JASON COLAVITO
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Legends of the Pyramids
    • The Mound Builder Myth
    • Jason and the Argonauts
    • Cult of Alien Gods >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Foundations of Atlantis
    • Knowing Fear >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Hideous Bit of Morbidity >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Cthulhu in World Mythology >
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
      • Necronomicon Fragments
      • Oral Histories
    • Fiction >
      • Short Stories
      • Free Fiction
    • JasonColavito.com Books >
      • Faking History
      • Unearthing the Truth
      • Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens
      • Studies in Ancient Astronautics (Series) >
        • Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts
        • Pyramidiots!
        • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • Fiction Anthologies >
        • Unseen Horror >
          • Contents
          • Excerpt
        • Moon Men! >
          • Contents
      • The Orphic Argonautica >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • The Faust Book >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • Classic Reprints
      • eBook Minis
    • Free eBooks >
      • Origin of the Space Gods
      • Ancient Atom Bombs
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Ancient America
      • Horror & Science
  • Articles
    • Skeptical Xenoarchaeologist Newsletter >
      • Volumes 1-10 Archive >
        • Volume 1 Archive
        • Volume 2 Archive
        • Volume 3 Archive
        • Volume 4 Archive
        • Volume 5 Archive
        • Volume 6 Archive
        • Volume 7 Archive
        • Volume 8 Archive
        • Volume 9 Archive
        • Volume 10 Archive
      • Volumes 11-20 Archive >
        • Volume 11 Archive
        • Volume 12 Archive
        • Volume 13 Archive
        • Volume 14 Archive
        • Volume 15 Archive
        • Volume 16 Archive
        • Volume 17 Archive
        • Volume 18 Archive
        • Volume 19 Archive
        • Volume 20 Archive
      • Volumes 21-30 Archive >
        • Volume 21 Archive
        • Volume 22 Archive
    • Television Reviews >
      • Ancient Aliens Reviews
      • In Search of Aliens Reviews
      • America Unearthed
      • Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar
      • Search for the Lost Giants
      • Forbidden History Reviews
      • Expedition Unknown Reviews
      • Legends of the Lost
      • Unexplained + Unexplored
      • Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
    • Book Reviews
    • Galleries >
      • Bad Archaeology
      • Ancient Civilizations >
        • Ancient Egypt
        • Ancient Greece
        • Ancient Near East
        • Ancient Americas
      • Supernatural History
      • Book Image Galleries
    • Videos
    • Collection: Ancient Alien Fraud >
      • Chariots of the Gods at 50
      • Secret History of Ancient Astronauts
      • Of Atlantis and Aliens
      • Aliens and Ancient Texts
      • Profiles in Ancient Astronautics >
        • Erich von Däniken
        • Robert Temple
        • Giorgio Tsoukalos
        • David Childress
      • Blunders in the Sky
      • The Case of the False Quotes
      • Alternative Authors' Quote Fraud
      • David Childress & the Aliens
      • Faking Ancient Art in Uzbekistan
      • Intimations of Persecution
      • Zecharia Sitchin's World
      • Jesus' Alien Ancestors?
      • Extraterrestrial Evolution?
    • Collection: Skeptic Magazine >
      • America Before Review
      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
  • About Jason
    • Biography
    • Jason in the Media
    • Contact Jason
    • About JasonColavito.com
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Search

Some Surprising New (to Me) Information about Medieval Pyramid Myths

5/30/2017

48 Comments

 
​As regular readers know, I have a special interest in the medieval pyramid myths that arose in Arab-Islamic Egypt because these stories are foundational for all later pyramid mysticism, from the occult mysteries of Giza to the claim that a lost civilization was responsible for their construction. The stories, told in three major variants, attribute the construction of the monuments of Giza variously to Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary king Surid (possibly a fictionalized version of Khufu), or the fictitious giant Shaddad ibn ‘Ad, the builder of Iram of the Pillars. In most versions, one of these men erected the pyramids to preserve scientific knowledge from the coming of Noah’s Flood, having seen the Flood coming thanks to prophetic dreams and astrological signs.
​For several years now I’ve been working on gaining a better understanding of how this story developed, and I recently came across a surprising reference that helped fill in a few of the gaps. I would love to someday turn this material into a history of pyramid mythology, but as of yet I do not feel entirely comfortable writing a book about a subject I have not mastered. The trouble is that so much of the primary material is in Arabic, which I do not speak, and much of it is spread across a wide range of disciplines, including history, folklore, religious studies, Egyptology, occult studies, etc. To top it off, there are perhaps a half dozen people in the world who have ever written in any depth on the subject, most are dead or retired, and they disagree wildly with one another, even on very basic matters. It’s really enough to make one’s head spin.
 
In one interesting sidelight, I read an article from 2007 by Martyn Smith which mentioned in a footnote that Surid might not be Khufu after all, but rather an inversion of the consonants of Idris’ name. Thus Surid = Idris, who in Islamic lore is also Enoch and Hermes. This seems to be perhaps too cute by half, but I have no way to know.
 
