EGYPT'S CAVE UNDERWORLD UNDER INVESTIGATION.

Andrew Collins on Gebel Gibli 

with the Second Pyramid in the background.

May 9, 2011

first-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/egypts-cave-underworld-under.html

As an "all Egyptian" archaeological team moves in to find answers we hope they will reveal what's really there.

Something extremely strange is happening in Giza, both under the pyramids and in the office of Dr. Hawass.

Even skeptics of the "Hall of Records" from Atlantis are now forced to admit that something big is being hidden. It's the perfect set of circumstances for conspiracy theorists ~ especially with the coming of 2012.

In August of 2008 a system of caves was discovered under the pyramids. Certainly this is very big news. But look at the reaction of Dr. Hawass on his website.

Surely Hawass is intimately aware of such a discovery. So Why deny it? What is he trying to hide?

Does this have anything to do with the wall that is being built to surround the Giza complex?

INSIDE GIZA'S CAVE UNDERWORLD

In December 2009, after denying that they existed, Egypt's leading Egyptologist, Dr Zahi Hawass, has had to admit that an excavation team under his charge is investigating an ancient tomb at the centre of claims regarding the alleged discovery of a cave underworld beneath the Pyramids of Giza.

This is a surprising announcement for several reasons, not the least being that the "alleged" cave system has already been explored and photographed by British writer and explorer Andrew Collins.

In August 2008, Collins announced that he had rediscovered the entrance to a previously unexplored cave system, entered via a mysterious tomb several hundred meters west of the Great Pyramid. Perhaps it was how Collins discovered the cave entrance that has caused the controversy.

The alignment of the three pyramids with the stars of Orion's belt [above] is not perfect.

Much has been made observation that the three pyramids on the Giza plateau appear slightly mis-aligned. They are not on a straight line. Since we marvel at the mathematical perfection of the early Egyptians, this has bothered investigators. Thus when in 1993 Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert in their bestselling book The Orion Mystery saw the three 'belt' stars of Orion as defining the ground-plan of the Giza Pyramids the theory was met with cautious enthusiasm. However, not all were convinced by the "Orion Correlation Theory" (OCT), as it became known.

The alignment wasn't "perfect" but it was close enough for many Egyptologists. But not for Andrew Collins.

The alignment with the "wings" of Cygnus [above] is perfect.

Collins discovered another group of stars in the constellation Cygnus that matched with the same perfection that was the trademark of the Egyptians. By superimposing the stars of Cygnus over the three pyramids he could see that one star, Deneb, was not aligned. Looking where something should be ~ a pyramid or temple ~ there was nothing. Perhaps time had destroyed it? Perhaps it was buried? Or perhaps it was a sign that something else was under the plateau, waiting to be discovered.

Collins later found clues left in the 200-year-old memoirs of British diplomat and explorer Henry Salt. Salt wrote how, in 1817, he and Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia had investigated cave "catacombs" at Giza for a distance of "several hundred yards" before coming across a "spacious" chamber. This chamber linked to three others of equal size, from which went various labyrinthine passages, one of which the Italian later explored for a distance of "300 feet further".

Collins decided to look for these caves in the area where the unmarked star of Cygnus would align in relation to the three pyramids. He discovered a series of catacombs, as Henry Salt had described, but no sign of any caves. Then, as he was about to leave the site he noticed a break in the catacomb wall which eventually revealed the entrance to this huge complex network of caves.

Excited by this monumental discovery, Collins immediately went to inform the Egyptian authorities and expected them to be as excited as he was.

Wrong!

Egyptian authorities try to hide the cave discovery

RED ICE RADIO ~ ANDREW COLLINS ~ PT 1 ~ BENEATH THE PYRAMIDS

According to Collins,

"Dr Hawass [Secretary General for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities] actually denied the existence of the caves. He has done this publicly. Why he has done this is a matter of debate.

The easiest explanation is that the preliminary investigations that he did following our visit to inform him of the discovery of this cave, in April 2008, meant that his people went in the tomb overlooked the entrance, as we did initially."

Fifteen months later, bowing to the inquiries made by the press and Egyptian scholars, Dr Hawass confirmed that he has ordered an all-Egyptian team to explore the tomb at the center of the "controversy".

Controversy? How could a discovery on such a scale be controversial?

He stated this week:

"We are clearing this system now, and it is a Late Period catacomb, like many others around Egypt," "There is no mystery about it, and there is no connection with esoteric topics. We will publish our results as part of our normal process."

While applauding Dr Hawass's new interest in the site, Collins remains skeptical of his motives.

Collins said:

"We knew in August that he had started clearing the tomb. The excavations began almost immediately after knowledge of the cave discovery hit the internet."

Collins is also unconvinced by Hawass's explanation of what he calls the "catacomb". He asks:

"Does his use of the term 'system' now suggest that he has found and entered the caves, which he previously denied even existed?”

Hawass responds:

“My colleagues and I have examined photographic evidence of dynastic catacombs throughout Egypt, and these all appear to be carved by human hands."

