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With his divine duties, namely to see that the great fields grow rich; to see that the levees and ditches of Lagac will be full to the brim; to see that Acnan , the bright and long one, the pure stalk, will raise its head high in the furrows in Gu-edina , the plain befitting its owner; to see that after the good fields have provided wheat, emmer and all kinds of pulses, the numerous grain heaps - the yield of the land of Lagac - will be heaped up, Gudea introduced Jicbar-ed , Enlil ´s surveyor, the farmer of Gu-edina , to lord Nin-jirsu .
From its cow-pen cream and milk are brought in. From its huge oven, great cakes and croissants come. Its ...... feeds cattle and sheep. Its house of food rations ...... an uzga shrine. Its regular offerings are a mountain oozing wine, from its brewery as much beer comes as the Tigris at high water.
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Holy An made the location appropriate. Enlil wound (?) a turban (?) round its top. Nin-hursaj looked at it approvingly. Enki , the king of Eridu , drove in its foundation pegs. The true lord with a pure heart, Suen , made its powers the largest in heaven and on earth. Nin-jirsu chose it among shrines of sprouting seeds with his heart. Mother Nance cared for it especially among the buildings of the land of Lagac . But it was the god of most reliable progeny who built the house and made its name famous.
Kantzveldt: You'll be left scratching around in the Egyptian dust for any evidence they were ever intended as 'seed recovery vaults' ...
"At the north end of the pyramid complex is a very large courtyard, still not fully cleared of debris, with an altar near the northern wall. Underground galleries along this wall contained real food - granaries of wheat and barley, but also figs, grapes, and bread. An extensive system of underground galleries, mostly inaccessible, is also located to the west of the pyramid and southern court..... Entered from 11 vertical shafts, some of the subterranean corridors lead to long narrow storerooms for an astonishing number of carved stone vessels (about 40,000!), many of which were made in the first two dynasties." - Kathryn A. Bard, An introduction to the archaeology of ancient Egypt, p.129
"Once again, the investigation of the west mounds is not yet complete, but excavations here have shown that there are no chambers in their superstructures. Besides size, the mounds also differ from each other in appearance. Lauer thought the easternmost had a flat roof, whereas the middle one had a gentle arched roof. The slightly inclined side walls were decorated with niches, while five shafts and staircases provided access to the substructure, which is composed of long, partly destroyed corridors and projecting side chambers. In some sections, a large number of fragments of stone vessels were found, together with grains (barley and wheat) and dried fruit."
Source.
Emmer had a special place in ancient Egypt, where it was the main wheat cultivated in Pharaonic times, although cultivated einkorn wheat was grown in great abundance during the Third Dynasty, and large quantities of it were found preserved, along with cultivated emmer wheat and barleys, in the subterranean chambers beneath the Step Pyramid at Saqqara - Jean-Phillipe Lauer, Laurent Taeckholm and E. Aberg, 'Les Plantes Decouvertes dans les Souterrains de l'Enceinte du Roi Zoser a Saqqarah' in Bulletin de l'Institut d'Egypte, Vol. XXXII, 1949-50, pp. 121-157, and see Plate IV for photo of ears of both wheats recovered from beneath the pyramid.
Source.
Along the eastern side of the tomb was a line of 11 vertical shafts, each of which was sunk to a depth of ca. 32 metres. At the bottom of each was long gallery that ran underneath the mastaba for a similar distance. The level of accuracy in their tunneling was low, however, and a few actually intersected. It is thought that they were intended for the Alabaster Jar with skeuomorphic rope decorationburial of members of the royal family. An empty alabaster sarcophagus was found in the fifth gallery (counting from the north) along with a wooden coffin containing the remains of a young boy aged 8-10. Fragments of other sarcophagi were found in the first two galleries and a seal impression bearing the name Netjerikhet (Djoser's Horus name) was discovered in the third. A hip bone belonging to a young woman was found in Gallery 3 but the carbon date from it is much earlier than the conventional dates for Djoser.
The other galleries, especially the sixth and seventh, were crammed with stone vessels-some 40,000 have been recovered-of various shapes and sizes. Quite a number of them bore the names of earlier rulers from the First and Second Dynasties, including Narmer, Djer Den, Adjib, Semerkhet, Kaa, Hetepsekhemwy, Ninetjer, Sekhemib and Khasekhemwy. It is generally assumed that these had been looted from earlier tombs, but when and by whom is a mystery. One theory is that Djoser collected the surviving material from royal tombs pillaged in the factional strife that characterizes much of the Second Dynasty. The fact that most of the tombs involved were located in Abydos raised further questions.
After the shafts had been filled, the mastaba was extended another 10 metres in that direction to cover the openings. This resulted in rectangular structure measuring 70 x 80 metres. To what extent it can be considered 'finished' at this point is open to debate.
yes perhaps i should have been more specific, that textual evidence would be the struggle.
