Dear Greg,

I was very interested to read Robert Bauval's reply to Ian Lawton's criticisms of the Orion Correlation Theory in the pages of The Daily Grail, and the further response from Ian Lawton. Both Robert and Ian have included some references to my own assessment of the OCT, however, which require some clarification, and I hope you will allow me to put the record straight.

As Robert pointed out, I published a critique of the Orion Correlation Theory as early as 1995, in Discussions in Egyptology 33, 45-56. Many of the most frequently cited objections to the theory were set out in that article, as will be seen from the extracts which are available from my web site:- http://www.legon.demon.co.uk/. Paul Jordan, for example, in Riddles of the Sphinx (1998), p. 142, includes a diagram which closely resembles my original illustration of the discrepancies between the Orion constellation pattern and the so-called "wider plan".

I am mystified by Robert's assertion that my objections to his theory are "a form of pedantry disguised as 'scientific investigation'", and "a circular argument... unworthy of serious discussion." Even supposing that my use of scientific methods could possibly justify the accusation of pedantry in his eyes, there is nothing "circular" in my arguments, and it seems to me that he is trying to avoid a debate for the simple reason that he cannot answer the objections which I have raised.

To point out that the apparent brightnesses of the three stars of Orion's Belt do not match the relative sizes of the Giza pyramids is not being pedantic, it is stating a fact, which is easily verified by anyone who takes the trouble to look at the stars of Orion in the night sky. The three Belt stars appear as three points of light of approximately similar brightnesses, not even remotely comparable to the widely differing ground-plan dimensions of the three Giza pyramids.

If the pyramid-builders had really intended to construct an image of the Belt stars of Orion on the ground, then we might reasonably expect them to have built three more-or-less equal pyramids; but instead, we find that Menkaure's pyramid contains only about one-tenth of the volume of Khufu's pyramid. It seems that Robert's only response to this "star- magnitude versus pyramid size polemics", is "that it is, quite simply, a red herring"!

At first, however, Robert claimed that a correlation did exist between the magnitudes of the Belt stars and the dimensions of the Giza pyramids, using a photograph of the stars which can only be said to give a greatly distorted impression of how the stars actually appear to the naked eye. I am referring to the photograph reproduced by him in Discussions in Egyptology 13 (1989) plate 2, and later in The Orion Mystery plate 7. I was amazed that Robert should have attempted to demonstrate a correlation on the basis of this photograph, since owing to some form of optical distortion, the Belt stars appear as large blobs of light which bear no resemblance to the actual appearances and relative magnitudes of the three stars in the night sky.

Perhaps, however, Robert's accusation of pedantry was directed towards my use of spherical trigonometry to calculate the angular separations of the stars using the coordinates of Declination and Right Ascension, in order to make an accurate comparison with the distances between the pyramids on the ground. Far from being pedantic, I would suggest that this is the obvious method which any diligent researcher would have used to demonstrate that a correlation existed. If Robert believes that the OCT should be exempt from scientific analyses, then this only exposes the weaknesses in his arguments.

I would like to correct the mistaken impression which has been given by Robert's quotation of an article by Ivan Verheyden in KADATH vol. 93. Verheyden suggests that I "refuse to recognise in the ancient Egyptians a knowledge of astronomy". This is nonsense. It has always been obvious to me that the pyramid-builders were skilful astronomers. The simple fact is that I don't agree with the particular slant which Robert has placed on the significance of the Orion constellation in the Pyramids Texts, nor with his Orion correlation and star-shaft theories in general.

Verheyden also suggests that I think that an "ancient architecture... should be in exact proportions of the astronomical data which only we possess". Again this is nonsense. Of course the pyramid-builders did not have access to the exact coordinates, and they could not have laid out an exact replica of the Orion star pattern on the ground. The calculations which made use of star coordinates in my original analysis were not intended to reveal some minor deviations between the patterning of the Belt stars and the placing of the Giza pyramids, but the truly gross errors which are involved in Robert's concept of a 'wider plan' incorporating the pyramids of Zawiyet el-Aryan and Abu Roash.

As shown by the results which I published in DE 33, the distances between the Giza pyramids and the pyramids of Zawiyet el-Aryan and Abu Roash are approximately twice those needed to demonstrate a correlation with the stars Bellatrix and Saiph respectively. Certainly, we should not expect to find an exact correlation given the distances involved; but when the errors are of the order of 100%, then I think we have to admit that a correlation does not exist. I certainly don't think I should be accused of pedantry for drawing attention to this simple fact.

It is true that in a book review published in DE 37 (1997), I equated the coordinates for Alnitak and Alnilam with the survey data for the Khufu and Khaefre pyramids, and - ignoring the "rotation" of the star pattern - showed that the third star Mintaka corresponded to a point on the ground about 100 cubits (roughly 50 metres) from the centre of Menkaure's pyramid, or outside the perimeter of the base. Verheyden has wrongly quoted me as giving an error of 500 metres, and has reported my findings out of context. I calculated the positional error in order to refute Robin Cook's claim that the Belt star correlation was "remarkably good", and also to make the point that scientific methods allow us to quantify the discrepancies in the Orion correlation, and not have to rely upon crude comparisons between photographs and site plans which may or may not be accurate.

