Newsdesk Archive

This is a really great piece - read it by following the article link below...

Before this amazing discovery, scholars generally believed that trading vessels of this time hugged the coastlines, with navigators being afraid to voyage out into open sea. But this ancient ship, the oldest ever found, is located as far from shore as one can get in the Mediterranean. Read the full article at courierpress.com by following the link below...

Read this article at Egypt Revealed by following the link below...

Read the article at the Discovering Archaeology website by following the article link below...

Read the article at the Irish Times website by following the article link below...

Read the full Reuters article at thenorthernlight.com by following the article link below... Also see this government webpage, with info from the Times, which says that the tomb belonged to a high priest of the sun god Ra, rather than the god Neith (as claimed by the Reuters article) http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html3/o150221n.htm

The project still seems to be at a preliminary stage. Reports about the damage to archaeological sites are being written, and costs of the material and skilled labour that will be required are being estimated. Read the article at the Times of India website by following the article link below...

Read the article at The Times Online by following the article link below...

We wish to thank BusinessAge for kindly allowing us to display their article, "Bad Edit on the Horizon", on our site. The article is in the Horizon Scandal section and can be reached directly by following the article link below...

October 1999 saw large-scale construction work at the Temple Mount, a holy site in Israeli-occupied Arab East Jerusalem, with the aim of creating new prayer areas and other religious facilities. In response, a number of Jewish religious leaders, writers and academics (including archaeologists) founded the "Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount" and began accusing the Muslims in charge of the construction of the wilful destruction of Jewish remains. One of the major accusations was centred around the alleged excavation of a large tunnel without any care for archaeological preservation. In recent weeks, following the launch of the Journal of Palestinian Archaeology, the volume of these accusations as peaked, particularly on a number of academic newsgroups and discussion lists. In response to the accusations, Jewish archaeologist, Professor Amos Kloner, and poet Haim Guri visited the contruction site in search of the alleged tunnel. After hours of careful examination, Kloner emerged to report that there was no evidence of digging activity. He said "If there was a tunnel, we would have seen it. We didn't." Long before Kloner and Guri's visit, the Israeli police force and Public Security Ministry had also followed up the accusations of the Committee, and subsequently issued a statement saying that they "completely reject the recent claims regarding excavations on the Temple Mount." But this statement was in turn rejected by the Committiee, who alleged that the Police Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, was denying the destruction for the sake of furthering peace talks with the Palestinians. In the same way, the Committee has also rejected the findings of Kloner and Guri. Archaeologist Eilat Mazar, a major force in the Committee, said "We have hard evidence that they are carring out excavations on a tremendous scale beneath the Temple Mount in order to prepare more prayer areas." Mazar declined to release this evidence because, she said, it might endanger people's lives. While the amount of energy put into these unsubstantiated rumours by the Committeee may seem baffling to many, it is well understood by Palestinians and by some liberal Jewish Israelis, such as archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov, who participated in the massive nine-year excavation project at the Temple Mount following the Six Day War. Ben-Dov said that right-wing political motives underpin the allegations put forward by some archaeologists on the Committee. "It wasn't the Muslims who destroyed the Temple," he noted. "It was Titus". Read a fuller article at the Miami Herald by clicking on the article link below...

John's essay provides an opposing view to that expressed by Donald Hancock in his forum article, "Gnosticism And The Proclamation of Christianity with Special Reference to Saint John's Gospel". We hope to put up more of essays from "The Seeker's Handbook" over the coming months, as part of an on-going discussion of Gnosticism in the Forum section. You can reach the article directly by clicking the article link below...

Archaeologists working on the sunken cities around Alexandria have brought in geologists to try to understand why the cities sank. It is possible that there is a hidden fault crossing Egypt, and that tectonic activity centred there could have caused the collapse of northern lands into the Ocean. It is thought that a series of earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean were responsible for the toppling of Troy, Jericho and about 50 other cities in a 50-year period at the end of the Bronze Age (around 1200 BC). Some researchers think that the huge weight of water and silt flowing into the Mediterranean from the great Nile causes the marshy land on which Herakleion and Menouthis were built to sink. Read a fuller article at disasterrelief.org by following the article link below...

Read this article at the LA Times by clicking on the article link below...

Clicking the article link will take you to an article on the CNN website...

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendevouz project (NEAR) involved the launching of a robot probe in 1996, programmed to meet up with and eventually land on lump of rock 200 million miles from the Earth. The probe is currently orbiting the asteroid and is set to land on it next week, marking a new era in space exploration and the protection of Earth from asteroids. Read all about it at the Guardian website by following the article link below...

Since links to hi-res satellite photos of Giza were posted on The Message Board, I'm sure that many of us have changed our desktop wallpaper in order to get a spectactular bird's eye view of the wondrous Pyramids, Sphinx (and, of course, Khufu's previously unknown football pitch) every time we switch on our computers. But satellite images can also fuel archaeological discovery. Jim Alison's belt theory has highlighted a number of candidate regions presently covered by rainforest, sand or shallow water, and he has already drawn attention to satellite images of one candidate location in South America. (If you're an adventurous millionaire with time on your hands, Jim wants to talk to you...) A number of researchers have similarly been using satellite photos to search for lost pyramids in the Egyptian desert. You can read all about it at the Egypt Revealed website by following the article link below...

The experienced archaeologist Oscar White Muscarella, an employee of the Metropolitan Museum in New York (who has already been sacked once for speaking out on this, but was then reinstated) claims: "The public doesn't know anything about this. Museums never discuss forgeries or how museums acquire objects. The public is paying for all the plundering and all the forgeries, indirectly or directly through taxation. "This silence protects 'important' people the museum hopes may continue to support the museum; equally, it avoids frightening away important donors. "What if Turks, Greeks, Italians and Syrians came to America and tore up old cemeteries and broke into people's houses and destroyed them? "It would be destroying the whole context, families' diaries would be destroyed while they were taking all the silver out and selling it abroad. That's exactly what we're doing." Read the full article at the New York Post website by following the article link below...

From the XINHUA NEWS AGENCY: Excavation of a cultural artifact site in southeast China's Anhui Province has proved that the middle-and-lower reaches of the Yangtze River boasted advanced civilization as far back in the Neo-lithic period some 5,000 years ago. Zhang Jingguo, an archaeologist responsible for the excavation of the Lingjiatan relic site in Anhui, said that it could be one of the origins of the Chinese civilization. Four rounds of excavations at the site have been made throughout the past decade since the artifact site, covering 1.6 million square meters. The site was first spotted in 1987. Some 62 caves, an altar, a stoneware workshop, and a large square paved with red pottery pieces were found. Some of the amazing discoveries include six jade-carving human statues, a meticulously-made jade scoop, and jade pieces and jade turtles imprinted with augury patterns. The six jade statues indicate that the ancestors of the Chinese nation already wore threaded and hemp-made clothes, rather than " leaves and animal fells" 5,000 years ago, said Zhang.

The article can be found by following the article link below... For those interested in finding a rebuttal of the argument presented in this article, please read Chapter 17 of Hancock's book "Heaven's Mirror" (1998). Especially look at pp.306-307, which shows that current researchers have supported Posnansky findings, including the former National Director of Bolivian Archaeology, Dr. Oswaldo Rivera and the American archaeastronomer Neil Steede. The article at Discovering Archaeology conveniently fails to mention this. Also, read Sean Hancock's article on radiocarbon-dating at Tiahuanaco, in the Forum Section of this site. Also, do a search on the Message Board to read previous discussions on the dating of Tiahuanaco, which involved Graham Hancock (before he became a hermit in order to write Underworld).

The Great Library of Alexandria, built by the first Greek kings of Egypt on the orders of Alexander the Great, once held an estimated 700,000 manuscripts. Successive burnings by Roman conquerers and Christian fanatics made a memory out of the world's most remarkable centre of learning. The new Library is already an imposing and artistic structure. It balances modern values of functionality with the need for symbolic references to its historical origins and the need for avoidance of contemporary architectural "fads", such that the library will appear as timeless as possible. The motivation of the designer and head of construction, Professor Mohsen Zahran, lies in his belief that "real civilisation always starts in the mind" rather than in material wealth. Given this and the nature of the original library's destruction, it is not so ironic that the real limits to the new library's potential lie not in lack of funding but in the minds of some hardline religious pressure groups in Egypt. It is said that some authors have already been excluded because of their political or religious views. The original library was meant to hold "all the knowledge in the known world", not just that which is compatible with the beliefs of a minority. By Sharif Ahmad Sakr A fuller article can be read at the Australian website, The Age, by following the article link below...

Follow the article link below to read about this remarkable discovery at the discoveringarchaeology.com ...

Read all about it at archaeology.org by following the article link below...

A new book, by Nina Jidejian - an authority on Phoenician archaeological history - has reopened the mysterious case of the discovery of the royal tombs of Sidon in 1887. Over 100 years ago, workmen accidently tipped over an ancient Phoenician sarcophagus. Inside was the body of Tabinet, king of the ancient Phoenician city of Sidon in the 6th Century AD. From the toppled coffin spilled not only the unwrapped (i.e. not mummified) corpse of Tabinet, but also large quantity of a strange liquid. This liquid had apparently preserved the body of the king so well that his skin was still soft to the touch, and his hair had retained its red colouring. After the spilling, the body quickly disintegrated, and, Jidejian writes, "the secret fluid was once again lost to the Sidon sand". Suggestions that the mysterious liquid was formaldehyde were countered by doctors who said that this would have hardened the skin, and the miraculous preserving liquid has never been identified. Read a fuller article at the Daily Star website by following the article link below