What I do know is that scholars have sort of missed the point a bit. There are some scholars from a long time ago, like Maspero and A. Fodor, who though that the myth had ancient Egyptian origins. But most modern scholars, like Michael Cook (whom I know slightly), Patricia Crone, Martyn Smith, etc. believe that the story was invented by the Arabs, either with or without some local Coptic input. This is largely because the pyramid story does not appear in extant Arabic accounts from the first Islamic centuries, especially al-Hakam’s monumental history of Egypt, or in Christian sources of Late Antiquity. But Late Antique literature demonstrates that key parts of the story already existed before the coming of Islam and thus cannot be Arab inventions. Indeed, Ulrich Haarmann notes that al-Idrisi quotes al-Hakam’s brother Muhammad (d. 875) as saying that the Prophet Muhammad himself had rejected the idea of an antediluvian history of Egypt, suggesting that the Christians and/or Jews of the time did indeed have such a popular, if not scholarly, story alongside their other Nephilim myths.
 
Most scholars who have studied the issue have attributed the story to Abu Maʿshar al-Balkhi, the Persian astrologer who wrote The Thousands (c. 840-860 CE) and gave the classic account, though with an important variant. In his version, Hermes Trismegistus did build pyramids, but it was the great temples of Egypt, the berba (or barba, pl. barabi) that he built to protect scientific wisdom from the Flood. “Fearing the destruction of knowledge and the disappearance of the arts in the Flood, he built the great temples; one is a veritable mountain called the Temple in Akhmim, in which he carved representations of the arts and instruments, including engraved explanations of science, in order to pass them on to those who would come after him, lest he see them disappear from the world” (my trans.). This much was not entirely surprising; a similar account had been known among Christians and Jews regarding Egyptian tombs, as Ammianus Marcellinus reported around 391 CE: “There are also [in Egypt] subterranean passages, and winding retreats, which, it is said, men skilful, in the ancient mysteries, by means of which they divined the coming of a flood, constructed in different places lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies should be lost” (Roman History 22.15.30, trans. C. D. Yonge). Ammianus was likely a pagan, and so there is some ambiguity over whether this flood is Noah’s Flood, but in Christian lore it clearly became that Flood.
 
Since we can see that the story was already in circulation before 391 and Islam wasn’t founded until the seventh century, obviously the Muslim writers were adapting a story first told of the underground tombs to the temples. The reason for that was simple: By the early Middle Ages, the Egyptian temples had fallen into terminal decay, and they had been colonized by Hermetic alchemists, who used their reputation for magical power; the first major alchemist, Zosimus of Panoplis, for example, had lived in the shadow of the most important temple in the alchemical tradition, Akhmim, and his successors associated the temples with the occult science. By the Islamic period, men like Ibn Umail were visiting the temples in the hopes of finding alchemical secrets, and some alchemists were living in the ruins of the temples.
 
So much for the transmission of a Late Antique legend about tombs to the temples. But how did the story get translated to the pyramids? That is where the new information I came across comes into play. Abu Maʿshar wrote around 850 CE, and we know that the pyramid legend was fully developed by around 950-1000 CE, when the Akhbar al-zaman, the earliest surviving form of the pyramid version of story, was written. The Akhbar is not the origin of the story since it is reporting material from still other lost sources, which the author has edited and excerpted.
 
Anyway, in a roundabout way I came to a 2004 dissertation by Mark Fraser Pettigrew on medieval Arab-Islamic representations of ancient Egypt. I was shocked that there was an entire dissertation, largely on the Akhbar al-zaman, that I had never come across! This is because Pettigrew chose to use an alternate title for the Akhbar, the Book of Wonders, which meant that it didn’t show up in keyword searches. In the dissertation, he claims that a geographer named Ibn al-Nadim alleged that Hermes had built the pyramids. At first, I thought that this would be a major piece of information since there was a chance it would contain the pyramid/flood story before the Akhbar al-zaman. Sadly, though, it turns out that (a) Pettigrew overstated slightly, and (b) an article by El Daly discussing the same text misidentified Ibn Nadim as dying in 920 CE, when in fact his book was written in 998, just about contemporary with the Akhbar al-zaman. After reading all the references to Hermes and the pyramids in the book, I found that it does not say he built the pyramids, at least not explicitly. It merely says, in a very brief aside, that he was buried in one.
 
However, this side venture brought me to a reference in Okasha El Daly’s work on medieval Arab responses to Egypt, and El Daly might have provided a missing link. The trouble is that El Daly has a rather expansive view of Islam, and in reading his 2005 book Egyptology: The Missing Millennium, I often came across sections that offered exaggerated interpretations beyond what the data would support. Anyway, El Daly says that the berba name was conflated with the Coptic word brbr, which refers to a pyramidion, derived from the Egyptian ben ben. Fortunately, this identification comes out of the 1976 Coptic Etymological Dictionary, so it isn’t a completely out-there suggestion. If that’s the case, did the pyramids get roped into an alchemical myth about temples through a translation error?
 