Another aspect of the Orion correlation which has aroused some considerable debate was described in my article in DE 33 (1995) - this being the north-south reversal of the line of the Giza pyramids relative to the line of the Belt stars. It seems that some commentators are prepared to accept this reversal of the natural orientation of the star fields, and think it conceivable that the pyramid-builders equated northern stars with southern pyramids, and vice versa. They should realise, however, that this is not how the Orion correlation was originally presented.

On the contrary, in his article in DE 13, Robert claimed that the alignment of the Belt stars was in the same direction as the alignment of the Giza pyramids. Recognising that: "The three pyramids are aligned in a southwesterly direction...", he said (p. 9): "The three stars are aligned in a southwesterly direction as they cross the meridian".

But this is not the case. The three stars are aligned in a northwesterly direction, meaning that the most westerly star, Mintaka, is also the most northerly. Robert's original article (reproduced in Secret Chamber p. 346-55), thus contained a simple error of fact, which was repeated when he went on to say that "the 'southwesterly' alignment of the three stars relative to the Milky Way's axis matches the 'southwesterly' alignment of the three pyramids relative to the Nile's axis". I think Robert genuinely believed that a correlation existed from both north to south and from east to west, when in fact he was turning the constellation upside down.

Having at some point realized his mistake, however, Robert held on to the Orion correlation theory by assuming the viewpoint of an observer hovering at some height above the ground, while looking southwards towards the Giza pyramids on the ground and the Orion constellation in the sky above above the southern horizon. This rather contrived conception was illustrated in "The Orion Mystery", plate 16, but (as I recall) was not clearly explained at the time. As a matter of fact, an "artist's impression" in an article published in _The Independent_ newspaper, represented the correlation as if a 1:1 geographical relationship really existed between the stars in the sky and the pyramids on the ground - northern stars being equated with northern pyramids - when once again the directions were being reversed.

Pyramid Re-planning

Finally, I would like to respond to Ian Lawton's assertion that the Giza pyramids were subject to extensive replanning, with the implication that this somehow invalidates my discovery of the unified geometrical "master plan" which determined the exact dimensions and relative positions of the three pyramids. First of all, whether or not changes of plan within the passage-systems of the pyramids can be demonstrated, my site-plan analysis refers to the dimensions as they were finally laid out, and the conjectured changes of plan do not alter the intrinsic logic of the external site plan as it was actually executed.

In making his claims about changes of plan, however, Lawton relies heavily on the authority of Dr. I.E.S. Edwards, apparently without realizing that Edwards' theories have been substantially refuted not only by Mark Lehner, but also by Prof. Rainer Stadelmann - the leading German authority on the Egyptian pyramids - in his standard text Die ägyptischen Pyramiden (1997). In addition, the Italian specialists Maragioglio and Rinaldi often disagreed with Edwards' interpretations.

Stadelmann points out the lower chamber in Khaefre's pyramid can never have been planned as the original burial chamber, but was merely a "Vorkammer" or antechamber. It is indeed obvious from the arrangement of the connecting passages and the positioning of the "turning recess" - which is incorrectly shown in Ian Lawton's diagram - that the lower chamber was nothing more than an adjunct to the actual burial chamber situated close to the centre of the pyramid. Since Lehner also describes the lower chamber as a storeroom or subsidiary chamber, it is evident that these two leading experts agree that Edwards was mistaken. There is, in reality, no reason whatsoever to suppose that the lower chamber was ever intended to function as a burial chamber, and the argument that it should have been located beneath the centre of the pyramid in an earlier plan, with the implication that the pyramid-base must have been shifted southwards in a change of plan, thus falls to the ground.

Similarly, for sound technical reasons, Stadelmann rejects Edwards' theory that changes of plan took place in Menkaure's pyramid, and he maintains that the upper entrance passage was a working passage which was used during the construction of the granite chamber. He also concludes that the dimensions of the pyramid's base are those which were originally laid out.

Far from there being incontrovertible proof that the Khaefre and Menkaure pyramids were subject to changes of plan, therefore, there is no concrete evidence to show that any significant changes were made to the internal arrangements in either pyramid. Even if we allow that some changes might have been made, the contention that this had an effect on the external dimensions and positions of these pyramids is mere speculation.

I entirely agree with Robert Bauval when he says: "the relationships, mathematically and geometrically, between the various monuments play a huge part in the layout", and that "a unified plan must have been the exercise at the outset". I would like to thank Robert for acknowledging the significance of my findings on the Giza site plan, and for his references to my articles on the subject in Discussions in Egyptology 10 (1988) & 14 (1989).

Kind regards,

John Legon