A pair of researchers, with ties to the University of Massachusetts USA, have combined geological and archaeological expertise to argue that sudden climate changes may have been a major factor in the collapse of several societies during the past 10,000 years. The team have had their study published in the prestigious scientific journal, Science (26th Jan 2001). Team-member Raymond Bradley, an archaeologist and geologist whose studies on global warming and greenhouse gases have received extensive notice in recent years, said: "In general, climate is a major factor when societies unravel, but at times in the past, it's been the decisive factor." [The following is extracted from a University of Massachusetts press release:] The theory differs from widely held views that societies were resilient and adaptable in the face of changes in the external environment, but failed due to combinations of social, political, and economic forces. The two scientists combined their expertise, comparing when various societies fell apart with occurrences of major climate changes. Scientists are able to determine the climate of past centuries with high accuracy, by studying sediments that are layered along lake bottoms, and the chemistry of ice cores, as well as of stalagmites and stalactites in caves. "We felt there were sufficient examples to point out the links," Bradley said. The societies they considered existed during prehistoric and early historic times, and were located all around the world, including Africa, the Mediterranean, and North and South America. The team defined collapse as an abandonment of an established community, due to a lack of available food. In many cases, farming and harvesting efforts faltered during prolonged droughts. Lacking adequate food, the societies became nomadic and followed the rains. "Societies that have been close to subsistence levels had certain expectations about weather conditions, such as amounts of rainfall, and their patterns of existence -- their infrastructures -- were built on those expectations," Bradley said. "Such expectations would have been handed down for generations. Thus, a sudden climate shift, such as a drought, would have presented completely unfamiliar conditions. If a major climate shift persisted, it would have caused unprecedented disruption in their ability to secure food." When societies did collapse, the team found, several elements related to climate change were generally present: the change was abrupt; was persistent over decades or even centuries; and was unprecedented in the experiences of the people living during those times. "The change had to be of a sufficient magnitude to threaten the food supply," said Bradley. Turning to the future, Bradley said: "It's fairly inarguable that the population is going to grow from 6 billion today to nearly 9-12 billion by the year 2050, according to the United Nations. A lot of the developing world lives at subsistence levels, and is already vulnerable to year-to-year variations in climate." The combination of accelerated population growth and projected changes in the climate "make for a potent mix for real problems on a global scale," he suggested. Furthermore, although scientists can reasonably project population and temperature, it's harder to determine how and where rainfall patterns will change during the next half-century. "Due to the modern political systems, people may not be able to follow the rains as they once did." The concern extends to the developed world, as well, he said: "Much of our infrastructure -- our hydroelectric dams, our levees, and coastal construction -- were built based on weather patterns that we expect to continue. But if you have a hydroelectric dam, and you can't meet the society's demand for electricity, that's a problem," said Bradley, pointing to the energy crisis in California. "We're somewhat insulated by technology, and we're not going to starve, but even in the developed world there may be disruptions."

The Mayan city of Ek Balam, "The Black Tiger", was discovered two years ago. But it's archaeological signifcance has only recently come to light, as preliminary investigations have revealed remarkable friezes and statues, very well preserved. As yet only one third of the ancient 1km-wide site has been recovered from the jungle soil and vegetation, and archaeologists are seeking funds in order to carry out a fuller investigation. Activity at Ek Balam is believed to have peaked around 1000AD. While it not the largest Mayan city in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, it does contain the largest pyramid yet discovered in the Yucatan. Although the pyramid is not fully intact, archaeologists estimate that it must have been some 30 metres high. Recent work at another Mayan site, discovered last year in Guatalmala, uncovered a mysterious pair of small twin pyramids. Katty Kay at BBC Online wrote: "These [Pyramids] were built with astrological precision in mind. The two pyramids are joined with a steep split down the middle. When the sun rises at the spring equinox on the 21 March, the rays fall directly through the schism. When it sets that night, the last rays of sunset fall back through the split in the other direction." Following the article link below will take you to a website dedicated to Ek Balam, which contains some great photos. For photos of other Mayan ruins, check out http://mayaruins.com/

Evidence of a 10 degree drop in global temperature within the last 3.2 million years has been found by a group of geologists studying molecular fossils of microscopic marine algae off the coast of Namibia, West Africa. These new data add considerable weight to earlier evidence of climate change in sub-tropical Africa. Since there is now increasing evidence of a chronological and geographical correlation between climatic and evolutionary changes, these data also highlight the possibility that climate change played a major causative role in human evolution. Dr. Jeremy Marlow, of Newcastle University's Department of Fossil Fuels and Environmental Geochemistry, who led the team of English, American and German scientists, said: "There have been arguments for many years about whether the emergence of our ancestors was linked to climate change. By looking at the molecular fossils of microscopic marine algae, we began to discover evidence of a 10 degree fall in temperature in the region of Africa where much of the early human fossil evidence has been discovered. "We didn't believe it at first, but further tests kept producing similar results until we had to conclude that temperatures really had decreased so dramatically." The most rapid cooling appears to have taken place 2 million years ago, which is roughly when the first species of the genus Homo, ancestors of the modern human lineage, began to emerge in southern Africa. The significance of the apparent correlation between climatic and evolutionary change will however remain entirely speculative until there is direct evidence of a causative relationship. This might conceivably take the form of a pivotal fossil adaptation, such as bipedalism or encephalisation (brain expansion) which logically appeared in response to ecological changes driven by climate change, and which had major implications for the future course of evolution of our direct ancestors. You can read a fuller article at UniSci's website by following the article link below...

The Kumbh Mela, an Indian festival currently being reported around the globe as the biggest congregation of humans ever, is a traditional part of the Hindu religion. It is held every six years at different locations along the Ganges, the "mother river" of India. But this particular Kumbh Mela is considered to be the most sacred in 144 years, and that is why it has attracted an estimated 70 million pilgrims. Apparently, this particular occasion constitutes a Maha (Great) Kumbh Mela because of its coincidence with a unique planetary conjunction, and also its special location at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers merge. Hindu legends say that ancient gods spilled drops of nectar at this place. If you have any further information on the reasons for the special nature of this Kumbh Mela, we'd really appreciate it if you could share it via the Message Board. A lengthy article on the Kumbh Mela can be found at the Washington Post's website by following the article link below...

The latest batch of evidence suggests that there has been little global-scale warming of the atmosphere over the past 22 years. Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Centre at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA, reported that "We see warming over the northern third of the globe both at the surface and in the five-mile-deep layer of air above. For the bulk of the atmosphere, however, we see a general cooling trend over the remaining two-thirds of the globe, from 20 degrees north latitude to the South Pole." See full story at UniSci's website by following the link below...

In 1990, a NASA astronomer observed with concern that "there are more professionals working in a single fast-food restaurant than there are professionals scanning the sky for asteroids." Graham Hancock further highlighted the threat posed by near-earth objects to civilisation in his bestseller, The Mars Mystery (1998). In recent years this threat has become an issue at the highest levels of power in the UK, as evidenced by the following extracts from Prime Minister's Question Time: Q10. Mr. Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire): People laughed when I first raised the potential devastation that would result from an impact between an asteroid and the earth. There is no middle way with asteroids. In the light of that and of the Government's near-earth object task force report, which confirmed every claim that I had made about the dangers and made 14 recommendations for action, will the Prime Minister consider raising the matter, with the prospect for international co-operation, at the next G8 summit? The Prime Minister: The report of the task force on near-earth objects and asteroids was published last September, and the Government are considering it. We shall announce our response to it shortly. The Department of Trade and Industry has established a small implementation team to oversee the preparation of that response, which I am sure will be eagerly awaited on both sides of the House.

An American group at Harvard, Massachusetts is building a telescope that will scan the heaven's for alien laser signals. Many would argue that radiowave SETI should be re-established, preferably in concert with the new laser programme. However, after 40 years of searching for alien radio signals with no unambiguous results, there is now greater interest in alternative ways of monitoring for alien communications. Since a high-powered laser coupled with a large telescope could probably send a signal across many light-years of space, it is not outlandish to expect that intelligent aliens might choose this method of sending out signals. Even we, in 2001, are capable of greating laser pulses 5,000 times brighter than our Sun, as seen by a hypothetical distant alien civilisation. Laser signals can easily be pulsed to carry information. "In other words", said Project leader Professor Paul Horowitz of Harvard University, "interstellar laser communication is altogether practicable. "The new Optical Seti Telescope will allow us to search the entire northern sky for such signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy." Read more at BBC's SciTech website by following the article link below...

An international group of geologists working in the Arabian Desert have found evidence of rapid flooding which, they believe, could have been the source for the tale of Noah's Flood. "This isn't 40 days and 40 nights of rain as the scriptures would describe Noah's flood but it certainly is one that would have impacted on people and their settlements," says team-member Jim Teller, of the University of Manitoba. The biblical tale goes back at least as far as early Sumerian civilisation. But this latest research, presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, would place the origins of the tale as far back as 20,000 years. This date marked the beginning of the end of the last ice age, when meltwaters from the huge polar ice-sheets started filling the world's oceans, causing sea-levels to rise by up to 140 metres. At some point between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago, the Persian Gulf would have begun to fill. "The Persian Gulf area, which is only a shallow basin -- it's only 100 metres deep -- was completely dry during the last ice age," says Teller. It has often been thought that this sea-level rise was too gradual to account for flood myths, which are both worldwide and suggest worldwide flooding. However, Teller's group found evidence that the flooding of the huge Persian (Arabian) Gulf took place with 1,000 years. This would have involved loss of land at a rate of up to 1 kilometre per year, which Teller believes would have been sufficiently cataclysmic for humans in the region to have considered worth preserving for posterity, through folklore. Since the work of Ryan and Pitman, who argued that the flooding of the Black Sea around 7,500 years ago led to the tale of Noah's Flood, scholars working in archaeology and ancient history have argued that folklore simply cannot preserve knowledge of such remote time periods. They argue instead that Noah's Flood recounts flooding, either periodic or more recent, of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This position, however, requires all details of the flood myths which suggest a global or at least massive flooding event, to be ignored. Unorthodox historians, including Giorgio de Santillana, Hertha von Dechend and Graham Hancock, have long proposed that flood myths recount actual events that took place far back in antiquity, before the beginning of civilisation in orthodox chronologies. Improving geological knowledge of the global, cataclysmic flooding that took place during the end of the last ice age is beginning to vindicate this position. The question remains however, as to why such similar flood myths are shared by societies across the globe. Did all or most of these flood myths diffuse out from a common origin -perhaps in a particularly significant flood event? Or do they originate in seperate flooding events, such that similarities in the details of the myths are to be dismissed as coincidental? Another possibility would be that separate but related flooding events during the end of the ice age were interpreted and preserved through a common 'language', implying the existence of a global culture of some kind.

Jan 18th: Sean Hancock posts new article to Forum - "An Interpretation and Critique of the Radiocarbon Database for Tiahuanaco" This is the second Forum article from Sean on carbon-dating, and it discusses the reliability of orthodox archaeologists' (contested) assertion that the sacred site of Tiahuanaco goes back only to 1530BC. You can access this article directly by following the article link below...

Jan 13th: Jim Alison posts new Forum article detailing his Belt Theory -are ancient sites across the globe geodetically related? I'd like to thank Jim for allowing us to duplicate this wonderful and intriguing piece of research on our Forum. We would welcome any well-research, well-presented critiques or extensions of the Belt Theory for publication on the Forum. Quick comments and questions can be posted on The Message Board and Alison will be stopping by regularly to respond. Alison article includes some recommendations as to web-based geographical tools that will help people interested in investigating geodetic relationships for themselves. Following the article link below will take you to Alison's Forum article...

