Chapter 15

When the Sky Joined the Earth
'My Kingdom is not of this world. . . .'
John 18: 36)
'Great is the Cosmic Order, for it has not
changed since the time of Osiris, who put it there. . .'
Ptahotep, a high priest of the Pyramid Age


According to the Creation narrative of the ancient Egyptians, Nut, the Sky-goddess, and Geb, the earth-god, joined in sexual union, but were then rudely separated by the intervention of Shu, the god of air, atmosphere and dryness. Nevertheless the union did produce offspring in the form of Isis and Osiris, Nepthys and Seth. And in due course, as we have seen, Osiris became the ruler of the idealized 'Kingdom of the "First Time" " was murdered by Seth, experienced resurrection, and then finally ascended into the heavens where he established the cosmic 'Kingdom' of the Duat. The reader will remember that a crucial role in effecting his 'astral rebirth' was played by Horus, his son by the widow Isis, the archetype for all the historical Horus-Kings of ancient Egypt - who revenged himself on Seth and later reunified the divided Kingdom.
It can thus be said that a kind of cosmic blueprint to establish - or re-establish - a unified 'Kingdom of Osiris' on earth had been devised from the outset by the 'gods' and thus long before the advent of 'historical' kingship by Menes-Narmer at the beginning of the third millennium BC.  

Page 239

Separation

In the Shabaka Texts (which express the Memphite Theology) we read that the defeat of Seth by Horus was followed by a convocation of the gods, under the leadership of Geb, who sat in judgement over the two 'contenders'. Initially each one was given authority to rule over his own area: 'These are the words of Geb to Horus [of the north] and Seth [of the south]: "I have separated you" - Lower and Upper Egypt. . . Then Horus stood over one region and Seth stood over one regIon . . .'1
Later, however, as the reader will recall from Part III, Geb 'gave to Horus [Seth's] inheritance': 'Then Horus stood over the land. He is the uniter of this land. . . He is Horus who arose as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, who united the Two Lands in [the region of Memphis], the "place" where the Two Lands were united. . .'2
The curious phrase 'I have separated you' which Geb uttered, is symbolic of the 'separation' that he, too, had endured from his consort the sky-goddess, Nut. With this in mind, should we not consider the possibility that the notions of ' Upper Egypt' and and 'Lower Egypt'- though obviously relating at one level to the geographical south and north of the earthly country - might also at another level have been intended to suggest ground and sky?

Doubles

There is much in the Memphite Theology which supports the proposition that the areas which were traditionally regarded as the
southern and northern sacred regions of Osiris - Abydos and Memphis - were not only meant to be considered in terrestrial terms but also in cosmic terms.
In particular, a metaphor is relayed around the imagery of the huge 'body' of Osiris 'drifting' with the waters of the Nile from his southern shrine at Abydos to reach his northern shrine in the 'land of Sokar' - i.e. the Memphite necropolis in general and in particular the Giza plateau where, in the form of the three great Pyramids, we suspect that the 'body' of Osiris lies outstretched upon the sand to the present day. . .
At any rate, this same basic imagery of Osiris lying on the western

/ Page 240 /

bank of the Nile near Memphis also crops up in the Pyramid Texts, which add a further clue: 'They [Isis and Nepthys] have found Osiris . . . "when his name became Sokar".. .'3 The term 'when his name became Sokar' does clearly seem to imply "that the 'body' of Osiris merged with the land of Sokar i.e. the Memphite necropolis, and that his image - i.e. the 'astral' image of the Orion region of the sky - was somehow grafted onto it. The impression that this 'image' must have something to do with the Pyramids of Giza is then confirmed elsewhere in the Pyramid Texts. In the following passage, for example, the Horus-King addresses the 'Lower Sky' to which he 'will descend to the place where the gods are' and utters this powerful and cryptic declaration:

If I come with my ka [double], open your arms to me; the mouths of
the gods will be opened and will request that I ascend to the sky, and I
will ascend.
A boon which Geb (earth) and Atum grant: that this Pyramid and Temple
be installed for me and for my double, and that this Pyramid
and Temple be enclosed for me and for my double. . .
As for anyone who shall lay a finger on this Pyramid and this Temple
which belong to me and to my double, he will have laid a finger on the
Mansion [Kingdom] . . . which is in the sky. . .4


It is beyond the scope of this book to present a detailed treatise on the concept of the ka - the 'double', the astral or spiritual essence of a person or thing - and of its role in ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs.
Much confusion has been generated around this important subject.5 At the very least, however, it is certain that what confronts us in the ka is yet another example of the prevailing dualism in Egyptian thought. Moreover its use in context of the utterance quoted above reminds us that the 'image' of Osiris 'when his name became Sokar' - i.e. the Memphite Pyramid necropolis - should at all times be considered as having a cosmic or celestial 'double'. And it should be obvious, too, that this 'double' can only be the Osirian Kingdom in the Duat - which the Pyramid Texts declare to be 'the Place Where Orion Is'. Indeed as Margaret Bunson notes in her Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt: 'Kas. . .served as guardians of places. . .Osiris was always called the ka of the Pyramids. . . ' 6"

 
 

 

THAT
OSIRIS 
THAT OSIRIS -THAT OSIRIS 
O
S
NINE
R
NINE
S


+
=


EIGHT







ADD




9


9



+
=
18


1+8
=


9




TO


O
S
I
R
I
S











REDUCE


15
19
9
18
9
19


+
=
89
8+9
=


17


1+ 7
=
8




1+5


1+9



1+8



1+9











DEDUCE


6
10


9


10


+
=
35
3+5
=
8




TO




1+0





1+0













6
1
9
9
9
1


+
=
35
3+5
=
8



8
EIGHT
8

The scribe writ 8 x 9 = 72. Noting 5 letters in the word eight, and four in five. That 4 + 5 = NINE
K
A








DEDUCE

11
1

+
=
3



THAT

1+1










2
1

+
=
3


3
THREE
3











K
A
S








11
1

19
+

=

31
3+1
=
4
FOUR
4

Seeking more than an average days nodds az good az a think, to a mind man, the scribe writ 3 + 4 = SEVEN noting that the word three contained 5 letters and the word four contains four letters, and that 5 + 4 = 9
 

1
9

9

1

+
=

20
2+0
=
2


2
ADD




9

9



+
=

18

1+8
=
9



TO



1




1



2






REDUCE




1+0




1+0














10




10















1+9





1+9














19
9

9

19

+
=
56
5+6
=
11

1+1
=
1


O

S
I
R
I
U
S














19
9
18
9
21
19

+
=
95
9+5

14

1+4
=
5
REDUCE




1+9


1+8


2+1

1+9










TO



10

9

3
10

+
=

32
3+2

5


5
DEDUCE




1+0





1+0














1




1

+
=
2


2


2




1
9
9
9
3
1

+
=

32
3+2

5


5
FIVE
5


S
I
R
I
U
S













 
1
9
9
9
3
1

+
=
32

3+2
=
5






S
I
R
I
U
S










CONVERT



9

9



+
=
18

1+8
=
9


9



1
9

9

1













1+0




1+0













10
9
9
9
3
10

+
=
50
5+0
=
5







1+9


1+8

2+1

1+9













19
9
18
9
21
19

+
=

95

9+5
=
14
1+4
=
5
ADD


S
I
R
I
U
S














9
9
9



+
=
27
2+7
=
9


9























9
9
9



+
=
27
2+7
=
9





O
S
I
R
I
S













15
19
9
18
9
19


+
=
89
8+9
=

17

1+ 7
=
8
REDUCE


1+5
1+9


1+8


1+9













6
10

9

10


+
=
35
3+5
=
8






1+0



1+0














1



1















9
9




+
=









6
1
9
9
9
1


+
=
35
3+5
=
8


8

DEDUCE
8
O
S
I
R
I
S











EIGHT


 



















