new this issue - Edgar Cayce

A n c i e n t M Y S T E R I E SBy John Van AukenZahi HawassComing to A.R.E.Zahi Hawass and Mark LehnerPhoto bySCAxcept for the fictionalIndiana Jones,Dr. Zahi Hawass is thebest-known archaeologistin the world, and iscertainly the most powerful. As SecretaryGeneral of the Egyptian SupremeCouncil of Antiquities he oversees perhapsthe greatest archaeological landsand monuments on the planet, whichincludes the last of the Seven Wondersof the World: the Great Pyramid ofEgypt. His TV and film credits includeprograms with National Geographic,Discovery, NOVA, The History Channel,FOX, Good Morning America, andthe Today Show. He is the spokesman forCNN on archaeological news in Egypt.In 2006, Hawass received an Emmy fora special on ancient Egypt. Among Hawass’smany books are Silent Images:Women in Pharaonic Egypt, HiddenTreasures of Ancient Egypt, Secrets fromthe Sand, and Mountains of Stones: Historyof the Pyramid Builders.But he also has a long history withA.R.E. and Edgar Cayce’s information.In 1974, at 27 years of age, Zahi Hawassmet Mark Lehner, and the two became lifelongfriends and colleagues. It was Lehnerwho introduced Hawass to the Edgar CayceEgyptian information. Years later, both menwent on to get their PhDs in archaeology,Lehner at Yale University and Hawass atthe University of Pennsylvania as a FulbrightFellow.In a recent article Hawass recalledhearing this information for the first time:“Cayce announced that in a previouslife he had lived in Atlantis, and thatwhen the island sank he tookthe technology of the Atlanteansto Egypt where he buriedJuly-September 2010the records of his people in a box belowthe right paw of the sphinx. This room becameknown as the Hall of Records. I didnot share Mark’s beliefs, but I still respectedhim and we became friends.” ObviouslyHawass didn’t get the story exactly rightbut he got the gist.Hawass first met Hugh Lynn Cayce,Edgar’s eldest son and then presidentof the A.R.E., in Egypt in 1975with an A.R.E. tour group of over 300people. They wanted to meditate in theGreat Pyramid privately. Hawass helpedarrange that and spoke to the group.He also met privately with Hugh Lynndiscussing Edgar’s strange visions ofancient Egypt. Hawass explained thatthese dates and stories did not matcharchaeological data. The only record ofa place called Atlantis was in writingsby Plato. Nowhere in Egypt is Atlantismentioned, neither found in papyrusesnor on the temple and tomb walls. Andthe oldest known artifacts date back to3000 BC. Cayce’s 10,500 BC is beyondany existing evidence. Even though theycould not resolve their differences, HughLynn helped Hawass get to the U.S. andget a Fulbright scholarship, creating abond between the two men.The Sphinx’sDream StelePhoto byRufus MoselyI was working on the staff of A.R.E. inthose early days, the 1970s, and heard manyof Lehner’s reports on his work in Egypt forA.R.E., which had given Lehner a scholarshipto attend the American University inCairo to study Egyptology and to look forevidence supporting Cayce’s vision of Egypt.However, by the late 1980s, Lehner hadcome to believe that Cayce’s readings weremistaken. He considered that they may havebeen seeing a mental or fourth-dimensionalvision of ancient Egypt, but they were notseeing the physical third dimension, becausehe was unable to find evidence to supportCayce’s dates, names, and places.Yet, Lehner’s work quickly lifted himto the top of archaeology and he becamethe archaeologist on matters relating to theSphinx and the Great Pyramid. He becamea professor of archaeology at the OrientalInstitute of Chicago University. Hawassalso rose to fame. In 1979 he became FirstInspector of the Giza Pyramids and by1987 he was the Director General of theGiza Pyramids.Always researchers, these two mencontinued to search and discover many fascinatingnew bits of Egyptian data. In 1986Lehner removed material from betweenthe massive stones of the Great Pyramidand had the material carbon-dated. TheGiza pyramids were originally covered bysmooth, white limestone casing stones.Today these are gone (except for smallareas), exposing the building blocks underneaththe former casing. Lehner sent thematerial found between the building stonesto two different labs. The labs reported thatthe material collected from the upper portionof the Great Pyramid was older thanthat from the lower portion anddated 288 to 1,244 years olderthan the standard archaeological7 27