Ascending Passage

A re-creation of life at Philae Temple
from "la Description de l'Egypte"

Science today relies for it's precision on number and relationships of numbers. The great learning of the Ancient Egyptians was also based on number, but in a very different sense. To the Egyptian adept number had inherent meaning, and the use of number in art and architecture was governed by the meaning one wished to establish.

The great Secret of Spirituality was believed to be the Primordial Scission, the original break in the previously unformed cosmos - the beginning of the universe. While modern science tries to conceive of the "Big Bang" and the Bible speaks of separating the light from the darkness, the Egyptians were more precise. In their view the Original Division was in the ratio of Phi - the Golden Section.

Phi ("φ") is an irrational number, a number that slips between the numbers of our system and thus cannot be written exactly. Phi is about 1.6180339... . The ratio of one to Phi is a repeating series where each number is a reflection of the previous two. The Fibonacci series is an approximation of Phi. In mathematical terms: for a line AC there is a point B on AC where AC/BC = BC/AB.

Phi can be derived by adding one to the square root of five and halving the result. The lines of a star inscribed in a pentagon divide the lines they intersect into segments of the phi ratio. Thus 5 was the sacred number of the Egyptians, for 5 defined the Beginning and all the Universe was ultimately grounded in 5. The Pythagoreans who followed took the five pointed star as their secret symbol.

The Egyptians saw the importance of number as ratios - the relationship between one number and another. We are familiar, to some extent, with ratios -- the square root of a number is the number multiplied by itself that would produce the given number - geometrically the length of a side of a square of the given number's area or the ratio of a side of the square to the area. Square roots are often irrationals, as is pi ("π") - the relationship between the circumference (and thus the area) of a circle and it's radius.

The ancients were aware that all natural crystalline structures (perfect geometric solids) could be formed by using only Pi, Phi and the square roots of two, three and five. These ratios are the basis of harmony in music and art and to the Egyptians harmony was Truth.

"It is this web of interaction, this vast complex of harmonies, that we respond to as 'the world' -- in this case the physical world which is but one (the tangible, perceivable) aspect of the spiritual world, or world of consciousness. The key to this harmonic world is number, and the means by which number is to be understood is geometry." - John Anthony West: "The Serpent in the Sky", page 76

Moustafa Gadalla

Ancient Egypt, an exploration of the multi sided culture of sacred science and art.

"The totality of the Egyptian civilization was built upon a complete and precise understanding of universal laws. This profound understanding manifested itself in a consistent, coherent and interrelated system, where art, science, philosophy and religion were intertwined, and were employed simultaneously in a single organic Unity." quote from website

Web Site: www.egypt-tehuti.com/


The Zodiac of Dendera
from "la Description de l'Egypte"

Elisabeth Haich

Deep insight into Ancient Egyptan Sacred Geometry. Her book "Initiation" is beyond powerful. Well written but difficult for beginners. Review with generous excerpts: (you may have to scroll down a little) www.sourcetext.com

Deep Secrets

a website about the golden section and how the Egyptians could have derived it. sover.net.

Livio C. Stecchini

The history of measurment - The ancients attempted to use units of measurement that reflected basic cosmic harmonies, a valuable idea. Stecchini believes our modern measurements echo the ancient ones, but we have forgotten their meaning.

Measures articles: www.metrum.org/measures/index.htm

An indepth study of the three Giza Pyramids: metrum.org/key/pyramids/index.htm


Valley Temple of Pharaoh Rameses II on the west bank of the Nile, near Thebes
By David Roberts, 1849