1
9
9
9
3
1













19
9
18
9
21

19

+
=
95
9+5
=
14
1+4
=
5



S
I
R
I
U

S
































1
9
9
9
3
1

+
=

32

3+2
=
5





6
1
9
9
9
1


+
=

35



























O
S
I
R
I
S













15
19
9
18
9
19


+
=
89
8+9
=

17

1+ 7
=
8


6
1
9
9
9
1


+
=
35
3+5
=
8












































19
9
18
9
21
19

+
=
95









S
I
R
I
U
S













1
9
9
9
3
1

+
=





























1
9
9
9
1













O
S
I
R
I
S













15
19
9
18
9
19


+
=
89
8+9
=

17

1+ 7
=
8


O
S
I
R
I
S















9
18
9
19















I
R
I
S















9
18
9
19















9
9
9
1















I
R
I
S
































O
S
I
R
I
S















9

9
















I
S
I
S















9
19
9
19















9
1
9
1














The scribe seeks the sequence of the NINE


 


O
R
I
O
N





9
9





S
I
R
I
U
S



9
9
9
9


9












9
9
9




O
S
I
R
I
S




9
9
9
9
9













I
R
I
S





9
9
9
9













I
S
I
S





9
9
9
9




 

I
S
I
S







DISTILLED


S
I
R
I
U
S





ESSENCE



I
R
I
S






OF

O
S
I
R
I
S






NUMBER

6

9











O
R
I
O
N









15
18
9
15
14

+
=
71

7+1
=
8


1+5
1+8

1+5
1+4









6
9

6
5

+
=
26

2+6
=
8




9




=
NINE





6
9
9
6
5

+
=
35

3+5
=
8
EIGHT
8


 

6


9
6










9






=
9


=



1+8












18













9





=
9




6



6
5


+
=
17
1+7
=



1+5




1+5


1+4








15



15
14


+
=





O
R
I
O
N




















O
R
I
O
N








15
18
9
15
14


+
=
72


7+2
=
9
1+5
1+8


1+5
1+4








6
9


6
5


+
=
26


2+6
=
8



9





=
NINE




6
9
9
6
5


+
=
27


2+7
=
9

 
9

19
19
9
18
9
21
19
9
18
9
19
9
19
15
19
9
18
9
19

I
S
S
I
R
I
U
S
I
R
I
S
I
S
O
S
I
R
I
S
?
9
1
1
9
9
9
3
1
9
9
9
1
9
1

6
1
9
9
9
1























 

Seeking in unison the good brothers continued on their mesmerizing way 
   
KEEPER OF GENESIS
Robert Bauval Graham Hancock 1996


Page 241 /

 Other passages from the Pyramid Texts support this general analysis:
0 Horus, this King is Osiris, this Pyramid of the king is Osiris, this
construction of his is Osiris, betake yourself to it. . .7
Awake [Osiris] for Horus. . . spiritualize yourself [i.e. become
an astral being] . . . May a stairway to the sky be set up for you to the
Place Where Orion Is . . .8
Live, be alive, be young. . . beside Orion in the sky. . .9
O Osiris-King, you are this great star, the companion of Orion, who
traverses the sky with Orion, who 'sails' in the Duat with Osiris. . .10

 

Link-up

Strangely, despite the obvious sky-ground dualism and profoundly astronomical 'flavour' of the Texts, no scholar other than Jane B. Sellers11 has ever given serious consideration to the possibility that references to the 'Unification' of the 'Upper' and 'Lower' Kingdoms of Osiris might have something to do with astronomy. Indeed the only Egyptologist even to get close to such an unorthodox way of thinking was Selim Hassan when he observed: 'the Egyptians held the idea of the existence of more than one sky, possibly superimposed. . . Certain lines in the Pyramid Texts strongly suggest that "Upper" and "Lower" Egypt each had its own particular sky. . . i.e. the two skies in opposition to the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt.' 12
In his monumental study of ancient Egyptian cosmology, Hassan also drew attention to an intriguing papyrus, now kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris,13 which suggests that the 'Two Skies' in question were considered as being 'one for the earth and the other for the Duat,14 'These plural skies', wrote Hassan, 'were superimposed one above the other.' 15
Pursuing such lines of thought, we were to discover that similar ideas are depicted in the Coffin Texts. Tht:re reference is made to the 'Upper' and 'Lower' landscapes which are said to be bound to the 'Two Horizons' - one in the east (the sky) and one in the west (the earth i.e. the Memphite necropolis16): 'Open! 0 Sky and Earth, 0 eastern and western Horizons, open you chapels of Upper and Lower Egypt. . .' 17

