Mungoman
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Egyptologist debunks new claims about 'Gosford glyphs'
Posted 14 Dec 2012, 3:09pmFri 14 Dec 2012, 3:09pm
Photo: Egyptologist dismisses new claims about controversial 'Gosford glyphs'. (ABC News: Mary-Louise Vince )
Map: Gosford 2250
An Egyptologist from Sydney's Macquarie University has rejected any new claims about one of the most mysterious and controversial sites on the New South Wales Central Coast, known as the 'Gosford Hieroglyphs'.
The glyphs site at Kariong features almost 300 engravings on two sandstone walls, which some believe are an example of an early form of Egyptian writing and have drawn widespread interest over the years.
They have long been dismissed as fakes by authorities and academics since their discovery in the 1970s but there are still ongoing attempts to prove the theory they were carved by the ancient Egyptians.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service maintains the engravings are not authentic, as does Associate Professor Boyo Ockinga from Macquarie University's Ancient History Department, who is currently on an archaeological dig in Luxor, Egypt.
Professor Ockinga says as much as he would like the glyphs to be genuine, there is no doubt they are fakes.
"I'd be the first person who'd welcome some sort of link that because it would make my subject relevant to Australian history," he said.
"It'd be wonderful...but I'm afraid it's just not possible."
A group of amateur researchers has sparked new interest in the site, having found a new, smaller set of hieroglyphs in the area.
Group leader, Steven Strong says they are also also investigating a labyrinth of tunnels cut into the rock beneath the original set of engravings.
"It has been carved," he said.
"It is straight and nature doesn't do straight lines,
"There's a second shaft that runs down...and the third one is a gallery that is big enough to park a car."
Mr Strong says new evidence has come to light.
"The things that have been found next to it, alongside and around the walls need to be factored in."
But Professor Ockinga, who first saw the inscriptions 20 years ago, says there are many reasons why they are not accepted as genuine hieroglyphics.
"First of all the way they're cut is not the way ancient Egyptian rock inscriptions are produced, they're very disorganised," he said.
"There's also a problem with the actual shapes of the signs that are used.
"There's no way people would've been inscribing texts from the time of Cheops from the signs that weren't invented until 2500 years later.
"That's a chronological discrepancy," he said.
In other words symbols from Egyptian eras thousands of years apart have been grouped together.
He says it also doesn't made sense why the Ancient Egyptians would be at that particular site.
"If by any chance they had reached Australia, you'd expect them to land on the west coast rather than over on the east coast," he said.
The Macquarie University Professor, along with many others, has his own explanation for the mysterious inscriptions.
Professor Boyo Ockinga says it is likely the engravings were made in the 1920s, when there was widespread interest in ancient Egypt after the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
He says this was also around the same time many Australian soldiers, who were stationed in Egypt, had come back from the First World War.
"We have other instances of Australian soldiers having carved, Egyptianising objects in the Kurringai National Park near Sydney," he said.
"For example, there's a sphynx and pyramids that have been carved out of the sandstone and we know that was done by an Australian soldier who was in a hospital in the vicinity," he said.
"It wouldn't be at all surprising for someone who'd had this fascination for Egypt to have done the same thing
Well, he would say that wouldn't he...
Posted 14 Dec 2012, 3:09pmFri 14 Dec 2012, 3:09pm
Photo: Egyptologist dismisses new claims about controversial 'Gosford glyphs'. (ABC News: Mary-Louise Vince ) Map: Gosford 2250
An Egyptologist from Sydney's Macquarie University has rejected any new claims about one of the most mysterious and controversial sites on the New South Wales Central Coast, known as the 'Gosford Hieroglyphs'.
The glyphs site at Kariong features almost 300 engravings on two sandstone walls, which some believe are an example of an early form of Egyptian writing and have drawn widespread interest over the years.
They have long been dismissed as fakes by authorities and academics since their discovery in the 1970s but there are still ongoing attempts to prove the theory they were carved by the ancient Egyptians.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service maintains the engravings are not authentic, as does Associate Professor Boyo Ockinga from Macquarie University's Ancient History Department, who is currently on an archaeological dig in Luxor, Egypt.
Professor Ockinga says as much as he would like the glyphs to be genuine, there is no doubt they are fakes.
"I'd be the first person who'd welcome some sort of link that because it would make my subject relevant to Australian history," he said.
"It'd be wonderful...but I'm afraid it's just not possible."
A group of amateur researchers has sparked new interest in the site, having found a new, smaller set of hieroglyphs in the area.
Group leader, Steven Strong says they are also also investigating a labyrinth of tunnels cut into the rock beneath the original set of engravings.
"It has been carved," he said.
"It is straight and nature doesn't do straight lines,
"There's a second shaft that runs down...and the third one is a gallery that is big enough to park a car."
Mr Strong says new evidence has come to light.
"The things that have been found next to it, alongside and around the walls need to be factored in."
But Professor Ockinga, who first saw the inscriptions 20 years ago, says there are many reasons why they are not accepted as genuine hieroglyphics.
"First of all the way they're cut is not the way ancient Egyptian rock inscriptions are produced, they're very disorganised," he said.
"There's also a problem with the actual shapes of the signs that are used.
"There's no way people would've been inscribing texts from the time of Cheops from the signs that weren't invented until 2500 years later.
"That's a chronological discrepancy," he said.
In other words symbols from Egyptian eras thousands of years apart have been grouped together.
He says it also doesn't made sense why the Ancient Egyptians would be at that particular site.
"If by any chance they had reached Australia, you'd expect them to land on the west coast rather than over on the east coast," he said.
The Macquarie University Professor, along with many others, has his own explanation for the mysterious inscriptions.
Professor Boyo Ockinga says it is likely the engravings were made in the 1920s, when there was widespread interest in ancient Egypt after the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
He says this was also around the same time many Australian soldiers, who were stationed in Egypt, had come back from the First World War.
"We have other instances of Australian soldiers having carved, Egyptianising objects in the Kurringai National Park near Sydney," he said.
"For example, there's a sphynx and pyramids that have been carved out of the sandstone and we know that was done by an Australian soldier who was in a hospital in the vicinity," he said.
"It wouldn't be at all surprising for someone who'd had this fascination for Egypt to have done the same thing
Well, he would say that wouldn't he...