If this were not enough, I also learned from Pettigrew’s generally excellent dissertation that I missed a very important passage in al-Masudi’s Meadows of Gold that links all of the above back to the Enochian literature on which it was based. Al-Masudi, as you probably recall, was a historian who wrote the Meadows around 947 CE and was later misidentified as the author of the Akhbar al-zaman because he had written a book with the same title. Well, it turns out that when I read the section on the pyramids in Meadows I missed the fact that 30 pages later, he has a section on the temples of Egypt that gives the legend on the order of Abu Ma‘shar, but preserves key details that make plain its derivation from Enoch’s pillars of brick and stone to guard against fire and flood, a key element of the Enochian wisdom literature of Late Antiquity:
They had learned from the study of the stars that a catastrophe threatened the land; but they were uncertain whether the world was to perish by fire, by a deluge, or if the sword were to exterminate its inhabitants. In fear lest the sciences should be annihilated with the people, they constructed these berabi (singular, berba) and disgorged their knowledge into the figures, the images, and the inscriptions which adorned them. They built them either of stone or of earth, separating these two kinds of constructions. If the foretold catastrophe, they said, is of fire, the edifices built of earth and clay will harden like stone, and our sciences will be preserved. If, on the contrary, it is a deluge, the water will carry away that which is built out of earth, but the stone will subsist. In the case of destruction by the saber, these two kinds of buildings will remain standing. (ch. 31, my trans.)
​It didn’t occur to me when reading about the pyramids to research literature on temples, too. This passage is astonishing, both because it is a very close analogue to the Enochian Pillars as given in Flavius Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews--where the pillars are also located in Egypt—and because this connection to the Enochian literature contradicts Pettigrew’s suggestion (following earlier authorities) that the Islamic legend is a direct product of the Hermetic dialogue known as the Asclepius, written around the third century CE or later. Because Al-Masudi’s version of the legend contains more explicitly Enochian elements, which were in circulation before the Asclepius was ever written (not to mention the Babylonian prophecies that they cribbed from in the first place!), it seems more likely that the pyramid myth is an outgrowth of a Judeo-Christian legend, not a pagan Egyptian apocalyptic tradition. This seems confirmed by connections I have discussed previously between Abu Ma‘shar’s use of Ammianus and Panodorus, two Christian Enochian authors, and the surviving fragments of their work in George Syncellus, which refer to the Watchers and the Pillars.
 
The bottom line is that all the different lines of evidence point to the idea that there was a Christian myth about the origin of the Egyptian temples and/or pyramids circulating in Egypt in Late Antiquity, one that owed a great debt to Enochian literature and which formed the basis for the various medieval Muslim accounts.
 
Pettigrew brought to my attention something else I didn’t know, which is interesting but not directly relevant. I already knew that based on parallel passages between the Akhbar al-zaman and sections that al-Maqrizi attributed to Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah (a.k.a. al-Wasifi), many now believe that the Akhbar is Ibn Wasif’s work, or a close copy of it. What I didn’t know is that there was a sequel, the second volume of the Akhbar, so to speak, and that something of it survives. The original text is lost, but of all people Alfonso X of Spain had a copy of this second volume and used it in his absurdly long General Estoria, attributing the records of the history of Egypt from the time of Moses down to Alexander’s conquest to an “Alguaziph,” who seems to be al-Wasifi. It would be fascinating to pull out his references to al-Wasifi’s work and create a set of fragments of the lost book, which Alfonso called the Histories of Egypt. However, medieval Spanish is not my strongest language, and since (a) Alfonso derived more than a hundred pages of material from the book and (b) it treats material not directly relevant to my interests, it’s not a project I really want to take on. It’s a shame that no one has ever translated the General Estoria into English. 
48 Comments
Only Me
5/30/2017 11:39:45 am

All I can say is: amazing. Even while looking into the latest kooky claims, you somehow still manage to find more info on the pyramid myths.

Reply
TONY S.
5/30/2017 01:28:49 pm

I second that sentiment, a fascinating subject!

Reply
At Risk
5/30/2017 12:59:43 pm

Rather than the pyramids being built in response to prophecy forecasting a flood, maybe they were made in response to a previous flood...or a previous calamity from the sky, as if the sky could forecast another upcoming doom.

I'm curious about how the pyramid symbol became so intertwined with the medieval Knights Templar and ensuing Freemasons, as this seems to be the case on at least a superficial level.

I found an oddity a few miles east of the Chippewa River a few years ago on top of a very rocky knoll, which I theorize may be a medieval sconce revealing a fortified position about the same distance from the east side of the Chippewa River as Runestone Hill is...another theorized defensive position in the shape of a peninsula-island. The odd thing about this rock shelter sconce is that it has a pyramid-shaped rock placed in a seemingly prominent position, as though not by random choice, perhaps.

Though I don't like to consider various aspects of Wolter's rendering of history, there are some things perplexing to the geography of this Upper Midwest region that may be worth considering. Maybe a medieval Scandinavian viewpoint of Egyptian pyramids could possibly align itself into something meaningful in America's medieval Upper Midwest...maybe not...just something to consider in light of possible medieval European defensive positions located in Minnesota.

Reply
Americanegro
5/30/2017 01:22:14 pm

To quote David Brinkley, "more goddamn nonsense".

