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Chapter 16 The fourth weird device-3

My research has convinced me that the ancient Egyptians may have had some advanced secret knowledge that Moses may have used to create the Ark of the Covenant. But where did this knowledge come from? I already knew that the ancient Egyptians provided a simple answer to this question, but it referred to supernatural beings.All the relevant records I have studied clearly say that the knowledge was transmitted to mankind by Thoth, the moon god.Sous is the god of time, in charge of allocating time, the clerk of the heavens, and the supervisor of personal luck.Soth also invented writing, created all wisdom, and is the patron saint of magic.

On the walls of Egyptian temples and tombs, Thoth is often depicted as an ibis, or a man with the head of an ibis.On a few occasions, he is depicted as a whisk.All of Egypt worshiped Shoth as the true moon god.In some accounts, Thoth is seen as the moon itself; in others, he is seen as the guardian deity of the moon, responsible for ensuring the normal movement and waxing and waning of the moon in the sky.This ability of Soth represents a kind of adjustment power of the heaven, that is, it can perform all calculations and markings of the heaven.It was with this ability that South measured time and divided it into months (he named the first month after himself).

However, South is said to be capable of much more than calibrating seasons.In the priesthood of the holy city of Hermopolis in Upper Egypt, there is a widely popular teaching, which says that Thoth, the creator of the universe, created the world with only his own voice, and created it with only one spell. world. The Egyptians believed that Thoth knew "all the mysteries hidden under the heavens" and believed that he could impart wisdom to certain selected people.It is said that he wrote the basic principles of his secret knowledge into 36,535 scriptures, and hid them all over the world for people of later generations to find, but only those "worthy" can find them, and these people will use them to find them. discoveries benefiting mankind.

Thoth was later regarded by the Greeks as their own god Hermes, but Thoth was in fact a central figure in countless ancient Egyptian legends, dating back to the most distant antiquity and extending to the unfathomable past. I understand that no scholar can really tell how old this moon god was, or even when and where the worship of Thoth began.The god Thoth already existed at the beginning of Egyptian civilization.Not only that, during the 3,000-year dynastic period, the Egyptians always believed that Sous had some very special qualities and could benefit mankind, so they worshiped him very much.For example, Soth is said to have invented painting, hieroglyphs, and all sciences, especially architecture, mathematics, surveying, and geometry.Astronomy, Medicine and Surgery.The Egyptians also regarded him as the most powerful magician, omniscient and omnipotent.

Thorth is revered as the author of a large number of terrible magical books, and the priests of Hermopolis city regard these books as the basis for understanding this arcane art.Not only that, it is said that all the chapters of the famous "Book of the Dead" were also written by Soth, and almost all the sacred books that are strictly guarded are also written by Soth.In short, the Egyptians believed that Soth controlled the mysterious knowledge in the dark, so they called him the "mysterious" and "unknown" God Soth. The ancient Egyptians believed very strongly that their first rulers were gods.Not surprisingly, Thoth is one of these god-kings.He is said to have reigned on Earth for 3,226 years, during which time he passed on to mankind his greatest and most beneficial inventions.

The ancient Egyptians believed that before Thoth they were ruled by another god, Osiris.Osiris is also closely related to the moon (as well as the numbers 7, 14, 28, since they are actual numbers related to the movement of the moon).In some paintings, Osiris and Thoth are quite different in appearance, though I can attest that they are similar or related to each other (some scriptures also refer to them as brothers).Some papyri and inscriptions go even further, referring to them as the same god, or at least performing the same function. They often appear together in the celestial "Hall of Judgment", where the souls of the dead are weighed on the "Great Scales".Osiris is the judge and final arbiter here, and his status often appears to be higher than that of Soth; while Soth is just a recorder, responsible for recording the verdict.However, on many panels of the Book of the Dead, this relationship is reversed.The same is true of a large illustration page from a New Kingdom burial papyrus at Thebes.In this illustration, Osiris sits passively aside, recording and reading the sentence issued by Soth.That is to say, Thoth and Osiris are not only the god of the moon and the god of death (and the two may be brothers), but they are also the lawgiver and judge.

While I discovered these similarities with great interest during my investigation, I did not at first see any connection between them and the Ark of the Covenant I was after.Then it occurred to me that there was an unalterable bond between the two gods, which also conceptually linked them to Moses and his whole deed: like Moses, the two gods were first and foremost Both are heroes who spread civilization, and they also bestow upon their followers the benefits and prosperity of religion, law, and social order. We also remember that Thoth invented writing and science and brought them and many other wonders of enlightenment to the world to improve and heighten Egyptian civilization.Likewise, Egyptians generally believed that Osiris played a key role in the evolution of Egyptian society.

