by Armando Mei
Over the last two centuries, Egyptologists have proposed a host of certainties on Egyptian burial customs with the study of abundant literature found within the tombs, built during the Ancient and Middle Reign. The so-called Pyramid Texts, for instance, provide an extremely valuable source for the reconstruction of ancient rituals made during the burial phases. Analyzing the quantity of findings, scholars discovered that a pharaoh’s relatives – and also his priests – elevated many prayers to the gods, in order to judge his soul lovingly and then to usher him to the cosmic region of Duat.
Studying paintings in the ancient tombs, we can assume that the gods of Ennead of Heliopolis—the group of nine deities worshipped in Ancient Egypt (and to which must be added Anubis, Thoth and Horus) – played an important role, supervising the rituals.
Each of them had specific functions: from mummification, to the weighing of the Heart, from the opening of the mouth, to the Final Judgment, until the deceased's closing stages to the afterlife.
The Pyramid Texts are extraordinary in quality and quantity, just like the famous Egyptian Book of Dead. One of the most useful translations was by the archaeologist Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, in 1895, considered a pillar of Egyptology.
Equally important, is a newer translation by the Italian archaeologist Boris de Rachewiltz, in 1958. He made a number of changes, proposing some very surprising contents and unveiling some anomalies concerning the pre-dynastic age. One of the most interesting verses focused on hidden tools that were the seeds of the dispute among “the followers of Seth” and “the friends of Osiris”: the so-called Columns of Horus. To attain those mysterious tools, The Followers of Seth apparently tried to conquer the holy town of Heliopolis, twice, without achieving success.
Although differences are minimal, de Rachewiltz’s translation contains significant scientific innovations about the investigation on the mysterious events that took place during the Zep Tepi. In fact, analyzing the ancient text we can assume that the reasons for the fight between the opposing groups (Seth against Osiris), focused on the conquest of a tool which had an extraordinary function, i.e. the column of Horus.
What was the powerful object that led the gods to fratricidal conflict?
Assuming that the Egyptian myth can be considered an historical event, we can perceive the Egyptian scribes’ difficulties in relating the tool that the gods wanted to conquer. It is a very remarkable problem, having a very easy answer: maybe the Egyptians did not realize what its correct function was.
From ancient literature, for example, we can understand how the Egyptians were so precise in describing facts, events, objects and temples. On this occasion, however, the very easy phrase used to describe the Column of Horus— ‘a very special tool for the ancient gods’— arouses suspicions.
According to the Egyptian Book of Dead, the final battle between the Followers of Seth and the Friends of Osiris ended with the annihilation of Seth’s people in the land of Djedu, i.e. the Giza Plateau. At this point, to conceive of such a cruel dispute – concluding with the Followers of Seth’s defeat – just to conquer a “column” or more columns, seems particularly reductive, or even banal.
What knowledge were the Egyptians unable to describe so accurately? What were the so-called Columns of Horus?
First, the columns suggest a general reference to something tending upwards. For example, the etymological origin of the word “pyramid” refers to a building pointing to the sky, so the pyramid could be the mysterious object the Book of Dead refers to. The same consideration would be done, for example, for the obelisk that, by analogy, could be connected to the term “column”, because it points to the sky too.
Unfortunately, the Egyptian word expressing the real meaning of the term “obelisk”, that is to say “thn”, is still unknown, so we cannot obtain the precise sense. Anyway, there is a very interesting correlation connecting the Column of Horus and the obelisk: it is represented by the enigmatic town of the Ennead, Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, well known as the place of the Pillars.
Moreover, there is an interesting correlation among the terms (Columns, Obelisk, Pillar and Heliopolis) justified by the fact that Heliopolis was the town that Seth wanted to conquer to catch the Column of Horus.
Then, there is the last hypothesis to assess.
Analyzing the tomb’s paintings, we can observe the Egyptian gods hold the Staff or Stick of Power, having very particular features, which confer regality and power to the god. Sometimes, the Stick of the gods (the Egyptian name is “uas” or “ws”) is correlated to the Djed and the Ankh, symbolically the new lifeblood, facing the pharaoh's mouth.
In this case, the connection between the column of Horus and the stick of the gods couldn’t be more easy and reliable.
The mystery of the Column of Horus poses a number of issues of interpretation influencing the research on the origins of the objects, from which the myth originated.
Assuming that the story told in the Egyptian Book of the Dead is true concerning the fight between the two opposite groups near the Place of the Gods, we can propose a preliminary screening among the hypothesis considered.
In fact, in the ancient City of the Sun, Heliopolis and its surroundings, Egyptologists have never found building ruins having pyramid shapes. Therefore, we can reject every theory connecting the so-called Column of Horus to pyramidal buildings in the north of Giza.
