Amid the ruins of Pepi II's pyramid and temple complex lies an unusual stone block. At first glance the stone upon which the carving is etched seems normal enough and has many features we have seen many times before in Egypt. However, one carving in particular on this stone is quite unique and demands more attention.

Pepi II, last Pharaoh of the VI Dynasty, built his pyramid at South Saqqara. The site today is approximately an hours walk from Zoser's Step Pyramid complex at North Saqqara across the open desert and these days it is a fairly remote site. Closer to Dashur than North Saqqara, there are a wealth of 5th and 6th Dynasty pyramid complexes in the area, as well as later constructions. It is not entiely clear why Pepi II built his pyramid in this spot. It is situated very close to a huge Mastaba tomb, attributed to Shepseskaf, last king of the IV Dynasty, and the site was obviously of great significance to both kings.

Map of South Saqqara in relation to Zjosers complex (taken from The complete pyramids by Mark Lehner)

Close-up of "circle" carving

The first thought that jumped to my mind was that this was a depiction of a henge, similar to those found in Great Britain and Western Europe. The most famous henge in England must be Avebury where there is also a stone circle.

I was told that what I was looking at may possibly be the top of an offering jar, however, in all other depictions the jar looks completely different and is always square. So it seems as if we have a unique carving here and must look for answers elsewhere.

Looking at the carving in detail, and assuming for a moment that it does depict a henge/temple of some description, there are certain features that stand out. It appears as if there is a central mound with a ditch around it, possibly containing a moat. There also seems to be an avenue leading to the central mound. This could actually be a ramp of some sort as it clearly leads up to and over the outer ditch. There is the hint of a passage of some sort leading up the avenue and then penetrating the mound.

Picture from Secrets of the Great Pyramid by Peter Tompkins

Let's compare the carving with details from the European henges to see if we do have a likeness. The following pictures are from Secrets of the Great Pyramid by Peter Tompkins. It is not mere coincidence that these pictures are in this book. Tompkins draws many comparisons between the henges, mounds and circles of Europe and the Great pyramid, showing time and again how both could have been used as observatories to aid in the science of astronomy.

Both types of monument give us very accurate star readings and Tompkins raises the idea that this possibly was the main purpose of both types of structures.

Many of the European monuments bear striking resemblance to our carving. At Maes Howe, the structure itself even has the avenue shown clearly in the carving. Another ancient European structure that bears close affinity with our carving - the likeness of which raises many interesting questions is the Treasury of Atreus - standing at Mycenae in Greece.

Maes Howe
Picture from Secrets of the Great Pyramid by Peter Tompkins

Entrance to the Treasury of Atreus
Picture from In search of the Trojan war by Michael Wood

Having accepted that there was a case for this carving being a depiction of some kind of temple or mound I now had to work out what the link was with ancient Egypt. I was surprised by my next discovery.

Schwaller De Lubicz was a German academic who had spent 15 years of his life at Luxor, studying the great temples, and he seemed to have documented a temple very much like the building I had found carved on the block of stone at South Saqqara.

It has the familiar entrance leading to it's circular, beehive construction. The Treasury of Atreus is built in the style of "Cyclopean" architecture, a term often used to describe certain remains in Egypt. That there are definite links is beyond question. The famous Lion Gate also at Mycenae is thought to be the oldest of it's kind in Europe and the use of lions in it's symbolism is intriguing to say the least.

Interior of The Treasury of Atreus, showing the entrance passage
Picture from In search of the Trojan war by Michael Wood

In "The Temple in Man", De Lubicz shows that underneath the current remains of the Middle Kingdom temple of Medamud at Luxor, there was a much older temple, originally built on virgin soil. This temple bears amazing similarity to our carving. How old this original temple would have been is hard to estimate but it is likely to originate deep in Egypt's past.

Looking at this image of Medamud and the image I had found carved at South Saqqara, the two looked very similar.

