INTRODUCTION

I effected this search to give my interpretation to an enigma that olds out since two thousand years.The Magic Square, this is the name with which it’s known, is a palindrome formed by five words of fiveletters that can be read in the same way from the four directions of the sides of the square itself.

This formula (rotas opera tenet arepo sator) was very widespread in the places of the Roman Empire,probably propagandised by the legionaries of garrison (see: Baldi Agnello, La Pompei giudaico-cristiana,Di Mauro Editore 1964, pp. 42,43). In 1937 it was found five times in Mesopotamia and there are somespecimens of it in Egypt, in Cappadocia, in Britain and in Hungary. There are most recent specimens, Irefer to the ones aren’t proper to the epoch of the Roman Empire, but it’s necessary to make areference to the Middle Ages and especially to the sacred buildings which are attributed to the Order ofthe Templars and to buildings which are connected to them.

The most ancient and easy datable specimens, with reference to the period, were found in Pompeii,that was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius at 79 A. C., and so they certainly belong to a former periodof the eruption. The two Pompeian evidences have been very important for the development of thissearch because it wouldn’t have the foundations to support two thousand years of history without theinformation obtained from them.

About the two Pompeian evidences, there is only a graphic reproduction of the one found on acolumn of the Big Palestra; the other specimen of the “Magic Square”, that I will call “Sator”, was foundduring the archaeological excavations from 1925 to 1936 in Paquio Proculo’s house, duumvir around 74A. C.; scholar Della Corte found the two palindromes during the period of the excavations of Pompeii.

I did a travel over the history, the mythology and the beliefs of the ancient civilizations, reading theenigma in a particular way and taking Pompeii as starting point and reference. Then I continued overthe Middle Ages up to arrive today, where the science, perhaps, could confirm an incredible andextraordinary story.

This my search, besides bases itself on a particular and original interpretation of the “Sator”, putsformer known things in another light. For this reason many information and news, drawn from the worksof well-known authors and it’s possible to read them in the following chapters, will be accuratelyreported and sometimes integrated with other ones.

It will be a real discussion, based on questions, to which it will try to give an answer. Myinterpretation of the “Sator” wants to be the reinforcement, that there isn’t, and that makes to resultbeliefs and customs of ancient times and of all other times as inexplicable and incomprehensible.

It will be very interesting to know that this formula is very widespread. Europe, especially Italy andFrance, has numerous specimens that it’s possible to see in the original square formula or in a classicaltext or making up a circle.

About my solution it will be necessary to make a reference to the classical arrangement, that is thesquare one.

I devoted a particular interest to the religious beliefs of the ancient civilizations interpreting, alwayswith a subjective and original way, some works of art. Very interesting are some Pompeian paintingswhich I connected to the representations of the ceilings of the great Pharaohs’ tombs.

The big buildings of the cathedrals, attributed to the period of the crusades and so of the Templars,will find also them an interesting reference to Ancient Egypt, as far as arrive to the Plain of Giza.

Then the Charterhouse of Trisulti , with the enigmatic paintings of Neapolitan painter Filippo Balbi, willbe, I like to define it so, a kind of “out the nines” of the information coming out of the “Sator”.

THE ORIGINS

It’s necessary to start from the solution to reconstruct the history of the “Sator”. It’s obligatoryderiving from it the information that makes possible an historical-religious way that has a fairly goodreliability.

The first text that proves the existence of the “Sator” is proper to the first century. Reference to this

square was made in Pliny the Elder’s1 “Naturalis Historia” (28,20), his only work arrived in full to us.

In the twenty-eighth book, that the author dedicated to the animals, reference was made toincomprehensible formulas which traced on the walls should have to keep the fires away.

Another document that describes the “Sator” is the ancient text called “Key of King Solomon”.“Clavicola Salomonis” is considered the most famous and feared among the texts of ritual magic. Themost ancient specimens, found on monuments or on buildings, are the ones which were discovered inthe ancient town of Pompeii thanks to the archaeological excavations effected from 1925 to 1936.

The particularity of the “Sator” found in Pompeii pic.1 is that the formula doesn’t appear alone: thereare a triangle upon and the writing “ANO” under.

The “Sator” is composed by Latin characters and it’s obvious that is to attribute to persons who spokeLatin language, but it is to consider in its all shades that were present at that epoch too. So it’snecessary to make out what kind of language was utilized to compose the enigma and it’s much moreimportant to find a key that permits to read all letters in a determinate order to compose a translatablephrase.

About the utilized language, or better, about the shade of utilized language, it needs to analyze theperiod and to look for the shades which were peculiar to Latin language and have arrived until today.Analysing the history of Pompeii it’s possible to become a ware of how in this town generations ofpeople, who had to change many times governors and consequently habits and way of speaking, lived.

The evolution of the Latin language wasn’t certainly an exclusive characteristic of Pompeii, but herethanks to the eruption of Vesuvius, thanks naturally is only for the function of preservation that the lavahas carried out during the centuries, there are some evidences arrived until today.

The evolution of a language is certainly given by the contact with other peoples and Pompei offers aconcise sight that can be taken for example.

Pompeii, a town of Oscan extraction, was characterized by Grecian, Etruscan and Samnite hegemoniesand it definitively became a Roman town at 89 B. C..

From the eighth century B. C. the first Ionic groups were already quartered in Campania and couldcolonize also Pompeii without many difficult because Oscan people didn’t offer a strong resistance. So

the town grew under Grecian control.2 Aspired territory of conquest, Pompeii was prey of Etruscan

people during the period from the fifth century to the fourth century B. C. and then it returned again

under Grecian control about 474 B. C..3

Until that period to 80 B. C. Pompeii was characterized by many wars. Grecian people couldn’tanything against the Samnites, a people of hostile warriors, who occupied the territory during many

periods leaving marks visible still today.4

Only at 89 B. C. they were definitively defeated by the Romans thanks to Silla.5 The Romans

appreciated very much Pompeii and all the conquered Campania territory. In fact many personages ofimportance chose this town as locality to build a residence where it was possible to spend part of year.

The position, the climate, the thermal baths were very inviting attractions.6

The life in Pompeii, especially during the first years A. C., passed so that the town became a reference

point for the trade, the culture and the amusements. Every things finished between 62 A. C., when aearthquake caused huge damages, to 79 A. C. with the eruption of Vesuvius that buried all thetown and the surrounding territory.

When the Romans conquered the town permanently and imposed the Latin language, in Pompeii twolanguages were spoken: the Oscan language and the Grecian language. The use of the second one wasalso allowed with the coming of the Latin language because the Romans esteemed Grecian people very

much.7 The Latin used in Pompeii was an evolving language and wasn’t an academic Latin that teachers

tried to teach with many difficults.8

In Pompeii, before the eruption of 79 A. C., was spoken and written a vulgar Latin, foundation of the

Romance languages.9

It needs to make a reference to this language to arrive at the solution of the enigma that the “Sator”contains, because the indication of the reading key is in this language and some words of the solutionbelong to it.

The vulgar Latin wasn’t only a language spoken by the lowest classes of the population, but it wasthe language spoken by all the people, with shades according to the place of origin and to the social

class of belonging.10

Between the classical Latin and the vulgar Latin there are differences about phonology, morphology,syntax and lexicon. It’s a question of two aspects of the same language and not of two different

languages.11

There is an important vowel aspect about the reduction of some diphthongs: AU becomes O, for

instance AURU (M) > ORO12

(gold). “M” letter falls in the accusative that inclines to become the oblique

case pre-eminently; the use of the nominative still remains.13

The classical Latin used the subordination

while the vulgar Latin preferred to use the co-ordination.14

Peculiar characteristics of the lexicon of the

vulgar Latin are: concreteness, specificity, expressive immediateness and phonetic consistence.15

There aren’t evidences wholly written in vulgar Latin but there are texts with parts of this variety oflanguage which manifested oneself already in the archaic Latin (for instance in Plautus, about 250-184

B. C.) but then they were refused by the classic literary language of the next period.16

Some documentswhich testify the use of the vulgar Latin are:

- the Satyricom of Petronius (first century A. C.), work in which the author made new rich Trimalcione tospeak a language full of vulgarisms;

- the inscriptions and the graffiti of Pompeii, kept thanks to the eruption of Vesuvius that buried thetown;

- many works of Christian authors who used on purpose a language near the one spoken by the people;

- many tablets carved by stonecutters of lacking education.17

As it knows the specimen of "Sator" found in Pompeii, has above itself a triangle and has under itselfthe writing "ANO". This geometric figure and this short word are the key to "unhinge" the hidden secretof the enigma. The word "ANO" means ring (from classical Latin ANUS, ANUM); the ring to take intoconsideration is the ring that contains the triangle.

The ring par excellence corresponds to this figure; it's the Signed-Ring of Solomon, that he receivedby his father David, from whom derives the name of the symbol that is obtained by the union of twotriangles: the star of David or Hexagram.

It's the key that shows the way, the way to reading that it's necessary to do through the letterscontained in the square.

Superimposing the star upon the "Sator" it can be observed that these two figures arecomplementary. Starting from the point turned to the top and going on the left, a determinate tracing isobtained, through that it goes just once on every segment (it's the only way that originates atranslatable phrase). The word "AENEAS" is obtained by the letters that are out of that determinatetracing. Reading the letters on that determinate tracing the following phrase is obtained (colours showthe following course):

TORO TRA PER SATOR PETO AENEAS.

THE BULL IS TRANSFORMED THROUGH THE CREATOR INTO THE MAN.

It's evident that "AENEAS" means man, because the composition of the "Sator" is to attribute to theRomans.

It's a palindrome and so it's possible to read the same phrase starting from the point turneddownwards and going on the right.

The same thing is worth for the versions that were found according to the formula that sees as firstword Sator and not Rotas. At the end of this work we will try to explain the reason of this characteristicthat sees the Medieval specimens to begin just with the word Sator.

According to the distance and the size of the letters that composed the enigma a star with thicker orthinner lines will be utilized.

THE STAR WITH SIX POINTS

The star with six points is made by the interlacing of two superimposed triangles (hexagram), oneoriented to the top and another one to the low.

This symbol was diffused very much among the cultures of the ancient world and the traditional

interpretation sees in the two triangles the representation of two elements (water and fire).1 Later on a

composition of four elements was attributed to the star with six points, where the triangle with the pointdirected to the low represents the world and the water and the triangle with the point directed to the

top the air and the fire.2

In the alchemic iconography the mixing of these four elements marks the primordial matter thatincludes all the components. With an analogous interpretation, the star with six points, is utilized by the

Masonry for the seals of the lodges and it’s besides considered as the symbol of the totality.3

The star with six points is also present in the graffiti of Alpine region, but also in magic and esotericbooks of the common people with the function of a strong magic symbol without correlation to the

Jewish tradition where it assumes the name of David’s star or Solomon’s seal.4

If it’s inscribed in a circle is considered like a kind of mandala. The Indian shri-yantra mandala couldbe seen as a complicated elaboration of the star with six points: nine triangles, interlaced reciprocally in

a multiplex frame make reference to a dualistic system of philosophic derivation.5

In ancient China, The Book of the Changes (I-ching), treats of a symbol that concerns the concept ofpolarity, of the original masculine and feminine concept in terms of oracle. This art of divination,probably present already in Chou dynasty around 1000 B. C., was executed before with the stalks of theyarrow and then with a graphic transcription of continuous lines symbolizing the masculine element andbroken in the middle lines symbolizing the feminine element. Three lines, one on the other one form atrigram. It’s possible to have eight combinations of trigrams: air, world, water, fire, humidity, wind,thunder and mountains.

Through the union of two trigrams at a time sixty-four combinations of figures with six lines (David’sstar) are formed that should have to give a kind of key-formula. For example, six continuous lines meanair, king, father, who lavishes; six broken in the middle lines means world, people, mother, who

receives.6

I-ching contains the harmonization of the polar elements (yin and yang), that form the dualisticcosmic system. Yin represents feminine, north, cold, shade, world, passivity, humidity and it’s symbolizedby a broken line, while yang, symbolized by a continuos line, represents masculine, air, south, light,activity, dry and moreover emperor. These two elements are considered of same order and their

symbolic figurative representation bases itself on the division of the circular surface into two poles .7

The same iconography is present on the flag of South Korea, where the representation of these twoelements is symbolized both by the division of the circle and by the trigrams, four of them in this case.

For the ancient medicine the eight regions of the human body correspond to the eight trigrams.8 It

should be noted that the diffusion of the symbol with six points was well present in the ancientcivilizations of various parts of the world. A value of representation of the dualistic system is attributedto it, that can be summarized as follows: the triangle with the vertex oriented to the top symbolizes thenature, the triangle with the vertex oriented to the low symbolizes the eternal.

So David’s star is the graphic representation of the union of the air and the world, of the eternal andthe matter.

The “Sator” is certainly the literal expression of the star with six points that is the key to “unhinge” it.In fact it shows the union of God and Taurus, of God and nature, of eternal and matter, of air andworld.

The “Sator” and consequently the star with six points show the man.

Without the interpretation of the “Sator” all these data reported here and present and available inmany books, should result incomprehensible to most people, since the most important part is absent.

AENEAS

To succeed in reconstructing the “Sator” story it’s necessary to analyze the elements that emergedfrom its solution .

It needs to refer to Aeneas for spotting the authors. Whereas the bull will show the religiousreference.

Aeneas was born on Mount Ida thanks to love between Venus and Anchises, Dardanus’s descendant ,Jupiter’s son. He married Creusa, Priam’s daughter, king of Troy, and from her had a son, Ascanius,called Julo, too. Just to him Virgilian tradition ascribes the foundation of Rome, exactly originated fromthe Gens Julia. After Troy falling into the hands of the Greeks Aeneas abandoned his own country andwent towards the west to arrive in Italy. After his arrival in Latium he was received very well by kingLatino, who allowed him to found a town called Lavinium. After about four years of reign, because of anEtruscan invasion, Aeneas passed away at a young age of thirty-eight years. Ascanius, his son,

found the town of Alba a little far off giving origin to the Gens Julia, who would have founded Rome.1

Just in Pompeii there are the remains of some statues representing the very important personages for

the Romans: they were situated in the forum and the first of them was just Aeneas’ one.2 Still in

Pompeii there are some paintings representing Aeneas’ heroic deeds.

If Aeneas represents the man in the solution it’s obvious the author or the authors, referring to him,want to show to whom the composition of the enigma belongs .

It needs to attribute the making of the “Sator” to the Romans because Aeneas was considered thefounder of Rome, the man who gave origin to the Gens Giulia.

Minor personage in the Iliad, Aeneas was already known by the Romans in some writings (Naevius,

Ennius, Cato, Varro)3 but Virgil consecrated him as the founder of Rome in his work “Aeneid”.

Could the name Aeneas show, besides the Romans, also the author-compositor of the “Sator”? Couldit be a kind of signature , that the author of the enigma wanted to leave to attribute its making tohimself later on?

If it was, the author of the “Sator” could have been just Virgil, he whom more than all elevatedAeneas to founder of Rome.

Born in the province of Mantua (Italy) at 70 B. C. he moved to Rome and he lived in Naples. Within37 and 30 B. C., in Campania, invented the “Georgics” and then devoted himself completely to the“Aeneid”. Under the indication of emperor August, Virgil was called to celebrate the Gens Julia in thiswork that consists of twelve books and that the author, on the point of dying, (at fifty-two years), askedit was destroyed. It seems that Virgil read, in the presence of emperor August, the second, the fourth

and the sixth books.4

It’s obvious that the figure of emperor August had to have a definite and fundamental role. It’s toremember that some specimens of the “Sator” were quite propagated by the Roman legionaries and soit’s sure that there was the authorities’ consent.

About Virgil’s favourite books, I refer to those whom he read in the presence of the emperor, and ina particular manner I refer to the second book, the second verse can’t pass unnoticed: “INDE TOROPATER AENEAS SIC ORSUS AB ALTO”.

If we ascribe the making of the “Sator” to Virgil, this phrase can arouse some interest. It’s obvious itwould be absurd finding explicit references to the content of the “Sator” but if we believe Virgil as theauthor of the enigma it’s likewise obvious that it wasn’t a coincidence that “TORO PATER AENEAS” wasinserted in his work. Besides it’s necessary adding that the author of the “Aeneid” used the word“Sator” to mean the maker (First book).

SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

But from where could the Romans learn what was the real origin of man and the real meaning of thestar with six points?

The reference to Solomon’s seal turns the attention to Jerusalem, that was stormed and destroyed in70 A. C. by the Romans, and to its temple and naturally to Salomon’s temple.

Magical properties were attributed to the ring that Solomon received from his father and this symbol,the shape of which is a star with six points, today is still part of the history of the people of Israel thatenclosed it in own its flag.

It’s obvious August’s period was former to the capture of Jerusalem and so that know ledge had toderive from other sources. Let’s try to understand what it could be, examining the history of Jerusalemand its temples.

Solomon made to start the construction of the temple and of the contiguous royal palace about 970

B. C. The works lasted about twenty years: seven for the temple and thirteen for his residence.1 King

Solomon participated in this project, begun by his father David, bounded himself and all the Jewishpeople considerably.

He turned to king Hiram of Tyre who saw to procure also part of the material (cedar and cypress),2

to instruct the man-power and to fabricate the necessary tools for the construction. It seems Hiramlearnt the masonry in Egypt.

The temple that was built was a model of geometrical symbolism: the Holy of Holies, where the Ark

of the Alliance was placed, had a perfect cubic volume.3 This detail, that is the geometrical symbolism,

is put in touch with the configuration of the universe.

Solomon’s temple, as however all the original temples, was a reflection of the divine world and itsarchitecture represented the idea of the eternal, of the world. Cosmology and theology are united in the

architectonic works consecrated to the divinity by the humanity.4

The Egyptian tradition of the temples has arrived until the Church of Rome passing through Jahvè’s

Temple built for Solomon,5 which the Cistercians and the Templars followed in the twelfth century.

Solomon’s Temple was enriched of many decorations, among which the so-called bronze sea stoodout: twelve bulls, placed as that three of them looked at the north, three looked at the west, threelooked at the south and three at the east, carried the holy water contained in a round vessel that was a

pal in thickness.6 Those twelve bulls, could be a representation of the twelve tribes who gave origin to

Israel.

It speaks about a possible correlation among Solomon’s Temple and some Egyptian buildings and inthis connection it’s necessary adding that in the geometry of the temple the golden number (1,618) wasincluded, typical of Egyptian, Grecian, Roman and mediaeval buildings.

Today, where Solomon’s Temple was, there is the Mosque al-Aqsa that dates back to 705-715 thanks

to work of the caliph Ommayade al-Walid.7 Still in the plain there is another religious building: the Dome

of the Rock (Omar’s Mosque) that has the shape of an octagon. This geometric shape, that wasprobably the same of Solomon’s Temple, will be attentively analyzed in the following chapters, where itsparticular meaning will be pointed out.

But in what did Hebrew believe?

And particularly what is the religion that supports or supported what emerged from the “Sator”?

Reconstructing the story it’s necessary to pay attention to what message we have in front of us :“THROUGH THE CREATOR THE BULL TRANSFORMS IN MAN”.

It’s obvious the reference to a monotheistic religion like the Jewish one. But it is to underline that theOld Testament doesn’t contemplate what emerged before like the origin of the man, and howevernobody else religion, basing itself on the interpretations given till now.

So it’s necessary to analyze with attention all the civilizations got in touch with the Hebrewpopulations, trying to know which is the one or which are the ones that attributed a particular meaningto the bull and trying to know its origin. We must also consider if the Romans decided to encode thismessage it’s probably that also other civilizations did the same thing or hid it.

Encoding a document means two things: the first one is that the document has a considerableimportance and so it has to keep and hand down; the second one is that the divulgation can’t happen inan universal way.

This reasoning is valid naturally for the period and the context in which it was decided to encode thedocument.

Since most ancient times the populations, then they should have given life to Israel, had somecontacts with the Egyptians, civilization that influenced the history of this nation in a determining way.

Just the Egyptians professed two religions: one for the adepts to the mysteries of the religion and

another one for mostly population.8 We will see later why of this fact.

Abraham was the first man to whom the appellation of Hebrew was attributed, particularly by theforeigners with whom he was in contact; this appellation is explained with the name of his remoteancestor, “Eber”. He went to Egypt for some period. His son Ishmael, had from slave Agar, was takenaway by Sarah (Abraham’s wife) and went to the desert where he became progenitor of nomadicfamilies.

Also Isaac, the legitimate son had from his wife Sarah, stayed for a time in Egypt. His son Jacob gavelife to the nation called Israel and he, progenitor of the twelve tribes, was called Israel too. Israel hadtwelve children from two wives and from two concubines: Joseph, the pet, was betrayed by his brothersand he went to Egypt where, at Pharaoh’s court, became powerful and called to him his father and his

reconciled brothers. So the legitimate breed of Abraham settled in Egypt.9

Under the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty, when Ramses II was to the throne (1290-1224 B. C.)Abraham’s descendants lost the freedom that they recovered running away to the Promised Land, guidedby Moses. The traditional history thinks so.

Moses, who guided the people to Palestine, is considered the initiator of the Israelite or Mosaicreligion. He is the first great biblical personage to whom it’s possible to attribute a delineated story, atleast in outline.

Descendant from Levi’s caste (Levi was the third son of Jacob, he gave origin to the Levites who werethe ministers and the servants of the temple) and contemporary with the Pharaoh Ramses II, was

salvaged from the river by one of the daughters of Pharaoh and was brought up at court.10

This is the period of which we have mostly reliable information regard to the contact with theEgyptian civilization and so it will start from here trying to give an explanation of the secrets, beforekept in Solomon’s Temple and after in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Moses was brought up at the court of the Pharaoh and it’s possible he was initiated into the mysterieswhich have always wrapped up the Egyptian history.

