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The Long, Strange History of the Pyramids as the Granaries of Joseph

11/6/2015

81 Comments

 
When I wrote yesterday about GOP frontrunner Dr. Ben Carson’s 1998 claim that the pyramids of Egypt were built by the Jewish patriarch Joseph to store grain during the Biblical seven years of famine, I assumed that like most crackpot claims from candidates it would be a one-day wonder. But then Carson doubled down on his assertion, repeating it in interviews yesterday and adding that “secular progressives” were trying to mock him for a claim that he regards as a “personal belief” that should be immune from criticism. He also asserted that the Bible supports his views on the true function of the pyramids. The story isn’t going away: It was covered on the Today show again this morning. 
There’s a lot to unpack there, so it’s probably worth devoting a little more space to this unusual foray of a major political figure into the realm of pseudo-archaeology.
 
The most concerning part of this anti-science debacle is Carson’s assertion that claims about ancient history are merely “personal beliefs” that should not be evaluated against facts. When asked directly if he was specifically claiming that the pyramids were literally built under the direction of Joseph and were used to store grain, Carson replied, “It’s a plausible belief […] because I believe in the Bible.” But facts aren’t “beliefs,” and it’s disturbing that Carson feels that he can use “belief” as a magic wand to avoid having to support his feelings with facts. When we also note that Carson seems unable to distinguish between ancient astronaut theorists and actual scientists—he asserted that “all these scientists” believe the pyramids to be the work of aliens—we see a portrait of a man who seems to view knowledge as a series of competing belief systems rather than an attempt to approximate reality through observation and conclusions drawn from observations.
 
But the second part of his defense was also upsetting because he cast his “belief” as existing in opposition to “secular progressives,” as though Christians would uniformly accept a crackpot version of ancient history—or the Bible.
 
The fact of the matter is that the claim doesn’t appear in the Bible at all. The story of Joseph and Pharaoh is told in Genesis 41, where Joseph tells Pharaoh that a prophetic dream foretells seven years of famine. In Genesis 41:48, we read that Joseph collected grain in each Egyptian city as insurance against the famine, and in Genesis 41:56 we read that this grain was kept in storehouses. If we read this literally, it would seem that there was a storehouse in each city, so even if you believe literally in Genesis, these storehouses cannot be the pyramids.
 
That did not stop people from speculating about them, however. Here is where things start to get complicated. According to some sources, the monk Rufinus reported in the second of two books he added to his translation of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History that pyramids were shown as Joseph’s granaries in his day, c. 410 CE, but this passage doesn’t appear in modern editions, for reasons unknown to me. (The closest source I can find is a sixteenth century hagiography.) In St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, there is a series of murals made in 1204 that depict scenes from Genesis. Because many of these match closely to images in the illustrated Cotton Genesis, a copy of the Book of Genesis made in the fifth century CE, it’s assumed that the remaining murals reflect pages missing from the incomplete Cotton Genesis. One of these shows Joseph’s granaries as the Pyramids of Egypt, with holes at their peaks for pouring in grain. If this assumption is correct, then the Cotton Genesis would be the oldest identification of the pyramids with the granaries of Joseph. 
Picture
The pyramids as Joseph's granaries. Mosaic at St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice (1200s CE), modeled on an illustration in the 5th century Cotton Genesis.
(Interestingly, at the same time the Church Fathers also identified Noah’s Ark as being pyramid shaped, suggesting a reason that Late Antiquity came to view the pyramids as Arks in stone that preserved knowledge just as the wooden Ark preserved life.)
 
Julius Honorius, a Roman writer of Late Antiquity (c. 500 +/- 50 years), was apparently the first to describe the pyramids as Joseph’s granaries, in his Cosmographia, in which he says that the pyramids “are called the storehouses of Joseph,” but without elaboration. The claim appears again in the commentaries of Pseudo-Nonnus in the first half of the 500s. Gregory of Tours, who in 594 CE wrote in the History of the Franks 1.10 that Joseph’s granaries were made of stone, wide at the base, and narrow at the top. Although he had never seen the pyramids, they are clearly his inspiration. In 825 CE the monk Dicuil, writing in the Liber de Mensua Orbis Terrae 6.13, described the monk Fidelis’s visit to the pyramids and identified them as Joseph’s granaries. The claim appears as well in the commentaries of Nicetas of Heraclea in the eleventh century and the Byzantine Etymologicum magnum of the twelfth century (among other sources), in both of which the word “pyramid” is said to derive from the Greek word for “grain.”
 
The reason for this belief is a little unclear. Some of it is likely due to sheer ignorance at the end of Antiquity, when Egypt was slowly falling out of the increasingly isolated West’s orbit. Although the Byzantines had the legend, it was never as popular in the East, where Classical views of the pyramids in Greek competed with Christian views. The oldest Islamic attestation of the granaries myth that I know of is Al-Idrisi’s History of the Pyramids (c. 1150 CE), which was likely reporting it from a Christian source; however, I have read that earlier Islamic authors dismissed the granaries claim as unfounded. Prior to that, Islamic lore generally considered the pyramids to be antediluvian structures, or at least vastly ancient, and the storehouses to be much more recent.
 
Another reason is probably cultural appropriation. Reassigning the pyramids from pagan Egyptian tombs to holy granaries of a Biblical patriarch Christianized them and made them an acceptable monument to the Judeo-Christian heritage in the years when Christianity finally overcame paganism in Byzantine Egypt.
 
But the clearest and best explanation is an inference that can be found in our friend Rufinus, who reported in Ecclesiastical History (his translation of Eusebius) 11.23 that Christians and Jews in Egypt alike both identified Joseph with the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis, a form of Osiris, and the Jews said that a statue of Serapis the grain-giver actually depicted Joseph. This claim can be found as far back as Tertullian, in Ad nationes 2.8 (197 CE): “For that Serapis of yours was originally one of our own saints called Joseph” (trans. Peter Holmes). Thus, some scholars have argued that the sarcophagus of the Apis bull (in this period, an aspect of Serapis) became identified with the sarcophagus of Joseph, and both Joseph and Osiris-Serapis were said to have had their coffins drowned in the Nile (the former in a Jewish tradition repeated by Christians and Muslims). But what is most relevant is from this is that because the pyramids were known to be tombs, and the Late Antique Egyptians associated death with Serapis, the inference is that pyramids were seen as the realm of Serapis. Thus, some scholars have concluded that for Christians and Jews, these became the structures of Joseph, and since Osiris-Serapis was identified with the grain in Egypt (as Plutarch reported in Isis in Osiris), it’s a small inference to call the pyramids the place where the grain-giving Joseph operated.
 
