Egypt 15: Luxor Temple II

Notice the crowds.  The Luxor Temple was packed even at 8pm.  We're looking at the Hypostyle Hall, number 6 in the diagram below, from the back facing forward.

When Schwaller de Lubicz began studying this temple, he was looking for proof that the ancient Egyptians had consciously used the golden section and understood the laws of harmony and proportion.

  As West relates, "It was not long before Schwaller de Lubicz found the proof he was looking for.  But detailed study of his evidence soon convinced him that the subtlety of the temple's proportional scheme meant that the Egyptians possessed a far more sophisticated and coherent mathematics than even he had supposed."

Standing in the middle of the Peristyle Court of Amenhotep III, number 5 in the diagram below, looking back.

(The laws of harmony include knowledge of the golden section and the Fibonacci series (0,1,1,2,3,5,8, where, after a two number seed, each number in the series is comprised of the sum of the two numbers before it.).  Other scholars, notably Michael Schneider, have studied Egyptian art in great detail and found the golden section used throughout.)

"One conclusion led to another, and over the course of his fifteen ears of research, Schwaller de Lubicz was able to demonstrate the manner in which this mathematical understanding served as the underpinning for a vast, integrated philosophical/religious system that he called the Sacred Science."

The Hypostyle Hall, number 6 in the diagram, looking towards the back of the temple.

As time went on, it slowly dawned that the ancients had indeed designed this amazing place around the classical proportions of Man.

In order to test his hypothesis, he needed to learn all about human biometrics and proportions then relate those to the proportions of the temple.  But, after superimposing the proportions of a classically sized man over the temple, he was rewarded with astonishing finds. 

Four our purposes of discussion, please attempt to visualize the head being from number 9 above, to the top.  The neck, number 8.  The rib cage, spine and pelvic from 5-7.  The femur number 4.  The tibia, or shin bone, number 2 and the foot the thickness of the great pylon before 1.

The top of a papyrus column. 

As West relates, "At the site of the umbilical cord, (Schwaller de Lubicz found) an inscription on the archive between two columns announcing that here takes place the birth, growth and coronation of the king.

"At the mouth are written the names of the the nine 'Gods' that created the world...At the site of the thyroid gland, which controls growth, there are scenes of childbirth and nursing.  Under the chin, at the vocal chords, the king is baptized and given his name." 

At the point where the sex organs would be one finds a huge Amon with a very out sized and erect phallus.  In astrology, lungs are associated with the moon.  So, in the Hypostyle Hall, number 6 in the diagram, one finds moon symbolism.  Indeed, nearly every part of the body had corresponding symbolism in this temple.  

While the symbolism throughout the temple is very complex, in the Hall of Twelve columns, the chamber directly above number 9 in the diagram, it is especially so.  But, as West says, "certain salient symbolic details illustrate the overall intent.  The rising sun represents unity, the west and setting sun duality.  The fluting on the columns registers the concept symbolically. 

"The eastern columns have semicircular flutings, that is, constructed upon a single (circular) center; (As behind Melony, above)  the columns on the west have ogival flutings; it takes two points of reference to construct the ogive.  The difference is almost unobservable to the naked eye, but apparent to the touch." 

I indeed ran my fingers across a fluting on both sides and, sure enough, one was perfectly round, the other had a point, easily felt but nearly invisible to see.   Talk about subtle.  And, we're only scratching the surface of what's in this chamber.

(Sorry, I'm not sure where this was taken.)

Schwaller de Lubicz found musical proportions built into the temple, the statuary and reliefs.  He found that the temple had literally been built from 'a seed'.  It started out with the covered part, numbers 8 and 9 above, and was enlarged over a period of 1,500 years.  So, Ramsis II may have been an ego maniac, but he built his part of this temple according to a now lost ancient plan, which is another reason why I cannot bring myself to believe the battle of Kadesh was ever intended to be taken literally.

I haven't given you any specific evidence to support support all of this theory, yet.  So, at the risk of boring you with details, please hang in there with me as we look at what I consider to be a wonderful example which shows the subtly of symbolism with which this temple was designed and constructed.

This is a diagram of the holy of holies, at the very top of the schematic.  These chambers open into the hall of perception mentioned above.  (The one directly above number 9 in the schematic.)

The center of these three chambers represents the holy of holies, roughly equivalent to the alter in a catholic church.  (Sadly, I don't have a photograph of that chamber.) There is much symbolism in the choice of three chambers, which I will address in later posts. 

For now, notice that, from the temple's centerline, the dimensions of all the different rooms define, using Pythagoras' theorem in a very subtle way, the square roots of two, three, four, and five.  For the mathematicians out there, the depth of the chambers all have a relative dimension of 1. 

The square roots of two, three and five have huge symbolic significance to the ancient Egyptians.  Not only that, the central chamber is "proportioned exactly 8:9, that is to say the ratio of the first musical note of the octave."

Standing in the Court of Ramesses II, number 2 in the diagram, looking back.

Not bad for a bunch of primitives who supposedly didn't know about Pythagoras' theorem or higher mathematics, yet.

It's common knowledge, of course, that Pythagoras studied for years in Egypt before returning to Greece to establish his mystery school. 

Academics claim that all of these dimensions are mere coincidence.  They say this because no architectural treatise has ever been found with temple plans, showing the actual use of, say, Pythagoras' theorem.   So, surely, they claim, the Greeks must have discovered it.  Yet, the Greeks almost to a person claim that the Egyptians stood a hundred feet tall before them.   

We found this beauty in front of the temple.  I encourage you to study it for a moment.  Then, attempt to convince yourself that whoever designed and carved this masterpiece was ignorant of the laws of proportion and harmony.  I've tried.  I simply can't get there from here. 

I apologize for making this post heavy on text and theory.  Next time I'll get off my soapbox and we'll finish with the The Luxor Temple, or as Schwaller de Lubicz calls it, the Temple of Man.

Continue on to Post 16: Luxor Temple III by clicking here.