christiefan915
Catalyst
Am I the only one who thinks Carson gets kookier with every passing day?
"On Wednesday, BuzzFeed uncovered old footage of Ben Carson making some unusual comments in 1998: He rejected the widely held belief among archaeologists that most of the pyramids were built to serve as tombs for pharaohs, and suggested that biblical figure Joseph built the pyramids to store grain in preparation for a massive famine.
"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain," he said. "And all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs' graves. But you know, it would have to be something awfully big, if you stop and think about it. And I don't think it would just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain."
This is totally unsupported by the historical and archaeological evidence. As Carson acknowledges, his belief defies what most archaeologists believe to be the purpose of the pyramids. Despite this, Carson told CBS News on Wednesday that he still believes his idea to be true: "It's still my belief, yes."
...Carson told a story that would reflect his faith — and that's where the pyramid story comes in. In the Old Testament, Joseph rises to become a top aide to an Egyptian pharaoh after being sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. At one point, the pharaoh has a dream vision that Egypt will fall into a great famine, and Joseph advises the pharaoh to store a lot of grain — a move that eventually helps Egyptians survive.
Carson does not read this as a mere allegory about God's grace (since God was willing to provide a vision to save so many people), but instead interprets the story literally. So he believes that this grain had to be stored somewhere, and that the structure would have to be very big and sturdy — certainly strong enough to last to this day. The structures that naturally fit into that view, according to Carson, are the pyramids.
Carson defended his views on the pyramids to reporters on Wednesday, stating, "The pyramids were made in a way that they had hermetically sealed compartments. You wouldn't need hermetically sealed compartments for a sepulcher. You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain for a long period of time."
...John Darnell, professor of Egyptology at Yale University, told BuzzFeed that the story of Joseph is supposedly set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built.
(Continued)
http://www.vox.com/explainers/2015/11/5/9677942/ben-carson-pyramids-grain
"On Wednesday, BuzzFeed uncovered old footage of Ben Carson making some unusual comments in 1998: He rejected the widely held belief among archaeologists that most of the pyramids were built to serve as tombs for pharaohs, and suggested that biblical figure Joseph built the pyramids to store grain in preparation for a massive famine.
"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain," he said. "And all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs' graves. But you know, it would have to be something awfully big, if you stop and think about it. And I don't think it would just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain."
This is totally unsupported by the historical and archaeological evidence. As Carson acknowledges, his belief defies what most archaeologists believe to be the purpose of the pyramids. Despite this, Carson told CBS News on Wednesday that he still believes his idea to be true: "It's still my belief, yes."
...Carson told a story that would reflect his faith — and that's where the pyramid story comes in. In the Old Testament, Joseph rises to become a top aide to an Egyptian pharaoh after being sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. At one point, the pharaoh has a dream vision that Egypt will fall into a great famine, and Joseph advises the pharaoh to store a lot of grain — a move that eventually helps Egyptians survive.
Carson does not read this as a mere allegory about God's grace (since God was willing to provide a vision to save so many people), but instead interprets the story literally. So he believes that this grain had to be stored somewhere, and that the structure would have to be very big and sturdy — certainly strong enough to last to this day. The structures that naturally fit into that view, according to Carson, are the pyramids.
Carson defended his views on the pyramids to reporters on Wednesday, stating, "The pyramids were made in a way that they had hermetically sealed compartments. You wouldn't need hermetically sealed compartments for a sepulcher. You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain for a long period of time."
...John Darnell, professor of Egyptology at Yale University, told BuzzFeed that the story of Joseph is supposedly set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built.
(Continued)
http://www.vox.com/explainers/2015/11/5/9677942/ben-carson-pyramids-grain
