The Sailing Stones Of Egypt

Beyond any shadow of doubt, of the many and varied architectural achievements of the Human Race, the pyramids of Egypt must surely top the list in terms of provoking deep awe and amazement. And a great deal of unbridled controversy and debate, too. Conventional Egyptology suggests that the pyramids were built during what are today termed the Old and Middle Kingdoms of Egypt. That’s to say from around the third millennium BC to roughly 1650 BC. The reason for their construction: Almost certainly to act as tombs for the pharaohs, so convention tells us. Convention also tells us the pyramids were built by sheer brute-force, man-power and technology of a very down to earth nature. But is that really the case?

One Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Mas’udi, otherwise known as the Herodotus of the Arabs, was a prolific 10^th Century writer born in Baghdad in 896 AD who faithfully and carefully prepared an immense, 30-volume series of texts that told the history of the world, based upon his personal, extensive travels to lands far, wide, and exotic. To say that al-Mas’udi was a well journeyed fan of road-trips is a veritable understatement of the highest order. His impressive and dedicated treks took him to such varied parts of the globe as India, East Africa, Egypt, Syria, and Armenia.

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