Georgia Guidestones - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Georgia Guidestones is a large granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

monument in Elbert County

Elbert County, Georgia

Elbert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was established on December 10, 1790 and was named for Samuel Elbert. As of 2000, the population was 20,511. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 20,525...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, USA. A message comprising ten guides is inscribed on the structure in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages' scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, and Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...

.

The structure is sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

." The monument is almost 20 feet (6.1 m) tall if the buried support stones are included, exactly 18 feet (5.5 m) otherwise, and made from six granite slabs weighing more than 240000 pounds (108,862.2 kg) in all. One slab stands in the center, with four arranged around it. A capstone

Coping (architecture)

Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....

lies on top of the five slabs, which are astronomically aligned. An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the structure, provides some notes on the history and purpose of the Guidestones.

History

In June 1979, an unknown person or persons under the pseudonym R.C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure. One popular hypothesis is that the patron's pseudonym may be a tribute to the legendary 17th-century founder of Rosicrucianism, Christian Rosenkreuz

Christian Rosenkreuz

Christian Rosenkreuz is the legendary, perhaps allegorical, founder of the Rosicrucian Order , presented in the three Manifestos published in the early 17th century...

Inscriptions

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, Swahili

Swahili language

Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

, Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, and Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
Unite humanity with a living new language.
Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
Balance personal rights with social duties.
Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

Explanatory tablet

A few feet to the west of the artifact, an additional granite ledger has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the structure and the languages used on it, lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was installed, and the sponsors of the project. It also speaks of a time capsule

Time capsule

A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...

buried under the tablet, but the positions on the stone reserved for filling in the dates on which the capsule was buried and is to be opened are missing, so it is not clear whether the time capsule was ever put in place. Each side of the tablet is perpendicular to one of the cardinal directions, and is inscribed so that the northern edge is the top of the inscription.

The complete text of the explanatory tablet is detailed below. The accompanying image shows the overall layout. The tablet is somewhat inconsistent with respect to punctuation, and also misspells "pseudonym". The original spelling, punctuation, and line breaks in the text have been preserved in the transcription which follows.

At the center of each tablet edge is a small circle, each containing a letter representing the appropriate compass direction (N, S, E, W).

At the top center of the tablet is written:
Immediately below this is the outline of a square, inside which is written:
Around the edges of the square are written the names of four ancient languages, one per edge. Starting from the top and proceeding clockwise, they are:Babylonian (in cuneiform

Cuneiform

Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...

script), Classical Greek, Sanskrit

Sanskrit

and Ancient Egyptian

Egyptian language

Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...

(in hieroglyphics).

On the left side of the tablet is the following column of text:

The words appear as shown under the time capsule heading; no dates are engraved.

Physical data

On the right side of the tablet is the following column of text:

Guidestone languages

Below the two columns of text is written the caption "GUIDESTONE LANGUAGES". The names of eight modern languages are inscribed along the long edges of the projecting rectangles, one per edge. Starting from due north and moving clockwise around so that the upper edge of the northeast rectangle is listed first, they are English

English language

, Spanish

Spanish language

, Swahili

Swahili language

, Hindi

Hindi

, Hebrew

Hebrew language

, Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, Chinese

Chinese language

and Russian

Russian language

. At the bottom center of the tablet is the following text:

Astronomical features

The four outer stones are oriented to mark the limits of the 18.6 year lunar declination cycle. The center column features a hole through which the North Star can be seen regardless of time, as well as a slot that is aligned with the Sun's solstices and equinoxes. A 7/8" aperture in the capstone

Coping (architecture)

Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....

allows a ray of sun to pass through at noon each day, shining a beam on the center stone indicating the day of the year.

Location

34.231984°N 82.894506°W

The Georgia Guidestones are located on a hilltop in Elbert County

Elbert County, Georgia

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

, approximately 90 miles (144.8 km) east of Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, 45 miles (72.4 km) from Athens

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, and 9 miles (14.5 km) north of the center of Elberton

Elberton, Georgia

Elberton is the largest city in Elbert County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,743 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Elbert County and serves as a hub for industry and small business in Northeast Georgia...

. The stones are standing on a rise a short distance to the east of Georgia Highway 77 (Hartwell Highway), and are visible from that road. Small signs beside the highway indicate the turnoff for the Guidestones, which is identified by a street sign as "Guidestones Rd." It is located on the highest point in Elbert County.

Ownership

Elbert County owns the Georgia Guidestones site. Robert C. Christian deeded the five acres to the county immediately upon purchase from Wayne Mullenix. According to the Georgia Mountain Travel Association's detailed history: "The Georgia Guidestones are located on the farm of Mildred and Wayne Mullenix..." The Elbert County land registration system shows what appears to be the Guidestones as County land purchased on October 1, 1979.
The monument was unveiled in March 1980, with the presence of 100 people. Another account specifies March 22, 1980 and said 400 people attended.

Controversy

Yoko Ono

is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

and others have praised the inscribed messages as "a stirring call to rational thinking," while opponents have labeled them as the "Ten Commandments of the Antichrist

Antichrist

The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...

."

The Guidestones have become a subject of interest for conspiracy theorists. One of them, an activist named Mark Dice

Mark Dice

Mark Dice is an author, pop culture critic, and political activist based in San Diego, California.Dice and his supporters have been reported to "flood the airwaves of call-in radio and television shows," a practice called phone mobbing, to promote these ideas. His first book, a 450-page manifesto...

, demanded that the Guidestones "be smashed into a million pieces, and then the rubble used for a construction project," claiming that the Guidestones are of "a deep Satanic

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

origin," and that R. C. Christian, belongs to "a Luciferian secret society" related to the New World Order. At the unveiling of the monument, a local minister proclaimed that he believed the monument was "for sun worshipers, for cult worship and for devil worship".

Radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in his 2008 documentary Endgame: Elite's Blueprint For Global Enslavement, told the viewer that "the message of the mysterious Georgia Guidestones, purportedly built by representatives of a secret society called the Rosicrucian Order or Rosicrucians, which call for a global religion, world courts, and for population levels to be maintained at around 500 million, over a 5.5 billion reduction from current levels. The stones infer that humans are a cancer upon the earth and should be culled in order to maintain balance with nature."

In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the new world order." Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...

magazine called the defacement "the first serious act of vandalism in the Guidestones' history". More recently, in an apparent attempt to topple the monument, a large notch was cut from the top of the English language Guidestone near the 8" long, 1⅝" thick stainless steel dowel pin used to secure that slab to the capstone.

, the stones bear a variety of graffiti. Elbert County is funding ongoing repair and has installed two video surveillance cameras at the site.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.