Talk:Pyramid of Unas

Attribution

• Moved from Unas article, still needs a cleanup

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Markh (talk • contribs) 15:41, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

The texts of the Una Pyramid and the basics of the Bible

Please help expand / turn this in a paragraph. In the texts of the Una Pyramid the first time the concept of a "life after death" is recorded in human history: "He lives! This King Unas lives! He is not dead," will become "Jesus is alive, he is not dead, Jesus is alive". Hence the claim: the origins of Judaism - the Torah, Christianity - the Bible, Muslism - the Koran, are found in the texts of the walls of the pyramid of Una. As per Egyptologists Tamara SIUDA, Salima IKRAM, biblical scholar Thomas HARPUR.

https://www.facebook.com/uhem.mesut/videos/10155345640569492/

http://www.pyramidtextsonline.com/translation.html#antewest Thy --SvenAERTS (talk) 05:11, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

From the alt text

Map of the substructure to Unas's pyramid. From top to bottom: Ascending corridor terminating at vestibule; horizontal passage leading from end of vestibule and terminating at the antechamber. Three granite portcullises guard the passageway at approximately the mid-way point from vestibule to antechamber. PTs present at the very end of the passageway: 313–317 on the north wall of the passageway, and 318–321 on the south wall. PTs of the antechamber clockwise from north to west: 302–312 north, 273–301 east, 260–263 and 267–272 south, and 247–258 and 260 west. Serdab lies east of antechamber and is not inscribed. West of antechamber is a passageway with PTs 23, 25, 32 and 199–200 on the north wall and 244–246 on the south wall. Passageway terminates into the burial chamber with PTs of the burial chamber clockwise from north to south; 23, 25, 32, 34–57, 72–79, 81–96, and 108–171 north, 204–205, 207, 209–212 and 220–225 east, and 213–219 south. The sarcophagus lies near the west wall of the burial chamber with no texts inscribed north, south or on the wall west of it. The gable above the west wall contains PTs 226–243. The walls of the substructure are colour-coded in the map. The ascending corridor, vestibule and horizontal passage up to about 1.5m – distance values are calculated from Sethe's "ungefährer maßstab" (approximate scale) – from the granite portcullises are lined with fine white Tura limestone. Starting from 1.5m north of the first granite portcullis to 3.4m south of the last granite portcullis the walls are lined with red granite, and the portcullises are made from red granite as well. The lining spans 9m of the wall on each side. The last 1.5m of the passageway is lined with Tura limestone, as is the entirety of the serdab and antechamber. The first 4m of the burial chamber (entirety of east wall, part of north and south walls) are lined with Tura limestone, while the last 3m of chamber are lined with white alabaster (part of north and south walls, entirety of west wall).

The above was a carefully written and detailed alt-text written for the image "Unas' Substructure.png". Their may be something salvageable from this to be incorporated into the body of the text. Mr rnddude (talk) 14:26, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

Spelling

This article currently on the Main Page has instances of both main spelling variants ("chiseled" and "colour"). Looking back at an older revision, it seems to have been in British English. Obviously it doesn't really matter which variant we use, but it should be one or the other, not both. --MarchOrDie (talk) 13:10, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Anchored via a nearby lake

The phrase Anchored to the valley temple via a nearby lake, in the lede could perhaps be made clearer. Was the pyramid on an island? or the other side of the lake to the temple? In either case, the lake would be closer than nearby. Probably I am being obtuse here, but I can't fathom this. catslash (talk) 17:30, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

A1: No, the pyramid is located near the desert, on a plateau. A2: It wasn't on the other side of the lake either. The pyramid isn't the focus in the sentence. It's about the causeway, which is anchored to the valley temple, which is at the lake. I've changed "via" to "at" because it's poor usage and bound to cause confusion because it implies the lake is an intermediary rather than at the terminus. Mr rnddude (talk) 18:29, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Sorry, but I'm still not sure I understand. The causeway is anchored to, (i.e. starts at) the valley temple, and runs to the pyramid. A causeway is a raised path across a low, or wet place, or piece of water. So what piece of water does the causeway cross - not the lake? Does the causeway cross the valley (with the lake being elsewhere than in the valley)? catslash (talk) 23:08, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

The causeway is anchored to, (i.e. starts at) the valley temple, and runs to the pyramid - Yes, that's basically it. In the Egyptological context the causeway is an enclosed walkway built from the valley temple to the mortuary/pyramid temple. This specific causeway has embankments, is raised in parts and has two turns because it follows uneven terrain left by a wadi. So what piece of water does the causeway cross - not the lake? - None, it's not a causeway in that sense (particularly not anymore). You can reference the first image from this journal article to see a rendering of a full complex, albeit of a different, much more famous, pyramid. That'll show you what the purpose of a causeway was, rather than you trying to imagine it. You can also try taking a look at google maps to see Unas' specific complex. Mind you, the lake, and any riverbeds are bone-dry and unidentifiable today. Mr rnddude (talk) 00:23, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you - the pictures in the article make it clear. catslash (talk) 16:14, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict) In the standard plan of a pyramid complex, a valley temple sat in the river valley, on a canal or lake that was linked to the river. From there the path that linked that temple to the pyramid temple was generally uphill, not across a body of water. Egyptologists universally use the term "causeway" for the elevated and covered stone structure that the Egyptians built to shelter that path, even if the structure doesn't meet the technical definition of that term. There may not be another term for it—a viaduct has arches, which the Egyptians didn't use. (In the case of Unas's causeway it does sound like there were dips in the terrain along the causeway's route that the builders had to fill in with embankments, so it sort of ran "across a low place", but that's not really inherent to the function of a pyramid causeway.) A. Parrot (talk) 00:47, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

Lack of familiarity with the standard plan of a pyramid complex hampered my understanding. catslash (talk) 16:14, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

cu ?

The article gives all distance measurements in meters, feet, and "cu". When I search wikipedia for "cu", I don't find any measurement definition. In the info box, "cu yd" has a link that goes to the article on Cubic yard... obviously a different use of "cu" than elsewhere in the article. Could this article define "cu" or link to an article with its definition?165.225.38.117 (talk) 19:01, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

I believe it refers to cubit, but I'm not entirely sure where would be the appropriate (and sufficiently conspicuous) place for a link. Favonian (talk) 19:08, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

It does indeed refer to Egyptian cubits, the standard measurement that the Egyptians used. I've added a link to the first mention, does that help? Mr rnddude (talk) 19:17, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Yes, thank you! But I was surprised that when I searched wikipedia for "cu", the disambiguation page didn't have a link to "Cubits". Should I make a request for a link on that page?165.225.38.117 (talk) 19:22, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

You can certainly ask. I haven't dealt with disambig pages and don't know what criteria are used for inclusion, otherwise I'd add an entry to it myself. Mr rnddude (talk) 19:29, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

I have added it. Let's see if I have grasped the criteria. Favonian (talk) 19:33, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Good call on being bold. Mr rnddude (talk) 19:34, 2 May 2019 (UTC)