Please enlighten us on "how the pyramid symbol became so intertwined with the medieval Knights Templar" and when they EVER used it.

You keep saying "peninsula-island". In medieval Swedish, peninsula and island are the same word. You're welcome.

Reply
E.P. Grondine
5/31/2017 09:39:18 am

Hi AN -

While you are here, let me clear something up for you. I do not mind being called a "fake Shawnee" by Keely Dennison, as she has also stated that Governor George is not Shawnee.

TONY S.
5/30/2017 01:35:33 pm

No pyramid symbol ever had anything to do with the Knights Templar. You've bought into the false notion pushed by fringe historians that Freemasonry is the unbroken continuation of the original Templar order.

Reply
Steve StC
5/30/2017 07:53:12 pm

"At Risk" The answer is no. What's the question?

You've waded into a cesspool of arrogant assholes here. Did you expect an intelligent conversation here? Read a few of these posts from Colavito's sweaty keyboard and then wade into the acolytes' asinine comments.

Reply
bill
5/30/2017 08:00:56 pm

what is it with you and sweaty keyboards? is that your side of an "intelligent conversation"?

Americanegro
5/30/2017 09:34:20 pm

He sounds like a pasty-faced ennervated chronic masturbator extrapolating from his own experience to me. For a long time I thought Steve Saint Clair and Gunn/At Risk/Bob Voyles/whoever were the same person. They do both seem concerned with the sweaty keyboard and both talk mostly nonsense with a side of OCD and bipolar.

I kind of miss A Buddhist. By comparison s/he was a beacon of sanity.

TONY S.
5/30/2017 10:36:06 pm

@STEVE STC:

If by "arrogant assholes" you mean well read, well informed, and knowledgeable people who don't enable, or refuse to give validation to, your ignorant, silly, and immature delusions... people who don't swallow your line of fraud hook, like, and sinker... then yes.

I've read through all of your comments on Jason's blog through the years, and nobody comes off more arrogant than you. The bloodline bullshit you've been trying to peddle is pathetic. I knew to take Holy Blood, Holy Grail with a grain of salt when I first read it 30 years ago, and I was only a teenager then. You and Wolter taking it seriously after all these years is, quite frankly, hilarious.

It's both sad and irritating when an interesting historical topic is co-opted by the lunatic fringe. You lay claim to a subject, then vigorously claim that only you truly know about it. You have no compunction about dismissing all the decades of work done by academia. THAT is arrogance. Don't throw stones when you live in the biggest glass house on the block.

I know you because you and Wolter have a scorching fear of primary sources, you probably aren't familiar with any. So I'm going to give you some help here, and recommend credible sources which, if you are REALLY interested in the Templars and their world, you will find and read:

Any works by the authors Malcolm Barber and Jonathan Riley-Smith. The most relevant Barber works for this subject are The Trial of the Templars, The Crusader States, and The Tragedy of the Templars.

History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea by William of Tyre

The Knights Templar by Steve Howarth

The Rule of the Templars by J. Upton-Ward

Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The History of the Knights Templar in the Crusades

Steven Runciman's three volume History of the Crusades.

The Monks of War by Desmond Seward.

When you've actually acquired some real knowledge on the subject, come back and try to have an intelligent debate for a change.

Until then, stay in the kiddie pool. Adults are talking.

TONY S.
5/30/2017 01:37:11 pm

Great post, Jason. This is fascinating stuff.

Reply
David Bradbury
5/30/2017 02:05:42 pm

"of all people Alfonso X of Spain had a copy" is unfair on him. He specifically took advantage of the strong Muslim and Jewish presence in Iberia to work towards an international synthesis of scholarship.
Fascinating post though !

Reply
Jason Colavito link
5/30/2017 02:59:24 pm

Oh, no, I'm not criticizing Alfonso! It's just bizarre that no copy survives in the Muslim world, but we find it in Spain! If any European would have had one, it would have been him. It's just amazing that it's in Europe at all and not in the Middle East, given how popular the first volume was there.

Reply
Americanegro
5/30/2017 09:37:16 pm

This was quite a meaty article Jason. I've spent some time today researching the people you mention in it so that's fun. Anyway, thanks!

TONY S.
5/31/2017 12:11:09 pm

Jason... I've been collecting and reading Maspero's works. In and of themselves they make for fascinating reading and the first edition works themselves are gorgeous. I recognize that there may be much that is now outdated. In your estimation, how much of the information is out of date now?

David Bradbury
5/31/2017 01:16:58 pm

In case you hadn't seen it- there's an interesting little section on the Arabic source materials of the General Estoria starting at page 173 of:
"Las 'Estorias' de Alfonso el Sabio", by Inés Fernández-Ordóñez

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/descargaPdf/las-estorias-de-alfonso-el-sabio-0/

Peter Kirchmeir
5/30/2017 11:54:43 pm

wow... you have surely added a new note to the myths...