Whatever the cause, the belief was by no means universal even in the West, but it was frequently repeated by medieval chroniclers. Famously, Sir John Mandeville—the fictitious author of a plagiarized travelogue—described the pyramids in these words: “And some men say, that they be sepultures [= tombs] of great lords, that were sometime, but that is not true, for all the common rumour and speech is of all the people there, both far and near, that they be the garners [= granaries] of Joseph; and so find they in their scriptures, and in their chronicles.” Mandeville was perhaps the first modern doubter of the tomb theory, asking why, if these pyramids were tombs, they were all empty. His answer, though, reflected a widespread Christian claim, more popular in the West than, as he claimed, in Egypt itself.
 
But that was the high point of the granaries theory. It went out of fashion very quickly once the struggle against Islam settled into a stalemate after the fall of Constantinople and travel to Egypt became, if not easy, somewhat easier for Westerners. In 1484, no less pious a fellow than a Catholic canon from Mainz, Bernhard von Breydenbach, visited the pyramids on his way back from a tour of the Holy Land—he was as religious as they come. He took one look at the pyramids and wrote the following, published in 1486 in a medieval bestseller called Peregrinatio in terram sanctam:
Beyond the Nile we beheld many pyramids, which in ages past the kings of Egypt caused to be built over their tombs, of which the vulgar say that these are the granaries or storehouses which were built there by Joseph in order to store grain. However, this is clearly false, for these pyramids are not hollow inside. (Latin edition, f116r, my trans.)
That final sentence effectively ended the granaries claim for several centuries, as every scholar thereafter—whatever his beliefs—recognized that solid blocks of stone with, at best, one or two tiny rooms would make ridiculous storehouses. Well, almost. An eighteenth century edition of Hertel’s Iconologica illustrated the story of Joseph’s granaries with a picture of a pyramid. Nevertheless, as the number of European travelers to Egypt increased in the 1500s and 1600s, the idea of granaries became increasingly insupportable in light of observation. If there were any remaining doubt, the famed professor John Greaves squashed it in his monumental Pyramidographia (1646), the most important work on the pyramids between ancient and modern times. He called the claim “most improper” on account of the fact that pyramids are the wrong shape to maximize storage, and the “fewness of the rooms within (the rest of the building being one solid and intire frabrick of stone) do utterly overthrow this conjecture.”
 
At this point, science tended to govern European attitudes toward the pyramids, and I am not aware of any scholar who seriously argued that they were granaries after 1800. But that doesn’t mean that no one ever did. In 1895, Mrs. Jane Van Gelder received merciless mocking for her book The Store-Houses of the King, or the Pyramids of Egypt, in which she tried to resurrect the granaries theory “simply to uphold the truth of the Holy Bible.” This suggests that beneath the surface of elite opinion the older view of Joseph’s granaries remained wedged in some religious traditions and communities, largely outside of the observation of the so-called “secular progressive” scholars, who are surprised by the occasional recurrence of medieval ideas. I do not know of any fundamentalist groups that officially teach this view, but it would not surprise me if Carson is not alone in mistaking medieval Christian legend for evidence of Biblical truths. [Update: James Tabor has some fascinating information about twentieth century evangelical literature on the pyramids as the granaries of Joseph in this blog post.]
 
I guess we’re experiencing another outbreak of medievalism, but we can take heart that if it is true than the story was inspired by Jews and early Christians trying to syncretize their faiths with the glory of grain-giving Serapis in the Roman era of Egypt, then there is some irony in the pagan origin of Carson’s Christian extremist beliefs.
81 Comments
Clete
11/6/2015 11:13:04 am

You know, if they were storehouses for anything, it would make more sense to turn them upside down and hollow them out. This should have been an easy task for Ancient Aliens (who could move stone by an anti-gravity devise and hollow them out with diamond saws). It is a sad commentary on someone running for the highest office in the land that he doesn't know the difference between real scientists and fringe "researchers" and comes down on the side of the fringe types. Then just excuses that by saying it's his personnel belief.

Reply
matt link
11/13/2015 01:18:29 am

need to lookup pyramids power the shape of help keep food 2-3 times longer an that grain was found in the tombs that were thousands of years old back in sixtys milk was kept in pyramid shape cartons to keep it from spoiling that does not mean that that that pyramid shape storage was not used by people long ago

Reply
Clete
11/13/2015 03:47:13 pm

Matt...you really need to take a writing course. Your comment is one long, incoherent sentence, with misspelling (sixtys), should be sixties. Also sentences start with capitals (need) should be Need. You write like you are about twelve.

DaveR
11/16/2015 09:27:30 am

Matt, the milk carton you're referencing was not based on a pyramid design, it was a tetrahedron. Also this design was not based upon the alleged "pyramid power" that kept milk fresh longer, it was a simple matter of economics. This design used the least amount of material for the storage of milk.

Joe
12/21/2015 09:55:13 pm

I think it's very justifiable. Think about it. When you dump particles of sand, dirt, grain, etc from above, it forms a pile that has a large base and comes to an apex. It would make sense to build storehouses in this same shape because, as DaveR said below, it's economical. You get probably almost 100% capacity for the volume. That's efficient. Look at the buildings they use for storing road salt. Sure, you'll find rectangular ones, but they are inefficient, you can't use a plow to push/scoop the salt from the side and hope to get the salt all the way to the top. There's lots of dead space left above. Many salt storehouses use conical-type shapes because they give you the most bang for your buck, while also keeping moisture levels very low, which is important not only for salt, but for grain obviously. It's extremely plausible. It doesn't mean that ALL storehouses for grain would have to be conical/pyramid shaped, who knows, they may've reused other buildings in Egypt's smaller cities to store grain there. What's most cost and time effective makes the most sense. Building these tremendous structures for burying only dead people would be dumb, but I can see them using it for that after the grain was used up. The pyramids would be symbolic of preserving life, which would coincide with burying people there, figuring their souls may also get saved if buried there, superstitious as many of them were in those days.

Pam
11/6/2015 01:13:01 pm

I appreciate your literary detective abilities, Jason. I suppose the mining of literary resources of the medieval period will at least be a change from the usual 19th century sources.

Perhaps these people will run out of material if they keep going backwards.

Of course, Plato as a source will never be exhausted by them I suppose.

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Ethan X
11/9/2015 07:32:34 pm

Here is my take on the situation, and it is (in my humble opinion) the most important, and the most damaging to Dr. Carson.