Kantzveldt: At Saqqara the physical evidence could lend itself to the complex being an ingathering site for foodstuffs and the associate bowls, after the Sumerian example, not only in terms of the feeding of the workers and Priests there, but also Royal rituals celebrated at the complex, the Heb Sed, the generative power of the King and associate Deities to produce and store plenty, the Apis bull cult also being related to such concepts.
Kantzveldt: Again, you'd struggle, and have, to make any such case based on Egyptian iconography and text for backdating their calender to Leo at the spring equionx circa 10,500 BC....
´In the dream there was someone who was as enormous as the heaven, who was as enormous as the earth. His head was like that of a god, his wings were like those of the Anzud bird, his lower body was like a flood storm. Lions were lying at his right and his left. He spoke to me about building his house, but I could not understand what he exactly meant, then daylight rose for me on the horizon.
She announced to you the holy stars auguring the building of the house.
As if at the roaring of the Anzud bird, the heavens tremble at my house, the E-ninnu founded by An , the powers of which are the greatest, surpassing all other powers, at the house whose owner looks out over a great distance. Its fierce halo reaches up to heaven, the great fearsomeness of my house settles upon all the lands. In response to its fame all lands will gather from as far as heaven´s borders, even Magan and Meluha will come down from their mountains.
from there it was like a huge house embracing heaven....they made it lift its horns as a bull and they made it raise its head above all the lands, like the jicgana tree over the Abzu....As the house had been made to lift its head so high as to fill the space between heaven and earth
Nisaba opened the house of understanding and Enki put right the design of the house. Towards the house whose halo reaches to heaven, whose powers embrace heaven and earth, whose owner is a lord with a fierce stare
They made the house grow as high as the hills, they made it float in the midst of heaven as a cloud, they made it lift its horns as a bull and they made it raise its head above all the lands, like the jicgana tree over the Abzu. As the house had been made to lift its head so high as to fill the space between heaven and earth like the hills,
He embedded its Car-ur weapon beside Lagac like a big standard, placed it in its dreadful place, the Cu-galam , and made it emanate fearsome radiance. On the dais of Jirnun , on the place of making judgments, the provider of Lagac lifted his horns like a mighty bull.
He built his master´s house exactly as he had been told to. The true shepherd Gudea made it grow so high as to fill the space between heaven and earth, had it wear a tiara shaped like the new moon, and had its fame spread as far as the heart of the highlands. Gudea made Nin-jirsu ´s house come out like the sun from the clouds, had it grow to be like hills of lapis lazuli and had it stand to be marvelled at like hills of white alabaster.
The temple towered upwards in full grandeur, unparallelled in fearsomeness and radiance..............
the house reaches up to heaven like a huge mountain and its fearsomeness and awesome radiance have settled upon the land. An and Enlil have determined the fate of Lagac ; Nin-jirsu´s authority has become known to all the countries; E-ninnu has grown so high as to fill the space between the heaven and the earth. Nin-jirsu be praised!
SC: Just as it is also a struggle for ANY theory relating to the purpose of the early, giant pyramids. If there existed a number of cross-corroboratory texts that told us the true purpose of these structures then there would be no struggle for anyone as we could then be fairly certain of their true purpose. But there are no texts from the period that tell us unequivocally the true nature and function of these structures. It is for that very reason that Egyptologists struggle to convince a lot of people of their 'tomb theory' and the reason why there still exists so much speculation and alternative theories such as, for example, the 'Recovery Vault Theory (RVT)'.
SC: Feeding workers and priests? I suppose this may be true of the storage silos around the pyramid's perimeter but not of the storage facilities beneath the pyramid since these massive 'Recovery Vaults' had been permanently sealed with their cache of recovery goods. There was no immediate or easy access to them.
SC: Written texts notwithstanding, I think it is very clear now that the ancient Egyptians utilised Orion's Belt along with its long-term precessional motion to arrange the Giza pyramid Recovery Vaults in such a manner as to create a precession clock (as shown in the PDF in the OP). I do not think there is any doubt that the Giza pyramid Recovery Vaults were laid down in order to create a precession clock utilising Orion's Belt.
We do not need to find a text that tells us that the ancient Egyptians knew how to paint or how to build pyramids. But there they are. I think the precessional knowledge exhibited in the arrangement of the Giza pyramid Recovery Vaults is highly compelling circumstantial evidence that such knowledge was known to the designers and builders of Giza.
In the dream there was someone who was as enormous as the heaven, who was as enormous as the earth. His head was like that of a god, his wings were like those of the Anzud bird, his lower body was like a flood storm. Lions were lying at his right and his left. He spoke to me about building his house, but I could not understand what he exactly meant, then daylight rose for me on the horizon.
´Then there was a woman - whoever she was. She ...... sheaves. She held a stylus of refined silver in her hand, and placed it on a tablet with propitious stars, and was consulting it.