When Osiris began his reign on earth as god-king, the country of Egypt was still barbaric, crude, and uncultured, and the Egyptians themselves were barbarians.However, when Osiris returned to heaven from Egypt, he left behind an advanced and highly civilized country.He made a lot of contributions to Egypt, including teaching the Egyptians to reclaim the land, grow grain and barley, grow grapes, teach them to worship the gods, and ask them to abandon their former barbaric customs.He also made a law for the Egyptians. Such legends may of course be fabricated.However, thinking about the problem from a speculative point of view, I still can't help wondering whether there is some pure fantasy and fantasy behind the legend that Egypt became a great country because of the benefits of Thoth and Osiris. What about something other than rumors?I thought, wouldn't this all-knowing and omnipotent moon god be some kind of mythical version of the historical truth?Would it not be a metaphor for some real person or group who in ancient times brought the bounty of civilization and science to a primitive land?

Disseminator of civilization I might have given up the above idea if I had not heard shortly afterwards that there was still a great mystery, one that no one had ever given a definite answer to. In fact, Egyptian civilization did not go through a period of slow and painful development, as one might expect, but seemed to spring up and be fully developed.No matter how we measure it, the period of transition from primitive society to advanced society is so short that it cannot be called a "historical stage".Technologies that should have taken hundreds or even thousands of years to develop appear almost overnight, seemingly without any preconditions.

For example, there are no signs of writing at all in the Predynastic remains from 3600 BC.Later, hieroglyphics were discovered in many ruins of ancient Egypt, which came very suddenly and could not be explained.Not only that, but these hieroglyphs are extremely complete—these written symbols are by no means simple pictures depicting objects and actions, but have a complex structural system, including phonetic symbols and a detailed number symbol system.Even the earliest pictographs were stylized, stylized symbols.In addition, there is a clear historical fact: by the beginning of the First Dynasty, the Egyptians were already using an advanced cursive script.

What astonishes me in all this is that there is absolutely no trace of transition from simple to complex pictographs.The same is true of the development of mathematics, medicine, astronomy and architecture of the ancient Egyptians.In addition, the religious-mythological system of the Egyptians is astonishingly rich and intricate, but it seems that they all developed overnight. Even books as sophisticated as the "Book of the Dead" existed as early as the beginning of the dynasty. It is a pity that there is no space here to list all (or even some) of the materials to prove that Egyptian civilization emerged suddenly.However, to summarize the point briefly, I shall quote an authoritative insight from Professor Walter Emory, who was Professor of Egyptology at the University of London during his lifetime: During that period, around 3400 BC, Egypt underwent dramatic changes. From a state of Neolithic culture with complex tribal features, the country suddenly developed into a well-organized monarchy.  … Simultaneously, written writing emerged, and monumental architecture and crafts developed astonishingly.All of this evidence points to the existence of a rich and thriving civilization.All this was accomplished in a relatively short period of time, for these major developments in the written word and in architecture seem to have had little or no background at all. I think one explanation for this phenomenon is that the sudden prosperity of Egyptian culture came from a known civilization in the ancient world, Sumeria. The Sumerian civilization was located in the lower reaches of the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia and was most likely the transmitter of the Egyptian civilization.Moreover, despite the many differences between the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations, I can attest to a number of similarities in architectural styles that suggest a connection between the two places. However, these similarities are not enough to lead me to conclude that this link actually indicates a causal relationship, that