Introduction
Obs.: This
article is divided into two parts, both of which are included in the Old
World section of this Homepage. Click on the figures to get an enlarged
viewing.
Entering an Egyptian temple is an unforgettable
experience, one that is certainly the most pungent a sensitive person can
ever undergo. Even though all the Egyptian temples are, at present, mostly
destroyed and disfigured, something of the ancient majesty remains to render
the experience unique. And the reason can now be revealed: the Egyptian
temple is a replica of Paradise, and entering one is equivalent to doing
a ritual pilgrimage to Paradise, just as the ancient heroes such as Hercules,
Gilgamesh, Ulysses and Alexander once did, long ago.
In what follows we will explain in detail
the symbolism of the Egyptian temple, the symbolic meaning of its several
sections and features and, above all, its connection with the
Egyptian
Book of the Dead. Moreover, we will explain the secret, esoteric doctrines
concerning Atlantis and its identity with Paradise; as well as the meaning
of Pharaoh as an alias of Osiris, the psychopompos that leads the souls
back to Paradise. This identity, we will see, is so close and so detailed
that it cannot be refuted in any rational way. So, the ineluctable conclusion
is the legend of Atlantis and its connection with Egypt mentioned by Plato
is real and compelling.
The
feature that strikes the visitor of Egypt is the fact that its temples
are widely different from the ones of other nations.
As
can be seen in Fig.1, the Egyptian temple was formed of three separated
sections, each widely different from the others. An outer wall often
triple surrounded the whole structure.
The first section consisted of a sacred
garden permanently irrigated and kept green at all times. This garden had
sacred pools intended for baptismal rituals and included trees and palm
trees, as well as a great variety of plants and flowers. Some of these
were incense trees imported from Punt, from the Holy Land that was the
Paradise of the Egyptians. As we shall see below, this structure was followed
in just about every Egyptian temple, and had a very specific symbolic purpose.
In some temples, such as the one of Karnak,
an alley of sphinxes guarded the place. In others, these were substituted
by giant statues of divine guardians or of lions or some other fearful
figure. Next came the pylons (or portals), which had a very characteristic
shape. These pylons consist of very massive, tapering, rectangular jambs
resembling a table mountain or lofty altar, on whose top certain rituals
were often celebrated.
These
pylons were linked to each other by means of a lower lintel covering the
entrance gateway at the center. They had recesses intended for the placement
of wooden flagpoles, usually two or four. At the front of the pylons were
also placed lofty obelisks, again two or four, depending on the particular
temple.
The
gateway of the pylons admitted to the second section, open in its central
region but covered with colonnades at the three far sides of it. At the
far end of this second court one enters a hypostyle hall by way of a ramp.
This hall had a stone roofing supported by pillars distributed in the whole
of its court.
Next came the holy of holies, the precinct
of the god to whom the temple was dedicated. This small chamber was situated
at the center and held, inside, a sacred barque. This inner sanctuary was
surrounded by lateral chapels for subsidiary gods, small praying rooms,
and storage rooms for the divine paraphernalia used in the sacred rites.
The Divine Barque
The Egyptian temple was accessed by means
of barques in which the gods were processioned from temple to temple at
the occasion of their festivals (see Fig.1(d)). The chapels inside the temple
were usually three, as the Egyptians, like so many other peoples, worshipped
triads of gods. In brief, one might say that the Egyptian temple consisted
of an innermost closed sanctuary were the god, placed inside the processional
barque, stood upon an altar; then an intermediate, semi-open hypostyle
hall, and finally an open outer courtyard planted with a walled, well watered
garden.
The king's palace was also constructed
according to this sacred geometry, which was also followed in the residences
of the high dignitaries. The accessibility of the different sections was
also rigidly disciplined. The humbler persons were restricted to the open
courtyard; the high officials were admitted to the hypostyle hall, and
only the pharaoh and the high priest were admitted to the innermost sanctuary.
Accordingly, the temple structure was also
rigidly linked with sunlight. The hypostyle court was in semi-darkness,
except for a small skylight at the top which allowed a ray of light to
enter through the opening, falling directly upon the god's statue.
