Robert Temple

 

 

The first lecture of the day was given by Robert Temple, the author of the seminal work THE SIRIUS MYSTERY and the soon to be published book THE CRYSTAL SUN. He began by presenting a series of slides showing optical lenses found in museums across the ancient world including the British Museum. I was amazed at the sheer number that exist, showing clearly that civilisations such as the Romans, Hellenic Greeks, Carthaginians, Assyrians and Chinese were very much aware of this ancient technology. There were pictures of the famous lens found by Sir Henry Layard at the palace of the Assyrian king Sargon at Nineveh in northern Iraq during the nineteenth century. This example probably dates to the seventh century BC.

I was particularly intrigued by the lenses and microscopic carvings found during excavations in Egypt. Robert explained that here was perhaps the oldest evidence for crystal lens technology, dating back as far as predynastic times, c. 3100 BC. Once more this confirms the theory that the Egyptians possessed technologies that are simply denied by conventional Egyptologists.

Robert went on to display what is arguably the most remarkable of his discoveries relating to crystal optics in ancient times. This is a Greek pot shard that actually shows a male figure with a long, slightly conical tube up against his left eye – the image that features on the cover of his new book. As he pointed out, thousands of people file past this item every day and yet no one has ever proposed that it is a telescope – not even Erich von Daniken! I have to say that this is a very convincing piece of evidence that defies any other explanation. Robert must be applauded for bringing this artefact to the attention of the world.

There seems little question that lenses were used as early as 3100 BC to fashion microscopic carvings in Egypt and that this tradition continued through to at least the fall of the Roman empire. Moreover, there is every reason to suggest that telescopes, perhaps made from dried plant stems such as the giant hogweed, were used to observe the celestial and stellar bodies in a manner not popular again until the Renaissance period.

The final section of Robert’s talk featured the relationship between channeling light and religious buildings such as Egyptian temples and megalithic monuments of Europe such as the passage grave at Newgrange in Ireland. Understanding the properties of light in association with lenses, an explanation perhaps of the story of Prometheus’ who drew down the divine fire, seems to be the key to understanding the enigmas associated with the veneration of the sun from Egypt to Greece and Persia. Lenses did not just have a practical purpose but also a religious function that focused the energy of the divine.

From the feedback of those who attended this lecture, it is clear that Robert has uncovered a lost technology that is breathtaking in its implications and I look forward to reading his much-awaited book THE CRYSTAL SUN, published by Century on 18 May.