It is not uncommon to have uncommon beliefs. Many of us have them. To some extent, they're part of our personality complex and help make us who we are.

The problem I have with Dr. Carson, is his REACTION to the overwhelming evidence that his pet belief is incorrect. An honest, objective, responsible person would say something to the effect of, "Hey, I never really knew or understood that, maybe I should look into that subject a bit deeper."

Not Dr. Carson. He CAN NOT BE WRONG. That might be fine for a brain surgeon, but abso-effing-lutely inappropriate for a world leader.

We had one of those just a few years ago, and it turned out disastrous. And even Bush wasn't as marble-headed about things as Carson is portraying himself to be.

No one person can know everything. And no one who ever occupies the Oval Office should ever think that they do.

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Dan link
11/9/2015 08:19:01 pm

I agree that Carson is not fit, but let me add no one is fit, in my view, to rule others. Sure, overall, he might be among the worst to want that position, but let's not praise any of them or pretend we should bow before them simply because they haven't made ridic comments about the pyramids.

Bang up job, Jason, giving us the low down in the history of this idea.

Patrick
11/10/2015 04:55:49 pm

Except that the use of pyramid structures for food storage can't be unequivocally dismissed! Keep in mind that the indisputable data hasn't changed for 4000+ year old structures significantly. The biggest pyramids at Giza, while not geometrically ideal for wheat storage, still would have been able to hold a substantial portion. It's not unbelievable, or even improbable, that the men tasked with building burial chambers for a pharaoh might have sold the king on the multiple use of the pyramids other than a resting place for a few bodies. Undeniable periods of famine were definitely a contingency that would have been an interest to the Egyptian rulers.
It's important to note the difference between there is a consensus among Egyptologists (who may have many reasons to not assert or believe the pyramids were used for granaries) and a scientifically verifiable consensus as to the issue.
It is in this point that Jason should acknowledge.

Bob Jase
11/10/2015 05:00:25 pm

For Patrick - Perhaps the pyramids were also used to store water in case of drought? Just cover them with rubber sealant to make them waterproof and fill them up. Large rubber stoppers can be used to close them.

Sure there's no evidence for it but it can't be unequivocally dismissed!

Judas Priest
11/10/2015 10:56:49 pm

Patrick:
Let us have a word about indisputable data, and the preponderance of evidence, and scientifically verifiable consensus.
The physical evidence, the translations of Egyptian writings, the research of thousands of scholars over the course of two-plus millennia overwhelmingly shows that the pyramids were used as funerary monuments. The evidence of them being granaries is pretty much nil. Please see the several detailed discussions of this subject elsewhere in the comments, and/or use your googling fingers. I'm not going to get mired in the details because I have more important things to say.
Your words are those of a strict absolutist. Your position appears to be that everything about a given subject must be absolutely true, and if only one part is inaccurate or false, then that entire concept is invalidated.
If your approach your faith likewise-- seeking to prove every tiny detail true because if you don't, then the whole thing comes crashing down-- then you will waste your time on the nits and lose sight of the overall truth of what you believe.
Is your faith so fragile? Are your beliefs so tenuous that a math error, a mistranslated word, a typo, is enough to destroy them?
Stop chasing your tail. These trivial squabbles are a distraction from the overall glory, the overarching truth, of what you believe in. Don't stay lost in the forest because all you can see are trees.
God did not intend for you to be a turnip. If WHO AM gave you a brain, then I'm guessing he's alright with you using it.

DaveR
11/12/2015 08:18:25 am

Patrick, there is zero evidence supporting the pyramid grainery claim, therefor the claim can, and is unequivocally dismissed.

Pam
11/6/2015 01:36:44 pm

"I do not know of any fundamentalist groups that officially teach this view, but it would not surprise me if Carson is not alone in mistaking medieval Christian legend for evidence of Biblical truths."

I often hear debates where the "Fundamentalist" side does their best to prove the Bible as a science text and historical text. I've heard some very strange "proofs" but the granary/pyramid one is new to me. Carson may not be alone in his belief, but I find it hard to believe there are many other bible only Christians who share his view on this topic.

However, I'm often surprised at the number of young earth creationists, so I could be wrong.

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Nobody Knows
11/6/2015 02:10:52 pm

Yes, it's funny how continuing generations of people accept the irrational Bible and keep Christianity going - it's as palpable as any of Scott Wolter's claims.

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Pam
11/6/2015 02:52:23 pm

Nobody Knows :

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as to your intent.

You're statement proves (again ) your lack of understanding about Christianity in general.

I do agree that a segment of Christianity that puts their faith in their personal interpretation of Scripture can come up with some interesting beliefs, but those beliefs are their own.

So, I think it's some interpretations of the Bible that are irrational.

Couscous
11/6/2015 04:17:53 pm

Could be more of a thing in some Seventh Day Adventist circles. The PR people for the church have stated they don't believe in it and that it is Carson's own personal belief instead of the Church's belief, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more common lower down the chain. A lot of denominations have congregations where some odd beliefs are pretty common despite the leaders being embarrassed by them.

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Mike M
11/11/2015 09:16:36 am

As an SDA preacher's kid, I can tell you it certainly wasn't something I was taught at any point. But yeah, there are some folks in the church with some seriously odd ideas, so it wouldn't surprise me that there are some who do believe it.

busterggi (Bob Jase)
11/6/2015 02:48:27 pm

Nonsense about the pyramids being grain storage facilities - that was what Stonehenge was for, built by the REAL Hebrews living in England rather than those fake Hebrews in the Middle-East.

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Pam
11/6/2015 02:55:30 pm

Maybe Trump believes that one. :)

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Tony
11/7/2015 01:04:02 pm

Trump responds: "The pyramids were originally casinos. Yuuuuge casinos!"

Joe Scales
11/6/2015 02:59:51 pm

Although this sort of lunacy will only endear him more to his base, now that he's been exposed for claiming he was accepted at West Point when they have no record of him applying, his 15 minutes are up.

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Pam
11/6/2015 03:09:35 pm

Sad when the truth (if it is the truth )of the alternative explanation would have served him as well.

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Bob Jase
11/6/2015 04:30:24 pm

Exposed lies only help fundiepublicans as they are sources for crocodile tears & phoney redemption that the sheeple lap up.

