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Title: The Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt by John Anthony West ISBN: 0-8356-0691-0 Publisher: Quest Books Pub. Date: July, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (16 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Opening of the Mouth
Comment: J A West has nearly singlehandedly revived R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz' prolific work on the discerned symbolism of the ancient Egyptians. Those interested in learning about SdL's interpretation would find this to be a good introduction, and will also find that many of SdL's titles are back in print, though a little pricey. I have no need to learn any more about what may have been the intent of people attempting to apply magical thinking to the physical world, whether those people are long dead or my contemporaries.
The real value of this book is in a single idea from SdL's work, which is the realization that the Great Sphinx at Giza was heavily eroded by water (pp 177-179). Geologists who oppose the idea that rain caused this erosion are few in number, and their motives are suspect since they'd previously not noticed or not pointed out in public the obvious fact of water erosion. Such geologists are now limited to a slow retreat, attempting to accept water erosion without accepting greater antiquity, and the way they do this is by dreaming up new ways water erosion can do its work with great rapidity in an arid environment with essentially no rain.
One of the revolting aspects of the debate has been that the core argument gets attacked not on any lack of merit, but through damning by association. Robert Schoch doesn't attribute the Sphinx to Atlantis. Even though John Anthony West suggests such a link, the main point of disagreement between Schoch and West is that Schoch's estimate of the Sphinx' age is much lower than West's. Both put the Sphinx origin in what is known as Predynastic times.
West does a good job showing the (two) roots of the various conventional beliefs about the Sphinx, and shows the ancient documentary evidence which supports a pre-Khafre Sphinx. While Robert Schoch's "Voices of the Rocks" is a better choice, one has to read Schoch's articles (KMT, etc) to get the specifics of his views about the water erosion in any detail. West's book is a better choice for that particular narrow focus. Those with an occult or fringe interest will find that West's book is also a better choice than titles by Hancock, Bauval, Gadalla, and Sitchin.
Rating: 4
Summary: A translation of Schwaller de Lubicz, but not a light read
Comment: When I returned from my first trip to Egypt in May, 1998, I voraciously read everything I could get my hands on. Before I read Serpent in the Sky, I had viewed John's emmy-award-winning documentary, so I was prepared for excellence in thinking and new ideas about ancient Egypt. Although John West writes with great flair and articulation, his summarizing of Schwaller de Lubicz was tough going. West makes some good points of his own, but some of de Lubicz's theories are too esoteric for me. West acknowledges he's not a mathemetician and much of de Lubicz's theories are based on sacred geometry, and was beyond my scope as well. I found that the quotations on the sides of the pages detracted from the main body of work. It's very apparent that West thoroughly loves ancient Egypt and has devoted many years to study, discussion and leading tours there. I had the good fortune to be with him on a second tour to Egypt in Nov, 1998. I enjoyed the foreword by Robert Masters regarding Sekhmet, as I had some extraordinary experiences with Sekhmet myself both while I was in Egypt and when I returned. All in all, I would recommend reading Serpent in the Sky. John still leads tours to Egypt.
Rating: 3
Summary: facts are tricky things
Comment: It often happens that, when a surprising or unexpected observation is made, people tend to jump to extreme conclusions rather than asking themselves whether the observation is really inconsistent with the facts as they are already known. So it is with the realization during recent years that the sphinx has been subject to water erosion. This is not a brand-new fact, as it was mentioned more than 10 years ago, but people have reacted predictably by concluding that, since earlier students of the problem failed to mention the water erosion, that necessarily means that their work is now "all wet", so to speak, and that we must now push the age of the sphinx back thousands of years further into the past. "Those guys had their chance," you can hear the fringe science crowd thinking.
But in fact mainstream archaeologists, including the Egyptian archaeologist who have been responsible for recent work involving the sphinx, have been aware of the water erosion and have not been moved to posit an association with Atlantean colonists or anything so extreme. It merely happens to be the case that the effects of water erosion can be greater in desert regions than is sometimes assumed. It was pointed out when the water erosion of the sphinx was first popularized that there is a mud brick wall not that far from the sphinx that has been almost washed away during the last hundred years.
On the whole, The Serpent in the Sky is at least a cut above the UFO theories of people like Zecharia Sitchin and von Daniken, and there is no doubt some truth to the claims of mathematical symbolism it makes, but in the end the mathematics and the symbolism are the achievement of the mundane, occasionally inspired, labors of Egyptians scribes and priests of dynastic Egypt.
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Title: The Orion Mystery : Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids by Adrian Gilbert, Robert Bauval ISBN: 0517884542 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 22 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age by Charles H. Hapgood ISBN: 0932813429 Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time Yth by Giorgio De Santillana, Hertha Von Dechend ISBN: 0879232153 Publisher: David R Godine Pub. Date: August, 1992 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt: A Guide to the Sacred Places of Ancient Egypt by John Anthony West ISBN: 0835607240 Publisher: Quest Books Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: When the Sky Fell : In Search of Atlantis by Rand Flem-Ath, Rose Flem-Ath ISBN: 0312964013 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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