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The Message of the Sphinx

A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind

Graham Hancock

Robert Bauval

Three Rivers

Press New York

Copyright 1996 by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and

retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Three Rivers Press, 201 East 50th Street,

New York, New York 10022. Member of the Crown Publishing Group.

Originally published in Great Britain by William Heinemann Ltd.,

and in the United States by Crown Publishers, Inc., in 1996.

Random House, Inc.

New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland

http://www.randomhouse.com/

THREE RIVERS PRESS and colophon are

trademarks of Crown Publishers, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

Diagrams by Robert G. Bauval and R. J. Cook

Photographs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22,

24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, and 32 by Santha Faiia.

Photographs 11, 12, 15, and 16 courtesy of Rudolph Gantenbrink.

Photograph 29 by Robert G. Bauval.

Photograph 7 courtesy of Venture Inward magazine.

Photograph 13 Spiegel TV.

Photograph 14 Antoine Boutros.

Photograph 1 The Lady Sophia Schilizzi.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data is available upon request.

ISBN 0-517-88852-1

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Paperback Edition

To the memory of my father Gaston Bauval,

who rests in the land of Egypt.

Robert G. Bauval

To my friend, John Anthony West, for his twenty years of courageous work to prove the geological antiquity of the Sphinx, and for the vast implications of the evidence that he has put before the public. The truth is great and mighty, as the ancient texts say. It hath never been broken since the time of Osiris.

Graham Hancock

Profile of the Great Sphinx from the south.

Overhead view of the principal monuments of the Giza necropolis.

The Great Sphinx and the architectural complex that surrounds it.

The artificial Horizon of Giza.

Geodetic location of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Cross-section of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

Internal corridors and passageways of the three Pyramids of Giza.

Principal internal features of the Great Pyramid.

Detail of the corridors, chambers and shafts of the Great Pyramid

The complex internal design of the Great Pyramid.

The Kings and Queens Chambers and their four shafts.

Details of the Queens Chamber and its shafts.

Queens Chamber wall and shaft mouth.

Construction details of the Great Pyramid shafts.

The summer solstice as seen from Giza.

The trajectory of the sun on the summer solstice.

The trajectory of the sun on the equinox.

The trajectory of the sun on the winter solstice.

The horizon of Giza and the meridian of the Great Pyramid.

Culmination (meridian-transit) of Orions belt circa 2500 bc .

Orion and Osiris.

The stellar alignments of the Great Pyramids four shafts.

Orions belt crossing the meridian of the Great Pyramid in 2500 bc .

The sky-ground image of Giza-Orions belt in 10,500 bc .

The 10,500 bc lock with Giza.

Artists impression of Orions precessional cycle at meridian.

The trajectory of Orions belt throughout the ages.

Pre-dawn at the spring (vernal) equinox in 10,500 bc .

Superimposed images of the rising of Leo in 2500 bc and 10,500 bc .

Sunrise at the spring (vernal) equinox in 10,500 bc .

Artists impression of the First Time of Osiris-Orion.

Sah (Osiris-Orion), the Far Strider.

Detail of Queens Chamber shaft.

The Memphite necropolis.

Sunrise at solstices and equinoxes as seen from Giza.

The sky region of the Duat.

Map of the apex region of the Nile Delta.

The Land of Sokar in the Fifth Division of the Duat.

The Fifth Division of the Duat.

The summer solstice as seen from Giza circa 2500 bc .

The Denderah Zodiac.

Horakhti, Horus-of-the-Horizon.

Artists impression of reconstructed Sphinx.

The Duat sky-region at dawn throughout the year, circa 2500 bc .

The solar Horus crossing the Milky Way.

The solar Horus in the paws of Leo.

The astral Kingdom of Osiris in Rostau.

The Horus-King being led into the Great Pyramid.

The astral Great Pyramid and its stargates.

The rising of Leo at the summer solstice circa 2500 bc .

The summer solstice circa 2500 bc .

The Horus-King statue between the paws of the Sphinx.

Osiris-Orion showing the way to his Followers, the Horus-Kings.

Artists impression of the Mansion of the Phoenix.

Osiris-Orion, Isis-Sirius and the Horus-Kings.

Great conjunction of the ancient skies at the spring (vernal) equinox circa 10,500 bc

The sky- Duat and the ground- Duat of Osiris.

The drift of Orion from 10,500 bc to 2500 bc .

The setting of Orions belt and the satellite pyramids of the horizon of Giza in 10,500 bc .

Artists impression of the First Time of Sirius, in the epoch of 10,500 bc .

The course of the sun throughout the year as viewed from the latitude of Giza.

The 14 degree north of east alignment of the Khufu causeway at the north cross-quarter sunrise.

The due east (equinox) alignment of the Menkaure causeway.

The 14 degree south of east alignment of the Khafre causeway at the south cross-quarter sunrise.

The rising of Leo and the south cross-quarter sunrise in 10,500 bc .

Hor-em-akhet (Sphinx) gazing at Horakhti (Leo) at the south cross-quarter sunrise in 10,500 bc .

Profile of the Great Sphinx in the ground-horizon of Giza.

The place-time datum of 10,500 bc under Leo.

Possible locations of an underground system of passageways and chambers beneath the Great Sphinx.

The Djed pillar of Osiris, flanked by Isis and Nepthys.

Sun-boat on the back of the double-lion hieroglyph for Aker; Great Pyramid looking west; Osirian Djed pillar looking west.

The Scales of Maat.

Cross-sections of the Great Pyramid showing the balancing of the monument with the star-shafts.

The scales of Orion at the nadir and apex of the current Precessional Cycle and the ages of Leo (10,500 bc ) and Aquarius (2450 ad ).

Robert G. Bauval:

Foremost, a special thanks to the readers. In the last two years I have received hundreds of letters of encouragement and good-will and its sure nice to know youre all out there sharing in this common quest for truth.

I am immensely grateful for the patience and understanding of my wife Michele, and my two children, Candice and Jonathan.

Particular gratitude goes to the following relatives, friends and colleagues for their support: John Anthony West, Chris Dunn, Bill Cote, Roel Oostra, Joseph and Sherry Jahoda, Joseph and Laura Schor, Niven Sinclair, Marion Krause-Jach, Princess Madeleine of Bentheim, James Macaulay, Robert Makenty, Linda and Max Bauval, Jean Paul and Pauline Bauval, my mother Yvonne Bauval, Geoffrey and Thrse Gauci, Patrick and Judy Gauci, Denis and Verena Seisun, Colin Wilson, Mohamed and Amin El Walili, Julia Simpson, Sahar Talaat, Professor Karl-Klaus Dittel and his wife Renate, Hani Monsef, Mark Ford, Peter Zuuring, Richard Thompson, Adrian Ashford, Dave Goode, Okasha El Daly, Mohamad Razek, Heike Nahsen, Ilga Korte, Gundula Schulz El Dowy, Antoine Boutros, Professor Jean Kerisel, Roy Baker, Murry Hope, William Horsman and Charlotte Ames.