Giza: The Truth by Ian Lawton and Chris Ogilvie-Herald

I didn’t buy this book – it was bought for me. From the cover it looks like yet another aliens built the pyramids book. As it happens they do discuss aliens, but they do rationally and with a simple logic. Take for instance the claim by Robert Temple (The Sirius Mystery) on the weathering of the Sphinx. Temple argues that the erosion was caused because the enclosure of the Sphinx was filled with water for aliens, who were amphibians, to swim in. My ‘refutation’ would probably go something along the lines of “Don’t be so bloody stupid”. This is not helpful. Lawton and Ogilvie-Herald approach it with a lighter touch. “Since the water would drain away without constant refilling, we do not regard this as very likely.”

Like the anti-archaeology books it tackles, it’s bit of a door-stop at over 550 pages. It is rather dry in places, but it is a useful dissection of the deceit practiced by anti-archaeologists in Egypt. It also reveal how the deceit spreads in to the politics of work on the Giza plateau.

Meanwhile we have already seen in Chapter 10 that Bauval and Hancock had originally been invited to join the Schor expeditions, but refused on the basis of West;s exclusion and the requirement that they should sign non-disclosure agreements. These were the two major bones of contention that they exploited to the full in their public utterances… Not only were they intent on halting Schor’s missions, but they also wanted to ensure any of his team’s findings were brought to the attention of the public as soon as possible. In this they were aided by Said, who released a copy of the Secret Chamber promo to Bauval – who in turn milked Hawass’s ‘Indiana Jones’ quip for all it was worth… Schor himself has informed us that, as he was financing the mission, he wanted the opportunity to recoup his investment by having the first oppotunity of releasing the findings.

Later they talk about Bauval and Hancock’s reconciliation with Hawass and quote Bauval “…we will not allow this to degenerate again into a morass of political confusion and media hype. The stakes are too high for egos to get in the way of the search for truth”.

Is it successful? Well letters like this one on Ian Lawton’s site would suggest that he’s an irritant to Bauval at least.

On the downside it looks like sensible books on Egypt are difficult to sell. Lawton has now founded the Rational Spirituality Movement “…an emerging worldwide association of like-minded individuals who share a common spiritual worldview based on the dual concepts of reincarnation and karma. This worldview is fundamentally different from any that has gone before because it is predicated on rationality and analysis of modern evidence, not on faith and belief in ‘revealed wisdom’.”

Oh dear.