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The Divine Barque

The Egyptian temple was accessed by means of barques in which the gods were processioned from temple to temple at the occasion of their festivals (see Fig.1(d)). The chapels inside the temple were usually three, as the Egyptians, like so many other peoples, worshipped triads of gods. In brief, one might say that the Egyptian temple consisted of an innermost closed sanctuary were the god, placed inside the processional barque, stood upon an altar; then an intermediate, semi-open hypostyle hall, and finally an open outer courtyard planted with a walled, well watered garden.

The king’s palace was also constructed according to this sacred geometry, which was also followed in the residences of the high dignitaries. The accessibility of the different sections was also rigidly disciplined. The humbler persons were restricted to the open courtyard; the high officials were admitted to the hypostyle hall, and only the pharaoh and the high priest were admitted to the innermost sanctuary.

Accordingly, the temple structure was also rigidly linked with sunlight. The hypostyle court was in semi-darkness, except for a small skylight at the top which allowed a ray of light to enter through the opening, falling directly upon the god’s statue. The hypostyle hall had columns which are invariably very thick and strong, and were obviously intended to carry a great load upon them.¹

These columns were made in the likeness of a somber tropical forest composed of palm-trees, papyrus stems and lotus stalks with elaborate capitals imitating the tops of these plants. In most cases, the solid roof is made in the image of the sky, with the constellations explicitly represented in it (see Fig.1 (e)).

It is clear to any keen observer that the hypostyle hall represents a heavily forested underground realm with its subterranean "heaven" (or canopy) forming the ground floor of our own world. We shall see below that this subterranean world represents, rather literally at that, the subterranean realm of Atlantis. What else? Moreover, the lotus, palm and papyrus capitals of such hypostyle halls are closed and budding, as they would be at night or before they are a button ready to open.

Only in the sections usually exposed to sunlight are the pillars, in contrast, decorated with open flowers and fronds. Among the constellations represented in the roof of the hypostyle chamber the Celestial Nile is represented, with the gods navigating across them in their barques. Clearly, the chamber represents a dual of Egypt, not indeed Celestial, but sunken underground and infernal, though extremely beautiful and pleasurable.²

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The Hypostyle Hall Portrays a Tropial Forest

Anyone who ever entered a tropical forest in his lifetime will readily realize that the hypostyle hall of the Egyptian temples was designed in order to represent one: the imposing gloom, the trick trunes of the pillars all around, the luscious colors, the vegetation above forming a thick canopy high overhead, and so on.

In fact, even the evergreen forests of the temperate or the cold regions of the world do resemble the hypostyle hall of an Egyptian temple, except for the lack of the colorful vegetation. Keep this analogy in mind the next time you are lucky enough to enter an Egyptian temple like the one of Karnak, and you will readily realize the truth of what we are claiming.

Unfortunately, the gorgeous colors are now mainly gone, effaced by the ferocious sun of sub-tropical Egypt. But in the times of David Roberts (1796-1864) - the famous Irish painter who visited Egypt in 1838-9 drawing its many marvel - they were still alive, as can be seen in Fig. 1(e) and 1(f) which we owe to the great artist.

Space does not allow a fuller presentation of the many beautiful drawings that Roberts bequeathed us and which portray the interior of the Egyptian temples. The ones of Fig. 1(e) and 1(f) show, the interior of the temple of Isis, in the island of Philae.

On the ceiling of the hall is shown the nocturnal sky, spangled with stars. In it fly the repeated figures of the sacred vulture and the sacred beetle, symbols of death and resurrection. The freshness and the beauty of the colors enchanted Roberts, who also extols the beauty of its majestic proportions. The clearing at the center of the hypostyle hall represents the temenos, the sacred open space within the enclosure of the temple where the worshippers gathered for the cult.

The nocturnal sky shown in the figure represents the former sky, the one of sunken Atlantis which became the new earth when it fell down over the former land. On that sky sails the sacred ships of the Sun and his attendant in their nocturnal trip back to the Orient, where the day star will start the new day.

In the colorful foliage that forms the capitals of the pillars we recognize several sorts of tropical vegetation: lotuses, papyri, palm trees. Though cultivated in Egypt from remotest epochs, these plants are not originally Egyptian. As we argue elsewhere in detail, they originated in the Far East and, more exactly, in the region of Indonesia, the very site of Paradise (Punt) according to Egyptian traditions.

On the pillars of Isis’ temple of Philae can be seen several christian crosses. These were carved in the VI century, when Bishop Theodorus transformed the temple into a Coptic church. Very little transformation was indeed required, the "Christianization" consisting of the carving of the crosses and the construction of na altar for the celebration of Mass. In fact, one of the key factors of the instant sucess of Christianism and elsewhere was the syncretism of Isis with the Virgin Mary and that of Osiris (Serapis) and Horus with the somewhat equivocal figures of Christ and his mysterious Father.