It asserts also Moses was the son of one of the daughters of Sethi I (father of Ramses II) and of aHebrew with whom she fell in love. We will see in the chapter dedicated to Egypt that Sethi I and hisson Ramses II had the same knowledge and so it isn’t very important which was the court where Moseswas brought up, as regards this search.

When the Hebrews settled in Palestine had not developed political regulations in comparison with theother peoples. They changed last the nomadism into a sedentary life and so they had to face all thoseproblems coming from the administration of a state. It was necessary to establish a united and strongstate because of the continual conflicts with the populations who wanted to conquer their territory.

The figure of the minister prophet was instituted and a very important role was attributed to him:interpreting the divine will and giving to the monarch a divine peculiarity by means of the unction.

This role, carried out by Samuel, imitated the figure formerly present among peoples like theEgyptians and the Babylonians, so that the legitimacy of monarch was dependent of the investiture of

the minister.11

The tensions between the monarch and the minister incited a dispute for the power thatculminated to the separation between Samuel and Saul, who tried to get rid of the priesthood.

During these tensions a warrior of the tribe of Judah made himself conspicuous; people already talkedabout him during the war against the Philistines: David, this was his name, with the support of the

priesthood was elected king and successor of Saul and of his dinasty.12

Putting the Jewish people together, who had to clash again with the Philistines and capturingJerusalem, he laid the foundations for a prosperous and sound state. Jerusalem became the royalresidence and the religious centre of the nation. There was carried the Holy Ark that, from thewandering palladium of the times of nomadism, was placed in the Sanctuary of Silo at the time of

Samuel.13

David was able to avoid with ability the influence that the ministers had on the power and so could

begin a political expansion.14

To David succeeded his son Solomon who, had from wife Bethsabea, in fact she influenced in a

determining manner his investiture, reigned over Israel more as a Pharaoh that as a king.15

After the death of Solomon the reign was separated in two little states: tothe south the reign of Judah(926 B. C. – 722 B. C.) with capital Jerusalem, to the north the reign of Israel with capital Sichem, then

Tirzah and Penuel and in the end Samaria.16

During the period from 871 B. C. to 852 B. C. in the northern reign of Israel the Phoenician divinities

were venerated, given the marriage of king Acab with Phoenician princess Gezabele.17

In this period amovement of Jahvista protest gained ground, that was led by prophet Elijah, who tried to established

again the ancient cult.18

Under the reign of Jehu (845 B. C. –818 B. C Israel began its decline that reached the climax with the

capture and the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians, who annexed it like a province (722 B. C.).19

In the southern reign of Judah, when queen Atalia reigned (845 B. C. – 839 B. C.), the cult of Baalwas introduced. Then king Giosia (639 B. C. – 609 B. C.) found in the temple an ancient roll of the law

that revived the cult of Jhwh.20

Also the reign with capital Jerusalem was invaded by foreigners.

After about one year of siege Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians who didn’t save even the

Temple of Solomon. So a deportation of the Hebrews towards Babylon started.21

When in 538 B. C.,with Cyrus’s edict, the Judaic colony from Babylon went back to Palestine found many problems tofacing. First of all they had to confront the invasion of the territory by the other populations who didn’twant to return it.

After their fitting in, the power was entrusted to a high priest who, with the approval of the PersianGovernment, introduced again Moses’ law.

After the downfall of the Persian Empire, Judaea went under the control of Alexander the Great whoguaranteed many years of peace. He died and Judaea was theatre and object of fights for theattainment of power that passed to Antioco III of Syria (198 B. C.). The following period wascharacterized by fights for and against the Hellenic infiltration that started during the reign of Antioco IVEpifane who tried to introduce it with the force sending armies against Judaea and forbidding theobservance of the Jewish religion. In December 165 B. C., under the guide of the sons of priest Mattatiaof Asmonei family, among whom Judah called Maccabeus, the Judeans succeeded to conquer again thepower taking and consecrating again the temple that the Syrians transformed into a pagan sanctuary.

After the death of Antioco there were other wars between Syrians and Judeans till now, to last ones,the freedom to keep to their own laws wasn’t guaranteed. After the death of Judah (160 B. C.), whomade alliances with the Romans, his brothers who succeeded him increased the reign but thepeace wasn’t certainly a prerogative of this country. Discords and fights flowed among the variousparties, especially of the Pharisee and of the Sadducees, determined the Roman intervention; theRomans by means of Pompeius besieged Jerusalem, that, for a certain period, was reduced under theoppressive control of the Roman procurators and afterwards went under Herod who was elected king ofJudea and vassal of the Romans. At his death (4 A. C.) Judea was for a certain period victim of thefights for the succession; pillages and violence perpetrated by the Roman procurators, one was PontiusPilate, favoured the development of a situation of anarchy because of which Jerusalem was in the powerof bands of malefactors. A violent revolt (65 A. C.) induced Emperor Nero to send against Judea 66 A.

C.) Vespasian, who, seized Galilee and Perea, went in Judea to Jerusalem.22

At the death of Nero, Vespasian came back Rome like an emperor; Jerusalem was taken by siege byhis son Titus who didn’t even save the Temple (70 B. C.).This chronology of events, mostly of militarykind, fundamentally points out the populations who were in contact with Hebrews; these events don’treconstruct the history of those par-off times of which there aren’t reliable evidences.

The Bible itself doesn’t supply information in a clear manner. So we will try, for all it’s possible, toconfine ourselves to the interpretation of documents preserved still today.

About the religion of Israel the fundamental stage is the coming from Egypt, when there was themanifestation of God on Mount Sinai.

His name is Jahvè, that in Hebrew is written only with the consonants (Jhwh).23

Another name ofGod is Elohim, plural form of El that is used in some cases with Shaddaj (omnipotent) giving origin tothe denomination El-Shaddaj (Genesis 17,1). Another name used to mean Divinity is Sebaot (in Hebrew

means arrays of armies).24

The representation of God El was practised by a bronze statuette representing a bull; thatsimulacrum was fixed at the top of a stick or of a pole to be a portable banner like the one of theGolden Calf. The prototypes of these religious emblems go back to the beginning of the third millenniumB. C.. The worship of El, practised by the Hebrew patriarchs (Cananei) immigrating in Palestine, wasproscribed by Moses even if it continued to be practised until David’s reign as testify the statuettes ofsacred bull influenced by the Egyptian art which date back to that period.

It’s possible to find evidences of these small statues in some countries: they were drawn on PharaohNamer’s palette (First Dynasty, 3185-3125 B. C.) kept at Cairo Museum; in Anatolia, dating back to the

proto-Hittite time.25

About the cult of the Golden Calf, assimilable without doubt to the bull, it’s necessary to state that theHebrews attributed to it the figure on which the invisible God settled and not the corporeal figure of thedivinity, as show analogies of other cults among which the Egyptian one (Bull Apis). The cult of theGolden Calf is very indicative as regards the beliefs of the people of Israel. Assimilable to Bull Apis, itshows clearly the origin of these beliefs.

In the religions of the Mesopotamian populations (Sumerians, Accadi, Assyrians, Babylonians), adivinatory meaning was attributed to the bull . For the Sumerians the bull was symbol of life. For theBabylonians the bull figure was the representation of God of the moon Sin. Supreme God of the stars,Enlil’s son (god of the air and of the earth), from him takes the name Sinai peninsula and thehomonymous mountain.

Goddess Ishtar was put near him, cow-shaped; her symbol was the crescent moon. She was the onlygoddess to be not subordinate to the male ones, third figure of the astral triad, goddess of the morning

star and of the evening star (planet Venus).26

Certainly these news, which describe the beliefs of ancient populations, now can be seen from otherangle. I think that whoever has never heard to speak about adoration to the cattle (for example the“Golden Calf”) has thought that the ancients were not much developed men. Were they really so? Sincemost ancient times the Hebrew people had many contacts with the Egyptian civilization. From firstcontacts that the patriarchs had, to the stay in Egypt that began about four centuries before the reign inwhich there was the Pharaoh Ramses II (1290-1224 B. C.), period during which there was the exodus,until the contacts were kept by David and his son Solomon, who married just a Pharaoh’s daughter.

The Romans were also in contact with the Egyptian civilization and they were likely to learn thatesoteric knowledge from it.

It is not to forget that Virgil, the author of the Aeneid and probably of the “Sator” too, was in veryclose relations with Emperor August, under whose reign Egypt was annexed to the Roman Empire like aprovince (31 B. C.). Julius Caesar himself, how it knows, was in contact with Egypt.

So is this the civilization that has handed down the beliefs that now seem less mythological thanbefore?

But if a particular value was already attributed to the bull, quite near to the veneration, why have anynew about it not arrived to us? And what did the Ark of the Alliance contain with exactness and moreprecisely did Moses take possession of it on the Mount Sinai or its origin must be to attribute to Egypt?

And why were Moses and the Hebrews pursued by the Egyptians when the Pharaoh himself bestowedpermission to them to leave Egypt?

And finally, why did the Romans decide to take possession of the Temple of Jerusalem, when couldhave gained information from the Egyptians?

We will try to answer all these questions in the next chapters.

THE TAKING OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

Given the weighty situation happened in Judaea Emperor Nero decided to send there Vespasian whohad the suitable qualities to repress the rising.

Vespasian was born in Sabina near Rieti on November 17th 9 A. C. from Flavius Sabinus and VespasiaPolla. He married Flavia Domitilla from which had three children: Titus, Domitian and Domitilla.

Titus himself took part with his father Vespasian in the expedition to Judaea that comprised aconcentration of forces of about sixty-thousand men. Given the resistance the Judeans continued tooffer the conquest of Galilee was accomplished with the campaign of 67 A.C. that finished with theisolation of Jerusalem, because Vespasian occupied the coast.

In spite of his officers’ piece of advice, Vespasian didn’t think it was convenient to deliver an attack to

it but rather to wait the events of the civil war that has broken out in the meantime and so to subduefirst the rest of territory around the hostile capital. When the times for taking the town were fit, the newof Nero’s death and the ascent to the throne of Galba caused Vespasian to send his son Titus to Rome

to see the situation that was happening closely.1 Once to Corinth, on the road to Rome, Titus was

reached by the new of Galba’s death and it’s from this time that it presumes a plan initiated to nominate

to power Vespasian.2

Titus decided to went back to Judaea without going to Rome where the situation was in a generalchaos and the struggle for power would have to cause two other emperors, Otone and Vitellio, followedone another at very short time.

His return journey towards the Holy Land was characterized by the halt in Cyprus and by the visit thathe did to the Temple of Pafo, likely in February 69. As regards the temple it’s defined precisely thatprobably it had Oriental origins and it’s however certain at Titus’ time the local goddess was identifiedwith Isis that was the object of many demands in relation to navigation.

Titus himself asked goddess an oracle about the continuation of his journey but the most interestingthing is the private meeting he had with the priest of the temple, Sostrato, up to now enshrouded by

mystery as the whole rest at the temple.3

But what was the real aim that led Titus to stop at Pafo’s Temple and above all, what were thesubjects he discussed with Sostrato?

Many are the suppositions about the rest at Cyprus by Titus and very interesting is the one thatspots a connection with Egypt and its priests of Isis.

In the plan that would have taken to the power Vespasian took part with considerable importance theprefect of Egypt Tiberius Julius Alexander who, during the Judaic crisis of 68/69, made use of the

Egyptian priests to award a sacral investiture to the next emperor on behalf of Serapide.4

Titus had very good relations with the prefect of Egypt, who also had good relations with the Egyptianclergy that, for the first time during the Roman Empire, the Mint of Alexandria controlled exactly by

Tiberius Julius Alexander, minted coins with goddess Isis’ effigy.5

Besides Tiberius Julius Alexander had to know very well priest Cheremonte, the greatest importance

exponent of Isis’ clergy and in past times Nero’s master.6

All this tangle of acquaintances and of good relations that the Flavis had in the period of the Judaicwar gives prominence to the particular attention turned to Isis and the Egyptian religion. The visit to thetemple of Pafo was considered by the Flavis of considerable importance since they attributed the title of

Flavia7 to the town and as regards Isis it’s to add goddess’ image began to be on the empire coins.

8 It

would seem strange to think the Flavis felt all that gratitude for goddess Isis and for Pafo town only forsome oracles.

With regard to this it’s to state Titus himself took part in the meeting with Sostrato and so it’s difficultor at least doubtful to know precisely the contents of the subject treated by the two men.

In the preceding chapter we saw how Egypt is part in determining manner of Jerusalem history and ofthe people of Israel Land and just this alliance between the two populations we consider inseparableand of primary importance in the search about what emerged from the “Sator”.

Once that Titus had Tiberius Julius Alexander’s support and then Licino Muciano’s one, who was inSyria, the plan to take to the throne his father Vespasian was started. So Vespasian decided to resignthe command of the troops around Jerusalem and to go to Rome where was the throne of the RomanEmpire to wait for him. The final conquest of Judaea was carried out by Titus who besieged anddestroyed Jerusalem in 70 without sparing even the temple.

Vespasian, when he was sent to Jerusalem, received special and very underhand tasks by Nero orwere the events to cause the Flavis became acquainted with the mysteries kept in the Temple ofJerusalem?

If Nero knew already what the Temple of Jerusalem kept it’s obvious he learnt it either fromEgyptians.

With regards to this it’s to remember that Cheremonte was his master and so there is the possibilitythat the principal mission of the expedition in Judaea was just to seize the temple and its treasures. Infact it isn’t to forget the Roman praetors instigated the rebellion and so a plan could have been planedthat would have justified the pillage of the temple.

If otherwise, Vespasian and Titus learnt some knowledge only after the death of Nero it’s probablyTiberius Julius Alexander and Sostrato, priest of the Temple of Pafo in Cyprus, had a determining roleduring the continuance of the Judaic war.

In the course of the years the capture and the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem have stimulatednumerous debates about their necessity. Up to now it isn’t obvious if the order to destroy the Templewas given by Titus or was an act not contemplated by his will. There is the fact that the connectionbetween the history of Israel people and the content of the “Sator” is such that the Temple is one of theprincipal protagonists. If in the Hebrew history, made by great men like David and his son Solomon,there is a landmark on which it’s possible to base a reliable research, this is surely Moses who, how itcomes to know, lived at the Pharaoh’s court of the nineteenth dynasty (1300 B. C.).

It’s easily imagined that it can’t leave out the history of Ancient Egypt and of its religion to continuethis research that will see particular references to this ancient civilization in all its chapters.

The Flavis took very special care to Egyptian goddess Isis, to which was already consecrated a templein Rome and where both Vespasian and Titus stayed on their way back to Jerusalem. When Titus cameback to Rome effected at least two stops in Egypt: the first at Alexandria and the other one at Melfi. Inboth towns Titus took part in celebrations happened in the Serapeo and in a particular way at Melfi,ancient religious capital, he was present at services consecrated to Bull Apis, of which girded on the

diadem.9 That circumstance stimulated clamour around the prince and led to think he was planning the

Empire scission so that he could govern the East.10

Today this celebration is less obscure and howeverthe history says Titus was faithful to his father Vespasian and so it’s to understand as an ascertainmentof the Egyptians’ beliefs and knowledge which, very probably on his return from Jerusalem, became also

his and certainly his father’s, who also took part in those celebrations during his return to Rome in 69.11

Now we can suppose a scenery which happened at Nero’s death and which made it possible forVespasian to come to the throne of Rome and for his son Titus to be in power with him: if in JerusalemTemple were kept documents proving the origin of man it’s obvious that they were of Egyptian originand Moses history attests it. With regard to this it can assert the Egyptian upper clergy and TiberiusJulius Alexander himself knew both the contents and the location of these documents and so theysupported Vespasian and Titus because recovered and returned them to the country that kept themright from the beginning.

In few words, we can suppose the support of Egypt to become the men in power of Roman Empireagainst the Ark of the Alliance.

With regard to the importance that Tiberius Julius Alexander had for the ascent to power from theFlavis we can add that in 68, after Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, Titus in 70 was sent toconclude the Judaic War and as his Chief of Staff of the army in Judaea Tiberius Julius Alexander wasjust designated, former Egypt prefect and now praetorium prefect too.

This personage’s importance and power are indisputable; he was of noble Alexandrian origin andsucceeded in staying prefect under five emperors, from Nero to Vespasian, when usually at the

emperor’s death prefect fell off and nearly always was replaced.12

Vespasian decided to wait inAlexandria and then to return to Rome with his son Titus because he thought that the capture ofJerusalem was an imminent thing by now, but the prolonging of the siege caused Vespasian left to

Rome.13

Once he became emperor, and restored order in the Roman world, he began a reconstruction of theEmpire beginning from Rome where, in 71, started the construction of the Temple of the Peace in whichJerusalem treasures were kept , given to him by his son Titus. Perhaps not all was taken to Rome.

Emperor Vespasian in comparison to his predecessors made to give himself new assignment to havemuch more power. Besides making the imperial power stronger he wanted to guarantee its continuationentrusting important offices to his sons: Titus was designated as his first heir, Domitian as his secondone. Besides he made Titus member of his government (even if in an inferior position), who in 71received the “Tribunicia Potestas” (tribunitial power) and the “Imperium Proconsulare” (consular power).In fact Titus wasn’t August nor he had officially the “Praenomen Imperatoris” (emperor); the prefectureof Praetorium was assigned to him too and with his father was consul for seven times, while Domitian

six times.14

About the religious policy, Vespasian found inspiration in Emperor August’s one following the peace

and victory cult.15

Besides he conducted a beneficent activity for the Romanization and the urbanization, so giving animpulse to the process of assimilation of Rome and its provinces through the individual conferring of the

right of citizenship.16

The numerous financial measures, that he took to resolve the economicalproblems of the Empire, caused him many criticisms and the reputation of stinginess. But the large sumof money spent to reinforce the defences, for the embellishment of the Empire, for the culture and theart in general, testify his genuine interest for the good of the State. Vespasian was the man who made

to rebuilt Roman Empire, who gave stability, peace and safety. He died on June 24 79,17

a monthbefore the catastrophe that buried Pompeii under a layer of ashes.

As seen, Titus had powers comparable to his father’s ones to make him practically regent of theEmpire, practice that had not precedent in all Roman history and that highlights all the importance ofthis personage, who was always considered equal to his father from the Judaic war onwards.

About Titus it can’t make no reference to his personality and especially to the fact that when hebecame the only emperor, at his father Vespasian’s death, the subjects thought to have in front of thema new Nero, given his reputation of hard and repressive man. It was not so, on the contrary Titus wasremembered just for his mercifulness, people friend, with whom he had unusual relations for a regnant,he made of other people’s respect a style of life. He was very cultured and he was able to composeboth lines of Latin verse and lines of Grecian verse and he had besides a good bent for singing and

music.18

He died on September 13 71 after he reigned like only Emperor for about two years.

Among the people who could know those very important mysteries and who were very near to theFlavis, without doubt stands out Gaius Plinius Secundus, or Pliny the Elder, so called to tell him from hisnephew Pliny, called the Younger.

Pliny was born in Como(Novum Comum) between 23 and 24 A. C. and arrived to Rome in very youngage, where he learnt the knowledge that would have made him an erudite man. By the middle of thecentury he entered the equestrian career and commanded a squadron of cavalry near Rhine a long time.He came back to Italy towards 58 and he devoted himself to rhetorical and grammatical studies. UnderVespasian’s Empire he held important public offices, he became counsellor of the Emperor himself andthen of Titus. He had offices which made him to be in continuos contact with the Emperor; he was also

prefect of the fleet of Miseno.19

The main characteristic of Pliny was his unquenchable desire of culture, in fact he read many booksand continually made notes of everything around him. He wrote many works of which the mostimportant and the only has remained is that includes thirty-seven books making up the “NaturalHistoria”. This encyclopaedic work was dedicated to Titus by Pliny.

In the preface he says to have gathered twenty thousands of worthy of note facts, from about two

thousands of volumes.20

This work, that was a column of the ancient culture, is formed as follows:preface and bibliography, treatment of astronomy and geography (second and sixth books), treatment ofthe human species and of other animals (seventh and eleventh books), treatment of botany (twelfth andnineteenth books), treatment of medicine (twentieth and thirty-second books), treatment of metals and

stones and of their use about medicine, art and architecture (thirty-third and thirty-seventh books).21

This work is an unique example of what was the scientific knowledge, the beliefs and the interests ofthat time, besides to be a document that includes a large number of new words and every ignoreddescriptive possibilities of the Latin which we know only through Pliny; these motives make this work a

source of primary importance for the history of the Latin.22

When Vesuvius erupted in 79, Pliny was prefect of the fleet of Miseno and so he didn’t want toresigned his post, as his nephew Pliny the Younger told in the letters written to Tacitus. He died chokedby the inhalations of the eruption while, following his nature of man of science, tried to understand whatwas happening in those places which meant very much for him.

The orientation to Pliny the Elder, as knower of the mystery of the “Sator”, is just motivated from thefact that in his above-mentioned work, “Naturalis Historia”, there is a testimony of the famous enigma(28,20). Besides, his very close collaboration with Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus, even more hisknowledge of Pompeii, would make to presuppose his probable knowledge of some mysteries.

This supposition finds a fundamental confirmation since Pliny would have taken part in the Judaic war

like vice-procurator of Tiberius Julius Alexander.23

In any case it’s sure that a personage like Pliny wasnot in the dark about what Titus learnt during the Judaic war, given especially the relation which boundhim to the Flavis and to Titus in particular.

This work of Pliny found its largest diffusion during the Middle Ages. It was especially used by theBenedictine Monks as authoritative medical source for the use of curative herbs till the use of themedicine outside of the Monasteries was prevented to the Monks themselves.

