KB: "I really don't think this is a fact but is speculation. Even if the shaft opened out all the way through the masonry (another assumption) it would simply face the air a few hundred feet above the land. Also, who's to say that the final few cubits of the shaft cutting through the facing stones didn't take a turn to horizontal or some other direction? I don't think that this possibility is so unlikely, given that the bottom of the shafts are horizontal."


You can speculate on whether or not the shafts continued on through the casing stones (unlikely for obvious reasons) or made a horizontal turn (examined here: [www.hallofmaat.com] ), or had a copper tube stuck in the ends that whistled in the wind, but according to the available known evidence, the top end of the upper south shaft was facing an area of the sky where the distinctive 3-star asterism in the centre of Orion appeared due south c. 2570 BC during Khufu's reign, and on the opposite side, the top end of the upper north shaft was facing an area of the sky where the circumpolar North or Pole Star, Thuban, appeared at its highest point in the sky due north - again c.2570 BC, during Khufu's reign.


The issue here is one of intent, but there is no proof one way or the other, and the same goes for your theory on the shafts or anyone else who has a theory, and there are soooo many out there hoping their pet theory will float to the top of the pile.

In the end, we can only assess what is more or less likely.


KB: "........if the shaft opened out all the way through the masonry (another assumption) it would simply face the air a few hundred feet above the land."


Apart from stating the blindingly obvious, you are inexplicably ignoring the fact that the angle of incline of the shaft is 45 degs (sqd 7), and the altitude of the 3-star asterism in the centre of Orion due south was also 45 degs during Khufu's reign, c.2570 BC, which according to existing evidence, means the top end of the shaft was facing an area of the sky where the asterism crossed due south at its highest point and aligned with the shaft. So why do you say that the shaft "simply face the air a few hundred feet above the land"? There has to be more of a purpose for these shafts than simply facing the air a few hundred feet above the land as you should well know.



KB: "My post was to try to demonstrate a pattern in Old Kingdom thinking that might be helpful in unfettering a discussion of the shafts in Khufu's pyramid from an alignment theory that is not in comformance with Old Kingdom religious texts."



I know what you tried and failed to do, but apart from the eastern horizon, you also have to take into account texts that clearly have Sah crossing the sky from east to west - where it had to cross the meridian due south. The OK texts clearly show that Orion crossed the sky, and to do that it had to cross the meridian - the king as a 'big' star, was the companion of Sah, and accompanied Sah across the sky. If the shaft was targeting an area of the sky where Sah reached its highest point due south, we can only speculate as to why they did this - we have no explicit texts that can inform us of the true purpose of the shafts.


Forcing the complex royal afterlife beliefs into one straightjacket is not a good idea - the texts have multiple options for the king's ascent to the sky and for his celestial afterlife, that reflect a long tradition with many colorful threads in a complex weave - the Sah thread is one of many, and the shafts are only a small architectural component in a massive funerary complex where various themes could be realized.

CT