In IMHOTEP THE AFRICAN, Egyptologist, Robert
Bauval, and astrophysicist, Thomas Brophy, uncover the
mystery of Imhotep, ancient Egyptian superstar,
pharaonic Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo and Newton all
rolled into one. Based on their research atthe Step
Pyramid Complex at Saqqara, Bauval and Brophy delve into
observational astronomy to 'decode' the alignments and
other design features of the Step Pyramid Complex, to
uncover the true origins and genius of Imhotep. Like a
whodunit detective story they follow the clues that take
them on an exhilarating magical mystery tour starting at
Saqqara, leading them to temples in Upper Egypt and to
the stones of Nabta Playa and the black African
stargazers who placed them there. These Nabta Playa
star peoples are intimately linked with the rise of
Egyptian civilisation, both physically in time and space
and culturally through ritual, astronomy and symbol. The
authors show how the first Great Pyramid, monumentalises
in giant stone the link to their precursor peoples and
culture and the genius polymath behind the Djoser Step
Pyramid : Imhotep. IMHOTEP THE AFRICAN describes how
Imhotep was the ancient link to the birth of modern
civilisation, restoring him to his proper place at the
centre of the birthing of Egyptian, and world,
civilisation. "A few kilometers outside the modern
city of Cairo, on a large, flat elevation at the edge of
the Sahara overlooking the Nile, is the world's very
first architectural complex. Nearly 5000 years old, the
centerpiece of this mindboggling complex is a huge
stepped pyramid surrounded by strange temple-like
structures, the lot contained inside a giant perimeter
wall whose length is more than 1500 meters. Aligned
conspicuously towards the four cardinal directions, the
whole mood of this strange place evokes, for lack of
better words, "sacred architecture" or, perhaps more
aptly, "sacred astronomy". No doubt something extremely
potent took place here, certainly rituals of the highest
order which somehow involved the cycles of the celestial
bodies as seen through the eyes of a holy man or shaman.
Amazingly, when one considers the extreme antiquity of
this complex, Egyptologists know for sure who conceived
it: Imhotep, the High Priest of Heliopolis and Vizier of
king Netjerykhet-Djoser of the 3rd Dynasty in. c. 2650
BC. " From the Introduction
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