"Pharaohs’ names and pyramid theories skewed," admit Egyptologists
What’s new ? Africans scholars have known for quite some time that the information and images that Europeans have produced on Africa have been skewed. For example they have given the world the false impression that the ancient Egyptians were white, although we know that it is biologically impossible for the white man to spend a whole day in the hot sun without suffering severe consequences, yet they would like us to believe that white men with bare backs exposed to the sun all day, built the pyramids and they are dead serious when they propose this theory. The harsh fact is that only black people can withstand the sun because of the high level of melanin in their skin. (I wonder if Michael Jackson and all those black people who whiten their skin know that they have a natural protection from skin cancer because of their black skin) That is why African people were enslaved in order to build the new world. Perhaps if Europeans were less arrogant and spoke to African people instead of assuming they know all about Africa, (most western ‘African specialists’??? cannot even speak an African language), they may be able to reconstruct the Egyptian language by comparing it to other African languages and they may even learn how the pyramids were built..Hort
http://www.dailysta regypt.com/ article.aspx? ArticleID= 15267
Egyptologists debate Pharaohs’ names, pyramid theories
By Sarah O. Wali
July 24, 2008
CAIRO: In a recent interview with Al-Masry Al Youm Dr. Osama Al-Saadawi claimed there have been discrepancies in deciphering and translating the Pharaonic languages. As a result, the image of Ancient Egyptians has been skewed.
“The French icon Champollion made serious mistakes when translating the Rosetta stone because he relied on assumptions that led him to incorrect translations, and thus the language is not right,” Al-Saadawi said. “As a result we have a misconception of life during Pharaonic times.”
Al-Saadawi claims that only 10 percent of the deciphered hieroglyphics is correct. However, Egyptologists such as researcher and lecturer Ahmed Seddik say that errors in Champollion’s work were a result of minimal technical resources.
Noting that there are mistakes in the first hand-written translations that could have led to wrong assumptions, Seddik said that “Champollion’s work was highly refined and very well translated, and we have been able to unlock the language, the phonetic school of ancient Egypt because of it.”
Among Al-Saadawi’s finds is a discrepancy in the name of the Pharaoh who built the larges of the Giza Pyramids. According to him, his name was not King “Khufu,” but King “Ghonoom.” But according to Seddik, a graduate of the American University in Cairo, both are correct. “Every pharaoh had at least five names,” he said. “Khufu is a nickname. Ghonoom Khoufi was another name. Ghonoom means protect, so it’s literally ‘Protect Khufu.’” The name Khufu he says, has been found repeatedly in hieroglyphic texts, and is 100 percent correct.
Al-Saadawi also asserts that the Ancient Egyptians were not polytheistic as most Egyptologists claim. Ra, the God of the Sun, was not actually a god, he says. Ra is a shortened name for “God of All Things.” However, evidence has been presented that when the New Kingdom was attempting to expand, the pharaohs recognized other gods in order to appease the people. Statues in the Cairo Museum are indicative of this. “Religion in Egypt is old and very complex,” said Seddik. “There is a dispute until today about religion. There is no one that can say that they were monotheistic 100 percent.”
Al-Saadawi also provides an alternative theory about how the pyramids were built, claiming that over 2,500 horsepower would have been required for Khufu, or King Ghonoom, to build the great pyramids. It is therefore impossible to have had men move the blocks. Rather, the pyramids were built using hydraulic ducts which utilized the flooding of the Nile.
A wide range of theories have been presented regarding the building of the pyramids. Dr Mory Gharib, aeronautics professor at the California Institute of Technology, and a team of students have proven the smaller obelisks used to build the pyramids can be lifted and directed using kites and a pulley. However, although there is scientific evidence that this method is possible, it lacks documentation or finds to back it up.
“In Sakkara they found a kite that was aerodynamically sound,” said Seddik. “Yet, these are all speculations. You can’t prove it unless you dig it up.”
Egypt to get back pharaoh's eye
September 11, 2008
A huge eye stolen from the statue of a pharaoh, currently on show in a Swiss museum, is to be returned to Egypt. It will go back in October with no conditions attached, Zahi Hawass of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Wednesday. The eye, nearly 50 cm long, was stolen in 1972. It came from a statue of Amenhotep III discovered in a temple in Luxor in 1970. The thieves sold it to a US dealer. After then being sold at auction, it ended up in the hands of a Swiss collector who bought it "in good faith".
For the past few years it has been on show at Basel's Museum of Antiquities. It was recognised by Hawass when he visited the museum in 2004 in connection with an exhibition on Tutankhamun. Hawass asked for it back and negotiations were conducted with the collector. The Federal Culture Office was not involved.
Amenhotep III ruled Egypt in the 14th century BC. More statues survive of him than of any other pharaoh.