Originally posted by Kantzveldt
SC: Just as it is also a struggle for ANY theory relating to the purpose of the early, giant pyramids. If there existed a number of cross-corroboratory texts that told us the true purpose of these structures then there would be no struggle for anyone as we could then be fairly certain of their true purpose. But there are no texts from the period that tell us unequivocally the true nature and function of these structures. It is for that very reason that Egyptologists struggle to convince a lot of people of their 'tomb theory' and the reason why there still exists so much speculation and alternative theories such as, for example, the 'Recovery Vault Theory (RVT)'.
Kantzveldt: It's not that much of a struggle, the greater context is that of the Necropolis, with contemporary associated tombs, inscriptions and burial practises, mortuary and valley Temples and boat burials in association with the pyramids themselves, from the time of Unas the pyramid texts.
SC: Feeding workers and priests? I suppose this may be true of the storage silos around the pyramid's perimeter but not of the storage facilities beneath the pyramid since these massive 'Recovery Vaults' had been permanently sealed with their cache of recovery goods. There was no immediate or easy access to them.
SC: Written texts notwithstanding, I think it is very clear now that the ancient Egyptians utilised Orion's Belt along with its long-term precessional motion to arrange the Giza pyramid Recovery Vaults in such a manner as to create a precession clock (as shown in the PDF in the OP). I do not think there is any doubt that the Giza pyramid Recovery Vaults were laid down in order to create a precession clock utilising Orion's Belt.
SC: There are certainly many mastabas and some rock-cut tombs on the Giza plateau. There are many graves with headstones in a cemetery but that does not make the church the biggest tomb. Given the purpose of the Gizamids as 'instruments of rebirth' for the kingdom (not the king) then it is perfectly understandable that they would be regarded as sacred icons of rebirth and would attract mastaba burials close to them on the sacred ground. Just as a the entrance into a modern church is regarded as entering into the 'womb of Christ' to be reborn through Christ. It's a similar concept. Over and above which, mastabas (so we are told) evolved into the pyramid. Except mastaba tombs - without exception - were rectangular whereas pyramids were square. Even Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara started off as a square. It was only made into a rectangle by extending the base to seal the shaft entrances to the storage vaults (the 11 underground galleries). If you are a king of ancient Egypt, the last place you will wish to place your mortal remains is within the most highly visible structure for miles around. Conversely, that is PRECISELY what you would require as a pyramid Recovery Vault.
SC: Except no body was ever found - just 40,000 storage vessels and large quantities of wheat, barley and other seeds. Sed festivals would not require the burial of so many artifacts and large quantities of seed deep under the pyramid. However, this is PRECISELY what would be required as a Recovery Vault. We are fortunate indeed that this cache got left behind in the Step Pyramid for it enables us to piece together the true function of these early, giant pyramids. Furthermore, as we can see from mastaba tombs of the time and from later rock-cut tombs such as that of King Tut, the AEs knew what symbolic amounts of 'grave goods' were - and they were no where near the vast quantities stored under Djoser's pyramid.
SC: Well that depends exactly on what it is you are trying to convey with these stars. Do you think it is merely coincidental that the Orion Belt stars can, in a simple and systematic fashion, reproduce the relative base proportions of the three main Gizamids? Do you consider it merely coincidental that the other two sets of three pyramids at Giza - the so-called Queens - depict the two culminations of the Belt stars at ca. 10,500 BCE AND ca. 2,500AD. These 'markers' do not just mark the past but also the future. It is a precession timeline split precisely at its centre by the Sphinx to mark C.3,980 BCE.
Thus, on Khoiak 26th, king Sokar-Osiris or the Ancient One can become the New Horus, "the one whose right eye is the sun and the left the moon". This second phase of resurrection proclaims a king identified to the creator guarantor of the maintenance of creation and its two cycles, diurnal and nocturnal. Moreover, the 26th of Khoiak corresponds roughly to Orion's entry of its 90 days of visibility in the west.
The agrarian calendar perfectly defines the liturgy: the onions planted at the end of September and picked at the end of October are heralding the arrival of the light and are going to be transplanted in the land to be ready to be chewed at the time of the festival of Bastet, February 5th, as all snakes come out of their hibernation and when the swallows begin to return announcing the summer sun. The small onions, early fruits and vegetables, inhaled to receive a new breath at the time of the ntryt-night, having germinated during the winter period, become witnesses to a source of rebirth to a chthonian life, with the image of a living Sokar in a cave and carrying the solar star in the Duat. The solarisation or light created the 25th and 26th of Khoiak leads to a stellar design (or darkness with appearance of the constellation of Orion). The festival of Bastet, at the end of the Sokarian cycle
Sokar was undoubtedly originally a distinct deity of the Memphite necropolis: r3-sT3.w "Giza" (like the name of this List's server "Rostau" though I would have spelled if "Rosetjau") and pD.w "Saqqara", the modern name of which is believed to come from that of Sokar. There is a possibility that he was actually transplanted to the Memphite region from Busiris or some other Delta location. He represented the fertility that lies at the bottom of the underworld as well as the minerals and vegetal produce of the earth. He was carried on a boat known as the Henu-barque which had the form of a the crescent moon. His stellar manifestation was that of Orion.