The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 203 -
The secret of the third pearl: The seven giants and the sarcophagi.
Here Raphael took the third pearl in his hand and freed it from its crust.
2
When it was naked, Raphael drew the attention of the knowledge thirsty and rather burning onlookers to the quite good engraved Memnon statues and said: "See, there they are already, the two Nameless! But there above you can see, as in front of the Nameless, seven gigantic figures of clothed humans, and around them you see a lot of very small figures of people! What has the wise Shivinz, who himself has drawn all of the pearls, wanted to express thereby?
3
Listen! It is the same time about hundred-and-seven years before the first of the two nameless ancestors, when a large planet in deep space was destroyed into many pieces by the permission of the Lord. Many gigantic large people lived on it.
4
By the sudden, by nobody foreseen destruction, although it was often announced to these people, it happened that seven of the mentioned earth-people fell in upper Egypt on several open places of the large country and by their heavy fall caused a very strong earth tremor.
5
This people rain lasted more then ten days, this means from the first fall to the last. The inhabitants of this country had to endure a lot of fear and fright during that time; especially at night they were frightened that one of the giants would fall onto them and terribly smash them. Therefore they looked with fearing hearts continuously to the sky, if not another uninvited guest from the clouds would pay them an unwelcomed visit.
6
For nearly ten years they had posted permanent guards, to see, if not another gruesome traveller would come from the air; but after ten days there was no one to see, and in time the souls of the people calmed down again and they even dared to go to the large, completely dried out gigantic corpses, which lay spread out up to one quarter day travel from each other.
7
The wise among those ancient Egyptians speculated quite correctly that it were giants from a large and far away country who were punished by the spirit of God, because they sinned against God, and God in His just rage had picked them up and thrown them here, to show the Egyptians, that He does not spare even the mighty giants, if they acted against His will. In short, they finally started to burn these giants piece by piece, and after fifty years not one sign could be found anywhere of them.
8
However, what the Egyptians remembered about these gigantic human figures, was this, that from these giants stuck in their memory they went over to a colossal sense for everything, of which their first sculptures was more than a tangible proof.
9
In the temple of Ja bu sim bil, in each of the three divisions, seven giants were illustrated as so to speak bearers of the roof, which means chiselled into stone, namely in the specific clothes in which the travellers from the air have arrived; and the Egyptians who previously walked around almost completely naked, started to dress themselves in such manner, - which is the reason that one until this day sees all the old leftovers dressed in this manner. Their mummies and sarcophagi are full of this kind of decorations."
10
Asks the leader, what it was that the old Egyptians in all reality meant under the sarcophagi and why they had called the large and also smaller very massive coffins like that.
11
Said Raphael: "This you will hear right now and very thoroughly! You know, that it is in large parts of this country not that easy to just bury the corpses, since in the dry ground a body decomposes very slowly and therefore cannot be destroyed by rotting. In the more moist nearness of the Nile one also did not wanted to bury the dead, for the very wise reason not to pollute the water of the stream. To let lay the corpses on the surface or throw them to the wild animals for food, especially the old Egyptians were too much human and respected even the corpses of their dead brothers too much, than to cause them such disrespectfulness. However, what else could they do?
12
See, they had a very clever idea! From stone they chiselled, partly very large and later also very small coffins, in which there was comfortably space to the most one, two or three corpses. Each coffin was provided with a relatively large and heavy lid. When in such coffin one or more corpses had been placed, after they had been rubbed properly with mum (Muma, also mummy, = earth resin, earth balsam), the lid was made glowing hot and the coffin was then covered so to speak forever with this glowing hot lid. By that process the corpses completely dried out and with very hot lids sometimes even charred or completely burnt up to ash.
13
However, in the bigger towns and societies there were also general coffins, which were opened every seven years. They were then again filled with corpses and completely covered, and on top of the lid a proper fire was made, whereby the corpses of course turn to ash. If such a coffin was full of ash, it was not opened anymore, but was left standing as a honourable monument in memory of the transitoriness of everything earthly.
14
In time vaults and pyramids were build around and above it, which is the reason why one still finds today in the vicinity of the pyramids many such coffins in sometimes very narrow and sometimes very wide vaults (Kai-tu comba, which means hidden chamber). These now clearly described the coffins which were then called sarcophagi, because according to the tongue of the ancient Egyptians, sarko means 'glowing' and vaga (vascha) means 'heavy lid'.
15
There you have your sarcophagi; but now let us continue with the third pearl and we will see what it will reveal to us!"