Pliny, with his work, was present also in the Cistercian Monasteries where the interest was usuallyturned to theological books. In fact he was one of the few classical pagan authors accepted in theCistercian libraries, where Saint Bernard took him as an example to compare Jesus Christ, source of

every virtue and wisdom, to the sea that is the point of arrival for the rivers.24

The importance of thisquotation, that brings out the knowledge that the Cistercian Monks had about Pliny, will be better seenin the following chapters where the subject will be leading.

During the compilation of the “Naturalis Historia” Pliny principally followed the handed down sourcesand thousands of books, read using every spare time that his military profession could give to him. Forthis reason it’s very difficult to know exactly what was his mind about the treated subjects. However, anencyclopaedic work, as the “Naturalis Historia”, must be a document of information on the groundof certain knowledge without leaving out anything, also those data which could seem not true to Plinyhimself.

Very probably Pliny decided to include some references about the “Sator” in his work with the hope tofacilitate its more accurate and less complicated historical reconstruction, besides naturally to want tomean that he knew the right meaning.

Let’s analyze the passage in which he makes reference to the enigma: “Then the walls are dirtied withformulas of conjuration against the fires. And it’s difficult to say if on the magic practices the foreign

unpronounceable words bring greater discredit or the Latin obscure ones”.25

It’s just to the Latinobscure words that the reference to the “Sator”is attributed.

The presence of this reference to the “Sator” in Pliny’s work points out this formula was known verymuch in those times. For sure he wouldn’t have quoted an unknown epigraph as he did and so it’sprobable at that time its propagation was already ample. It’s also likely the Pompeian specimens aren’tthe most ancient, even if their dating must be evidently preceding to 79 A. C. and other foregoing onesaren’t known.

Dedicating his work to Titus, Pliny perhaps didn’t only want to dedicate it to an old friend, they metin Germany during one of the Roman military campaigns, but he wanted to recognize a special merit tohim for the enterprise discharged in Jerusalem. Starting from this preliminary statement it’s possible tolook for some clew or information about the subject in his work.

Reading his work, it’s possible to know that for Pliny only one God exists whom he identifies with the

sun, soul, mind or celestial spirit.26

This religious sight is surely monotheistic, far from Gods’ veneration of Olympus, but especiallynearby to the typical belief of Ancient Egypt, where the sun was the certain landmark. He speaks aboutGod like an entity that can’t make to return to life the person who died, can’t change the past time,can’t act against reason. He compares God with man as regards his powers, but adding that unlike him,

even he wants, he can’t put an end to himself.27

He speaks in general about the bull for itsreproductive faculties. He makes reference to Egyptian Bull Apis, to his sacral condition and to the rite

that happened in Menfi,28

to which he was probably present.

In the book dedicated to the land animals ( the eighth one), he lays very much stress on theelephant, to which the longest chapter is dedicated. Using the superlative “maximum”, Pliny defineselephant as the most similar animal to the man: it recognizes the country language, it obeys thecommandments, it remembers the learning, it knows amatory passion and the ambition for the glory, ithas got virtues like prudence and equity and it bestows religious veneration to the stars, the sun andthe moon. In his work, Pliny indicated in the elephant a help for man, who is aware of his limitations and

so he has a spiritual help in the animal.29

Also another contemporaneous author of the Flavis speaks about elephant, who dedicates a work tothe performances which happened for the unveiling of the amphitheatre Flavio, the Coliseum, just inTitus’ honour, in 80 A. C. It’ s the “Book of the Performances” of Martial, constituted by many epigramsin which the “games” of the arena are described. In the seventeenth book, an elephant, without any

teaching, recognizes the divinity of the Emperor.30

In other epigrams, the author describes scenes regarding the bull, as an example the myth of thecoupling with Pasifae (fifth book), saying it wasn’t a legend since it was proposed again in the arena;the rape of Europa by bull-shaped Jupiter(sixteenth book, b) and the rape of a bull from the arena to

sky, saying it wasn’t the work of an artifice, but of the mercy (sixteenth book).31

Let’s speak again about the “Sator”. But why just in Pompeii there were two specimens of the enigmaand which connections the town could have with the subjects treated up to now?

POMPEII: THE INITIATED TOWN

In the first chapter it could verify as one of the two Pompeian specimens of the “Sator” was found inthe stucco that clothed a column of the west side of the Big Gymnasium, on 12 November 1936. Theexcavation to bring to light it lasted since 1935 to 1939, given the considerable spaciousness of themonument. We are in the presence of a new architectonic kind: a spacious rectangular place of over15000 square metres, surrounded with a big rectangular enclosure, oriented with the cardinal point, inwhich there are ten doors of access. Inside three long colonnades form three elevated arcades on a highpodium, while the fourth side is simply formed from the boundary wall. In the middle of the court aswimming-pool was dug, that is decisive for the construction of the Roman gymnasiums which were justdifferentiated by Grecian ones for this reason. Around it, on two lines and 7,50 metres distant one fromanother, some planes were planted, so they also were part of the architectonic project.

The studies effected on the roots and on the calcined trunks would make to date back theconstruction of the gymnasium around 27-25 B. C. , when Emperor of Rome was Augustus. This bigbuilding besides to be used for the sport physical activities it was also used like a drill-ground for the

1

military training of foot and cavalry.

The other evidence of the “Sator” was found in 1926 in a graffito of Paquio Proculo’s house. Thisthing shows that he knew the meaning of that enigma. In fact Paquio Proculo, besides beingcontemporary with Vespasian, Titus and Pliny, held very important offices in Pompeii. He was a bakerand at first he was able to be elected aedile for his honesty, and then he became Duumvir around 74 A.

C..2

For completeness it is to say that under the five words forming the “Sator” in the Big Gymnasiumthere are another two words: “Sautran” and “Vale”. Over the triangle there is a “S”.

It remains rather difficult to succeed in establishing who was the author of the engraving found onthe column of the Big Gymnasium. pic.2 Besides it’s to remember that the building would date back tothe time of Augustus and Virgil and so it’s possible it was there already since some years. It is certainlytrue that who made the engraving knew the hidden message, since he stove to leave also the keys toarrive to the solution. But to understand how Paquio Proculo and his other citizens could be part of theinitiates it’s necessary to pay attention to their beliefs, habits and above all to observe the monumentsand the works of art in Pompeii; doing so it will be able to understand it wasn’t certainly casual that inthis town specimens of the “Sator” were made, on the contrary there is a deep sensation that in Pompeiisomebody was already informed of that mystery hid in the enigma or at least knew the presence of aparticular cult for the bull that would make to think to Pompeii as an initiated town.

It’ s necessary to pay much attention to some works of art which, with the acquired knowledge, nowcan have a different reading and so a different interpretation.

Two paintings coming from the House of the Fatal Love are very interesting: in the first one (Jasonand King Pelia) there is the representation of a common sacrifice, at least it’ s what can appear to aneye that we could define, for convenience, uninitiated. On the left of the painting a bull crowned withlaurel is represented, much attention is to dedicated to the bull’s look that shows surely an anomaloussituation, not usual, it could be defined as a look of wonder and not of fear.

On high, in the middle of the work, there are king Pelia and his daughters who finding themselves infront of a frequent kind of sacrifice, like a bull’s one, they are a little too frightened.

On the right Jason is represented , identifiable by his only sandal, to whom an assistant is giving acontainer. Above all it’s necessary to pay attention to a very thin pole (thin lance) that he holds in hisleft hand (a reference to the painting found in Senmut’s Tomb, that will be analyzed in the chapterdedicated to the Bull Api). King Pelia, his daughters, Jason and the two personages who complete thepainting are all crowned with the laurel, to indicate the sacral event.

The second painting is a representation of the rape of goddess

Just the Greek mythology sees the cult of the bull in the Minoan civilization: from the union of Zeus,bull-shaped, with goddess Europe Minos, Sarpedone and Rhadamanthus were born. With the help ofNeptune, Minos got a bull to go out from the sea promising then to sacrifice it to him. Minos didn’t keepthe promise and so the God of the sea took his revenge getting Pasifae (Minos’ wife) to fall in love with

the bull, from their union the famous Minotaur was born (Asterio or Asterione).3

Some Greek divinities, of the highest order too, were represented with bovine looks: Hera, goddess ofthe earth, Crono and Rea’s daughter, Zeus’ wife, was called with the term Boopis (it means: with bovine

eyes);4 Selene, goddess of the moon, Iperione and Theia’s daughter, was a “Titan woman” represented

with bovine horns.5

Also in Pompeii there are some representations of the Minotaur who fought against Theseus, pic.3who killed the monster in the labyrinth, succeed in finding again the way out with the help of Ariadne

It’s rather obvious that an advanced civilization, like the Greek one, wanted to keep the myth, thelegend of an animal that is probably part of the history of the mankind in a significant and decisivemanner.

Also an interpretation of psychological kind can be given to the legend of the Minotaur, put in thelabyrinth: the half man and half bull being represents exactly the animal part that is in everybody andthe struggle, the unconscious wish of supremacy and superiority that the human being has always triedto manifest to that animal from the most ancient times. A continuous struggle against himself to trydispelling a very remote past but always a past belonging to him. The labyrinth could indicate theunconscious that is present in every man, where the right way to run along is hindered by thecontinuous conflict with the animal part present in everybody.

Still in Pompeii, there are other works of art which represent the bull: in the house of the Grand Dukeof Tuscany, a big picture represents The “Punishment of Dirce”; the same subject will be imitated in apainting in the House of Vettii. pic.4

These Pompeian works, certainly of Greek inspiration, show that the population had preserved thebeliefs introduced by the ancient colonists.

Still in the ancient town, in the temple dedicated to Emperor Vespasian, up to now the altar can beadmired, whose decorations show the emperor in the capacity of minister, the bull ready for theceremony and some assistants. Now it appears less singular and very revealing that Pompeii waschosen for this kind of representation. pic.5

The temple consecrated to the Flavis lays emphasis on the fact that the town in Campania washaunted by Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian, so confirming the supposition of a possiblecontact with Paquio Proculo and the other inhabitants of the town. With regard to this, it is to rememberthe temple was built at the Flavis time and so in the same period in which very probably Paquio Proculowas elected duumvir (about 74 A. C.). Then the decorations, given the treated subject, wouldn’t seemcertainly accidental. It’s obvious that, given a different and particular interpretation to what could be a“traditional” animal sacrifice, in this specific case of a bull, also the other representations, commentedpreviously, can be seen in a different manner. Going back to the altar of the temple dedicated toVespasian, it could see in the decorations the initiation of the emperor who, repeating what he learnt,was elevated to a divine level. Knowing some mysteries and so making to represent himself in thepractice of those, it would have surely indicated knowledge and power.

Also the representation that has the “Punishment of Dirce” as subject now could have a newinterpretation because, however, the victim is presented half-naked and in the work the Pedagogue isrepresented too; so these facts get thinking that it’s a sentence, since more times the union of a bullwith a woman (goddess), for example Jupiter and Europe, was represented in the Greek mythology.

But in what did the Pompeian inhabitants believe and which were the practised cults?

About the chronological aspect Pompeian inhabitants’ beliefs were directed to one of the followingthree triads : Guardian triad of the town (Hercules, Bacchus, Venus), Capitoline triad (Jupiter, Juno,

Athena), Isis triad (Isis, Serapis, Anubis). Sometimes there was the concomitance of these three triads.6

A cult, that had many adepts, was certainly Isis’ one. Lots of trade relations with Egypt fosteredfrequent contacts with the local population, so facilitating the cultural-religious exchanges.

There are artistic evidences of these relations in some Pompeian residences: in Lucrezio Frontone’sHouse two sea centaurs, holding a prow each, and a personage with a foot placed on an elephant headthat personifies Egypt and Alexandria are represented; in Meleagro’s House a personification of

Alexandria between Africa and Asia is painted.7

Going back to the elephant, is it possible that Pliny and Martial turned that particular attention to itbecause it was comparable to Egypt?

Isis’ cult appeared and spread in Italy, even though she was a foreign divinity, just in the Roman

period. The Roman religion, in fact, proved always hospitable towards the divinities of others countries,8

even if in this case it seems gratitude and not hospitality.

Cibele (Isis) was the first oriental divinity to be introduced in Rome. Instead a temple was dedicated

to Serapis in Pozzuoli, near Pompeii, dating back to 105 B. C.. Just in Pozzuoli, a big international port,the Egyptians introduced their cults besides to sell their goods. The introduction of the Egyptiandivinities was surely favoured also by the frequent relations that the Egyptians had with the Greeks, whoconsidered the Alexandrian divinity very similar to Bacchus. Besides the Pompeians had the possibilityto discover the Egyptian divinities during their travels to the Sicilian ports and to Delos, where those

divinities had a temple dedicated to them.9

The devotees to Isis’ cult were part of every social class, beginning from the common people as far asarriving to the most important families. When in 62 A. C. the earthquake destroyed several building andmonuments in Pompeii, the temple of Isis, that was among these ones, was one of the first to bereconstructed; this fact testifies the importance that the Pompeians attributed to that divinity. With theintervention of a private town- dweller, N. Popidio Celsino, Popidio Ampliato and Corelia’s son, thetemple was reconstructed and enlarged too. That work caused the young N. Popidio Celsino, he was sixyears old, had a future in the town Senate since his father took care that the work was done with his

name.10

Also Lorerio Tiburtino’s family, from whom many ministers of Isis derived for some time, made itselfconspicuous for its devolution to the Egyptian divinities. In Isis sanctuary of his house in Pompeii there isa painted representation of the family’s founder in the capacity of minister: bald, wearing the traditionallinen dress, he holds the sistrum in his right hand while there is the pail with the consecrated waterhanging from his left forearm. Nine statuettes of Pharaohs adorn the garden with some Egyptiandivinities; the tenth statuette represents a ibis that fights against a snake. On two handles there are aflower of lotus and twenty lamps representing Jupiter Ammone’s bust that were used by Isis devoteesduring the night rituals. In the end a water canal made it possible to represent a suggestive event, as

Nile.11

In Giulia Felice’s House the sanctuary dedicated to the Egyptian divinities is situated under thearcades surrounding the four sides of the garden. On the wall snakes and Isis triad are represented: Isissits on the throne, her brow is adorned with the flower of lotus and with the half moon (bovine horns);Anubi, with sandals in his feet and dressing in black, turns to Isis with a palm in his right hand. Alongthe walls of the sanctuary, on a marble a silver half moon and a silver statuette of Arpocrate were

found.12

In this house, in the late seventies, another specimen of the “Sator” was found.13

We have other evidences of the diffusion of the cult of the Egyptian divinities in Pompeii: in Cn.Poppeo Abito’s House, where some paintings, on a yellow background bordered in red, represent Anubiwearing a chlamys, Arpocrate, Isis with a flower of lotus on her brow and the sistrum in her right hand,

Serapis, Hurus and a feminine personage who holds a horn of the abundance;14

in the Lalario of

Amazons’ House, situated in the small garden, it’s possible to recognize Isis, Osiris and Arpocrate.15

All this concerns the importance of the private cult for Isis. But as we have seen before, in Pompeiithere was also a public temple dedicated to this divinity .

The first temple, the one preceding the earthquake in 62, was built, or at least started, before thefoundation of Silla settlement.

It’s to remember that the temple of Serapis, erected in Pozzuoli in 105 B. C., marked the beginning ofthe freedom of worship. Given the growing adherence, that the Pompeians turned to the cult of theEgyptian divinity, after the catastrophe of 62 the building was enlarged adding two rooms at Samnite

gymnasium’s expense.16

In this temple there are some representations of Isis, Osiris and otherdivinities. There is a representation of Venus too, who is considered on the same level of the Egyptiangoddess. To Isis, considered the protector of the sailors, two feasts were dedicated: the first onehappened on fifth of March, in honour of the navigation restarting (Navigium Isidis), was the mostimportant; the second one (Isia), celebrated from 13 to 16 November, commemorated the discovery of

Osiris’ body from Isis.17

In the temple there were some bronze braziers to get burning the incense. The

sacred water, necessary to the ablutions, was kept in a small construction in the cloister.18

Representations of Greek-Roman subjects are present on some walls: Cupids, Mars and Venus, Perseus

that helps Andromeda.19

In a big room, situated in the west side, the decorations have for subjectEgyptian sacred landscapes and scenes that represent Io guarded by Argus and released by Hermes, Ioin Egypt received by Isis. That room was used both as dining-room for the believers and asperformance-room for sacred representations. In a small adjacent room, of whom walls were decoratedwith paintings which represented Isis, Osiris, bull Api, Tifone and goddess Hator, the secret ceremonieshappened. Very probably these rites were practised during the night, given the finding of a depot with

fifty-eight lamps.20

How it can know, the Egyptian civilization, in a particular way its religion, isdetermining the way of this search in a decisive manner. It’s to take the Temple of Isis, that was inRome, in Mars’ Camp, into much consideration: there Vespasian and Titus in 71 A. C., after the waragainst the Hebrews, stayed overnight returning from Jerusalem. But why did the Emperor and his sonchoose the temple of the Egyptian divinity as their place stay coming from the Holy Land? Perhaps isreally this the civilization that could conserve and hand down what is contained in the “Sator”?

Now we will try to know what was the role that the ancient Egyptians attributed to the bull, whatwere their beliefs and what kind of religion they followed. All this, also trying to interpret some tombdocuments of personages who have left an ineffaceable mark in the history of Ancient Egypt.

BULL APIS

In Menfi god maker Ptah was venerated, who separated the primary chaotic confusion of waters,

lands and sky; for this he was like Mespot gods Enlil and Marduk.1 Ptah becomes incarnate in an

animal, sacred bull Apis, symbol of the procreating power.2 Besides this god, the same prerogative was

attributed also to other divinities like Ra and Osiris. The bull was tightly connected whit the figure of thePharaoh to whom gave his capacity of procreation and his strength. The king wore a bull tail, hung fromhis loincloth.

Being son of a cow fecundated by Ptah, the bull was destined to be Apis since his birth. When a bullApis died the ministers of the cult of Ptah had to look for the calf destined to succeed him in all Egypt,identifying him through some details: the black mantle and a determinate number of white stains on thebody. The calf was put with his mother in a barn properly built, until the completion of his weaning.Then, taken to Nilopoli for forty days, during which the women could obtain fertility showing him theirsecret parts, was taken to the final destination, that is the Temple of Ptah in Menfi, where was lookedafter by the ministers of the temple itself for all his life. When a bull Api died the mourning was

national.3

The sacred bull could be called Mnevi (bull of Eliopoli, during the period of the New Reign 1543-1069

B. C. and Late Epoch 715- 341 B. C.)4 and Bukhi (period of the thirtieth Dynasty 378-341 B. C. until the

period of Diocletian 284-305 A. C.).5 The bull and the lion were certainly the animals that characterized

the history of the ancient Egyptians in more decisive way.

We could verify how he was venerated and how the capacity of procreation was connected with him.It’s obvious up to now it thought that he was used for transmitting symbolically his strength to thePharaoh given his reproductive faculties and not certainly for what we could have deepened here.

Now we will try to give an interpretation to some tomb documents which appear under another lightnow, then trying to know the meaning of other documents, especially basing on those beliefs that todayseem less mythological and that give fundamental credibility to what come out of the “Sator”.

Going back to the period of Moses, particularly to his education at the court of the Pharaohs of thenineteenth dynasty, the paintings of the tombs of Pharaohs Sethi I and Ramses II, his son, can’t passunnoticed.

Sethi I, son and successor of Ramses I, was a sovereign who linked his military and politicalendowments with intelligence. He made to construct magnificent buildings, among which the cenotaphsituated in Abydus certainly stands out.

The decorations, polychromatic relief made, find inspiration from some Egyptian funeral books. Hismummy, found into the big hiding- place of Deir el-Bahari, place were the mummies of the Pharaohs ofthe New Reign were hidden owing to the sack of their tombs, is in good condition, especially as regards

his face.6

The decorations of the Big Room vault of the cenotaph in Abydus represent what is considered as thefinest Astronomical Ceiling of Ancient Egypt by the experts. pic.6 The graphic representation, that weare going to describe now, is practically the same present in the tomb of Ramses II, differentiating onlyfor some details that don’t influence on the general subject that sees the bull as the principal figure.pic.7 Just for this reason we think that the two Pharaohs had the same knowledge.

The scene is divided in two parts: in the first one it can see a bull sustained by a divinity representedwith the hawk head; from the bull itself two curved lines start that passing through the hands of anotherdivinity, meet in the amulet held by goddess hippopotamus Ta-uret (in Greek Thoeris), on her rightthere is a representation of nine divinities. On the left of the bull a transversal feminine figure (also thedivinity with the hawk head and the other figure with the sun’s disk on her head are in a transversalposition), is surrounded by animals: on the side a hawk, under a lion and a crocodile that has its mouthnear the right hand of another divinity with the left arm raised to the bull. On their left there are othereleven divinities. As regards the bull we have already known the meaning attributed to it by the AncientEgyptians. So we can see what the other personages represent.

Goddess hippopotamus Thoeris, whose name means “The Magnificent”, was represented with thehippopotamus body, the lion legs, the crocodile back (in this version there is even crocodile Sobek onher back) and the human hands. Leaning against the typical amulet “Fiocco Sa”, she performed theprincipal office of mother and nurse, as it’s possible to know looking at her swollen womb and at hervery visible breasts that recall an expectant woman’s body. Just for these characteristics, Thoeris wasinvoked during the labour and her effigy had a beneficent and protective power to the women in labour,the children and the mothers in general. Especially in Thebes (Temple of Deir el-Medina) she wascompared to goddess Hathor, considered mother and nurse too, represented both also with the sun’s

disk framed by bovine horns on their heads.7

The crocodile on the back of goddess Thoeris is the representation of god Sobek to whom themeaning of fertility was attributed, perhaps for the fertility of the marshes where he lived. His cult waspractise during the twelfth dynasty (1994-1797 B. C.) and the thirteenth dynasty (1795-1660 B. C.),period during which Queen Sobekneferu and five Kings Sobekhotep had got a name composed with hisname. From then on god Sobek was gradually compared to god sun-Ra, so becoming Sobek-Ra, one of

the different manifestations of the solar creative divinity.8

On the left of the bull, a little more low, a lion is represented surrounding with stars. Somehieroglyphic inscriptions complete the representation.