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Uncle Ron
11/6/2015 10:23:06 pm

t didn't take much more than a couple hours for the real truth to come out: that Politico, which published the false story of Carson supposedly claiming to have been accepted at West Point, made THAT story up. How easily so many jump on a bandwagon to discredit a Republican but are willing to ignore so much subterfuge from the other side.
For the record: I do not support Dr. Carson's bid for the Presidency. I just think that in this venue especially, there would be a smidgeon of skepticism before passing on what, given his actual credentials and accomplishments, is a dubious claim.

Pam
11/6/2015 11:29:43 pm

Uncle Ron :

You're right. Apparently his statements about the matter were consistent with his writing.

It's easy to assume someone running for office is lying because so many do.

It seems in this case that Carson isn't one of them.

tm
11/7/2015 05:06:58 am

After living through birtherism and the Benghazi hearings I don't think it's accurate to suggest more people are willing to jump to conclusions about Republicans.

As for Dr. Carson, implied falsehoods are often more powerful than explicit lies. If nothing else, they allow for wiggle room and spin. The words "applied" and "accepted" may be innacurate from Politico, but they are being used as spin to distract fron the real issue.

The fact is that Dr. Carson wrote he was offered a full scholarship to West Point. That statement is not only factually untrue, it implies other things that are untrue, and it sounds much more impressive than what really happened. I would think someone with his background and accomplishments would understand the importance of being accurate and explicit in his writing.

In the end, he is saying he wasn't trying to deceive. He just didn't give all the facts. That what he wrote is just another way of saying what really happened. Same excuse we got from Scott Wolter on his coffee cup masters.

Joe Scales
11/7/2015 11:48:18 am

" How easily so many jump on a bandwagon to discredit a Republican but are willing to ignore so much subterfuge from the other side."

Ron, the "other side" gets away with more in regard to character issues because their base is relatively more flexible in this regard. When one party holds itself out as more morally devout, they're going to be held to a higher standard accordingly. I don't say this as a partisan, as I've always been politically independent; simply as an active observer.

Tony
11/7/2015 01:28:51 pm

Just an observation: In his autobiography and in several speeches he's given over the years, Carson has claimed that he was offered a scholarship to West Point. What cracks me up is that "the Home of the Mules" doesn't offer scholarships. Attendance is free, contingent upon the cadet serving a period of years as an Army officer.

Uncle Ron
11/8/2015 08:04:54 pm

Tony-
To reiterate, I'm not carrying any water for Dr. Carson; it's just the nature of the incident that interests me.
The relevant conversation occurred about forty years ago and, according to Carson he was told that he qualified, based on his academic performance, to attend West Point for free. I believe it is easy to understand how this information could be miss-remembered decades later as a "scholarship" and it would, in fact, have been the same thing for all intents and purposes. The entirely partisan artificial outrage is a tempest in a teacup and the statements by Carson, erroneous as they were, have no bearing whatsoever on his qualifications for the Presidency.
However, I am confident that it would never have been an issue in the first place if the party affiliations were reversed.

Joe Scales
11/8/2015 10:54:15 pm

Uncle Ron, ignorant exaggerations in regard to potential military service don't play well with a rather large portion of the electorate for commander in chief. How a similar flub would affect someone in the opposing party is apples and oranges. I really do think this will be the beginning of the end for Carson.

Scott Hamilton
11/6/2015 03:26:55 pm

Googling around, I did find that certain Biblical literalists have written books arguing that Joseph was Imhotep, and that not the Great Pyramids but some complexes around other, earlier pyramids were Joseph's granaries. I wonder if Carson, with his incurious nature, may have heard about some of these theories second hand and back-formed the medieval version of the belief by misremembering it.

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Pam
11/6/2015 03:48:47 pm

Yes, but he'd have to ignore the current Egyptian chronology (which he may have done) to match Joseph to Imhotep.

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Scott Hamilton
11/6/2015 05:04:48 pm

I think it goes without saying that Carson doesn't care about any real historical chronology. I'm saying that he heard about these people saying "Joseph was Imhotep, that proves the Bible is literally true, and these pyramids (but not the famous ones) were the granaries of the Years of Plenty," and he misunderstood that to mean the famous pyramids were the granaries. And it's obvious from reading about Carson's beliefs and how he came to them that he never, ever, seeks out any information on his own, especially if it challenges his beliefs.

Pam
11/6/2015 05:17:11 pm

Sorry, Scott. I just got hung up on the Imhotep part . :)

DaveR
11/6/2015 03:37:11 pm

If he thinks personal beliefs should be immune from criticism he might not want to continue pursuing political office.

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Dan link
11/8/2015 10:16:19 am

Or making any public statements. Making out bloc statements about one's beliefs invites scrutiny and criticism. That doesn't happen to political candidates only.

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Dan link
11/10/2015 02:25:36 pm

Not "out bloc," but "public." Damn autocorrect!

Graham
11/6/2015 06:44:11 pm

Somewhere in my collection of 'Alternative Interpretations of History' books is one claiming that the Pyramids were built as atomic bomb shelters....

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Dan link
11/8/2015 08:17:38 pm

This reminds of what someone once pointed out regarding Stanislaw's novel Solaris. He said the "Solariana" section contained all the plots that might be done with the mystery planet in a science fiction novel. Maybe we should similarly just brainstorm all the possibilities, disseminate them, and note how long they take before they end up not just in alternative histories but also in presidential campaigns.

Remind me again why what the pyramids were for became a burning issue in the campaign. :)

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ChrisK
11/7/2015 11:20:58 am

Well, it might seem ridiculous to use the pyramids as granaries. But the argument "they are not hollow" does not really debunk the theory. Dr. Carson himself refers to the rooms inside the pyramid, so he is well aware of it that there are rooms inside the pyramids. The fact that these rooms are small, is also not an argument against the granary theory. You can of course store grain in small rooms. It might not be very practical, but hey: the conventional theory that they are graves also doesn't sound very logic, does it? For a grave you just need to dig a hole. If you accept that people build gigantic graves because of religious reasons, then you shouldn't find it too absurd to think that people store grain in small rooms. In fact, in Eastern Asia I have seen granaries on temple areas which were very small. I don't think the granaries theory is correct. But this is due to the timing issue - it takes so long to build them, Joseph can hardly finish those before the seven years of famine. They might have been there already and reused as granaries for the famine. The pyramid writings however seem to indicate they are graves. Dr. Carson maybe believes that God helped the people building them in short time. That is then not convincing for others, as scientific evidence should be (intersubjective verifiability). On the other hand, Dr. Carson never tried to convince others of his personal belief how fast the Pyramids were created. I wouldn't so easily say that believing pyramids are ridiculous granaries is neglecting science, effectively extrapolating this statement on a unimportant issue to science in general. Particularly when the alternative version is, that pyramids were ridiculous graves. Sure, screening the evidence reveals that the latter is by far the most likely outcome, but according to scientific theory (Karl Popper), science cannot prove that something is true but just prove that something cannot be rejected. And obviously the ridiculous grave theory is not fully intersubjectively verifiable. Dr. Carson might weigh the evidence in another way as the scientific mainstream, and that is his personal opinion on a very unimportant issue. I wonder how many non-scientific conclusions Clinton etc have made but keep them secret. I would find a totally ration human somewhat scary, also because you do not have the time to go into an issue of little importance and form an opinion made on incomplete information (it seems Dr. Carson has made some serious thoughts about the pyramids, though). The thing is that politicians keep an eye on that their crazy conclusions don't become public, while Dr. Carson is unskilled with the media and tends to talk a bit too much when asked irrelevant or hypothetical questions.

