Before the Pyramids: Cracking Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery

252 Pages·2016·1.67 MB·English

by  Christopher Knight

BEFORE THE
PYRAMIDS
Christopher Knight is a businessman and marketing consultant who began his
writing career after 20 years of research into the origins of Freemasonic rituals.
His first book, The Hiram Key (co-authored with Robert Lomas and published in
1996) became an instant bestseller. It has since been translated into over 40
languages, selling more than a million copies worldwide. He is co-author, with
Alan Butler, of the bestselling Civilization One, Who Built the Moon? and The
Hiram Key Revisited.
Alan Butler is a professional writer who has always possessed an absolute
fascination for history. Originally an engineer, he set out on a two-decade search
that led to the unravelling of some of the most important details regarding
prehistoric knowledge and achievement in Europe. Alan has been writing on the
subject of astrology since his early twenties and can probably claim to be the
most published writer on the subject in Britain. His historical studies extend to
in-depth research into the Cistercian monastic movement and the order of the
Knights Templar, about which he has also written extensively. In addition to his
interests in astrology and history, Alan Butler is also a time-served dramatist
who has written many plays. He scored a significant success with Aiden Dooley’s
Homecoming, written in 2003 for BBC radio.
By the same authors
Previous books by Christopher Knight
(co-authored with Robert Lomas) The Hiram Key
The Second Messiah
Uriel’s Machine
The Book of Hiram
Previous books by Alan Butler
The Bronze Age Computer Disc
The Warriors and the Bankers
The Templar Continuum
The Goddess, the Grail and the Lodge
By Christopher Knight and Alan Butler
Civilization One
Who Built the Moon?
Solomon’s Power Brokers
(published in paperback as The Hiram Key Revisited)
BEFORE THE
PYRAMIDS
CRACKING ARCHAEOLOGY’S GREATEST MYSTERY
CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT
AND ALAN BUTLER
Dedicated to my dear uncle, Father Thomas Crean, a priest of great humility and remarkable insight, who
has spent a lifetime helping others around the world.
CK
Dedicated to Josephine, Julie, Martin, Philip, Sarah, Carolyn and Cathy, my much loved stepchildren and
nieces.
AB
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Introduction
1 The Giza Enigma
2 Star Watchers
3 The Silent Stones Speak
4 The Circles of the Sky
5 Giant Henges and Their Uses
6 Searching for Sirius
7 Overturning Old Ideas
8 Squaring the Circle
9 Sailing to the Stars
10 Revelation in Rome
11 Celts, Druids and Freemasonry
12 A New Jerusalem
13 The Founding Fathers
14 The Proportions of the Gods
Appendices
1 The Planning of the Thornborough Henge Complex
2 Placing the Middle Henge
3 Fixing the Dogleg
4 Using the Megalithic Pendulum
5 The Minoan Foot and the Standard Foot
6 Estimating the Circumference of the Earth – James Russell BSc C. Eng.
M.I.E.I.
7 The Megalithic System Explained
8 The Pentagon and the 32nd Degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry
9 The Centre of the District of Columbia
10 Thinking Styles and Academic Objectivity
Endnotes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, of course, we wish to acknowledge the patience, tolerance
and invaluable assistance of our wives Caroline and Kate.
We have many friends who have helped us across the years, academics,
mathematicians, engineers, astronomers, biblical scholars and even some
archaeologists. We thank you all but we would like to record our special thanks
to the following people: The late Professor Alexander Thom, without whose
lifetime’s work and rigorous surveying none of our own research or
investigations would have been possible; Edmund Sixsmith, a London-based
civil engineer and long-time champion of Alexander Thom who has picked up
the gauntlet for our cause to push for a proper academic debate on our
reconstruction of a super-science from prehistory, which he has designated the
‘Knight & Butler Symmetries’; James Russell, a civil engineer from Northern
Ireland who has conducted a range of highly impressive experiments to
demonstrate how Neolithic astronomers would have measured the dimensions of
the Earth with great accuracy; Professor Philip Davies, a biblical scholar who
has provided expert opinion over the years and has helped in every way he can,
including introducing us to other experts; Dr Jack Miller, a Cambridge
University geologist who first alerted us to the reality of Noah’s Flood and to the
fact that Rosslyn could never have been part of an intended collegiate church;
Professor Archie Roy, the astronomer who was first to confirm that our
suggested pendulum method of timing stars explains the Megalithic Yard; Robert
Bauval, freethinking gentleman Egyptologist who first identified the correlation
of Orion’s Belt with the Giza pyramids and has been very supportive of our
investigations; Dr Thomas Brophy, an astrophysicist for sharing his discoveries
of super-ancient astronomical observatories in the Sahara;
Michael Mann, our publisher for his ongoing support and continued wise
guidance;
Penny Stopa, our ever patient publishing manager who managed to deal with a
very late manuscript when new discoveries impinged on deadlines. Our thanks
also go to Shelagh Boyd, out tireless editor, and Paul Saunders who ‘set’ above
and beyond the call of duty.