is, one society directly affects the other.On the contrary, as Professor Emory points out: Our view is that the connection between these two civilizations was indirect, and that perhaps there existed a third civilization whose influence spread as far as the Euphrates as well as the Nile... Modern scholars often fail to see a possibility nature, that is, a hypothetical, as-yet-undiscovered area may migrate to the above two areas. (However) the best explanation for the common features and significant differences between Egyptian and Suguanrian civilizations is that a third civilization spread its cultural achievements to Egypt and Mesopotamia respectively. I think this theory explains a seemingly mysterious historical fact: the Egyptians and the Sumerians in Mesopotamia actually worshiped the same moon god, and in their respective pantheons, the moon god belonged to The oldest gods. Just like the god of Sous, the Sumerian moon god "Sin" (Sin) is also in charge of the function of dividing time - "When the moon begins to shine on the earth, you should show two horns to mark six days. Seventh Divide your plate in two on that day. On the fourteenth day you shall reveal your whole face." (This is the command of Marduk, the main god of Mesopotamian mythology, to Sin, the moon god, on the day of creation, see. "New Larose Encyclopedia of Mythology" p. 57 - author's note) Also like the god Thoth, "Sin" is also regarded as omniscient and omnipotent.At the end of each month, the other gods in the Sumerian theogony came to Sin to make decisions for them. This correspondence between "Sin" and South is more than mere coincidence, and I'm not alone in realizing it intuitively.The eminent Egyptologist Sir E. A. Wallis Butch also noted: The resemblance between these two gods is too great to be accidental... It would be wrong to say that the Egyptians borrowed their moon god from the Sumerians, or vice versa, but we can speculate that the two The peoples of each region have derived their theological systems from some very distant common source. So the question is: what is that "extremely distant common source"?Where exactly is that "supposed, undiscovered region"?What exactly is that advanced "third civilization" that Butch and Emmorezo speak of? I was dismayed to find that neither of these two authorities was prepared to draw further inferences, although they had engaged in probing.Emory does, however, hint at the location of (what he considers) the cradle of Egyptian civilization.To this.He said cautiously: "A large area along the Middle East, the Red Sea and the coast of East Africa has yet to be explored by archaeologists." I believe that if Egypt received the gifts of civilization and science from elsewhere, this great exchange must have been recorded.The apotheosis of the two great civilization disseminators, Sous and Osiris, is some kind of proof-although the legends about these two gods appear in the form of myths, in my opinion, they are more like being Echoes of long-forgotten real historical events. I felt, however, that I needed something more substantial, both a clear and irrefutable proof that Egyptian civilization was indeed bequeathed by an advanced society, and an explanation of how that society disappeared. I did find one such narrative, the familiar story of the lost continent of Atlantis (Atlantis).In recent years, the story has been disfigured by wild speculation.As a result, it would be professional suicide for any scholar to even attempt to take it seriously, let alone conduct normal research on it.However, stripping away all the "truly happy" (New Age) nonsense on the surface of this story, I was amazed to see a significant fact: the earliest surviving record of the existence of the continent of Atlantis, the From the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Plato is one of the founders of Western rational thought. He always believed that his account of Atlantis was "not a fiction, but a real history" (Plato: "Themes and Other Comments", Penguin Classics Series, London Edition 1977, p. 39).Not only that, but Plato also wrote in the early 4th century AD that his account of Atlantis was based on an Egyptian priest who told of the destruction of human civilization by great floods again and again.Referring to the Greeks, he said: Your minds are too young...you don't have the knowledge of the ages. (But) our legends are the oldest here... From time immemorial, our temples have kept a written record of the