Graham Chase Wrote:
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> I would change your conclusion right around to :
> "If so, then I am inclined to conclude the pyramid
> was a combination of job-creation-scheme, a tomb
> for the king/pharaoh, and a monument to the
> king/pharaoh, but above all was required to
> 'launch' the king's/pharaoh's spirit into the
> heavens.


The sticking point for me is, again: if the pyramid was essential to getting the king’s/pharaoh’s safely into the next World, what happened to the king’s/pharaohs spirit if his pyramid was not complete when he died?
When I say ‘not complete’ I have in mind pyramids such as Djedfre’s at Abu Roash and the ‘Unfinished Pyramid’ at Zawiyet el-Aryan, rather than, say, Khufu’s pyramid with its ‘missing’ top.


> You should not forget the references to the
> stellar destination in the Pyramid Texts and how
> the pyramids represented stars on earth, the
> inclined entrance shafts towards north, the Great
> Pyramid star shafts, and the orientation of the
> pyramids.


I haven’t forgotten the Pyramid Texts – well, not entirely...
My understanding is that it is not at all clear whether the religion of the time of the 4th Dyn. was solar or stellar.
As far as I can determine, there is evidence for and against on both fronts.
Then there is the problematic question of which parts of the PTs can be dated back to the 4th Dyn. and earlier.
Speaking for myself, I fail to see how one can reasonably draw any conclusions one way or the other from these Texts but, then, I don’t understand any of them anyway…
I’m given to understand that this “the pyramids represented stars on earth” (I presume you are referring to Robert Bauval’s OCT) is a theory far from proven.


> In the case of Djoser's pyramid at Saqqara the
> enclosure was designed to enable the king's spirit
> to perform the heb sed festival in the stars as on
> earth.

But isn’t this just one of several theories about this enclosure?


> Yes, you are overlooking the established
> correspondence between the pyramids and the
> stars.

My understanding is that this is a theory that has its supporters and its opponents.
I repeat:
if the pyramid was essential to getting the king’s/pharaoh’s safely into the next World, what happened to the king’s/pharaohs spirit if his pyramid was not complete when he died?
When I say ‘not complete’ I have in mind pyramids such as Djedfre’s at Abu Roash and the ‘Unfinished Pyramid’ at Zawiyet el-Aryan, rather than, say, Khufu’s pyramid with its ‘missing’ top.

Regards,

MJ