 / Page 242 /

The language of all these texts is exotic, laden with the dualistic thinking that lay at the heart of ancient Egyptian society and that may have been the engine of its greatest achievements. In the Pyramid Age, as we have seen, the gigantic 'image' of Osiris appears to have been physically defined on the ground with the creation of the 'Lower' landscape of the Memphite Pyramids - a development referred to in the Pyramid Texts by means of the obvious metaphor 'When his name became Sokar'. Likewise, it should come as no surprise that the gigantic celestial 'image' of Osiris in the sky is referred to in the same texts by means of the same metaphorical device, i.e. 'When his name became Orion': 'Horus comes, Thoth appears. . . They raise Osiris from upon his side and make him stand up . . . when there came into being this his name of Orion, long of leg and lengthy of stride, who presides over "Upper" Egypt. . . Raise yourself, O Osiris. . . the Sky is given to you, the earth is given to you. . .' 18 Selim Hassan, again

/ Page 243 /

almost but not quite getting the point, comments as follows: 'this line shows that Osiris was given the dominion of heaven and earth.'19
Yet clearly there is more to say. These 'dominions' were by no means vague and general but were defined in the sky by the pattern of Orion's stars, and were defined on the ground -in the land of 'Sokar' (i.e the Memphite necropolis) - by the pattern of the Pyramids.
We wonder whether the first major 'station' of the quest -journey of the Horus-King, reached after he had been prompted to 'find the astral body of Osiris', might not have been the initiate's dawning awareness that the body in question was a duality that could only be approached by linking Orion with the pattern of the Great Pyramids in the Memphite necropolis.  

Riding the vernal point

The reader will remember that the starting point of the Horus-King's 'journey in the sky' was when the sun's position along the zodiac (during the solar year) was close to the Hyades, at the 'head' of the constellation of Taurus, standing, as it were, on the banks of the Milky Way.
If we now transpose this sky image to the ground then the Horus-King would have to place himself near the 'Bent' and the 'Red' Pyramids of Dahshur some 20 miles south of Giza (but nevertheless still very much part of the extensive Memphite necropolis). As we saw in the last chapter, the trigger for the construction of these two Fourth-Dynasty monuments appears to have been the slow preces-sional drift of the vernal point into the Hyades-Taurus region of the sky in the third millennium DC. Indeed it is more than possible that by building those Pyramids (which map the two brightest stars in the Hyades) Pharaoh Sneferu (2575-2551 DC) was deliberately laying down a marker for the position of the vernal point in his epoch.
If he was doing that, as all the evidence seems to suggest, then it is probable that such a highly initiated Horus-King would also have known that by metaphorically 'boarding' the solar bark at the spring equinox, and crossing the Milky Way, he would effectively be 'sailing back in time' - against the flow of precession - riding the vernal point towards the distant constellation of Leo.

/ Page 244 /

 But why, then, all this parallel emphasis in the texts on Orion - Osiris moving from somewhere in the distant 'south' to his final resting place in the Memphite necropolis?

 

 

 

 