great achievements we have heard about, of famous events, whether they Whether it appears in the place where you live, or in other places, it has everything.As for you and other people, writing, and other inevitable products of civilization, they developed only after the periodic flood receded.The great flood swallowed everything, and only the illiterate and uneducated could survive.Therefore, you have to start all over again like children.You know nothing of what happened to us, what happened earlier to yourselves.The priest went on to say that thousands of years ago, Across that strait which you call the Pillars of Hercules is an island larger than Libya and Asia Minor put together.Back then, travelers could go from that island to other islands, and from those islands they could go to the opposite continent, which was surrounded by a real ocean.On this island of Atlantis, there was a mighty and extraordinary dynasty ruled by kings...their riches were greater than any previous dynasty, and none that came after.They have everything you need.Their national power is strong, so although they import a lot of things, the island can already meet most of their needs.The island is rich in mineral deposits, which can be mined for ores and metals.Several places on the island are rich in deposits of a metal which we know only today by name, orichalc, which was at that time the second most precious metal after gold.The island has an abundance of timber for construction, as well as a variety of wild and domestic animals, including many elephants.This animal is the largest and the best eater, and there is plenty of food for them on the island, as well as enough for the other animals.They live in swamps, wetlands, rivers, mountains and plains.In addition to all this, the island was rich in any spices that are available today...and there were crops...and fruit trees...all from that holy island, when it was still in the sun, and its produce abundant. (Plato: Themes and Other Commentaries, pp. 35-38, 137, 138) However, this paradise has not been bathed in the sun for a long time.As punishment for the negligence and excessive display of material abundance of the inhabitants of the island, a "exceptionally violent earthquake and flood occurred shortly afterwards, and after only one terrible day and night, the island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea and disappeared. out" (op. cit., p. 38). My interest in this story is not its description of Atlantis itself.I also don't believe the location of the island it implies, which is "across the strait from the Pillars of Hercules".My own opinion, supported by a great deal of evidence from geographical investigation, is that there has never been such a land in the Atlantic Ocean, and those who keep trying to find it in the Atlantic Ocean are really completely delusional. However, I do see (and the authorities are reluctantly unanimous) that Plato's account must have some basis in fact.No doubt he has introduced many distortions and exaggerations of his own into the account, but nonetheless he is describing an event that actually happened, somewhere in the world, long, long ago.Moreover, I also saw the most significant point: Plato clearly stated that the memory of that event was preserved by the Egyptian priests and recorded in "the writings of the priests" (ibid., page 40). I think that if a similar memory has been preserved in Mesopotamia, it is much less likely to be pure coincidence.A far more plausible explanation is that the same cataclysm (wherever it occurred) left legends in both regions.So, I carefully studied those legends again.I had previously found a correspondence between the god Thoth and the Sumerian moon god "Sin" in it, so what I found there did not surprise me: the Sumerians were also like their contemporary Egyptians , not only worshiped a wise moon god, but also kept records of a great flood in ancient times, which destroyed a great, prosperous and powerful society. Therefore, as the research progressed, I gradually saw one point clearly: "Atlantis" indeed symbolizes that "presumed, undiscovered area", and the amazing Egyptian civilization and Sumerian civilization are both from there.As I have said, I do not believe that area is in the Atlantic Ocean, or even near it.On the contrary, I wholeheartedly agree with Professor Emorey that the area lies roughly between the Nile Delta and the lower Euphrates, perhaps on some lost warming sea level rise, the Maldives