Main Outline of Orion and the Throw-stick T15 on Earth?

Throw-stick or Club: the shape that served to plan the contour of the Pyramid field?
The Pyramid field marked the frontier between ancient Libya and Egypt. This is known from the decipherment of hieroglyphs T13 to T15 (Egyptian Grammar, Gardiner). In Études de Nautique Egyptienne, p. 110, French Egyptologist Ch. Boreux draws this characteristic hieroglyph of Horus for Lower Egypt. I postulate that the design of the Pyramid field mirrors the shape of this particular hieroglyph (pictorial symbol, dating back to the Old Kingdom and categorized as T15, see below).

Fig.5; Hieroglyph T15 is known under various names, such as ‘throw-stick’, or ‘club of warfare’. It is the shape of T15, dating back to the Old Kingdom, which is of importance here. The long part of the ‘throwstick’ of T15 is drawn diagonally instead of vertically. This diagonal direction differs significantly from the vertical position in T14, which is the corresponding hieroglyph from a much later date during the Middle or New Kingdom. I suggest that the fundamental Masterplan of the Pyramid field, from Abu Rawash via Saqqara (the bend) to Dahshur, is based on the hieroglyph T15 (the throw-stick), or is at least related to it.

The Main Outline of Orion in the Masterplan of the Pyramid field?
Within the constellation of Orion, a diagonal can be drawn which is referred to as the ‘main outline’ (The New Atlas of the Universe, P. Moore, p.216). This ‘main outline’ runs between the two leading stars Rigel and Betelgeuse. Rigel stands for the left foot, while Betelgeuse denotes the right armpit of the constellation Orion, also known as the Warrior. It is certified that the ancient Egyptians knew Rigel as the foot-star Sah. Rigel and Betelgeuse define the diagonal within the body of the Warrior from the left foot to the right armpit (Star Names, Hinckley Allen, p. 308, 310, 312, 313, 318). It is remarkable how the pyramids of Abu Rawash as well as the northern pyramid of Zawiyet el-Aryan of the 4th Dynasty bear the name of stars. The pyramid of pharaoh Djedefre at Abu Rawash was called the ‘Sehedu’-star, while the northern pyramid of pharaoh Baka at Zawiyet el-Aryan bore the name ‘Baka is a star’. In effect, a straight line can be drawn from Abu Rawash (the pyramid of Djedefre), via the three pyramids of Giza – the Great Pyramid of pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), the pyramid of Khafre (Chephren) and the one from Menkaure (Mycerinos) – to Zawiyet el-Aryan (the pyramid of Baka). I therefore postulate that the lay-out of the Pyramid field is based upon the diagonal of Orion that runs from the star Rigel (pyramid of Abu Rawash, the foot-star Sah) to the star Betelgeuse (the northern pyramid of Zawiyet el-Aryan, the right armpit). The right upper arm – the extension of the ‘main outline’ – is located between Zawiyet el-Aryan and the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

According to my theory, the remaining, short slanting part of hieroglyph T15 symbolizes the right forearm. The corresponding part within the Pyramid field is situated between the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara and the two pyramids of Dahshur. The right forearm starts at Saqqara and is notably featured in the names of both the pharaohs Djoser and Sekhemkhet. This is the region of the Strong Arm = Neht (fig.4).

The fundamental Masterplan of the Pyramid field, i.e. the short slanting part (the right forearm) of hieroglyph T15, begins at the bend of Saqqara and ends at the pyramids of Dahshur. The area between the Red and the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur bordered off the Land of Horus (Lower Egypt) from the Land of Seth (Upper Egypt). This border coincided with the projection of the ecliptic on earth. The right forearm, now known as ‘the Strong Arm’, ended with the hand holding a weapon of warfare or a battle-axe. The battle-axe was the figurative image of the ecliptic. Later on, the hand was represented by building a total of five pyramids at Dahshur (4th and 12th Dynasties). In conclusion, it can be said that the fundamental Masterplan of the Pyramid field (looking from the north to the south) from Abu Rawash via Saqqara to Dahshur corresponds to hieroglyph T15, the throw-stick. This hieroglyph was also the iconographical base for the war-like appearance of the pharaohs in their ritual pose known to us as ‘smiting the enemies’.

The same figure is shown on the fascinating, late-prehistoric Narmer Palette, representing the establishment of authority and the birth of the royal state of Egypt. This figure is known in Egyptology as ‘smiting the enemy’. This motif of the Followers of Horus dates back to ancient antiquity and it lies at the very root of Egyptian iconography. This standard image has continued to exist since approx. 4,000 years. The ritual pose was reproduced in different ways, i.e. on breast-decorations (Middle Kingdom), and on temple walls (e.g. Karnak and Edfu, New Kingdom and Late Period). In approx. 300 CE, it even made its appearance in Meroe, with female figures on temple walls.

Egyptian pharaohs who were depicted in this ritual pose are Narmer, Djer, Den, Sekhemkhet, Sanakht, Sneferu, Khufu, Amenemhat III, Ahmose (his Axe), Tuthmose III, Sety I, Ramesses II, Ramesses III and the female pharaoh regent Nefertiti – she ruled after the death of her husband Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), Tutanchamun, Ptolemy IX and XIII, the Nubian king Senka-Amen-Seken and the Roman emperor Titus. According to Professor Henri Frankfort (USA), the god with the upraised arm is the god Horus of Libya, who offered the sceptre of power to the pharaoh during the Sed festival (Kingschip and the Gods, p.87 and Rär, Bonnet, p.312). The pharaoh was in every respect the living incarnation of the god Horus.

The hieroglyph Throw-stick (T14 and T15) and Nht = Strong Arm (D40) express a martial spirit. Throughout ancient Egypt, the Strong Arm (Nht) is highly recurrent. It is also encountered in prehistoric Egyptian rock paintings (die Ellenbogenmann, H.Winkler), in the characteristic lay-out of passageways (at Aboe Kuë in the Wadi Hammamat and in the Valley of the Kings, particularly at Dra Aboe El-Nagga in Thebes). The Throw-stick was interpreted as such in the design of the Way of Horus, which runs from El Minjah (Hebenoe, 28º N.), via Heliopolis, to the frontier town of Sile in the delta. Its specific stylistic form can be recognized in building projects, such as the causeways of the pyramids of Khufu, Djedefre, Khafre and Niuserre, as well as in the ground-plan of the very ancient enclosing wall of the Temple of Heliopolis, the correspondence between the shape of the western wall and the stylistic shape of the plan of the Pyramid Field is striking (Fig.8x) and as well as in the ground-plan of the Temple of Luxor and its connection to the Sphinx-way (Fig.8y), and in the ground-plans of the tombs of pharaoh Amenhotep I to III, Tuthmose I to IV and the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.

Other cultures in the Near East assimilated this archetypal image in the course of time. Depictions exist in the Near East, dating back as far as the 2nd Millennium BCE, portraying deities as human beings, their right arms raised. Their gods have different names: Baal for the Phoenicians, Reshep in Ugarit, Teshub as the leading god in East Anatolia and Syria (Aleppo), Tarhuna for the Hittites and Adad in Babylonia-Assyria. The latter deity is mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic and consequently has his roots in the 3rd Millennium BCE or earlier.

I base my theory not only on many years of investigation, but also on Professor D.Wildung’s ideas, who stated that ancient Egyptian architecture should be interpreted and understood from an iconographic perspective. Culture expresses itself in its architecture, while iconography and the causal connection of a building structure (groundplan) will convey the artistic and religious message of the plan. My theory tends to provide the ancient Egyptian culture with a coherent framework.