Offered a trip back in time to the ancient Stone Age, most of us might well imagine witnessing scenes of barbaric, fur-clad ape-men clubbing one another or grunting and scratching haplessly as they struggled to survive with crude tools and little to no technology.
      Of course, this view has been formed by a litany of propaganda and down-right lies, for the truth is that our Stone Age ancestors were, for the most part, wise in ways that when examined make us gasp with wonder and awe.
      The most famous wonders of the ancient world are, of course, the Egyptian Pyramids. Who really built and designed them has been hotly debated for millennia. Just when we thought it was safe to assume we were getting a handle on this mystery, along comes yet another controversial and utterly amazing proposition by authors Christopher Knight and Alan Butler.
      The authors offer an amazing theory, backed by quite clear evidence, that it was ancient Britons who influenced, advised or were themselves the very builders of the Egyptian Pyramids!
      Most New Dawn readers would agree there is nothing quite like a hot controversial theory and an equally hot cup of tea to kick-start the day, but there are times when the tea is the only hot thing on the menu. However, this cannot be said of this riveting page-turner, which I dare you to put down even after you have consumed your tea!
      Before the Pyramids throws dramatic new light on how the immense burial monuments of the Pharaohs at Giza were conceived, constructed and why. The authors also offer very compelling evidence that shatters modern doctrines of archaeology and religious history.
      As most students of Egyptian mysteries know, the narrow shafts cut into the blocks of rock – two of which run from the King’s Chamber, and then run steeply upward to emerge on the outside of the pyramid, close to its pinnacle – were often thought to be ventilation shafts. Since the 1960s, it has been argued these shafts align with the polestar in the north and Orion’s Belt in the south. It is also believed they aligned the pyramids to the four cardinal points of the Earth using Thuban, the then polestar, to establish north.
      The constellation Orion has an important place in Egyptian mythology because it was considered the very soul of Osiris, the God of fertility. Traditionally Osiris was described as the Lord of the Two Lands, Heaven and Earth, as well as the Lord of the Dead.
      Those who study the three great pyramids notice they are not in perfect alignment, but rather have a bit of a “dog-leg.” Yet it was this very “error” that made researcher/writer Robert Bauval and colleague Adrian Gilbert take note. The three pyramids create a pattern uncannily similar to that formed by the three famous stars of Orion’s Belt. This constellation contains some of the most significant visible stars, including Sirius, the brightest object outside of our solar system, as well as Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak, the actual names of the three stars that make up the belt itself. The constellation was named Orion by the Greek sky-watchers who saw the constellation as a great hunter with a belt whose stars point to Sirius.
      The book Bauval and Gilbert published was called The Orion Mystery and they offered evidence by taking an image of the constellation and superimposing it on an aerial photograph of the three pyramids. The alignment is almost exact.
      Using this same principal, authors Knight and Butler used Google Earth and looked at a major Neolithic site, Thornborough Henge, in Yorkshire, England. These giant circles were made around 5,500 years ago, or more than a millennium before the pyramids, by mounding up earth to 6 or 7 metres. The circles are joined by a causeway 214 ft wide and over a mile in length. The henges were once covered in white gypsum to produce glowing, jewel like rings that would have glowed in the moonlight. They discovered that the three henges, like the pyramids of Egypt, also form a dogleg, the same shape as the Belt of Orion.
      It appears these ancient henges were used to observe star movements by providing an artificial horizon. Exactly why observing stars was so important, and the purpose of this knowledge, is still under investigation, however, it seems that the skills used to construct this huge, three circled observation deck were extremely sophisticated and pre-dates the pyramids.
      It is an open question whether the ancient Egyptians visited Britain or whether British astronomers made their way to North Africa and then taught their skills.
      The authors spend considerable time investigating the reason why the henges were built in the first place. One theory, which seems quite feasible, is they were constructed to observe impending comet impacts. There is enormous evidence that comets caused planetary devastation. Authors such as Barbara Hand-Clow write at length about the history of immense damage to the human psyche because of these events.
      It seems clear that if a series of comets collided with Earth, the ability to watch and observe a mysterious light, which appeared to grow brighter in the sky, indicating an impending collision, would give those with foresight enough time to climb to higher ground.
      However, there is more to this mystery than simple expediency. The same measurements and system of measurement continued into Freemasonry. The authors examine maps of Washington DC, including the 33-degree megalithic second triangle formed between The Capitol, The Ellipse and The Pentagon. The Pentagon, of course, is five sided as is the ancient symbol of Venus and The Goddess, and so the mystery continues.
      New Dawn readers would not be at all surprised that established archaeologists have attacked this controversial book, yet the evidence the authors submit is compelling and very detailed.
      They provide copious photographs, endnotes and footnotes, enough to keep any serious student of ancient wisdom very occupied. Perhaps beyond all of this is the strong and resounding message that our ancient ancestors were wise, learned and profoundly connected to the universe.
      The story we have been fed is this phenomenon is very recent and that our ancestors were fear-ridden and narrow minded. In fact, the authors prove they knew the world was round and part of a solar system and added this dimension into their calculations. Their measurements were precise, long before computers and our modern technology, but even more importantly, their soul, and their wisdom shines forth six thousand years later in these ancient and mysterious monuments.
      I thoroughly recommend this book to any serious student of truth. Whilst there are many quick to acknowledge extraterrestrial assistance, which of course is very exotic, perhaps we ought to recognise that our history and our species is more ancient than we are taught.
      It seems the greatest mystery is humanity has repeatedly lost and found wisdom. Are we destined to do so again? That, my friends, is the mystery within the mystery!