archipelago will be swallowed by the sea within the next 50 years); or in a large unexcavated coastal area of ​​the Horn of Africa; or in a flood-ravaged area of ​​​​the Indian subcontinent, like modern Bengal.Plato once mentioned that "Atlantis" had elephants, which makes the speculation about the above equatorial area more credible.For thousands of years, elephants lived only in Africa, India and Southeast Asia. The more I think along this line of thinking, the more I feel that it is indeed worth further investigation on these ideas.To fit my mind to the task, I wrote down the following speculations and hypotheses in a notebook: It is assumed that somewhere around the Indian Ocean basin, a technologically advanced society was wiped out by a great flood in the early or mid-4000 BC.Suppose it is a seaside society.Suppose some people survived the flood.Suppose some of them sailed to Egypt and Mesopotamia, landed there, and took up the mission of spreading civilization to the original inhabitants there. Above all, it is assumed that in Egypt the priestly legends of that "sacred science" (which Moses had learned as a child) were intended to preserve for posterity the skills and know-how imparted by those foreign settlers. In Egypt, these legends were linked from the beginning to the moon god Thoth (and in Mesopotamia to the moon god "Sin").Perhaps this is because the outsiders themselves worshiped the moon, or perhaps because they deliberately and calmly encouraged the natives to deify a thing that, although very striking and familiar, was still terrifying and mysterious. measured, similar to stars.After all, their purpose is to shape and guide the simple and barbaric thinking of the local people, so they created a kind of permanent belief that can survive for thousands of years, and use it as a carrier to carry their wisdom.Otherwise, that wisdom will be fragmented and easily forgotten.In this case, they chose a shining, monstrous moon god over someone more abstract, complex, less visible, less tangible, and it's easy to see why . In any case, once the cult of Shos was established in early Egypt, its priests learned and institutionalized the scientific and technological "know-how" brought by the outsiders.Therefore, a reasonable hypothesis can be put forward: Egypt at that time had begun a process of making itself eternal: wrapping the newly discovered valuable knowledge with some mysteries, and preventing outsiders from obtaining this knowledge with various ritual constraints, so as to rely on a An exclusive, secret tradition that keeps them passed down from generation to generation among enlightened beings. This knowledge certainly gave its possessor an unprecedented ability to control the physical world—at least, by the rudimentary standards of the naive culture that had dominated Egypt before the arrival of the outsiders.And the way in which this knowledge is expressed can also shock the layman (not least because of the awe-inspiring grandeur that was built).It is easy to understand, then, how belief in the Luna "invented" science and magic, and generally controlled the populace.Similarly, it is not difficult to understand why the priests of the moon god are regarded as masters of magic. "rescued from the water" In the course of my research I have found several pieces of evidence that seem to provide strong support for the core hypothesis I have listed above.That assumption is that belief in Thoth "carries" and preserves a secret tradition of knowledge and enlightenment.This tradition was started in the most remote past by some educated immigrants who survived the Great Flood.There's a very strong theme in this area, and it's very significant. Threads, I found, run through nearly all sacred texts and repeatedly associate wisdom and other qualities of civilized heroes with those individuals who were "rescued from the water." The first thing I found out was that the Egyptians believed that all their knowledge and science came from Thoth, and that he caused a great flood to punish the wickedness of mankind. Chapter 175 of "Book of the Dead" talks about this plot, in which it is said that Sous and Osiris jointly created the great flood.When humanity flourished again after the Flood, these two gods successively ruled over the earth.So when I read the legend of Osiris more carefully, I was very excited to find that he was "raised from the water". Plutarch (Plutarch, 46-120 AD, ancient Greek historian-translator's note) has