MULTI-STAR TARGET MODEL FOR ASTRONOMICAL ORIENTATION OF THE OLD KINGDOM EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS

Abstract

During the Pyramid Age, the ancient Egyptians erected some of the most iconic monuments in the world, but their method of alignment and the exact dates of construction remain in dispute. This paper presents new archaeoas-tronomical evidence that both explains the ostensibly erratic orientation of the Old Kingdom pyramids and offers a novel solution to the dating problem. An analysis of the alignment of pyramids built during the 3rd to 6th Dynasties reveals that they were not oriented to true north, as expected by one of the prevailing current models, but to prominent stars in the northern circumpolar region. A distinct pattern emerges when the time-dependent position of these stars is compared with the orientation of a series of pyramids whose alignments are known. The pattern explains all the available azimuth data of the pyramids from Djoser to Unas and predicts older dates of construction for these structures with an accuracy of no more than five years, up or down. In conclusion, the age of the Old Kingdom is approximately two centuries older than conventionally estimated, according to traditional textual reconstructions of Egyptian chronology. These results are consistent with previous radiocarbon data obtained from samples collected at known Old Kingdom sitesthereby aligning archaeological physical with archaeoastronomical evidence. The Egyptian chronology serves as a standard reference to establish chronologies in the entire ancient Near East of the 3rd millennium BCE. Therefore, the revised chronology based on the findings presented here warrants a fresh look at the historical timelines of other ancient civilizations contemporary with Ancient Egypt.