The Giza Discovery.
By Peter Goodgame.
The Search for the Hidden Tomb
"I really personally believe that the secret chamber of Khufu is hidden inside the pyramid."
Zahi Hawass, from a lecture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in early July of 2005
In October of 2005 the world will witness another serious effort to uncover some of the mysteries that lay buried under the rock and sand at Giza. There is a very good possibility that this effort will not be in vain, and that it will result in the greatest archaeological discovery ever made in the history of mankind. This series of articles will explain what that discovery might be and, more importantly, what that discovery could mean for the world not only archaeologically and historically, but spiritually as well.
The major components of the Giza complex include the the three major pyramids and also the enigmatic massive stone statue known as the Sphinx. The Great Pyramid, the largest of the three main pyramids, was the first built and is also the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It is a well-established fact that the Great Pyramid was built by King Khufu, of Egypt's Fourth Dynasty, whose reign began around approximately 2500 BCE. What is not an established fact, although it is the common explanation, is that Khufu built the Great Pyramid to be his own personal burial chamber. That was not the purpose of the Great Pyramid-the truth is much more interesting.
Zahi Hawass himself explains that the Giza Plateau was known by the Egyptians as the "House of Osiris, Lord of the Underground Tunnels." [1] So if we want to understand Giza and the Great Pyramid we must understand the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, rather than focus on Khufu the king who was merely tasked with initiating the construction of this enduring monument. To begin this story we will go back to 1998, when Dr. Hawass had just made what he called his greatest discovery, a discovery that definitely did concern the Egyptian god Osiris.
You may be asking, 'Who is Dr. Zahi Hawass?' Well, his official titles are 'Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt' and 'Director of the Giza Pyramids Excavation.' In other words, Dr. Zahi Hawass is the top man in charge of Egyptian antiquities. Nothing happens archaeologically in Egypt without his approval and signature, and nothing happens in Giza without him usually being physically present, either personally directing the research or excavation or else observing with a keen and critical eye.
The Hallway of Osiris
Back in November of 1998 Hawass made a discovery that he relates here in his own words, as taken from a press release at the time [2]: "I have found a shaft, going 29 meters [95 feet approximately] vertically down into the ground, exactly halfway between the Chefren Pyramid [the middle pyramid] and the Sphinx. At the bottom, which was filled with water, we have found a burial chamber with four pillars. In the middle is a large granite sarcophagus which I expect to be the grave of Osiris, the god... I have been digging in Egypt's sand for more than 30 years, and up to date this is the most exciting discovery I have made... We found the shaft in November and began pumping up the water recently. So several years will pass before we have finished investigating the find."
Zahi Hawass believed at the time that he had found the burial place of Osiris the god and he referred to this as the greatest discovery of his entire career. This discovery eventually became known worldwide and the FOX television network broadcast a special program on March 2, 1999, entitled "Opening the Lost Tombs: Live From Egypt." The special was a huge success for FOX as far as ratings were concerned, but as far as the academic world was concerned it was a travesty and an embarrassment both to archaeology and to Egyptology, despite what appeared to be the good intentions of Zahi Hawass. [3]
The so-called grave and sarcophagus of Osiris was eventually explained by Hawass as being "symbolic," probably having been used for initiatory and/or ritual purposes as a part of Egyptian religion, and dating to 2000 years after the building of the pyramids (665-525 BC).[4] In any case, the shaft in which it was located did open up previously unexplored tunnels, but the world is still waiting for Hawass to make a public presentation documenting where these tunnels go, how extensive they are, and what they lead to.
This story is not dead but it has been quiet for some time now. To examine it further readers may click to an excellent series of articles written by Nigel Skinner-Thompson called "The Shaft, The Subway & The Causeway," or they may click to an article entitled "Ananda in the Hallway of Osiris" which contains a first-person account of what the tunnels and chambers contain and a number of color photographs.
