Please note that this 20th Anniversary Edition is broadly the same as the original except for a completely revised Epilogue, which can be accessed here.

OVERVIEW

What secrets does the Giza Plateau really hold?
Who is trying to unlock them… and what are their motives?

The multitude of popular works that have been published about the Giza Plateau – home of the three most famous pyramids and the Sphinx – have increasingly painted a picture of impossible engineering, extreme antiquity, and 'lost' ancient civilisations. This 'alternative' view has now become firmly entrenched in the public consciousness, leaving the orthodox Egyptological cause floundering in its wake. But have the public been misled?

In this groundbreaking book the authors have uncovered poor scholarship, distortion, propaganda and a morass of politics, jealousy, and ambition. Is it genuinely possible that a Hall of Records containing a record of ancient civilisations exists at Giza? That the remnants of these civilisations designed and built the pyramids and Sphinx as much as 12,500 years ago? That the Great Pyramid is in fact a giant energy generator? That only as yet undiscovered technology could have been used to build the edifices? That in recent decades concerted but often covert efforts have been made to locate as yet undiscovered chambers in the Great Pyramid, and in and around the Sphinx?

Even if we conclude that all these suggestions are wide of the mark, is there other evidence to suggest that a forgotten ancient civilisation may nevertheless have existed? Indeed, are alternative researchers concentrating their efforts on the wrong places? Meanwhile, who are the key figures who have dominated the exploration of the Plateau from earliest times to the present day? What did they really find? And what lies behind the political in-fighting that has come to dominate the exploration of the Plateau in recent decades?

The answers to these questions and many more are revealed as this astounding story unfolds. Exclusive information has been provided by some of the most famous names involved with Giza. This, combined with the authors' own extensive research and on-site explorations, has culminated in what can only be described as the most fascinating and important piece of work on the Plateau to date. The injection of some much-needed sanity into the whole Giza debate is long overdue, but the wait is now over...

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TESTIMONIALS

Lawton and Ogilvie-Herald have gone where no academic has dared to venture, and have exposed the raw truth behind the archaeological history and politics of Egypt's greatest monuments. David Rohl, leading revisionist author and TV presenter

I urge everyone to read and digest Giza: The Truth before they even think about picking up another book on alternative Egypt. Lawton and Ogilvie-Herald's insight into the great Giza debate is superb. Andrew Collins, leading revisionist author

A refreshing and realistic overview of research, exploration, questions and answers surrounding the Giza Plateau ... a significant contribution to the field. Rudolf Gantenbrink, robotics expert and pyramid explorer

This book is absolutely first rate! Joe Schor, financier of Giza explorations

CONTENTS

To read extracts click on the links below.

INTRODUCTION

PART 1: PROLOGUE

1 EARLY EXPLORATIONS: the caliph’s capers; Arabian accounts; desecration and disaster; the dawn of decoding; Davison delves; Jomard juggles; the circus strongman; the Genoese merchant; Victorian vandal? the French founders; the astronomer royal; Masonic meddling? the father Of Egyptian archaeology; twentieth century greats.

2 WHEN WERE THE PYRAMIDS BUILT? context is king; pyramid progression; the foundations of attribution; alternative attacks; Vyse is victimised; the invented inventory; sign your name! earlier structures? carbon-dating revisited; conclusion.

3 WHY WERE THE PYRAMIDS BUILT? funerary edifices? the Great Pyramid puzzle; symbolism, ritual and initiation; repositories of knowledge? astronomical observatories? millennium madness? conclusion.

4 HOW WERE THE PYRAMIDS BUILT? preparation; erection; completion; logistics; monolithic mysteries? appropriate alternatives? conclusion.

5 LEGENDS OF THE HALL: the hall in antiquity; the ‘sleeping prophet’; conclusion.

PART 2: MODERN METHODS

66 THE HUNT FOR SECRET CHAMBERS: the joint pyramid project; SRI international; surveying the Sphinx; the Queen’s Chamber; more secret chambers? conclusion.

7 THE AGE OF THE SPHINX: the lion man; preliminaries; weathering; context revisited; conclusion.

8 THE ENIGMA OF THE SHAFTS: ventilation revisited; a new perspective; opener of the ways; what next?

9 TWINKLE LITTLE STAR: shaft alignments; the Orion correlation; the broader correlations; keeper of genesis; judgment day.

PART 3: POLITICS ON THE PLATEAU

10 FOOL’S GOLD: the Sphinx project; the Schor foundation expeditions; trouble in the alternative camp; open that door!

11 FALSE PROPHETS? genesis of conspiracy; the ‘real’ Gantenbrink story; on the offensive; about turn! divergent paths?

12 THE APPLEBY AFFAIR: Hermes rising; Hermes falling; fall of the gods; conclusion.

13 THE HUNTER: revelations! seeing sense; conclusion.

14 THE WATER SHAFT: early days; hyping it up! time for truth! pulling in the punters.

15 TUNNEL TALK: Danley’s tunnel; Cox’s tunnel; the Sphinx’s rump; conclusion.

16 EPILOGUE: moving the debate forwards; the show must go on; a final word.

APPENDIX I: Were the Giza Pyramids Covered in Hieroglyphs?

APPENDIX II: More on the Pyramids-as-Tombs Debate

APPENDIX III: The Great Pyramid's Security Features

APPENDIX IV: Features of Major 3rd and 4th Dynasty Pyramids

APPENDIX V: Chronological Summary

APPENDIX VI: Map of Major Sites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Discover why, when and how the Giza Pyramids were built by the ancient Egyptian kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, and what early explorers like al Mamun, Edrisi, al Latif, Greaves, Davison, Jomard, Belzoni, Caviglia, Howard Vyse, Perring, Lepsius, Marriette, Piazzi Smyth, the Dixons, Flinders Petrie and others found inside them. Find out why modern explorations by Zahi Hawass, Joe Schor, Rudolf Gantenbrink and others have not discovered secret tunnels and chambers under the Sphinx or in the Great Pyramid, and why context shows that suggestions it is a hall of records, power plant or astronomical observatory built by Atlantean survivors or extraterrestrial visitors have few firm foundations. Includes analysis of modern contributions from orthodox Egyptologists such as Emile Baraize, Selim Hassan, IES Edwards, JP Lepre, and Mark Lehner, and of alternative speculations from Joe Schor, Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West, Adrian Gilbert, Colin Wilson, Robert Schoch, Colin Reader, Christopher Dunn, Alan Alford, Richard Hoagland, Peter Tompkins, Zecharia Sitchin and many more.

ADDITIONAL PAPERS/DISCUSSIONS