Nexus - 0107 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Egyptian History Egyptian History & Dr Immanuel Velikovsky was one of the twentieth century’s great scholars. He sought to solve a mystery and in the process generated enormous controversy in the fields of archaeology, astron- omy and cosmology. The attack by many members of the scientific community on his work, their attempts to intimidate his publisher and suppress his evidence have made Velikovsky the Galileo of our time, F he story starts in 1939. Then Dr Velikovsky, a practic- 2.5 degrees out from the present alignment of the Earth? Why T ing psychoanalyst who had studied with Freud, went to did calendars constructed between the middle of the second the US to research a book on three dominant figures of millenium BCE and 800 BCE have 360 days and months:of the ancient Mediterranean - Moses, (Edipus and Akhnaton. thirty days? Why do even earlier calendars have days, months When he was nearly complete a question arose about the time and years of different lengths again? of the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Although recorded Velikovsky’s answer was that the Earth and Mars had been in detail by the Hebrews there was no equivalent record in involved in repeated near collisions with a gigantic comet Egyptian history, Why? since our recorded history began. The events described in the Under the conventional chronology of Egyptian history, Exodus and in Egyptian papyriare a vivid description of an age the time period usually considered for the Exodus causes in chaos - plagues, turmoil and darkness, and the flight of the problems. For many other events in Hebrew history there Hebrews from Egypt toward a ‘column of fire’ in Sinai. appear to be no Egyptian counterparts either - but these two The Earth was momentarily slowed down and its axis nations existed beside each other for centuries, according to slightly altered as the comet passed by. Electrostatic forces the Hebrews. Velikovsky’s answer to this lack of correlation caused discharges to arc between the Earth and the comet, was to suggest that the accepted chronology of ancient Egypt turning the skies to fire and the forests to flame. The crust was was out by 500 years. He noted that our dating of Egyptian rent, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes rocked and darkness periods came from the dynastic records handed down by enveloped the world - the time of the Exodus. 700 hundred £gyptus and Agrippa, and that the reigns of the Pharaohs - years later Isiah, Joel and Amos described another series of used to date Egyptian history - had been strung together one upheavals; the Sun appeared to stand still in the sky. Although after another. The key to the ‘missing’ half millenium was that slightly dislodged from its axis and orbit again, the Earth fared there were many ‘co-regnal’ periods where the reigns of better this second time. These were, in fact, the last two acts of monarchs overlapped or were indistinct. In his revised chro- a cosmic drama; the earliest act of which we have records is nology many events in Hebrew history were found to have called The Deluge. their counterpart in the Egyptian record. The new chronology was built from the archaeological “All cosmological theories assumed that the evidence found in the ruins of ancient Egypt. From remaining planets have evolved in their places for billions of Papyrus and pottery, tomb paintings and monuments anew years... Venus - was formerly a comet and joined story emerged. Because the histories of Greece, Assyria, Babylon and Judea were all dated from the dynastic records of the family of planets within the memory of Egypt, Velikovsky’s work became highly controversial. In mankind... We claim that the Earth’s orbit 1945 this was limited to a specialist field, but his next publica- changed more than once, and with it the length of tion, in 1950 aroused widespread controversy. the year; that the geographic position of the Worlds in Collision was Velikovsky’s explanation of the terrestrial axis and its astronomical direction cause of this amnesia in our collective memory. changed repeatedly and that at a recent date the The Comet Venus polar star was in the constellation of the Great Bear.” - Worlds In Collision, p. 361 The ancient civilization of Egypt was nearly destroyed in a cosmic catastrophe that endangered the entire planet, accord- Velikovsky believed that the origin of the comet that was ing to Velikovsky. Everywhere, huge resources were devoted responsible for changes in the Earth’s orbit was in the proto- to study of the skies. It’s widely known that ancient civiliza- star we know as Jupiter. This idea outraged the scientific tions in Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East were community. But his theories about the natures of Jupiter and highly advanced in astronomy. While we accept this as a Venus have not yet been proven wrong. He said that because common feature of our past, why were so many people Venus was younger than the other planets, its surface tempera- interested in the study of the movements of the planets? Why ture would be much hotter and its atmosphere denser than is the alignment of astronomical instruments found in Babylon astronomers belicved; these predictions were proven correct. 