From this adventure we can deduce that Zahi Hawass maintains a belief that Osiris was in fact a historical figure and that his grave, and possibly his mummified body, must still exist somewhere within the Giza complex. What is also clear is that, for some unknown reason, Hawass wants to make sure that when this tomb is found the whole world will be able to watch when its contents are revealed.
The French Initiative
From past excitement concerning the possible discovery of the tomb of Osiris we now direct our attention to current excitement regarding the "tomb of Khufu."
From September 6-12 of 2004 the 9th International Congress of Egyptologists met at Grenoble, France. This conference included a presentation given by two French researchers who publicized their theory (and book) that structural anomalies suggested the existence of a hidden chamber within the Great Pyramid itself. Gilles Dormion and Jean-Yves Verd'hurt admit to being amateurs in areas such as Egyptian history, culture and religion, but their specialty is in the field of architecture and their method has achieved success in the past when they were able to locate two previously unknown chambers in the Meidum Pyramid to the south of Giza.
Dormion and Verd'hurt's theory is that this hidden chamber exists underneath the Queen's Chamber at a symbolic location at the very heart of the Great Pyramid. As evidence for it they argue that the hole in the floor of the niche in the east wall of the Queen's Chamber was used to pass ropes through to install what are called "portcullis blocks" which are used primarily to block the entrances and exits of chambers or passageways.
Their theory appeared to have been confirmed in September of 2000 when ground probing radar was used on the floor of the Queen's Chamber revealing a passageway or void 3.5 meters below. Dormion and Verd'hurt also provided evidence that the paving stones of the Queen's Chamber had at one time been removed to gain access to this alleged passageway, which is illustrated in an article located here. [5]
Dormion and Verd'hurt appear to have gained the support of much of the French Egyptological establishment, including Jean-Pierre Corteggiani of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, and Nicolas Grimal the head of Egyptology at the College de France. Grimal even wrote the preface to their book La Chambre de Cheops (The Chamber of Cheops), writing that their ideas may lead to "without doubt, one of the greatest discoveries in Egyptology." [6]
While this French initiative appears to have both solid evidence and high-level backing on its side it will inevitably go nowhere without the support of Dr. Zahi Hawass. To test their theory the French team has been lobbying for permission to drill through the floor of the Queen's Chamber and Zahi Hawass, who attended the Grenoble conference and listened to the presentation, refuses to allow this.
There are a couple of reasons why Hawass is opposed to the French initiative. In the first place, Dormion's theory is based on the idea that the Egyptian builders of the Great Pyramid were incompetent and that the location of Khufu's Tomb had to be changed from the King's Chamber to underneath the Queen's Chamber because the pyramid exhibited signs of structural failure as it was being built. This possibility does not appeal to Hawass, who happens to be an Egyptian himself, and neither does it appeal to the other two individuals consulted by Hawass, Mark Lehner of the USA and Rainer Stadelmann of Germany, who Hawass considers to be the top experts on the Great Pyramid.
The other reason that Hawass refuses to allow the French initiative to move forward is because he wants to focus on his own theory of where this hidden "tomb of Khufu" might be found within the Great Pyramid.
The Hawass Initiative
The current theory that Hawass holds regarding the location of the "Hidden Chamber of Khufu" traces back to the 1992-93 UPUAUT PROJECT led by Rudolf Gantenbrink. This was the project in which a robot was sent up the two anomalous shafts that project up and out, north and south, from the Queen's Chamber. On March 22, 1993, this robot made its way to the end of the southern shaft, 210 feet up and 54 feet from the surface of the pyramid, where it found what looked like a stone door fitted with metal handles. Subsequent testing showed that this "door" was only about three inches thick.