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Not the Comte de Saint Germain
11/7/2015 03:51:31 pm

The problem is Carson's lack of intellectual curiosity—or, to put it more bluntly, his willful ignorance. The evidence that the pyramids were tombs (hint: a lot of them contain sarcophagi, and several of them contain inscriptions that talk endlessly about the afterlife) can be found in just about every popular introductory book on ancient Egypt. Carson has had his granary theory for at least 17 years, and it's apparently important enough to him that he brought it up in a public address, yet he never bothered to look at any of the evidence? Moreover, he's so clueless about the scientific and scholarly communities that he confuses the "aliens built them" crowd with scientists.

This kind of ignorance is of a piece with Carson's young-earth creationism, which of course dismisses or ignores a staggering amount of evidence. As Jason said, Carson seems to perceive the world as made up of competing belief systems; evidence doesn't matter to him. Nobody who fails so spectacularly at evaluating evidence, or even bothering to look up evidence, should get near the presidency.

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Quembe Walkingstick
11/7/2015 09:00:10 pm

A lot of Christians believe in the rapture, and there is no proof.

Only Me
11/8/2015 03:39:13 am

I'm curious, "Quembe". Did you ask the real Quembe Walkingstick for permission to use her name for your comments? You know, Quembe Mary Lou Walkingstick, who has her own Facebook page?

Andrew M
11/9/2015 12:45:20 pm

Carson isn't trying to prove his theory or profit from it so why should he be spending his time researching it. lots of people are going to have odd theories but they may not have have the desire or time to go find more evidence.

Not the Comte de Saint Germain
11/10/2015 07:14:23 pm

If he had ever cracked an introductory book on ancient Egypt (or at least one not written by extreme biblical literalists), he would have some idea of why the granary notion is unlikely. I don't think that quite rises to the level of "research." Moreover, he apparently glommed on to the granary claim because of his biblical literalism, which also leads him to deny evolution and the Big Bang. In my book, anyone who denies science to that extent is unfit for federal office. And if that doesn't have direct enough bearing on the presidency for you, Carson doesn't know the difference between the debt ceiling and the budget, which any president certainly should know.

Tony
11/8/2015 12:03:13 pm

Book proposal: "Ben Carson and the Chamber of Lies"

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Dan link
11/8/2015 08:13:59 pm

I suggest turning that into a cottage industry:

"<Insert politician's name here> and the Chamber of Lies."

V
11/8/2015 08:31:27 pm

Actually, ChrisK, it IS possible to say scientifically that the size of the rooms in the pyramids prohibits their being granaries. We have an estimate of the population of Egypt at the time from Egyptian records, and we have some idea of how much grain it would take to feed those people for a year.

Multiply that by the seven years of famine Joseph predicted to get the total amount of grain needed.

Then multiply that by the volume 1 pound of grain takes up.

Then look at the total volume of open rooms in the pyramids.

The volume in the pyramids will NOT hold enough grain to support the Egyptian populace for 7 years. Since the Egyptians ALSO knew how much grain they would need, as per their own records of which they certainly had more than we do, given time and decay and library burnings, we can conclude that the pyramids were NOT granaries.

We can also conclude that the pyramids were not granaries, scientifically, because we have both records and archeological traces of Egyptian granaries at the time, and because grain leaves specific traces in storage that we just don't find in the pyramids.

Finally, we can conclude that the pyramids were not granaries because their internal layouts are just fucking STUPID for grain storage. There isn't enough space for the grain to be moved around and there isn't enough ventilation to keep it from 1. rotting and 2. building up on EXPLOSIVE GASSES. And yes, we can be really quite sure the Egyptians knew about the explosive gasses because they used fire as a light source; there is no way that they didn't have people blow themselves up from storing grain improperly. Now, you might protest that the pyramids were built with so little space to contain the explosions, but it's not hard to prevent the explosions in the first place, and the temples built elsewhere already had clerestory windows that are PERFECT for ventilating a grain-storage facility. (By the way, my understanding is that ACTUAL Egyptian granaries ALSO had clerestory windows.)

So yes, you can pretty much rule out the pyramids as granaries scientifically, especially as granaries intended to feed the entire populace for seven years.

Also, since the seven years of famine were to be preceded by seven years of plenty, there was PLENTY (so to speak) of time to have granaries built. Even if Joseph had had to build the majority of them by hand, he could have built much better-designed temporary granaries in seven years. But the text also makes clear that Joseph wasn't even expected to BUILD them himself; he was put in charge of a STAFF. Do you know how many granaries a staff of, say, a hundred could build in seven years? More than the numbers needed, by a lot, and better-quality ones than rickety make-do granaries.

Additionally, Egyptian mythology was very clear that the pyramids were on the side of the Nile dedicated to the world of the dead. They would have stored grain in the homes of the poor before they would have stored it in the pyramids. EVERYTHING on that side of the Nile from that time period is not only religious but dedicated to the AFTERLIFE. Storing food in a cemetery is HARDLY going to be the optimum choice, even during a famine. (Which the granaries are supposed to have PREVENTED, not been something that happened anyway.)

It's pretty well carved in stone that the pyramids are crypts, just like the Taj Mahal and the lovely large crypt buildings in your average large cemetery. LITERALLY carved in stone; it's been carved into various places and then painted in temples, stele, and the pyramid chambers themselves. I worry about Dr. Carson's ability to do the job of president if he is so unobservant that he can't tell you what the average 4th-grader can about the pyramids. And I worry even more about his ability to do the job because he IS do "unskilled with the media." The President's MAIN JOB is to deal with media. If he's this stupid about it as a candidate, is he going to be the guy who triggers the next big war because he can't figure out when to keep his trap shut, too? So yes, his expression of these beliefs DOES reflect poorly on his ability to do the job he's campaigning for.