18 NEXUS New Times Seven - Summer 1989 Dr Immanuel Velikovsky was one of the twentieth century’s great scholars. He sought to solve a mystery and in the process generated enormous controversy in the fields of archaeology, astron- omy and cosmology. The attack by many members of the scientific community on his work, their attempts to intimidate his publisher and suppress his evidence have made Velikovsky the Galileo of our time, ing psychoanalyst who had studied with Freud, went to the US to research a book on three dominant figures of the ancient Mediterranean - Moses, (Edipus and Akhnaton. When he was nearly complete a question arose about the time of the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Although recorded in detail by the Hebrews there was no equivalent record in Egyptian history. Why? Under the conventional chronology of Egyptian history, the time period usually considered for the Exodus causes problems. For many other events in Hebrew history there appear to be no Egyptian counterparts either - but these two nations existed beside each other for centuries, according to the Hebrews. Velikovsky’s answer to this lack of correlation was to suggest that the accepted chronology of ancient Egypt was out by 500 years. He noted that our dating of Egyptian periods came from the dynastic records handed down by £gyptus and Agrippa, and that the reigns of the Pharaohs - used to date Egyptian history - had been strung together one after another. The key to the ‘missing’ half millenium was that there were many ‘co-regnal’ periods where the reigns of monarchs overlapped or were indistinct. In his revised chro- nology many events in Hebrew history were found to have their counterpart in the Egyptian record. The new chronology was built from the archaeological evidence found in the ruins of ancient Egypt. From remaining Papyrus and pottery, tomb paintings and monuments a new story emerged. Because the histories of Greece, Assyria, Babylon and Judea were all dated from the dynastic records of Egypt, Velikovsky’s work became highly controversial. In 1945 this was limited to a specialist field, but his next publica- tion, in 1950 aroused widespread controversy. Worlds in Collision was Velikovsky’s explanation of the cause of this amnesia in our collective memory. T he story starts in 1939. Then Dr Velikovsky, a practic- 2.5 degrees out from the present alignment of the Earth? Why did calendars constructed between the middle of the second millenium BCE and 800 BCE have 360 days and months:of thirty days? Why do even earlier calendars have days, months and years of different lengths again? Velikovsky’s answer was that the Earth and Mars had been involved in repeated near collisions with a gigantic comet since our recorded history began. The events described in the Exodus and in Egyptian papyriare a vivid description of an age in chaos - plagues, turmoil and darkness, and the flight of the Hebrews from Egypt toward a ‘column of fire’ in Sinai. The Earth was momentarily slowed down and its axis slightly altered as the comet passed by. Electrostatic forces caused discharges to arc between the Earth and the comet, turning the skies to fire and the forests to flame. The crust was rent, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes rocked and darkness enveloped the world - the time of the Exodus. 700 hundred years later Isiah, Joel and Amos described another series of upheavals; the Sun appeared to stand still in the sky. Although slightly dislodged from its axis and orbit again, the Earth fared better this second time. These were, in fact, the last two acts of a cosmic drama; the earliest act of which we have records is called The Deluge. “All cosmological theories assumed that the planets have evolved in their places for billions of years... Venus - was formerly a comet and joined the family of planets within the memory of mankind... We claim that the Earth’s orbit changed more than once, and with it the length of the year; that the geographic position of the terrestrial axis and its astronomical direction changed repeatedly and that at a recent date the polar star was in the constellation of the Great Bear.” - Worlds In Collision, p. 361 The Comet Venus The ancient civilization of Egypt was nearly destroyed in a cosmic catastrophe that endangered the entire planet, accord- ing to Velikovsky. Everywhere, huge resources were devoted to study of the skies. It’s widely known that ancient civiliza- tions in Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East were highly advanced in astronomy. While we accept this as a common feature of our past, why were so many people interested in the study of the movements of the planets? Why is the alignment of astronomical instruments found in Babylon Velikovsky believed that the origin of the comet that was responsible for changes in the Earth’s orbit was in the proto- star we know as Jupiter. This idea outraged the scientific community. But his theories about the natures of Jupiter and Venus have not yet been proven wrong. He said that because Venus was younger than the other planets, its surface tempera- ture would be much hotter and its atmosphere denser than astronomers belicved; these predictions were proven correct. 18 NEXUS New Times Seven - Summer 1989 HE — ——