In fact the Immaculate Conception was taken verbatim from the identical one of Horus by the dead body of Osiris. After the great god had been murdered by Seth, his evil brother, Isis sought out his dead remains, which she gathered and mummified, with the exception of the phallus, which could not be found. In her temple at Dendera, Isis is shown under the guise of a bird, beating her wings to insufflate life into Osiris’ body, while magically conceiving her Son Horus in the process.

Though far more explicit than most christian renderings of the Virgin Birth of Christ renderings of the Virgin Birth of Christ, there can be no doubt that both motifs represent one and the same primordial concept, whose true meaning seems to have been utterly forgotten with the passage of time.

In fact, Isis as a bird hovering above dead Osiris closely evokes the figure of the Holy Ghost doing the same at the occasion of Christ’s baptism or, even more closely, the winged angel "announcing" the Immaculate Conception.³

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There Will Be a New Heaven and a New Earth

It is precisely this ancient conception that is meant in the Book of Revelation where it alludes to the fall or descent of the New Jerusalem from above, and adds that "there will be a new earth and a new heaven". The temple of Ramses III — one of the most beautiful and best preserved ancient Egyptian temples — will serve as the base of our discussion. It is shown below, in the magnificent reconstruction of Fig.2.

At the faces of the pylons can be seen one of the most constant features of Egyptian temples: the engraved image of the god or the pharaoh impassively smashing the heads of prisoners. Indeed, the images are dual, and represent the twin gods wielding their maces with a solemn detachment. These twin gods are the aliases of Hercules and Atlas, the Primordial Twins of Atlantis. In other words, what the impressive engraving shows is the destruction of Atlantis by its two patron deities, Hercules and Atlas.

The icon also corresponds to a similar motif which is extremely popular in the Far East and which shows Yama and Yamantaka (or their many aliases) killing the Bull or some other enemy that represents Atlantis. It is strange to see the god who is the patron and founder of a nation to wipe it out so recklessly. But such is invariably the case, for the hand that creates is the same one that destroys, when the right time comes. And this great god is Shiva. In the Far East, Shiva is deemed, like Jahveh, to be both the Creator and the Destroyer of all things, which are infallibly doomed to die.

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The Triple Wall and the Crenelated Tower

As can be seen in Fig.2, the Egyptian temple was surrounded by a triple wall. The admission was from the south side, by means of a pier or dock on which the sacred barque landed on the occasion of the festivals, bringing in the pharaoh and the visiting gods from the other temples along the Nile. The two outermost walls were crenelated. The outer one was lower than the inner one, which posed a formidable barrier against thieves and invaders.

The main gate was garnished with a lofty crenelated tower well stocked with soldiers, who had the range of its thick wall, turning the temple into a virtually inexpugnable fortress. The third, innermost one, was entered through the first pylon, again an impressive structure that we will discuss further below. The triple wall is a characteristic Atlantean feature, one that was extensively discussed by Plato. So is also the crenelated tower which, again, rendered Atlantis virtually inexpugnable.⁴

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The Garden and the Sacred Pools

The common folks and the profane visitors only had access to the outer court and the gardens of the temple. In Fig.1 and 2 one can see that these gardens were decorated with palm trees (date palms), trees (sycamores) and flower plants.

They were well watered, and had two sacred pools fed automatically from the underground with water from the Nile by means of a sophisticate hydraulic device. This can be seen in Fig. 1(c), a reconstruction made by Papus (ABC Illustré d’Occultisme, Paris, 1892). These two pools serving as artificial springs closely recall those of Atlantis as described by Plato, and which were one hot and the other cool, according to him.

The sacred pools (or springs) of the Egyptian temples served for the baptism of the initiates, a ritual that is intimately connected with the Flood and the sinking of Atlantis, as we explain elsewhere in detail (See: The Atlantean Origin of the Seven Sacraments: Baptism). These were also connected, by means of subterranean waterworks, with the underground crypt, where initiatic rituals of a more occult nature were performed. The luxuriant, artificially irrigated garden of the Egyptian temples is another feature that can be traced back directly to Atlantis and, indeed, to the Garden of Eden and to that of the Hesperides (or Atlantides), the daughters of Atlas.

Plato describes the beautiful gardens of Atlantis in detail in his Critias. And the Garden of the Hesperides — so often associated with Atlantis — lay not indeed in Morocco or in Libya, as some affirm, but in Atlantis itself. These gardens are the same as the legendary Gardens of Avalon, or as the Garden of Eden, the true site of Man’s origin that is no other than Atlantis. It is hardly likely that the jealous Atlas would keep the Hesperides — both his daughters and lovers, according to tradition — very far from his palace in the Orient, confining them in Mauritania (Marocco), on the other side of the world.