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Heidel
11/9/2015 08:12:43 pm

So how much grain can you store in a double-wide mobile home? Because that's about the total volume of those rooms. Enough to feed a nation for seven years? Given the labor involved, do you really think this is cost-effective? Because for the amount of time, labor and materials that went into any of the great pyramids, they could have built a couple dozen really fancy and durable granaries.

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Christopher Jones link
11/8/2015 07:24:27 am

Crackpot archaeologist Ron Wyatt (who, like Carson, was a Seventh-Day Adventist) didn't propose the Great Pyramid was a hollow grain storehouse, but he did propose that the Step Pyramid was used for grain storage and distribution. He also thought Joseph and Imhotep were the same person. I wonder if Carson has absorbed his theories?

http://www.ronwyatt.com/how_the_pyramids_where_built.html

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Tom Cruser
11/8/2015 08:08:02 am

I'll just leave this here:

https://josephandisraelinegypt.wordpress.com/tag/first-pyramid/

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Benny Gesarett
11/9/2015 08:08:24 pm

Yup; amusing reading but about as scientifically accurate as moon landing hoaxers.

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Brian M
11/8/2015 02:07:45 pm

"...it’s disturbing that Carson feels that he can use “belief” as a magic wand to avoid having to support his feelings with facts."

Is this not exactly what the pseudo-scientists of AA, Oak Island, etc. ad nauseum use to support their theories. It is not surprising that it is creeping into political discourse as issues relating to science continue to arise in political debate about global climate change and the vast implications of that.

The increasing presence of popular materials on cable television and in literature written by folks like Graham Hancock and David Childress among so many others are leading to a decline to the general population's confidence in science and scientific thought. This leads further to the decline of intellectual curiosity in the media where all ideas are often given equal credence regardless of their defensibility. Jason, you have often pointed to this tendency in many of those you critique to simply have beliefs that substitute for fact and this will inevitably lead to the tyranny of ignorance.

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Dan link
11/8/2015 09:18:26 pm

I think there's always been a "fast food answers to gourmet questions" with regard to things like how and why the pyramids were built. I'm not sure there was a prior era when folks were generally interested in serious answers that might involve some thought -- as in expenditure of intellectual effort -- and might be provisional at that.

On the latter, I recall a friend upon hearing I was reading a recent book on evolution was wondering why I bothered. Wasn't everything about it already settled? That was his view. I got that he saw science as a vast library of simple answers that one merely had to look up and that was that. This guy did believe in evolution, wasn't into fringe theories, or otherwise a crackpot, but I have the feeling this is how the average person sees these things. They want the fast food answers -- not to get bogged down in methodology and weighing evidence.

Therein, in my view, lies a much bigger problem. But maybe it isn't. Does a scientific progress require every last person or even the vast majority be scientifically literate or just not plain not stupid?

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james bowley
11/9/2015 12:19:02 pm

thanks for the historical review. most useful.
btw, last paragraph, second line: "than" should be "that"

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Bruce
11/9/2015 01:18:48 pm

This is terrific background. That fundamentalists haven't perpetuated the pyramid/grainery story is interesting ... I assumed it was an assertion by fundamentalists, along with Ark stuff, to counteract the absolute absence of archaeological evidence for most of the events reported by the OT prior to the destruction of the first Temple. I might have to look into this more among the fundamentalists I've tracked.

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Tonya
11/9/2015 04:25:49 pm

While I do not subscribe to Dr. Carson's belief about the pyramids, I will say if a person does not believe the Bible is the infallible word of God, well they are not really a Christian and should not call them selves as such. I am a Christian and take the Bible literally.

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Mort Diaz
11/10/2015 01:14:22 pm

Good for you! Just don't let the nitpicky details get in the way of the more important Truth. Bending over backwards to try and defend some bit of dodgy math or whatever is a pointless distraction from the Word. Sure, even the excellent NIV is still a translation by men, made from other translations, but that does not change the Truth. Keep that Truth in your heart.
God bless.

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Dan link
11/10/2015 02:06:57 pm

I thought Christians disagreed on what was the literal meaning of and even the infallibility of the books of the Bible. I thought the essence of it was belief in Jesus as savior and god. You know, the Aoostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.

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Judas Priest
11/9/2015 08:06:48 pm

Sooooo...
His personal belief in this matter trumps provable facts and should not be challenged...

But the personal belief a person has regarding their gender or sexuality should.

Nope; nowhere near hypocrisy. Not at all.

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davidhouston
11/9/2015 08:34:31 pm

I personally don't give a rat's *ss what Carson's beliefs were years ago. But I find it strange that he is held to account on the pyramid thing when clearly some granaries were built in the shape of pyramids and some historians believed that Joseph built pyramid granaries in Egypt. Do you have to prove those historians were wrong so therefore Carson for believing them is therefore disingenuous. That is along way to go to skin a cat.

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Dan link
11/9/2015 09:02:11 pm

It does us a chance to set the record straight on the pyramids. I don't think anyone here is claiming Carson made it all up. In fact, Jason traced the history of the idea. It apparently has staying power. No doubt, years from now, some folks will be citing the idea approvingly because they hadn't heard of it until Carson mentioned it.

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History geek
11/10/2015 01:33:58 pm

Yah really!!! Everybody knows they were huge freakin docking bases for UFO's, didnt he ever watch Stargate!!!

Ken
11/9/2015 09:29:27 pm

Conventional beliefs are not a prerequisite for the White House. Reagan was a big ufo believer. Carter to a lesser extent.

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Dan link
11/9/2015 10:06:56 pm

I believe those here who feel that candidate X believing Y disqualifies one for the White House are more that no one should vote for or otherwise support X. And the reasoning seems to be more than just that the belief Y is unconventional, but that it tells us something about X's thought processes.

Here, too, it's not just the unconventional view, but the reaction to that view being criticized that's become part of the issue.

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Putney
11/9/2015 11:27:30 pm

They were hollow until subsequent rulers of Egypt order that the granaries of Joseph be dismantled and shipped to the Valley of the Kings and stored inside the biggest granaries

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Judas Priest
11/10/2015 09:53:06 am

Please tell me you're joking. The way the pyramids are constructed, they could never have been hollow. Also... Valley of the Kings? You mean the late-kingdom necropolis, filled with tombs, funerary architecture, and nothing but? Where nothing even remotely resembling a granary has ever been found?

