Pyramidology (or pyramidism) refers to various religious or pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, most often the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.Martin Gardner, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, Dover, 1957; a reprint of In the Name of Science, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1952. Some "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian America (such as Teotihuacan, the Mesoamerican Maya civilization, and the Inca of the South American Andes), and the temples of Southeast Asia.
Some pyramidologists claim that the Great Pyramid of Giza has encoded within it predictions for the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt,Capt, E. Raymond The Great Pyramid Decoded Artisan Publishers (June 1978) pp. 76–78 the crucifixion of Jesus, the start of World War I,Davidson, D.; H.W. Badger Great Pyramid & Talks on the Great Pyramid 1881 Kessinger Publishing Co (28 April 2003) p.19Collier, Robert Gordon Something to Hope For 1942 Kessinger Publishing Co (15 Oct 2004) p.17 the founding of modern-day Israel in 1948, and future events including the beginning of Armageddon; this was discovered by using what they call "pyramid inches" to calculate the passage of time where one British inch equals one solar year.
Pyramidology reached its peak by the early 1980s. Interest revived in 1992 and 1993 when Rudolf Gantenbrink sent a remote-controlled robot up the air shafts of the Queen's Chamber.
Types of pyramidology The main types of pyramidological accounts involve one or more aspects which include: metrological: theories regarding the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza by hypothetical geometric measurements numerological: theories that the measurements of the Great Pyramid and its passages have esoteric significance, and that their geometric measurements contain some encoded message. This form of pyramidology is popular within Christian Pyramidology (e.g. British Israelism and Bible Students). "pyramid power": claims originating in the late 1960s that pyramids as geometrical shapes possess supernatural powers pseudoarchaeological: varying theories that deny the pyramids were built to serve exclusively as tombs for the Pharaohs; alternative explanations regarding the construction of the pyramids (for example the use of long-lost knowledge; anti-gravity technology, etc.); and hypotheses that they were built by someone other than the historical Ancient Egyptians (e.g. early Hebrews, Aryans, Atlanteans, or extraterrestrial visitors).
History Metrological Metrological pyramidology dates to the 17th century. John Greaves, an English mathematician, astronomer and antiquarian, first took precise measurements of the Great Pyramid at Giza using the best mathematical instruments of the day. His data was published in Pyramidographia (1646) which theorized a geometric cubit was used by the builders of the Great Pyramid (see: Egyptian royal cubit). While Greave's measurements were objective, his metrological data was later misused by numerologists:
Abu'l-Barakat Al-Baghdadi
The Arab polymath Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1163–1231) studied the pyramid with great care, and in his Account of Egypt, he praises them as works of engineering genius. In addition to measuring the structure, alongside the other pyramids at Giza, al-Baghdadi also writes that the structures were surely tombs, although he thought the Great Pyramid was used for the burial of Agathodaimon or Hermes. Al-Baghdadi ponders whether the pyramid pre-dated the Great flood as described in Genesis, and even briefly entertained the idea that it was a pre-Adamic construction.
John Taylor and the golden ratio
In the mid-19th century, Friedrich Röber studied various Egyptian pyramids which he linked to the golden ratio. This led pyramidologist John Taylor to theorize in his 1859 book The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built and Who Built It? that the Great Pyramid of Giza is related to the golden ratio as well. Although the Great Pyramid's measurements have been found to be within the margin of error, the connections between ancient Egypt and the golden ratio have been explained by modern scholars as coincidental, as no other knowledge of the golden ratio is known from before the fifth centuryBC.
Taylor also proposed that the inch used to build the Great Pyramid was of the "sacred cubit" (whose existence had earlier been postulated by Isaac Newton). Taylor was also the first to claim that the pyramid was divinely inspired, contained a revelation and was built not by the Egyptians, but instead by the Hebrews, pointing to Biblical passages (Is. 19: 19–20; Job 38: 5–7) to support his theories.A Study in Pyramidology, E. Raymond Capt, Hoffman Printing, 1996 ed. p. 34 For this reason Taylor is often credited as being the "founder of pyramidology". Martin Gardner noted:
Christian pyramidology British Israelism Taylor influenced the Astronomer Royal of Scotland Charles Piazzi Smyth, F.R.S.E., F.R.A.S., who made numerous numerological calculations on the pyramid and published them in a 664-page book Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (1864) followed by Life, and Work in the Great Pyramid (1867). These two works fused pyramidology with British Israelism and Smyth first linked the hypothetical pyramid inch to the British Imperial Unit system.M. Reisenauer, "The battle of the standards" : Great Pyramid metrology and British identity, 1859–1890, The Historian, v. 65 no. 4 (Summer 2003) p. 931–978; E. F. Cox, The International Institute: First organized opposition to the metric system, Ohio History, v. 68, 54–83
Smyth's theories were later expanded upon by early 20th century British Israelites such as Colonel Garnier (Great Pyramid: Its Builder & Its Prophecy, 1905), who began to theorise that chambers within the Great Pyramid contain prophetic dates which concern the future of the British, Celtic, or Anglo-Saxon peoples. However this idea originated with Robert Menzies, an earlier correspondent of Smyth's.The idea of associating lengths in the pyramid with dates in history was suggested to Smyth by Robert Menzies, [Smyth, 1864, appendix II]. David Davidson with H. Aldersmith wrote The Great Pyramid, Its Divine Message (1924) and further introduced the idea that Britain's chronology (including future events) may be unlocked from inside the Great Pyramid. This theme is also found in Basil Stewart's trilogy on the same subject: Witness of the Great Pyramid (1927), The Great Pyramid, Its Construction, Symbolism and Chronology (1931) and History and Significance of the Great Pyramid... (1935). More recently a four-volume set entitled Pyramidology was published by British Israelite Adam Rutherford (released between 1957–1972).Adam Rutherford, Pyramidology Books 1, 2, and 3, C. Tinling & Co Ltd London, Liverpool and Prescot 1961, 1962 & 1966. British Israelite author E. Raymond Capt also wrote Great Pyramid Decoded in 1971 followed by Study in Pyramidology in 1986.
