The Shaft, The Subway & The Causeway

 

 

Part 6

 
You might think that having obtained an accurate up-to-date description of the shaft under the causeway there is nothing more to add, but this is not the case. My own interest in the location was initially triggered by the 'mystery school' connection, an angle from which there were still a number of discrepancies to be resolved. The first part of this section gives an overview of the appendix to the book "The Symbolic Prophecy of the Great Pyramid" by H. Spencer Lewis, Ph.D, F.R.C. which also contains a report of the location, but with some striking differences. The next part describes the hunt for an article allegedly written by Hamilton M. Wright that would answer many questions if it could be found.

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The "Symbolic Prophecy" Appendix - An Overview...


subway locationThis section gives an overview of the appendix to the book "The Symbolic Prophecy of the Great Pyramid" by H. Spencer Lewis, Ph.D., F.R.C., first published in 1936. The intention is to provide enough information to allow a critical assessment of the content to be made against the other information at hand.


Lewis starts by mentioning drawings that allegedly show how the pyramids of Giza are connected to the Sphinx by a network of underground chambers and tunnels (The drawings are reproduced on page 4). He says that the drawings form part of secret manuscripts possessed by the mystery schools of Egypt and points out that the existence of such subterranean features has always been denied by the authorities. He quotes an unnamed scientist as saying "...the more we deny the existence of these things, the more the public is led to suspect that we are deliberately trying to hide...one of the great secrets of Egypt. It is better for us to ignore all of these claims than merely deny them." Some might say that this is still the case today. Lewis goes on to give examples where claims that an area has nothing to reveal were subsequently shown to be untrue. He cites the discovery of the temple in front of the Sphinx as one example. He also suggests that past excavations may have revealed things that were quickly concealed again for unspecified reasons.


He next makes reference to "a magazine edited in Egypt, and more or less privately published in London, dealing with Egypt and its explorations." He identifies the January 1935 edition as containing an article with photographs by Hamilton M. Wright which describes recent discoveries at Giza. The article allegedly quotes Dr. Selim Hassan as describing the discovery of the subway under Khafre's causeway. This includes the statement, "We have unearthed a series of shafts leading down more than 125 feet, with roomy courts and side chambers." Interestingly, the article is also said to quote Hassan as saying that the causeway was constructed at the same time as Khafre's pyramid and before the building of the Sphinx.


Lewis next states that a subterranean temple and a previously unknown passageway linking it to the Sphinx were found near the pyramids in 1909. This presumably refers to the excavation of Khafre's pyramid temple in 1909-10 by the Sieglin Expedition. He attempts to connect this discovery with a mystical reawakening that he says occurred around the world at that time. Hassan subsequently excavated the "unknown passageway" and found it to be the causeway linking the pyramid and valley temples.


Lewis returns to the article and quotes a "Mr Derwish" who gives a description of the causeway, subway, shafts and chambers. The description is essentially the same as that quoted on page 1 from "Excavations At Giza" volume 5 by Dr Hassan. Derwish additionally mentions finding a fine statue head with expressive features while clearing the southern part of the subway. Lewis says he has seen a photograph of the statue and attributes it to the time of Amenhotep IV (Akhnaton) by reason of its artistic style. Akhnaton favoured an artistic depiction of subjects, as can be clearly seen by his own statues in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It is unclear whether the photograph is part of the article or a separate item. Lewis seems to be using "context" to associate the location with the time of Akhnaton, one of the traditional leading lights of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC.


Lewis states that a description of the chambers is given in the article. It is said to include references to inner courts, outer courts, a Chapel of Offering and another chamber "much like a burial chamber but undoubtedly a room of initiation and reception." This initiation room is said to contain a large white sarcophagus of Turah limestone at its centre. Walls are described as being beautifully painted and magnificent carved figures are mentioned as being present throughout the complex. The photographs accompanying the article are said to clearly depict the style of art associated with Akhnaton's reign.


Lewis tells us that Dr. Hassan's latest report contains many other interesting facts. He also thinks that the existence of the passageways and chambers helps to verify the existence at least in part of a network of tunnels and chambers as depicted in the book.


In closing, Lewis states that Dr. Hassan has removed rare specimens of art and relics from the chambers and that he (Lewis) hopes some of the items will be exhibited in the Rosicrucian museum. It would be interesting to know where they are now, and also what happened to the fine statue head said to have been found in the subway.

