Giza, the Truth: The People, Politics, and History Behind the World's Most Famous Archaeological Site (Paperback)

The multitude of popular works that have been published about the Giza Plateau - home of the three most famous pyramids and the Sphinx - have increasingly painted a picture of impossible engineering, extreme antiquity, and "lost" ancient civilisations. Bolstered by a variety of television documentaries, this "alternative" view has now become firmly entrenched in the public consciousness, leaving the orthodox Egyptological cause floundering in its wake. But have the public been misled, especially in the run up to the new millennium? Coming at a time when more enlightened observers are beginning to question the barrage of propaganda emanating from the alternative movement, the publication of initially impressed by the alternative camp's case, in this ground-breaking book authors Ian Lawton and Chris Ogilvie-Herald have uncovered poor scholarship, distortion, propaganda, and a morass of politics, jealousy, and ambition. Is it genuinely possible that a Hall of Records containing a record of ancient civilisations exists at Giza? That the remnants of these civilisations designed and built the pyramids and Sphinx as much as 12,000 years ago? That the Great Pyramid is in fact a giant energy generator? That only as yet undiscovered technology could have built the edifices? That in recent years concerted but often covert efforts have been made to locate as yet undiscovered chambers in the Great Pyramid and in and around the Sphinx? And even if we conclude that all these suggestions are wide of the mark, is there other evidence to suggest that such records, civilisations and technology may nevertheless have existed? Indeed, are alternative researchers concentrating their efforts on the wrong places? Meanwhile, who are the key figures who have dominated the exploration of the Plateau from earliest times to the present day? What did they really find? And what lies behind the political in-fighting which has come to dominate the exploration of the Plateau in recent decades?

The answers to these questions and many more are revealed as this astounding story unfolds. Exclusive information has been provided by some of the most famous names involved in research at Giza. This, combined with the authors' own extensive research and on-site explorations, has culminated in what can only be described as the most fascinating and important piece of work on the Giza Plateau to date. The injection of some much-needed sanity into the whole Giza debate is long overdue, but the wait is now over...

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chris Ogilvie-Herald is former editor of Quest for Knowledge magazine and co-organised "The Giza Debate" in March 1998. He is the founder and overseer of the EgyptNews Internet mailing list-the key source of up-to-date information on developments in Egypt and a bulletin board used by all the major authors and researchers in this field.

Ian Lawton is a former economist, accountant, IT consultant and motorcycle and car racer. For the last five years he has been conducting research into ancient civilisations, and is currently in the process of writing the first in a the Truth by Ian Lawton, Chris Ogilvie-Herald. Copyright © 1999. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

"The Great Pyramid looms large before us in the darkness, seeming even more vast than usual. We thread our way through the never-ending back streets of the village of Nazlet el-Samman. The locals sleep mainly in the day, but they have seen us around here many times in the last week. We have made sure of that. We wave to them nonchalantly, greet them quietly with 'salam alekuum', and no-one bothers us.

We reach the edge of the plateau. It is a quick climb up the rocky escarpment, but steep, and at the top we stop to catch our breath. We are lucky. The night is relatively murky. We stop to slip on the local galabayas, which we hope will blend in with the meditation group we intend to tag onto. Underneath we have waistcoats whose pockets bulge with torches, cameras, notebooks, and other essential equipment. We trust that in the darkness we will just look as if we have feasted on too much shish kebab.

It is now 2am. We are nervous but calm. If the gods are on our side, all will be well. And if we believe in our hearts that what we are doing is for the general good, not just for our own selfish ends, then the gods will be on our side. We hope.

Right on cue, the group arrive from their sumptuous hotel in their air-conditioned coach. How the other half live! But we have no time to ponder the inequalities of life, and the apparent benefits money can bring. We have work to do.

Again luck is on our side. No guards yet. We run quickly towards the rear of the coach, then slow our pace. Our timing is perfect. We join the back of the line of white-robed innocents, and blend in perfectly. No-one suspects. Now we need our next piece of luck. As we climb the steps up to the entrance, we pray that there will not be a headcount. The guards welcome us nonchalantly, for we are just another group who bring in money, but not much to them. We are in!

Slowly we climb the ascending passage, bent double under the low ceiling. Our hearts beat faster as we wait to see if the final piece of luck is on our side. We emerge into the Grand Gallery, and crane our necks to the top. Yes! The ladder up to the Relieving Chambers is there, and in place against the wall! Someone is definitely looking after us.

At the top, we all creep down the passage into the King's Chamber. The guide chats for a few minutes about what will happen. Then the guard leaves. In a few minutes we are plunged into darkness. All is quiet, except for the welcome noise of the fan in the wall. It is quieter than the old one, but it is enough. We wait. Gradually the group enters its state of karma. We are at the back, by the passage. Quietly and slowly we creep out. Back down the passage. Back to the base of the ladder.

The guard has retired to the entrance. We are alone in the Grand Gallery. All systems are go. We remove our galabayas, because we know from experience that they do not make ideal garments for exploration. Quietly and slowly we climb up, one rung at a time. At the top we stop briefly to don our head torches. We are high above the floor, nearly 30 feet up. Thankfully the ladder is tied to the wall, for it is steeply inclined. In perhaps the scariest part of the operation we lever ourselves off the ladder and into the passage, and begin the crawl towards our goal. The loose stones on the floor scrape at our exposed knees, but we hardly notice.

At the end of the passage, we come out into a small chamber in which we can stand. We see that a succession of short ladders lead up to the higher chambers, but we must ignore these for the moment. Our target lies ahead. We have to lie on our sides to squeeze through the narrow slit which gives access to the first chamber, Davison's. And as we pick ourselves up, our torches reveal a long low room matching the size of the King's Chamber beneath it. There is some rubble in the far corner, and the unevenness of the floor blocks is in stark contrast to the smoothness of the monolithic ceiling blocks. But as our heads turn to the corner nearest us, our torches reveal what we have come to explore. A passage leading off to the side.

We know this passage was begun by Captain Caviglia in the nineteenth century. But rumours have been abounding for several years that it has been extended to look for a secret chamber. We have been told on the grapevine that supposedly eminent researchers have been sharing video footage of this secret excavation, all under strict non-disclosure agreements. Many people have suggested this is the real reason why the Pyramid has been closed to the public for some time now. We must discover the truth.

We hurry towards it, excitement mounting. Crawling inside, we can see that after about 10 feet it turns sharp right to follow the south wall of the chamber, heading west. Faster now... we must get to the corner to see where it leads. Scrambling around it, we see the passage extends for a further 15 feet. By the time we are halfway along, we can already see what lies ahead. We have waited for so long for this moment. Now we know the truth... The passage ends in a blank wall!" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.