Our Poll to find out whether people object in principle to advertising is over after 7 days. Results are conclusive. 407 votes were cast. 334 (82%) of voters did not object to advertising. 73 (18%) of voters did object to advertising. The adverts will be going up soon to help us balance the increasing costs of this increasingly popular website. We promise to make them as unobtrusive as possible. For those who missed the poll, here is the rationale behind our decision to consider implementing adverts on grahamhancock.com: Do you object to the presence of advertisements on grahamhancock.com? --------- Since the introduction of the The Message Board and other features in November 2000, the popularity of this website has sky-rocketed. We are extremely pleased that our site is being found useful by so many people around the world. However, an important downside is that we're using far more bandwidth than has been allocated to us, and so must pay large monthly penalty fees to our service providers. Since most funds are necessarily dedicated to research, we feel that if the growth of grahamhancock.com is to proceed unhindered, the website must be self-sustaining. We are therefore considering implenting advertisements into these webpages. We would do our best to make sure that the atmosphere and general 'look' of the site is not spoiled by the ads, but we recognise that people may nevertheless have valid objections. Therefore, we've decided to run a poll to help us make the decision. ---------- Jameske raised a number of good points on the Message Board regarding our poll. Below is our response (as posted to the MB by myself, Sharif Sakr, with extracts of his posts incorporated): ---------- Hi jameske, You've made some good points, I'll try to address them. >I think this poll is too simplified. The poll question is very simple and does not ask the visitor to make a judgement about costs and benefits. We feel we are capable of weighing those up ourselves. Rather we're just asking whether people object in principle to ads - i.e. do they feel that ads would spoil their visit to the site? >After all the website is a good advert in itself as it is an >interactive advert. True. Graham is already spending a few hundred pounds each month on this site (not including personnel). We are not looking, and do not expect, to make that money back. Rather, we face a new problem of fees for excess bandwidth usage, which currently amount to around a couple of hundred quid each month, and will rise as the site becomes more popular (popularity is presently growing exponentially). We hope that the ads would balance those costs. Even though, according to lower estimates of advertising revenue, the balance might only be partial, the revenue should go up with popularity and hence with bandwidth costs. This would mean we have more control over expenditure and do not have to worry that the site is becoming "too popular". >>Would the excess advertising revenue go toward research? Even given the upper estimates of advertising revenue, we do not expect to make any profit. We expect to continue putting money into the site, albeit in smaller amounts that are better under our control. If we do make profit, then i'm sure Graham will do the right thing (give it to me!). >If he's losing thousands of pounds he should do as he pleases >rather than ask anyone. In asking people for their opinion, Graham is doing exactly as he pleases. He wants to know what people think so that he can go about keeping control of the costs of his website without the site losing popularity. >Ultimately it is up to him BUT what if the poll said NO and he >was losing lots of money - what then? That's the central purpose of the poll. If ads are considered unacceptable by the majority of visitors, then Graham might try to look for other ways of controlling expenditure. Thanks for your questions, I hope the answers are useful to you and anyone else who's interested. Regards, Sharif ----------

Jan 12th: New article by Robert Bauval in Forum section -review of Spence's NATURE article on astronomical dating of Pyramids We've been lucky enough to have constant updates (primarily on The Message Board) from Robert Bauval regarding the intriguing developments surrounding Kate Spence's 'breakthrough' article. This article was received with great enthusiasm by the international press, but it contains some serious shortcomings that are so blatant as to cast a shadow over the peer-review process of one of the world's most prestigious international science magazines. Now, Bauval has brought together these developments into a brief review of the article itself. Following the article link below will take you directly to Bauval's article...

Jan 4th (Happy New Year!): Opinion poll to help us decide whether to implement adversiting on this website. Vote here We want to know whether visitors to this site object in principle to seeing ads here. The poll is very easy to use and will be running for 7 days starting today. To find out why were considering implementing advertising, and to make your vote count just follow the article link below...

Dec 20th: Bauval posts new article to Forum dealing with Symbolic Representation and its detection in relation to Giza Pyramids See "The Giza Pyramids as a Stellar Representation of Orion's Belt" in the Forum Section. The article uses a series of images and their historical contexts to arrive at a sensible set of criteria for the detection of symbolic representation. According to these criteria, a deliberate effort on the part of the Old Kingdom Pyramid Builders to create a symbolic representation of Orion's Belt is strongly suggested. To read the article, following the article link below...

Dec 18th: Jim Alison highlights further geodetic relationships between ancient cultural centres across the globe and suggests new Atlantis candidate In Heaven's Mirror, Graham Hancock considered the possibility that major ancient archaeological sites around the world are related to each other through their precise positions on the earth's surface. Hancock considered a world grid, constructed according to astronomical constants (precessional numbers) and centred on Giza-Heliopolis, such that Angkor in Cambodia, Easter Island in the Pacific, and the mysterious Andean beacon at Paracas, are all precisely (and hence meaningfully?) positioned on grid lines. Jim Alison has gone on to investigate geodetic relationships in much greater detail, considering many more sites and discovering many other apparently meaningful links between their positions. He noticed that there is a circle that passes around the centre of the Earth and, with a precision better than a tenth of one degree latitude, through Giza, Easter Island, Machupicchu, the Prassat Preah Vihear temple at Angkor, Perseopolis (the capital of ancient Persia), Mohenjo Daro (the ancient capital of the Indus Valley), and the lost city of Petra. Ur (the capital city of ancient Sumaria) and the mysterious Nazca lines in Peru are within one degree of latitude of this line. (This circle has also been discovered independently by Carrie Kozikowski, a physicist in the USA.) In addition, Alison found that representing this "belt" around the Earth as a 2-D circle, with the ancient sites as points along its circumference, highlights geometrical relationships involving both mathematical constants (like Phi and Pi) and precessional numbers (like 36, 72, 108, etc., which make regular appearances in the writings and depictions surrounding ancient cultural centres). Alison has also used these 2-D geometric relationships to highlight possible candidate regions for Atlantis. For example, the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Senegal lie just 50miles north of the line, exactly halfway between the Great Pyramid and Machupicchu and also halfway between Easter Island and Mohenjodaro. Alison thus regards them as "geometrically a good candidate for Atlantis", or perhaps the mountains that Plato described as protecting the now-sumberged Atlantis from the North. Intriguingly, a number of old 15th and 16th Century maps label the Cape Verde Islands with names like "Gades", "Gorgades" and "Hespirades". These names feature prominently in Plato's Atlantis myth. For example, Atlas (the first king of Atlantis) bore seven daughters with his wife, Hesperis, and these daughters were collectively called the Hesperides. Whereas Atlas inherited the largest part of Atlantis and the Atlantic (which were henceforth named after him), he had a twin brother named Gadeirus who inherited "the extremity of the island towards the Pillars of Heracles, facing the country which is now called [after Gadeirus] the region of Gades in that part of the world." Alison presents his results in full detail on his website, which can be accessed using the article link below. The latest update to Alison's site features a new, secondary circle. This circle is different in that its axis does not pass through the centre of the Earth, but like the Primary circle it has a number of ancient sites on its circumference, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, Easter Island, the religious site of Palenque in Mexico, Stonehenge, the Acropolis and the island of Thera in the Aegean. All these sites are almost perfectly equidistant to specific point in the Southern Atlantic, off the coast of Brazil - another candidate for Atlantis? The nearest land to this central point is the tiny island of Ilhas Martin Vaz, part of small group of islands that may have been more extensive in postglacial times and which are historically important to astronomers (Halley took over one of the main islands in the name of the British Crown in order to make astronomical observations) and UFO-spotters (following a famous sighting by the Brazilian Navy). The geography of this part of the world (like that of some other candidate regions) brings to mind the description of Atlantis as provided by Plato: "The whole country is only a long promontory extending far into the sea away from the rest of the continent, while the surrounding basin of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the shore...in comparison of what then was, there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body, as they may be called, as in the case of small islands, all the richer and softer parts of the soil having fallen away, and the mere skeleton of the land being left." The article link below will take you to Jim Alison's website...

Dec 15th: Number of visitors to this site peaks yesterday following Atlantis Reborn rebroadcast. Now it's time to move on The last three days saw more traffic on this site than the entire month of September 2000. We'd especially like to thank everyone who visited grahamhancock.com yesterday after the Horizon rebroadcast, to make useful contributions to The Message Board or just browse the material presented here. The Horizon scandal is now history. Unfortunately it's kind of history that repeats itself regularly. Nevertheless Graham Hancock strongly feels that now it is time to move on to the issues that really matter to him - i.e. those concerning the possibility of lost civilisation. Accordingly he is writing a new intro message which will be up shortly, and new material is being followed up for the Forum and News Desk sections. Thanks again to all those who take the time to visit our site and put forward constructive ideas, criticism or support.

Dec 14th: BBC's Creative Director of Science writes to Hancock defending Atlantis Reborn and the approach taken by his colleagues John Lynch's letter can be found on the Correspondence page of the Horizon Scandal section (or by following article link at the bottom of this page). The rebroadcast of Atlantis Reborn (with revisions following the BSC's ruling) will be shown on BBC2 at 21.00 tonight (Thursday, 14th December). The article link below will take you to Lynch's letter...

Dec 14th: There will be a question and answer session on The Message Board later today, following the Horizon rebroadcast Horizon's Atlantis Reborn, which was revised after the BSC found the original programme to have been unfair, is being shown in the UK on BBC2 at 9pm tonight (GMT). When the programme ends, at around 9.50pm, Hancock will be online to answer people's questions regarding the programme and the issues it raises. Please note: Graham will not be able to stay online for very long because he has a book to write. Also, on the basis of recent trends, we may well get hundreds of messages tonight, in which case Graham will only be able to answer a few selected questions that are on topic and frequently asked. For other questions, the moderator will try to step in with answers or directions to relevant information on this site or in Hancock's books. The article link will take you to The Message Board...

Dec 13th: New Forum article from Robert Bauval- "Did the Old Kingdom Pyramid Builders use the Pole of the Ecliptic?" Bauval's article discusses whether the ancient Egyptians were aware of this most stationary of poles. Bauval concludes that they may well have been, and that this has implications for the current debate over whether the Old Kingdom Egyptians knew of Precession. Kate Spence recently argued, on the basis of axial alignments of Old Kingdom pyramids, that they did not - Bauval's article constitutes a rebuttal of that position, to accompany the growing body of evidence that knowledge of Precession was incorporated into myth by ancient cultures. If you're interested in reading more about knowledge of Precession and the Pole of the Ecliptic in ancient civilisations, you might consider reading Sullivan's "The Secret of the Incas". This book, available from our Bookshop section, concludes that there is evidence in Inca mythology of knowledge of both these astronomical phenomena. The article link below will take you to Bauval's new Forum article...