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The Pylons, Banners and Obelisks

As illustrated in Fig.1, most Egyptians temples had a pair of monolithic obelisks planted just in front of the pylons of the inner gateway. These obelisks were a sort of free standing pillars, and closely correspond to Jachin and Boaz, their famous counterparts posted in front of Solomon’s Temple by Hiram of Tyre. More exactly, they also corresponded to the Pillars of Hercules Melkart posted in front of the temples the Phoenicians constructed every where a strategic strait separated two seas or two different regions.

The best known Pillars of Hercules were those of Gibraltar, which many experts mistake for the true archetypes that indeed marked the site of Atlantis, as reported by Plato. Thus, Herodotus (Hist. II:44) mentions Pillars of Hercules in Tyre, in Thasos, as well as in other places.

Many other authorities mention Pillars of Hercules posted in strategic straits such as the Bosphorus, the Syrtis, the Bab-el-Mandeb, Gades, and so on. It is a mistake, then, to believe that the name "Pillars of Hercules" used by Plato and others unequivocally refer to the Strait of Gibraltar, for there were many such responding by that name.

These phony pillars were just a trick of the mendacious Phoenicians intended to divert the attention of their competitors to the wrong side of the world, thereby preserving their lucrative monopoly of the Indian trade. As we have abundantly contended elsewhere, the archetypal Pillars of Hercules were the ones that indeed marked out the entrance into Atlantis. Later, when Atlantis sunk away, these pillars again marked the entrance into Hades, the half-sunken residue of paradise. There they flanked the Strait of Sunda, in Indonesia, the true site of Atlantis and of Hades, which the Hindus call Atala.

It is interesting to recall that Plato often connects Atlantis to the Pillars of Hercules and apparently implies that this hero was indeed Gadeiros, the twin brother of Atlas. Plato also speaks of golden pillars kept in Poseidon’s temple, in Atlantis, which its kings inscribed with their royal edits. It is from these that the pair of pillars that decorated the Egyptian temples, the ones of the Jews and those of many nations were indeed copied.

Why would the Egyptians — who never sailed the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean, but confined their naval trade to the Indian Ocean — consider Gibraltar important and pay homage to its guardian deities, Atlas and Hercules (Gadeiros) by posting twin pillars in the forefront of their temples? Why would the Phoenicians and the Jews, who were originary from beyond the Indian Ocean, from the region of the East Indies, do the same, commemorating gods, places and symbols that were not theirs, but indeed belonged t their enemies, the Greeks and the Romans?

The two enormous pylons that flanked the main gateway of the Egyptian temples is perhaps the most striking feature of these constructions. What do they indeed represent? The Egyptians claimed that they represented the two mountains of Isis and Nephtys, her twin sister. But, indeed, they symbolized the same thing as the twin obelisks, that is, the Pillars of Hercules.

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The Gateway of Paradise

The "door" flanked by the true Pillars of Hercules corresponded to the strait that served as the Gateway of Paradise. As can be seen in Fig.2, there were two pairs of pylons placed at the opposite ends of the inner court. This is a very important feature, one that tells the true story of the Pillars of Hercules for those who can indeed read the ancient symbols. The four feet of the Celestial Cow (Nut or Hathor) correspond to the four members of Isis, who is also often shown in a strange arched position, with her arms and legs touching the ground (Fig.3).

This allegory is strange, but highly revealing. Here, Nut, the Sky is shown decked with stars which represent the night sky. The gods navigate along her body, in Heaven (Paradise), obviously delimited by the two pairs of pillars (her four members) at each extremity. These are indeed the Pillars of Hercules, one pair in the Occident (Gibraltar), the other in the opposite extreme of the world (Sunda Strait), in the Far Orient. Beneath her body is the god Shu ("Atmosphere") holding her up, as well as the god Geb ("Earth") lying down on his back.

In certain versions of this picture, the allegory is far more explicit, and shows that what indeed holds Nut up is the huge phallus of Geb, here apparently missing. As we explain elsewhere, the allegory depicts the separation of Heaven and Earth which is really of Hindu origin and figures already in the Rig Veda, where the deed is ascribed to Purusha, the first man.

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The Pillar of Heaven

In reality, the Phallus of Geb is the fifth, Central Pillar, the one that stretched the skies up, "like a tent", to use an interesting metaphor from the Bible. This fifth, Central Pillar is indeed Mt. Atlas or Meru, so often identified with the Cosmic Linga, the Phallus of the Earth. Its absence here can easily be explained when we recall what we said above concerning "the fall of the skies". As the very name of Atlas explains (a-tla = "the one who did not stand"), the Titan was unable to bear the excessive weight of the former earth (Atlantis), which thus sunk underground, turning into Hell.