Is it possible that the document refers to something much more ancient that could be connected, in the Egyptian imagination, to the obelisks or to gods’ sticks? Is it possible that the Column of Horus and the gold stick of the Inca king Manco Capac, would have had similar features and the same function?
I decided to follow a specific path of investigation to explore this enigma. If the origins of the myth date back to the same time of the gods’ genesis worshiped in Heliopolis, it would be unavoidable to start from the City of the Sun in order to discover the possible existence of clues confirming the correlations among the elements considered.
Ancient Heliopolis was known with the name “lunu”, transliterated “iwnw”, i.e. “The Place of Pillars”. The religious center was located about six miles north-east from Giza. It was the place where the Heliopolitan Ennead was worshipped, but its origins are lost in the pre-dynastic period. Heliopolis went through extensive architectural development during the Middle and New Kingdoms, when many temples and obelisks were built.
Therefore, of the ancient town there's nothing left, just an obelisk to the god Ra-Atum. All the buildings were systematically demolished during the Middle Age, to build the capital Cairo. This act can be considered an immeasurable loss for archaeology and for humankind, because every clue referring to the mysterious town was struck from the record forever. Due the discovery of the ancient texts, we got only a certainty represented by the number of obelisks that were built, as if the Egyptians wanted to renew the primordial structures built during the gods’ age.
A kind of “endemic memory” led the pharaohs to build number of ancient divine tools, pointing to the sky. In no other Egyptian place, in fact, has there ever been detected such a high concentration of obelisks, as a proof that in a very distant past, in Heliopolis was erected an object that conditioned the mind of dynastic pharaohs.
Scientifically, we only have a group of hieroglyphics forming the name of the ancient “Lunu”, the place of the gods, but analyzing the ideographic writings it is possible to try to solve the puzzle of the Column of Horus, the enigmatic object reproduced as an obelisk during the dynasties.
According to the Egyptian tradition, Lunu was known as the town containing the stone benben – composed by a material named bje, maybe referred to a meteorite – having a pyramidal shape. It was positioned at the top of the obelisk, by giving it the characteristic conic shape. Nevertheless, analyzing the writings forming the name of the town, we can observe that “the pillar” has an opposite characteristic, i.e. it has not a conic form, but an inverse triangle, which tends downward. Furthermore, the column - forming the hieroglyphic - is topped with a kind of thin line, pointing to the sky.
Studying the Egyptian inscriptions, it is possible to introduce a new point of view. The writings seem to tell of a different story of the past that have nothing to do with the obelisk shape, and neither with the ben-ben stone, positioned at the top.
What does the thin line on the top of the column represent? Is it a memory of the Column of Horus, mentioned in the Book of Dead, positioned on the buildings in the ancient Lunu? What was its purpose?
From 10 to 13 June 2013, in Stockholm, Sweden, an International Conference on Electricity Distribution took place. During the conference, Dr Gamal Abdel Salam of the South Cairo Electricity Distribution Company (SCEDC), submitted a report about the magnetic field levels in area of Cairo.
The EMF (electric and magnetic fields) level is deemed by the scientists as abnormally high – between 50 and 60 hz – to the point that, during the 1980s, it was considered one of the main causes of developing cancers affecting the local population. (Dr Gamal Abdel Salam, 2013)
Is there a connection between the EMF and Column of Horus? Did Seth want to control or destroy the strange objects having a particular function connected to the magnetic field?
Unfortunately, Heliopolis’ ruins were devastated by human ignorance and we have not any findings able to shed light on the mysteries of the Place of Pillars. Either way, connections between Cairo’s EMF (as anomalous as the area where Cusco was built) as well as the connection between the Column of Horus and the Golden Stick of the Inca Manco Capac, are very interesting clues, guiding research in a very complex scientific range.
Therefore, as result of the investigation on the Inca findings, a very interesting binomial emerged, such as the golden stick and the magnetic field of Cusco; nevertheless, the investigation on the Egyptian myths proposes a significant trinomial, i.e. Heliopolis Pillars – EMF at Cairo – the sticks of the gods.
Studying the ancient tombs of Egypt, I guess that the gods' iconographies could confirm some doubts about the primordial function of the Egyptians divines' tools. However, before introducing the gods’ instruments, their purposes and their symbolic meanings, it should be made clear what Egyptology proposes about that subject.
According to Scholars, the gods’ staff or stick – well-known as “uas” scepter, used to emphasize the power of divinities. During the dynastic period it was also used to draw the “shen”—two concentric circles at the base of the ancient engineering. Therefore, Egyptologists claimed its application is connected to a possible function to plan the monuments built on the Giza Plateau.
To shed light on the conundrum, I analyzed the Ennead of Heliopolis, the gods’ functions and tools.