Dec 11th: British newspaper, Daily Telegraph, prints story about BBC's re-editing of Horizon. Telegraph readers welcome -for more info click We are grateful Roger Highfield at the Daily Telegraph for giving this matter some neutral press coverage, and also for referring to this website. For those who have not yet read the article, follow the article link below. For those who have read the article, we would like to point out two important factual errors it contained. Firstly, Robert Bauval is the originator of the Giza-Orion Correlation Theory. The Telegraph sub-editors took out any mention of Bauval, giving credit for the theory to Hancock. Secondly, by omitting any mention of Bauval, the article also gives the impression that only Hancock's complaint to the BSC was upheld. Bauval also made a complaint regarding the BBC's treatment of his theory, and this was also upheld. You can learn all about the fight against the BBC on this website, especially by reading through items in the News Desk section and material in the Horizon Scandal section. Directions for particular topics: 1) Is Graham Hancock a pseudoscientist? No! Read his position statement, "Writing about Outrageous Hypotheses and Extraordinary Possibilities: A View from The Trenches" in the Features section. (For biographical info, see the Biography section, for Bauval's biog. see the press release in the Horizon Scandal section). 2) What is the background behind Hancock's fight against the BBC? Unlike the BBC, Hancock has aspired to complete transparency in his dealings with the BBC. As a result, there are plenty of documents in the Horizon Scandal section giving background info. Also, browse through the News Desk section to get an idea how the matter progressed over time. 3) What is the Giza-Orion Correlation Theory and what evidence is there to support it? The bulk of the evidence is presented in Bauval's book "The Orion Mystery" (1994). However, a rough summary of the theory can be found in the press release on the Horizon Scandal section, and (in the same section) in Hancock's and Bauval's letters of complaint to the BSC regarding the BBC's treatment of the theory. 4)Doesn't Kate Spence's work about inferring dates from astronomical alignment of the Great Pyramid suggest the ancient Egyptions knew nothing of precession, therefore weakening Bauval's Giza-Orion Correlation Theory? Actually Kate Spence's work is largely a repetition of Bauval's own work carried out in the mid-1990s, which uses one of the same stars to achieve virtually the same date for the Great Pyramid's construction. Moreover, while Spence's argument that the Egyptians were ignorant of precession is purely speculative (even by the admission of her peers, see original Nature article), there is plenty of real evidence to suggest the opposite. See Bauval's articles in the Forum section for details. 5) Is the Giza-Orion Correlation theory the only evidence for Hancock's lost civilisation? No. There are many other kinds of evidence from all over the world, particularly involving monumental architecture, geological and archaeological evidence, and ancient beliefs and folklore. Have a look at the Gallery to see some mind-blowing photographs, and read some of the books recommended in the Bookshop section. If you have any opinions you'd like express, please visit The Message Board. It is proving difficult to link to the original article on the Telegraph's website, we've replicated the text on a separate News Desk page, which you can access with the article link below...[alternatively go to www.telegraph.co.uk and do a search]

The link to the Horizon article on the Telegraph website has not been working properly, so the text of the article has been included below: BBC re-edits Horizon after watchdog's attack By Roger Highfield THE BBC has taken the unprecedented step of re-editing a television programme to show immediately after broadcasting a watchdog's attack on the original version. The move follows a Broadcasting Standards Commission ruling that a Horizon documentary last year was unfair on an author. It is the first time that the BBC has taken such action after a critical judgment since it began showing television programmes in 1936. The complaint was made by Graham Hancock, the author of the million-selling Fingerprints of the Gods, which outlined the controversial idea that all civilisations could be traced back to a spectacularly sophisticated Atlantis-like culture more than 12 millennia ago. In the BBC's Atlantis Reborn, experts cast doubts on Mr Hancock's theory, which goes against conventional wisdom that civilisation was born whenever and wherever Stone Age societies evolved, and criticised his views about the pyramids at Giza. Mr Hancock has claimed that there is a correlation between the lay-out of the pyramids and stars in Orion's belt. He complained to the commission on eight counts, saying that the original programme left him feeling "shocked, confused, disoriented. I had been violently mugged by someone I had previously trusted". The commission upheld one of his complaints and the BBC is compelled to broadcast the adjudication. Concerned that this would give the impression that the central thesis of the original programme was wrong, the BBC has chosen to broadcast a "director's cut" on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC2. The programme ends with a scientist declaring that available evidence does not fit Mr Hancock's hypothesis. John Lynch, the creative director of BBC Science, said that this was the first time the BBC had taken such a step. Mr Lynch said: "The editorial accuracy of the argument in the original programme was correct. We got it right, but we have dealt with that one point more fairly." Mr Hancock says that when the pyramids at Giza were built in about 2,500 BC they commemorated the position of the stars of Orion's belt in 10,500 BC, which differed from today as a result of a wobble in Earth's axis. He sees this as evidence that a great civilisation of that time passed on its knowledge to the peoples of the ancient world, then disappeared without archaeological trace. In the original programme, an astronomer said that, for the match of position and stars to work, Egypt would have to be turned upside down. Mr Hancock had an explanation for this apparent contradiction which was not included in the programme. The commission said this omission was unfair on the author. Mr Hancock announced on his web site that "the central thrust of Atlantis Reborn has been judged unfair". But Mr Lynch said: "The commission found us to be unfair on only one point. They did not make any judgment on whether our testing of Mr Hancock's evidence was correct."

Dec 8th: BBC Horizon website announces December 14th broacast of revised Atlantis Reborn and inadvertently highlights inconsistencies in BSC adjudication. It is remarkable how even the plainest of conclusions is open to extreme differences of interpretation. Following the BSC's upholding of Hancock and Bauval's complaints of unfairness regarding Horizon's representation of the Giza-Orion Correlation Theory, we have sought on this website to stress our belief that this unfairness was central to the effectiveness of Horizon's entire attack. Our belief is based on three facts: 1) The Giza-Orion Correlation Theory is a lynchpin of the wider claims of Hancock and Bauval, so a dismissal of this foundation would have implications for the apparent strength of these wider claims. 2) The BBC's unrebutted presentation of Ed Krupp's accusation that Bauval had to place maps of Giza or Orion "up-side down" in order to make his theories work essentially amounts to an attack on Bauval's character, such that all of his work is thrown into doubt (along with much of Hancock's, since Hancock supports the Correlation Theory). 3) In a court of law, if any part of the Prosecutions case is found to be unfair, the WHOLE case is automatically DISMISSED. For example, it makes no difference whether half or an eighth of the evidence was planted on the suspect - the planting of ANY evidence is enough for the judge to throw out the Prosecutions' case. Unsurprisingly, the BBC have their own take on the BSC adjudication, which they have just published on the Horizon website. The Horizon programme-makers still clearly believe that Hancock is a pseudoscientist with nothing useful to say. This can be seen, for example, from the books they recommend for those interested in their attack on Hancock, which include Harold and Eve's "Cult Archaeology and Creationism: Understanding Pseudoscientific Beliefs about the Past". Following this belief, and perhaps also to protect Horizon's brilliant reputation for fairness, they are seeking to minimise the significance of the BSC judgement. Thus, whereas we regard the upheld complaint as central, they dismiss it as "just one issue". All this is to be expected. However, in taking their own angle on the BSC adjudication, the BBC have highlighted an important area of uncertainty in the language used by the BSC. Horizon reported the BSC adjudication as follows: "In November 2000, following a hearing where both sides presented arguments, the Commission published its conclusion that "the programme makers acted in good faith in their examination of the theories of Mr Hancock and Mr Bauval"." At first the BSC's conclusion seems like a contradiction in logical terms. The BSC, as expressed in their own mandate, are concerned only that programme-makers act in good faith to the principles of quality and fairness. So how could the BSC conclude that the Horizon programme-makers were unfair and yet still acted in good faith to the principle of fairness? The only way the BSC's conclusion can avoid this inherent contradiction is if it refers to the intentions of the Horizon programme-makers. Thus, this particular conclusion must be interpreted as saying that the programme-makers tried their best to be fair and yet, through innocent human inadequacies, failed to achieve fairness. This interpretation, the only meaningful one, leads to an important question: how could the BSC draw any conclusions as to the intentions of the Horizon programme-makers? Ask any lawyer (or behavioural scientist): intentionality can be INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO PROVE, even if one has plenty of witness statements, lie-detector tests, affidavits etc. But the Broadcasting Standards Commission had no such evidence. According to their own rules, they were only allowed to base their judgement on material collected for use in making the Horizon programme. When Hancock tried to present a summary document of his views on C14 dating, compiled entirely from the lengthy interview transcripts, even this was rejected as being outside the categories of evidence the BSC allow themselves to consider. The only evidence they had to go on regarding intentionality was the programme-makers own claim that: "There had been no intention to "personally attack" Mr Hancock, and the programme had not set out to create the impression that he was an "intellectual fraudster" or acting in "bad faith". [The programme] dealt with the arguments even-handedly and on their merits, and with due awareness of the many other points which might have been made on both sides of the many disputed questions." The BSC rejected the second part of this claim (that all arguments were dealt with even-handedly) only after reviewing a great deal of evidence and making an explicit detailed conclusion with regard to that evidence. So how could the BSC accept the first part of this statement (that the programme-makers did not act in "bad faith"), without reviewing any evidence relating to this point, and without giving any detail whatsoever as to the reasons for making this conclusion? We submit that the BSC had no basis on which to draw any conclusions about the intentions of the Horizon programme-makers. We therefore reject their conclusion that the programme-makers "acted in good faith". The BSC was informed of this objection prior to the publication of their adjudication, but they over-ruled it. Following the article link below will take you to the relevant page on the Horizon website...

