Overcoming Gravity: The Enigma of Coral Castle

By Leonardo VintiñiEpoch Times Argentina Staff Nov 24, 2008

The enigmatic Coral Castle is made of huge rock slabs totaling over 1100 tons, yet one man cut, quarried and set the stones himself. (Photo taken by Christina Rutz)
How were monuments such as Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Sacsayhuaman fortress and other ancient monuments built? Many scientists believe that in some cases workers numbering in the tens of thousands were needed simply to move the massive stones to the construction site.
However, a small Latvian man insisted that these ancient structures were assembled with much more ease than we might imagine, using a building secret that has been lost to the ages. He even claimed to be able to put these techniques into practice at the mysterious Coral Castle. (...)
In Florida City, there he was able to realize one of the more impressive (and enigmatic) construction efforts ever undertaken by a single man: “Coral Castle” or as Leedskalnin called it, “Rock Gate Park.” Erected entirely of stone—that Leedskalnin quarried, cut and set himself—the grand edifice is constructed of gigantic slabs, some of which weigh up to 30 tons. Through twenty-eight years of solitary work, and with only the aid of simple tools of Edward’s own design—a tackle and chain hoist made from old telephone poles—Coral Castle became a reality. Yet, instead of sharing his mysterious building methods with the world, Leedskalnin made every effort to protect the secret behind his stone moving feats. Many have speculated on his process, but no one has been able to recreate the seemingly effortless movement of such large stones. According to one legend, children spied on Leedskalnin one night and witnessed large stone slabs floating in the air like “hydrogen balloons.” (...)

Man of Mystery
The construction of Coral Castle is riddled with mystery. How could one person move over 1100 tons of large stone slabs needed to build this massive structure? While Leedskalnin never explicitly disclosed his building secrets, he did leave writings suggesting a series of experiments using magnets, hinting that his methods came through study of the earth’s magnetic fields. Did Leedskalnin, as some have claimed, discover how to overcome gravity?Leedskalnin was evasive when directly questioned about making Coral Castle, but he claimed to possess techniques once known by ancient builders—techniques like those used to construct the great Egyptian pyramids. He even teasingly referenced that the method was quite easy, once you knew the secret.One of the more miraculous features of Coral Castle is the nine ton stone block used as a gate at the entrance of the castle. Leedskalnin set this large stone with such precision that it could be easily opened with the gentlest push. In 1986, over thirty years after Leedskalnin’s passing, the gate had to be repaired and the job required a six man crew with a twenty ton crane to move the large stone slab. Yet despite the extra muscle, this group of men was still not able to set the gate with the same precision as before.The interior of the Coral Castle itself is a display of exquisite artistry and engineering marvels. It is officially considered an historic monument, and has been transformed into an open museum for all who are curious, and wish to try their hand at unveiling the mystery of how the eccentric Latvian lived and worked. Sets of tables and chairs decorate the coral garden, while staircases and sundials are set with minute precision—a testament to Leedskalnin’s mysterious abilities.It is said that Leedskalnin was never seen working on his Coral Castle, though neighbors reported a light in his workshop tower accompanying strange singing late into the night. What sort of technology did Leedskalnin use and why would he want to keep such a miraculous discovery a secret? Did he in fact possess the same building secrets employed in the ancient world? We are merely left to speculate, as Leedskalnin offers only the clues of the structure itself, taking the methods for building it to his grave.