The gods’ descendants are Ra (or Atum) that generated Shu and Tefnut, parents of the gods Geb and Nut. They originated Osiris, Isis, Nepthys and Seth. So, the main divinity to study is the god of the Sun, or Ra for Egyptians. The supreme being of the pharaohs’ pantheon was associated with the sun’s disk and, according to the myth, he emerged from the ocean of the Nun, carried by the goddess Mehetueret, the Celestial Cow.
The Nun was the male part of the primordial ocean, existing before the world was created. Ra is often drawn in the ritual paintings characterizing the Egyptian tombs. Sometimes, he was bearer of light and power
The following image, reproducing the god Ra-Atum, was found in the necropolis of Luxor. It is one of the best masterpieces depicting the god, as progenitor of the Ennead of Heliopolis. Observing the image, it is possible to highlight several interesting clues, which have a complex meaning, such as the sun disk, positioned on the head of the Lord of the gods. A Cobra, forming a circle, draws the disk.
The circle is a significant symbol expressing energy, because the Sun is lifeblood for humankind, while the snake represents the concept of knowledge; that is why we can assume that the god Ra has a precise function, i.e. the “Keeper of the knowledge of the Energy”. The image has other little details, very peculiar, such as the Uas, the divine stick, in his right hand, through which he is manifesting his power.
In the right hand, he brings the Ankh, the Crux ansata meaning “Life”, like a divinity messenger of Energy and Vitality. The Stick and the Ankh are both connected to the sun disk and the Cobra, because while the first has a function of power against the subjects, the second is a tool through which the god infuses Energy. Nevertheless, it is very important to note a perfect distribution of symbols, they are not accidental but they observe a precise logic. As noted from the academic studies, the Egyptian Civilization has never encountered the Indian Civilization, but it cannot be kept secret the remarkable homogeneity of concepts referred to the symbols.
From Oriental philosophy, in fact, we received concepts describing the top of our body such as the last phase trough which Energy, coming from below, forward to the universe. Therefore, the human being – by its very nature – becomes the link between Earth and Sky. It is amazing to observe how the Egyptians Civilization developed the same Indian philosophy reproduced them in their iconographies, such as for the Ouroboros.
Following the same model of analysis, we can observe a new element of correlation, referred to the divinity’s tools. In fact, in the Indian philosophy the left hand is connected to an “attractive” function, i.e. to detect or to receive energy. Observing the bas-relief, we can note that the god brings his stick with his left hand, underlining a correlation between the Uas function – used to receive or to detect – and a generic physical quantity to measure. Moreover, in his right hand – connected to the transmitting function – Ra brings the Ankh, through which he is sending lifeblood to the pharaoh.
Investigation highlights two main points:
- The existence of an evident connection between the gods’ tools and Energy, as a generic physical quantity;
- The doubt that the gods’ iconographies originate from a common lost civilization, coming from the distant past.
Another evidence to investigate is the gods’ stick feature, because it has some elements very bizarre, characterizing the object. It seems unusual and not conventional, for example, to similar objects belonging to other civilizations living in the neighbor. Moreover, the great part of findings, referred to ancient civilizations – such as the pre-dynastic Egypt – is depicted by its extraordinary simplicity, for shapes and processing techniques. In this last case, observing the features we can state that the god’s tool has a very complex structure.
The top of the stick, for instance, has a very specific figure, and it has not a handle, but a strange figure of a dog, whose species is already unknown. According to Egyptologists, the top of the Uas is similar to a little bar t-shaped, the purpose of which is unclear. On this subject, Scholars theorized that the dog engraved on the top of the god’s stick, could refer to Seth, because of his head shaped like a dog. Anyway, the academic interpretation sounds plausible on the page, but it turns out not to be true in reality. In fact, there are not reasonable assumptions showing why, the supreme god of Egyptian Pantheon, must bring a stick characterized by the head of a secondary gods, such as Seth.
It is a theory lack of any basis, even rational, because it gives a religious supremacy that Seth has never had. An interesting fact refers to Ra and his manner to display the stick as divine power. Ra brings the Uas exactly in its middle such as, for example, for catholic religious authorities. In this way, he is showing his power and his right to be feared and worshipped. Lastly, the god’s stick has a feature at its base, never experienced in any other similar tool and totally unknown at that time to civilizations.
Uas distinguishes itself by a kind of small arch positioned at the base, at first glance, having no one structural logic. Its feature, instead, would have led many problems, starting from difficulties to use it without hurting the base.
Why did the Egyptians chose to use a particular form such as an arch?
A possible answer could come from the shamanic tradition of the mysterious Dogon civilization, living in Mali, central Africa, whose traditions come from ancient myths. During their rituals, worshipping mother Earth, they used a stick with the following aim: “to conduct to mother Earth the energies coming from the sky”. Due some cultural connection between Dogon and Egyptians, it is possible that their tradition have had influxes of the latter.