The discovery of a "door" at the end of the southern "star-shaft" created a storm of media attention and debate, but nothing was done about it until 2002. That was when another TV special was set up, funded by the National Geographic Society and broadcast live, as before, by the FOX TV Network on September 16, 2002. The world watched as a robot ascended the shaft to drill a tiny hole through "Gantenbrink's Door" after which a camera was inserted offering pictures of the other side. What it showed was simply the end of the shaft in the form of a rough hewn block, this time without metal handles. The robot was also able to successfully ascend the northern shaft and it found another smooth stone "door" with metal handles. However, in this case a decision was made not to drill through the "door."
To bring this story up to date we must go to the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where Zahi Hawass gave a lecture in early July of 2005. According to a report carried by The Daily Star, this was when Zahi Hawass voiced his confidence that "the secret chamber of Khufu is hidden inside the pyramid." [7]
Hawass explained that his hopes lay in what is beyond the "end" of the Queen's Chamber's southern shaft, and what is beyond the "door" of the northern shaft. According to Hawass, in October of 2005 a robot built by the University of Singapore will be sent up the shafts to drill through both of these blocks. This time, to avoid any major disappointment as before, Hawass says that the drilling will not be broadcast live, but the results will be announced in a press release. However Hawass did explain that "If something interesting is discovered, we're going to show it to people all over the world."
At the same time that the drilling is taking place in the Great Pyramid there will also be a team from Birmingham, England, performing radar mapping at select locations on the Giza plateau. Perhaps this has to do with the new tunnels that were opened up with the discovery of the so-called "Tomb of Osiris"?
The Giza Wall
Whatever may be in store for Giza this October, it appears that Zahi Hawass and the Egyptian authorities have been preparing for something big. In 2002 construction began of a massive concrete security wall to surround the Giza plateau which, for reasons unknown, also extends into the empty desert to encompass a total area of about eight square kilometers. Egyptologist and mystic J.J. Hurtak comments on this wall saying that such a wall was never needed for tourists, but can only be in preparation for a major discovery [8]: "The psychological reality of guards stationed as sentries at intervals along the entire wall carries the intrigue of a major feature film set, designed for the few experts who are to find an underground sphinx or obelisk, or a connection between Osiris and the constellation of Orion, rather than an open-door feature for thousands of well-behaved international students of history and archaeology who have never needed to be extensively controlled."
It is now 2005 and this wall must now be almost certainly complete. What kind of event could possibly be scheduled to demand such a high level of security and safety? What kind of discovery could possibly be expected?
It is interesting that Hurtak referred to the possibility of finding evidence connecting Osiris with Orion. This connection is something that is well-known to many researchers of the religion and history of ancient Egypt, but it is still unaccepted within the mainstream academic community of Egyptology. In the next article we will examine why this connection is important and we will argue that the Great Pyramid of Egypt, if it was indeed built as a tomb, is more likely to contain the mummy of Osiris, rather than that of Khufu the builder of the pyramid.
Postscript: 2005 has passed and there has been little activity regarding the search for the hidden chamber. However, in a December 12, 2005 interview Dr. Hawass remained unshaken in his expectation that it will be found. Whether it exists near the top of the Great Pyramid or not remains a matter of debate. Perhaps it exists in the heart of the pyramid as argued by Dormion and Verd'hurt, or perhaps there is indeed a 250-foot high chamber near the base of the pyramid as alleged by independent researcher Larry Dean Hunter. Read on to learn how this discovery, whether it occurs as soon as 2006 or as late as 2012, will be remembered as the greatest archaeological discovery ever made in the history of mankind.