Reply
E.P. Grondine
5/31/2017 09:36:19 am

Hi Jason -

The modern English phonetic reading of Medieval Spanish "gua"
is close to "hua". It is no mystery how Islamic texts survived into medieval Spain, given the Berber empire. Who knows what may yet show up in the Spanish royal archives, or the libraries of Timbuktu. You yourself may end up have to do text reconstruction.Your work with coptic may lead you to a person fluent in medieval arabic. If not, the Oriental Institute in Chicago may be of help.

I seem to recall you mentioning a town near Egyptian Sais which showed up in some of these texts, but I can not remember the name of it. Do you remember it?



Reply
At Risk
5/31/2017 12:33:55 pm



http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/center.htm

"The triangle is also called a delta and this is a symbol of deity, of God. No explanation is given in the ritual as to its significance. What we can say here is that the triangle, often called a delta because it is the design of that letter in the Greek alphabet, has always been used to represent the deity whom the people worship. This is the case in all civilizations, and Christianity is no exception. For us the equilateral triangle or delta represents the Trinity-in-Unity, the Triune God, whom we worship, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit."

In my view, there's not much difference between a triangle shape and a pyramid shape, when simplified. Perhaps this has to do with any confusion about the Templars being familiar with this symbol, or not.

Anyway, my ambition is to add to the discourse of this blog, occasionally, in spite of the obvious abuse. Though I am not hidebound, my skin is thickened....

Readers, Fake Americanegro is Joe Scales, the original Wolter hater, beginning his attacks a few years ago as Mister Lister at Amazon. He has changed his name more times than I can recall, though the number has exceeded ten. Many will remember EP, Mike Morgan, Joe Scales, various renditions of John, etc. This Joe Scales has done a considerable amount of damage here on this site, now using the name Americanegro, which I find as appalling as most of his comments. This same person infiltrated Andy White's blog to attack me there, as he does here, constantly.

I still find it hard to believe that Jason would leave those recent comments about Wolter and his father intact on this site. I consider the person who constantly attacks me and Wolter on this site as a blight on society and here on this blog, but I choose to ignore his comments and instead persist in trying to convince skeptics here that medieval Norse history is this Upper Midwest region is valid, indeed, in spite of the abuses the Kensington Runestone and its collateral evidences constantly must need to endure. Ultimately, history as we now know it will change to reflect the truth of the matter up here. Until then, most skeptics will continue to be self-blinded on the issue.

The KRS, I believe, is Jason's one biggest mistake...other than not running a very clean blog at times. It misses the mark for common decency, and this is largely the fault of Joe Scales, a man named Lister from a state on the West Coast, a motorcycle man who has chosen to hate Scott Wolter as a long-lasting vocation of sorts. That he would talk about OCD is too cute.

If this were medieval Iceland, Wolter-hating Lister--Joe Scales, Americanegro, would be run out of the country for at least three years...banished from civilization.

Reply
Only Me
5/31/2017 03:38:20 pm

You've made this allegation before, and I'm genuinely curious if you have evidence.

I've read the comments from all the names you've mentioned, and while I'm no expert, I can tell the difference in tone and diction between them. I find it hard to believe one individual could assume so many aliases with such variance and keep up the act for as long as you allege.

Do you have evidence that proves the allegation true?

Reply
An Over-Educated Grunt
5/31/2017 07:23:24 pm

Seconded. The "fist" of the various people Gunn claims are big old meanie-heads just don't line up. That's like claiming I'm Abraham Lincoln because there's an L in my name.

TONY S.
5/31/2017 09:39:59 pm

Agreed. I've read through Dr. Lister's comments on Amazon numerous times. I don't buy these allegations.

At Risk
6/1/2017 02:28:30 pm

ONLY ME, I personally think you may be "only me, Jason." A good code-breaker like me easily notices how ONLY ME is often the "first-to-the-plate" commenter, perhaps to help get the conversations flowing.

If ONLY ME isn't Jason, this comes across as at least peculiar...the apparent urge to quickly back up the host to get things going. If someone here would care to go WAY BACK years in time here, one may easily come away thinking that you, ONLY ME, are in fact Jason.

It's no big deal if I'm wrong about this, but something about you seems fishy here, ONLY ME...in your quick pats on the back, you see. But, I have noticed that you seem to have toned-down your nastiness over time, which I hope may be a reflection on a change for the better in JASON'S personality...at least as it relates to Scott Wolter.

While on the subject, I think it matters that common decency is betrayed here so often. The comments several days ago about Wolter and his father by Fake Americanegro clearly should not have stood on this blog. That they do seems to come across as a kind of testiment to a bad sentiment...perhaps too personal in nature.

Only Me
6/1/2017 02:46:26 pm

So, I ask a serious question concerning a serious allegation you've made and this is your answer? Another allegation based on personal belief?

Is this how you truly view the world? That every commenter that has ever disagreed with you *must* be an alias of someone else for, I don't know, reasons that only make sense to you?

Why don't you answer my question? Do you have evidence of the allegations you've made, yes or no?