Dec 6th: NASA scientists discover ancient sea or lake beds on surface of Mars, which might once have harboured life... This is perhaps the most significant discovery relating to the Red Planet yet, because the knowledge that Mars once had seas or lakes vastly strengthens our expectation that life evolved there. Moreover, knowledge of the locations of this now-gone water will guide the search for evidence of life. Already, a British group are considering rerouting their roving vehicle, Beagle II, to land right in the middle of one of the newly discovered sea beds. The evidence of the sea/lake beds comes from images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor satellite, which has been orbiting Mars for over a year. The images were analysed by Drs. Michael Malin and Ken Edgett, who, a few months ago, announced they had found evidence of liquid water flowing on Mars "in the recent past". Graham Hancock's book, The Mars Mystery (1998), examined evidence from images of the Martian surface that suggested water once flowed there, leaving a permament mark on rock due to erosion. Indeed, two years ago NASA scientists were generally convinced that water had flowed on Mars at some time in the past. But there was not complete consensus as to how recently these "wet" conditions could have prevailed. The dominant view, until perhaps these new discoveris by Malin and Edgett, was that the conditions allowing water disappeared billions of years ago. But The Mars Mystery considered evidence, from scientists like the eminent Oxford University astronomer Dr. Victor Clube and his colleague Prof. William Napier, plus others, suggesting that the cataclysm which might have stripped Mars of its water and atmosphere occurred as recently as twelve to twenty thousand years ago. An even more controversial issue is whether or not life exists on Mars today. The Mars Mystery discussed the apparent ambiguity of NASA's direct chemical tests for life (performed during the Viking expedition of mid-1970s), despite NASA's certainty at the time that their evidence showed Mars was lifeless. Indeed, Hancock mentions Dr. Gilbert Levin, a principle Viking scientist, who was convinced (even in 1996) that Viking produced strong evidence for existent life on Mars, but whose opinions were "overruled" by his colleagues. Following the article link will take you to the spaceflightnow.com website's article about Malin and Edgett's recent discovery...

Dec 5th: Researchers suggest famous 2,000-year-old Nazca Lines of Peruvian desert may mark presence of vital underground sources of water. There has been much speculation about the function of these earth diagrams ("geoglyphs"), which measure up to 1.2miles in length and were created (by removing stones to reveal lighter coloured sand underneath) by the mysterious pre-Inca Nazca people, who lived in the deserts of southwestern Peru around 1,500-2,000 years ago. Many scholars are of the opinion that the lines served some ritualistic or ceremonial purpose. Maria Reiche, whose ideas were discussed in Graham Hancock's book, Heaven's Mirror, argued that they had astronomical significance, representing certain constellations. Now, Mabee (a hydrogeologist) and Proulx (an archaeologist), both from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS, have found an intriguing correlation between the locations of the glyphs and of underground water sources. "Ancient inhabitants may have marked the location of their groundwater supply distribution system with geoglyphs because the springs and seeps associated with the faults provided a more reliable and, in some instances, a better-quality water source than the rivers. We're testing this scientifically," said Mabee. Mabee and Proulx found that in at least five cases, the wells and aquifers corresponded with geoglyphs and archaeological sites. "They always seem to go together," said Mabee. Obviously, one has to ask: why would the Nazcans have invested so much time and effort into such intricate designs, if these were to function solely as signposts? Proulx suggests that the geoglyphs represent offerings or prayers to the forces of nature that determine water supply and the quality of harvest. i.e. Understanding the nature of the lines will still entail an understanding of Nazcan religious beliefs. Another questions suggest itself? If the correlation is as good with between groundwater and settlements as it is between groundwater and geoglyphs, might it simply be a product of the geoglyph-creators' dependence on groundwater? Following the article link will take you to the UMASS press release webpage...

Nov 29th: Archaeologists discover 4,700-year-old temple in Wales, 30 times the size of Stonehenge. Beliefs expressed at temple remain mysterious. This is the largest prehistoric monument ever discovered in Western Europe. It incorporates no less than 1,400 oak obelisks, each rising 23ft into the air. These formed an huge oval, apparently centred on a natural spring? Ancient taboos on leaving material within the confines of the temple are hampering attempts to date the site, because no datable debris can be found. The religious importance of the site might even go back to 4000BC, because the artifical "cleanliness" extends back to layers of this epoch. Circular megalithic sites around the world imply a specific set of common religious beliefs, involving (amongst other things) sacred astronomy and sky-ground symbolism. Might similar beliefs have been expressed through wooden temples, like this one in Wales? Since wooden sites are generally easier to date than stone ones (even with "cleanliness" taboos), might they provide more concrete evidence of the antiquity of this intriguing belief system? Following the article link below will take you to an Independent newspaper report on this new Welsh discovery.

Nov 27th: Astrophysicist adds to outcry over Kate Spence's false claims of originality. Spence's portfolio of personal 'discoveries' steadily evaporates. The following article is by Robert Bauval, and continues his thread of Spence-related contributions to the Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------ YET MORE ON KATE SPENCE AND HER 'DISCOVERIES' In previous articles posted to the Forum section of this website I have questioned the originality of Kate Spence's central claim regarding the accurate dating of the Great Pyramid and how this allowed her to "anchor Old Kingdom chronologies". I made it clear that I did not dispute the originality of her other claims concerning the technique used to align the Old Kingdom pyramids and the deviation of these pyramids from true north as a function of time. At the time, however, I was not aware that precisely such a complaint had been made by a French astrophysicist, Karine Gadre (see below). Here is an email I recently received from Karine: ------ Dear Robert, Yes, I am aware of the controversy raging about Dr. Kate Spence, not only in the UK, but in the whole world, I must say. What seems strange to me is that the Egyptologists don't seem quite concerned by the problem. I belong to several Egyptological forums, like the EEF or the Amun list : no one of the Egyptologists belonging to these lists unfortunately wished to comment this article. Only the Astrophysicists like me did it. That she "forgot" to reference the research works achieved before her is a great problem indeed. Here is a passage of the post I made two days ago on the Amun list : " I was surprised to find, in her article, no reference to the research work Steven C. Haack - an astronomer of the University of Nebraska - and I did a few years ago... all the more surprised since Kate Spence advanced the same hypothesis - and more particularly, the hypothesis that the errors in alignment the pyramids of Houni, Snefrou, Kheops, Mykerinos and Neferirkare reveal, lay on a line whose slope is close to 20 arcsecond per year, thus suggesting that the same star(s) was(were) repeatedly sighted for centuries. Steven C. Haack was the first researcher to advance such an hypothesis, in his article entitled "The astronomical orientation of the Egyptian pyramids", Archaeoastronomy n°7, Journal for the History of Astronomy XV, 1984. I not only developed his theory and applied it to a greater number of Old Kingdom pyramids, some three years ago, in my book entitled "L'orientation astronomique des pyramides d'Egypte, l'ordre celeste recree", Editions la Maison de Vie, 1998, ISBN 2 909 816 29 X, but also explained the reasons why a polar, a bissectorial or a solar hypothesis could not explain the disparity of their errors in alignment - which is what Kate Spence did in her article, too. A summary of my book can be found at http://www.culturediff.org/english/karine.doc. I agree with you that Kate Spence was not the first researcher to date the building of the pyramids with such a great accuracy. To my knowledge, Steven C. Haack was the first to do it, on the basis of his astro-calculations. Like you, I don't believe that the ancient Egyptians were "poor astronomers". However, astronomically speaking, I find it impossible that they were aware of the precession of the world axis. As I said on the Amun list last week, they were aware of the effects of the combination of the precession phenomena and the movement proper to each celestial object. I can develop this idea in another mail, if you wish. Well, as you can see, you are not the only one Kate Spence "forgot" to quote in her article. But what can we do, except claiming everywhere that she didn't behave correctly? Regards. Karine GADRE. ---- So where does this leave Kate Spence's claim that "until now, discussions of ancient Egyptian orientation methods have overlooked the evidence provided by the alignment of the pyramids themselves"? Steven C. Haack not only used the "alignments of the pyramid themselves", but also, long before Spence, argued that their misalignment can be explained as being a function of time (through Precession). Coupled with my own debunking of Spence's primary claim that, prior to her work, "the ancient Egyptian pyramids have never been accurately dated" (see article link below), Gadre's further refutation of Spence's originality should lead us to question the point of her article, and why it was so much hyped in the international press. And does Kate Spence have anything left in her portfolio of 'discoveries'? Well she can, I suppose, claim that she was the first to think of the idea of using a plumb-line at the upper and lower culmination of the stars Kochab and Mizar to determine true north. Not much of an earth-shattering discovery, but at least it is something. Unfortunately however, it also seems that the essence of this idea had already been suggested in Peter Tompkins book 'Secrets of the Great Pyramid', published in 1973. Referring to the astronomer Richard A. Proctor and his proposed method of how the builders of the pyramids would have aligned their monuments to true north, Tompkins wrote: "They would have observed across the tops of a couple of upright pillars whatever star was closest to the celestial north pole, then found the star's culmination, or the top and bottom of it's circular path. A line through these two points, which could be measured with an ordinary plumb line, would be true north; and any such northern star would do, as all move in a small circle round the celestial pole. The French astronomer A. Poge suggested that the ancients could have used Mizar." [Tompkins, p.149] Robert G. Bauval 27 November 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- Following the article link below will take you to Bauval's article on the Forum which disputes the originality of Spence's primary claim of originality in achieving a precise astronomical dating of the Great Pyramid.

Nov 25th: Bauval posts new article discussing the originality of Spence's recent Pyramid-dating work. See "Natural Selection" in Forum section. This article provides further evidence that Bauval had published his precise astronomical dating of the Great Pyramid long before Spence published her's. In 1994, Bauval's usage of stars in Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Orion to date the Great Pyramid (through the alignments of its shafts) to c.2450 BC +/-25yrs was published in journal articles, a book and on a TV programme. Did Spence have a good reason not to cite Bauvals work? Was she unaware of it, even though she has appeared on TV herself attacking it? Was she right to claim that "The ancient Egyptian pyramids of Giza have never been accurately dated...the existing chronologies for that period (the Old Kingdom) can be considered accurate only to about +/-100 years"? Following the article link will take you to Bauval's "Natural Selection" article.

