Breaking the Mirror of Heaven: The Conspiracy to Suppress the Voice of Ancient Egypt

329 Pages·2012·5.58 MB·English

by  Bauval

Breaking the Mirror of Heaven
“This is a book that needed to be written . . . and I can’t imagine a better writing
team to have taken on the challenge. Robert Bauval and Ahmed Osman have
expertly untangled the history of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, in all its
guises, and successfully exposed the trauma of the Zahi Hawass years. This is a
story that should be read by all those interested in Egyptology and everyone who
cares passionately about Egypt . . . a tour de force in modern historical
investigation.”
DAVID ROHL, EGYPTOLOGIST, HISTORIAN, BROADCASTER, AND
AUTHOR OF A TEST OF TIME
“Egyptology has lied to us for too long. Now a meticulous investigation by two
top authors reveals the disturbing truth. This book is dynamite.”
GRAHAM HANCOCK, AUTHOR OF FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS
“Due to Robert Bauval’s influence, as well as that of many other great authors,
false beliefs on the origins of civilization will be studied well into the future. The
observations and approaches in Bauval’s books are dazzling.”
JAVIER SIERRA, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE
LOST ANGEL AND THE SECRET SUPPER
“Breaking the Mirror of Heaven is a hugely important book. In a time when we
can all see ‘the rise of idiot experts,’ this book focuses our attention on the
political games that are played with the honest interpretation of our past. Self-
serving individuals seek to bury new information by pretending that claimed
academic rank outweighs cold evidence. Bravo, Robert and Ahmed, for such a
delightful and persuasive blow for reason.”
CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, COAUTHOR OF THE HIRAM KEY AND
CIVILIZATION ONE
Acknowledgments
Writing this book has been a special experience for me. Having studied and
researched the history of ancient Egypt for nearly three decades, it was now
extremely rewarding to have the opportunity to write a book about the birth and
rise of modern Egypt and the biographical events of one of its most colorful and
controversial figures in Egyptology, Zahi Hawass, the world-famous chief of
Egypt’s Antiquities. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed
writing it with my coauthor, Ahmed Osman. My gratitude goes to my wife,
Michele, for her love, her ever-enduring patience, and her tolerance for sharing
living quarters with an author who is gestating a manuscript. This is the eighth
time she has had to go through such intellectual pregnancy, but as always she
has done it with grit and good cheer. Special thanks go to my brother Jean-Paul
Bauval for also being a good friend and neighbor, and to my children, Candice
and Jonathan. It has often been the case in my writing career that an exceptional
person comes along to be my intellectual and spiritual haven from the long hours
of solitary grind an author inevitably goes through. This time my good fortune
was to meet Maria Fernandez Garcia. Thank you dear Maria; you are a true
friend.
ROBERT BAUVAL
We also give thanks to Pauline and Fiona Bauval (Torremolinos), Gary Evans
(England), Andy Collins (Avebury, Wiltshire), Sherif el Sebai (Cairo), Tamer
Medhat (Cairo), Yousef and Patricia Awyan (Nazlet el Saman, Giza Pyramids),
Gouda Fayed (Sphinx Guest House, Nazlet al Saman), Hillary Raimo (New
York), Richard (Fuzzy) Fusniak (Cambridge, England), Geoffrey and Therese
Gauci (Sydney, Australia), Juliano Fernandez (Uruguay), Naco Ares (Madrid),
