Slog - Comments on Mystery at Abydos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos The most perplexing thing I saw in Egypt was in Osiris's Temple at Abydos—hieroglyphs near the ceiling that depict modern modes of transportation: what looks like a helicopter, a submarine, and an airplane. Our Egyptologist scholar/guide told us these were carved from sandstone several thousand years ago, but that no one knows what they mean, nor have similar symbols been discovered anywhere else on ancient Egyptian artifacts. Some experts dismiss them as the result of new carvings over old carvings—the old hieroglyphs combined with new hieroglyphs laid over the top, plus erosion, inadvertently formed what appears to be symbols... Copyright 2008 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:22:52 -0800 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:13:54 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by bma Wasn't there a bad James Spader / Kurt Russell sci-fi movie that explained all that?

]]> bma http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006280 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006280 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:48:18 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe It's fake.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006282 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006282 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:48:46 -0800 Comment by Peter F Palimpsest

]]> Peter F http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006284 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006284 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:49:28 -0800 Comment by NapoleonXIV I'd guess some artist got creative in the 1968 war.....

]]> NapoleonXIV http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006285 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006285 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:50:17 -0800 Comment by Gitai If you look at the helicopter sideways, it looks like a perfectly normal hieroglyph.

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006287 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006287 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:52:24 -0800 Comment by Spoogie It's all L. Ron Hubbard's (and by association, Tom Cruise's) fault.

]]> Spoogie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006290 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006290 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:53:41 -0800 Comment by Giffy I would say there are renditions of other things that happen to look like modern modes of transportations. For example the letter b looks kind of like a toilet and the letter y like a flux capacitor.

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006295 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006295 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:55:10 -0800 Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty Oh, no! The pod people got hold of Amy Kate while she was in Egypt! Wherever she is, please send her back; one space alien on the staff (Mudede) is all we can handle.

]]> Fifty-Two-Eighty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006300 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006300 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:17 -0800 Comment by elenchos Steve Sher on KUOW just announced that The Stranger has named a new News Editor.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006305 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006305 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:01:31 -0800 Comment by crazycatguy On the upper left corner. OMG! An ipod!

]]> crazycatguy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006312 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006312 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:06:21 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave the brain sees what it wants to see. schemas.

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006313 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006313 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:09:19 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe Who is the new editor? ECB? ECB? ECB? ECB? Oh, it's somebody completely new, isn't it?

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006318 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006318 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:11:09 -0800 Comment by ecce homo Oh,

I guess it's easier to believe in time travel then.

]]> ecce homo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006322 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006322 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:13:41 -0800 Comment by PopTart @13, Well he did say "Erica C. Barnett news editor at the Stranger"...

About the mystery beam, I bet someone got in a lot of trouble thousands of years ago for installing it upside down...

]]> PopTart http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006324 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006324 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:14:09 -0800 Comment by PopTart Oops, meant @12. Though either could apply.

]]> PopTart http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006329 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006329 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:17:21 -0800 Comment by inkweary That was all explained in season 3 of Stargate.

]]> inkweary http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006331 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006331 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:18:59 -0800 Comment by steve I saw an illustration of the characters that would overlay to create these images on a program by the History or Discovery channel. It was convincing. Well, convincing enough to debunk the "it was aliens!" theory. I'd find a link, but I'm lazy.

]]> steve http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006348 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006348 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:30:02 -0800 Comment by Fnarf You all are so young. Don't impressionable junior-high stoners read Erich von Daniken anymore?

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006351 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006351 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:31:26 -0800 Comment by butterw If the ancient Egyptians had really seen helicopters or warplanes, their representations of them would be more prominent than the carved corner of some lintel. The characters in question could be recent carvings, or could be modern eyes reinterpreting ancient symbols, but they aren't "real".

]]> butterw http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006359 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006359 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:39:00 -0800 Comment by der That is obviously not an airplane... Its a speed boat.

]]> der http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006365 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006365 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:41:13 -0800 Comment by heh @19 - You're assuming all the ancient Egyptians saw these things. Clearly, this is the case of some 20th century archaeologist who accidentally became stranded in ancient Egypt and was in charge of that particular corner of that particular lintel and had his own private joke on his colleagues back in the future.

]]> heh http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006375 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006375 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:50:08 -0800 Comment by kid icarus @18 - I'm with you Fnarf. This is total Chariots of the Gods. I love me some ancient astronauts.

]]> kid icarus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006418 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006418 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:10:01 -0800 Comment by infrequent i wonder what was drawn on the piece that fell off.... probably something cool from the future. only now, we'll never know.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006425 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006425 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:17:16 -0800 Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty That piece that broke off? Oh, that was just the directions for making an FTL drive. Nothing important.

]]> Fifty-Two-Eighty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006449 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006449 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:47:18 -0800 Comment by DC Probably the same aliens who left that astronaut on that 12th century cathedral, cruising through time just messin' with us.

http://www.pollsb.com/polls/poll/5067/the-mystery-astronaut-carving-in-the-ieronimus-cathedral-in-salamanca-spain

]]> DC http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006488 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006488 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:23:05 -0800 Comment by Martin On a bit serious note... Amy, you say that you are "hard-nosed skeptic in all matters supernatural," but you claim that the erosion explanation is hard to swallow. Why is that? What is more likely:

1. That ancient Egyptians had helicopters, submarines, etc, but their depictions only appear in this one place (as @19 said)

or

2. The process of erosion and layering together with the human desire to seek out patters just happens to come up with what looks like a helicopter or submarine.

What we know about ancient Egyptians, together with lack of evidence of any technology advanced enough to construct a working helicopter taken together should, as a skeptic, lead you to conclusion 2.

]]> Martin http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006559 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006559 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:37:26 -0800 Comment by highfive i own a "i want to beleive" poster.

but one could also equate this to a little kid looking at his poo in a toilet and imagining what sorts of animals and religious symbols they create. tea leaves for toddlers.

]]> highfive http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006608 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006608 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:47:18 -0800 Comment by troll800034 the design of helicopters, submarines, and airplanes didn't come out of "thin air" so to speak. Rather, they were designed using forms borrowed from the natural world. Things like fish, birds, and flies. So, perhaps the ancient egyptian who made the carvings weren't referencing modern contraptions but rather the forms these modern contraptions were design from.

]]> troll800034 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006721 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006721 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:22:40 -0800 Comment by Greg @1: How DARE you insult Stargate!!!

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006765 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006765 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:33:59 -0800 Comment by NapoleonXIV If Ramessess had helicopters, Moses' parting of the Red Sea would have been stupid and non-productive now, wouldn't it?

]]> NapoleonXIV http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006883 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1006883 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:07:04 -0800 Comment by Aislinn @1: There's no such thing as a bad James Spader/Kurt Russell sci-fi movie.

]]> Aislinn http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1007051 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1007051 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:17:00 -0800 Comment by Jay "Stargate" sucks.

]]> Jay http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1007234 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/mystery_at_abydos#c1007234 History Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:13:54 -0800