Starting from what come out of the “Sator”, passing through Moses who led the Hebrews to the HolyLand and who, as we have known, was brought up at the court of Pharaoh Sethi I or of his son RamsesII, it can deduce this is the origin of the mystery that the Romans decided to encode and to hand downthrough the “Sator”.

Now we can, going back to the paintings of the tomb of Sethi I, give an interpretation of the worksthat had a very important meaning; given their site (the vault of the Big Room), they represented forthe Pharaoh the principal subject of the decorations that are present in all the tomb.

The representation can be interpreted as follows: taking the fertility (represented through thecrocodile placed near the divinity’s right hand) of the bull and modifying it (the two lines go across thehands of another divinity) the gods could be conceived, that is the first men. However also Aeneas wasVenus’ son, who was compared to Isis who was compared to Hathor and Thoeris herself.

The bull is in a central position, above the other figures that form the work and so it’s obvious that aleaning role is attributed to himself. The two curves lines, that start from him to arrive in the “Fiocco

Sa”, amulet connected to the protection and held by goddess Thoeris,9 would show the origin of the

divinities. “The bull transforms through the Creator into Aeneas”, perhaps means the Gods were nothingbut the first men created by God, and just for this reason they were superior beings in comparison to allones come later on through the procreation practised by themselves. Using simpler words, the Godswere being superior to the sons procreated by them because they were the first descendants, geneticallythe most similar to the creator. This fact would explain perhaps the developed civilization of somepopulations of the past. It’s as if the man changed from the best evolution to an involution, then to goagain towards the starting point how the continuous evolution of the human species would explain. It’s abig puzzle scattered for all the world that, after putting together all pieces that compose it, could showthe divine origin that procreated the human species. Little by little that the human species wasreproduced, an alteration from the origin has happened, a division of the superior element whoseparates us from all other creatures. It’s obvious if the man involved from his appearance onwardssome circumstances, unfavourable to him, have happened which have compromised his existence.

The figures at the two sides of goddess Thoeris are representations of divinities, recognizable for thesun’s disk on their heads and in some case for the animal-shaped head. It’s possible to recognize Anubi,with the jackal head, man body and black skin. He watches over the rites of the mummification and hetakes the deceased to the life after death. Just the parallel to the jackal, an animal that up to now livesin the desert zones reserved to the necropolis, would assert these suppositions. At first he wasconsidered goddess Hesat’ son, with the cow head, afterwards in more recent traditions, was consideredson of Osiris and Isis or of Nefti. As the texts of the pyramids show, Anubi was the most ancientsovereign of the life after death before to be replaced by Osiris. The Greeks assimilated him to Hermes

Psychopompos;10

Thot, god with ibis head and a beak as sharp as the quill-pen of the scribes, of whomhe is protector. God of wise and sages, he watches over the rites, the laws, the hieroglyphics. The dutyto take the deceased to the hereafter and to preside to the rite of the weighing of the heart is attributedto him. For his characteristics of wise god, the Greek compared Thot to Hermes, so favouring the

diffusion, in Late Epoch, of the cult of Hermes-Thot in all the Mediterranean Sea;11

Horo, god with thefalcon head. His name means “ the distant” and he can assume different appearances: cosmic Horo,with the piercing glance whose eyes are the sun and the moon, for his celestial nature was assimilatedto god sun Ra of Eliopoli, became incarnate in every Pharaoh; with the appearances of a little boy, Osirisand Isis’ son, he was called Harsiesi or Harpocrate and he symbolized the divine heir. The principal townof cult of Horo was Edfu where it’s still possible to admire a magnificent temple of the Ptolemaic period(304-30 B. C.) dedicated to him. The ritual was a solemn procession of boats on Nile that from Denderawent to Edfu, taking a statue of goddess Hathor to celebrate her wedding with Horo himself. The aim ofthat ceremony was to start the annual rhythms of the fertility for the nature and the men and at thesame time to confer again to the Pharaoh, in whom young Horo became incarnate, his vivifying

power.12

Staying in the Big Room of Sethi I it’s still necessary to attribute a definite role to some figures: thepersonages near the bull seem to do well determinate actions. But who were those men and where didthey come from?

In the other part of the painting (the one opposite to the subject of the bull) there is a representationof many divinities, where the figures set on some arks are reason of much consideration. Starting fromthe left it’s possible to see: three personages with hawk head and a star with five points leant upon it; afemale divinity, probably Sirius (Isis), having a sceptre in her left hand, her right arm raised up with acrow with two plumes on her head; Orion (Osiris), recognizable for her classic characteristics (sceptre inher right hand and head turned backwards).

Certainly Orion figure, so the homonymous constellation, has a leading role in the message thatPharaoh Sethi I wanted to keep in his tomb of Abydus.

To have confirmation about this last hypothesis it will be fundamental to analyze the content ofanother tomb, exactly architect Senmut’s one ( or Senenmut). He, whose name showed he livedfraternally with the Great Mother who protected Egypt, was Quartermaster of Amon’s territories, greatactive architect of Karnak and Deir el-Bahari and the main personality of the reign after QueenHatscepsut, 1479-1457 B. C. (eighteenth dynasty). He himself was concerned with the construction of

the temple dedicated to goddess Hathor, wanted by the queen in Deir el-Bahari.13

A representation of that goddess, who, cow-shaped, suckles the queen, testifies the big devotion to

that divinity, and particularly to the bovine race that is her incarnation.14

Senmut’s above-mentioned tomb is in this temple. He could have a burial worth of his person.because he was a very important personage as counsellor, confidant and scribe of high rank. The themepresent on the vault pic.8 is very interesting, that also here, as in the tomb of Sethi I, is divided into twoparts: in the upper part there is an astronomic representation where the details in common with thetomb seen before are considerable. In fact the figures with hawk head with the star with five pointsupon (here are only two), Sirius and Orion, all set on arks, are distinguishable, whose constellation hashere a surprising graphic representation; in the lower part the same theme regarding the bull is present:the lines that start from the animal are always two, even if here are straight, and end in the vicinity ofgoddess Thoeris.

A divinity with hawk head looks like spiking the bull with a lance (the references to the Pompeianpainting in the House of the Fatal Love analyzed before seem evident). Near the animal there is anotherfemale divinity, lower near two lines a divinity, who accomplishes the same action seen in the precedingpainting, is represented. There are the crocodile, the lion and all divinities set on the right and on theleft of Thoeris. The theme, with some little variations, is the same found in the tomb of Pharaoh Sethi I.It is to note that this representation on the ceiling, unlike the ones on the walls, was covered with acoat of plaster as to want to hide and keep it for the future. In addition, in comparison to therepresentation present in the tomb of Sethi I, here are twelve circles, four on the left of the bull andeight on its right. All the twelve circles are divided up by twenty-four radii. Now, twelve are the monthsthat were used to divide the year at the time of Egypt, but those months had not twenty-four days asthe radii of the circles would demonstrate, on the contrary thirty. This fact would exclude that the twelvecircles represent the months of the year. But if it has nothing to do with the months of the year whatwould the twelve circles represent, four ones set on the left and eight ones set on the right of the bull?

Almost certainly they indicate a determinate period and, so divided (four ones on the left and eightones on the right of the bull), it would be to think that the period in question was when what emergedfrom the “Sator” and from the graffiti just analyzed happened.

To indicate and especially to hand down exactly a determinate period of the history, perhaps datingback to thousands of years before and without the help of a universal writing and so valid andunderstandable by everybody in every epoch, some graffiti were used that, being present in the tombsof great personages, were not common knowledge and so not reserved to their contemporaries, butcertainly to persons of the future who will use perhaps different language and writing. Going back to thenumber of the circles, twelve, the twelve constellations come into mind that, with their about 2160years each, form the so-called “eras”. And which way of time measuring would be more efficacious anduniversal than the constellations that flow, especially if it is necessary to indicate a period thousands ofyears far-off ?

We have pointed out that the representation that sees the bull as protagonist is placed so as to havefour circles on its left and eight ones on its right. So between the fourth and the fifth constellation,more precisely in the fifth one, given how the constellations run. The fifth constellation is the Virgin one:unlike the Signs of the Zodiac that pass in the orbit of the sun during one year, starting from Aquarius inJanuary and ending with Capricorn in December, the astrologic “eras” accomplish the opposite routestarting from Capricorn and ending with Aquarius. Each “era” is about 2160 years that by twelve form aperiod of 25920 years. The twelve circles of the tomb representation are divided by twenty-four radiiand dividing 2160 by twenty-four, periods of ninety years are obtained.

Being Queen Hatscepsut of the eighteenth dynasty, so antecedent to Sethi I (nineteenth dynasty), itwould seem obvious that among the various Pharaohs there was a passage of those mysteries thatcharacterized very much the civilization of the ancient Egyptians. Now it’s obvious that Senmut was avery important personage and he knew information that made him like a Pharaoh. A probablesentimental story with the queen herself is attributed to him, in fact it thinks that he was the legitimate

father of Hatscepsut’s daughter.15

The “theme of the bull” that we have analyzed in the tombs of Sethi I, Ramses II and Senmut is arepresentation widespread in the tombs and on the sarcophagi of the Pharaohs and of the greatpersonages of Ancient Egypt, especially in the twentieth dynasty ones. It’s possible to find specimens inthe tombs of Ramses III, Ramses VI, Ramses VII, Ramses IX.. More recent specimens are visible in the

tomb of Psusennes (twenty-first dynasty, 1059-1033 B. C.), in the tomb of Pedamenope (560 B. C.) andso forth. Before Senmut there are representations of the “theme of the bull” dating back to the ninth

dynasty.16

A very interesting specimen, that is not to disregard for its particular iconography, is present on theinside cover of a wood sarcophagus dating back to 125 A. C.. The sarcophagus, according to a demotic

inscription, would belong to a certain Heter, dead thirty-one years old.17

pic.9

The representation is divided in three strips, the big one in the middle and the most narrow two onthe sides. The “theme of the bull” is situated, looking at the cover, in the side-part on the left where it’spossible to see also a big hawk (sun). In the strip on the right some divinities on some arks alternatewith a smaller hawk and a swam. Although the representation spreads in three strips it can easily seehow they are tight connected, forming a sole theme. In the central one, the biggest, there is arepresentation of the sky in semblance of goddess Nut, who is surrounded by the twelve Signs of theZodiac, of course representing the constellations. Their disposition is rather particular: on two lines, sixones on one side and six ones on the other side, so that Nut is in the middle, it’s possible to see themstarting from Cancer and continuing with Leo, the Virgin, the Scales, Scorpion, Sagittarius, Capricorn,Aquarius, Fishes, Aries, Taurus and the Gemini. The constellation of the Virgin, the one pointed out inthe tomb of Senmut as the probable period of the creation of the man, is in the classic representation,in semblance of woman and with an ear of corn in her hand. Her head is surrounded with bovine horns;this characteristic compares her with goddess Isis, and so the reference to the constellation of the Virginis to make in the skies of Egypt. Her position, in comparison to the figures described before, is the mostinteresting situation: she is just in a linear position with the big hawk (sun), that looks at her in aunequivocal way. So, the hawk that looks at the Virgin is the representation of the Sun in theconstellation of the Virgin. The whole representation is completed with representations of somedivinities, where the god with the rum head, Knumm, is placed at the four corners.

Before it was spoken about the unusual disposition of the constellations: in this case they describe acycle of about 26.000 years starting from Sagittarius and ending in Capricorn. It’s obvious that theconstellations represented on the right of the Virgin are antecedent to it, while the ones placed on itsleft are posterior. Usually the order of passing in the vernal point of the constellations is the one thatstarts from Capricorn and ends to Aquarius. This representation is placed so as Capricorn is like the last“era”, of course the one that will arrive after Aquarius.

This particular representation, set on the cover of the sarcophagus of Heter, hasn’t exhausted itssurprises yet, on the contrary, it keeps really very interesting one. It can note that the symbols of Leo,the Virgin, the Scales, Sagittarius have some hieroglyphic cursive and demotic inscriptions near them.The other ones are wanting in them . All are surrounding with many stars with five points, into whichsome very small Latin characters merge. In reality they are the Roman numbers: it’s possible toindividuate number “I” (1) set on the right of the star that is to the north of Cancer, number “II” (2) onthe back of Leo, number “III”(3) under the raised arm of Virgin, number “IV”(4) on the high on the leftof the Scales, number “V”(5) between the pincers of Scorpion, number “VI”(6) among the forelegs andthe hind legs of Sagittarius, number “VII”(7) under Capricorn, number “VIII”(8) near the left knee ofAquarius, number “IX”(9) on Fishes, number “X”(10) on the horns of Aries, number “XI”(11) betweenthe horns of Taurus and number “XII”(12) between Gemini. Naturally the importance of these Romannumbers isn’t the fact that they help to give a simpler interpretation of the represented subject, but ithelps principally to turn the attention about the fact that the Romans knew the real meaning of therepresentation. The proof is that the numbers are visible only through a careful observation ,given theircamouflage with the stars. If it was only an ostentation of power the numbers would have been morevisible.

This document is very important. It is a kind of proof that the Romans knew the mystery of thecreation of the man and learnt it by the Egyptians.

We find nothing less than in the Plain of Giza an interesting temporal reference to the “astronomicceiling” of the tomb of Senmut and also to the “sarcophagus of Heter”, precisely the indication of the“era” of the Virgin.

This mammoth project, because it is an only project, needed three generations to be realized, at leastthe traditional learned men assert this thing.

The pyramid built by Pharaoh Cheops, Sneferu’s son, founder of the fourth dynasty, is the biggest ofthe three ones; it is 144 metres high, its base is 230 metres long and its angle is of 51°. It is nearlyperfectly oriented and lined to the north, with the approximation of 55 degree of arc. Before the pyramidwas covered with white granite (or limestone) on which it seems there were some graphicrepresentations, very difficult to decode; then that material was used as lining for some mosques andplaces in the Cairo by “resolute” architects.

In the pyramid two spacious rooms was found, known as the “room of the king” and the “room of thequeen”. From each one of them two narrow ducts start: one turned to the south and the other to thenorth. The ducts are 20 centimetres for 20 centimetres wide and are tipped on high in the massive heartof the pyramid.

A former assumption attributed to them the assignment to make possible a ventilation of the pyramid,but a successive study could ascertain that those ducts were closed at their ends and so the assumptionthat considered them as ducts of airing had not any more the presuppositions to be credible.

In 1963 a group of researchers discovered that the ducts of the Big Pyramid were orientedastronomically. The ducts directed to the north pointed to the circumpolar stars (Alpha Draconis andBeta Ursae Minoris) and the ones directed to the south pointed to the stars of the Orion’s Belt (Osiris)and to the luminous star Sirius (Isis). Besides it is said that very recent studies made about the above-quoted ducts could establish that one of them wouldn’t be perfectly oriented to the Orion’s Belt (studiesmade under the control of Professor Zahi Hawass, superintendent of the Plain of Giza).

The second pyramid was built by Chephren. Also this building is very big, it is 136 metres high, itsbase is 210 metres long and its angle is of 53°; it offers a much more simple inside structure incomparison to Cheops’s one. Its lining of white granite has remained enough, especially in the upperpart. The numerous sat statues of Chephren, sculptured in various stones, are very interesting, amongwhich there is a famous one in diorite kept today in the Cairo Museum that would prove that Chephrenmade really to construct it.

The third pyramid completing the Plain of Giza, as regards pyramids of large dimensions, was madeto built by Pharaoh Mycerinus, Chephren’s son. Much more small than the foregoing ones, it is 66metres high with the base 108 metres long and its angle of 51°. The alignment of these three bigbuildings, or to say better, the not perfect alignment of Mycerinus’s pyramid as regards the axis of theother two, makes to suppose that this composition contains a message that the stone has kept untiltoday. The big sphinx, certainly one of the most well-known monuments in the world, is attributed toPharaoh Chephren, who, it thinks, made to change the first head lion with the image of his face. Madeout of a rock peak it is over 20 metres high and during the centuries it had be restored more than once

given the damages caused by the time and by some risky attempts of restoration.18

In Egypt the lions were considered solar animals and often they were represented in couples, placedback against back, one turned towards the east and the other towards the west. In this manner theyrepresented two horizons and the course of the sun from one side to the other of the world, sosupervising the day passing and representing the past and the future. The Sphinx of the Plain of Giza isoriented towards the east and seems just to be part of an only general context with the three BigPyramids, in order to, perhaps, hand down very valuable information.

The three Big Pyramids are compared with the Orion’s Belt because of their disposition that is notperfectly lined. To find a precise transposition of the Orion’s Belt on the Plain of Giza it’s necessary to

make reference to a period of about 14000 years ago, in the “era” of the Virgin19

and not in Leo one assome researchers assert.

The position of the stars changes slowly during the time because of a phenomenon known asprecession of the equinoxes, caused by a slow oscillatory movement of the terrestrial axis in a period of25.920 years. In this very long period the stars of the Orion’s Belt seem to have moved just for theabove-said phenomenon. As regards the Sphinx and its eyes turned to the east it is to state exactly thatthe sun doesn’t rise during all year in the same point but, according to the period, can rise in the mostnorthern east point (the winter solstice) or in the most southern east point (the summer solstice). Onlyat the moment of the equinoxes (21st March and 23rd September) the sun rises exactly to the east.

Just during the equinoxes it’s possible to notice that the Sphinx of the Plain of Giza is perfectly turnedeastwards in proof that who built that monument had good astronomic knowledge.

Often it was supposed that a pre-Egyptian civilization constructed the monuments of the Plain of Giza,so stirring up the natural and obvious resentment of to-day’s Egyptians. There is this suppositionbecause certainly very advanced techniques had to be known to erect the three Pyramids and theSphinx, both as regards the constructions and as regards the astronomy. About the last discipline itcould ascertain that the Egyptians knew very well the disposition of the constellations and theirfollowing, making reference also to the precession of the equinoxes. More times it was read that theSphinx would represent the constellation of Leo, making reference to the position of the three Pyramids

that would have that disposition roughly about 10500 B. C., in the “era” of Leo, exactly.20

From a recentstudy however, considering the precession of the equinoxes, it seems that the Sphinx was turnedtowards the constellation of the Virgin already in 10500 B. C. (that is there was the constellation of theVirgin in the vernal point) and not towards Leo one and when the three Pyramids of the Plain of Gizaappeared in the same position of the stars of the Orion’s Belt, about 14000 years ago, it was certainly inthe “era” of the Virgin.

As it could note in the graffiti present in the tombs of the great Pharaohs the lion is a ever presentelement, so assuming a determining part in the entirety of the representation.

The representation of the sun set always towards the east (in the tomb of Sethi I it is completelysurrounded with stars) perhaps would indicate, point out, a constellation.

Comparing the monuments of the Plain of Giza with the graphic representations of the tombs analyzedbefore we could interpret the three Pyramids and the Sphinx as follows: Osiris and Isis are representedwith the ducts in Cheops’s Pyramid that would be oriented towards Orion and Sirius; the three pyramidsbesides representing a well definite place of space would indicate also an exact period owing to theirparticular disposition; the Sphinx looking at the real east assumes the role of solar pointer and so itshows or 21st March or 23rd September. Then, also the Plain of Giza is to put in touch with the creationof the man?

But now it would need to find the representation of the bull with all elements described before, but itis known that the three Pyramids of Ancient Egypt, unlike the other monuments of Ancient Egypt, arewithout hieroglyphs inside. However as touched upon before, some inscriptions were present on theoutside of the Pyramids but it is not possible to establish if those inscriptions were the original of thevarious copies found in the tombs of the Pharaohs.

Previously it was said that the theme appeared only in the tombs of the Pharaohs or of importantmen and it wasn’t common knowledge, so being not known and not decipherable.

Astronomic ceilings. This is the definition that was attributed to the paintings of the tombs of Senmut,of Sethi I, or Ramses II and of other ones too. It is certainly unusual, if not even extraordinary, howduring two thousands of years the same theme (the bull and goddess Thoeris) was handed down from aPharaoh to another one. Is it just possible that the most knowledge, because given their site it had todo with the most knowledge of Pharaohs, referred to the constellations?

To find possible confirmations, or at least news that could give some explanations to what hasemerged, we will try to analyze the angles of the religion of the ancient Egyptians using the study of theother monuments in the first place.

From the earliest times the Egyptian religion was monotheistic. Pharaoh Akheneton (1348 - 1331 B.C.), to whom the fact to introduce a monotheistic religion was attributed, pointed out the ancient way ofthinking of the ministers of Eliopoli, the sun town. Probably this pharaoh, who was called as heretic,wanted to give all Egyptian people the knowledge that was typical of the sovereigns and of theinfluential personages and not to change the religion. The religion of Ancient Egypt was monotheisticbecause it recognized one Creative Cause, but it was polytheistic because that Cause became incarnated

in different shapes on the earth, precisely in the divinities.21

The motive for which Pharaoh Akheneton met with many difficulties to carry out his plan, to such apoint that his name was wiped out from important monuments and it didn’t appear in the chronological

succession carved in the tomb of Sethi I, could depend on the fact that asserting the existence of asuperior entity, of a one God, above every thing and being, consequently all men became equal, soputting the Pharaoh himself at the level of all other human beings.