Nov 24th: CSICOP Ed Krupp refuses to support Hancock and Bauval's right to fair hearing on forthcoming revised Horizon programme. An exchange of e-mails involving Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and Ed Krupp has been put up in the Horizon Scandal Section. In these, Ed Krupp, member of the CSICOP group which tries to debunk unorthodox thinkers ("frauds"), refuses to support Hancock's demand that the BBC allow independent, high-standing supporters of the Giza-Orion Correlation Theory to voice their opinions on the forthcoming revised edition of Atlantis Reborn. Atlantis Reborn was judged unfair by a British broadcasting watchdog, but the BBC have admitted their intention to make only "teeny" revisions prior to rebroadcast on December 14th 2000. While Krupp clings to his "upside-down" argument, no less than three senior astronomers have publicly rebutted Krupp and given their support to Bauval. These are Prof. Roy at Glasgow University, Dr. Bruck at Edinburgh and Dr. Seymour at Plymouth. If the BBC really are to make "teeny" changes, then it seems none of these astronomers will be allowed to appear on Atlantis Reborn to voice their opinions. Krupp has now made it clear that that is exactly what he wants, thus showing himself up as more CSICOP than scientist. The newly posted e-mails also approach the subject of Kate Spence's "breakthrough" published recently in Nature, the originality of which is being disputed by Robert Bauval. Bauval published numerous papers and a book back in 1994 using alignments with circumpolar stars, including Kochab, to infer the date c.2450 BC +/- 25yrs for the construction of the Great Pyramid (see Bauval's latest articles in the Forum section). Yet Spence claims she is the first to astronomically date the Great Pyramid with a precision of less than 100 years. Ed Krupp argues (in his e-mails in the Horizon Scandal Section) that those who "conform" have a right to use unorthodox research without citing it. Following the article link will take you to the Hancock/Bauval/Krupp e-mail correspondence page...

Nov 15th: Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval warn the BBC and Broadcasting Standards Commission not to violate their basic rights. Following the demand from a BSC lawyer that all Horizon interview material be removed from this website (see news item, The Ugly Face of Censorship), Hancock and Bauval have warned that, as authors and citizens of an EU country, they will not allow their right of freedom of speech to be violated (see full letter below). Hancock and Bauval will not be scared into submission by the BBC or its aggressive policy of censorship and cover-up, and say that anyone who tries to violate their rights will have to face the law and constitution of the European Union. ------------ From Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval to Paul Ferguson (BSC solicitor), Nov 15th: Dear Mr Ferguson Further to Graham Hancock's email to you on Monday we are now writing to you jointly to express some further concerns regarding your recent rather extraordinary request, at the behest of the BBC, that the unedited transcripts of the interviews we gave to Horizon be kept confidential, and the excerpts from them be removed from www.grahamhancock.com. May we remind the BSC that we intend to abide by the confidentiality requirements that apply to all things spoken or documented during the hearing and period of adjudication. We persist in our desire to make the unedited transcripts public not out of disregard for the BSC's confidentiality requirements, but out of the firm belief that your confidentiality requirements do not apply to this material. The interviews recorded by the BBC occurred well before and well outside the confines of the BSC, and were in fact spoken NOT in confidence but with quite the opposite purpose: namely with the full intention of all parties to have them broadcast to millions of people around the world. All words uttered during these interviews had, in fact, been heard, edited, reviewed, and manipulated by dozens of BBC technicians and programme-makers for several months before the programme was aired. We want to be clear on this. These interviews were recorded by the BBC (and also by ourselves) months before the BSC got involved in this matter. They belong neither to the BBC nor the BSC but, quite simply, to ourselves, Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock, who spoke the words and who own the moral as well as the copyrights to these words. Neither the BSC nor the BBC (nor anyone for that matter) has the legal authority or recourse to limit or prevent us from exercising our freedom of speech, provided that we do not slander or libel anyone. As authors and citizens of an EU country, we are adamant on this point. But there is something else to consider here. We have pointed out to you (the BSC) that in your summary adjudication regarding this case, there is a clear contradiction in terms. You conclude, on the one hand, that the BBC acted in "good faith" while, on the other hand, you accuse them of "unfairness". If the responsibilities of the BBC lie only with themselves or to some third party, then "good faith" and "unfairness" would not necessarily be mutually exclusive. But the BBC are supposed to show "good faith" to the very principle "fairness" - that is why the BSC had a role to play in this matter, and why the BSC's conclusion of both "good faith" and "unfairness" is self-contradictory and difficult to accept. We really have acted in good faith throughout this affair. In good faith we participated in the Horizon programme and made our data available to all involved. Following the adjudication we acted in good faith - to the principles of fairness and transparency - in allowing the general public to know the truth and ALL the truth. We have absolutely nothing to hide, and are in favour of having as much fairness and transparency as is possible, in good faith. It is not us but the BBC that has acted, and continues to act, in bad faith. It was bad faith to exclude the representative parts of our interviews in order for the programme-makers to discredit and damage our reputations in front of millions of viewers. It was bad faith not to allow Dr. Roy, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Glasgow University, a fair and honest opportunity to rebut Ed Krupps' serious accusations. It was bad faith to put the map of Giza in reverse to that of Orion in order to discredit Bauval's Orion-Correlation Theory. And now, most of all, it is bad faith to try and censure our full interviews and bad faith to prevent the public from knowing their content and, consequently, the whole truth of this affair. The BSC should not support this. It is our intention to exercise our rights, as well as our legal entitlements, in order to publish our own words and make them known to the public. Anyone trying to prevent or censor our rights to do this will have to face the law and the constitution of the EU. Yours sincerely, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval

Nov 18th: Bauval publishes article in Forum contesting Spence's claim of originality in precise astronomical dating of the Great Pyramid. Kate Spence, one of the people who attacked Hancock and Bauval in the Horizon docmentary Atlantis Reborn, has just made the headlines with her theory about dating the pyramids using astronomical alignments. Didn't Spence and the rest of the Horizon brigade argue against precisely this kind of thinking in the programme? Worse than this, is the fact that the essence of Spence's 'ingenious' breakthrough was actually made way back in 1994 by Robert Bauval, and published in numerous articles in the journal "Discussions in Egyptology" as well as the bestseller "The Orion Mystery". Spence knew all about Bauval's work, because she was considering including it in her PhD thesis (until dissuaded by "orthodox" peers) and because she had been to at least one of Bauval's lectures (where she heckled until Bauval invited her on stage to make her point properly, at which point she refused and was booed out of the hall by the audience!). Why did Spence not cite Bauval's work in her article in Nature? Is it possible that she forgot about Bauval's work, or somehow believed she had reached her conclusions independently? Perhaps... But the mass media (New Scientist, The Daily Mail, ABC News etc.) have attributed her with this 'discovery', with no acknowledgement of Bauval, and that cannot be fair. Read Robert Bauval's detailed article "Precise astronomical dating of the Great Pyramid: Breakthrough or Old News?" in the Forum section of this website by following the article link below:

Nov 13th: Lawyers, working at BBC's behest, order Graham Hancock to remove unedited transcripts of Horizon interview from this website. A BBC official (Head of Programme Complaints) has complained to the Broadcasting Standards Commission that Graham Hancock is breaking "confidentiality requirements" by putting up excerpts of the unedited Horizon interview transcripts on his website, www.grahamhancock.com. A BSC lawyer today e-mailed Hancock and told him, in no uncertain terms, to remove the material that had so annoyed the BBC. The lawyer's e-mail can be read below, and Hancock's reply is directly beneath it. It is worth bearing in mind that if the BBC censors had their way, none of the primary evidence of their unfairness against Hancock would be accessible to the public. The BBC's cover-up policy has now included the following actions: 1) A refusal to make substantial corrective changes to Atlantis Reborn, the Horizon documentary found by the BSC to be unfair, prior to rebroadcasting. 2) The removal of the Atlantis Reborn transcripts from their own website, such that the BBC no longer offer public access to the material deemed unfair by the BSC. 3) A refusal to allow Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval to meet their Horizon critics face-to-face in a live debate following the rebroadcast of Atlantis Reborn. 4) A refusal to give Graham Hancock permission to publish the full unedited transcripts of his Horizon interview in a forthcoming edition of his book, Fingerprints of the Gods. 5) A refusal to allow Graham Hancock to put even tiny excerpts of the unedited interview transcripts on his website, so that he can demonstrate just how unfair the BBC was to him. Graham's reply to the BSC lawyer's request that he remove the unedited transcript exerpts from this site: -------------- From Paul Ferguson (BSC lawyer) to Graham Hancock, Nov 13th: Dear Mr Hancock I understand from the BBC's Head of Programme Complaints that you have reproduced on the Internet transcripts from the unedited recordings of your Horizon interview. I must stress that the transcripts remain covered by the Commission's confidentiality requirement. I should therefore be grateful if you would ensure that the material is removed. Yours sincerely Paul Ferguson, Solicitor Lead Case Manager, Fairness Broadcasting Standards Commission 7 The Sanctuary London SW1P 3JS e-mail [email protected] ----------- Dear Mr Ferguson, I made my own tape-recordings of BBC Horizon's interview sessions with me -- as I am sure the producer Chris Hale, and his crew, can confirm to you. I believe that I have an absolute right to record my own words and that I have a right (it is called freedom of speech)to publish my own words on my own website and in my own books. If you or the BBC think I do not have such rights please go ahead and force me to remove the transcripts from my website. Until then these egregious examples of the wrong that the BBC can do to someone in the cutting-room are going to stay out in the open, where people can see them. Yours sincerely, Graham Hancock -------------------------

Following is the full text of an article published in The Independent, one of Britain's national broadsheet newspapers, on November 9th 2000: 'Horizon' censured for unfair treatment By Jane Robins, Media Correspondent 9 November 2000 Horizon, the BBC flagship science programme, is to be criticised for the first time by the Broadcasting Standards Commission for being unfair to two authors who believe the world was once dominated by a "lost civilisation". The BBC has been forced to re-edit the Horizon programme "Atlantis Reborn", which questions the maverick theories of Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, authors of the bestsellers Fingerprints of the Gods and The Orion Mystery. The two men have also challenged the BBC to broadcast a live debate in which they can argue their case - but the corporation confirmed yesterday that no debate was planned. Mr Hancock and Mr Bauval believe that an advanced civilisation with sophisticated technology once inhabited the earth but was destroyed by a global cataclysm at the end of the ice age, around 10,500BC. Their theory suggests that the "lost civilisation" was behind the building of the pyramids - an argument that helped to sell more than four million books, and which was questioned in the Horizon programme. Dr Edwin Krupp, an astronomer, said the authors' assertion that the pyramids at Giza represented the constellation of Orion "could be made to work only by turning upside down either the image of Egypt or that of the sky". The authors' essential rebuttal of the upside-down argument was left out. They contest that Dr Krupp's evidence relies on the modern convention that north is up, and that the ancient Egyptians would have modelled the pyramids on Orion "as they saw it". BBC insiders acknowledged yesterday that the programme was being edited "a teeny bit" to include Mr Hancock and Mr Bauval's response - in time for a rebroadcast due on 14 December - just over a year after the original. The corporation is sticking by the programme's team, and points out that only one of 10 complaints by the two authors was actually upheld by the watchdog. The unsuccessful complaints included Mr Hancock's assertion that the programme made him out to be an "intellectual fraud", and Mr Bauval's argument that it made his Giza-Orion Correlation Theory - which also links the Nile with the Milky Way and the Sphinx with the constellation of Leo - seem to be a con. ----------- [Please note that the above article contains an important error: not one, but two of the ten complaints submitted to the BSC were upheld.] Following the article link will take you to the article on The Independent's website...

