Summary

The Old Kingdom pyramids are a few of these architectural wonders whose perfect carrying out does not cease to surprise. Besides their magnificence, they have got a common feature : the cardinal alignment of their faces. Each one of them however shows a specific east-west (or north-south) alignment : a deviation from the cardinal orientation which the bad state of preservation of a few of them naturally emphasizes. In the absence of any contemporary writing telling about the method used to achieve their alignment, numerous hypothesis were put forward, this last century, by world wide Astronomers and Egyptologists : the hypothesis of a polar orientation, the hypothesis of a bissectorial orientation, the hypothesis of an equatorial orientation, the hypothesis of the simultaneous transits, etc. With the help of the most recent astronomical and optical developments, let's study their respective validity. We will then be able to put forward a new theory based upon the repeated sighting of a pair of bright stars, which qualitatively and quantitatively explains the errors in cardinal alignment of the pyramids of Djoser, Huni, Snofru, Khufu, Djedefre, Khafre, Menkaure, Sahure, Neferirkare and Unas, in quite good accordance with the historical chronology and the progress of the Stretching of the Cord ceremony. This result was obtained from the use of the original software leading to determine the astronomical source of orientation of any monument. A free version of this software is put at your disposal so that you too can check by yourself the validity of this new orientation theory.

Author

Karine Gadré, Culture Diff' company-head.
Dates of first publication and successive updates : september 2000 / november 2000 / may 2001 / november 2003 / june 2006

Access to the content

This dossier is made up of 40 pages and 104 images. An interactive menu, a chronological space, a search by theme and by keywords are otherwise available. To access its content and check these functionalities, simply click on the upper menu.

Exlusively at Culture Diff'

From now on, each Egyptian term is written in the hieroglyphic and transliterated forms. In order to benefit from this improvement, simply download the related fonts then copy them in your file entitled True Type Fonts.
Put at your disposal of the software leading to determine the astronomical source of orientation of any monument applied to the pyramids of kings Djoser, Khufu and Sahure, so that you can test by yourself the validity of the new orientation theory of the pyramids of Egypt. In order to benefit from this option, please first login.

Further information

(Egyptian Gallery) Pyramids "Room"
(AstroEgypto) The creation of the world : ancient Egyptian myths and scientific reality
(AstroLogiciel) Software determining the astronomical source of orientation of any monument

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