Talking Pyramids

The BYU Egypt Excavation Project, returns to Egypt in January to map Sneferu’s fourth pyramid using GPS.

Professor of ancient scripture at BYU and soon to be program director, Kerry Muhlestein, believes they have uncovered evidence of a unified plan and suggests we need adjust our understanding of what the intended purpose of pyramids was:

After a years-long excavation, done by BYU-paid Egyptian laborers to aid their economy, the group can now focus on the connections between Seila and Snefru’s three other nearby pyramids.

“It’s starting to become clear that, contrary to what most Egyptologists and history books have taught… these (pyramids) were built to work in conjunction with each other,” said Kerry Muhlestein, a professor of ancient scripture at BYU, who will become the program director upon Griggs’ retirement. “It makes us rethink what the purpose of the pyramid was.”

Pyramids have been considered elaborate burial spots for kings, Muhlestein said. However, why would Snefru build four when he would only be buried in one?

Muhlestein has several ideas about how Snefru’s pyramids are interconnected in design and purpose, but didn’t want to delve into details before the official report is finished.

“By the time we’re done with our publication, people will have to reevaluate and come to a different understanding of the purpose of pyramids in Egyptian culture and religion,” he said.

More:

• PHOTO: Boat pit of Unas is 44m long and is located next to the processional ramp: http://bit.ly/70L5sx #
• PHOTO: Inside the Pyramid of Unas – the patterned alabaster wall surrounding the sarcophagus: http://bit.ly/60VWFk #
• From the vault: Restoring a Mud-Brick Tribute to a Departed Egyptian King – the cult center of Khasekhemwy at Abydos: http://bit.ly/7GLfwF #
• Over 100 models of daily life found in the tomb in hundreds of pieces…held together with pegs: http://tr.im/I66Y (via @eloquentpeasant) #
• PHOTO: Sarcophagus of Nekhet-iset-aru before its installation at the National Museum in Singapore December 18, 2009: http://bit.ly/4Qv9Fo #
• Ex-C.W. Post museum chief pleads guilty to theft of nine ancient Egyptian artifacts and pocketing $32,000: http://bit.ly/8jdq6U #
• BYU's 'campus' and the fourth pyramid of Sneferu at Seila: http://bit.ly/5J7zZT #
• Pyramid geezer tries a hand at tomb raiding in The Mysteries of Egypt: http://bit.ly/8ePnBd #
• Press Release from Zahi Hawass – Pylon Tower Raised from Alexandria Harbor: http://bit.ly/7xs9hE #
• The final programme of CRE XI (Leiden, 5-8 January 2010): http://bit.ly/8E86he #

The slide show is of the inside of the Unas Pyramid. More photos can be found on Flickr and more information on the Pyramid of Unas can be found on Pyramid Texts Online.

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