But as known the Pharaoh considered himself as God on earth and in that way he was seen by thepeople, who obeyed to him totally. That prerogative, besides guaranteeing the absolute power to thePharaohs, being considered superior, would prevent a general chaos that such a piece of news couldcause if it was known by men not prepared for that knowledge. In many situations it says that the truthis in the middle and this would seem just one of those situations, where certainly the Pharaohs ofAncient Egypt had no intention to consider themselves equal to all other men and where certainly,without the help of a strong deterrent like the divine power of the Pharaoh, the chaos could be generaland so fatal for all reign.

The principal gods venerated in Ancient Egypt were three: Amon, Ra, and Ptah.

Amon was the “Hidden” sovereign of Thebes, his shape couldn’t be known. He was represented beinghuman-shaped, sometimes with the ram head or with a crown with two long plumes on his head, usuallywith the solar disk at his base. Sometimes he was associated with Khnum, god creator of the men,whose horns he could have on or he was associated with Min, Coptic god represented with his penis inerection, symbol of fertility. The typical colour of his skin was light blue, common to the heavenlydivinities. Amon had his largest diffusion when Thebes became the capital of the unified reign under theeleventh dynasty (about 2030 B. C.). In Karnak to him a temple was dedicated, destined to become,during more than a thousand years of changes, the biggest temple construction never realized in theworld. Identified with ancient solar god Ra too, Amon-Ra came in to procreate the next king, his

descendant and representative on earth.22

Ra, principal solar divinity of Ancient Egypt, sovereign of Eliopoli, was represented with human body,gold skin and limbs and with the hawk head over hanged with the solar disk around that the gold snakecoiled (the eye of the sun). During the day Ra assumed the shape of god scarab Khepri and of god with

the ram head, Atum, during evening. Sacred bull Mnevi was considered his incarnation.23

Ptah, since the most ancient times figured with human shape, represented the demiurge parexcellence, with the imperishable and perfect body of the primordial god. Wearing a tight dress like asudarium, he had a light blue calotte on his head with reference to his leading role of artisan god. Hewas the only god to have a false beard, straight and long like the Pharaohs one. Moreover heornamented himself with some regal ornaments: breast-plates, sceptre and some amulets. Also Ptah,compared with other divinities, was considered creator. According to many scholars the name Ptahwould mean just “creator of shapes”; the name “chief superintendent of the artist” was attributed to the

supreme minister of his temple in Menfi, since the Ancient Reign.24

Ptah was bound to bull Apis by a

relation of paternity and identification.25

These divinities were three aspects of the only Cause: Amon was its secret name, Ra was its bright

face, Ptah was its harmonious body.26

Hator, whose name means “ abode of Horo”, was often represented like a woman with cow ears anda couple of bovine horns between which there was a solar disk on her head. She is the most beautifulamong the goddesses, queen of love, joy, dancing, music and exultation. Goddess with innumerableshapes and innumerable names, could assume the features of merciless goddess lioness Sekhmet or ofvoluptuous goddess cat Bastet, so incarnating the ambivalence love-hate. Also Nut was mother of Ra,gods and men, in one word “mother of the mothers”, who swallowed the sun (Ra) in the evening andwas delivered of it in the morning. She was also associated to Isis and to goddess hippopotamusThoeris, with which she had the appearance of cow in common. That characteristic was already presentat the time of the first dynasty (3185-2930), where in a document the goddess was represented withwoman head, bovine ears and horns.

To Hathor were consecrated all musical instruments, among which the sistrum stood out, someobjects and amulets, efficacious for the protection of children and women.

Bes, the dwarf with the leonine head, and Ihy, his son and Ra’s, were divinities particularly connected

to her.27

Most sources place at the beginning of the creation a primordial ocean, Num, from which allcreation was formed. Num represents the chaos, the liquid state inert, compared to the solidity of the

created world.28

The Enneade Eliopolitana considered Atum as God Creator (associated to Ra), whose name means“complete”, “not existing”, too. Gods Sciu and Tefnut are the first created couple. From Sciu, that meansempty and dry and that personifies the atmosphere, the lower and upper limits of the earth were born:

Nut, the sky, and Gheb, the world.29

The third generation is formed by four gods who symbolize the realworld: Osiris, the most famous god of Ancient Egypt is represented like a mummified and crowned man,with the sceptre and the scourge. His skin is black or green as representation of the death and the re-birth; he is judge of the human actions and he decides the destiny of the life to come.

The initiates, approaching the mysteries, become as Osiris. The origin of his cult was already presentin the texts of the pyramids of the fifth dynasty (about 2460 B.C), where the god was part of the divineEnneade of Eliopoli. In the most ancient representations Osiris nearly always appeared mummy-shaped.In the images of the Middle Reign he nearly always wore the white crown of Lower Egypt, basicelement of more complex crowns: for example, the atef crown associated perhaps the white crown withtwo plumes worn on his head by the god of Busiri Angeti, from whom Osiris would take also the pastoralstaff and the scourge. Osiris, as however the other gods of Ancient Egypt, was associated also to theother divinities in the process of syncretism that characterized the evolution of the Egyptian religion: toSokar-Osiris or to Ptah Sokar-Osoris, to bull Api as Osorapi, that gave origin to Greek-Egyptian god

Serapis in the Hellenistic epoch (332-30), to god-sun Ra.30

Isis, mother par excellence, great sorceress, was represented like a woman with a throne on herhead. The hieroglyphic sign served to write her name, since Isis was the throne that created thePharaohs. Goddess of heavenly origin, connected to her brother-husband Osiris, was certainly the mostwell-known of the divinities of Egypt in Late Epoch, when her cult spread in all ancient world.Testimonies of her veneration go back to the fifth dynasty (2510-2350 B. C.), while the firstrepresentation reached us goes back to the sarcophagi of the Middle Reign (2064- 1797 B. C.). Sincethe New Reign (about 1543-1078 B. C.), Isis assumed the harness of goddess Hathor: cow horns andsolar disk above a crown formed with sacred snakes. Other representations see her with the hawk-shaped calotte, typical of goddess Mut and queens, or with long wings, they are also characteristic ofMut. Osiris’ wife and sister, Isis is also represented with her hands and wings open behind her husband

in sign of protection. Also the representation of Isis intent to suckle her son Horo is typical.31

Seth, god of the storm and the desert. He is represented man-shaped with the uncertain animal head.Seth personifies the power both in Good and in Evil. Killed his brother Osiris, he competed the

sovereignty of ancient Egypt with his nephew Horo.32

Nefti, goddess represented like a woman who wears the ideogram of her name as headgear. Gheb

and Nut’s daughter and Seth’s sister and wife, she held an important role in the funeral cults.33

The way of the first act of the creation, referred to the first couple, Sciu and Tefnut, shows that Atummanifests himself on the primordial hill that rises from Num and he creates Sciu and Tefnut throwing a

spittle.34

To the conception of Eliopoli, rather material, Menfi one opposes, in which it asserts that the

world was created by Ptah with the heart and the tongue, or the will and the power of speech.35

The myth of Esna is alike, that sees in god Knumm the craftsman who moulded gods with his lathe.36

Instead in Ermopoli a myth was elaborated that considered the light blue lotus, flower that comes outof the water, as the carrier of the creation. According to the tradition god sun Ra daily goes through thewhole world on his boat: during the day through the sky and during the night through the life to come.Every morning the god is bore by goddess Nut, personification of the vault of heaven, he runs along theheavenly waters and enters the body of the goddess again through her mouth to pass the night in her

star-spangled body.37

About this belief there is a representation in the tomb of Sethi I, where under thevault of heaven the “theme of the bull” previously analyzed is represented again.

Now we analyze attentively this painting: there is a representation of the “theme of the bull” to whichwe have attributed the meaning of the phases of the human creation. These operations areaccomplished by beings having human aspect; they could be Osiris (Orion), Isis (Sirius). The scenedevelops on the earth (Gheb) that is won by the sky (Nut), the winged sun makes its way from east towest and its heavenly origin is obvious. Everything is won in the primordial ocean (Num).

The scene that sees the bull as the protagonist develops on the earth and just this characteristicexcludes the fact that it could be a representation that sees the constellations as subject (this is thetraditional interpretation given to the “theme of the bull”). The action developed on the earth is certainlymaterial, it shows the actual development (the lance that pierces the bull), almost tangible, of an eventhappened through the matter.

This representation, present in the tombs of the Pharaohs and the great personages of Ancient Egypt,must have a very important meaning that is attributed to it just for its site.

In the foregoing chapters it touched upon the possibility that the Romans took the Ark of the Allianceback to Egypt, in which the verities of the creation were probably included. We can furthermore supposethat the Egyptians knew the contents of the Ark and they reproduced it in the tombs and in thesarcophagi of their Pharaohs. For the same reason also the monuments of the Plain of Giza could havesome links with the Ark

It’s necessary to consider an important angle of the religion of the Ancient Egypt: there were twolevels of practice of the cult, one of which was known only by the Pharaoh, the ministers and thosepeople who, following a specific way of initiation, were put in a position to learn, instead the other onewas the cult of most people. It’s likely that the mysteries regarding the secret cult could refer to theorigin of the man and the world, and for this reason they were hid, given the extraordinary importanceof the subject. In any case, it’s obvious that also at the time of the great Pharaohs, the ones of thenineteenth dynasty were so that, the truth about the origin of the man was hid. Encoded in their tombs,how it was in the “Sator”, but it had the aim to be kept and handed down to the future times, thatperhaps would make it possible a less traumatic and more immediate learning given the help that thescience could give. The importance attributed to the cult of the bull and generally to the bovine race bythe ancient Egyptians is well- known. Besides the gods also the Pharaohs were represented often withbovine horns and solar disk on their heads, as a further proof of the importance given to these twosymbols. The place of the cult of bull Apis was called Serapeum, that is called after god Serapis.Syncretistic divinity derived from the fusion of Egyptian god Osorapi (Osiris-Api), he was introduced alsoin the Island of Delos and then in Otaly, where are known the Serapeum of Pozzuoli and the one

attached to the Iseo Campense in Rome38

about which it was spoken previously and that now can beimportant to know in which period that knowledge was learnt by the Romans. Between the two places ofcult the one dating back to a more ancient time was Pozzuoli one, about 105 B. C., so it’s possible tosuppose that already at that time the mysteries of the Egyptian cult of bull Apis were known.

Starting from the eighteenth dynasty (New Reign), there are the first testimonies of the burial of bullsApis, even if the rite of mummification and burial of the animal sacred to god Path was already quoted

in the Texts of the Pyramids.39

Near Menfi (Saqqara), Prince khaemuaset, son of Ramesse II (1279-1212), began to build anunderground gallery (smaller crypts) on whose sides big rooms assigned to the burial of the sacred bulls

into the wood sarcophagi were made. Khaemuaset himself made to buried himself in this gallery.40

Pharaoh Psammetico I, of the twenty-sixth dynasty (664-610 B. C.), made to extend the buildingadding another gallery (bigger crypts) so as to form a right angle with the former one. Here the bullswere buried into gigantic sarcophagi of granite, also sixty-five tons heavy. This is the Serapeum pre-

eminently and for excellence.41

Bull in hieroglyph is said Ka, that is one of the expressions of the creative power.42

On the right wall of the staircase going out the temple of Sethi I in Abydus there is a rare and originalscene: the bull hunting; here the bull is snared by Ramesse II and by one of his sons. In this huntingscene there is no violence: Pharaoh is initiating his successor into the capture of the energy necessary to

the life.43

Perhaps this animal, this race, represent in a less symbolic and definitely more materialistic way theenergy that was necessary for the creation of the man.

THE CULT OF THE BULL

“At the beginning was the bull”. This is the inscription that is read on a Babylonian zodiac of Arsacideepoch. “At the origin of the world and of our civilization the myth of the bull appeared, rich in violence,

horror, but also in opulence and fertility”.1

In the preceding chapters it was possible to verify how since the most ancient times the cult of thebull has always existed, that is a certain divine consideration that dates back much before the capture ofJerusalem by the Romans.

By the historic-religious point of view the importance of the bull is very significant because a referenceis made to his reproductive faculty; also his horn, recalling the sickle-shaped moon, is revealing in thesame way.

It is left to establish if all they who adored the sacred animal knew the definite role that it had in thehistory of the man, or the regard that they reserved to it came from a kind of latent knowledge.

Now we are going to do analysis of the customs and religions to try understand which was the role ofthe bull, and generally of the bovine race, in the civilizations that made the history of the world both inthe West and in the East. As regards Italy, that takes its name just from “vitello” (Vitalia), that meanscalf, was considered the land of the oxen, animals sacred to Jupiter (steer) and to the Sun. In fact thebull symbolized, as the calf, the Sun . Considered as the greatest divinity it was venerated by all ancient

peoples, who used the horns to adorn their heads. This practice was used by Moses himself.2

The bull, or more generally the bovine animal, represents the heavenly gods in the Indo-Mediterranean religions. All that comes from its indefatigable fertility that likens it to Uranus, god of the

sky.3

As regards the Vedic religion god Indra is compared with a bull, too. Indra is the most importantanthropomorphic divinity, protector of the Aryans and the first among the gods with his wife Indrani.The gods who correspond to him in Iran and in the nearby East are compared also to the rams and tothe goats, which are symbols of the male and combative spirit.

The Vedic hymns attribute to the cow, considered like a general symbol of the bovine animal, aprimary and fundamental role: “The Cow danced on the celestial ocean and she brought the verse andthe melodies to us… The Cow is all that she is, God and Men… The divine order, the holiness and the

cosmic ardour are in her. Yes, the Cow makes to live the Gods, the cow makes to live the Men”.4

“Associated to the cosmic Ardour, she is the warmth that gives life to every living. Bull Indra is the warmand fertilising strength that is associated with the symbolic set of the fertility: horns, sky, water,lightning, rain, and so forth. To break the horn means to break the power, that if is not violated it cansublime itself. The bull is also the emblem of Shiva, white, noble, his back evokes a snow-coveredmountain. He represents the sexual energy, that Shiva dominates and transforms for its spiritualutilisation. The bull of Shiva, Nandi, represents the justice and the strength, the cosmic order and, forthis reason, is called “unfathomable”. The symbolism of the bull is strictly connected to the moon and

the perfect horn of Shiva represents the lunar growth.5

The cows, in India, are still today considered sacred and it’s possible to see them moving in the

streets tranquilly.

Alef, that is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, means bull and represents symbolically the moonduring the first week. The first letter of the alphabet, so the beginning, the origin. In the Phoenician

alphabet this letter is represented by a coarse head of bull.6

The bull is also the name of the zodiacal sign in which the sequence of the lunar houses begins. Manyletters, hieroglyphics, signs are in relation both with the lunar phases and with the bull horns, often

compared with the lunar growth.7

In the second century A. C. a cult of the Minor Asia was introduced in Italy; it integrated the Mitrhacult of Cibele with a practise not known in Rome till then: the “Taurobolo”. That practise consisted in asort of blood baptism: the devotee had to go down into a specially excavated pit, whose ceiling includesmany holes; then bull’s throat was cut with a sacred spit and the blood, passing through the holes,poured on the body of the initiate. To that practise, in particular way to the blood of the bull, a functionfit to transmit the biological power of the animal and especially the access, in its greatest form, to the

spiritual and immortal life was attributed.8

Also the cult of Mitrha, of Iranian provenance, included the sacrifice of the bull with an analogous

meaning, but in a different ritual and doctrinal scenary.9 This religious practise, deriving from Indo-

Iranian divinity Mitrha, is present both in the Indian religion with the Vedic movement, and in ZoroasterPersian movement. The cult, spread by the Roman soldiers, by the traders and the slaves coming fromthe regions of west and central Asia, arrived in Italy in the first century B. C. and from here it spread,through the Roman garrisons on Danube, to Germany, the territory with the biggest number of followersof the Mitrha cult. With the exception of Greece the cult of Mitrha had followers in all Roman Empire.

Gaul, Britain and even Spain counted many followers.10

In the Zoroasterism Mitrha was an envoy of the power of good Amura Mazda and the origin of thecosmos and its possibility of redemption was attributed to him. The principal act of Mitrha life was thesacrifice of the primordial bull, the first living being created by Amura Mazda. After capturing, tamingand taking him into his cavern, Mitrha, under orders of the sun, cut his throat and from his blood the

vegetables and the animals were born.11

Different interpretations are attributed to the sacrifice made by Mitrha. The ascension of himself withthe immolation of the bull are seen like the representation of the struggle in which all believers mustconstantly take part with all their efforts, doing like that the access to the eternal life is guaranteed by

the intercession of Mitrha.12

Another symbolism sees in this cult the cyclic alternation of the death andof the resurrection or the permanent unity of the vital force. Different is the interpretation that sees inthe sacrifice of the bull the penetration of the male principle into the female one, of the fire into thedampness, of the sun into the moon, of the sky into the land, so explaining the symbolism of the

fertility.13

This interpretation would seem the most appropriate given the role that we attributed to thebull.

Going back to the Zoroastreism it’s necessary to say that this religious movement was founded byZoroaster (Zarathustra). This cult, also known with the name of Mazda cult, by the name of AmuraMazda, God of the Good, dominated the Persian zone from 558 B. C. to 651 A. C., year in which theArabs conquered Persia (Iran). Zaraustra lived in the oriental part of Persia, perhaps around the seventhcentury A. C.; other more recent researches place his life in preceding periods, while some legendsmake to date back his birth to 630 B. C. in Bactra (the present Balkh, in Afghanistan). The young mandecided to become a minister (zaotar) and to take sides against the cult of Mitrha, considered toobloody because of the sacrifices made against the animals, which, in his opinion, had got the soul, them

too.14

For the Tartars of Altai the god of the hell is also represented on the rump of a black bull that ridesback to front. He holds a snake or a moon-shaped axe in his hand and black bulls and cows are

15

immolated to him.

For the northern peoples, the Celtics, the bull didn’t represent solely a symbolic meaning referred tothe virility. In Ireland, in fact, he was principally the object of warring metaphors. A hero or a greatwarrior was often called “bull of the fight”.

Still in Ireland, he was the object of a ritual that saw him like a victim: the entertainment of the bull.That ritual was practised in two parts: the bull was sacrificed, a poet ate a little meat, drank broth asmuch as he wanted, fell asleep and he saw during the dream the candidate king who had to be chosenby the assembly of the nobles. The second part of the ritual concerned the horse. So the bull wasconsidered, in the same way as the horse, a regal animal. Deiotaros, term used by tetrarchs, means

divine bull. They used that name since it means king.16

In the story of the “Rape of the cows” of Cooley, a white bull and a brown bull fight tooth and nail;the first one represents Ulster and the other one represents Connaught, and to have them means tohave the warring sovereignty, because they both have human voice and intelligence. In fact they wereborn by the metamorphosis of two swineherds of the kings of North and South Ireland and they passed

through some animal states.17

The bull is symbolically ambivalent. He’s lunar because he is comparableto the rites of the fertility; he’s solar for the fire of his blood and the spreading of his seed. On the regaltomb of Ur a bull with the gold head (sun and fire) and the chap of lapis lazuli (moon and water) rises.He’s heavenly and terrestrial because he can appear both as terrestrial epiphany and as heavenly

epiphany.18

In China the horned head of Shen-nung, inventor of the agriculture, recalls an ox or a bull,while the head of Ch’ih-you is evidently compared to a bull. Huang-ti is opposed to the first one and tothe other one. The bull is a genie of the wind and Ch’ih-you, horned head and bovine feet, is opposed

to Huang-ti who makes to fight him by the aquatic dragons, just thanks to the wind and the drought.19

With regard to China, a representation of mythical emperor Fu-hi is very interesting. pic.10 Theemperor holds in his hands the “t’ai-chi” with the symbol of the “yin-yang” and his aspect is clearlytaurine (horns and features). In the chapter dedicated to the stars with six points, or the hexagram, wepointed out that the little lines surrounding the symbol of the cosmic totality are the representation oftrigrams that compose different hexagrams. If the “Sator” is the literal representation of the hexagram,the taurine appearance of emperor Fu-hi would be explained consequently, vouching further for whatwas said up to now.

How it could note the sacrifice of the bull characterized a little all times and civilizations of the world.Now it can suppose that the sacrificial rite of the bull could evoke somehow the deed described in the“Sator” and so the kill of the animal was a conscious or unconscious manifestation of the initiation to themysteries of the life.

The sacrifice that happens in the bull-fight is to consider of a different interpretation. Here the deed isaccomplished after a ceremony of preparation fit to prove the superiority of the man on the animal. Justin this manifestation the human unconsciousness to the initiation to the mysteries of the life is felt in anevident manner. It’s as if in the man or rather in some men, the animal presence is so strong tostimulate in them the desire to prove own superiority and therefore the refusal of their origin.

Being the bull-fight a still followed manifestation, it will be easier to do an analysis using also thepsychology that, according to some analysts, interprets it as the unconscious desire to kill own father.

The complex of Oedipus to which the analysts20

make reference is certainly a subject that would be tomaster with greater attention given the role that we attributed to the bull.

The archaeological remains, that show which could be the attentions turned to the bull and moregenerally to the bovine race, are very interesting.

There are very ancient testimonies of painting that represent this race in parts of the globe to whichan interpretation of hunting kind was always given, even if in some cases the approach would seem veryforced.

We can find some very interesting testimonies in the zone of Karnasami (Ciad), where there are some

graffiti representing herds of cattle led by men, always represented in profile and with a zoomorph

head.21

We can find images of cattle transfixed with lances in “prehistoric” representations of some countries.Other ones represent only the approach of man to the species, perhaps to mean a possible association.

