Ben Carson: Egyptian pyramids were used to store grain, not Pharaohs' tombs

[Dave Lane]

Egypt’s pyramids were built by the biblical Joseph to store grain and were not, as archaeologists believe, tombs for pharaohs, Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson has said.

The retired neurosurgeon, who is seeking his party’s nomination for the White House, made these remarks in a 1998 address at Andrews University, a Michigan school associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to which he belongs, in a video posted on Buzzfeed on Wednesday.

The church is a conservative evangelical Christian one.

“My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” Carson – who last week overtook Republican rival Donald Trump for the first time in a national poll – told graduates in his address.

“Now all the archeologists 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’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.”

Asked on Wednesday if he still held these views, Carson told CBS News: “It’s still my belief, yes.”

Speaking to MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday, rival Republican Trump said: “He’s informed me about the pyramids. I think I’ll have to put that in my repertoire about Ben. That was a strange deal.”

In his 1998 address, Carson said: “And when you look at the way that the pyramids are made, with many chambers that are hermetically sealed, they’d have to be that way for various reasons.

“And various of scientists have said, ‘Well, you know there were alien beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that’s how, you know, it doesn’t require an alien being when God is with you’.”

In the old testament book of Genesis, Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, was said to have “stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure”.

After seven years of plenty, the story in Genesis says, Egypt suffered seven years of famine, during which Joseph was able to feed the people with the grain he had stored.

Carson has spoken often about his faith, saying recently of his critics: “They say, ‘Carson, you know, how can you be a surgeon, a neurosurgeon, and believe that God created the Earth, and not believe in evolution, which is the basis of all knowledge and all science?’ …

“But I do believe God created us, and I did just fine … And in fact, the more you know about God, and the deeper your relationship with God, I think the more intricate becomes your knowledge of the way things work, including the human body.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...pharoahs-tombs

[Pitt Gorilla]

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Andoverer

Yeah right up there

Speeding ticket then. Didn't Bush like the nose candy?

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by eDave

Speeding ticket then. Didn't Bush like the nose candy?

And booze

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by fan4ever

What a dumbass. Somebody should as him to name the 53 states.

First, it is 57 states.
Second, you're going to compare an obvious goof with a thought-out and carefully articulated expression of belief? ok

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Probably. But that's not the point. He publicly exposed himself as a nut, as Carson has done on a number of occasions now. But somehow Carson seems to be immune to the effects of publically exposing oneself as a nut.

Not really. He is still campaigning where the Evangelical RWNJ's live. He still has not proven that independents will just let his strange views slide.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Brock

Right up there with admitting to illegal parking

Unless you are black.

[ILChief]

How bad is it when Trump isn't even close to the biggest kook running for his party's nomination?

[Fish]

Archaeologists To Ben Carson: Ancient Egyptians Wrote Down Why The Pyramids Were Built

[...]

We know what the pyramids were built for because the ancient Egyptians tell us what they were built for (see, for example, the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts). Denying ancient people the capability of building monumental structures is not new, though, and not confined to Egypt — plenty of people over the years have denied that Native Americans could have built the massive earthwork mounds across the U.S. and that the Mayas could have built their pyramids without help from aliens, Europeans, or a higher religious power.

It might be nice to think that Carson has learned since his talk, nearly two decades ago, more about the ancient Egyptian civilization. But no; Carson affirmed this belief in Joseph and his amazing technicolor grain silo to CBS News last night, doubling down on a profound, willful ignorance of science.

In the end, does it really matter what Carson thinks about the Egyptian pyramids? There will always be science deniers, there will always be people swayed by pseudoarchaeology, and there will always be people who believe what they want no matter the facts. It does matter, though, because Carson is vying for the job of representing the United States. So it matters that Carson casually rejects hundreds of years’ worth of research because in denying science, he throws the U.S. back into the past. It matters that he brazenly denies the Egyptian people their rightful history because this marginalizes an entire culture and makes the U.S. look like an ignorant bully.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Fish

Archaeologists To Ben Carson: Ancient Egyptians Wrote Down Why The Pyramids Were Built

Pffft...I guess archaeologists and the ancient Egyptians don't care that Dr. Carson has his own personal theory.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Fish

Archaeologists To Ben Carson: Ancient Egyptians Wrote Down Why The Pyramids Were Built

[...]

We know what the pyramids were built for because the ancient Egyptians tell us what they were built for (see, for example, the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts). Denying ancient people the capability of building monumental structures is not new, though, and not confined to Egypt — plenty of people over the years have denied that Native Americans could have built the massive earthwork mounds across the U.S. and that the Mayas could have built their pyramids without help from aliens, Europeans, or a higher religious power.

It might be nice to think that Carson has learned since his talk, nearly two decades ago, more about the ancient Egyptian civilization. But no; Carson affirmed this belief in Joseph and his amazing technicolor grain silo to CBS News last night, doubling down on a profound, willful ignorance of science.

In the end, does it really matter what Carson thinks about the Egyptian pyramids? There will always be science deniers, there will always be people swayed by pseudoarchaeology, and there will always be people who believe what they want no matter the facts. It does matter, though, because Carson is vying for the job of representing the United States. So it matters that Carson casually rejects hundreds of years’ worth of research because in denying science, he throws the U.S. back into the past. It matters that he brazenly denies the Egyptian people their rightful history because this marginalizes an entire culture and makes the U.S. look like an ignorant bully.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Pffft...I guess archaeologists and the ancient Egyptians don't care that Dr. Carson has his own personal theory.

It must be respected or blaise will follow you around for weeks calling you a bigot.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Pffft...I guess archaeologists and the ancient Egyptians don't care that Dr. Carson has his own personal theory.

Stupid archaeologists are probably the same crackpots who believe the Earth is billions of years old.

[Aries Walker]

Those would be some atrociously designed and incredibly inefficient grain silos.

[DaveNull]

Then there's this shit, but it's not nearly as mind numbing as his pyramid theory..

It is important to remember that amateurs built the Ark and it was the professionals that built the Titanic. @my_ccu pic.twitter.com/6Nqod4sicS

— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) October 29, 2015