Joe Scales
6/1/2017 03:22:44 pm

I have a serious question for you Only Me. Well, questions, that is. Why are you engaging this lunatic in discussion? You've been here quite a while and you don't know better by now? Do you really expect evidence of some sort from this miscreant? This is the guy that was given a platform for his looney-tunes on Andy's site, and how did he pay Andy back? By threatening to call his dean. And these fringe imbeciles wonder why their critics would rather remain anonymous. I mean... who needs a whole dose of crazy injected into their professional lives simply because they attempt to reason with lunatics. It's not worth it. You cannot win. You cannot beat crazy.

But because you have a certain amount of credibility here Only Me, and chose to open up this issue I am accused of, you sort of force my hand in addressing it. Believe me, I typed similar responses and deleted them as I truly wish to ignore this offensive, unbalanced character. I should know that others might question his accusation, but you Only Me? Seriously. I've seen you go on and on with folks on occasion, attempting to rub their nose in something they'll never actually smell. But please... please. Ignore this idiot. I know I've made this plea before, and there's no way I can stop people from responding. I would have hoped however, that those who've been here for some time might heed my plea.

For the record, I have only posted here and on Andy's site as Joes Scales. I have never posted anything online anywhere, for any reason and in any manner as John, Mike Morgan, Lister, EP, Amercianegro or used similar sounding monikers. These accusations are from someone who has demonstrated a dearth of intelligence and a wealth of mental instability. I am happy to allow him to prattle on without comment, and only hope others can join in my example. Only then will we be rid of him, or at the very least, deny him the attention his depraved soul covets.

Only Me
6/1/2017 03:53:30 pm

Believe me, Joe, my normal routine is to ignore him. However, he has been repeating a serious allegation for the purpose of casting doubt on your character, which is unacceptable.

You're right, of course. First, he claims to be a "good code breaker" then debunks himself by admitting his allegations are based upon "No proof, of course...only the sloppy 'connections' that makes it seem so."

I'll resume my normal routine now that the question has been answered.

Joe Scales link
6/1/2017 09:32:54 pm

I appreciate that Only Me, and I do realize you had my back in this regard. As a point of interest, should anyone actually care, this person's unhealthy fixation on me began when I publicly agreed with another contributor on Andy's site that allowing the offender in question to host a discussion would be an unmitigated disaster due to his inability to reason and his penchant for ad hominem when faced with opposing discourse. Because of this, he chose to blame me for the inevitable outcome which was wholly dictated by his own compulsions; even though at that point I had ceased engaging him directly and didn't contribute a lick to his disastrous attempt at legitimacy. Now I am every enemy he's ever imagined.

Remember good people, step quietly away from a lunatic is the best advice I can give for such matters.

Weatherwax
6/1/2017 09:35:20 pm

"ONLY ME, I personally think you may be "only me, Jason." "

You are a delusional crank. Simple as that.

Joe Scales
6/2/2017 03:35:29 pm

So I finally look into who this Mr. Lister actually is. He reviewed Wolter's books on Amazon and engaged in lengthy criticism and debate with Wolter and his minions when they piled on. He used his real name there, as he has even done here on at least one occasion when brought into a discussion on this blog. He is a real person, and no, I am not him though we certainly share a common perspective in regard to those who profit from promoting false historical claims.

But having established that Lister is a real person, resides on the west coast and does indeed ride a motorcycle, it is clear to me, and should be clear to any other contributor here that has been falsely lumped into this insane rant by the offending individual, that Lister has been libeled with the false and negligent claims that he is posing as others online for nefarious purposes. Given that Minnesota, where the offending individual resides, has strict cyber harassment laws, this has not only exposed said offending member to civil liability, but criminal liability as well.

Should this behavior continue... which would be most unwise in my view given the above... Lister should act accordingly to bring this nonsense to a lawful and rightful conclusion.

Americanegro
6/2/2017 11:51:53 pm

Just so we're clear, is it Mr. Risk's position that people who ride motorcycles are bad? That is in fact crazy talk. Mr. Risk admits to mental disorders yet takes offense when others point out their manifestations.

TONY S.
6/7/2017 07:08:18 am

@ Joe Scales,

Point taken. I'll ignore him from now on.

Mandalore
5/31/2017 05:13:39 pm

How many different pseudonyms do you have 'At Risk'? You've used several on this site alone. Glass houses and such.

Reply
At Risk
6/1/2017 02:49:23 pm

Couldn't resist heaping on, huh MANDALORE? Always the same short attack comments...never adding anything. You've got your own little personal pattern going here....

I think three names including only two aliases isn't too bad for several years. This is a lot better than Joe Scales's astonishing number. If you care to look back, you can even find places where one of his aliases introduces another and they banter back and forth in the same thread-line.

Again, this may be what ONLY ME is all about with Jason, I think. No proof, of course...only the sloppy "connections" that makes it seem so. He sure seems to be an inordinary, supportive, constant friend...on guard to defend, too.

By the way, I find no problem with using creative multiple aliases as long as the tone is kept civil and hurtful attacks are done away with--such as the one I pointed out concerning Wolter recently, leveled by Fake Americanegro.

There is no point in coming across here as uncouth attackers or "losers," as too often happens.

Mandalore
6/2/2017 06:47:26 pm

As I've said before, engaging you in conversation is pointless as you quickly revert to personal attacks when challenged in any fashion. I've tried to talk to you in the past and got insulted as a result.