Footnotes 1. http://www.towers-online.co.uk/pages/shaftos1.htm 2. From a newspaper article entitled "Sandpit of Royalty" by Dorte Quist taken from http://phoenix.akasha.de/~aton/HO-OSIRIS.html 3. See this page for two critical reviews: http://www.csicop.org/cmi/reviews/opening-lost-tombs.html 4. Secret Chamber: The Quest for the Hall of Records, Robert Bauval, 1999, p.83 5."A Secret Chamber in the Great Pyramid?" : http://www.cite-sciences.fr/francais/ala_cite/science_actualites/sitesactu/question_actu.php?langue=an&sommaire=1&id_article=3343
6. "Secret Chambers of the Great Pyramid of Khufu" by Jimmy Dunn: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pyramidchambers.htm 7. "The Great Pyramid may still contain Khufu's intact pharaonic tomb" by Kyle Cassidy: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=16740 8."New Walls Encircle Pyramidal Complex at Giza" by Dr. J.J. Hurtak: http://www.initiation.cc/Giza_Update/giza_update.html
The Myth and Religion of Osiris the God
"Glory be to thee, Osiris Un-nefer, the great god who dwellest within Abtu (Abydos), thou king of eternity, thou lord of everlastingness, who passest through millions of years in the course of thine existence. Thou art the eldest son of the womb of Nut, and thou wast engendered by Seb, the Ancestor... Let thine heart, O Osiris, who art in the Mountain of Amentet, be content, for thy son Horus is stablished upon thy throne... He leadeth in his train that which is, and that which is not yet... he is exceedingly mighty and most terrible in his name 'Osiris'; he endureth for ever and for ever in his name of 'Un-nefer.' Homage be to thee, O King of kings, Lord of lords, Ruler of princes, who from the womb of Nut hast ruled the world and the Underworld. Praise be unto thee, Osiris, lord of eternity, Un-nefer-Heru-Khuti, whose forms are manifold, and whose attributes are majestic... thou guide of the Underworld, whom (the gods) glorify when thou settest in the night sky of Nut... Those who have lain down [i.e., the dead] rise up to look upon thee, they breathe the air and they look upon thy face when the disk riseth on the horizon; their hearts are at peace inasmuch as they behold thee, O thou who art Eternity and Everlastingness."
"Hymn to Osiris" from the Egyptian Book of the Dead (c.1400 BC)
When the pyramids of Giza were built by pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty (circa 2600-2500 BC) the center of Egyptian religion was located at the city of Anu or Iunu, later known to the Greeks as Heliopolis the "City of the Sun." This religious capital was located on the opposite side of the Nile from the Giza plateau about twelve miles to the northeast. The pyramids were built as a religious monument and if we are to fully understand them we must first have a basic understanding of Egyptian religious beliefs at the time.
Egyptian Religion According to what is called the Ennead System of creation, which was developed and promoted from Heliopolis, there were nine major gods at the head of the Egyptian pantheon. The chief god was Atum, also known as Ra or Re. It was he who emerged alone out of the primordial nothingness and he was represented and worshiped as the sun. The next stage was Atum's creation of the elements 'air' and 'water,' deified as the god Shu and goddess Tefnut. From this union came the next generation of Egyptian divinities who were the god Geb (also known as Keb or Seb) who represented the earth, and the goddess Nut or Nuit, who was a deification of the sky and the heavens. This pair, the sky and the earth, were eventually separated as the picture shows, with the canopy of the heavens arching over and covering the prostrate earth.
It was from the union of Geb and Nut that Egyptian history began, because prior to their separation Nut became pregnant and gave birth to four children: the brothers Osiris and Set, and the sisters Isis and Nephthys. According to ancient Egyptian accounts from every era Osiris was the very first king of Egypt who ruled wisely and compassionately in a primordial Golden Age referred to as Zep Tepi-the "First Time."
The Myth of Osiris The story of the life and death of Osiris is related in the myth called "The Legend of Osiris and Isis." This myth is recounted in bits and pieces throughout Egypt in hieroglyphic inscriptions, in papyrus funerary texts, and in paintings and sculptures, but it was not set down in a complete modern literary form until the Greek writer Plutarch summarized it in the first century AD. [1]
Briefly, according to this version of the myth, when Osiris appeared the land of Egypt was in chaos and the people lived as ignorant barbarians. Osiris civilized the Egyptians and brought order to the land by teaching them agriculture and writing, by giving them a code of laws, and by instructing them in the proper worship of the gods. After his great success in the land of Egypt Osiris set out on a journey to civilize and bring order to the entire earth. While he was gone his sister/wife Isis ruled in his stead, while his jealous brother Set plotted how to get rid of him and take over his throne.