Still today in Italy there are some cities that took their name from the bull in a very distant time. Thetown of Boviano (Bovianum), today called Boiano, is placed in the zone of Matese and just like itshomonymous town, Boviano Vetere, placed in the Valley of Trigno, takes its name from the bull that,according to legend, was a guide for the Samnites who, coming from Sabine, arrived to themountainous region placed between Abruzzo and Puglia, two Italian regions. Bovianum Vetus, so Plinythe Elder called it, also called Undecimani’s, since just there Vespasian made to establish a settlement ofveterans of the eleventh legion, is placed on high ground of about 1000 metres and it keeps still todaysome traces of its Samnite origin, among which there are numerous Oscan writings. The remains of atheatre and of a temple would date back to the period of Emperor Augustus since Boviano Vetere was

also Emperor Augustus’ colony.22

With regard to Emperor Augustus it’s obligation to speak about the city that took the name from theunion of the name itself of the emperor with the name of the animal protagonist of this research: IuliaAugusta Taurinorum. We have data about the origin of Turin already in 218 B. C. when, at the outbreakof the second Punic war, the Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal, after crossed Alps, met with alittle market-place or a meeting place called Taurasia or Taurascia. The biggest centre of Taurinipopulation, belonging to Celtic-Ligurian branch, was destroyed. Today’s Turin rises on the foundations ofa camp left by Julius Caesar on his return from Gaul in 50 B. C. where Emperor Augustus assigned 3000

of his veterans returning from numerous battles for the cause of the Empire.23

A very new archaeological finding out, happened in the central Castello Square, has brought to lightfour amphora arranged in such a way as to occupy the four vertex of a square. The stratification andthe amphora themselves would make to suppose that rite was done around the first quarter of the firstcentury B. C., so changing of some decenniums the date of the construction of the walls, precisely underTiberius. It thinks that it’s a rite because it seems that the orientation of the square formed by theamphora corresponds with the square of the city walls and it represents, perhaps, a kind of inaugurationof the city itself. This rite, that seems not to be found in the Roman history, surrounds itself much more

with mystery for the contents of the amphora that are composed by, exactly, bovine bones not burnt.24

However the bull, besides inspiring the name of the city, is its symbol, too; it is on a shield and aroyal crown overhangs it. This is the history.

But a mite, a legend, exists too, and in this research we could verify how, sometimes, the legendsand the mites have some substantial truths.

According to a mite, Turin was founded by Eridanus, an Egyptian prince who landed at Italy passingGreece around the fifteenth century B. C.. Ascending the Italian peninsula along the Tyrrhenian Sea helanded at Liguria and conquered it, that took its name just from his son Ligurio; then he continuedthrough the plain to arrive to the banks of Po (the longest Italian river), where he founded a colony andestablished the cult of Bull Apis. The name and the symbol of the city come from these reasons. The

reign of Eridanus ended with his death occurred in the waters of Po.25

Perhaps it’s a mite, but this legend about the foundation of Turin, given the role attributed to the bullin this research, is rather fascinating and, considering the above-mentioned archaeological finding out,the bull seems just to be part of the history of this city.

It’s easy to guess how the bull is part of the history of the man in a pregnant manner and how it ispresent in various situations that, without the results of this work, would pass unnoticed or without clearexplanations. It’s likewise plain that the man, in this case the occidental one, dedicated a particularattention to the bull already before the capture of Jerusalem and so it’s certain that the personages likeJulius Caesar and Augustus were informed about the knowledge that were Egyptians’ and certainlyGreeks’.

A coin dating back to some centuries before Christ (400-395) is very interesting, on whose obverseit’s possible to notice the head of Athena with her helmet adorned with a owl and a olive-branch and onwhose reverse it’s possible to see the inscription “Alipha” in Oscan, and below it a bull with a humanface. Its obverse follows a brand of Athenian inspiration mediated by Neapolis (Naples) while its reverse

utilises a brand of Nola26

(town placed near Naples).

Another representation that arouses much interest is a painting included in the Vatican codex 3225,also called “Schedae Vaticanae” (kept in the Vatican museums) and belonged to Gioviano Pontano, toPietro and Torquato Bembo and even more to Fulvio Orsini. This codex was written in minor “rustic”capital letters at the beginning of the fifth century A. C., as it’s testified by the paintings that adorn it;it’s practically formed by some Virgilian fragments (75 files), the fifth or the sixth part of the ancientcodex (the third and the fourth books of the Georgics and the first and the ninth books of the

Aeneid).27

Then the painting at issue was utilized in a edition of the “Natural History” of Pliny, seentrough the press by Gian Biagio Conte and published by Einaudi.

Very probably it’s a representation of the picking of the mistletoe, practise that was made in theNorthern Countries and Pliny himself included it in his work (16, 249). On the left part it can distinguisha bull prepared for a ceremony, surrounding by personages who look at an altar; on the right part thereis represented Aeneas who, turned to an engraving, is picking some mistletoe from a tree. Both Aeneasand the bull are adorned with pink clothes. Also on the tree (is it an oak?), there are some pieces ofpink cloth. To understand which was the meaning attributed to this representation it’s necessary toanalyze every present element since nothing of what is represented is accidental or without adeterminate symbolic meaning.

To begin, even if the bull is white, the solar disk represented between his horns reminds withoutdoubt Egyptian representations.

Meanings of magic kind were attributed to the mistletoe: the people of Gaul considered it as a symbolof immortality and of vigour or of physical regeneration, calling it with a name that means “the thingthat cures everything”. The name itself of the Druids is formed by two roots, dru and vid, that meanpower and wisdom or knowledge and that are represented with the mistletoe and the oak. So the Druidis the mistletoe and the oak, or the wisdom added to the power. The union mistletoe-oak shows thatthe two virtues are united in the same individual and in this case Aeneas represents the union of thesetwo powers, the divine one and the material one, just as in the “Sator”, where the hero represents thehuman species. Still about the mistletoe, in the Germanic myth of Balder, a king killed through themistletoe that was his personification: this element could represent the passage from a form of life to

another superior one, almost divine.28

Pink, present on the bull, on Aeneas and on the tree, could assume the meaning that is proper of theflower (the rose). In Italian the word “rosa” means: the colour pink and the flower rose. The rose andpink would compose a symbol of regeneration for the semantic relation of the Latin words rosa with ros;ros means the rain, the dew. The rose and its colour were the symbols of the first level of regenerationand initiation to the mysteries. Apuleio’s ass recovered the human shape eating a wreath of vermilion

roses offered to it by the great minister of Isis.29

Besides Virgil wrote in his work dedicated to Aeneas just about the picking of the mistletoe from thehero, like a protective rite, before descending to the hell (Aeneid, book VI). This rite could beinterpreted as a manifestation of the knowledge of the life, or of the creation, without which it is notpossible to attain the knowledge of the future life.

Fulvio Orsini (1529-1600) was part of the ancient possessors of the Vatican codex 3225. He wasantiquary and librarian for the Farneses, an important Roman family, before following cardinal Ranuccio(1530-1565) and then following cardinal Alessandro (1520-1589); he had the task to take care of theorder and the development of the collections of antiques that he personally provided to arrange in theprepared rooms of the Farneses’ Palace. Fulvio Orsini, an erudite man, was the author of numerousstudies about the philology, the history and the antiques. Just his interest for the art made him to havehis private collection of picture, sculptures, inscriptions, coins and gems.

An account of the works kept by him, written out not long before dying, in which he registered all his

artistic properties noting their value and their former owners, lets us to value the extent of hiscollections that, after his death, passed to cardinal Odoardo (1573-1626), designated as universallegatee of his properties.

A life dedicated to the research and the collecting. He had a strong devotion to the Farneses, towhom passed his collections that, added to theirs, formed a considerable quantity of material that up to

now, in part, is possible to admire at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.30

Among Farneses’ works, the so-called Farnese bull stands out for its majesty without doubt. Thesculpture was found in Rome in 1545 during the excavations wanted by Alessandro Farnese in theancient place occupied by the Thermae of Caracalla. At the end of the second century B. C. the Rhodiansculptors Apollonio and Taurisco executed an analogous work that afterwards was carried to Rome byAsinio Pollione. Some think that the sculpture belonged to the Farneses is the original one, of the artistsof Rhodes, others believe that it is a copy done during the Julian-Claudian age or during the Severian

age. The theme treated is the one that took the name “Torture of Dirce”31

and about which it couldspeak in the chapter dedicated to Pompeii.

A very important feud belonged to the Templars was given to Farnese family. Located in the zonealong the river Marta, between the towns of Marta and Tuscania (placed in a central Italian region,

Lazio), a typically Mediterranean zone, the feud of St. Savino included a church and a castle.32

This lastinformation will be better understood in the chapter concerning the Crusades and the Templars.

At the beginning of the twentieth century a young Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin becamepopular for his cleverness. His name was Vaslav Nijinsky. From 1909 to 1913 he won Paris and thewhole world. Recently it is spoken about this artist again because his diaries have been published, orrather they have been published again in the original version, given the censorship that his wife Romolaenforced, perhaps out of shame, considering the discussed subject.

At twenty-nine years of age this artist went into a profound crisis that characterized his life. A doctorof Zurich diagnosed the schizophrenia to him and so he lived until April 1950 among some hospitals andmany administration of medicines. Just recently it has spoken about the diagnosis made in Zurich and itcan’t be sure that the famous dancer and choreographer was an insane person. Reading his diaries it’sobvious that we are in the presence of a particular personality: Nijinshy decided to write all his thoughtsin that period. But if each of us decided to write every own thoughts and then decided to let othersread them, perhaps would run the risk of the same diagnosis. If his knowledge of the life were such thathe felt uncomfortable with the whole world, perhaps he wasn’t really an insane person. An interlacing ofpassions and sex emerge from Nijinsky’s diaries and the part regarding the bull-fight is very interesting:“I am God and bull. I am Apis. I am Egyptian”.

Nijinsky resolutely condemned the Spanish bull-fights and any kind of violence, too.

It easily apprehends the will to not mean to do the neighbour any harm, even if this one is enemy tohim. He acknowledged his errors and asserted that anyone was exempt from that sin. Nijinsky said thathis knowledge came from his feeling and not from his culture. He defined himself as a man who felt andnot as an educated man.

He clearly treated the subject of the creation of the man saying that Darwin was an educated manbut his theory didn’t follow the feeling.

For Nijinsky the monkey was not the nature of the man. It came from the plant while the man came

from God: “I am God and Bull. I am Apis”.33

THE MAGIC SQUARE, THE CRUSADES AND THE TEMPLARS

In the preceding chapters the connections among the Romans, the Greeks, the Hebrews and theEgyptian often emerged. In this chapter, regarding the crusades and the Templars, the connectionsamong those ancient civilizations will have further confirmation and consolidation.

How it is known the crusades served to rid Jerusalem of Muslims who controlled it before the captureby the Western Christians, occurred during the first crusade in 1099.

Jerusalem, how it could be seen in the preceding chapters, without doubt was part of the history ofthe “Sator” and of its amazing content. So it’s necessary to speak about the crusades and theirprotagonists who, in the case in point the Templars, gave a considerable importance to that palindromekept in some their monuments or in some ones referred to them.

The “Sator”, besides being spread in the Roman Empire, had a big space in the Middle Ages andparticularly on buildings, especially churches, and in documents, in which it was a magic formula. Juston Templars’ churches and mansions still today it’s possible to see specimens of this enigma that, withthe star with six points, was part of the symbols belonging to the Order of Knighthood of the Templars.

After understanding that the “Sator” has a connection with the Templars’ Order, we will have to knowhow they succeed in decoding it and which was the way that they undertook to reconstruct its historyand principally to prove its reliability. There not should be doubts about the fact that they succeed indecoding it since the symbol, the hexagram that is the key to decode it, is fully present on the

monuments regarding the Order.1

Still as regards the hexagram and its relation with the Templars it’s necessary to analyze withattention the architectonic style that the monks used to build their churches and abbeys. In confirmationthat the star with six points was used as a project to build the Templar and Cistercian churches there isa very interesting miniature of the twelfth century that represents Saints Peter, Paul and Stephen whilethey are tracing with a rope, for abbot Cunzo sleeping, the project of the abbey of Citeaux). It’sunequivocally a hexagram of which it’s possible to see the two interlaced triangles that form it. pic.11

The abbey of Citeaux (Burgundy) was founded in 1098 by Saint Robert, abbot of Molesmes. Todaythere is nothing of the first abbey, in fact only some constructions of the fifteenth, the sixteenth and

the seventeenth centuries remain.2

Doing a particular study about the shape of some Templars and Cistercian churches (we will see laterthe connection between the two Orders) it’s possible to realize the possibility that they comprise the starwith six points in the middle of their walls. Some churches built by the Templars and the Cisterciansbase themselves on a rectangle-shaped plan. It was apparently a very simple shape but it could containthe hexagram. To understand how it was possible it’s more than sufficient to consider that in the starwith six points the two horizontal sides form a rectangle and that, with the addition of towers or of someother contrivances, it’s possible to complete the figure so as to be a real star with six points.

As a proof of all that, the church of Saint Bevignate in Perugia, an Italian city, built in the second halfof the thirteenth century and called after a local saint whom Perugia inhabitants and the Order of the

Temple had difficulty in canonizing,3 reflects accurately the kind of the above-said geometry. In fact it’s

easy to distinguish the rectangular shape and the six towers placed as points through a photo shot fromabove. These characteristics are easily distinguishable also from not aerial view that however, unlike theaerial one, doesn’t enable to observe the structure of the roof, that through inclined planes originatestwo triangles interlaced with their vertex that end in the six towers. pic.12 (For a similar theory, todemonstrate the stellar plan of some churches, see: Roberto Giacobbo, Riccardo Luna - Il segreto diCheope, Newton & Compton Editori 1998, study by Diego Baratono, p. 103).

To find answers about how the Templars knew these secrets it’s necessary to reconstruct the historyof the Order, just beginning from the life of those men who made possible the birth of the Templars.

One of those men was certainly Bernard of Clairvaux. Considered the source of inspiration of the birthof the Templars, he wrote a very important page of the occidental religiousness of the secondmillennium.

Bernard of Clairvaux was born at Fontaines-lès- Dijon in 1090. He was a Doctor of the Church, aCistercian monk who reformed his Order and founded the new abbey of Clairvaux in the region ofChampagne (France), a counsellor of popes and specifically Master of Pope Eugene III; he was also oneof the most important exponents of the medieval ascetic mysticism. He was appointed abbot at twenty-

five years of age and continued in office until his death occurred on August, 20 1153, when his

monastery had sixty-eight abbeys of its affiliation.4

The Order of Cistercians was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Christianworld was passing a spiritual and religious crisis. Just in that determinate circumstance of spiritualconfusion, Saint Robert, a Cluniac abbot of the monastery of Molesmes, placed on the table-lands ofLangres in Burgundy, tried to revive the observance of the rule of Saint Benedict in that abbey foundedby himself in 1075. He didn’t succeed in that and so decided to found another monastery. Followed inhis purpose by prior Alberico, by vice-prior Stephen Harding and by twenty monks who shared hiswishes, chose a marshy locality at about twenty kilometres from Dijon, Citeaux, and in March, 21 1098,St Benedict’s Day, founded the Order of Cistercians who took their name just from the locality of Citeaux(Cistercium). Decided to return at the full observance of the rule of St Benedict, the monks followed firmand fundamental principles: the separation from the world, the sensible distribution of the time to attendto the divine service and to the work. Bernard of Clairvaux, with other thirty aspirants entered Order in

1112 and thanks to his very good qualities became in a short time a guide for all Order and not only.5

At Clairvaux, a little way from Citeaux, he built a monastery including the church, the cloister and itsoutbuildings. It was 1135 when in all Europe the branches of the Order were about seventy, at the end

of the thirteenth century they will be 694.6 The abbey of Clairvaux, with Citeaux one, was certainly the

most representative of the Order, but also of it nothing remains.

But there are some plans of that time through which it’s possible to distinguish its location plan andorientation: the plan of the church is Latin cross-shaped, oriented with its front to the west; it was achurch with three aisles, covered with vaults. In France and in all Europe the ogival style, better knownwith the name of Gothic was coming.

Bernard of Clairvaux wrote some Sermons to the Virgin and given his ability of orator he was able totell one hundred and twenty sermons about the Canticle of Canticles of Salomon. He was an alert readerof Pliny the Elder and he got information from the “Natural History” to show the role of Christ towards

the humanity.7 In that work there is also a reference to the “Sator”. So it’s possible that the abbot, who

would become saint Bernard, decoded the enigma and decided to verify its reliability. It’s likewisepossible that the materials at St Bernard’s disposal were more specific than the ones arrived at todayand consequently the references were clearer .

At the beginning of this research we touched upon a text about magic rituals entitled “Key ofSolomon”, that includes a specimen of “Sator”. How it is deduced clearly already the title of the textpresents clews such that the work deserves a greater mastering. As regards its diffusion in West Europethere are not sure news about when it appeared for the first time. In Europe this text is known throughhandwritten copies kept in the big libraries of London, Paris and other cities, in Latin, Italian, Frenchlanguages.

In the French version (eighteenth century) of the translation of Abraham Colorno (1578-1598) fromHebrew into Italian, translated on behalf of His Highness Duck of Mantua (Guglielmo or VincenzoGonzaga) the “Magic Square” is in Hebraic characters and around it, inserted in two concentric circles, ispresent the seventy-second, 8 Psalm of King Solomon, in Latin characters. The pentacle was described

as a mean useful against the adversities and especially to restrain the pride (haughtiness) of the spirits.8

Now we try to make clearer the connection between the “Sator” and the Psalm present around it : “Etdominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos orbis terrarum” (and he will reignfrom a sea to another one, and from the river to the end of the word).

The bull changes through Maker into man and he will dominate over all the world.

It can be easily noted that the two phrases are reconcilable. As regards the grammar angle it is easyto guess that the adding phrase, beginning by the conjunction “et” (and), is evidently the continuationof another phrase. Also the fluency that emerges from the union of the two phrases would not seem tohave some strains. “And he will reign” is certainly referred to the man who, being the superior creaturepresent in the world, can aspire to govern it. This phrase is put in so close connection with the “Sator”

that assumes the role of confirmation and verification.

Now it’s possible to suppose some scenes regarding the chronology of the events that happenedaround the Order of the Templars. As regards the interpretation of the “Sator” it would be veryinteresting to know if it occurred before the establishment of the Order and so also before the journeyin the Holy Land by the founders of the Templars or only in a second time. This detail is very importantbecause it would establish exactly if the first knights took from the “Sator” the information that certainlyleft some traces in Jerusalem. It’s sure St. Bernard was an authoritative expert of King Solomon and soit’s probable, besides reading Pliny the Elder, he read surely texts regarding the king of the Hebrew, forinstance the “Key of Solomon” that, besides including an evidence of the enigma, contained also clewsfor its solution.

Now let’s try to understand, through the history of the Templars, which could be the scenery duringthe first years of the twelfth century, period in which the Order was established.

And where is it necessary to start from? From Jerusalem and more specifically from the Temple ofSolomon.

The hexagram, the Star of David that was represented by the Signet-Ring of Solomon, was the firsttrace to follow.

In 1118 nine French knights left for Jerusalem where they were received by King Baldwin II, nephewof that Baldwin who, some years before, took part in the first crusade to conquer Jerusalem. Ugo ofPayns, coming from the Champagne (a French region) and of noble birth, was at the head of theexpedition in order to protect the travels of the Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land, this is at least theofficial reason. Three of his knights were Flemish, like the king, who very probably knew them

previously. A fourth one was Andrè of Montbard, coming from Burgundi and Bernard’s uncle.9 In 1120

Lord Folco of Angiò joined them; then he will become king of Jerusalem marring the daughter of Baldwin

II.10

It might think that the principal object of the mission of the nine cavaliers wasn’t the rescue of thepilgrims, because there were few of them to fight. However in those times nobody could take the libertyof vindicating the expeditions in the Holy Land with subjects like the one included in the “Sator”. KingBaldwin II ordered the knights were billeted in a wing of his palace and so they had to be veryinfluential since to do it the king made the canons of the Holy Sepulchre transfer and, in a second time,

the whole palace was at Templars’ disposal.11

But it was only a question to respect some hierarchies,given the noble origin of the knights, or there were other motives behind the moving of a whole Orderto lodge nine knights? First of all it’s necessary to state that the royal palace, where the knights werebilleted, was built on the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, whose stables were still accessible. But didthey succeed in finding that Bernard of Clairvaux very probably hinted to them? The history of the Ordermight give some directions with regard to this.

For about ten years Ugo of Payns and the other knights remained in Palestine without nobodyspeaking about them. In 1125 another knight joined them: it was Lord Ugo of Campagne, his powercould be compared with French King’s one, who repudiated his wife and abandoned his children to go to

Jerusalem.12

That deed was certainly directed by exceptional motivations because, if the rescue of thepilgrims going to the Holy Land is considered as a mission of the Templars, otherwise it wouldn’t befound. Then, why had to be founded a new Order to defend those lands since there were other ones tothat purpose?

We have not data regarding fights from the knights during those ten years of stay in the Holy Land.

Afterwards they founded a new Order of soldier-monks.13

In 1127 Ugo di Payns and five of his companions returned in France and in 1128 Bernard of Clairvauxpresided in Troyes the council that ratified the birth of the Order of the Poor knights of Christ and of the

Temple of Solomon.14

Its members took the name of knights of the Temple or more simply of Templars. To be part of the

Order involved the respect of specific rules, among which there were of course the observance of thechastity and of the individual poverty. It’s very important to state that in no part of the official rule the

official mission is specified: the safety of the pilgrims in the Holy Land.15

Now it’s obvious that the Temple of Solomon is part of the history of this Order, since just from itderived the name itself of the Templars, who remained in the Holy Land until 1298.

But is it possible that Bernard of Clairvaux and his knights, when they verified the reliability of thecontent of the “Sator”, couldn’t break up that mission that from the beginning had not certainly theobject to make the war?

Would not have been only necessary to take possession of the building that was the Temple ofSolomon?

Why were Bernard and Templars promoter of other crusades?

Could they want a war, even if they had that truth unknown to most people?

Perhaps they didn’t succeed in routing each doubt during the mission of Jerusalem and so theyneeded a good cause to go in the countries that could give other confirmations about what was found inJerusalem.

In almost all texts dedicated to the Templars it mints to a legend that would regard a possibleconnection between the Order of the soldier-monks and the recovery of the Ark of the Alliance thatwould have happened in Jerusalem. But according to the research done up to now it could notice thatthe Ark of the Alliance probably wasn’t there since a long time and that Egypt certainly was the mostprobable place where it could be at that time. But if in the remains of the Temple of Solomon the Ark ofthe Alliance wasn’t found, what did the first knights, who went to the Holy Land, find? Perhaps was the“Sator” the only trace that they followed to arrive to the learning which they had and which is still visiblein many cathedrals? It’s sure they knew the ancient history of Jerusalem and as a consequence,interpreting the “Sator” and making reference to “Aeneas”, they could find the connection with theRomans and with their way. If we consider the foregoing assumption as a good one, I refer to Tituswho returned the Ark to Egypt, it's’ obvious it was the country in which it was necessary to look for.

It’s likewise probable the first knights who went to Jerusalem found there some traces to follow andperhaps the long time of their stay about which few data are known, just helped to do some researches.Besides it’s possible that in the remains of the Temple the knights found some graffiti similar to the onesare still today in the tombs of the great Pharaohs which we think could be copies of the contents of theArk of the Alliance.

The Order of the Templars became very powerful in a short time. The gifts that they received withthe fiscal exemptions helped the Order to acquire a considerable military and economic power. Thischaracteristic makes us suppose that around the Order there was a general consent, especially from theChurch, that supported without doubt a rapid development of an organization become very powerful in ashort time. The Templar knight had to keep the poverty but the Order could managed some riches.Their possessions were present, besides in the East, in France, in England, in Germany, in Spain and inItaly.

Just in Southern Italy Charles I and Charles II of Angiò took trouble in order that their reign supportedthrough an organization, of which the Templars were part, the military expeditions eastward. In 1277Charles I of Angiò authorized friar Aimaro de Petrucia to send the horses and the arms belonged to his

last son to Syria, so that the Templars could use them.16

There were close bonds between the dynastyof Angiò and the Templars; in fact William of Beaujeu, become Master of the Order of the Temple in

1273, was related to the French dynasty.17

In the same time, precisely in 1275, the relatives of CharlesI of Angiò resided in a fortress that is also today on Mount Vomero of Naples. Then, in 1329, Robert ofAngiò got the building enlarged that had the shape of a square surrounded with walls and two towerson the side of the entrance.

This residence, called Belforte, was next to the Charterhouse of St Martin, whose construction wasstarted about four years before thanks to the will of Charles, duke of Calabria and first-born of King

Robert. Nothing special would justify the quotation and the description of this residence, but a followingrestoration of the building makes it the object of a more mastered observation. The palace was alreadycalled Castrum (castle) in the documents of 1336, year in which Tino of Camaino died; he was thearchitect who had started the work of the two buildings belonging to Angiò family. Attanasio Primarioand Francesco of Vico succeeded him to that appointment. The work of the castle, mentioned in thewritings of Angiò family with big walls, corner-towers, a bell-tower and a chapel, lasted until 1343. From1348 Belforte was called Castrum Sancti Erasmi (Castle of St Erasmus), owing to the name of the Saintto whom an ancient chapel present in the tenth century on the hill was dedicated. In the course of theyears, for the corruption of the name Erasmus, the castle was called St. Ermo and then St. Elmo, whilethe chapel continued to be dedicated to St. Erasmus. The present architectonic shape, a star with sixpoints, yes, this is the present shape of the fortress, dates back to 1547 when after about ten years ofwork architect P. Louis Escrivà of Valenza, on behalf of viceroy Pedro de Toledo, finished it. Thisparticular and rather unusual shape, especially for a fortress, obliged the architect to defend himselffrom the harsh criticisms of the contemporaries in 1538, proving that the stellar structure lent itself wellto the defence of the place with few men. The castle represented the lynch-pin of the defensive systemof the city and it was certainly one of the most important fortresses of the Reign of Naples, constitutinga real citadel with the castellan, who had civil and military jurisdictions, the chaplain, the garrison andthe court. In 1587, during a storm, a lightning hid the powder magazine causing the destroying of thechurch and other buildings. The restorations started in 1599 and ended in1610 without changing itsstellar structure. In the course of the years the fortress was used for military prison, centre oftransmitters and, when the necessity to have a lonely fortress finished, today St. Elmo is in a closerrelation with the city that has expanded immoderately on the hill of Vomero. Around Piazza d’Armi thereare the Offices of the Superintendence of the Artistic and Historic Goods of Naples and of its provinceand in the last years the castle is used as place of cultural initiatives, among which exhibitions and

conventions.18

Now it’s possible to think that the shape of the star with six points was carried out for military aimsconsidering that Folco V of Angiò was one of the first Templar knights and also king of Jerusalembecause he succeeded to King Baldwin II, that Charles I and Charles II of Angiò were in close relationswith the Order of the Temple on the occasion of the crusades and that the relatives of Charles I lived inthe fortress, that William of Beaujeu, Master of the Temple, in 1273 was relative of Angiò dynasty andthat St. Martin, to whom the charterhouse next to castle was dedicated, is a Templar protector Saint.It’s possible to suppose that Pedro de Toledo had the possibility to accede to secret documents keptperhaps in the ancient fortress or in the charterhouse of St. Martin, and when he knew the real meaningof the star with six points, formed with two interlaced triangles, wanted to immortalize it in the walls of amilitary construction, so he succeeded in justifying himself with pretexts of defensive nature.

Was that shape just necessary for a more efficacious defence given the criticisms that it would havestimulated?

Perhaps it will never know if the star that is in the city of Naples is to put in relation with theTemplars and so with the “Sator” because there aren’t specific documents; but some doubts and someright beliefs remains, about which clearness must be done. With regard to that it will be very interestingto know the history of Angiò family who, as we will see, had an important part in the expeditions to theHoly Land and as a consequence close relations with the Order of the Temple.

Angiò is a zone in French department “Centre”, situated in North France whose principal town isAngers.

The first real founder of the counts of Angiò was Folco the Red. That Folco appeared for the first timein documents as a viscount after 886, but only after 930 was really count of Angers. To him succeededhis son Geoffrey Grisegonelle who had five children from two marriages: with Adele of Vermandoies andwith Gislebert’s daughter Adele, count of Autun and Chalon. Folco III, nicknamed Nerra (the Black), wasthe first-born and succeeded to Geoffrey living a life full of passions and conflicts. He went to Jerusalemfor three times as a pilgrim in 1003, in about 1020 and finally in 1039. He dead in 1040 at Metz comingback from Jerusalem. During the period in which he was in power founded some abbeys: of Loches, ofSt. Nicolas of Angers and of Roncerai. To him succeeded his son Geoffrey II, nicknamed the Hammer,who governed from 1040 to 1060. From his marriage with Agnes, former widow of the duke ofAquitania, he had not children and with him the first dynasty of the counts of Angiò ended.

From then the zone of Angiò handed to the viscounts of Oreléans or Gatinas, since Geoffrey theHammer designated as a heir his nephew Geoffrey the Bearded, first-birth of his sister Ermengarda andof Geoffrey of Chateaulandon. The other son Folco IV, who inherited only few possessions, disagreedimmediately with his brother and after some disputes he succeeded in prevailing over his brother, thathis son Folco V might rise to power. It knows which were the relations of Folco V with the Templars andJerusalem of which he became king. Up till now we have known how the dynasty of Angiò already in thepast had close relations with the Holy City, that continued also in the next centuries.

Accepting the throne of Jerusalem, Folco V left the control of the zone of Angiò to his son Geoffrey Vthe Handsome, had in 1113 from the marriage with Ermentrude. Geoffrey V the Handsome, called thePlantagenet, given his habit to have a twig of broom on his cap, in 1127 married Mathilda, daughter ofHenry I King of England. The zone of Angiò remained under the control of England until 1234 whenLewis IX, king of France, annexed it to the French territory and in 1246 he allotted the counties of Angiò

and Maine.19

Charles I of Angiò took part in the crusade of 1249 against Egypt with his brother Lewis IX. In thatcrusade, that would have served to liberate Jerusalem from the taking of the Muslims, the biggerwestern kingdoms took part, but soon the object became the conquest of the Egyptian capital. Thehistorians report that, after the capture of Amietta by the crusaders, the military action was less difficultthan expected, sultan Ayyub would have proposed to King Lewis the assignment of all territory ofJerusalem and the liberation of the Christian captives in exchange for the city. The reply of the king wasso that the sultan of Egypt had to prepare the defence for the Cairo before the illness, that tormented

him, causing his death.20

But why did Lewis IX, then became St. Lewis, not accept the offer of thesultan of Egypt who returned Jerusalem to the West? Was really the liberation of the Holy Land theprincipal object of that crusade?

The connection emerged since the beginning of this research of the “Sator” with Egypt would makesuppose that some information and evidences kept in this country were so important to justify a bigmilitary action, like the crusade led by King Lewis IX of France. The crusade ended with the victory fromthe Muslims.

This part of the research dedicated to Angiò dynasty, particularly to their contacts with Jerusalem,want to be a further proof that among the “Sator”, the Templars, the Crusades and Egypt there was avery close relation whose traces are visible still today. Returning to Charles I of Angiò it’s necessary topoint out that besides becoming king of Sicily, before supported by Pope Urbano IV and then, when hedied, by his successor Pope Clement IV, was king of Jerusalem too, for the claims acquired from Mary of

Antioch in 1277.21

Previously the Kingdom of Sicily was into the hands of the Normans with Frederic II of Sweden andafterwards with Manfredi, his descendant. In that king of Sicily also Frederic participated in the crusades

incurring protests that caused also his excommunication from the pope.22

Frederic II (1194-1250) is mentioned especially because he got Castel del Monte built, that is theobject of many studies for its particular structure. The building is on the low hills near Andria (a town inthe province of Foggia, Italy) from which it’s possible to see the sea and the coast to Gargano. Builtaround 1240 it’s a real hymn to the octagonal geometric shape: the base of the castle is octagonal andeight octagonal towers are placed at its vertex, the inside courtyard is octagonal, so also an altar. Thebuilding has not the typical characteristics of a Medieval castle, in fact it doesn’t seem impregnable. Itstwo floors have the same base and they are symmetrical, even if the floor below is definitely more solid.The eight trapezoid rooms, of course eight room for each floor, are endowed with hygienic services,chimney for heating and they are decorated so that all structure is worth of an imperial palace, how a

throne testifies.23

According to some the proportion of the central portal would be to connect with theones of the Temple of Solomon, basing also them on the “golden” number 1,618.

The octagonal shape was used also by the Templars to build sacred places. This architectonicstructure is present in many churches and monuments, both in the West and in the East. As regards theoctagonal constructions present in Europe, there are many clews that they have to be connected with

the Order of the Templars. There are evidences in Italy, Portugal, Spain, France.24

But which was the relation between Frederic II and the Templars? And who was really this emperor,defined the last Pharaoh?

He was born at Jesi (Italy) on December, 26th 1184, son of Henry VI and Constance of Altavilla. Whenhe was twenty years old, became king of Germany, Sicily and Puglia and in 1220 he was solemnlycrowned emperor in St. Peter basilica. Pledged himself with the Church to leave for the crusade, in factit was up to him being the emperor, he succeeded in putting off his departure fixed on June, 1st 1216.In 1223 his first wife, Constance of Aragon, died, so that Frederic II in 1225 got married again withIsabel, daughter of Giovanni of Brienne, heir of the title of king of Jerusalem.

In 1227 he had to leave for the crusade, on pain of excommunication from Pope Gregory IXwho meanwhile succeeded Onorio III. Boarded at Brindisi (Italy), he had to return after few daysbecause of an epidemic broken out in the ships. Pressed and even excommunicated, Frederic left for theHoly Land on June 1228 where, obtained Jerusalem from sultan al-Kamil, he crowned himself king forthe rights acquired by the marriage with Isabel of Brienne.

The imperial life of Frederic II was characterized with repeated clashes with the papacy: amongdisputes, wars and even excommunications, the emperor even didn’t prove himself near the Church.Nick-named the “sultan baptised”, he led a life that was very much like an Arab’s one.

He had a harem and used constantly water for his personal health: all that made him more alikethose personages who became his closest friends as sultan of Egypt al-Malik al-Kamil and the sultan of

Tunisi.25

It’s obvious that Frederic II was in contact with many populations and so his learning had to beconsiderable. He took part in the crusades and became king of Jerusalem: these events would bearwitness to his close relation with the Order of the Temple; his very good relations with the Arab peoples,particularly with the sultan of Egypt, prove that the emperor was certainly initiated to the mysteries fromwhich a mystic architecture flowed, that was characteristic of that period. Frederic II dead in the Castleof Fiorentino in Puglia on December, 13rd 1250. It seems he never lived in Castle del Monte since,probably, when he died it was not finished yet, and his only descendants who lived there were as

prisoners, given the use from Charles I of Angiò.26

Now let’s try to understand how the octagon could be connected with the hexagram, because it’snecessary to not forget that it is the shape that sums up what emerged from the “Sator”, that is themain subject of this research.

In the chapter dedicated to the star with six points it could establish this symbol was spread in allancient civilizations, also appearing under a different iconography.

Now let’s try to summarize which is the meaning that is attributed to the octagon and to the numbereight in general. Eight is the number of the cosmic equilibrium, of the cardinal directions added to the

intermediate ones, of the compass-card and of the Athenian Tower of the winds.27

This Pentelic marbleGreek monument, built with an octagonal shape, was very well-known for a frieze that containedsymbolic figures of the “Winds”, on its roof there was a Triton-vane showing the direction of the winds,

while inside, it seems, there was a very ancient water-clock.28

Usually the spokes of a wheel are eight

and the petals of the lotus, too.29

The octagon itself is worth as a mediation between the square and

the circle, that is between the world and the sky and so it is connected with the intermediate world.30

The trigrams of the I-ching are eight; they take also the shape of the octagon. The pilasters that support

the dome vault of the ancient Chinese temple “Ming-t’ang” are eight and lean on a square base.31

Previously we saw that just in Ancient China the representation of the trigrams, whose combination produces thehexagrams, happened with an octagonal disposition, being eight the trigrams from which derive all combinationsthat form the sixty-four hexagrams that compose the “I-ching”, or the Book of the Mutations. The Chinesesymbolism of the trigrams, whose paternity would be due to mythic emperor Fu-hi (twenty- fourth century B. C.)

bases itself on the combination of two determinants: the continuous line corresponding to the yang, the sky and thebroken line corresponding to the yin, the world. Considering the trigrams of the I-ching, formed by continuous andbroken lines, are obtained adding one line to the digrams, it’s necessary paying attention to the plan of the castle.Its rooms pic.13 are formed and separated by continuous and broken lines (walls) so as to follow continuous andbroken lines.

Referring to the trigrams of the I-ching, Castle del Monte might be seen and interpreted as follows:the big octagonal construction would mean the trigrams and consequently the hexagrams, while theeight octagonal towers would mean the sixty-four hexagrams that form the I-ching.

Now it’s little difficult to find a relation between the Templar architecture (some attributed the makeof Castle del Monte to Templar architects) and Ancient China, even if it’s obvious that the hexagram andthe octagon too, have the same meaning both in the East and in the West, and so it’s probable thesame knowledge were peculiar to different peoples. When Frederic II made the castle built was notinspired by Ancient China, but probably by other civilizations that had the same knowledge and so thecode, hidden in continuous and broken lines, was universal among the ancient civilizations.

The union between the sky and the world, so between the circle and the square, finds its mostancient position and representation in Ancient Egypt and specially in the Plain of Giza where Cheops’spyramid, whose base is square-shaped, includes the “P” Greek (3,14) and the golden number 1,618

(referred to the integral monument)32

that may be found also in the octagonal construction of Castle delMonte.

Also many Baptisteries are octagonal and it’s just for this reason that the octagon means resurrection,

too.33

The Dome of the Rock, known especially with the name of Mosque of Omar, placed in Jerusalem onthe plain where the Temple of Solomon was built, is octagonal. Started in 688-689 and finished in 691-692 by omayyade caliph Abd al-Malik it is very original: on the external octagonal wall four doors opentowards the four cardinal points; inside a ring of four pilasters alternated with twelve columns holds ahigh tambour up on which there is the wooden cupola, originally covered with lead plates and goldenbrass sheets (reconstructed after the collapse in 1106); between the inside ring and the perimeteroctagon there is an octagonal arcade including twenty-four arches supported by eight pilastersalternated with sixteen columns. The two concentric ambulatories obtained from this disposition areappointed for the circumambulation around the sacred object, the Holy Rock. This rock is a sacredsymbol both for the Hebrews, who consider it the point of the mountain where Abram was going toimmolate his son to God, and for the Muslims, who consider it the place from which Mohammed left to

reach the sky during his night journey.34

Probably this very original Moslem construction influenced very much the Templar architecture thatnumbers among its constructions many octagon-shaped buildings. Castle del Monte itself, whether it isattributed to Frederic II or to the Templars themselves, might originate from this construction.

Returning to the relation between the circle and the square, that finds its graphic representation inthe octagon, it’s possible asserting, as well as the hexagram, it means the man, that is the union of thematter (square-world) with the spirit (circle-sky).

Some religious buildings base themselves on the use of the circle and the square referringunequivocally to the dualistic system sky-world.

Another octagon-shaped monument, that exists still today and is of Cistercian origin, is the bell-towersituated in the Principality of Lucedio. In this zone, placed near the towns of Trino and Crescentino (inthe province of Vercelli), in 1123 the Cistercian monks installed themselves coming from the abbey of La

Fertè in Burgundy, perhaps led by St. Bernard himself.35

They built a church dedicated to St. Mary andcalled the monastery St Mary of Lucedio. Of this construction only the octagonal bell-tower remains, therest, that can be admired still today, dates back to constructions of the eighteenth century when on the

ruins of the ancient church another one was built, dedicated to St. Mary of the Assumption.36

Going intothe court of the abbey it’s possible to observe, on the right, another church built by the Cistercians and

called “of the people”: on 22nd of May, every year, St. Bovone’s Day was celebrated; St. Bovone was a

martyr of the Theban legion and was considered the protector of the bovines.37

What a coincidence!

Returning to the history of Jerusalem and to the crusades, that saw Angiò family as activeprotagonist, it is to speak about the leading role of Charles I, who contended for the throne of the HolyCity with Hugh III of Cyprus who, being a grand-nephew of Isabel of Jerusalem, tried to got possessionof the royal title. But Charles I, using the rights acquired from Mary of Antioch, Isabel’s nephew andunwilling to the ascent to power of Hugh, arranged with her to have her rights on Jerusalem for asubstantial life annuity in 1277.

For his political action Charles had the full support by the Order of the Temple, which in that time wasled by William of Beaujeu, elected in May 1273 and, as seen previously, married into Angiò family.Arrived at Jerusalem in 1275 William declared himself to be faithful to Charles immediately. He wasdescendant from a baronial family too, of the lords of Beaujeu, and he had a considerable politicalinfluence that he placed at Charles I disposal. Just during an attempt of Hugh III of Cyprus to seize thethrone of Jerusalem the Order of the Temple had a conclusive role in order that the fact didn’t happen,so incurring the wrath of Hugh III to itself and particularly to Great Master William and the confiscationof the goods that the knights owned in the island. The power that William of Beaujeu and all the Orderreached was so great that the Great Master was accused of behaving like a king; the relationsthemselves William had with the sultan of the Egypt and the Muslim environment, from which, it seems,he got precious information, were the object of further accusations. The Great Master had also thepossibility to negotiate agreements with the infidels in perfect harmony with the politics adopted by kingof Jerusalem Charles I, that based itself on the preservation of the good relations between the king of

Sicily and the sultan of Egypt, how Frederic II did previously.38

In 1270 Charles I took part again in a crusade. It was the eighth one and also that time it was led bySt. Lewis who, with the full support of Clement IV, succeeded in involving also Edward of England.Charles, who at that time was king of Sicily, after taking away Manfredi the throne, son of Frederic II ofSweden, found himself in a rather anomalous situation, in fact the historians supposed he wanted to usethe war organized by his brother Lewis IX for personal ends. In that period Jerusalem was in a veryprecarious situation and it was not clear why the king of France decided to change the destination of theexpedition to Tunisia, country which was negotiating just with the king of Sicily to look over some tradeagreements stipulated with Manfredi. At that time Tunisia was governed by the Hafsidi, who in 1228emancipated from the domination of the Almohadi and had peaceful relations with the Christiankingdoms, among which there was the one of Sicily, where through a tribune they could stock up withwheat. Still in Tunisia the partisans of the Hohenstaufen sought refuge, branch from which Frederic IIdescended, but it’s rather improbable to think that king Lewis IX might change the destination of the

crusade because of the possible influence of his brother Charles I.39

But why did he decide to changethe objective of the expedition towards Tunisia and to tell the allies it only at the last moment?

The answer could seem repeated but once more Egypt was the real and main object of the crusade.

