Ancient Temples in Georgia and Egypt Share Solar Alignments

Abu Simbel in Egypt (left) and the Ocmulgee Earthlodge in Georgia (right) both align to the sunrise on Feb. 22 & Oct. 22.

Did you know that the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge in Macon, Georgia and the Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan, Egypt are both aligned to the rising sun on the same dates? Both structures aligned to the sunrise on February 22 and October 22 each year. But why?

Typically, when ancient builders aligned a structure to the sunrise they chose dates that corresponded to the solstices or equinoxes. The solstices are the times of year when the Earth “turns-the-curve,” so-to-speak, in its orbit around the sun and begins traveling in the opposite direction. These dates are typically June 21 and December 21. The equinoxes are the halfway points between the solstices and typically fall on March 21 and September 21.

Yet why did the builders of the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge in Georgia and the Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt choose to align their structures to the sunrise on the odd dates of February 22 and October 22? Coincidentally (or not), the Aztec solar year ended on February 22 as well.

Cosmic Catastrophes

The Ocmulgee Earth Lodge was burned to the ground in 1015 AD which means it was constructed sometime before this. As I noted in my article, “Archaeoastronomy of the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge, 1015 AD coincided with evidence of one of the biggest meteor impact events of the past 2,000 years. Based upon multiple lines of evidence including written records, geologic clues and ice core records, in September, 1014 AD, one or two large meteors slammed into the center of the Atlantic Ocean sending massive tsunami waves to coastlines on both sides of the Atlantic and into the Caribbean killing untold numbers of people. Based on the date recorded in the written records of this event it is believed to have been meteors from the Taurid meteor stream that impacted Earth. The Taurids are fragments from Comet Encke. They are called the Taurids because they appear to emanate from the Pleiades asterism within the constellation Taurus. This event was likely depicted on the Aztec Calendar Stone featuring two xiuhcoatls, or fire serpents, with seven star symbols on their snouts representing the seven stars of the Pleiades, which brought about the end of their Fourth Sun with a great flood (tsunami?)

The Abu Simbel Temple was built by King Ramses II around 1240 B.C.– over 2000 years before the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge was constructed. Yet it, too, seems to have been constructed immediately prior to a major destructive event but this time in the Mediterranean area. The time period of 1200 B.C. represents the beginning date of what historians refer to as the Bronze Age Collapse. To quote Wikipedia:

The Late Bronze Age collapse involved a dark age transition period in the Near East, Asia Minor, the Aegean region, North Africa, Caucasus, Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, a transition which historians believe was violent, sudden, and culturally disruptive.

Historian Robert Drews noted:

Within a period of forty to fifty years at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the twelfth century almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world was destroyed, many of them never to be occupied again.

Coincidentally, researchers have blamed a breakup of Comet Encke and rain of meteors onto Earth as a possible explanation for this widespread destruction of civilizations around 1200 B.C.

Bird-Men

These two temples constructed thousands of years apart on different continents have other similarities. According to researchers, on the days of solar alignment, the sun entered the doorway of the Abu Simbel temple and illuminated all but one of the four statues inside. The statue left unlit was that of the Egyptian god Ptah, a god of the underworld. Curiously, over time Ptah evolved into Ptah-Sokar and statuettes represented him as a bird-man. According to researchers:

Systematically, statuettes representing the human form, half-human, half-hawk, or simply in its falcon form of the new deity, began to be placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West.

Etowah Bird Man from Georgia (left) and Ptah-Sokar Bird Man from Egypt (right)

Coincidentally, the Ocmulgee Earth Lodge included a raised platform of clay in the shape of a hawk or falcon. Throughout Georgia during this time period appeared imagery of a “bird-man” or “falcon-man” reminiscent of Ptah’s hawk-man form. The hawk/falcon platform in the Earth Lodge and the images of the bird-man both had a shared symbol drawn around one eye known to archaeologists as the “forked eye motif.” This motif has been interpreted as representing a two-tailed comet. Thus the symbolism at Ocmulgee and Abu Simbel seem remarkably consistent.

Ptah was often represented with a green face. The Taurid meteor shower is known for its spectacularly bright meteors known as fireballs. These are often green in color. Ptah was also associated with the sacred bull Apis. Coincidentally, the Taurid meteor shower is so-named because it appears to emanate from the constellation Taurus, the bull.

Thus the symbolism at both Ocmulgee and Abu Simbel support the hypothesis that these monuments were related to the Comet Encke and its associated Taurid meteor stream.

As noted earlier, February 22 is also the last day of the Aztec solar year. This day was associated with the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. Interestingly, he is also associated with birds and the color green. According to Wikipedia:

He always had a blue-green hummingbird helmet in any of the depictions found. In fact, his hummingbird helmet was the one item that consistently defined him as Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, in artistic renderings…He also holds the blue snake, Xiuhcoatl, in his hand in the form of an atlatl, or spear thrower.

Like the Aztec Calendar Stone which featured two xiuhcoatls, or fire serpents, which likely represented flaming meteors, Huitzilopochtli also was associated with fire serpents.

Conclusion

February 22 and October 22 seem to be important dates for multiple ancient civilizations over the past 4,000 years. These civilizations went to great lengths to preserve these dates for posterity through the construction of temples aligned with the sun on these dates. It seems likely these dates are associated with meteors especially those of the Taurid meteor stream. Only further research will answer the questions these monuments present.

 

Gary C. Daniels

Gary C. Daniels is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated television, video and multimedia writer and producer. He has a M.A. degree in Communications from Georgia State University in Atlanta, a B.F.A. degree in TV Production from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an A.A. degree in Art from the College of Coastal Georgia. He has appeared on the Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and History Channel. His History Channel appearance became the highest-rated episode in the network's history. He has a passion for Native American history and art. He is the founder and publisher of LostWorlds.org.