John (Nany) and Josette Orphanidis (Athens), and many other friends, Facebook
“friends,” and colleagues too numerous to list here. A big thank you also goes to
our U.S. publisher Inner Traditions • Bear & Company, especially our editor
Mindy Branstetter for her professionalism and friendship. As ever, we are
eternally grateful to our readers around the world for their support and for their
loyalty over the years. Without you all this hard work would have no meaning or
satisfaction.
ROBERT BAUVAL
AND
AHMED OSMAN
Contents
Cover Image
Title Page
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Cross between a Peacock and a Scorpion
Chapter 1: The Making of Egypt’s Indiana Jones
BACKGROUND AND FORMATIVE YEARS
THE SCHOLAR AND THE PSYCHIC
AHMED KADRI AND THE SPHINX CONTROVERSY
UNHOLY TRINITY
GADDAFI AND THE MISSING STATUES
1993: YEAR OF THE MYSTERY DOOR AND BAKR’S RESIGNATION
Chapter 2: Out of Darkness
KING TUT TUT TUT
JUMPING ON THE ZIONIST PLOT BANDWAGON
MILLENNIUM FEVER AND THE MASONIC-ZIONIST CONSPIRACY AT
THE PYRAMIDS
THE BROTHERHOOD AND THE PYRAMID
PREEMINENCE BEFORE THE DEEP SLEEP
AWAKENING
NEWTONIAN SCIENCE AND HERMES
NEW RULERS AND A NEW RELIGION
Chapter 3: The Pasha
NAPOLEON’S SAVANTS
EGYPT’S ANTIQUITIES
JE TIENS L’AFFAIRE! (I HOLD THE DEAL!)
THE LONG ROAD FROM INDISCRIMINATE LOOTING TO
EGYPTOLOGY
MUHAMMAD ALI’S RISE AFTER THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
THE MODERNIZATION OF EGYPT
MONUMENTS FOR FACTORIES
BRITISH SALT AND A LITTLE FRENCH PEPPER
THE PASHA’S SON AND THE GREAT CANAL
THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL
EGYPT FOR EGYPTIANS!
ENTER THE BRITISH “SAVIORS”
L’ÉGYPTE RECONNAISSANTE (GRATEFUL EGYPT)
Chapter 4: Saving Ancient Egypt
ROMANCING THE SERAPEUM
QUELQU’UN PLUS PUISSANT QUE MOI (SOMEONE MORE POWERFUL
THAN I)
Chapter 5: The End of an Era
EGYPT UNDER LORD CROMER
REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE
AFTER THE “FIRST” REVOLUTION OF 1919
EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES AFTER THE REVOLUTION
THE RISE OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
FAROUK, THE WAFD, AND THE BRITISH
EGYPT AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL
THE FREE OFFICERS MOVEMENT AND THE RISE OF NASSER
Chapter 6: Secret Chambers
FAST-FORWARD TO GIZA: THE “HOLY GRAIL” OF EGYPTOLOGY
QUESTING FOR THE HALL OF RECORDS
EXPLORING THE GREAT PYRAMID
GANTENBRINK AND THE QUEEN’S CHAMBER
NINE YEARS LATER
Chapter 7: Revolution!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
MUSICAL CHAIRS AT THE ANTIQUITIES!
Postscripts
“A MESSAGE TO ALL MY FRIENDS”
NOVEMBER 2011
MARCH 2012
MAY 2012
Appendix 1: The Paris Obelisk: How and Why Freemasonry Came into Egypt
PYRAMIDS AND OBELISKS FOR PARIS
IMAGING THE SUPREME BEING
NAPOLEON AND THE OBELISK
INSPIRATIONS FOR THE INVASION OF EGYPT
Appendix 2: Discoveries and Achievements—or Personal Agenda?
TOMBS OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS
THE SMILING SPHINX
THE TOMB OF OSIRIS
THE TOOTH OF HATSHEPSUT
Appendix 3: “LIVE” Egyptology
A FOX IN THE SCENE
FOX TV 2000: OPENING THE TOMBS OF THE GOLDEN MUMMIES:
LIVE!
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL: SECRET CHAMBERS REVEALED
—LIVE!
Appendix 4: The Death of Tutankhamun: The Cover-up
ADDENDUM
Appendix 5: Egypt, My Native Country
OUT OF EGYPT
LOSING ALEXANDRIA
A Last-Minute Update
Footnotes
Endnotes
Bibliography
About the Authors
About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company
Books of Related Interest
Copyright & Permissions