A new paper by independent researcher Sefy Levy posits that the Great Pyramid of Giza may not solely be a tomb, but a complex stone repository of ancient knowledge encoded within its very dimensions. Levy's interpretation, detailed in a paper posted on SSRN and Zenodo, suggests that the pyramid's height, base, sloping sides, and overall shape form a numerical system designed to be a lasting record of Egyptian understanding of mathematics, time, and the cosmos.
According to Levy, these measurements, when analyzed using fractions common among ancient Egyptian scribes, align with significant astronomical and mathematical figures. For instance, one calculation reportedly yields 27.5, closely matching the approximate 27.55-day interval between successive lunar perigees. Another calculation results in 70, which Levy connects to the roughly 70-day period when the star Sirius is hidden by the sun's glare, a cycle also associated with Egyptian mummification traditions.
Levy further claims that other calculations approximate the repeating cycles of visible planets like Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, and Mars. He also suggests the pyramid's proportions yield figures resembling pi and the golden ratio. This theory proposes that the builders intended the pyramid to serve as a permanent, tangible record of their cosmological observations.
To assess the likelihood of these matches occurring by chance, Levy conducted a simulation involving 100,000 hypothetical Old Kingdom-style pyramids with varied dimensions. He reported that approximately 2.4 percent of these models achieved as many or more numerical matches as the Great Pyramid, a result he argues makes pure coincidence less probable. However, this simulation has not undergone independent peer review.
The interpretation of the pyramid's dimensions as a code is part of a broader, more radical theory proposed by Levy concerning the monument's purpose and origin. He connects his numerical findings to an Egyptian creation myth involving a primeval mound, known as the benben, which emerged from a primordial water world. Levy believes the pyramid was constructed to represent this mound.
Levy's theory extends to suggesting this creation story may be based on a real geographical location. He identifies the Eye of the Sahara, a large, ring-shaped geological formation in Mauritania, as a potential ancestral homeland. He posits that thousands of years ago, this area, possibly surrounded by water during a wetter Saharan period, could have been the site from which early communities migrated eastward to the Nile Valley, carrying memories of their origin.
In this context, Levy interprets the Great Pyramid as a symbolic representation of this primordial mound, with the surrounding complex, including a harbor and a branch of the Nile, signifying water. The westward causeways, in his view, represent a symbolic connection to the setting sun, the dead, and this proposed ancestral homeland. This suggests that the pyramid was built not just as a tomb, but as a mnemonic device preserving a narrative of distant origins.
Mainstream Egyptology generally regards the Great Pyramid as a funerary monument constructed for the Pharaoh Khufu around 4,500 years ago. Evidence such as its empty granite sarcophagus, mortuary complex, and royal cemetery supports this interpretation, although Khufu's burial within it remains unproven. No ancient texts have been found to support the claim that its dimensions encode astronomical information.
Levy acknowledges that his numerical matches were discovered after the target values were known. Furthermore, the paper has not yet undergone independent peer review, and direct evidence linking the Eye of the Sahara to Giza or validating the proposed migration narrative is absent. The interpretation remains highly speculative within the broader field of Egyptology.