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Devadander t1_j6p3ep6 wrote

Most archaeologists now agree … is a fringe idea

This isn’t an endorsement of the idea

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jamesgelliott t1_j6oznsn wrote

Not only are the pyramids NOT aligned to the belt of Orion, in order to force them to align, the north/south axis has to be flipped.

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Optimal-Grass-8989 t1_j6p3icz wrote

Maybe that was the point? An inverted expression to represent the constellation, mirroring the heavens on earth.

Haha, it’s easy to be either a dreamer or a denier. Much of archaeology is about speculation using what evidence you have available.

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ktempest t1_j6p646c wrote

Yes, it was supposed to be flipped. That's a feature, not a bug.

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jamesgelliott t1_j6pap5z wrote

Maybe but where's the evidence??

Remember, science doesn't LOOK for coincidences.

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ktempest t1_j6pdyee wrote

Sorry, let me be clear! In Bauval's theory they're meant to be flipped. That's not a hole in the theory, that's part of it.

That said, I do not agree with the Orion alignment theory.

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Ill-Manufacturer8654 t1_j6p5nmi wrote

I mean, it's been discredited for a long time now.

For the most part, if you hear about some famous archaeological site aligning with such and such a constellation, it's almost certainly a load of crap. This sort of thing was popular with pseudoscientists back in the day, and it just sort of caught on.

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ktempest t1_j6p85k3 wrote

Erm, sorry to break out to you, friend, but you're wrong on this one. Not about the Orion theory - it doesn't hang together for the same reason you're wrong about other sites.

In ancient Egypt they did align certain buildings to certain constellations. But by align I mostly mean they made it so you could see certain stars or constellations through an opening, a window, a hole in the ceiling, etc. It's part of the way they kept time and also because the buildings usually had a connection to a celestial body relating to the spiritual purpose.

In Egypt, the civilization lasted so long that they had to shift some temples, foundation and all, to re-align with the correct stars as precession moved them after a couple thousand years. This is a known fact. Ask any archaeoastronomer.

Thing is, the Orion theory of the stars on the belt aligning really only works if one messes with how a human would look at the stars. The pictures in the book are weird.

Other ancient civilizations also did the constellation alignment thing as well as aligning to solstice or equinox sunrises/sunsets, and also tracking Venus.

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Ill-Manufacturer8654 t1_j6p952h wrote

I'm not, no.

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ktempest t1_j6pdj0k wrote

Yeah, you are. As I stated, ask any archaeoastronomer. Literally folks who study the ancient stars and how ancient cultures studied and related to them. Hell, ask any Egyptologist. This isn't some controversial theory from the ancient aliens people, this is accepted in academia.

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PaleontologistDry430 t1_j6p9moh wrote

Archaeoastronomy exists... It is well known the use of architechtonic edifications to mark positions in sky and time, like the "group E" in Mayan sites.

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ktempest t1_j6pfamu wrote

They just dismissed an entire field of study!

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togocann49 t1_j6p75ob wrote

Pyramids in other places like South America often line up with many different stars and star groups. There is also ancient construction that (for instance) lets light through an opening only on solstice. I’m not sure their reasoning to think of this only as a fringe theory, but it definitely reoccurs a lot

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Madfromreefer t1_j6oza15 wrote

2 questions…

If aligned to Orion; why Orion?

Or

What if they weren’t done aligning to another?

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PuckSR t1_j6pf5ry wrote

Orion's belt is one of the easiest patterns to pick out of the sky. Three stars that are relatively bright and look almost like a straight line.

From what I've seen, nearly every group that could SEE Orion's belt had some kind of constellation attached to it.

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ktempest t1_j6pe9re wrote

Why Orion: ancient Egyptians called that constellation Auser (who we know as Osiris) and it was very important in Egyptian cosmology.

I don't agree with the alignment thing, BTW.

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Ground2ChairMissile t1_j6p2ajg wrote

Because the layout of the three main pyramids kinda sorta looks like Orion's Belt from the air.

Except it's flipped. Hence the (wrong) idea that it looked really different thousands of years ago.

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ktempest t1_j6p66jg wrote

No, the flipped part isn't what's wrong with the idea.

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ktempest t1_j6p60gi wrote

Wait, now? As if they ever thought it was anything but a fringe idea?

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ktempest t1_j6p88m1 wrote

This article is annoying as it gets some facts wrong but is overall right but it's right for the wrong reasons 😂

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