done the fullest account of this ancient Egyptian legend.Osiris, he said, reformed his subjects, taught them various useful skills, gave them the first code of law, and then left Egypt to travel the world.Bring the blessings of civilization to other nations.He never compelled the barbarians he met to accept his laws, but persuaded them and awakened their reason.It is also recorded that Osiris taught the barbarians by reciting poems and singing to the accompaniment of musical instruments. But while Osiris was away in Egypt, 72 members of his court and his brother-in-law Set were plotting to overthrow him.When he returned to Egypt, the conspirators invited him to a banquet.At the banquet there was an exquisite gilded wooden box, and the conspirators said that it would be given as a reward to whoever could just lie down in it. How did Osiris know that the wooden box was made according to his figure.As a result, the guests attending the banquet tried to lie down in the wooden box one by one, but they all failed.When it was the turn of the god king, he lay down comfortably in the box.Before he could emerge from the inside, the conspirators rushed up, nailed the lid firmly, and sealed the cracks of the box with lead water to prevent the air from entering.Then they threw the box into the Nile.The wooden box floated on the river for some time, and finally stopped on the papyrus swamp in the east of the Nile Delta. At this time, Osiris' wife Essus intervened.With the help of the moon god Soth, Essus used all her powerful magic to find the wooden box.She found the wooden box and hid it in a secret place.However, her evil brother Seth was hunting by the swamp and found the place where the wooden box was hidden. He opened the wooden box, went into a rage, chopped Osiris' body into 14 pieces, and threw them into Egypt. everywhere. Essus set out again to "rescue" her husband.She made a boat out of papyrus, covered the outside with asphalt and tar, and took a boat to find her husband's broken body on the Nile.After finding them, she turned to South for help, and together they cast a powerful spell that reattached the dismembered corpses to their original state.From then on, Osiris remained intact and safe, and was resurrected to become the god of the dead and king of the underworld.According to legend, Osiris sometimes turned into a mortal and returned from the underworld to the underworld. There are three details in this legend that interest me the most: first, when Osiris ruled the earth, he was actually a propagator and legislator of civilization; second, he was put into a wooden box, thrown into the Nile; and thirdly, Essus went to rescue Osiris' body in a papyrus boat covered with pitch and tar. The resemblance of Moses' experience to that of Osiris cannot be overstated: Moses also became a great propagator and lawgiver of civilization; in a rush-box of asphalt and asphalt; he, too, was rescued by an Egyptian princess. Indeed, as recorded by the historian Josephus, the name "Moses" itself means "rescued from the water": "For the Egyptians called the water mou and the rescued eses; So they put those two words together as his name." Fei Yu, another great classical critic, also agrees with this etymological interpretation: "Because he was rescued from the water, the princess named him Moses accordingly, because Mou is the Egyptian word for means water." I asked myself, in Egypt, and perhaps in Mesopotamia, are there any records of other propagators of civilization who were "rescued from the water"? I read the ancient chronicles and ancient legends, and found that there are many such characters.Such was the case with Aurus (Horns), son of Essus and Osiris, who was murdered by the Titans and thrown into the Nile.Essus rescued him and magically brought him back to life.Aurus later learned "medicine and prophecy, and used them to benefit mankind" from Esses.So did Sargon the Great of Mesopotamia.His reign in the late 3rd millennium BC brought unprecedented wealth, splendor, and stability to Sumer and its surrounding regions.He once spoke very specifically about being rescued from the water: My mother was a priestess.I don't know who my father is.My mother conceived me and gave birth to me in secret.She put me in a reed box and sealed the lid with pitch.She put the box into a river, which was not very deep.The river took me away and gave me to Akki, who was in charge of offering the wine at the ceremony.Good Archie saw me and pulled me up