THE ANCHOR OF THE WORLD (cont)
Did the Pyramid Builders of the Old Kingdom use the Pole of the Ecliptic?

By Robert G. Bauval

DEFINING THE 'BEGINNING' AND COSMIC ORDER OF THE WORLD

By using astronomical software to scan the epochs, we find, interestingly, that the only one time in human history when this arrangement could have happened was c. 10,500 BC. Even more interestingly is the fact that the architectural simulacra defined by the Giza necropolis appears to 'freeze' that moment in immutable stone monuments:

1. The central pyramid, with its slope of 53 07' 48' is less than 1 degree away from the upper culmination of the pole of the ecliptic.
2. The three pyramids are set along the north-south 'collure' i.e. along the prime meridian of the sky.
3. The general pattern of the three pyramids correlates with the general pattern of the three central stars of Orion i.e. Orion's belt.
4. The vernal point is in alignment with the Great Sphinx as well as the constellation of Leo.

FIGURE 6

The sky in 10,500 BC of the Giza necropolis with mythological figures superimposed on the constellation of Leo and Orion.

This astronomical conjunction, which only occurs in c. 10,500 BC, does not, of course, mean that the monuments themselves were constructed in that remote epoch. What it does is suggest that the ancient pyramid builders of Giza wanted to define the 'beginning' and the cosmic order of the world in a grandiose architectural symbolic plan. It also adds more cogency to the argument that the ancient Egyptians not only observed and recorded the stars over vast periods of time, but that they were well-aware of the effects of Precession.