During a return visit to Egypt Set held a banquet in Osiris' honor. He had secretly measured Osiris' body and had fabricated a beautiful chest to his exact specifications. During the party this chest was brought out and admired by all. As if in fun Set remarked that he would give this beautiful object to whomever could fit perfectly inside it. Everyone at the party tried to fit inside, but only Osiris fit perfectly, and then when he was inside Set, along with seventy-two fellow conspirators, slammed the door of the chest shut and fastened it with nails and molten lead. They then carried the chest out and tossed it into the river, whereupon Osiris drowned and the chest was carried out to sea.
Eventually this chest came to the shore near Byblos, where the ocean-side shrubbery grew up around it and covered it. This shrubbery grew thicker and thicker so that it appeared as a tree trunk, after which it was cut down, with the chest hidden inside, and installed as a pillar in the court of the local king. After a series of miraculous events Isis eventually found the chest, recovered the body of Osiris and brought it back to Egypt where she hid it. Unfortunately, while out hunting one night the evil Set came upon this chest, discovered the body of Osiris, cut it up into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis then went throughout the land to recover these pieces, setting up a shrine or tomb for Osiris at each place. She found every piece of Osiris except for the phallus and magically put him back together again. In place of the phallus she created an artificial one and consecrated it to the gods, after which she copulated with Osiris and became pregnant. The body of Osiris was then mummified and buried at an undisclosed location, which is the first historical or mythological reference to the practice of mummification. Osiris was the world's very first mummy, which is an important fact to remember.
The son born to Isis from Osiris was named Horus and he was raised to adulthood in secret. The spirit of Osiris would often visit his son, instructing him in warfare and in the proper way to rule as a king. Horus gradually became skilled and knowledgeable enough to challenge his uncle Set, and faced off against him in a number of epic battles. Horus eventually overcame Set militarily and then also legally, when the Council of the Gods gave Horus the authority to rule over the whole land of Egypt. Osiris was also rewarded for the virtue that he displayed in his life by being transformed into a god and given authority as the Judge of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld. From then on every king of Egypt was known as a descendent of both Horus and Osiris.
The Symbols of Osiris In Egyptian art Osiris is almost always depicted as a figure who is mummified in white linen from his neck down, with only his arms or hands unbound. He is usually shown wearing the white crown-the hedjet, which is the crown that always refers to Upper Egypt (southern Egypt). There was also a red crown-the deshret, which was usually reserved for Lower Egypt, and there was also a double crown-the pschent, which symbolized the wearer's authority over both Upper and Lower Egypt. Osiris almost always wore the White Crown, and rarely the Red Crown, but Horus was often pictured wearing the Double Crown.
Osiris is also depicted with green skin, which Egyptologists explain as a reference to the fact that he is dead, or as an allusion to his role as an agricultural god. Osiris is often shown holding a crook or hooked staff and a flail. The crook was a shepherd's tool, while the flail was used as a threshing tool in agriculture. These became symbols of royalty and were adopted by pharaohs down through the ages, including King Tutankhamen. [2]
Images of Osiris are also often accompanied by the hieroglyphic symbol known as the ankh, which looks like a cross with a loop at the top, as shown at the bottom right of the picture. This hieroglyph is the ancient Egyptian symbol meaning "life," and it was used in the case of Osiris, as with the Cross of Christianity, to refer to life after death and eternal life. Another symbol used in connection with Osiris that had the same connotation was the Bennu bird, or phoenix, the legendary bird of prey that dies a fiery death but is always reborn from the ashes. Some accounts state that this bird first emerged from the heart of Osiris, while others equate the Bennu bird with the soul of Ra-Atum. As we will continue to show, the theme of "Resurrection" is a constant companion to the figure of Osiris.