Early Temple at Medamud

So, the mound we can see in the carving seems to have real roots in Egypt's past. What were these mounds though? How did they fit into Egypt's mythology? We are so used to seeing the all too familiar temples and pyramids of Egypt that the thought of these mounds seems strangely alien.

There are references to mounds in Egyptian religious texts however. These are the mounds of creation, spoken about in the Building texts of Edfu in particular.

They seem to have been of great importance and feature in Egypt's myths concerning creation. Many believe these mounds of creation are merely symbolic, however what if they really did exist and we are looking at a representation of one such mound in this carving at South Saqqara?

Andrew Collins describes these mounds in detail, as well as the Edfu Texts that refer to them, in his book Gods of Eden. The Texts in question, he explains, scribed onto the walls of Edfu Temple, have titles such as Specification of the Mounds of the Early Primeval Age and Sacred Book of the Early Primeval Age of The Gods. Also known as the Island of the Egg, Collins goes on to describes this structure.

"Surrounding this mound or hill, known then as The Island of the Egg, was a circle or 'channel' of water..."

This sounds very much like our carving. So, it would appear that what we are looking at is a depiction of the very mounds that once stood in Egypt's past, now buried beneath much later temples built on their very foundations, mounds that later came to represent early Egypt's religious beginnings. The reference to these mounds as Island of the Egg is interesting, and this association with eggs and birth is worth noting, because many of the European circles/henges have associations with fertility and birth. Avebury itself, seems to be a represention of fertilised eggs in the womb (see diagram below). It would appear as if we are seeing traces of a culture with a unified belief system that was spread out across Europe and the Middle East. The builders of the Megalithic period were once thought to be confined solely to Europe, but evidence of these mounds found in Ancient Egypt seem to further contradict this view.

It struck me that the site of Pepi II's pyramid complex where the carving lies may have been built on top of one of these sacred mounds. That would explain why it was a sacred site to both Pepi II and Shepseskaf. It is possible that the slumped remains of the pyramid itself sits on such a mound. Other pyramids are known to have mounds inside them. The Great Pyramid itself is probably the most famous example and the mound of bedrock at the centre of this colossal monument is well documented. Interestingly enough there is a grotto within this mound of rock and it is entirely possible that this may have existed as a simple chamber in a mound that predates the pyramid by many centuries or millennia.

The Second and Third Pyramids are reported to have the same features inside them too. What if that was the reason for the positioning of these structures? We have heard Peter Tompkins point out similarities between the astronomical properties of Megalithic mounds and the pyramids. Was this merely a progression, from mound to pyramid? Did the great sacred pyramids need to be built upon these sacred, and already ancient, mounds of creation? It is an intriguing thought.

Pepi II's pyramid

Now assume there was a circle at South Saqqara once. As seems to have been the tradition in Egypt, older structures are frequently assimilated into newer forms. The stones from such a circle could well have been incorporated into Pepi II's temple itself. Is it too far-fetched to ask whether the stone we see with the carving upon it was once a standing stone in such a circle, later to be fashioned into an offering table? It is known that stones in circles in Europe were often offered libations, so this is a possibility. One last point of interest here is that the Egyptian word "htp" used to describe the stone table where we find our carving has another meaning. Penelope Wilson in her work A Ptolemaic Lexikon, based upon the carvings of Edfu, offers an alternative translation whereby it can mean "to rest", with specific reference to the setting of the sun. This gives us a tantalising glimpse into the possible origins of the stone.

Maybe it was once standing in some ancient circle in Egypt, maybe even at South Saqqara, acting as a marker for the setting sun at certain times of the year. Did the last rays of the setting sun come to rest upon this very stone at the equinoxes or on the eve of some festival of great importance?

Whatever it's full meaning, this one carving has led me to look at Egypt in a new light and to catch glimpses of a lost, rich history that is now long forgotten, apart from the fragments of myth handed down to us across the yawning gulf that is our past.

This page and all photographs are copyright of Mark James Foster except where stated. They can only be used with the prior consent of the author.