Product Description

On a desolate plain in the Egyptian Sahara desert, west of Aswan, there is a very remote prehistoric site called Nabta Playa. There, a recently discovered complex of extremely ancient man-made megalithic structures have baffled the archaeologists who excavated them. An insight into the meaning and use of the megaliths led to a step-by-step sequence of discoveries, verified by measure and calculation, revealing that the megalithic architecture at Nabta Playa is a unified and detailed astrophysical map of truly astonishing accuracy, with no less than staggering implications. Written for the educated general reader, with technical appendices, the discovery of how to decipher the system of megalithic structures is reported with gripping clarity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #262309 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

About the Author
Thomas G. Brophy holds a Ph.D. in physics and has worked with the NASA Voyager Project, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and the Japanese Space Program; and taught at The Colorado College, University of Colorado, and California Institute for Human Science where he was also Dean; his scientific articles have appeared in premier journals including Icarus, IEEE Journal, Science, and were reported in Nature.

Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D., is on the faculty of the College of General Studies at Boston University, and author of Voices of the Rocks: A Scientist Looks at Catastrophes and Ancient Civilizations.

John Anthony West is the leading proponent of the Symbolist school of Egyptology, author of The Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt and creator of the Emmy-award-winning documentary The Mystery of the Sphinx.

Customer Reviews

Thomas Brophy Proves Ancient Sophistication!
In 1969 Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend published their work in a book titled "Hamlet's Mill" putting forth the theory that ancient mythology was, in fact, the scientific language of the ancients. Since then numerous authors and researchers have endeavored to prove that megalithic structures of our ancient past served their builders in astronomical ways. However, proof has always seemed hard to come by concerning these megaliths. That was before Thomas Brophy examined a series of structures in the Sahara desert.

In his book Brophy proves that the ancient mind was sophisticated and able to accomplish sophisticated projects using precise calculations. His findings are astonishing. The Nabta Playa megaliths were a user-friendly star map of the constellation Orion applicable between 6400 and 4900 BC. And he proves his case in multiple ways. Even more astonishing is sculpted bedrock eight feet below the main megalith. Carved into its surface is a map of our galaxy! He doesn't stop there and also addresses the Giza Plateau as an astronomical Zodiac Clock.

This is no fringe theory either. Brophy's credentials as an astrophysicist are impeccable and the supporting documentation is excellent. Without a doubt this is one of the most important books ever written about ancient civilizations. Someday history will have to be rewritten and Brophy will be mentioned in the first chapter.

Sophisticated Ancient Astronomers
Astrophysicist Brophy has focused his considerable scientific background and research skills to demonstrate that a 17,000-year-old culture that lived in what is now the western desert of Egypt knew precise data about our galaxy. Analizing a recent archaeological find at the site of Nabta Playa (radio carbon dated to as early as 10,000 BC), he demonstrates that finely carved stones and engraved bedrock contained specific coordinates of stars as early as 16,500 BC. They also contained accurate information on the configuration of our Milky Way with the exact position of our Sun and the galactic center as of 17,430 BC. A valuable scientific detective story that confirms very ancient prehistoric human knowledge.

Highest Recommendation

Several decades ago a team of archaeologists discovered a megalithic stone circle in a remote corner of Egypt's extreme southern desert, an area known as the Nabta plain. In photos the megalithic stones resemble a pile of derelict rocks -- no more. But thanks to Brophy's astute analysis the Nabta stones now speak to us after thousands of years of neglect. The henge circle lies in a wind blown desert that is desolate beyond belief. But at one time -- when it was laid out -- the region was a well watered (and well peopled) grassland.

The archaeologists who discovered the Nabta stones puzzled over their meaning. But Brophy's The Origin Map succeeds in showing that the megaliths are anything but a jumble of random stones scattered across the plain. Whoever laid them out had a purpose in mind -- and an astonishingly advanced knowledge of astronomy.

Based on his analysis of the Nabta stones, Brophy argues that Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert were essentially correct (see The Orion Mystery, 1992) that the pyramids of Giza were laid out to represent the three stars of Orion's belt. The much older Nabta stones were laid out in a similar fashion. In fact, the monuments of Giza were probably based on the astronomy recorded at Nabta. If Brophy is correct, the dozens of megaliths at Nabta actually comprise an intricate star map involving knowledge of astronomy so advanced it may even surpass our own.

Brophy shows that the pyramids of Giza match the celestial alignment of Orion at two dates: 9,420 BC and 11,772 BC. He then raises the key question (p 74): Why would the ancients monumentalize these dates? Brophy thinks the reason had to do with bracketing the Zodiacal year with the culmination of the Galactic Center at around 10,600 BC. But in my view his answer is less persuasive than the rest of his case.

Still, he may be onto something big: 9,420 BC is not just any random date. I suspect the henge was constructed after a major earth upheaval that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene. Two other writers, DS Allan and J.B. Delair argued in their book Cataclysm that around 9,500 BC earth encountered a huge object -- probably a comet. The intruder wreaked devastation on our normally peaceful planet. It caused vast floods, moved the crust, and triggered mass extinctions, especially on N and S America. The henge circles of the world, including the one on the Nabta plain, were probably erected in the aftermath to reconstruct the calendar and preserve ancient astronomical knowledge.

Brophy will not venture into such terrain. But it's likely his work will contribute (in ways he does not anticipate) to a drastic revisioning of human history, one that ultimately explains the cyclical rise/fall of successive civilizations. It appears that Plato was right, and Aristotle wrong.

The Origin Map is a stunner. Even though the argument is rather technical the book succeeds in being a page turner. Brophy's writing is adequate, if not inspired. But his thesis is revolutionary. The book is highly recommended.