Central Balkan: The Second Oldest Cultural Oasis in Europe

There is a network of underground tunnels stretching below the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids in Visoko. The Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation has been removing the debris within the tunnels since 2007. It is prehistoric construction- a network of underground tunnels that stretches in kilometers and are leading into different directions, just 20 meters below the surface.
These tunnels were flooded and all the debris blocked their main entry which significantly shrunk their original dimensions. The large number of side passageways within the tunnels, were also additionally blocked by dried walls and sandstone material.
There are questions regarding the mystery of these tunnels: Who constructed this network and why? Who brought in all the material to block the side passageways?
Under the layers of conglomerates (formed after the water receded), there are numerous sandstone megalithic blocks with engraved symbols.
The first radio-carbon analysis of the organic material found above the megalithic blocks (within the conglomerate) revealed sensational results: The blocks with engraved symbols have been covered for more than 30,000 years! These analyses coincide with the ancient paintings in Northern Spain and South France. (Lascaux; 32,000 years).
This research in Bosnia and Herzegovina confirms the claim of the anthropological genetics, which states that Spain and Balkans are the two oldest European cultural oases.
www.samosmanagich.com

"David and Goliath" City Found in Israel?

Mati Milstein in Tel Avivf or National Geographic News
November 21, 2008

The remains of an ancient gate have pinpointed the location of the biblical city Sha'arayim, say archaeologists working in Israel.

In the Bible young David, a future king, is described as battling Goliath in the Elah Valley near Sha'arayim.
The fortified gate at the Elah Fortress—the second to be found at the site—proves the existence of Sha'arayim, which means "two gates" in Hebrew, said Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel.
"All the sites from this period uncovered so far had only one gate. We have two gates and this is very unusual," Garfinkel said.
The gate, constructed of stones weighing up to ten tons, is located on the site's eastern side, facing Jerusalem.

Evidence of King David
The discovery is the second recent find to be made at the Elah Fortress—known as Khirbet Qeiyafa in Arabic—which is located near the present-day Israeli city of Bet Shemesh.
In October, Garfinkel revealed a 3,000-year-old pottery shard with text believed to be Hebrew—then hailed as the most important archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Initial carbon-14 dating of olive pits found at the site, as well as analysis of pottery remains, placed the text to between 1000 and 975 B.C.—the time King David would have lived.
Garfinkel believes the discovery provides further evidence that the fortified city or outpost was part of a centralized governmental system administered by King David, head of the Kingdom of Israel. The fortress is the first site found from the Iron Age in what was once territory controlled by King David. Sha'arayim is also mentioned three times in the Bible and is twice linked to David. "Everything comes together—the geography, the Bible, and the radiometric dating. It's no coincidence," Garfinkel said.

Iraq's damaged Babylon hopes for revival

By Andrew North BBC News, Babylon, Iraq

A replica of the Ishtar Gate dominates the entrance to Babylon's ruins
Beneath a patch of stony, desert ground on the River Euphrates, surrounded by date palms, many of the secrets of the cradle of civilisation are still waiting to be uncovered.
But the site of ancient Babylon in Iraq - with its legendary hanging gardens and the Tower of Babel reaching to the sky - has suffered under Saddam Hussein's rule and years of conflict.
Parts have been looted, altered or built on, and some of the historic soil has even been used by US coalition soldiers to fill sandbags.
Iraq's former ruler left the biggest mark, recreating his own version of Babylon on top of some of the original ruins, parts of which date back more than 4,000 years.
Today, the site itself is peaceful, almost forgotten, with only a few sleepy guards and the manager there to greet us when we arrive.
It is 85km (55 miles) south of Baghdad. But getting there means passing through one of the most dangerous parts of Iraq - the so-called "triangle of death" just beyond the capital.
It is a bit quieter now, with Iraqi army and police checkpoints every mile in places.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7729064.stm

