I began in economics of all things. I did a postgrad at Melbourne University, scored top marks in three courses and won the Chamber of Manufacturers’ Prize for student of the year. So there I was, ready to become a banker. A banker? This just wasn’t for me––instead, it was the ancients that fascinated me.
I began to realise that we don’t understand our past selves at all. These people believed that an army could be destroyed by melting wax figurines of them--Gods, Goddesses and Magic determined everything that unfolded on earth! We on the other hand, believe in science––if it can be proved in a lab, it's a fact; if not, it's fiction.
How on earth are we to understand the past with this mindset?
So for the last 20 years I’ve been reading and writing about the ancient world. I began with the Dead Sea Scrolls—they are like the unedited version of the Bible. They spill the beans on how to read ancient texts. From that research I discovered a long-lost prophecy that identified the Messiah as the 70th leader of the Jews. And it turned out that the 70th did do amazing things. He led a motley crew against the world’s premiere army. Inspired by the prophecy promising all sorts of glory to the Jews, Judas Maccabeus fought the Greeks and routed them; he gave Israel independence for the first time in 400 years!
But soon enough the Roman menace emerged from the West and in dire need of hope, the prophecy was extended. Ten generations were added because they reasoned that the countdown to Judgement Day couldn’t be interrupted by another Judgement Day (i.e. Noah's Flood). So a swathe of Messianic contenders popped up, each hoping to fill the prophecy’s boots. Jesus, the most Roman friendly of them, became the accepted Messiah. Funny though, he’s not even mentioned in the ‘Antiquities of the Jews’. Written 50 years after Jesus’ death, this was the seminal book on Jewish history. It says plenty about John the Baptist, but is conspicuously silent about Jesus. That’s a big omission for someone who was considered to be the Messiah. And as for Judas and his Dynasty of kings that had ruled Israel before Jesus? He was slandered! A character was inserted into the Gospels who was so reprehensible that no-one could ever rightly consider someone carrying that name to be the Messiah.
Then I thought that the way to get people to pay attention to my theories, was to write about Egypt––everyone likes Pyramids & Pharaohs.
So I began…
For years I worked on a book about the Egyptian pyramids and when I finally finished it, I relished that feeling of accomplishment. But then, in the middle of the night, I felt doubt knocking on the door of my consciousness. It wanted to tell me something that I did not want to hear; I had made a fundamental mistake.
The next morning, dejected, I did what I had to do; I tore it up and started again.
It had taken years for me to work out that their pyramids were designed to be used by the living king. That’s why every king in the old Kingdom had one built, because they served a real purpose.
Naturally we’ve assumed that the pyramids were simply tombs, and that's reasonable; that’s why we moderns would build a massive cenotaph. Think of our great buildings: the Empire State Building was built by an insurance company; the Burj Khalifa is a hotel and apartment building. We are capitalists. They weren’t though. Their world was about the Gods!
The giveaway that pyramids weren’t intended solely to be tombs is the fact that no kings were found within them. The Great Pyramid for example, had been sealed from the date of Pharaoh Khufu’s death until 820 AD and when it was opened, his body wasn’t there, just an empty sarcophagus!
Why on earth would they build what was to be the tallest structure in the world for 4,000 years, a mathematical masterpiece, then not use it??
The answer is simple; Khufu did use it, of course he did! The big question is, what for?
The next ten years were spent rewriting that book that I thought I had finished. In the end, it was one million words long! I’ve reduced it to three books of normal length (Architecture of Ra, Tombs of the Gods, and Resurrection Machines). They redefine what pyramids were for, and they weren’t built by aliens, or Atlanteans using sonic power to levitate the bricks. If they built them, surely they’d all be perfect? There are over 130 of them and some of them are shoddily built and fell apart millennia ago. Instead, they were built by the locals who were all too happy to labour for twenty years on each pyramid in the sweltering heat because of belief! They believed that their great king was descended from the gods and these structures were intended to continue that legacy. Pyramids were designed to connect the heavens and the earth so that their human King could fulfil his destiny.
Few people know that, in the earliest of times, Egyptian Pharaohs were ritually killed after having ruled for 30 years. This was to prevent an ageing king sitting on the throne, an eventuality that they feared would make Egypt appear vulnerable.
Eventually, a king decided that he didn’t want to die and so he instituted a ritual which simulated his death! His murder was faked. A massive funeral was held, during which the king was dressed in funerary garb, despite being alive. He was then interred in a coffin within his pyramid amid solemn mourning. At dawn the next day, he was magically ‘reborn’, emerging from his pyramid to rapturous applause and ready to continue his rule. This event was called ‘Heb Sed’. It involved a set of physical tests for the king—he had to prove that he was still able to defend the nation. It’s known that in the lead up, the country labored for years to make constructions for this ritual and then a massive party was held, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since. However, the true size of these preparations hasn’t been known until now. They had to build a structure to enable the funeral to be a success, a structure that would link the king to the heavens. Every Pharaoh in the Old Kingdom had a pyramid built and they are all riddled with references to this festival! The principle function of a pyramid wasn’t as tombs, instead it was so that magical rites could be performed within that would wow the gods and enable the king to live on, even after his 30 years were up.
The incentive for this ritual went even further. Should the ritual be a success, they believed that the king would emerge from his pyramid as an immortal god! Yes, his mortal frame would eventually wither, but Heb Sed ensured his place in the Afterlife with the other great gods.
Which would you prefer? A great memorial? Or eternal life in Heaven?
Most Pharaohs who performed a Heb Sed died shortly after, but if they lived on, they had to retest for their license in order to be eligible to rule; every three years it had to be performed. Ramses the Great had 13 Heb Seds! As with all things human though, it got watered down from rigorous physical tests, to him being walked through the course as an arthritic cripple! They had exactly what they didn’t want; a frail leader in charge. But who was going to tell Ramses the Great to step down?