Hans: Nor is there a single piece of evidence for a pyramid being build in 10,000 BC while there is a great deal of evidence for them being built in the old kingdom.

One of the earliest legends about the Great Pyramid come from an early Arab source, a writer, Ben Mohammed Balki, who stated that the pyramids (the three Giza pyramids) were built as a refuge against an approaching destruction of mankind either by fire or by water. Another Arab historian, Masoudi ( died A.D. 967) also cites a similar legend that the three pyramids were built as a result of a dream that appeared to King Surid, in which the flood was foretold, 300 years before it occurred. It is told that he ordered the priests to deposit within the pyramids written accounts of their wisdom and acquirements in the different arts and sciences... and of arithmetic and geometry, that they might remain as records for the benefit of those who would afterwards be able to comprehend them. Another Arab writer, Ibn Abd-al-Latif, said that the Second Pyramid was "filled with a store of riches and utensils... with arms which rust not, and with glass which might be bended and yet not broken". It is interesting to note that Masoudi also stated that "the Great Pyramid was inscribed with the heavenly spheres, and figures representing the stars and planets in the forms in which they were worshiped. Also the position of the stars and there cycles, together with the history and chronicles of time past, of that which is to come, and of every future event which would take place in Egypt." Another source says that written upon the walls of the pyramid was "the mysteries of science, astronomy, physics, and such useful knowledge which any person understanding our writing can read." Is there any evidence that confirms the Great Pyramid was once covered with the above writings?

Since the original casing stones were destroyed and removed for the building of mosques after an earthquake in 1301 AD, we do not know if there was any original writing upon them. It does not seem likely since there still remains some casing stones at the pyramids lowest level and they do not have any inscriptions on them. There are several possibilities.

1) This is a completely made up legend with no basis or fact.

2) All the casing stones that had writing on them were destroyed.

3) This legend got confused like many do and the writings are actually inside the pyramid in an undiscovered chamber or passageway.

4) The legend of the writings on the exterior of the Great Pyramid got confused with the writings in the Book of the Dead? That is they wrote the above not on the pyramid, but on papyrus to preserve it, which became the Book of the Dead. Is the Book of the Dead what remains of this writing in a corrupt fashion? Basil Stewart states "we know that it (the Great Pyramid) contains no such hieroglyphic inscriptions or representations of the heavenly stars and planets such as these traditions infer. It is only when we turn to the Book of the Dead that we find the passages and chambers of its "Secret House" inscribed with such hieroglyphic texts and formulae, and adorned with mythical figures and stars. That is to say, Coptic and Arab traditions have erroneously identified the inscribed passages of the allegorical Pyramid of the Book of the Dead with the actual passages and chambers of the Great Pyramid itself."

A very interesting account is given by Josephus in his Antiquities. Josephus states that "the descendants of Seth, after perfecting their study of astronomy, set out for Egypt, and there embodied their discoveries in the building of two "pillars" (i.e. monuments), one in stone and the other in brick, in order that this knowledge might not be lost before these discoveries were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed by a flood... and in order to exhibit them to mankind...Now this pillar remains in the land of Siriad (the Siriadic, or Dogstar, land of Egypt) to this day."

There is a similar tradition ascribed to Enoch. "Enoch, foreseeing the destruction of the earth, inscribed the science of astronomy upon two pillars."

It is interesting that almost all the traditions agree that the construction of the Great Pyramid was pre-deluge, and was built to preserve knowledge, etc. They agree in the main events with only variations of detail.

Originally posted by Hanslune
reply to post by mmiichael

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Its interesting to note that he couldn't keep himself alive - I wonder if that counts against him?

www.straightdope.com...

Cayce supporters probably don't like to talk about his failures in healing members of his own family. According to Beyerstein, Cayce's cousin, Ike, appealed to him for help but died. And one of Cayce's own sons died as a baby in 1911.

As if these weren't bad enough, we have several documented cases of Cayce advising how to cure dead people, in connection with readings using letters they sent to him. In these cases, the letters had been written while the person was still alive, but by the time he made his psychic "diagnosis," they were dead. Whoops! Of course, his followers have excuses for this type of thing, but it seems to me if he's getting his information through magical means, he should know this particular person is beyond help.

Those excuses apparently followed every obvious screw-up. Mind you, most of his failures weren't so obvious. As James Randi notes in Flim Flam: "The rationalizations that Cayce and his supporters used to explain his numerous and notable failures are prime examples of the art of evasion."
He later notes, "Cayce was fond of expressions like 'I feel that' and 'perhaps'--qualifying words used to avoid positive declarations. It is a common tool in the psychic trade. Many of the letters he received--in fact, most--contained specific details about the illnesses for which readings were required, and there was nothing to stop Cayce from knowing the contents of the letters and presenting that information as if it were a divine revelation. To one who has been through dozens of similar diagnoses, as I have, the methods are obvious. It is merely a specialized version of the 'generalization' technique of fortune-tellers."

Let's move on briefly to some other areas where Cayce tried to use his vast psychic powers. One example discussed in detail by Randi is Cayce's extraordinary failure in divining information about the Lindbergh kidnapping case. I bet you won't find too many Cayce supporters talking about that one.

Another failure was his attempt to find buried treasure. After several weeks of trying, with the additional help of a well-known dowser, he found nothing. The only thing they had to show for their work was excuses. Some of these are hysterical, such as the one about ghosts of Native Americans and pirates playing tricks with the psychic energy, or the claim that the treasure had been there but was already dug up by somebody else, or maybe it would be buried there at some future date. It's amazing that his magical powers could supposedly diagnose somebody from across the country, but couldn't tell the difference between the past, present, and future.

Originally posted by Totalstranger

Originally posted by Hellmutt

Originally posted by Maddogkull

Wasen't the sphinx supppose to guard the pyramids?

As the sphinx is older, that was probably never the intention. Anyway, it seems like the sphinx was not a cat after all. It may originally have been much bigger and may have looked like Anubis. The proportions of the sphinx body is "wrong" the way it looks now, a small head and a long body. It may have been damaged by an earthquake or something, and then turned into the sphinx we know today.

plus if the Sphinx was carved from a huge rock, that rock may have been sitting there for a million years before it was carved/shaped. so of course it would have erosion as oppossed to the Pyramids which were built brick by brick so to speak.

Originally posted by mmiichael
Overwheming evidence shows Egypt was a primitive hunter-gatherer society 10,000 BC and there is no substantiation of advanced tools and engineering.