MJ Thomas Wrote:
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>
> If, as you appear to me to be saying, some
> pyramids were left empty because the bodies of the
> pharaohs for whom they were built could not be
> found for whatever reason, what role did these
> pyramids go on to play in the society that built
> them?
Same as if it had a body. Contingency plans were often in place, and these may have included substitute statues, although I can't recall one having been found. Odd they didn't think of that.
>
>
> On the three pyramids attributed to Sneferu, you
> write, ‘Of which one contained the remnants of his
> body even thought the sarcophagus (and the floor
> around it) was demolished by looters.’
>
> What is the evidence that enables you to assert
> that these remains are indeed of Sneferu and not
> the remains of some member of a hierarchy
> introduced into the pyramid post-Sneferu?
>
It's not my conclusion: it's the conclusion of the person who examined the remains. I simply agree with it.
>
> You write, ‘Sarcophagi were intended to hold
> bodies’
>
> This is an assumption.
> That the pyramids (at least up to the end of the
> 3rd/start of 4th Dyns) were built as symbolic and
> not actual tombs for the pharaohs cannot be ruled
> out.
No, it's a fact.
Hawass opened a sarcophagus on live television a few years ago... from Dynasty IV... and it had a body in it. No shock there.
The sarcophagus became the embodiment of Nut, who gives birth to the sun every morning. The mythology of Nut rises concurrently with the rise of use of sarcophagi for burial.
The fact that you don't understand Egyptian mythology/religion well enough to understand the role of the sarcophagus/pyramid in burial customs does not mean the sarcophagus/pyramid were not the places for the bodies. It only means you have more research to do so you can understand it.
I suggest you start with Allen's "Cosmology of the Pyramid Texts", and then move into "Reading a Pyramid". Those two will give you a good grounding.
>
>
> You write, ‘If a body is not present, then it is
> merely a question of why this particular
> sarcophagus is empty.’
>
> The answer to which could be simply that the
> pharaoh was never intended to be interred in his
> pyramid’s sarcophagus.
Using that same level of rationalizing, we could say that the body was gone because Captain Kirk had it beamed aboard the Enterprise.
You have to understand the culture, mythology and religion, MJ. Until you do, these kinds of statements are just nonsense. Once you do, you won't make these kinds of statements any more. You'll realize how silly they sound.
>
>
> You write, ‘By the way: it is quite likely that
> Khufu was sealed in his sarcophagus. That's why
> they went to great extremes to break it open.’
>
> What happened to the massive lid?
Lots of granite was removed from the passageways over the centuries and chucked out on the plateau. Heck, we have a chunk of one of the antechamber stones that Petrie found...and would not be around today if it hadn't happened to have been too big to carry off once he had the men drag it out of the passage.
> It may interest you to know that a lot of the
> damage to Khufu’s coffer occurred in the last
> hundred and thirty years or so.
Some, yes. A lot?
How do you support this statement?
> I suggest you read Victorian descriptions of the
> coffer by Piazzi Smyth, Dixon, Petrie et al, and
> compare them to more recent ones.
I suggest you look at their drawings of it. It's nearly identical.
Just to save you time, you asked for Smythe. I'll give you Smythe:
Here's the coffer today:
Where's the big change in the last 140 years? I certainly don't see anything significantly different between Smythe's drawings form 1865 and Jon's photographs (or my own) from the 21st century.
>
>
> You write, ‘Same thing with Sneferu. The other
> ones were left in tact because people knew they
> were empty.’
>
> So, according to you, everybody up to Victorian
> times who saw these sealed coffers knew they were
> empty and so didn’t bother to open them?
>
Not Victorian times, no, but there was no reason to rob them in antiquity. After that, many of the ones we have found were "lost" for some time. (Much like Tut's tomb).
No mystery here. Just simple logic. You're dealing with human behaviour over 4000 years.
If you remember, I think it was Mamun who said he found a mummy and a sarcophagus inside Khufu's pyramid... even had it on display outside his residence for many years. That's from memory, so don't quote me on the particulars.
Anthony
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.