King Herod May Have Been Buried Amid Paintings

Steve Weizman, Associated Press
Lavish Burial Discovery News Video

Nov. 20, 2008 -- King Herod may have been buried in a crypt with lavish Roman-style wall paintings of a kind previously unseen in the Middle East, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday. The scientists found such paintings and signs of a regal two-story mausoleum, bolstering their conviction that the ancient Jewish monarch was buried there.
Ehud Netzer, head of Jerusalem's Hebrew University excavation team, which uncovered the site of the king's winter palace in the Judean desert in 2007, said the latest finds show work and funding fit for a king.
"What we found here, spread all around, are architectural fragments that enable us to restore a monument of 25 meters high, 75 feet high, very elegant, which fits Herod's taste and status," he told The Associated Press in an interview at the hillside dig in an Israeli-controlled part of the West Bank, south of Jerusalem.
No human remains or inscriptions have been found to prove conclusively that the tomb was Herod's, but excavation continues.
Herod is known for extensive building throughout the Holy Land.
Netzer said that since finding fragments of one ornately carved sarcophagus in 2007, he and his team have found two more, suggesting the monumental tomb may have been a royal family vault.

Methods of "Ma'at": Mud Sticks

By Graham Hancock
Case Study: The Great Pyramid of Giza

On 12 August 2001 Martin Stower, a regular poster on the Ma'at Message Board, alleged that I and Robert Bauval, together with our publishers, were "distant from a serious commitment to factual accuracy" and, specifically, that in the updated edition of Fingerprints of the Gods I had not informed my readers about an important change in my position regarding the significance of the quarry marks in the relieving chambers above the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid. Stower wrote, "The supposedly rescinded forgery claim stands unchanged, ready to mislead new readers." (GH & RB on Mars and Giza)

This extremely damaging allegation of malpractice and bad faith towards my readers was untrue and should never have been made. Contrary to Stower's allegation, the new edition of Fingerprints of the Gods (specifically advertised as "Updated") does indeed contain an update, and an extensive one, on the quarry marks controversy. On 14 August 2001, after considerable pressure on the Message Boards and behind the scenes by Robert Bauval and myself, Stower confessed that his "assumptions" at the time of his 12 August posting were "erroneous," that he had been "unfair to Graham Hancock," that he wished to "unreservedly withdraw" the allegation of bad faith, and to "repudiate any suggestion inferred that Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and their publishers are merely indifferent to questions of factual accuracy." (Retractions)

Stower's detailed Retractions are pasted in below and linked here on the Ma'at and GH message boards. Of course such an apology helps to mitigate the damage done by the original posting. But it can never completely undo it. Such smears as these can multiply and propagate all over the net once they're let loose.

As the saying goes, mud sticks.

Even when it isn't really mud at all but just some nonsense that looks like mud.

Ancient Chariot Found in Bulgaria

Veselin Toshkov, Associated Press
Nov. 21, 2008 -- Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov said in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.
But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them.
The bronze-plated wooden chariot is decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology, including figures of a jumping panther and the carving of a mythological animal with the body of a panther and the tail of a dolphin, Ignatov said.
He said the chariot, with wheels measuring 1.2 meters (four feet) across, was found during excavations in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried along with his belongings.
The team also unearthed well-preserved wooden and leather objects, some of which the archaeologists believe were horse harnesses. The remains of horses were uncovered nearby.