BBC will make only minimal changes to "Atlantis Reborn". Help us put pressure on them to abandon their censorship policy... An article in the The Independent ("Horizon censured for unfairness", see previous item on News Desk) has made it clear that the BBC's revisions will be guided by the letter and not the spirit of the BSC's official finding of unfairness. In their own words, the BBC intend to make only "teeny" changes to Atlantis Reborn prior to broadcast. In keeping with their obvious and unfortunate censorship policy, the BBC are refusing every opportunity to bring Atlantis Reborn into line with its own self-proclaimed (and now obviously non-existent) policy of fairness and impartiality. They will not give permission for Hancock to publish the full interview transcripts. They will not facilitate a live debate following the rebroadcast. They will not implement any of the basic revisions recommended by Hancock and Bauval, who want the BBC to undo as far as possible the damage done UNFAIRLY to their reputations. Graham Hancock is appealing to his readers to help him put pressure on the BBC to reconsider its censorship policy: to make more substantial revisions to Atlantis Reborn; to give permission for the full interview transcripts to be published; and to faciliate a live debate in which people can express themselves without fear of cutting room manipulation. Please send E-mails to: John Lynch (Creative Director of Science) at [email protected] copy to: Mark Thompson (Director of Television) at [email protected] and us at [email protected] Your support is greatly appreciated. Please click "Go to News Desk" below to visit the News Desk, where you can read the Independent article and find out more about our battle with the BBC.

Hancock defies BBC's censorship policy and moves to publish full Horizon transcripts in forthcoming edition of Fingerprints of the Gods. Following the BSC's finding against Horizon (see Horizon scandal section), Graham Hancock sought to return some transparency to the debate, and repair some of the damage done by the BBC to his reputation, by publishing the unedited transcripts of the interview he provided to the Horizon team. John Lynch, Creative Director of Science at the BBC, refused to give Hancock permission to do this (see Nov 8th bulletin and correspondence in Horizon scandal section), thus maintaining the BBC's obvious and unfortunate cover-up policy. Today, Graham wrote on The Message Board: "Why are the BBC afraid for the public to see these transcripts. What are they trying to cover up here? I intend to publish the transcripts next April anyway even if it involves a head-on collision with the arrogant mammoth." The transcipts will be published in a new edition of Fingerprints of the Gods. Graham Hancock is appealing to his readers to support him in his fight against the BBC. You can show your support by writing to John Lynch ([email protected]) and expressing your comments and suggestions appropriately. Please copy your e-mails to Mark Thompson, Director of TV at the BBC ([email protected]) and us ([email protected]). Following the article link will take you to the Horizon Scandal section.

Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval have posted messages on The Message Board, appealing to their readers for help in their fight against the BBC and their cover-up policy. You can show this support by writing to the BBC to express any comments or suggestions you have relating to Hancock's request to publish unedited transcripts of the Horizon interview, and the request for live TV debate immediately following the rebroadcasting of Atlantis Reborn. Please send E-mails to: John Lynch (Creative Director of Science) [email protected] copy to: Mark Thompson (Director of Television) [email protected] and us at [email protected] Following the article will take you the The Message Board

Nov 8th: BBC refuses Hancock's requests to publish full Horizon interview transcripts and meet his critics in live TV debate We've just heard from John Lynch, Creative Director of Science at the BBC, that the BBC will not facilitate a live uncensored television debate involving Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and the people who criticised them in the BBC Horizon documentary, Atlantis Reborn. Neither will the BBC give permission for Hancock to publish full, unedited transcripts of the interviews he gave to Horizon producer, Chris Hale. Hancock made these two requests in an attempt to return to the debate a proper degree of transparency, following the Broadcasting Standards Commission's finding of unfairness in a BBC documentary which attacked his theories. To quote Lynch's letter, the BBC does not "believe that it is appropriate to create an additional programme on the subject" and is "afraid also that it is not the BBC's usual policy to approve the publication of interview transcripts, either in whole or in part". You'll soon be able to see the full e-mail on our BBC correspondence page, in the Horizon Scandal section. If you wish to send any comments/suggestions to the BBC, please send them to John Lynch, Creative Director, Science, at [email protected] and copy to Mark Thompson, Director of Television at the BBC at [email protected]

Broadcasting watchdog judges BBC unfair - Hancock and Bauval vindicated. See Horizon Scandal section and Intro (below) for details. If you have any comments you want to have put up on the site, please post on The Message Board or send to [email protected]. Following the article link will take you to the Horizon Scandal section.

NASA scientists have been keeping their eyes on a 5km-long asteroid that tumbled past our planet on Halloween 2000. The asteroid passed within just 29 lunar distances of Earth, and follows an orbit around the Sun that is just half a degree from our own. Can't we just give these things a pack of M&Ms and send them off to trouble someone else's planet?

Workers at Durham University in England have reconstructed the shorelines of a huge landmass, which existed in the North Sea until being obliterated by massive post-glacial floods around 10,000 years ago. This research shows that catastrophic floods did occur around this time, and did obliterate inhabited landmasses. Is Plato's Atlantis really so implausible? Follow the link to read the full article in the Independent.

An international team of archaeologists and geologists have finally unearthed the lost city of Helike, in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. The discovery follows 12 years of painstaking probing with boreholes and geophysical imaging. One of the researchers, Dr Iain Stewart from Brunel University in England, suggested that the destruction of Helike might have inspired Plato's story of Atlantis. Obviously the timing was well out - Plato said Atlantis was destroyed in 11,600BC. But Stewart points out that Helike was a cult centre for the worship of Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. Plato associated Poseidon with Atlantis. Moreover, the destruction of Helike might have been associated by Plato with an earlier cataclysm at the Gulf of *Atalanti*, which occurred at the time of his birth. Follow the link to read an article from The Guardian.

By Steve Young, 24 June 2000. On page 3 of Taurus 2000, I made three predictions:One or more major geological events to occur on or near the 5 May 2000 astronomical conjunction,One or more major geological events to occur on or near the 2 June 2000 astronomical conjunction,At least one of these events to occur in the Middle East.Following the May conjunction I checked the USGS Earthquake on-line data base to see if anything of consequence occurred. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake had in fact struck Indonesia on May 4th ; but, was a quake of this size significant? I did a data-base search over the past twelve months, and to keep the data manageable, focused my search on quakes of 7.0 magnitude or greater, (7.0+). What I found was quite surprising - a strong correlation between the occurrence of 7.0+ quakes and solar/lunar conjunctions.From the pattern in the data-set, I was then able to predict a 50% probability of a 7.0+ quake occurring in a four-day time-frame of the 2 June conjunction and 90% probability within a ten-day frame, (posted 15 May). The quake which then rumbled through Sumatra on the 4th of June fit the predictions perfectly. Initially assigned a magnitude of 7.9 it was later upgraded to 8.0 (surface wave magnitude).Thus, two out of the three Taurus 2000 predictions came true, (neither quake was in the Middle East however).As added evidence to the proposed relationship between solar/lunar conjunctions and seismic activity, it is noted that the second most powerful earthquake over the past year (7.8 in Turkey) followed the solar eclipse in August, while the most powerful was the 8.0 'Taurus 2000' earthquake.This is evidence that supports the principles of GD physics, and conversely, weakens the position of modern science, (in which there is no correlation between tidal and geological events).Latest seismic data indicates the number of 7.0+ quake events doubled in May and June - from one per month average to one every two weeks.See Seismic Update for further information and new quake predictions for July, posted (22 July 2000) and (6 July 2000); also, Tidal / Geological Forces (15 May 2000) : the statistical prediction of the Taurus 2000 earthquake; in the GD Theory Discussion Forum at the Science Nook.

An article by Steve Young entitled Taurus 2000 Conjunction has been published in the Forum area of the website. The article concerns the ominous penultimate conclusion in his book; "G-D Theory, A New And Ancient System of Physics".

The pages of grahamhancock.com have been re-organised to reflect a much more structured layout to allow easy expansion of the site. However this may mean that your bookmarks are redirected or even dead so please take the time to update them. Apologies for any inconvenience.

The fourth installment of Clesson Harvey's series The Great Pyramid Texts has now been published and can be found here.

We are delighted to publish the next installment of Clesson Harvey's intriguing series The Great Pyramid Texts. Readers wishing to contact Clesson directly may do by email: [email protected]. Clesson's book The Short Path can be purchased through the following website: http://www.woodlandmouse.com/bookshop/short.htm.A new forum article entitled The Hidden Language of Astronomical Symbolism in the Pyramid Texts - Part I by Richard A. Fields has been published. An intoduction to the article and Richard Fields can be found here.A fourth batch of comments regarding the BBC's Horizon: Atlantis Reborn has been published.Finally, Graham has thouroghly reviewed the Links pages. There are lots of new links and many of the reviews have been rewritten to reflect updated content on the sites linked to. The links collection has also been reorganised slightly. This includes the removal of the Lost Civilisation and Monoliths sections, and the addition of Underwater and Mars sections.

A new forum article has been published entitled Anubis, Companion to Osiris by Lee McGiffen. A brief introduction to the article and Lee McGiffen can be found at the bottom of the Forum introduction. Many of you expressed interest in further work by Cleeson H. Harvey when his recent Forum article was published. You will be pleased to know that we have now published the second installment of his peice on The Great Pyramid Texts - to be continued! And a third batch of comments about the BBC's Horizon: Atlantis Reborn has been published.

Chapter 45 of Fingerprints of the Gods is now available to view online. It is available here. Both chapters 45 and 52 are accessible through the Fingerprints Table of Contents page.

Robert Bauval has written an article, entitled A Parody of Science and an Intellectual Auto-Da-Fe, clarifying his position on crucial points brought up in the recent BBC Horizon programmes.

A retired physics and chemistry teacher, CLESSON HARVEY'S education includes courses in Tibetan and ancient Egyptian religion at the University of California, Berkeley. This short article only hints at the depths of his study of the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts which, he argues, have been comprehensively misunderstood by Egyptologists.

