By definition, schist is a medium-grade metamorphic rock with medium to large, flat, sheet-like grains that lie in a preferred parallel orientation. It is defined by having more than 50% platy and elongated minerals. These flat, platy minerals include: micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. The names of various schists are derived from their mineral constituents. Most schists are mica schists, but graphite and chlorite schists are also common.

The individual mineral grains in a schist are drawn out into flaky scales by heat and pressure, and can be seen with the naked eye. Schists are characteristically folliated, which means that the individual mineral grains split off easily into flakes or slabs. In fact, the word “schist” is derived from the Greek word σχίζειν schízein meaning “to split”, which is a reference to the ease with which schists can be split along the planes that the platy minerals lie. Therefore, schists tend to break easily and, although considered a very attractive stone, are rarely used as building materials due to their lack of strength.

This brings us to the topic of the “Schist Disk” on display in the Cairo Museum. In the Cairo Museum it is labeled as a Lotus Bowl made out of schist. In addition to the “Schist Disk”, there are several dozen other objects in both the Cairo Museum and Saqqara Museum that are made of a similar substance and have all have been labeled as “schist”.  These objects have numerous similarities. They are all a dull dark grey, exhibiting no visible mica or plates of any kind. They are all structurally very delicate, thin and most importantly, they all have intricately carved fluted edges. In the case of the “Schist Disk” it appears to be carved into three wing like folds.

All of these “schist” objects are behind glass and poorly lit. There is no chance of examining them by touch or with a magnifying glass. So, are they a schist? Considering their delicate nature, I doubt it. If they were a schist I believe they would have broken apart by now. The actual “Schist Disk” is in fairly poor condition and has undergone a lot of reconstruction, while some of the other fluted edge “schist” objects are intact and in good condition.

What is the purpose of these objects? We can only speculate at this point in time. I doubt the “Schist Disk” was merely a flower bowl. But if it was made to rotate in any manor then I think it would have been made of a substance somewhat more durable than a schist.

So what are they made of? Without being able to really examine the objects, no definitive conclusions can be made. I speculate that it is a very hard, competent rock that can withstand millenniums of lying in the desert beneath the sand. Perhaps a dolerite?

We may never know.

Suzan Moore – Geologist

Born and raised on the prairies of Saskatchewan Canada, Suzan developed a keen interest in nature, rocks and stars at an early age. That passion later led her to pursue a Geology degree with a minor in Astronomy. Suzan has been working as a Geologist in Canada for over 40 years. She originally worked in both mining and regional mapping of granites and metamorphic rocks in northern Saskatchewan and the North West Territories. She has been working for many years as a Sedimentological Specialist in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary Alberta, specializing in the Jurassic of Western North American.

She has always had an interest in Ancient Egypt and, since her first visit, returns regularly. After a trip to Peru in 2013 she developed a passion for understanding megalithic structures and the rocks they are carved from which led her to explore their implications in Egypt as well. She is currently trying to incorporate how weathering, time and source of the rocks affect the construction and preservation of many of the megalithic structures.

Suzan offers a unique and fresh perspective on the description, consistency and use of the various types of rocks and materials  used in the ancient structures here.

The Khemit School is excited to announce that Suzan Moore, who has traveled to Egypt, Peru and Bolivia several times with the “Techno-Spiritual ” Team, which also includes Brien Foerster, Stephen Mehler, Mohamed Ibrahim and Yousef & Patricia Awyan, has accepted our invitation to join the team and accompany us on upcoming adventures!

On March 21st, 2015, our group literally ‘hit the ground running’ as we were taken from the airport to the National Museum in Beirut. This lovely and well cared for museum was filled with many fascinating artifacts, a large percentage of which were directly from or influenced by ancient Egypt.In fact, associations with ancient Egypt quickly became a central theme of our adventure.

Historians will date the onset of civilization in the coastal areas of Lebanon to the time of the Phoenicians, although most sites have layers that have been dated to Neolithic times (8000 – 4000 BC).  The Techno-Spiritual Team is in agreement that the sites of Byblos and Ba’albek have foundations that date back to the pre-cataclysmic times of ancient Khemit, 10,000 -50,000 years ago or more.  Abd’el Hakim Awayn taught that ancient Khemit stretched far beyond Egypt’s modern day borders and encompassed most of the land bordering the Mediterranean, including Lebanon.

Byblos, as a well-known seaport and trading center, exported the precious cedar wood to Egypt and other areas.  Many of the structures and artifacts found at both Byblos and Ba’albek have Egyptian origins that can be officially dated back as far as the second half of the second millennium.  Aswan granite found scattered at both sites, and possibly other kinds of stone, were brought from quarries out of Egypt.

In the museum we were treated to seeing many wonderful items found at the sites, and the noticeable Egyptian influence on all of the cultures that inhabited Lebanon.  I was delighted to see the obvious syncretism in mythologies and symbolism depicted on the different artifacts from these civilizations.

Our first full day in Lebanon began with a visit to the famous Jeita Grotto, one of the “New Seven Wonders of Nature”.  Located north of Beirut, the Jeita Grotto is a system of two separate, but interconnected, karstic limestone caves spanning  an overall length of nearly 9 kilometers (5.6 miles), known to house the world’s largest known stalactite. Many members     of our group remarked at the powerful energy emanating from within the huge system of caverns. We were told that people actually lived in the huge chambers in this dark moist grotto during pre-historic times.

