Page 135 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

symbolism from Ancient Egypt, depicting the Akeru, lion gods of
yesterday and today (Akeru was written in hieroglyphs as ). The
religions of both regions share many other common images and
ideas. Also noteworthy is the fact that p’achi, the Central American
word for ‘human sacrifice’, means, literally ‘to open the mouth’—
which calls to mind a strange Ancient Egyptian funerary ritual known
as ‘the opening of the mouth’. Likewise it was believed in both
regions that the souls of dead kings were reborn as stars.

Deus ex machina

Villahermosa, Tabasco province
I was looking at an elaborate relief that had been dubbed ‘Man in
Serpent’ by the archaeologists who found it at La Venta. According to
expert opinion it showed ‘an Olmec, wearing a head-dress and holding an
incense bag, enveloped by a feathered serpent’.
13
The relief was carved into a slab of solid granite measuring about four
feet wide by five feet high and showed a man sitting with his legs
stretched out in front of him as though he were reaching for pedals with
his feet. He held a small, bucket-shaped object in his right hand. With his
left he appeared to be raising or lowering a lever. The ‘head-dress’ he
wore was an odd and complicated garment. To my eye it seemed more
functional than ceremonial, although I could not imagine what its
function might have been. On it, or perhaps on a console above it, were
two x-shaped crosses.
I turned my attention to the other principal element of the sculpture,

13 The Cities of Ancient Mexico, p. 37.

133