Another set of comments about the second BBC Horizon programme, Horizon: Atlantis Reborn, has been posted. Graham is grateful to all those who sent in their comments will be posting a detailed statement with reference to Horizon and all the issues raised soon after returning from his current research trip. Further comments will be posted as they as received.

Following the "Horizon: Atlantis Reborn" programme on 4 November, Graham has posted a statement clarifying his position on Atlantis and Antarctica.

The second batch of comments about the second Horizon programme have been published here. More comments are being received daily so another batch will be posted in a few days.

The comments received so far about the second Horizon programme have been published here. In addition, a formal letter of complaint to the BBC from Robert Bauval has been published here. More comments will be published as they are received.

Following the second part of the Horizon Atlantis series, "Atlantis Reborn" - shown yesterday in the UK, Graham has written a formal letter of complaint to the BBC. The letter has been published on the website and can be found here. The transcript for the programme can be found here.

The first batch of email responses to the first episode of the Horizon series "Atlantis Uncovered" are now on the website and can be found here. The second episode will be shown tonight (UK only) at 9.30pm GMT on BBC2. If you have comments you would like to make about either of the Horizon programmes, please send them to [email protected].

5 new sections have been added to the Underwater Ruins gallery: A second Yonaguni Gallery (with additional images in the first), Bimini, Alexandria and Ponape Galleries and a Gallery covering other underwater ruins in Japan - a total of 71 new images.

A website has been set up showing photographs, from video, of recently discovered underwater structures off Malta: http://www.maltadiscovery.com/. We would like to draw attention to the extraordinary similarity between circular underwater shafts photographed by Santha off the Japanese island of Aguni (images 7, 8 and 9) and the structure labelled Circular Room 2 on the Maltadiscovery site.

Recently, structures that resemble megalithic temples have been discovered in Maltese waters. These are currently being studied to establish whether they are actually unique megalithic temples.A website has been set up showing photographs, from video, of recently discovered underwater structures off Malta: http://www.maltadiscovery.com/. We would like to draw attention to the extraordinary similarity between circular underwater shafts photographed by Santha off the Japanese island of Aguni (images 7, 8 and 9) and the structure labelled Circular Room 2 on the Maltadiscovery site.The following item appeared in the Maltese national newspaper Il Mument, Sunday 31 October 1999. Thanks to Manjri and Kenneth for this translation.Unique Discovery in the Maltese SeasDiscovery of Structures that resemble megalithic temples in Maltese watersRecently, structures that resemble megalithic temples have been discovered in Maltese waters. These are currently being studied to establish whether they are actually unique megalithic temples.These studies are being carried out by foreign archaeologists, as this discovery has been considered to be of great archaeological importance, and has raised great interest amongst foreign archaeologists.Based on the information that Il-Mument has, this discovery has already been reported in Augsburg, Germany by Professor and Archaeologist Hubert Zeitlmair, in a Paleo Astronaut Society meeting, on the 18th of August 1999.Effectively, the discovery occured on the 13th of July 1999 at 10 a.m. and was photographed. The diver/cameraman who filmed the structures was Shaun Arrigo, while the photographer who took the photos was his brother Kurt.Il-Mument interviewed professor Zeitlmair, who explained that these structures seem to form 2 stone circles. Also, with them are other fallen and broken structures which are long and rectangular and on a sort of platform. They were found in depth of approximately 8 to 15 meters around 3 km off the East coast of Malta.Prof. Zeitlmair also said that these structures are full of vegetation, however it can clearly be seen from the photos and film footage that they resemble a lot of the temples from the period of Hagar Qim.In the zone where the underwater structures have been found, it seems there are also some form of (cart) ruts which resemble those found around on the island.The discovery of these structures will have diverse archaeological interpretations and the first implications are that this could be compared with the temples of Hagar Qim, Hypogeum, Ggantija and Mnajdra, which go back to around 3500 BC.This archaeological discovery has also brought about the discussion amongst archaeologists regarding the period in which they were built. Prof. Zeitlmair sustains that these structures were built a lot earlier than the megalithic temples in Malta and the questions that he is trying to answer are; who built these structures, when did they build them and for what purpose?The inspiration of archaeologist Zeitlmair comes from Zecharia Sitchin's book 'The Earth Chronicles' which talks about the origins of ancient civilization.From this book, and based on how the prehistoric temples were built in Malta and Gozo, Zeitlmar came out with the possibility of more temples and prehistoric structures that are not excavated or discovered. It seems that the thesis of the German archaeologist was built around the possibility that these structures will be found in the Maltese territorial waters.

The transcript for episode 1 of Horizon's two part series on the lost civilisation hypothesis can be found here. The website for the series can be found here. Graham invites you all to read the transcript and email your comments to [email protected]. We hope to publish these comments on grahamhancock.com.

BBC Television's premier science programme, Horizon is devoting two episodes in its new season to an attempt to demolish the lost civilisation hypothesis. Episode 1, which will be aired at 9.30 pm on Thursday 28 October, is entitled "Atlantis Uncovered".

A new article by Graham Hancock has been added to the 'Features' section of the site entitled Writing about Outrageous Hypotheses and Extraordinary Possibilities: A View from The Trenches. In addition a new section has been added to the site, 'Forum', where articles written by people other than Graham will be published. The first article to be published in this section is entitled The Qantas Mystery by John Grigsby.

New images (77 in total) have been added to the Egypt, Mexico and Cambodia sections of the gallery, plus the first of the Underwater Ruins Galleries, Yonaguni, has been added.

Heaven's Mirror is now available in paperback (UK September 1999, US November 1999) and Graham's linked television series Quest for the Lost Civilisation is now available on video in both the US and the UK.The book, Heaven's Mirror, and the accompanying television series Quest for the Lost Civilisation were released simultaneously in September 1998. The book became an instant number one bestseller. Broadcast on Channel 4 in Great Britain, the three films achieved massive viewing figures.Some critics objected that few of Graham's detractors in the orthodox archaeological community were given a voice in the films. Graham's reply to this criticism is straightforward: the orthodox academic view is promulgated in many hundreds of television programs every year, and none of these seek out Graham and his colleagues to give their side of the argument.These three 50 minute programs were Graham's opportunity to put his view across. If he had paused to argue each point with an 'academic expert' on the subject, the films would have been twice as long, would have said half as much and would have resembled a debate, not a demonstration of Graham's thesis.Now the films are available on video. The paperback edition of Heaven's Mirror, considerably less expensive than the original hardback, has also been released.

In November 1998 Graham and Santha began the immense series of worldwide journeys and scuba-diving adventures that will lie at the heart of their new book - working title Underworld - scheduled for publication in October 2001.Underworld leaves the mythological and cultural interpretations of Heaven's Mirror behind and focuses on a search for vanished traces of the lost civilisation, using the latest in scientific and archaeological theory and methods. As reported in Heaven's Mirror, Graham has for some years been involved in the exploration of enigmatic underwater structures off the coast of Yonaguni and other islands in Japan's Okinawa island chain. These mysterious monuments could be the legacy of a previously unknown Pacific culture, flourishing around 8000 BC. What more, Graham wonders, may lie under the oceans, or in other places about the globe which now lie beneath desert or ice due to cataclysmic climate changes over the last few millennia?The very latest scientific theories postulate that the great Flood of mythology was in fact a real catastrophe - many, many times more violent and destructive than previously imagined. All around the globe underwater archaeologists are unearthing sites of previous human occupation, once on dry land, but now miles out to sea. In the Americas sites are being found that completely shatter our current understanding of when the New World was first inhabited - putting the date back not by tens of years, but by tens of thousands! In Japan interest is growing in an astonishing prehistoric culture known as the Jomon that flourished as early as 14,000 BC, made pottery thousands of years before any other known people on Earth and undertook immense oceanic journeys as far afield as the coast of Ecuador and the islands of the South Pacific. Could the mystery of the Jomon in some way be linked to the mystery of Japan's underwater monuments?Graham writes: "In December 1998 and again in March 1999 and July 1999, Santha and I made multiple dives around Japan, not only at Yonaguni but also off other islands such as Kerama and Aguni. We have found many remarkable things and continue to be astonished on each new dive. We have been privileged to be supported in our expeditions around Japan by Seamen's Club Resort Hotel in Ishigaki. Their divers have taken incredible risks for us and enabled us to explore underwater sites that we might otherwise never have found - or survived! Some of our best memories are of these wonderful people and the great adventures we have had with them.With so many dives now completed we have gradually begun to understand the true character and significance of Japan's extraordinary underwater monuments. This is a story that we will tell fully in our book - although visitors to the Gallery pages of this website can see previews of some of Santha's unique photographs of Underwater Ruins all around the world. We would like others to experience some of the wonders we have been lucky enough to see.Remarkable though they are, the Japanese underwater monuments are only part of the story of Underworld and only part of the journey we are making. During May and June 1999 we dived in the Pacific starting in Tahiti (Huahina and Raiatea), then moving on to Tonga (Ha'pai), and then on to Ponape, Kosrae, Guam, Rota and Tinian before ending up in Japan at the beginning of July. Between 18 July and 7 August we dived around Bimini in the Bahamas. During October/November 1999 we are focussing on Indonesia and Malaysia, in January 2000, India, and in May 2000 the Mediterranean."

As the next step in an expanding process of direct debate and dialogue with orthodox scholars, Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and John Anthony West will be participating with Dr Zahi Hawass, Under Secretary of State for the Giza Monuments, in a Conference to be held at Giza, Egypt from 25-29 September 1999. Also speaking will be Rudolf Gantenbrink the world-famous German engineer whose robot camera UPUAUT discovered a small doorway with two metal handles some 65 metres inside the narrow southern shaft of the Queen's Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The conference, which will be held at the foot of the pyramids at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, is the second and final of two 'Giza Debates' organised by the Los Angeles tour operator Visions Travel (the previous debate, involving Graham Hancock, John Anthony West, Zahi Hawass, and the astronomer Ed Krupp, was held on a cruise ship off Alaska in May 1998).For more details of the Giza Conference, associated tours, and how to attend, please contact Abbas Nadim at Visions Travel: email [email protected]; website: http://www.visionstravel.com/.

Graham will be speaking at the ARE (Association for Research and Enlightenment Inc) annual Egypt conference entitled The Wisdom and Wonder of Ancient Egypt: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century.The conference runs from 20 through 22 August and Graham's presentation will be on Friday evening 20 August. The conference venue is ARE headquarters, 215, 67th Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-2061, USA. Tel: +1 (757) 428 3588.

A rare opportunity to hear Graham speak about his work. September 11th 1999, Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead. For more details and to register your interest, email [email protected] or visit the Grays of Westminster website.