Could the Uas had a similar function? To conduct or to detect energies of the Earth or conducting to the Sky?
The main ancient traditions, in the African continent, tell about a myth who hides an energetic relationship between the human and the outside world, through the use of an enigmatic tool. Accepting such proposal, we can also understand the meaning of the Uas features, and the arch shape at its base.
If the Egyptians myth can be considered as a true story, was the natural function of the god’s stick – giving the power of divinity to the users – to detect the places on Earth where the magnetic field was irregular or more intensive? There is a connection with the Inca myth of the foundation of Cusco? Can the arch feature, at the base of the god’s stick, have a technical and scientific function to detect energies?
Most probably, the Egyptian scepter was a record of an ancestral tool used by the lost civilization of the pyramids. Its function was to interact in the presence of distortion of the earth magnetic field, in this way they found the correct place to build the monuments. As a dowser uses an olive branch to found water sources, so the men-gods used the ancestor of Uas to found the place to erect the so-called “pillars” or “columns” of Horus.
From the observing of the paintings of the gods, we can assume there is an interesting difference between the male tools then the female ones. It is a great difference having a symbolic and also scientific meaning.
The Ennead of Heliopolis chronology is already known. As noted, Ra-Atum engenders Tefnut and Shu; they were the first celestial couple recognized in Egypt. Tefnut is the moisture, while Shu is the air; together with their sons – Geb the Earth and Nut the Sky – they were the four primordial elements of nature. Tefnut is often symbolized with a lion head encircled by the solar disk and, rarely, by a male stick in the right hand, while she brings the ankh in the left hand.
Conversely, very often, the goddess brings a stick having different features from the gods’ male tools, i.e. the base - according to scholars - has a kind of structure very similar to a papyrus plant. In fact, observing the paintings and bas-relieves, we can note that the female tool has not an arch shape.
Egyptologists called the female stick Uadj.
Therefore, the academic interpretations seem to be incorrect. The top of the Uadj, in fact, looks like a different flower, that was often used by the priest and priestess. Uadj seems to be a reproduction of the flower of lotus and not of papyrus.
The female pastoral, in the original iconography – referring to the pre dynastic and Middle Reign – was reproduced in its form as a flower of lotus and, only afterwards during the middle and new reign, was depicted as a flower of papyrus; probably, when the ancient echoes of the oral traditions were lost. Differences – that may seem irrelevant – have an extraordinary importance in the symbolic analysis of the tools.
Egyptians – in their surprising wisdom – connected the lotus to divinities, while the papyrus was used for a priestly and ritual meaning.
The goddesses’ flower integrates with considerations proposed for the male tool, because the mysterious paintings – together - seem to be connected to the concept of Energy.
For the Nilotic civilization, the flower is a symbol connected to the Cycle of Life and Rebirth after Death, and it is considered so significant, to have its importance in the famous bas-relieves of the Temple of Dendera, particularly, in the enigmatic Dendera lights.
In the archetypes analysis, for example, the symbolic meaning of lotus is connected to the letter “thet”, due the significance of Female Energy, having the function of “forms creator”. It is in opposition to the letter “kaf”, connected to the gods’ tool, referring to the Male Energy, and its function to penetrate, such as the original function of the Uas, penetrating the Earth to “detect” energy.
Moreover, in this last case, we have got an interesting clue which refers, once again, to the primordial concept of energy.
Al other gods and goddesses were drawn using the same tools, brought by Ra-Atum. Geb and Nut, for example, were illustrated as a bearded man with a goose on his head and the stick Uas in his hand, while the goddess sits on her throne bringing the Uadj.
Nepthis, Seth, Isis and Osiris, the four sons engendered by Nut and Geb, have the same features, with the exception of Osiris – god of the underworld – depicted in his famous iconography of mummification. He is the only exception, compared to all others; he is the Isis’ husband and the only one who never brought the stick of the gods.
In summary, the gods of Ennead, generally, were represented with the divine stick with arch feature and a kind of dog to the top, in the right hand; while in the left hand they have the ankh, the Key of Life. The goddesses, were depicted with the Ankh and a kind of stick having on the top the flower of lotus and a typical base, called Uadj
Differences among them earned a symbolic and scientific significance, because they enhance the concept of Polarity. Male and Female, Uas and Uadj, i.e. the conjunction of opposite. As if it was essential to join the two kind of tools to make function efficiently a specific system. Divinities and their objects are specular and, it was necessary that the couples were both active to operate.
Those considerations can be a support to unveil the mysteries of the pre dynastic age. I suggest the effort to investigate the enigma from a different point of view, because it can help us to understand phenomenon, actually, very obscure. An open mind can lead us on the way of the ancient knowledge.
From my book "Ancient Mysteries" Amazon 2016
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