from the river. (See pages 58-60 of The New Larose Encyclopedia of Mythology) I found that the theme of "saved by water" runs through very clearly in the "Old Testament".For example, the prophet Jonah fell into the sea during a storm, was swallowed alive by a large fish, spent three days in the belly of the fish, and was later "vomited on dry land" to preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh God's instruction, so that they change from evil to good (see "Old Testament Jonah" Chapter 2, Section 10 and Chapter 3, Section 2). The story of Noah is older and more familiar.He, his whole family and "two of every living thing of flesh and blood" escaped the primordial flood in a remarkable lifeboat.That boat, we know, was called an "ark" ("an ark of gopher wood...and smeared with resin").After the great flood receded, Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth heard God's command, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth", and they went to the world to reproduce human beings ( See "Old Testament Genesis" Chapter 6 and Chapter 9). However, by far the most famous biblical figure "rescued from the water" is Jesus Christ.Except for Moses, Jesus is the only person in the Gospel who is described as "powerful in word and deed" (see "New Testament Luke Gospel", Chapter 24, Section 19)-we know that this statement refers to Perform magic spells.The "rescue" mentioned here is not the real rescue out of the water, but a symbol, showing that Jesus was baptized in the water of the Jordan River.Jesus explained that this is absolutely necessary for salvation: "Unless a man is born of water... he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (New Testament John Chapter 3 Section 5) At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open, and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove.Another voice said from heaven: "You are my beloved Son, and I am pleased with you!" ("New Testament · Mark Gospel" Chapter 1 Verses 9-11) Pragmatic Christians mostly take this passage of Mark literally.Although I know this, I still can't help wondering: Is there a deep code behind these touching and beautiful words? It seems to me that what this passage describes, at least, is that Jesus gained enlightenment knowledge of a secret faith whose founder was "raised out of the water" thousands of years ago.Nay, I think it is no accident that Christ began to perform His miracles only after having this knowledge.The miracles performed by Christ include healing diseases, bringing the dead back to life, and multiplying the loaves and fishes (this refers to the 14th chapter of "New Testament Matthew" that Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes; Chapter 15 The chapter also records that Jesus fed 4,000 people with seven loaves and several fish——Translator’s Note) and calling wind and rain, etc., all of which immediately remind people: the ancient Egyptian high priests and mages were also well-trained, Can perform the same "spell". I weighed all the data I had gathered, and wrote in my notebook: The herald of civilization (or the great prophet, or the lawgiver, or the savior) was somehow rescued from the water" is a theme both in the Old and New Testaments as well as in Egyptian and Middle Eastern mythology .The theme is so frequent and coherent that it cannot be accidental. I'm not saying that the characters in question are all real survivors of that "supposed undiscovered region", all from that supposed technologically advanced society (which was probably the cradle of civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt) .In fact, only Noah and Osiris (and perhaps Aurus) belong to sufficiently remote prehistoric times to possibly belong to that region.But Sargon, Moses, Jonah, and Jesus (and many other important people in different places and times) were also "raised from the water"—either literally, or symbolically sexual.So I think what this recurring imagery is suggesting is actually a tradition of the characters holding a secret wisdom that began long ago, brought by the survivors of the Great Flood, who wanted to bring this life-and-death knowledge to them. and skills that would otherwise be quickly forgotten. In addition to those evidences that can be deduced from myths and legends, I found a more solid evidence in Egypt, which can support the theory of "rescue from the water".This evidence is that next to all the important tombs of pharaohs and nobles, and next to almost all pyramids, there are complete sea ships buried. 