After a visit to the sacred pilgrimage site of Harissa, and a Gondola ride with an amazing panoramic view of Jounieh Bay, we were off for an afternoon exploration of the seaside site of Byblos.

The first things we noticed as we were driven to the site were the many granite pillars that were quarried  from a more ancient site to be used to stabilize the walls of many of the later structures.  Close examination of the granite stone convinced us that it was brought from quarries in Upper Egypt.

The site was littered with artifacts and structures that spoke to many layers of site transformation over thousands of years. The box on the far right, pictured below, was found inside a dark cavern, reminding us of the resonance boxes found in subterranean chambers and pyramids throughout Egypt

I was fascinated by the amount of artifacts and information pointing to a culture that utilized the elongated crowns that we find depicted on the walls of temples as well as on far more ancient petroglyphs found in Egypt. Was this a recognition of a culture that once revered or actually had elongated skulls?

This was of particular interest to Brien who has been studying this phenomenon in Peru, where a large amount of actual elongated skulls have been and are still being found. Many of the ancient skulls in Peru (and other areas in the world) show no signs of possible ‘binding’, known as artificial cranial deformation, which speaks to the fact that a race of beings here on earth did once have this feature, and subsequent cultures revered it enough to attempt to reshape their own heads and those of their babies.

Of course the moment we all had been waiting for, the highlight of our adventure, was our visit to the megalithic site of Ba’albek, home to a massive area filled with various temples still standing from its Roman occupation.  Ba’albek, also known as Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, is officially dated back to 9000 BC.

We began our visit with a stop at the now famous Pregnant Woman stone (which is estimated to weigh 1,200 tons or more) that still sits in the area where it was being quarried from. There was much discussion about why it was left here in the quarry, very much like the well-known Unfinished Obelisk in the Aswan Quarry in Egypt. Did they discover that the quality of the stone wasn’t up to their standards, or did a cataclysmic event prevent them from continuing? Did humanity devolve into a less evolved state, losing the capability or tools needed to work with these megalithic stones?The giant stone pictured below, from an adjacent quarry, sits at a similar angle and shows evidence that the block itself was being quarried for smaller cuts of stone.  We were told about a network of ancient subterranean tunnels that exist in the area, which we also find in both Egypt and Peru, and, in fact, all over the world.We were then taken on a short drive to the site of the ancient Temples of Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus at  Ba’albek.

Most date this site to the Roman era; however, there is evidence that clearly confirms an earlier Phoenician presence. As stated above, Khemitology dictates that it was once a part of a far more ancient and larger Khemit, or Egypt.

Our Techno-Spiritual Team could easily spot the megalithic stone foundation and found much evidence of advanced technologies similar to those found in levels of pre-cataclysmic constructions in Egypt, Peru and Bolivia, strewn throughout the ruins of the site.

Theories abound about how these blocks (some of which weigh up to 1,500 tons) were placed here, many of them attributing these foundation blocks to ancient aliens. Our team agrees that a highly advanced civilization of human beings with a much deeper recognition of our connection to nature were able to orchestrate what we might call miraculous feats, most likely by utilizing implosive technologies that are resonant with our natural environment

We explored the areas around the famous Temples of Baal-Jupiter (Phoenician/Roman labeling) and Bacchus known to be sacred areas for ritual and ceremony.  Below the Roman constructions, at the center of this area was once a huge temple dedicated to Baal, a God or Neter, representing an aspect of the sun, and his consort, Astarte (the heavens).The city was known to be a pilgrimage site throughout many civilizations until the dawning of Christianity.

Ba’albek is located in an area with a prolific agricultural bounty, known to be the most fertile valley in Lebanon. Was there an energy emanating from the earth here that made it an ideal location to build the original megalithic structures?I was especially happy to see the wealth of recognizable symbolic elements found throughout the site. The patterns, designs and symbolism spoke to a lineage of knowledge that migrated through the different cultures that inhabited this area, holding true to an original theme reflecting the Neters or natures, and the sacred geometric patterns that combine to reveal the nature of our eternal and cyclical reality.Above you can see the images of the Khemtian Neter, Tefnut, the spit of Nut, the Sky that I spotted at Ba’albek. She is associated with mist, rain and water and we find her image at temples, fountains and drainage systems all over the world.

We also found this interesting basin that reminded us of the shape of the Hotep-Ra at Abu Ghurob in Egypt. The circular lid to the alabaster platform at Abu Gurob covers a shaft that leads to a subterranean source of running water, according to Hakim.  Is there a significance to this shape and a connection with water?

 We were so excited by everything we discovered here, that we overstayed our scheduled       visit and made a promise to ourselves to come back and spend the night in Ba’albek,as well as another day exploring and enjoying the powerful energy found within and around the massive structures at this magnificent site. 

This has just been an inkling of what we stumbled upon throughout our explorations of these sites, that inspired many in-depth discussions about ancient worldwide connections that point to an advanced pre-cataclysmic civilization that left a legacy of wisdom and knowledge within the remains of the ancient structures and symbolism they left behind.Please check out the 4-Part Video Series that Brien Foerster has presented on his YouTube Channel: