The Star Alignment Hypothesis for the Great Pyramid Shafts

An overview is in Chadwick R. , “Celestial alignments and the soul-shafts of the Khufu pyramid”, Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, xxvii (2001), 15–25.

Spence K. , “Are the pyramids aligned with the stars?”, in Manley B. (ed.), The seventy great mysteries of ancient Egypt (London, 2003), 71–73, p. 72.

Gantenbrink R. , at www.cheops.org.

All astronomical calculations were performed by Tonkin S. F. (www.astunit.com), who also provided valuable advice regarding terminology.

Torr C. , Memphis and Mycenae (Cambridge, 1896), 44–45.

Allen J. P. , “The cosmology of the pyramid texts”, in Simpson W. K. (ed.), Religion and philosophy in ancient Egypt (Yale Egyptological studies, 3; Yale, 1989), 9–10.

Quirke S. , The cult of Ra: Sun-worship in ancient Egypt (London, 2001), 116.

Clayton P. , Chronicle of the pharaohs (London, 1994), 50.

Clayton , op. cit. (ref. 8), 38.

Wells R. A. , “Astronomy in Egypt”, in Walker C. (ed.), Astronomy before the telescope (London, 1996), 28–41, p. 39.

Spence K. E. , “Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids”, Nature, cdviii (2000), 320–4.

Mathieu B. , “Travaux de l'Institut Fran&çais d'Archéologie Orientale en 2000–2001”, Bulletin de l'Institut Fran&çais d'Archéologie Orientale, ci (2001), 457–9.

Arnold D. , Building in Egypt: Pharaonic stone masonry (Oxford, 1991), 12–13.

Gantenbrink R. , “Technische Anmerkungen zur Untersuchung der Modellkorridore in der Cheopspyramide”, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 1 (1994), 292–4.

Bauval R. G. Gilbert A. G. , “The adze of Upuaut: The opening of the mouth ceremony and the northern shafts in Cheops' pyramid”, Discussions in Egyptology, xxviii (1994), 5–13.

Gantenbrink , op. cit. (ref. 14), 292 identifies this as ± 1/20°.

Petrie W. M. F. , The pyramids and temples of Gizeh (London, 1883), Section 53, p. 82.

Dates were calculated to a precision of 0.01° (36 arc seconds) and verified using Guide v8.0 (available at www.projectpluto.com) for the latitude of Giza of 29°59′ (from Baines J. Malek J. , The cultural atlas of the world: Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 1984), 233). Proper motion (significant for Sirius in particular) is taken into account. The years are centred on the summer solstice giving a margin of ±1 year. There are a number of publications that provide dates based on approximate shaft angles or using inappropriate software; these, and any claims resulting from them, should be treated with caution.

Wells , op. cit. (ref. 10), 40.

Baines Malek , op. cit. (ref. 18), 37.

Baer K. , “The Libyan and Nubian kings of Egypt: Notes on the chronology of dynasties XII to XXVI”, Journal of Near Eastern studies, xxxii (1973), 4–25, p. 8.

Thurston Hugh , Early astronomy (New York, 1994), 82. Toomer notes that “… the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, who lived in Egypt and used all the observational material available to him, including Babylonian records, does not quote a single Egyptian observation in all his voluminous work” ( Toomer G. J. , “Mathematics and astronomy”, in Harris J. R. (ed.), The legacy of Egypt, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1971), 27–54, p. 52.

Clagett Marshall , Ancient Egyptian science, ii: Calendars, clocks and astronomy (Philadelphia, 1995), 53–65.

Wells Ronald A. , “The 5th dynasty sun temples at Abu Ghurab as Old Kingdom star clocks: Examples of applied ancient Egyptian astronomy”, Akten des vierten internationalen Ägyptologen-kongresses: München 1985 (Beiheft zu Studien zur altgyptischen Kultur, iv (1991), 95–104.

Shaltout Mosalam Belmonte Juan Antonio , “On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (1) Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxxvi (2005), 273–98, and “On the orientation of ancient Egyptian temples: (2) New experiments at the oases of the Western Desert”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxxvii (2006), 2006–92.

Shennum David , English—Egyptian index of Faulkner's Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian (Malibu, 1977), 8.

Baines Malek , op. cit. (ref. 18), 36.

Wilkinson Toby A. H. , Early dynastic Egypt (London, 2001), 273.

Gardiner Alan H. , Egyptian grammar (Oxford, 1957), 624.

On the basis of Perring's observations, Legon J. A. R. (“The air-shafts in the great pyramid”, Discussions in Egyptology, xxvii (1993), 35–44, p. 36) has proposed that the shafts from the King's Chamber terminated with horizontal sections resulting in identical exit heights.

Legon , op. cit. (ref. 30), 39–40.

Bauval R. G. , “Logistics of the shafts in Cheops' pyramid: A religious ‘function’ expressed with geometrical astronomy and built in architecture”, Discussions in Egyptology, xxxi (1995), 5–13, p. 6.

Legon J. A. R. , “The Orion correlation and air-shaft theories”, Discussions in Egyptology, xxx (1995), 50.

This is more than twice the lowering proposed by Spence , op. cit. (ref. 11) and Nature, cdxii (2001), 699–700.

Quirke , op. cit. (ref. 7), 117.