Across Time: Mystery of the Great Sphinx by O.J. Harp III

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Contents

Acknowledgments... i
Fact... iii
Prologue... v
I. Voyage... 1
II. Spring… 15
III. Haunted School… 41
IV. Voodoo Sea… 69
V. Revenge of the Pharaohs… 99
VI. Discovery... 121
VII. The Holy Season… 153
VIII. The Anu... 171
IX. The Place-of-No-Time… 183
X. The Rescue… 215
XI. Jumping the Broom… 229
Epilogue... 237
Glossary… 241

FACT

More than four thousand years old, the Great Sphinx of Giza is the most famous and most mysterious emblem of Egypt. It is an enormous stone structure of a lion with a human head, carved directly from the natural limestone of the Giza Plateau.

Traditionally, researchers have asserted that the Great Sphinx was built around 2540 B.C., the same time as the nearby pyramid of Khafre. Indeed, the face of the Great Sphinx was thought to be that of Khafre's, although recent evidence casts doubt on this notion. By detailed examination, a forensic expert with the New York City Police Department has concluded that the face of the Great Sphinx is not that of Khafre. Also, after analyzing the shape and surface erosion of the Great Sphinx, some have concluded that the monument is much older than many Egyptologists initially believed. In fact, the Great Sphinx appears to be the first element of an astronomical map depicting the constellation Orion, containing the Great Nebula and more than two hundred visible stars. Surprisingly, a computer analysis of the position of the stars for the map yielded the date 10500 B.C., older than the pre-dynastic period of Kemet (5500-3 100 B.C.). Hence, the Great Sphinx appears to be the oldest sculpture on Earth and a remnant of a great African civilization yet undiscovered by archeologists.

Since research supports the contention that there was an advanced black civilization, predating by thousands of years the Old Kingdom of Kemet, what happened to them? Why did they disappear from the archeological record? Why did they build the Great Sphinx? What else did these mysterious Sphinx builders accomplish?

Prologue

Africa – 110 million B.C.

WITH four-foot tapered jaws and over a hundred bone-crushing teeth, a prehistoric forty-foot crocodile swam a wide river in a region teeming with lush vegetation that would eventually become the Sahara Desert. In sub-Saharan Africa, an enormous crocodile, Sarcosuchus imperator (SuperCroc), was partially submerged beneath the muddy waters with its eye sockets tilted upward looking for prey. As it slowly swam through a murky, grass-laden river, it caught a glimpse of several towering, flesh-eating dinosaurs walking on shore. Silently, the crocodilian beast glided towards its quarry. For a brief moment, the aquatic ten-ton reptile watched a fifteen-foot, six-ton carnivorous dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) wander away from the others of its kind before attacking it with unrelenting, ferocious bites.

T-rex was no match for SuperCroc. Although the gigantic dinosaur was about equal in length to the vicious crocodile, the crocodile with armor-like skin was superior in biting force. Having a chomp harder than several tons, the gigantic crocodile repeatedly bit down hard and deep on its prey. Soon the battle for survival was over. SuperCroc was the victor. In this prehistoric time, huge crocodilian monsters dominated in an Age of giants.

***

Africa – 2 million B.C.

Hot yet still damp from a torrential rain, the earth seemed shocked by the arrival of tool-bearing, upright-standing, bipedal creatures. Eons had passed without the intelligence needed to control and manipulate the fertile land. However, that time had ended. They had arrived. No longer would the lion, the elephant, or any other animal species dominate in an untamed Africa where survival was the only rule. Now, time was ripe for life that had done more than simply obey the whims of the sometimes-harsh savanna. With the coming of this higher intelligence, the environment would never be the same.

Voyage

Africa – 11000 B.C.

SUN-BAKED earth, carved by centuries of heat, felt the explorations of an African people traveling across the land, like so many lines of age on an ancient face. They sailed down the Nile from the Great Lakes that merged with those flowing eastward out of the Sahara. They were an ancient race—the Anu. They came to discover and build; they sought a new beginning. From the junction of the White and Blue Nile they relentlessly trekked.

The Anu migrated down the Nile from Southern Africa at the dawn of civilization and established Kemet (ancient Egypt) as one of their colonies. They were a wise and mystical people who believed in magic, which they called heka.

***

Africa – 10000 B.C.

Sparse precipitation had turned to bountiful rain that would last several millennia before returning the land to an arid desert. In this rain-drenched land, the Anu were determined to build a symbol of their greatness.

Carving stone upon stone, a lion’s body emerged from countless skilled Anu hands. Then a human face appeared, so lifelike it seemed to be a living Ka, a spiritual double of a human being. It had huge lips and a nose so broad that just its carving required the passing of numerous suns. Across its massive countenance, not enough tears fell to wash away the scarlet torrent of blood from the fallen, who sacrificed themselves in its creation. Down, down, down for years they fell from the carved face of the image of Horus, their king, who reminded them that the task was not for those who too easily succumb to the ravages of Ra.

DING-A-LING! A clanging bell sounded the beginning of homeroom. It was 8:15 a.m., and Eddie Richardson and the rest of Mr. Zachary Taylor’s homeroom class were nowhere to be found. Mrs. Longhorn, the principal, patrolled the halls, inspecting each classroom. “Mr. Taylor, where are your students?”

“It’s those special education boys again,” answered Mr. Taylor. “They’re somewhere around here. I saw Eddie and Kevin on the playground early this morning. You know how those two are. They’re up to no good!”

Suddenly, five desk chairs sped down the waxed hall floors. Each chair carried a student determined to win the newly contrived desk chair race. Eddie’s chair rushed over Mrs. Longhorn’s right foot. Feeling considerable pain, she quickly grabbed her foot with both hands, hopping on the other foot for about a minute. She held on to Eddie’s chair to maintain her balance, but she slipped and fell. The watching students burst into a hilarious roar.

“Boys, stop this right now! Start acting like sensible students. My gracious, what are you doing with super-soaker water rifles? Get out of those chairs and come with me, right now, to my office!”

Mrs. Adriane Longhorn was a thinly built, no-nonsense principal who went by the book. She handled her job with the same discipline her German parents had used in raising her. “Why do you ignore the school’s conduct rules? I am sending all of you to Dr. Steele for counseling. You need professional help!”

Eddie shrugged. “Here we go again. I know the routine. You’ll call my parents, put me on school suspension, and give me so much homework that I’ll be ready to graduate from college by the time I return to high school.”

The principal beamed. “You know that’s right. None of you will be chillin’ anymore today.”

The students were shocked by the principal’s black slang. Victor turned towards her. “Mrs. Longhorn, you gettin’ real!”

Mrs. Longhorn flung her long brown hair away from her face and folded her arms rapper style. “Yo, you’ll be real when your parents get through with you!”
David looked at Eddie. “Tell her. Tell her, Eddie, what we saw on the third floor!”
“Mrs. Longhorn, we filled these super-soaker water rifles full of holy water so we . . .”
“Eddie, holy water? What in the world . . .”

“Yeah, we all got together last Sunday and prayed over a bucket of water,” said Eddie. “We made sure we didn’t get into any trouble or nothing that entire day. Then we filled our water rifles with lots of the holy stuff and went to the third floor.”