Secret spell

We suspect that for thousands of years before the Pyramid Age, hundreds of generations of Heliopolitan astronomer-priests had kept the constellation of Orion continuously under observation, paying particular attention to its place of meridian-transit - i.e. the altitude above the horizon at which it crossed the celestial meridian. We think that careful records were kept, perhaps written, perhaps orally encoded in the ancient 'mythological' language of precessional astronomy.20 And we suppose that note was taken of Orion's slow precessional drift - the effect of which was that the constellation would have seemed to be slowly drifting northwards along the west 'bank' of the Milky Way.
It is our hypothesis that the mythical image of the vast body of Osiris slowly being carried to the north, i.e. 'drifting' on the waters of the Nile, is a specific piece of astronomical terminology coined to describe the long-term changes being effected by precession in Orion's celestial 'address'. In the Memphite Theology, as the reader will recall, this drift was depicted as having commenced in the south, symbolically called Abydos (in archaeological terms the most southerly 'shrine' of Osiris), and to have carried the 'body' of the dead god to a point in the north symbolically called Sokar, i.e. the Memphite necropolis (the most northerly 'shrine' of Osiris). As we saw in Part III, the Shabaka Texts tell us that when he reached this point:
Osiris was drowned in his water. Isis and Nepthys looked out, beheld him, and attended to him. Horus quickly commanded Isis and Nepthys to grasp Osiris and prevent his [submerging]. They heeded in time and brought him to land. He entered the hidden portals in the glory of the Lords of Eternity. Thus Osiris came into the earth at the Royal Fortress [Memphis], to the north of the land to which he had come [Abydos] 21

 / Page 245 /

In the light of what we now know it is hard to imagine that the reference to Osiris coming 'into the earth' (or down to earth?) could signify anything other than the physical construction of the 'body of Osiris on the ground' on the west banks of the Nile - in the form of the great Pyramid-fields of the sprawling Memphite necropolis. Since Osiris is Orion the desire to achieve such an effect would more than adequately explain why the three Pyramids of Giza should have been arranged in the pattern of the three stars of Orion's belt. Moreover, since we know that the stated goal of the Horus-King's quest was not onfy to find the astral 'body' of Osiris but to find it as it was in the 'First Time', we should not be surprised by the fact that the Pyramids, as we saw in Part I, are set out on the ground in the pattern

/ Page 246 /

that they made at the beginning (i.e. 'southernmost point') of that constellation's upward (i.e. 'northerly') precessional half-cycle.
So we wonder whether it is possible that the quest of the Horus- King might have had as its ultimate objective the acquisition of knowledge concerning the 'First Time' - perhaps even the acquisition of specific knowledgefrom that remote epoch when the gods had walked the earth?
Several passages in the Pyramid Texts invite such speculation. For example, we are told that the Horus-King must 'travel upstream' i.e. must push against the natural drift of 'time' - in order to reach
Orion-Osiris in his proper 'First Time' setting:
Betake yourself to the Waterway, fare upstream [south], travel about Abydos in this spirit-form of yours which the gods command to belong to you; may a stairway [road] to the Duat be set up for you to the Place Where Orion Is . . .22
They have found Osiris... 'When his name became Sokar' [Memphite necropolis] . . . Wake up [Osiris] for Horus. .. raise yourself. . . fare southward [upstream] to the lake, cross over the sea [sky], for you are he who stands untiring in the midst of Abydos . . 23 Betake yourself to the Waterway, fare upstream... traverse Abydos. The celestial portal to the Horizon is open to you. . . may you remove yourself to the sky, for the roads of the celestial expanses which lead up to Horus are cleaned for you. . . for you have traversed the Winding Waterway [Milky Way] which is in the north of the sky as a star crossing the sea which is beneath the sky. The Duat has grasped your hand at the Place Where Orion Is . . 24
Likewise there is a striking passage in the Coffin Texts which refers to some secret 'spell' or formula to allow the deceased to use the 'path of Rostau' on the land and in the sky (i.e. the path to the Giza necropolis on land and to Orion's belt in the sky) in order to 'go down to any sky he wishes to go down to':
I have passed on the path of Rostau, whether on water or on land, and these are the paths of Osiris [Orion], they are in the limit of the sky. As for him who knows the spell [formula] for going down into them, he himself is a god in the suite of Thoth [meaning he is as wise as Thoth, 'the controller of the stars,l [and] he will go down to any sky he wishes to go down to . . 26
The two Brothers, in free wheelin' mode, continue apace.

Page 245

"...Moreover, since we know that the stated goal of the Horus-King's quest was not onfy to find the astral 'body' of Osiris but to find it as it was in the 'First Time',..."