Joseph A. Seiss Joseph Seiss was a Lutheran minister who was a proponent of pyramidology. He wrote A Miracle in Stone: or, The Great Pyramid of Egypt in 1877. His work was popular with contemporary evangelical Christians.The Great Pyramid of Egypt, Miracle in Stone: Secrets and Advanced Knowledge (2007 Reprint) by Joseph Augustus Seiss, Forgottenbooks.com, pages vii–x.
Charles Taze Russell In 1891 pyramidology reached a global audience when it was integrated into the works of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement.Jehovah's Witnesses, Edmond C. Gruss, Xulon Press, 2001, pp. 210–212. Russell however denounced the British-Israelite variant of pyramidology in an article called The Anglo-Israelitish Question.Thy Kingdom Come, Charles Taze Russell, C-291, Oakland Co. Bible Students, 2000. Adopting Joseph Seiss's designation that the Great Pyramid of Giza was "the Bible in stone" Russell taught that it played a special part in God's plan during the "last days" basing his interpretation on Isaiah 19:19–20: "In that day shall there be an altar (pile of stones) to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar (Hebrew matstebah, or monument) at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt." Two brothers, archaeologists John and Morton Edgar, as personal associates and supporters of Russell, wrote extensive treatises on the history, nature, and prophetic symbolism of the Great Pyramid in relation to the then known archaeological history, along with their interpretations of prophetic and Biblical chronology. They are best known for their two-volume work Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers, published in 1910 and 1913.
Although most Bible Student groups, which branched off from the original, continue to support and endorse the study of pyramidology from a Biblical perspective, the Bible Students associated with the Watchtower Society, who chose ’Jehovah's Witnesses’ as their new name in 1931, have abandoned pyramidology entirely since 1928.Shermer, Michael The Skeptic encyclopedia of pseudoscience, Vol. 2 ABC-CLIO Ltd; illustrated edition (31 Oct 2002) p.406 The Watchtower, 15 November and 1 December 1928. Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society.
Pyramid power
Another set of speculations concerning pyramids have centered upon the possible existence of an unknown energy concentrated in pyramidical structures.Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Lewis Spence, Kessinger Publishing, 2003, pp. 759–760: "...speculations concerning pyramids have centered upon the possible existence of an unknown energy concentrated in pyramidical structures. Pyramid energy was rediscovered in the early 1970s after it was introduced in the popular best-selling Psychic Discoveries behind the Iron Curtain by journalists Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. They described their experience with a Czech radio engineer, Karl Drbal, who had taken out a patent on a pyramid razor blade sharpener. The idea was picked up by New Age writer Lyll Wat and then a host of others including Peter Toth, Greg Nielsen, and Pat Flanagan. Through the 1970s, it was a common theme at psychic and New Age gatherings."
Pyramid energy was popularized in the early 1970s, particularly by New Age authors such as Patrick Flanagan (Pyramid Power: The Millennium Science, 1973), Max Toth and Greg Nielsen (Pyramid Power, 1974) and Warren Smith (Secret Forces of the Pyramids, 1975). These works focused on the alleged energies of pyramids in general, not solely the Egyptian pyramids. Toth and Nielsen for example reported experiments where "seeds stored in pyramid replicas germinated sooner and grew higher".Interventions in applied gerontology, Robert F. Morgan, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1981, pp.123–125.
Modern pyramidology Alan F. Alford Author Alan F. Alford interprets the entire Great Pyramid in the context of ancient Egyptian religion. Alford takes as his starting point the golden rule that the pharaoh had to be buried in the earth, i.e. at ground level or below, and this leads him to conclude that Khufu was interred in an ingeniously concealed cave whose entrance is today sealed up in the so-called Well Shaft adjacent to a known cave called the Grotto.Alford, Pyramid of Secrets, chapter 4; The Midnight Sun, pp. 352–356, 358–370. He has lobbied the Egyptian authorities to explore this area of the pyramid with ground penetrating radar.