The Divine Proportion: An Indecipherable Code

By Leonardo Vintiñi Nov 19, 2008

(...) Behind the apparent chaos that reigns in the universe, in which each event and measurement logically follows an uncertain destiny, there nevertheless exists a hidden order. From the time of Pythagoras, the key to this order—which has intrigued so many mathematicians and scholars of various branches of knowledge— has never been fully understood. A contemporary experiment involving several individuals of different ethnic backgrounds demonstrated that among a sample of several rectangular figures, nearly every person agreed on which one was most harmonic. This harmonic figure is formed when the ratio of the greater side over the smaller side equals 1.618—the number known mathematically as “gold” or “golden.” This rectangular proportion is found in thousands of architectural examples around the world, as well as in match boxes, business cards, books, and hundreds of other daily objects, merely because humans find it pleasing. The Great Pyramid of Giza and the pyramid of Cheops, the seat of the United Nations in New York, and the cathedrals of Notre Dame all embody this golden proportion. In fact, the Greek Pantheon seems to be an ode to this proportion. For centuries, the absolute expression of artistic beauty and human wisdom (with the exception of some contemporary trends) has never strayed far from this golden mean. Several artists of the Renaissance incorporated the golden mean in their works, not least of whom was Leonardo da Vinci, who used this proportion in well-known pieces such as “the Last Supper” and “The Vitruvian Man.” Music is not free of this enigmatic code, either. Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas used this proportion to organize parts of the composition known as “Alcancías.” Composers Béla Bartók and Olivier Messiaen observed the Fibonacci sequence (which contains the golden proportion) in some of their works to determine the length of time notes should be sustained. (...) A perfect and beautiful snail like the Nautilus geometrician is practically a paragon of the golden proportion. Many trees also reveal the golden relation in the thickness of their branches, between the lower to the higher. The esthetic of the human body also hides phi (the golden number). The quotient of head-to-feet length over navel-to-feet length reveals a perfect and harmonic 1.618 in our bodies. We can find an equal result in the ratio of the length of the whole head, over the length from the eyes to the chin; or the ratio of nose to chin length over lips-to-chin length. The more the face approaches these proportions, the more harmonic it will appear. Despite suggestion to the contrary, it would appear that our tastes are somehow predetermined. The number phi, like its cousin pi (the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle), is of extraordinary complexity. In modern times it has been calculated to more than a trillion decimal places, yet it continues to go on still further. The hidden cause existing behind this code, which seems to govern harmony and beauty, is something that has enchanted scientists for centuries. It continues to be an enigma even today. How is it that a fixed spiral can be the common factor in thousands of biological organisms, supposedly having evolved in an entirely unpredictable and indeterminate way? Could it be related in some way to DNA, where within a full cycle of the double helix spiral, the two sections contain a relation among themselves of nothing less than phi? Since this appears to be a common code throughout all life forms—the harmonic note at which the universe is vibrating—it is no accident that this divine proportion seems harmonic to us, since we ourselves originate from the universe.

First Islamic Inscription May Solve Qur'an Question

Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
1,300-Year-Old Note
Nov. 18, 2008 -- An Arabic traveler who engraved his name on a block of red sandstone over 1,300 years ago may help solve a question about the Qur'an that has vexed historians for hundreds of years: Why was the text seemingly written without diacritical marks?
Diacritical marks, which include accent marks, tildes, umlauts and other notations, help to distinguish one letter from another and aid in pronunciation. When added or removed, they can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence.
Analysis of the recently found sandstone inscription, which predates the earliest known copies of the Qur'an, determined that it reads: "In the name of Allah/ I, Zuhayr, wrote (this) at the time 'Umar died/year four/And twenty."
According to researcher Ali ibn Ibrahim Ghabban, who, with his wife, discovered the 644 A.D. inscription northwest of Saudi Arabia, "It is an immensely important find, since it is our earliest dated Arabic inscription."
Ghabban, a member of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, added that it also "shows evidence of a fully-fledged system of diacritical marks."
A paper describing the find appears in the latest issue of the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy.

Scoperta piu' antica tomba famiglia

Rinvenuta in Germania e risale a 4. 600 anni fa
(ANSA) - ROMA, 18 NOV - Sono stati sepolti ognuno con il viso rivolto verso l'altro: sono i resti del piu' antico nucleo familiare mai scoperto finora. La tomba che ha custodito i corpi e' stata rinvenuta in Germania nei pressi del fiume Saal a Eulau e risale a 4.600 anni fa. A datarla e' un gruppo di ricerca coordinato dall'universita' tedesca Johannes Gutenberg-Mainz che ha stabilito anche la parentela fra gli individui sepolti grazie a indagini molecolari.