 

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Matters Arising...


The location as described in the appendix seems at first glance to follow the gist of the descriptions given by other reporters. Differences start to appear with the reference to Mr Derwish relating the discovery of a fine head of a statue in the southern part of the subway. Dr. Lewis uses the style of this item and the decorative features described in Wright's article to link the location with the time of Akhnaton, a figure of major significance to the Rosicrucian movement. The main questions to be answered to resolve the differences between Dr. Lewis' account and the facts on the ground were (i) what decorative features were visible at the time of the discovery by Hassan, and (ii) what artifacts were recovered from the chambers and where are they now? It would seem that the man with the answers is Mr. Hamilton M. Wright.

 

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Looking For Mr. Wright...


the grillIt is unfortunate that the most elusive item to date has been "a magazine edited in Egypt, and more or less privately published in London, dealing with Egypt and its explorations." Hamilton M. Wright's article and pictures, said to have been published in January 1935, could answer many questions. For example, neither the Daily Telegraph report of March 1935, nor Dr. Hassan in his brief reference in "Excavations...", nor the recent accounts of Boris Said or Dr. Zahi Hawass make any reference to decorative features in the chambers, and there are certainly none to be seen in the slides Dr Hawass uses when describing the location in his lectures.

 

On the other hand, Wright's article is said to describe rich decorations and magnificent carved figures. At the time back in 1998 when I first wrote this section, it seemed that the only way to identify the locations referred to by Lewis was to find the missing article. The accompanying photographs would clearly indicate the state of the chambers at the time of their discovery by Selim Hassan, show some of the items found, and hopefully solve the puzzle.


A fellow researcher named Tim Zimmerman set to work in the University of Chicago library, hunting through the records for publications that might fit the bill. He came up with two possible titles which he kindly passed on to me. The first title, "The Sphere", was a weekly publication taking the form of an illustrated newspaper. It was a simple matter to locate copies at the British Library Newspaper Section in Colindale, London. Nothing relevant was found in the period October 1934 to March 1935. The second title, "The Sphinx - The English Illustrated Weekly" sounded like a far better bet, being produced and distributed in Cairo and also having a London address. It was targetted at British expatriates living in Egypt and contained news from "back home" as well as current events (including the latest discoveries) in Egypt. It was extremely difficult to track down any copies from January 1935.

 

Enquiries were made and searches conducted at many locations in the U.K. and U.S.A, not to mention in Cairo itself. After five months, a librarian at the British Library in London located a reference to copies being held in New York. Transatlantic phonecalls were made to check that they were still available and a researcher was engaged to go through the January, 1935 issues. Once again, nothing was found so a wider search was conducted in the issues covering the period October 1934 to March 1935. No articles written by Hamilton M.Wright were found, nor were there any articles regarding discoveries or excavations at Giza or any other location in Egypt. I am indebted to Jesus B. Jimenez of NYPL Express, New York Public Library, for carrying out the searches.


It could be the case that no such publication actually exists, however the January, 1935 date is in the right timeframe. There are also records of other articles and publications written by Hamilton M. Wright in the British Library and Library Of Congress catalogues to name but two locations. On reflection, one might come to the conclusion that Lewis didn't want his readers to find the article. Why else would he identify everything about it except the actual name of the publication? At least one photograph by Hamilton M. Wright does exist. I have seen a signed copy of the first edition of "The Symbolic Prophecy Of The Great Pyramid" at the British Library. At the front of the book there is a photograph with the caption,

"Entrance to one of the newly discovered tombs beneath the Pyramid of Chephren. The distinguished Dr. Selim Hassan is director of excavation. The Great Pyramid, unlike its neighbours was not a tomb. (Photo by Hamilton Wright.)"

For some reason, the photograph does not appear in later editions of the book. At the time of writing (November 2003 revision), all attempts to track down the article have failed.


On a trip to Cairo in April 1999 I finally found the solution to Lewis's descriptions of fabulously decorated chambers (revealed on page 8 of this series), however the search for Hamilton Wright's article goes on. It is only when the article is reproduced on this website one day that the "Symbolic Prophecy" puzzle will finally be completed.
 

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