At the rear pylons — the ones corresponding to the Oriental Gateway of Paradise — are posted the gigantic statues of the Twin Guardians. These often change into lions, sphinxes or some other terrifying creatures. They correspond to the Cherubims that guard the Gates of Paradise in just about all mythologies. In Greece they are Cerberus and Orthrus; in Babylon, the Karibus, in China the Twin Lions; in Angkor and Indonesia, the Nagas. In India, they are the Lokapalas or Dvarapalas ("Guardians"). In reality they are the Twins we encounter everywhere and who are indeed Atlas and Hercules in Greece or Krishna and Balarama in Indian myths.

The twin flagpoles and their banners were another invariable feature of Egyptian temples. In Egypt, the banner on a flagpole represented the deity (neter). The use of banners and standards in temples is common in the Orient and, particularly, in Tibet. It seems that, originally, banners and pennants consisted of impaling staffs over which were hung the flayed skins of the sacrificed prisoners of war in order to scare away the enemy.

Their connection with the Pillars of Hercules and, hence, with the pylons that symbolized them in Egyptian temples, seems to be akin to that symbolism. Indeed, it seems the Phoenicians had the habit of posting impaling poles at the entrance of forbidden straits such as the Pillars of Hercules. These straits were forbidden to all but their ships, and anyone caught while attempting to cross the passage was automatically impaled, as a warning to all.

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The Trident of Shiva

In the Egyptian temples, then, the flagstaffs symbolized the impaling poles that were associated with the Pillars of Hercules, whereas the loose pennants that hung down from them stood for the flayed skins of the unfortunate victims caught trespassing the forbidden gateway to Paradise. The same ritual function was also served by the twin obelisks which, apparently, originally served as impaling poles, to judge from their name (obeliskos, in Greek, means "skewer").⁵

The pylons of the Egyptian temples suggest yet another Atlantean feature of great importance. It concerns Trikuta, the Triple Mountain upon which Lanka, the true archetype of Atlantis, was originally built. The central peak of Trikuta was Mt. Atlas or, indeed, the Central Pillar of Heaven that was identified to Shiva’s linga.

When Atlas, the Pillar of Heaven collapsed, it became the huge submarine caldera of the Krakatoa volcano which nowadays forms the Strait of Sunda, separating Java from Sumatra. The two remaining peaks are, in Hindu myths, the Sumeru and the Kumeru, that is, the two Merus, one in the north, the other in the south. In Egyptian myths, these two peaks are known as the Mountain of Manu or, yet, the Mountain of the Orient and the one of the Occident. These names are clearly taken from Hindu traditions, for even their names are the same as in India.

These twin mountains are variously allegorized. But in geographical reality, they correspond to the two peaks that flank the Strait of Sunda, named respectively the Kalianda and the Gunnung Karang. This Triple Mountain was precisely the one the ancients equated with the Trident of Shiva (Trikuta) and, later, with the one of Poseidon, his Greek counterpart. Indeed, this triple mountain is the one that the Argonautica and the Odyssey called by the name of Thrinacia (thrinax = "trident"), and which was later exoterically identified with Sicily, allegedly because of its triangular shape.

The shape of the pylons of the Egyptian temples roughly recall the one of certain churches and cathedrals such as Notre Dame and Reims, which have two blunted towers flanking the central gateway, which is far lower than the other two side towers. Clearly, the same conception guided the hands that built those cathedrals and the temples of Egypt.

In other words, the idea of Atlantis and its triple mountain (Trikuta) and collapsed central peak apparently lay at the root of the ancient Mystery Religions that eventually became the religions of Egypt and of Christianity, not to mention others that are not being discussed here.

The pylons of the Egyptian temples are nearly verbatim replicas of the so-called "Mountain of Sunrise" or its dual, the "Mountain of Sunset" (or of the West), which are endlessly portrayed in Egyptian iconographies and in myths as well. This symbolism is indeed metaphoric, and is taken from India, where Mt. Meru (really the Sumeru and the Kumeru) are called by precisely these two epithets.

What is in reality allegorized by the rising sun shining between the two peaks of the Holy Mountain is the explosion of its central peak (Mt. Atlas), bursting "with the light of a thousand suns" and disappearing under the seas, where it becomes the Primordial Abyss (Nun), whence the Sun originally rose, during Creation.

By the way, in Egypt the sun rises and sets in the Sahara desert, rather than from the sea or even from among the mountains. So, the image of the sun rising and setting in the waters of the sea (the Nun) or from the hills of a foreign country can only have originated elsewhere. And where is that? The only place in the ancient world that fits the description are India and Indonesia, as can be seen in a map of the region. So, once more we see that both in the geographical reality as well as in the mythical image which equates the sun rising with a giant volcanism of an island over the seas can only have come from there, for all other places are irremediably wrong.

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