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Carol
11/10/2015 12:10:44 am

If Carson can believe the pyramids are granaries, then I can believe hearts don't have chambers and valves but are instead shaped the way Hallmark makes them, and can collapse completely if a person gets just too sad. And that black people are inferior to whites, way too stupid to hold office, and should all be shipped back to Africa to live among the apes--I can use Carson as an example of the stupidity 'fact.' The difference is that I'm not running for president--and know the difference between beliefs and facts--and the appropriate situation for each, which apparently Carson does not. I believe he proves it's time we changed the Constitution to require both intelligence and knowledge tests for those who want to run for Congress or President.

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Jonathan
11/10/2015 05:12:49 am

It seems that the name Joseph comes from Djosser and that at Djossers pyramid at Saqquara there is a huge complex which originally covered the entire area. The walls surrounding this complex were very high, there were columns depicting wheat. There was a very tight entrance to allow perhaps just a person with their grain allowance. There are gigantic pits there which have been well documented to have contained grain.
Looking through very old traditions it seems that .."Osiris is the grain" might trigger some other clues. The step pyramid is probably what everyone remembers through history, but those pits are the biggest link. Grain has been featured in so many ancient ceromonies and could have been left in the great pyramid, and indeed digging around old articles it seems older explorers even mentioned finding grain dust abundant with modern pyramid detectives finding burn marks inside probably from a grain dust explosion ...

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Judas Priest
11/10/2015 10:12:09 am

Leaving offerings of grain is kiiiiiiiiinda not the same thing at all as storing massive quantities of grain that would later be distibuted.
Those pits you mention were used during the construction and then filled with stone. Probably about the time that somebody realized they were completely, utterly unsuitable as granaries.
I kid. They were never intended as such.
Oh. What else is unsuitable for a granary? A single tight entrance.
Also, the depiction of wheat on the columns is representational, not marking it as a granary. They also depict palm trees, does that make it a tropical beach resort? How about the massive cobras on the walls, tell me was it a snake pit, a reptile exhibit at the Saqqara zoo, or was Djoser just a big GI Joe fan?
There is also this really wierd thing about all that funerary text on the walls. You know, depictions of Djoser's life and works, the prayers, the gods of the afterlife, the instructions for the recently deceased that the Egyptians put on all of their tombs... pretty freaky for a granary. And not a damn thing about being a granary. See, the Egyptians told us flat out what the complex was used for; however we don't just take them at their word, we also look at all the other massive amounts of evidence that the entire complex was a grave and funerary temple for a pharaoh. Apparently the "very old traditions" you looked at kind of completely missed this.
There is also the little matter of a burial chamber and a sarcophagus. That is kind of a clue.
Look. I'm sorry for your big idea, but this is all very well researched and documented. Before you pull out the "massive conspiracy to supress the truth" card, I'd just like to point out that this is over the course of centuries, with hundreds of scholars and archaeologists, from a number of different nations, all coming to the same conclusion based on the available and very in-your-face evidence.
Good day sir.

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History geek
11/10/2015 01:31:14 pm

Dude, the names are not related at all.

Joseph
(/ˈdʒoʊzəf, -səf/; Hebrew: יוֹסֵף ‎, Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄; "may He add";[2] Arabic: يوسف‎ Yūsuf or Yūsif; Ancient Greek: Ἰωσήφ Iōsēph)
from the root /'sp/, "taken away", also identified with the similar root /ysp/, meaning "add"

Djoser
Birth name Djeser-Sah, "the sublime", throne name Hor-Netjerikhet, "Devine Body of Horus"

They come from like 2 different unrelated languages, just because they sound kinda similar to your tin ear doesn't make them related.
BUT THANKS FOR PLAYING!!!!!

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putney
11/11/2015 11:48:01 am

The grain was stored in the pyramids so the pharaohs would have something to snack on in the afterlife.

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Scott Creighton
11/11/2015 02:01:28 pm

JC: "...we see a portrait of a man who seems to view knowledge as a series of competing belief systems rather than an attempt to approximate reality through observation and conclusions drawn from observations."

Some observations:

1) The Pyramid Texts state the pyramid "...is Osiris... the construction [of the pyramd] is Osiris..." and "...Osiris is the grain." Here then we have a clear connection between Osiris, grain and the pyramid.

2) Osiris was the AE god of rebirth\regeneration\argriculture.

3) The AEs (from around 11\12th dynasty) were making small effigies of the god Osiris and packing it full with rain (and other seed tyoes).

4) Massive amounts of grain has been found in the various galleries and passages below the Step Pyramid at Saqqara along with around 40,000 storage\distribution vessels (pots, cups, vases, bowls, plates etc).

5) The AEs made small wood, stone and stone-fired containers and filled these with earth and scattered it with grain. This plain, uninscribed container was sealed with its lid, buried in the ground with a large rock placed on top symbolising the primeval mound of creation i.e. the pyramid. In 1818 Belzoni found such a plain, uninscribed container filled with earth in G2. This container (or 'Nebankh - 'container of life') was the central element of a deep chthonic (as opposed to pharonic) ritual relating to the rebirth not of the king but of the kingdom. A plain, uninscribed earth-filled stone container is not a sarcophagus. The AE word for sarcophagus was 'Qrsw' and these WERE used for human burial. Nebankh were something else altogether. Egyptologists, alas, wrongly label all these large stone boxes as sarcophagi.

6) We have Arab chroniclers stating that the reason the AE Kings built their pyramids was because they were anticipating a flood that would drown and destroy the entire kingdom. The pyramids, they tell us, were not built as 'granaries' but rather as 'arks' in which to store everything that was needed to allow the kingdom to be reborn like a phoneix (the benben pyramid symbolism) from the ashes of its destruction.

So what we have is the pyramid as the (metaphorical) 'body of Osiris' many pieces of which were scattered along the western bank of the Nile. The myth of 'Isis and Osiris' tells us that the body of Osiris was cut into 16 pieces (some sources say 14 pieces and later sources say many more). Thus we hfull with graave 16 pyramids along the Nile symbolising the 'body of Osiris' the god of agriculture. We know the later AEs made Osiris effigies and packed the body full with grain and they did this, imo, in ceremonial remembrance to the original function of the fist 16 (or so) pyramids--the dismembered body of Osiris.

I rather doubt Ben Carson is right with his 'Joseph granary' story. The pyramids were no 'granaries' in the conventional sense--they could never work as such. But I do think, however, there is a grain of truth (pun totally intended) that the first 16 or so pyramids were constructed as 'recovery vaults' (not granaries) that contained massive amounts of grain and other useful recovery items and that, perhaps, this knowledge later became conflated and embellished with the works of the Biblical Jospeh. Hence perhaps how we have the confusion today.

