representative, Aaron’s staff turning into a serpent and swallowing the serpent-staffs of the Egyptian priest, Jesus stating that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up and one more biblical point the Hebrew word “seraph”, one may recognize as an order of angel, is a synonym for serpent.

As the Greek caduceus the symbolism of the spine and serpent are intertwined, so are the symbols of the spine and the serpent in cultures around the world are intertwined.  The following image makes it clearly visible how such joined symbolism would easily occur.

(Spine and serpent image)

So, this brief synopsis of the book ends and the conclusion is brought forth; that there is compelling archeological evidence of an ancient international unit of measurement of 27.5 inches representative of a globally linked civilization.  A unit of measure so elegantly crafted it incorporated time and space along with heaven and earth as one at their sacred sites. An ancient lost civilization reaching out globally not to dominate, but to illuminate. This evidence is found throughout archeological sites around the world still having the faint echoes of their ancestor’s architectural science and symbolism.

As a postscript to this actual exciting global journey a comparison was made to the public captivating adventure movie version fictional archeologist, “Indiana Jones”. In doing so one has to wonder if life does imitate art. Ironically “Indiana” hated serpents and in “The Raiders of the Lost Ark” how he found the site of the lost ark (the Ark of the Covenant representing the presence of God on earth) was by using a measuring rod of 82.5 inches (the script was checked). A measuring rod of 82.5 inches equals three 27.5-inch units of measure.