Also, I thought you had left again. Now I have to start a new countdown to when you storm off again. Such a reliable pattern.

Americanegro
6/2/2017 11:48:03 pm

The problem here, Mandalore, is that you have no Dean that Bob "Gunn" "At Risk" "whatever else" Voyles can threaten to "report" you to. He's got nothing but invites mockery. I say it would only be polite to accept the invitation.

Jim
5/31/2017 08:40:42 pm

" in spite of the abuses the Kensington Runestone and its collateral evidences constantly must need to endure."

It's a rock, man !!! Much like Wolter it has brought it's grief upon itself by masquerading as something it isn't.

Reply
John (the other one)
5/31/2017 10:43:53 pm

I'm still just the same John thanks. I'm not anyone else. I've never been anyone else.

I've given Gunn my opinion on stoneholes and other things and he has responded with bull shit mostly because he is illogical and doesn't understand how science works.

A triangle isn't a pyramid. There is a dimensional problem. Also, I'm sorry but rocks don't have feelings nor do they need to defended. Science speaks for itself. New theories are proposed, debated, accepted or thrown out.

Reply
Americanegro
6/1/2017 09:22:23 am

Joe Scales and I were down at the Knights of Columbus hall discussing the next steps in our Plan and had great fun speculating about exactly how you would "run someone out of Iceland".

"What we can say here is that the triangle, often called a delta because it is the design of that letter in the Greek alphabet, has always been used to represent the deity whom the people worship. This is the case in all civilizations, and Christianity is no exception."

You are the semi-challenged gift that keeps on giving. You are the one choosing to post this nonsense. If Walter White was The Danger, the One Who Knocks, you are The Clumsiness, The One Who Gets It Caught In His Zipper.

"has always been used to represent the deity whom the people worship."

"This is the case in all civilizations"

I think I'm going to start calling you Corky, since you are the one who likes to change his name. And yes, I have seen your baseball.

Reply
Joe Scales
6/1/2017 10:50:51 am

@Americanegro: "Joe Scales and I were down at the Knights of Columbus hall discussing the next steps in our Plan and had great fun speculating about exactly how you would "run someone out of Iceland". "

With this you make it most difficult for me to hold to my vow not to further engage in the rattling of a lunatic's cage in nurturing the unbridled pathology of his mental imbalances and deficiencies... But where else can you get a Budweiser with a shot of Jack, leave a five spot on the bar and get enough change to leave a decent tip? Call it outlawry, I suppose.

Mike Morgan
6/1/2017 03:47:38 pm

Ah shoot! So sorry we missed the meeting, sounds like it was a fun time. Mister Lister, EP, the various renditions of John, and I all misread our invitations. We ended up driving around looking for the local Knights Templar lodge.

Joe Scales
6/1/2017 09:08:23 pm

"We ended up driving around looking for the local Knights Templar lodge. "

Ain't gonna find a bar in one of them...

At Risk
6/2/2017 10:59:28 am

This is getting better and better...we have the aliases all lining up in a row like stoneholes on a code-stone! Pretty soon, we may have enough for a baseball team. I'll call the team:

"The Joe Scales Alias Losers"

The manager will be ONLY ME....

Reply
An Over-Educated Grunt
6/2/2017 01:58:15 pm

Gunn, shut up. You're making yourself look bad, and you weren't exactly well-regarded before. If your goal is to persuade us there's a medieval Swedish colony in Minnesota, this is hands down the wrong way to do it.

Reply
Americanegro
6/2/2017 02:41:19 pm

The poster child for button-fly trousers.

At Risk
6/7/2017 10:59:19 am

See how this looks, OE Grunt, though I'm not as gruff as you:

OE Grunt, shut up yourself. You're making yourself look bad, and you weren't exactly well-regarded before. If your goal is to persuade us there was not a "medieval Swedish colony" in Minnesota, you are dumb for thinking up such a thing in the first place. But, no, no Swedish colony...only medieval Scandinavian intentions not realized, as fully evidenced.

OE Grunt, you seem to be seriously UNEDUCATED, unless being over-educated resembles being dumb. In this case, nice moniker!

Americanegro
6/8/2017 12:30:27 pm

Sick burn bro! You OWN this blog!

An Over-Educated Grunt
6/9/2017 03:21:19 pm

You know, for Mr. Manly Man Tough Guy Prison Guard, you sure are thin-skinned. If someone calls you names, you beat your chest about how tough you are, then you accuse them of cyber-bullying, because boy aren't you tough, Gunn? So tough that being ridiculed online makes you bitch and moan about how mean everyone is.

Fact is, we're mean because not only are you wrong, but you're bull-headed in your ignorance, refusing to answer weaknesses in your reasoning or evidence, you're more than an ass, braying about a medieval Swedish colony in Minnesota even when the subject is, say, pyramids, and you're mighty free with your own insults for someone who wants to cry about "dignity" being trampled.

