Before the Pyramids: Cracking Archaeology's Greatest Mystery

In their admittedly sensational new effort, Knight and Butler (Civilization One) take on the common historical belief that the Sumerians and Egyptians were the first to record, and thus pass on, knowledge of the stars, writing, and math. While researching astronomy-based measurement systems, the authors detected what looked like a communication network begun in the Neolithic age that endured through the founding of the Knights Templar and Freemasons to the present day, allowing ancients to transmit their knowledge and methodology through the ages. Among other eye-opening claims, the authors outline a connection between Thomas Jefferson, the location of the Pentagon, 3rd millennium BCE pyramid builders of Egypt, and Stone Age "astronomer-priests" who used the planets and stars to measure time and kept a 366 day calendar influenced by a pendulum's arc. Drawing on principals of engineering, astronomy, and math, the authors illustrate that the pyramids of Giza, the King's Circus in England, the U.S. Capitol, and the Thornborough henges in North Yorkshire (created 5,500 years ago) were all built according to the same layout, to mirror the belt of Orion. Fascinating. Photos. (Feb.)