Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids

Abstract

The ancient Egyptian pyramids at Giza have never been accurately dated, although we know that they were built approximately around the middle of the third millennium BC. The chronologies of this period have been reconstructed from surviving lists of kings and the lengths of their reigns, but the lists are rare, seldom complete and contain known inconsistencies and errors. As a result, the existing chronologies for that period (the Old Kingdom) can be considered accurate only to about +/-100 years, a figure that radiocarbon dating cannot at present improve. Here I use trends in the orientation of Old Kingdom pyramids to demonstrate that the Egyptians aligned them to north by using the simultaneous transit of two circumpolar stars. Modelling the precession of these stars yields a date for the start of construction of the Great Pyramid that is accurate to +/-5 yr, thereby providing an anchor for the Old Kingdom chronologies.

Archaeoastronomical Study of the Main Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: Possible Correlations with the Stars?

“…As a significant example of this important interconnection, Spence (2000) and Belmonte (2001) have proposed that the stars of the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor were used to align to North the pyramids of this site, as well as of other ones. But the three main pyramids of Giza are also the subject of a suggestive and very controversial theory proposed by Bauval & Gilbert (1994), the so-called "Orion Correlation Theory" (OCT).…”

The attraction of the pyramids: virtual realization of Hutton's suggestion to improve Maskelyne's 1774 Earth density estimate

“…The oldest and largest, the "Great Pyramid", is thought to have been built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu, with an astronomical base alignment around 2480-2560 BC (e.g. Spence, 2000). Consisting probably of over 2 million stone blocks, it is thought that the pyramid was originally 146.5 m tall, for a long time the tallest man-made structure on Earth.…”

The Influence of Religious and Cosmological Beliefs on the Solar Architecture of the Ancient World

“…According to Spence, it only deviates by 3`6`` from the exact north-south orientation (Spence 2000). The point of access to the interior was via an entrance door on the northern side of the pyramid.…”

“…Solar geometry played a very important role throughout their construction process. The whole complex is oriented according to the four points of the compass and an archeoastronomical study conducted by Spence made it possible to establish the date of their construction [8]. The exact year in which the great pyramid of Cheops was constructed was 2545 BC, which coincides with the time of the stars Pheeda and Megrez crossing the meridian (Figure 5 left).…”