<HTML>Dear Jani,
There are other ways of orienting the pyramids using the sun, by stretching a cord (which Egyptian texts tell us they did) at the rising of certain star (which the Egyptian texts also tell us they did). If they used a star to mark an equinox, they would be able to stretch a cord along shadows cast at sunrise and sunset on that day. The streteched cord would run east to west in a straight line. A straight line running east to west is aligned with north. Precession <b>could,</b> affect this "solar" method if the Egyptians failed to notice a shift in the rising star that marked the equinox, but the pyramids were built in such a short period of time, any effect of precession is negligible.
Kate Spence's idea is pure speculation. She ignores surviving Egyptian texts and supposes the Egyptians knew how to find the pole and the meridian with no knowledge of precession. There is a serious problem with her logic there. During the length of time in which the pyramids were constructed, the movement of the stars due to precession is so small that any of Spence's "deviations" could just as easily be explained by minor faulty measurements, accommodations to topography, or just about anything else you like. There is no evidence to support the pyramids being "aligned" in the way that Spence suggests.
Cardinal directions were extremely important to the ancient Egyptians for religious reasons. I believe the north orientation was to enable them to get to the sky and to eternal life; however, I do not agree that the Imperishable stars were circumpolar stars. That is also just a guess by Egyptologists, and does not appear to be supported by Egyptian texts.
Joanne</HTML>