Another important symbol for Osiris is the constellation Orion. As Part 1 explained, this is a connection still debated within the field of Egyptology, yet the evidence seems to be clear. Below are translations of several inscriptions that date to approximately 2175-2350 BC. They are the earliest references to Osiris in existence and they clearly connect the god with the constellation Orion: Utterance 219: "In your name of Dweller in Orion, with a season in the sky and a season on earth. O Osiris, turn your face and look on this King, for your seed which issued from you is effective."
Utterance 442: "This Great One has fallen on his side, he who is in Nedit is felled. Your hand is taken by Ra, your head is lifted up by the Two Enneads. Behold he has come as Orion, behold, Osiris has come as Orion... O King, the sky conceives you with Orion, the dawn-light bears you with Orion. He who lives, lives by the command of the gods, and you live. You will regularly ascend with Orion from the eastern region of the sky, you will regularly descend with Orion into the western region of the sky..."
Utterance 466: "O King, you are this great star, the companion of Orion, who traverses the sky with Orion, who navigates the Netherworld with Osiris; you ascend from the east of the sky, being renewed at your due season and rejuvenated at your due time. The sky has born you with Orion, the year has put a fillet on you with Osiris, hands have been given to you, the dance has gone down to you, a food-offering is given to you, the Great Mooring-post cries out to you as (to) Osiris in his suffering." [3]
These inscriptions are part of the Pyramid Texts which are an important key to unlocking the mysteries of Egyptian religion, the origin of Dynastic Egypt, and the historical identity of Osiris-the man who became a god.
The Pyramid Texts The three main pyramids of Giza were built during Egypt's Fourth Dynasty (c.2600-2500 BC) and they are curiously devoid of any kind of ritualistic hieroglyphic inscriptions. Less than two hundred years later another major pyramid complex began to be built at Saqqara, about ten miles southeast of Giza. Altogether five kings from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties erected five main pyramids at this new cult location. These pyramids were much smaller than those of Giza and they were also different by the fact that the halls and chambers within these pyramids were completely covered with the inscriptions that are known today as the 'Pyramid Texts.'
There are over seven hundred groups of inscriptions, known as 'utterances,' carved throughout these five pyramids, and the majority of them are spells or ritualistic verses whose purpose is to "ensure the welfare of the dead king in the hereafter."[4] Strangely, the very first of these utterances appear to have much in common with the early pages of the New Testament: Utterance 1: "The King is my eldest son... he is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Utterance 2: "Recitation by Geb: 'The king is my bodily son...'"
Utterance 3: "...The King is my beloved son, my first-born upon the throne of Geb, with whom he is well pleased, and he has given to him his heritage in the presence of the Great Ennead. All the gods are in joy, and they say: 'How goodly is the King! His father Geb is pleased with him.'" [5]
Throughout the Pyramid Texts the king is the focus and his relationship with the gods is explained. He is referred to often as Osiris or as Horus, and he is referred to repeatedly as the son of Ra-the chief god of the Ennead, or as the son of Geb-the earth god of the Ennead. During his life the king was viewed as a sort of living or reincarnated Osiris/Horus and then at his death he took his place in the Netherworld among the gods and stars after undergoing a judgment presided over by Osiris. One of the most important doctrines of Egyptian religion is thus developed, as the French Egyptologist Ledrain explains, "Osiris was the god through whose sufferings and death the Egyptian hoped that his body might rise again in some transformed or glorified shape, and to him who had conquered death and had become the king of the other world the Egyptian appealed in prayer for eternal life through his victory and power. In every funeral inscription known to us, from the pyramid texts down to the roughly written prayers upon coffins of the Roman period, what is done for Osiris is done also for the deceased, the state and condition of Osiris are the state and condition of the deceased; in a word, the deceased is identified with Osiris. If Osiris liveth for ever, the deceased will live for ever; if Osiris dieth, then will the deceased perish." [6]
Giza and the Cult of Osiris Evidence that Giza was built as a magnificent memorial to Osiris can be found throughout Egyptian history. In his book Secret Chamber (1999), author and researcher Robert Bauval gathers much of this evidence and organizes it into a formidable argument.