But photographs don't lie. Collins says,

"Those at Giza are natural, and penetrate the bedrock for many hundreds of metres, perhaps following the course of local geological faulting."

Although Dr Hawass suggests there is no mystery surrounding the "catacomb", Collins suspects that the caves extend beneath the Second Pyramid, where ancient tradition puts the legendary Tomb of Hermes [right], Egypt's legendary founder.

This is significant because Hermes is known as the Great Wisdom Bringer and Collins suspects that the chambers could possibly reveal something left behind by Hermes ~ something like the legendary Hall of Records.

THE HALL OF RECORDS ~ AS PROPHESIED BY EDGAR CAYCE?

According to the legendary psychic, Edgar Cayce, the pyramids were constructed by an ancient civilization that had its origins in Atlantis. This great civilization existed somewhere around 10,000 to 11,000 BC and was responsible for building the Great Pyramid, and for burying the lost history of mankind in a chamber called "The Hall of Records."

"The records are one... [They contain] "...a record of Atlantis from the beginnings of those periods when the spirit took form or began the encasements in that land." ~ Cayce

The records extend through the first destructions of that ancient civilization, the exodus of Atlanteans to other lands, and the final destruction of Atlantis. They contain a description of the building of the Great Pyramid, as well as a prophecy of

"who, what, where, would come [to make] the opening of the records."

Collins says,

"This has never been found. So perhaps it is still there, awaiting discovery, somewhere close to where Salt and Caviglia reached nearly 200 years ago.

"I do believe that the caves that we have entered are part of a much larger complex that stretches right beneath the entire Giza plateau."

Collins explains that the network of caves are natural and resemble Swiss Cheese. He believes they were formed long before the pyramids were built and suggests that they could be the reason the pyramids were built on this site.

The early civilizations believed that part of the dying process involved traversing the so-called "underworld" and these caves might have been viewed as the entrance to this underworld. There is evidence of human activity in the deepest parts of the caves.

SATELLITE IMAGES HELP VERIFY THE CAVES

According to Collins,

"Satellite images would tend to suggest that the caves... go all the way to the Second Pyramid."

A little west of here archaeologists have found a collection of bird mummies. Since the constellation of Cygnus is historically depicted as a bird, specifically a swan, it is theorized that worshippers left mummified birds as an offering associated with this star configuration or perhaps to Socar, the bird-like figure that was the ruler of the underworld.

 Thoth, the Egyptian ibis headed god, also known as Hermes Trismegistis

VERY LATEST

ON THE GIZA CAVE DISCOVERIES

All you need to know on the Hawass Stalemate, the Media Cold Shoulder, along with Powerful New Evidence that the Caves mark the entrance to the fabled Tomb of Hermes

Andrew Collins Reports

November 1st, 2009. Dr Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has dismissed the existence of a series of caves entered via a little understood tomb in the north cliff of Giza's famous plateau (see "Collins' Cave Discovery" at http://www.drhawass.com/node/303).

Dr Hawass made his claim after a team sent by him to investigate the tomb - designated NC 2 (north cliff 2) by George Reisner's team in 1939, and called by us the Tomb of the Birds - had seemingly failed to find the cave entrance, located in an obscure position at the rear of the rock-cut structure (indeed, we ourselves missed it on our first visit to the site in January 2007).

Unprepared to accept the word of amateurs on the subject, Dr Hawass dismissed the cave discoveries as internet sensationalism, despite the fact that in April 2009 I had personally delivered to him a report of the discovery of the caves, complete with pictures and all background historical information and references.

Online Nigel Skinner-Simpson and I countered Hawass's official cave dismissal, and since then the matter has been discussed on literally hundreds of internet sites.

It quickly became clear that there was not a lot of sympathy for Dr Hawass and his official views, even among Egyptologists, some of whom contacted me to show their support and recount their own personal problems working with the Egyptian authorities.

THE STALEMATE

The stalemate caused by Hawass's actions has meant that the media have on the whole ignored the discovery of the caves. Why? Because they know that without the support of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, they would be extremely unwise to run with a story contradicting the official standpoint. I understand also that one very high profile US news channel might well have been told not to go ahead with the story, and obliged so as to ensure that future Egyptological discoveries would continue to be made known to them.

At least two UK based TV production companies, working on behalf of international TV channels, have shown an interest in putting together documentaries featuring the Giza cave discoveries. However, the stalemate has caused them to hold back on proceeding further, since they fear that making a documentary that challenges the official Hawass/Supreme Council of Antiquities viewpoint would mean that they might never be welcomed again in Egypt.

All of this is quite sad and ironic really, for I now have it on good authority that Dr Hawass knows very well that the Giza caves exist, and is actually quite intrigued by what they might reveal. However, he still refuses to admit to their existence publicly.

I can only hope that at some point in the future Dr Hawass has a change of heart, and acknowledges not only the existence of the caves, but also the potential significance of the Tomb of the Birds. This I suspect will reveal archaeological clues that could throw better light on how exactly the ancient Egyptians, Graeco-Romans and medieval Arabs might have interpreted the presence of the natural cave system.