In short, we have found massive amounts of grain under the Step Pyramid cmplex and tens of thousands of storage/distribution vessels. There is secondary evidence of massive amounts of grain having once been stored in the Great Pyramid also. We have the chthonic 'Nebankh' from G2. We have the 'Osiris Corn Mummies' and 'Osiris Bricks' which, imo, were made to commemorate the original function of the pyramids as 'seed vaults' that would, through the agency of Osiris, allow the kingdom to be reborn. And we have some Arabic chronicles which tell us of an 'ark' function of these pyramids.

I do not consider pyramids as 'recovery vaults' as daft an idea as it is made out to be. But you already know my view on this, Jason.

Regards,

SC

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Not the Comte de Saint Germain
11/12/2015 04:03:50 pm

Are you aware that Jason has traced the origin of the Arab "pyramid-as-ark" tradition? This blog entry is one of many on the topic:

http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/hermes-trismegistus-and-the-origins-of-pyramid-myths

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Scott Creighton
11/12/2015 04:17:37 pm

Yes, indeed I am aware of this. I am also aware that myths do not arise in a vacuum and that in many myths there is many a grain (pun intended) of truth.

The actual physical evidence from the first 16 or so pyamids constructed by the ancient Egyptians suggests, imo, a chthonic function.

Regards,

SC

Lou Marie
12/20/2015 08:08:18 am

But what if they were used to store grain initially and after they were empty were known as such glorious spaces and in return were used to bury the most important/sacred. Then filled with cement after the hall/mazes and burial area was reserved for those buried???

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John Anthony Butler
1/20/2016 01:53:18 pm

Well, one doesn't have to support belief with facts. If fact supported belief, then belief would become fact. Unfortunately, people who can't separate the two end up at an impasse; all the facts in the world won't convince Carson that the pyramids were not Joseph's granaries, just as trying to prove Santa Claus doesn't exist is wasted on a five year old. People often believe nonsense and falsehoods, and it seems that education doesn't effect it, as Carson appears to be well-educated. I'm just glad I am not American and don't have to think about the remote possibility that someone like Carson or Trump will lead my country. Please get rid of these idiots!

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Franklin Reid
5/13/2016 12:07:46 pm

We need to keep in mind Carson's actual statement which was, "My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,"

But this begs a greater question, Which pyramids? Even though when the words Egyptian pyramids are mentioned we only think of the three at Giza. What about the others. According to Wikipedia:
"As of November 2008, there are sources citing both 118 and 138 as the number of identified Egyptian pyramids."

So which ones did Joseph use?

Reply
Bob Jase
5/13/2016 01:43:35 pm

All of them and the ones in Mexico and Central America too. Joseph was a grain-storing machine.

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kodrati
6/5/2016 03:20:36 am

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Joe Schmoe
9/14/2019 11:46:44 am

Did the Great Pyramid's Sarcophagus Hold the Ark of the Covenant?
The dimensions of the ark of the covenant described by the bible is 2.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits. Curiously, this is the exact volume of the stone chest or porphyry coffer or sarcophagus (whatever one chooses to call it) in the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid in Egypt. This coffer was the only object within the King's Chamber, as the Ark was the single sacred object within the Holy of Holies, in the Temple. Also the laver, or basin, that the priests used to wash their feet had the identical cubit dimensions.
In addition, the cubit dimensions of the inner chamber of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, are precisely identical in size to the King's Chamber in the Pyramid and the same volume as the molten sea of water on the Temple Mount as prepared by King Solomon. Since the Pyramid was built and sealed long before the days of Moses, when he built the Ark and the Holy of Holies, and had remained sealed for over twenty-five centuries until the ninth century after Christ, there is no natural explanation for the phenomenon of both structures having identical volume measurements.
The pyramids are in alignment with Orion.
Amo_5:8 seek Him who created the Pleiades and Orion, and who turned the deep darkness into the morning and He darkened the day into night. Seek Him who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth; Jehovah is His name
Isa 19:19 In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah.
Isa 19:20  And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt.
The only thing that looks like it could be an alter and or pillar on the border of north & south Egypt at is *midst* or the middle of Egypt are the pyramids.
*Jehovah talking to Job.*
Job 38:3 Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will ask of you, and you teach Me.
Job 38:4 Where were you when *I laid the foundations of the earth?* Tell if you have understanding!
Job 38:5 Who has *set its measurements,* for you know? Or who has *stretched the line on it?*
Job 38:6 On what are its *bases sunk,* or who cast its **cornerstone,**
Job 38:7 when the morning stars sang together and all the *sons of God* shouted for joy?
Gen 6:4 There were *Giants/Nephilim* in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the *sons of God* came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them, they were mighty men who existed of old, men of renown.
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
*Rebellion against God on the earth.* Even Adam rebelled against God. Both man and angels rebelled. And every form of evil imaginable has happened since that time on this planet.
*The only shape that has a single cornerstone is the Pyramid at it's summit, the base has 4 cornerstones.*
Psa 118:22 The *Stone which the builders refused* has become the *Head of the corner.*
Mat 21:42 Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, "The *stone* which the builders rejected, this *One* has become the *head of the corner;* this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?"
Mar 12:10 And have you not read this scripture "The *Stone* which the builders rejected has become the *Head of the corner.*
Luk 20:17 And He looked at them and said, What then is this which is written, "The *Stone* which the builders rejected, the same has become the *Head of the corner?*
Act_4:11 This is the *Stone* which you builders have counted worthless, and He has become the *Head of the Corner.*
1Pe_2:7 Therefore to you who believe is the honor. But to those who are disobedient, He is the *Stone* which the builders rejected; this One came to be the *Head of the corner.*
Eph_2:20 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, **Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.**
Jesus came to his own and was rejected just like the cornerstone of the great pyramid was rejected. Sounds like a rebellion of Satan and about 200 other fallen angels if the Book of Enoch is correct.
Interestingly, the outer mantle of the Pyramid was composed of *144,000 casing stones,* all of them highly polished and flat to an accuracy of 1/100th of an inch, about 100 inches thick and weighing approx. 15 tons each. It is believed that the numeric value of 144,000 plays a key role in the harmonic connection that eventually determined the exact size of the structure.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an *144,000* of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an *144,000,* having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
There was 144,000 polished white casing stones on the pyramid.

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