Full Description
In 3200 BC, Orkney Island off the coast of Northern Scotland was home to a small farming village called Skara Brae. For reasons unknown, after nearly six centuries of continuous habitation, the village was abandoned around 2600 BC and its stone structures covered over--perhaps deliberately, like the structures at Gobekli Tepe. Although now well-excavated, very little is known about the peaceful people who lived at Skara Brae or their origins. Who were they and where did they go?
Drawing on his in-depth knowledge of the connections between the cosmology and linguistics of Egyptian, Dogon, Chinese, and Vedic traditions, Laird Scranton reveals the striking similarities between Skara Brae and the Dogon of Mali, who still practice the same cosmology and traditions they once shared with pre-dynastic Egypt. He shows how the earliest Skara Brae houses match the typical Dogon stone house as well as Schwaller de Lubicz's intrepretation of the Egyptian Temple of Man at Luxor. He explains how megalithic stone sites near Skara Brae conform to Dogon cosmology, each representing sequential stages of creation as described by Dogon priests, and he details how the houses at Skara Brae also represent a concept of creation. Citing a linguistic phenomenon known as "ultraconserved words," the author compares words of the Faroese language at Skara Brae, a language with no known origin, with important cosmological words from Dogon and ancient Egyptian traditions, finding obvious connections and similarities.
Contents
Introduction Some Thoughts on Comparative Cosmology 1 A Brief History of Skara Brae 2 Footholds to a Theory of Origin for Skara Brae 3 Reexamining Skara Brae in Overview 4 Comparing Skara Brae and Dogon Structures 5 Dogon, Egyptian, and Faroese Words of Cosmology 6 Cosmological Sites of the Orkney Region 7 The Dogon Field of Arou 8 The Field of Arou and the Elysian Fields 9 Further Correlations to Faroese Words 10 Argat: An Ancient Name for Orkney Island 11 Orkney Island as an Archaic Sanctuary 12 The Overthrown Boat 13 Reconsidering Possible Roles for Orkney Island 14 The Emergence of Dynastic Egypt 15 The Advent of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs 16 Correlating Regional Kingships at 3000 BCE 17 Seshat and the Egyptian House of Life 18 Views on the Papae and the Peti 19 Words of the Scottish-Gaelic Language 20 The Druids and Other Pieces of the Puzzle 21 The Hindu Parable of the Seven Houses 22 The Egyptian Tale of the "Seven Houses in the Other World" 23 Conclusions and Observations Notes Bibliography Index