LOCAL GEOLOGICAL FAULTING

Dr Hawass might be intrigued to learn that we now have persuasive evidence to suggest that the path of the caves explored so far, follow the course of local faulting that might well have been captured on hi-res radar satellite imagery. We believe that the faulting appears as a black shadow line which follows the course of the caves. Yet this same shadow line is then seen heading southwestwards towards the Second Pyramid, where it is finally lost close to its northwest corner.

In 1977 a geophysical research team headed jointly by the Stanford Research Institute and the Ain Shams University, Cairo, used state of the art GPR (ground penetration research) to detect underground chambers deep beneath the Second Pyramid. However, their final report warned that heavy localized faulting was also detected on the north side of the pyramid, and that the hollows might well be related in some manner.

I concur completely with these findings, and suggest that it was in chambers beneath the Second Pyramid that British explorer and diplomat Henry Salt and Italian sea-captain and explorer Giovanni Caviglia reached during their exploration of the caves in 1817.

THE TOMB OF HERMES

According to medieval Arab sources, the Second Pyramid, attributed to the pharaoh Khafre (the Greek Cephren), was seen by the Sabaeans of Harran, guardians of the Hermetic philosophy following the fall of Egypt to the Arabs in the mid seventh century, as marking the location of the fabled Tomb of Hermes.

Its neighbour, the Great Pyramid, was seen as marking the underground tomb of Hermes' father, Seth, or Agathodaimon, a demiurge in the form of a serpent, while the "colored" pyramid, i.e. the Third Pyramid was thought to be the tomb of Hermes' son Saba, from whom the Sabaeans gained their name. Sabaeans would come to Giza on pilgrimages from Harran in order to venerate these divine ancestors of theirs.

It is possible that the Sabaeans were aware of traditions connected with the Giza Pyramids that had been passed to them along with the hermetic corpus and theology to which they based their religion, which honored the sun, moon, planets and stars (they also saw the north as the direction of the primal cause, God himself)

Hermes himself was said to have been buried in a cave-tomb, his corpse bearing on its lap the original Emerald Tablet, a carved slab of green stone on which was written the 13 lines of hermetic text known collectively under the same name ~ the Emerald Tablet. The earliest known version of this text is recorded in an eighth century Arab account, while the first translation into Latin appeared in the thirteenth century. Aside from the famous hermetic maxim of "As above, so below", the text reveals the nature of God in his role as the Pythagorean concept of the Monad, i.e. "the One".

Although some accounts of the discovery of the Emerald Tablet suggest that it was found in Hebron, Palestine, by Sarah, the wife of the patriarch Abraham (who tarried in Harran, before going down into Egypt), others suggest that Hermes cave-tomb was in Egypt, and more specifically somewhere in the vicinity of the Giza Pyramids.

Evidence that the Tomb of the Birds might have been seen to mark the entrance to the Tomb of Hermes might well come from a thorough clearance of the enigmatic rock-cut sepulcher. We know from British engineer John Shae Perring's plans of the plateau done c. 1840 that he labeled the site as "excavated tombs and pits of bird mummies".

Yet only one account exists of a specific removal of a bird mummy, and this comes from Perring's working partner, Col. Richard Howard Vyse. In his diary report for May 5th, 1837, Vyse records how his team carefully removed from the sepulcher the mummy of a "large bird". There is no indication of what type of bird this was, but should it turn out to have been an ibis, then it probably indicates that at the time of burial the tomb was connected with the cult of Thoth-Hermes, whose avian form was the ibis.

If ibises were indeed interred in the Tomb of the Birds, and presumably in the adjoining sections of the caves, then there has to be a possibility that the site was seen as marking the entrance to the Tomb of Hermes. This would be similar to the manner in which mummified ibises were interred in one or more of the bird catacombs at Saqqara, since it was believed in Graeco-Roman times that the tomb of Imhotep, whose cult became synonymous with that of Thoth-Hermes, was thought to exist somewhere in the vicinity.

It is my intuition that even before Salt and Caviglia's entry into the caves in 1817, Europeans, Italians in particular using the thriving Adriatic sea-port of Venice, came to Giza in search of the Tomb of Hermes. It is possible that they entered the caves, and perhaps even removed objects that they saw as connected with Hermes in some manner, perhaps even a Green Stone fragment thought to have come from the original Emerald Tablet.

THE GREEN CHAMBER

Even if this is not the case, the idea that the caves entered via the Tomb of the Birds lead eventually to the Tomb of Hermes is a fascinating possibility.

What exactly was the original Emerald Tablet, or Tablets? One high profile Egyptologist known to me believes that the Emerald Tablet is the distorted memory of a chamber beneath the plateau that bears green stone walls, inscribed during Khufu's age with the secrets of creation.

It is there to be found, he considers, and just maybe it awaits discovery in the vicinity of the Second Pyramid. We wait patiently for more information in this fascinating saga.

This material is strictly copyright Andrew Collins, 2009.

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