我知道,考古学家们迄今仍然把这个做法看作宗教仪礼,其依据就是那条年深日久的陈旧格言:"你若不理解某种特定的习俗,那么,最保险的办法就是把它归于宗教"。然而,我却逐步地看清了一点:用船只随葬的做法,其动机很可能不只是要在坟墓旁放置一个实物,"以象征一种运输工具,它能把已故国王的灵魂送到天堂的最后目的地"。 这方面的一个最典型的实例,就是埋在吉萨大金字塔南侧一个深坑里的一条散裂开的松木船。它现在已经被重新组合起来,放进了现场的一个特殊的博物馆里。这条木船是4500多年以前造的,现在依然完好。 我了解到,这艘大船的长度至少有142英尺,其排水量大约是40吨。它的结构特别有趣,因为(根据索尔·海耶达的内行观点)它具有"海船的全部典型特征,有上翘的船头和船尾,比北欧海盗船还要高,其作用是劈开海浪和波涛,而不是去对付尼罗河的小小涟漪"。另一位专家认为,大金字塔旁边这艘奇特的大船,其结构经过了审慎而巧妙的设计,而这将使它"成为一艘海船,胜过哥伦布能得到的任何海船"。其实,用这艘大船去做环球航海,那将毫无困难! 古埃及人极为擅长制作各种按比例缩小的模型,以服务于象征目的。因此我认为有个推测是十分可信的,那就是:如果古埃及人只是想象征把国王的灵魂带入天堂的那只精神之船,他们便不会如此煞费苦心,去制造一艘如此复杂的海船,再把它埋起来。做一个小得多的模型船,也能达到同样的目的。何况我还得知,最近在吉萨的考察已经表明那里还有一艘大船,也在大金字塔南侧,也被埋在深坑里。 现在人们已经知道,大金字塔东侧还有三个在岩石上凿出的深坑;(现在已空)。一位观点素来正统的考古学家极为大胆地承认:"很难解释古埃及人为什么认为必须挖出这么多埋船的深坑。"可以想见,他又回到了困惑学者们的那个现成结论上,宣布说:"显然,它们的存在必定是某种宗教目的所要求的,它关系到国王的来生。"(A小斯本塞:《大金字塔》,1989年伦敦版) 然而,我弄不清楚的却正是这一点,尤其是因为(像本书前一章所说)大金字塔内没有发现任何法老的木乃伊。何况,在埃及发现的最早的墓葬船,其年代还属于一个神秘莫测的时期,即第一王朝开始前的时期,当时,尼罗河谷地的文明和技术发生了突如其来、无法解释的巨变。因此,我很难拒绝一个结论:船只随葬这种奇异的做法很可能关系至卜个已被证实的传统,即"自水中救起",而绝不是纯粹的宗教象征手法。 我想到,坚固的海船对一群异乡人来说是无比重要的,他们是一场大洪水的幸存者,他们从灾难的发生地逃出来,在埃及落脚。他们(或者在他们之后到达埃及的人)相信,有朝一日还会需要那些被埋起来的大船,但并不是为了让灵魂复生,像愉快的天界远行者那样在天堂航行,而是为了让下一次可怕大洪水的幸存者逃生。 秘密地点的隐秘财富 古埃及真正堪称伟大的成就,全都是在早期出现的。埃及文明的鼎盛时期大约是从第三王朝到第五王朝,即大约从公元前2900年到公元前2300年。那个时期以后,埃及文明虽然也在逐步发展并出现了几次引人注目的复兴,但其总体趋势却是逐步衰落——许多学者都赞成这个判断。 我认为,这种状况完全符合一个理论,即公元前4000年,文明从某个技术先进却尚未确定的地区传到了尼罗河谷地。我们毕竟不能认为,那些外来定居者一到那里,他们带来的文化就会立即产生出最完备的表现形式;毫无疑问,当时的文化必定出现过一个大飞跃,但其最充分的发展却一直要到本地人学会了新技术时才会实现。 埃及的情况似乎正是这样。就在第一王朝开始以前(可能在公元前3400年),文字、数学、医学、天文学和一种复杂的宗教全都突然出现了。我们已经说过,没有任何证据表明这些领域经过了一番演进。同时,埃及人还在建造高度复杂的纪念碑式建筑群和陵墓,其中渗透着先进的建筑理念——同样,这些领域也没有经历过任何进化阶段。第一王朝和第二王朝(约公元前3300年以后)的纪念碑建筑更加复杂,体现了建筑师日益增长的自信心,体现了到达埃及的那些新技术、新知识的气魄。现代许多学者都认为,这种日臻精美卓越的潮流,其最高的表现就是佐泽法老(第三王朝的第一代国王)墓葬群的那些非凡的石头建筑。 我在1989年和1990年参观过这个墓葬群。它的主要建筑是一座高耸的六阶金字塔,塔高197英尺,位于开罗以南的萨卡拉。整个墓葬群坐落在一个长方形区域内,长2000英尺,宽1000英尺,当初还有一道巨石围墙,现在还留着它的几处残垣。墓葬群的其他建筑还包括一个宽敞的柱廊,里面有40根石柱,还有一个优雅的庭院,以及无数的壁龛、庙宇和外环建筑。所有的建筑虽然规模宏大,但线条清晰,十分细腻。 我可以证明:在埃及的传说里,整个佐泽墓葬群的理念和设计都被看作来自一位独一无二的天才——建筑大师伊霍特普(Imhotep),他的另外一些称号还有智者、法师、建筑家、大祭司、天文学家和医生。我对这个传说人物的兴趣,是由于后人都非常推崇他的科学和魔法才能。像奥塞瑞斯一样,伊霍特普在这些领域的成就的确备受推崇,因此他也被埃及人尊为神明。在我看来,埃及人既然把佐泽金字塔这样绝无仅有的工程伟绩归功于伊霍特普,他就显然很可能属于索斯的同道:萨卡拉的那些纪念碑式建筑仿佛雄辩地表明,他掌握了索斯的秘密科学特有的技术秘诀,并且出色地把它们用于实践。 我兴奋地发现,在古埃及的碑文上,伊霍特普常被描述为"相貌酷似索斯",还被描述为索斯升天后"索斯的继承者"。 后来我还了解到一个意义更为重大的情况:在古代,摩西也时常被比作索斯。公元前2世纪的犹太籍希腊哲学家阿塔帕努斯(Artapanus)的一部著作里,通篇都是这样的比喻,作者认为先知摩西做出过一系列非凡的、明显属于"科学"的发明。 摩西和伊霍特普在历史上相距甚远,却通过对月神的信仰被清晰地联系在一起,这个事实使我震惊,使我把它当作了一个有力的背景证据,去说明不仅存在关于一种秘密学问的传说,而且这个传说还历久不衰。于是我便想,是否还有其他一些像伊霍特普这样的魔法师兼智者,他们也曾建造过格外复杂和先进的建筑呢? 遗憾的是,没有任何记载能指出谁是吉萨大金字塔的建造者。这座非凡的巨石建筑当然是第四王朝杰出成就的冠冕。在第四王朝时期,埃及的文明达到了顶点。正如一位权威指出的那样: 后来的法老们再也没有建造过如此规模巨大、完美无缺的金字塔。这种精湛的技艺扩展到了几乎所有的手工艺形式上。第四王朝的家具最雅致,亚麻布最精良,雕像最具表现力、也最完美无瑕……某些技巧(例如在雕像上嵌入眼球)已经达到了出神入化的水平。后来的那些王朝却只能生产出平庸的翻版,而那种知识最终也完全失传了。(J.A·韦斯特:《古代埃及》,第12页) 我只赞成以上评论的大部分观点。因为在我看来,建造那些辉煌雄伟的纪念碑式建筑所需要的极为特殊的技术,在它们完全失传"以前曾被保存过一段相当长的时期。例如,尽管没有任何实际表现,但经过第四王朝后许多世纪的停滞,这些技术无疑还是保存了下来,并在十八和十九王朝(公元前1580年-公元前1200年)非凡的文化复兴时期重新获得了活力。 这后一个时期的最突出成就,就是凯尔奈克神庙那座美丽的哈谢普苏特女王方尖碑。每次我看到它,心中都会充满敬畏。就在它附近,在尼罗河的西边,这位女王还建造了一座巨大的祠堂,它被后世看作世界伟大建筑杰作之一。 我了解到,凯尔奈克神庙和那座祠堂的建筑师名叫森穆特(Semut)。有趣的是,他曾为自己写下一段铭文,今天还能在他坟墓的墙壁上读到,其中几乎可以断定:他了解了一种古老的秘密智慧的传统以后,便掌握了一种特殊的知识和技能。他说:"深入学习了那些神圣先知的全部著作之后,我便了解了从时间开始以后发生的一切。" I wrote in my notebook: 假定摩西(他生活在森穆特之后仅200年的时代)也掌握了这个秘密的传统。这个传统可以通过伊霍特普上溯到历史起点以前,上溯到索斯和奥塞瑞斯这些神王。这个传统还可以向前延伸,延及其他一些伟大的科学家和像邢稣基督那样的文明传播者。如果这个假定里还有几分真实,那么,一些更晚近的、真正杰出的思想家便可能就是那门"神秘"知识的继承人——那门知识曾经启迪过金字塔和方尖碑的建造者,曾经使摩西能够制造他那些奇迹。难道不会如此吗? 为寻找这些问题的答案,我首先又想到了圣殿骑士——他们曾经于公元1119年居住在耶路撒冷所罗门圣殿原址上。我还相信,他们在耶路撒冷圣城学会了某种知识,这促使他们后来去埃塞俄比亚寻找约柜。正如本书第5章介绍的那样,我对这群奇特武僧的信仰和活动所做的考察已经使我相信,他们曾了解到一种极为古老的智慧传统,而他们因此而获得的知识则被他们用来建造教堂和城堡,从建筑学上说,那些教堂和城堡比12世纪和13世纪的其他建筑要先进得多。 现在我问自己:圣殿骑士们所掌握的那种智慧传统,会不会就是摩西、森穆特和伊霍特普所属的那个传统呢?如果真是这样,那么,圣殿骑士对约柜的追寻,难道不可能也和这个传统有关吗? 事实可能证明,没有任何证据能支持我心中的这些猜测。尽管我知道这一点,但还是高兴地发现了一些古代犹太人的传说,它们都强调说,约柜中装着"知识之源"。何况,读者可能还记得,约柜的金盖上还有两个带翼天使金像,因此,犹太人的传说中说"带翼天使的突出才能就是知识",这难道是偶然的巧合吗? 追寻约柜可能就是追寻知识,使我想到这一点的,绝不仅仅是以上这些引人入胜的暗示。有一个事实的意义也同样重大:14世纪初,圣殿骑士们遭到迫害、拷问和审判的时候,其中不少人都承认自己崇拜的是一位长髯的神秘教主,而他的名字是巴弗密特(Baphomet)。一些权威指出,圣殿骑士曾修习伊斯兰教的神秘教义,并且认为巴弗密特就是穆罕默德。这样一来,这些权威便愉快地回避了一个事实:伊斯兰教几乎不可能鼓励这样的做法,因为我已经清楚地知道,穆斯林把他们的先知看作人而不是神,并且极端痛恨偶像崇拜。 不过,休伊·勋菲尔德博士却提出了一种更令人信服的解释。他是研究早期基督教的一位专家,曾经破译过著名的《死海古卷》(194年在死海库兰镇附近发现的犹太教和早期基督教古代文献——译者注)使用的密码,而圣殿骑士在耶路撒冷长期居住时,很容易习得那种密码。勋菲尔德博士指出,如果用那种密码写出"巴弗密特"这个名字,再把结果进行音译,那就会得到"索非亚"(Sophia)这个希腊单词。"索非亚"这个希腊字的意思不是别的,而恰恰就是"智慧"。 因此,根据这个分析,圣殿骑士教崇拜巴弗密特,其实就是崇拜智慧原理。古埃及人崇拜索斯,当然也是在崇拜智慧原理,因为他们把索斯看作"上帝思想的化身"、"(人的和神的)知识各个分支的一切著作的作者"、"天文学、星象学、命理学、数学、几何学、大地测量学、医学和生物学的发明者"。我因此而受到了鼓舞,决定进一步研究下去。
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