In the entire history of this blog, there has been precisely one person who demanded every trace of himself be removed because his poor widdle feewings was huwt, and that's you. There's only one person who's threatened Jason with legal action because of his poor middle feewings, and that's you. There's only one person who's threatened to report a blog post that he didn't like to someone's employer, and that's you. You want to tell me how I'm gruff? It's because polite hasn't awakened you to the fact that you, sir, are an ignorant, offensive, braying jackass, and your ideas, so long as they are in the hand of such a weak-minded incompetent, shall always come in for ridicule.

Good day, sir.

TONY S.
6/7/2017 07:12:07 am

@Grunt,

Is there a right way?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Blog
    Picture

    Author

    I am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.

    Become a Patron!
    Tweets by JasonColavito
    Picture

    Newsletters

    Enter your email below to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my latest projects, blog posts, and activities, and subscribe to Culture & Curiosities, my Substack newsletter.

    powered by TinyLetter

    Blog Roll

    Ancient Aliens Debunked
    Picture
    A Hot Cup of Joe
    ArchyFantasies
    Bad UFOs
    Mammoth Tales
    Matthew R. X. Dentith
    PaleoBabble
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Alternative Archaeology
    Alternative Archaeology
    Alternative History
    Alternative History
    America Unearthed
    Ancient Aliens
    Ancient Astronauts
    Ancient History
    Ancient Texts
    Ancient Texts
    Archaeology
    Atlantis
    Conspiracies
    Giants
    Habsburgs
    Horror
    King Arthur
    Knights Templar
    Lovecraft
    Mythology
    Occult
    Popular Culture
    Popular Culture
    Projects
    Pyramids
    Racism
    Science
    Skepticism
    Ufos
    Weird Old Art
    Weird Things
    White Nationalism

    Terms & Conditions

    Please read all applicable terms and conditions before posting a comment on this blog. Posting a comment constitutes your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions linked herein.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home  |  Blog  |  Books  | Contact  |  About Jason | Terms & Conditions
© 2010-2023 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Legends of the Pyramids
    • The Mound Builder Myth
    • Jason and the Argonauts
    • Cult of Alien Gods >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Foundations of Atlantis
    • Knowing Fear >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Hideous Bit of Morbidity >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Cthulhu in World Mythology >
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
      • Necronomicon Fragments
      • Oral Histories
    • Fiction >
      • Short Stories
      • Free Fiction
    • JasonColavito.com Books >
      • Faking History
      • Unearthing the Truth
      • Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens
      • Studies in Ancient Astronautics (Series) >
        • Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts
        • Pyramidiots!
        • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • Fiction Anthologies >
        • Unseen Horror >
          • Contents
          • Excerpt
        • Moon Men! >
          • Contents
      • The Orphic Argonautica >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • The Faust Book >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • Classic Reprints
      • eBook Minis
    • Free eBooks >
      • Origin of the Space Gods
      • Ancient Atom Bombs
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Ancient America
      • Horror & Science
  • Articles
    • Skeptical Xenoarchaeologist Newsletter >
      • Volumes 1-10 Archive >
        • Volume 1 Archive
        • Volume 2 Archive
        • Volume 3 Archive
        • Volume 4 Archive
        • Volume 5 Archive
        • Volume 6 Archive
        • Volume 7 Archive
        • Volume 8 Archive
        • Volume 9 Archive
        • Volume 10 Archive
      • Volumes 11-20 Archive >
        • Volume 11 Archive
        • Volume 12 Archive
        • Volume 13 Archive
        • Volume 14 Archive
        • Volume 15 Archive
        • Volume 16 Archive
        • Volume 17 Archive
        • Volume 18 Archive
        • Volume 19 Archive
        • Volume 20 Archive
      • Volumes 21-30 Archive >
        • Volume 21 Archive
        • Volume 22 Archive
    • Television Reviews >
      • Ancient Aliens Reviews
      • In Search of Aliens Reviews
      • America Unearthed
      • Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar
      • Search for the Lost Giants
      • Forbidden History Reviews
      • Expedition Unknown Reviews
      • Legends of the Lost
      • Unexplained + Unexplored
      • Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
    • Book Reviews
    • Galleries >
      • Bad Archaeology
      • Ancient Civilizations >
        • Ancient Egypt
        • Ancient Greece
        • Ancient Near East
        • Ancient Americas
      • Supernatural History
      • Book Image Galleries
    • Videos
    • Collection: Ancient Alien Fraud >
      • Chariots of the Gods at 50
      • Secret History of Ancient Astronauts
      • Of Atlantis and Aliens
      • Aliens and Ancient Texts
      • Profiles in Ancient Astronautics >
        • Erich von Däniken
        • Robert Temple
        • Giorgio Tsoukalos
        • David Childress
      • Blunders in the Sky
      • The Case of the False Quotes
      • Alternative Authors' Quote Fraud
      • David Childress & the Aliens
      • Faking Ancient Art in Uzbekistan
      • Intimations of Persecution
      • Zecharia Sitchin's World
      • Jesus' Alien Ancestors?
      • Extraterrestrial Evolution?
    • Collection: Skeptic Magazine >
      • America Before Review
      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
  • About Jason
    • Biography
    • Jason in the Media
    • Contact Jason
    • About JasonColavito.com
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Search