New Pyramid Found in Egypt

Associated Press
Discovery News Video

Nov. 11, 2008 -- Egypt's chief archaeologist has announced the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid in Saqqara, the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis.
The pyramid is said to belong to Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti who was the founder of the 6th Dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom.
Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass made the announcement Tuesday at the site in Saqqara, about 12 miles south of Cairo.
Hawass' team has been excavating the site for two years. He says the discovery was only made two months ago when it became clear that the 16-foot-tall structure uncovered from the sand was a pyramid.
Hawass says the new pyramid is the 118th discovered so far in Egypt.

Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?

Brian Handwerkfor National Geographic News
November 14, 2008

A sealed space in Egypt's Great Pyramid may help solve a centuries-old mystery: How did the ancient Egyptians move two million 2.5-ton blocks to build the ancient wonder?

The little-known cavity may support the theory that the 4,500-year-old monument to Pharaoh Khufu was constructed inside out, via a spiraling, inclined interior tunnel—an idea that contradicts the prevailing wisdom that the monuments were built using an external ramp.
The inside-out theory's key proponent, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin, says for centuries Egyptologists have ignored evidence staring them in the face.
"The paradigm was wrong," Houdin said. "The idea that the pyramids were built from the outside was just wrong. How can you resolve a problem when the first element you introduce in your thinking is wrong?"
(Related: "Great Pyramid Built Inside Out, French Architect Says" [April 2, 2007].)
Theories Abound
Even the most widely held Great Pyramid construction theories have flaws, Egyptologist Bob Brier said.
For example, a single, straight external ramp would have been impractical, said Brier, of Long Island University in New York.
To deliver blocks to the 481-foot (147-meter) peak at a reasonable grade, the ramp would have had to have been a mile (1.6 kilometers) long and made of stone. And over the decades of the pyramid's construction, workers would have had to continually increase the ramp's height and length as the pyramid rose.
"That's like building two pyramids. And we've never found the remains of such a ramp," Brier said. "That's like building two pyramids. And we've never found the remains of such a ramp," Brier said.
Another theory suggests a stone ramp wound around the outside of the Great Pyramid. But an outside ramp would have obscured the pyramid's surface—making it impossible for surveyors to use the corners and edges for necessary calculations during constructions, Brier said.
Greek historian Herodotus, writing around 450 B.C., theorized the use of small, wooden, cranes or levers to lift the blocks. But, Brier said, "you'd have to have thousands, and they didn't have enough wood in all of Egypt for that," Brier said. (…)

Giza: Le piramidi Satellite ed il Codice Segreto

La nostra proposta scientifica farà molto discutere. Dopo dieci anni di ricerche abbiamo raggiunto l’obiettivo di dimostrare che il “mitologico” Zep Tepi non è altro che una delle tappe della nostra storia remota. La teoria offre un contributo alla ricerca archeologia aprendo nuovi scenari che si riflettono sulle origini stesse della nostra specie.

Abbiamo cercato di dare un senso storico alle cronologie raccolte nel Papiro di Torino – che fa risalire l’origine della civiltà Egizia al 36.000 a.C.,- e ai resoconti degli storici Erodoto e Manetone che pur contribuiscono a retrodatare la Civiltà del Nilo ad epoche largamente antecedenti l’epoca diluviana. L’applicazione del modello matematico – basato sulla Teoria degli Insiemi - ci ha consentito di dimostrare che la data indicata dai Maestri Costruttori è quella del 36.900.

Il libro è suddiviso in quattro parti ed è costruito in modo tale da garantire una lettura scorrevole anche ai non addetti ai lavori. Attraverso le pagine del libro, dopo una fase introduttiva fortemente condizionata da momenti straordinariamente personali, propone un’analisi degli elementi archeologici visti in chiave accademica ed indipendente. La quarta ed ultima parte, infine, è destinata alla Teoria della Datazione Storica del Primo Tempo di Osiride. Anche in questo caso, la descrizione è proposta in modo estremamente chiara ed esaustiva.
Il libro è attualmente in pubblicazione sulla Libreria Virtuale di Lulu.com al seguente link: http://www.lulu.com/content/4734088