For instance, in the Book of the Two Ways, which dates to c.2000 BC, Bauval cites a reference to the "Highland of Aker, which is the dwelling place of Osiris," and another that states: "Osiris who is in the Highland of Aker." Bauval then refers to Egyptologist Selim Hassan whose research has concluded that Aker, a lion-figured deity pictured often in connection with Osiris and the Netherworld, is most likely symbolized by the Great Sphinx, and that the "Highlands of Aker" must then refer to the raised Giza plateau upon which the Sphinx and the Pyramids were built. In other words, Giza is the dwelling place of Osiris. [7]
Another reference comes from the inscription on the Shabaka Stone which dates to c.700 BC. However, the scribe who carved the text states that the inscription is a copy from an earlier original, one that scholars believe may date as far back as the Pyramid Age: This is the land ////// the burial of Osiris in the House of Sokar. ////// Isis and Nephthys without delay, for Osiris had drowned in his water. Isis [and Nephthys] looked out, [beheld him and attended to him]. Horus speaks to Isis and Nephthys: "Hurry, grasp him ///."
Isis and Nephthys speak to Osiris: "We come, we take you ///."
////// [They heeded in time] and brought him to [land. He entered the hidden portals in the glory of the lords of eternity]. //////. [Thus Osiris came into] the earth at the royal fortress, to the north of [the land to which he had come...] [8]
According to this text Osiris was buried in the "House of Sokar" after his body had been taken by Isis and Nephthys and brought to the land, whereafter he entered the "hidden portals" and "came into the earth at the royal fortress," which was in the north of the land of Egypt.
The Pyramid Texts explain that Sokar is merely another name for Osiris. Some current researchers believe that Sokar was an ancient deity originally distinct from Osiris but their evidence is thin and based primarily on conjecture and supposition [9]. Sokar may have been a name by which the Egyptians originally knew Osiris, and one of his many aspects, but Sokar was never completely distinct from Osiris.
In Utterance 300 of the Pyramid Texts the king, who is often identified as Osiris, states, "...I am Sokar of Rostau, I am bound for the place where dwells Sokar..." In Utterance 532 the connection is made more explicit: "...they have found Osiris, his brother Seth having laid him low in Nedit; when Osiris said 'Get away from me,' when his name became Sokar." The "House of Sokar" is therefore the very same as the "House of Osiris."
The next question is, what and where is Rostau? Remember that in Part 1 Zahi Hawass was quoted as referring to Osiris as the "Lord of the Underground Tunnels"? Well the word Rostau means underground tunnels, and "Lord of Rostau" is one of the many titles held by Osiris.[10] "Rostau" was simply another name for the Giza plateau and the many tunnels underneath it.
This understanding is clarified by a stela that once stood between the paws of the Sphinx that is attributed to Thutmose IV (c.1400 BC). Line seven of this stela states that the Sphinx lies "beside the House of Sokar ... in Rostau." [11]
Bauval finds further proof that Rostau refers to Giza in the so-called Coffin Texts which were inscribed in burial chambers near the end of the Old Kingdom (c.1800-2000 BC): "I am Osiris, I have come to Rostau in order to know the secret of the Duat ... I have come equipped with magic, I have quenched my thirst with it, I live on white emmer, filling the Winding Waterway..."
"...on the day of concealing the mysteries of the deep place in Rostau ... I am he (Osiris) who sees the secret things in Rostau... O you who opens up ways and open up paths for the perfected souls in the House of Osiris..."