Tunisia had to be only a means to make the invasion through the dry land easier.40

The Franks countedvery much on the help of the Mongols to can overcome Egypt but the military problems which at thattime tormented Abaqa (Khan of Iran) caused some retards of the covenant of alliance and once morethe attempted invasion of Egypt, organized by Lewis IX and authorized by Clement IV, had not success,since Charles I and his troops, which had to arrive in Tunis, retarded, too. The situation rushed and thespread of some epidemics caused many losses among which there was John Tristam, the second son ofthe king. Lewis himself fell ill and died after about three weeks of stay in his bed. It was 25th August

1270.41

Charles I of Angiò, after arrived at Tunis, came to an agreement with the sultan: they agreed to a

truce that fixed twice the payment of the tribute due to the king of Sicily from the sultan.42

Egypt, as pointed out in the history of the crusades, was a real military objective from the Franks andthe other kingdoms that on several occasions they tried to invade without never succeed in it.

Doing the research so as to have some reliable verifications and connections, on the ground of what

emerged from the “Sator” with Ancient Egypt, it’s possible to suppose the objective was not the Egyptianpossessions, or rather, also its spiritual riches were important thanks to the very important knowledgeand the many archaeological ruins. Besides it’s to remember that important personages, like Frederic IIand William of Beaujeu, had good relations with the sultans who at that time governed Egypt and so it’spossible, perhaps sure, that there were exchanges of mind about the subjects that characterized thereligions of all world.

Going back to the “Sator” and Angiò family, now it’s very interesting to master two medievalbuildings, the Castle of Chinon and the Castle of Loches, both situated in the Valley of the Loira, inFrance. Just these two constructions, belonged to Angiò family, will make us understand how thisdynasty and noble France of that period knew the meaning of the “Sator” and that the way followed inthis research is right, or near enough.

Two of the many specimens, which are in France, are kept respectively in the Castle of Loches and inthe Castle of Chinon.

The Castle of Loches, that existed already in the sixth century as a “castellum”, was given up in 840by Charles the Bald to his faithful knight who gave Folco the Black of Angiò dynasty it. It is a fortressfortified with an exceptional defensive system consisting of solid walls and high towers. During thethirteenth century it was the scene of long disputes for the possession of Touraine, contended by HenryII Plantagenet, king of England and his sons Richard Lion-heart and John Landless against PhilipAugustus. During the fifteenth century it became the residence preferred by Charles VII, who howeverdidn’t disdain even the Castle of Chinon, residence that received him in his young age when he was notyet king. It was the evening of 28th June 1418 when Paris was besieged by the Burgundians and theyoung Dauphin was put in safety in the Castle of Chinon, so beginning a long time that would have seenthe castles built in the valley of the Loira as the residences preferred by the sovereigns of France. TheCastle of Chinon is especially remembered for the history that regards Joan of Arc who is celebrated bythe French on 8th May every year. At that time Henry IV was king of England and king of Paris and

Charles IV had to be satisfied of the title of king of Bourges.43

A tale about Joan of Arc is very interesting: she would have been part of the heirs of the Templarswith her squire Jean of Aulon. During the coronation of Charles VII, that happened in the cathedral ofReims, the master of ceremonies tried to refuse the entry to the Maid’s banner who, being a militaryhead, had the right to own it. Very probably it was not her banner, that would not have met withdifficulty in going into the cathedral, but it was the Beausséant, the Templar banner, a half of sandcolour and a half of silver colour. Afterwards Joan of Arc was rehabilitated but she was treated like the

last Great Master: she was burned alive with the accusation to be heretic.44

The Castle of Chinon, built near the Vienne (Loira’s tributary), lodged the court until 1450; then itmoved to Amblois and to Blois. The Castle was used again by Lewis XII in 1498 to receive CaesarBorgia who was sent by the pope to dissolve his marriage with Joan of France and to make it possiblefor him to marry Anne of Brittany and so add also her territories to France.

Today doesn’t remain very much of the complete structure of the fortress: the magnificent structure,some towers among which the Tour de l’Horologe (Tower of the Clock) with the bell Marie Javelle, thatstrikes the hours since 1399 and the Tour D’Argenton (Tower of Argenton) built about the end of thefifteenth century where, it seems, Lewis XI got the prisoners locked up. In the cylindrical tower of thecastle Joan of Arc was lodged, just where some centuries before the Templars were locked up, whose

enigmatic engravings it’s possible to read also today on the walls.45

The specimens of the “Sator” present in the fortress belonged Angiò dynasty might be done by theTemplars, who, as seen, were imprisoned in the Castle of Chinon, or by those whom took part in theexpeditions to the Holy Land with them, so it is not certain that Angiò family who lived there later onknew the real meaning of the enigma.

The very close connection among the Order of Templars, Jerusalem and the sovereigns of Francewould suppose those very important mysteries kept in the “Sator” were handed down through thegenerations of sovereigns who succeeded during the years. Just for this reason it’s quite probable alsoCharles VII knew those mysteries and we can find a proof of it in Agnès Sorel’s house, situated in

Beaulieu-les-Loches.

Agnès Sorel, a beautiful woman and descendant from a well-off family, was presented in 1435 toCharles VII and when she was twenty years old, about 1444, became the favourite of the king. She wasinterested in the affairs of State and in luxury. The king gave her precious jewels and oriental objects.Her religious life was characterized by a marked devotion that manifested itself in the many attentionsthat she did to the local church of Notre Dame of Loches, today known with the name of Saint’Ours.

From Charles VII she had four children and she died when she was twenty-eight years old because ofa difficult pregnancy, even if at that time it rumoured about her probable poisoning from the son of theking, the future king Lewis XI, who, fallen in love with her, wasn’t responded. Agnès, just for thatreason, left Chinon for Loches. Buried in the chapel of Loches, place dear to her and to which shepredisposed a bequest of two thousands of gold écu and, when Lewis XI ascended the throne, ran therisk that the monks assigned to that sacred place got her remains removed from the chapel of thecastle, but they changed their mind to not return her gifts. Agnès’s remains stayed their place, under analabaster monument, until the revolution when the insurgents went into the castle and mistook it for asaint’s one violated it destroying statue. Later on Agnès Sorel’s remains were transferred in the castleand today her white marble tomb is decorated with some lambs and angels who represent thesweetness of the Lady of Beauté, a name derived from the castle of Beauté situated on the outskirts ofParis and given to her by Charles VII. Agnès received from Charles a castle for each child had from him

and among those there was also the castle of Loches, that she preferred without doubt.46

If the two specimens of the “Sator” present in the fortress of Chinon and Loches had not a particularmeaning why would Agnès Sorel have wanted one of theme in her house?

It’s difficult to think she wanted to put a epigraph like the one of the “Sator”, certainly seen for thefirst time in the fortress of Chinon and Loches, in her private residence without knowing its meaning.The history of Angiò family was so closely to the history of the “Sator” that it’s very sceptical to considerthese events as coincidences; of course, the subject imposes to think with scepticism but also withobjectivity.

Before the devotion of Agnès Sorel to the church of Notre Dame of Loches (today of Saint’Ours) wasmentioned, for this reason we are going to give some information about it.

Built for the will of Geoffrey Grisegonelle, about whom it was spoken in the history of Angiò family, itsconstruction lasted until the fifteenth century. In the twelfth century two octagonal pyramids were built,whose cavities formed the vault of two central spans. These were a nave and two aisles. The “dubes”,

this is the name of the particular pyramids that derives from the cover of the baptismal font,47

soconnect the symbol of the pyramids with the symbol of the octagon, about which it was spoken amplypreviously.

Going back to the Templars and theirs constructions, there are some interesting references in theimposing Castle of Lombardy, situated in Enna (a Sicilian town). The castle was entrusted to the chivalryof the Order by the Normans and the present structure dates back to the twelfth or the thirteenthcentury. Probably the Templars lodged in the third court of the castle, the one of Saint Martin or of theCommanders, where are still the ruins of the Chapel of Saint Martin, of the saloon of the Knights and alarge rocky subterranean oratory in which the Mysteries of Mithra or of the Sun were celebrated, as thestrange and initiation ceremonies carved on the rock attest. The Castle of Lombardy was joined, througha secret underground passage, to the octagonal Tower of Frederic II (also called Tower of the Winds)whose architectonic lines recall a reference, besides the number eight, to the number three, too: thefloors were three (today they are two); the walls surrounding it were three and they were 3,30 metresin thickness; the windows that let light into the saloons were three. Studies effected during the lastyears let us to define that the “tower of the Winds” was built, not fortuitously, on the very ancientplatform where the land-surveyor with a kind of goniometer used by the Romans, centring Enna,outlined and marked out the Sicilian road network formed by three large roads of communication, three-

legged, that recalls a very ancient and esoteric symbol of Sicily.48

Some evidences, as seen, point out the interest that the Templars turned to the Cult of Mithra. Thecrusades put the Knights in touch with the Arab-Byzantine culture that they might know and master

other religions, and since the Cult of Mithra bases itself on the bull, it’s inevitable an investigation aboutthe link that the Order had with it. In this connection reliable evidences are given by caskets of Templarorigin: one comes from Essarois (Burgundy), not far from the temple of Voulaine, the other one comesfrom Florence. On the cover of the specimen of French provenance, it is 25 by 19 centimetres in breadthand 13 centimetres in height, the decorations include a figure of androgyne who has an embattled towerlike Cibele on his head and holds a decorated stick in his each hand: one is decorated with a waxingmoon and the other with a solar disk (the sky and the world, the spirit and the matter). Near his feetthere are two stars separated by a skull. An Arab inscription is indecipherable. On the sides of the casketthere are erotic scenes. At the corner there is a warrior who attracts to him two children on a crocodileand on another side there is a winged genie who wears a crown while another personage is taking anaxe and a rudder. On another side four figures immolate a bull on a lighted altar. The Italian casket is

nearly identical to the French one, but on it it’s possible to see a funeral scene of cremation.49

Still inSicily, in the cathedral of Monreale, there are other evidences of the initiation of the Templars to theMysteries of Mithra. The belonging of the cathedral to the Templars would be proved by a capital of thecloister with the Templars patriarchal cross, in which typical manners, with a clear alchemic meaning, ofthe royal portal of the cathedral of Chartres were found. Again, on the capital of the cloister duellingknights (the Templars) and Mithra, who immolates the bull, are represented. At Monreale it’s possible tofind many symbols that prove the presence of the Templars: the cross is on the Mosaic walls, on thegate of the transenna of the choir and in the chapels of the cathedral; the star with eight points and theCistercian rose are present on the ceiling and on the floor. Besides the Abbey of Monreale was entrustedto the Benedictine monks of Cava dei Tirreni (a town near Naples), founders, with Amalfi monks, of the

Order of Malta Knights, who had a very close relation with the Templars.50

As a proof of the close connection between the “Sator” and the star with six points there is an ancientprint reproduced in a magic book that, given the figures that form it, deserves a scrupulous scrutiny.pic.14 In three concentric circles, that are turned by an eagle, an angel, a bull and a winged lion, thereis a specimen of the “Sator” set in a star with six points, that is the seat of a man and a woman placedupside down. The connection between the “Sator” and the star with six points can’t be fortuitous. Thenthe addition of the four symbols that represent the Evangelists and the two human figures inserted inthe star would leave few doubts about the interpretation given to the enigma. Besides the four symbolsthat represent the Evangelists also the four universal elements are combined:

Eagle - Air - S. John

Lion - Fire- S. Mark

Bull - World - S. Luke

Angel - Water - S. Matthew.

Recapitulating we can assert that in this representation of the “Sator” there are different combinationsof symbols that prove the same theory: the union between the sky and the world, or the Man.

This work is the group of all the elements necessary for a right and complete interpretation of the“Sator”, that finds an analogous connection in the Church of S. Peter ad Oratorium. Between Capestranoand Bussi, two towns in the province of L’Aquila (Italy), written upside down on a slab set in the front of

the church (twelfth century), there is a representation of the enigma quoted many times.51

Thedecorations of the apse are very interesting: some frescos of the twelfth century portray Christ on thethrone among the symbols of the Evangelists whose real meaning we could verify, even if the presenceof the bull, at this point, makes some doubts about the probable connection of the four elements. In theprint described before the four symbols were put in close relation with the “Sator”, in which we couldcheck the role of the bull. For this reason, perhaps, the interpretation that is to give to the bull andconsequently to the other three symbols, too, must be revised towards the content of the “Sator” andprecisely as follows: the Eagle would represent the Sun, the Word, or God, the Angel would representhis emissary, whom we may identify with Osiris, the Bull would represent the creative power and theLion, that looks at East, and so associable to the Sphinx, would represent the Place. The firstconstruction of the church dates back to the eighth century while the present plan is of the twelfthcentury, during which some works of restoration enlarged and modified it after the Romanesque style.

In the tarots we find a substantial confirmation that the symbols of the Evangelists are to interpret inaccording to the theory explained here. Just the twenty-first Arcanum , the World, includes the analyzedsymbols. Observing the picture we can notice: the bull, the lion, the angel and the eagle placed outsideof a circle (the Zodiac) in which there is a feminine figure; still on the circle, up and down, there are twocrosses arranged in conformity with the orientation of the cross on S. Andrew.

There are many interpretations about the origin of the tarots; it thinks that they might come fromChina, from India, from Egypt or even that they might be the work of Hermes. Egypt and Hermes(Thot), but also China and India, had in this research an important role that makes us consider these

hypotheses may be the right ones.52

Up to now it could verify that the Country might keep other information about the content of the“Sator” was Egypt.

It’s probable that, as Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus, who before going back to Rome had arest in Egypt, also the nine knights who went in first to the Holy Land found some references with Egyptand so tried to go towards that Country. Besides it’s necessary to remember a detail that has both avery revealing importance and an indicative one: Vespasian and Titus, when they have arrived at Rome,chose the Temple of Isis as their temporary abode.

Officially the Occidentals went into the heart of Egypt only in the sixteenth century. In that time thefirst explorations of the magnificent monuments began and among the many explorers there was alsoPaul Lucas who, sent by the king of France Lewis XVI, arrived at the conclusion that the Big Pyramids

were gnomons, or solar clocks.53

We could verify in the chapter dedicated to the Egyptians that the Pyramids told the time, perhapsrather particular. We have to understand if also Lewis XIV knew their real meaning and with regard tothis the surname that the king himself adopted might give an interesting reference. The surname kingSun, Lewis XIV liked to make himself called in this way, might be an interesting reference to thepossible knowledge that he had.

The intention to go in Egypt, that manifested itself during all time of the crusades, found an end withLewis XIV, the King Sun. Since 1667 to 1672 the Astronomic Observatory was realized in Paris, on behalfof Lewis XIV, by design of Claude Perrault. Entrusted since its completion to Italian astronomer

Domenico Cassini was the seat of many other distinguished astronomers until 1845.54

This structure

was 28 metres in height and extended in the underground with an analogous depth.55

In thesubterranean part, that as seen were very deep, arouses much curiosity the finding out of a statuerepresenting a black Virgin that will appear less unusual in the course of the chapter. This small statue

seems to be a copy of the one of the cathedral of Chartres,56

about which we will speak later. Is itpossible that king Lewis XIV knew the real meaning of the Big Pyramids and so he wanted to build anobservatory to look for some confirmations?

The statuette of the Black Virgin found in the subterranean parts of his Parisian observatory wouldmake to suppose it.

And during the first two centuries of the second millennium who did know those secrets that stilltoday are kept in the tombs of the great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt?

In France there are some buildings that would make to think that some knew those mysteries, thatwe found kept in the Egyptian monuments in existence, and particularly some time references(constellation of Virgin) that we pointed out both in Senmut’s tomb and in the Plain of Giza. With regardto that, the above-cited cathedral of Chartres and other cathedrals built in the North of France anddedicated to Notre Dame are very important. The cathedral of Chartres, situated in northern France, iscertainly one of the most important cathedrals built in the Templar period. Just this construction wouldhave in its proportions the above-quoted gold number (1,618) that, as seen, was really in Cheops’spyramid, too.

The first construction, dating back around the fourth century, was destroyed by the Normans; in 1020

bishop Fulberto began again the construction of the building that, not finished yet, was destroyed bylightning in 1194. Starting from the central portal, the only one that remained intact in the fire, the

cathedral was built again during only twenty-six years.57

This cathedral, considered one of the finestspecimens of the Gothic art, is part of a group of other cathedrals that were built in the North of theFrance since the twelfth to the thirteenth century and were dedicated to the Virgin (Notre Dame). Inthat same period the crusades were happening and the attention was turned to Egypt.

Thanks to a study done about the disposition of the cathedrals dedicated to “Notre Dame” in theNorth of France, precisely in the Parisian territory of Ancient France, a assumption was pointed out that

their set represents the constellation of the Virgin,58

and the fact that each of them is just dedicated toher would make to think to a reliable assumption.

The orientation of these churches is very particular. First of all their shape bases itself on a cross-shaped plan and the transepts that form it are orientated to North - East and to South - West as regardsthe shorter one and to North- West and South- East as regards the longer one. All they have the apseturned to South - East and their front to North -West, so that when a somebody goes in, goes straight

to the sanctuary with his face turned to the sun, or to the east.59

Besides it’s to remember that in the dimensions of the cathedral of Chartres the gold number (1,618),that corresponds to the proportions of the human body, is included. Perhaps would all this mean thatthe man is to put in relation with the constellation of the Virgin?

In the chapter regarding Egypt we verified how between the constellation of Virgin and the creation ofthe man there was a close connection and this fact makes us to think that very probably the Templars,who built those churches, that represent the constellation of Virgin on the French land, knew thosesecrets about which we found evidences in the tombs of the Pharaohs and in the Plain of Giza itself.Another proof about the solid knowledge of the Templars.

Still about the cathedral of Charters it’s necessary to state that this building, in the same way asothers quoted formerly, is the result of a considerable knowledge unknown at the time of its building.The dimensions of the cathedral presuppose a very accurate knowledge of the terrestrial globe and of its

dimensions60

and so the builders had to own specific documents on which based themselves.

Speaking about Egypt and about the interest that was given to it during the period of the crusadesand later, too, we supposed this country might be the principal keeper of the ancient mysteries of thecreation and so the fact that some Templar constructions represent the constellation of the Virgin makesthe doubt arise that the interpretation given to the Egyptian tomb documents, and perhaps to themonuments of the Plain of Giza, may be right.

Previously we cited that the most ancient monument including the gold number is Cheops’s pyramid,placed, as known, in the Plain of Giza. To Cheops’s pyramid the assumption was attributed to represent,with the other two pyramids (Chephren’s and Mycerinus’s), the Orion’s Belt (you may consult the chapterabout Apis) as it appeared in a determinate period of the past. The Sphinx, that is part of the set ofmonuments of the Plain, according to a latest study, in that period was exactly looking atthe constellation of the Virgin (through the vernal point, the real East, in that period the constellation ofthe Virgin passed) and not Lion’s one as it might seem at first. If it was so, the points in common withthe cathedrals of North France, and dedicated to Notre Dame, would be so sure that a clear connectioncould be among them and evidently between the man and the constellation of the Virgin.

Now we try to find references with what emerged from the “Sator”, using the many works that adornthe cathedral of Chartres and that are also in other churches, built by the Templars, too.

We can remember the labyrinth dating back to 1200 in whose middle a metal plate was placed, on

which the fight of Theseus against the Minotaur was described,61

making a reference to the myth ofCnosso and to the Egyptian labyrinth. Now in its place there is a rose with six petals, a strong referenceto the Signet of Solomon. The labyrinth was a real place of pilgrimage that replaced, for those whodidn’t go in the Holy Land, Jerusalem itself. The believer who succeeded in arriving to the middle of thelabyrinth became a “New Man” who initiated to some learning could consider himself as revived.

About the meaning of the labyrinth and of the fight of Theseus against the Minotaur was written inthe preceding chapter and so now we especially consider the relation that they have with Jerusalem.Perhaps are there the answers to the questions that the man wondered since the most ancient times?Why the labyrinth, and consequently the Minotaur, was put in a close relation with Jerusalem?

The dimensions themselves of the work prove the primary importance that was given to it; during theMiddle Ages was called “chemin de Jerusalem” (way to Jerusalem) and this fact may show a very closeconnection with the Holy City.

The representation of the labyrinth was widespread in the French churches: it’s possible to rememberBayeux’s one, Reims’ one and Amiens’ one. Just in the last one, in the middle of the labyrinth, there wasa big plate with a set gold bar and with gold semicircle that represented the rising of the sun above theline of the horizon; then the gold sun was replaced with copper one that was removed and put back

again never more.62

Besides the labyrinths present in the cathedrals have not false ways and so they are not reallabyrinths. There is only one possible way. It’s hard and winding and it leads to the initiation of themysteries.

The representations prove how some pagan subjects were included in the Christian iconography andfinding the right connection among them means to know the mysteries of the life itself.

Other works, in this case sculptures, represent the so-called four symbols of the Evangelists: eagle,lion, bull, angel.

The main subject present in the cathedral of Chartres, and in all other ones dedicated to Notre Dame,is the Virgin without doubt. From her the name given to them derives and so it’s obvious that is in thecentre of attention, especially of ours.

Also the Virgin, as other symbols, is not only part of the Christian iconography and the fact that thereare some representations that reproduce her black, particularly the ones present in the churches aboutwhich we are speaking, makes to suppose that it has nothing to do with the representation of Christ’smother. In the cathedral of Chartres there are two: one called with the name of “Notre Dame SousTerre”, original of the one discovered in the subterranean parts of the Astronomic Observatory wantedby king Lewis XIV, is placed in the crypt sitting on a throne on whose base there is the inscription

“Virgini Pariturae”; the other one is situated in the church and is called “Notre Dame du Pilier”.63

Onseveral occasions the Virgin is represented crowned with a halo of stars.

In the ancient times the subterranean rooms of the temples were used as places to keep Isis’ statues,later replaced with the black Virgins. The symbolism of these two representations is identical: both Isis’statues and black Virgins’ ones show on their base the famous inscription “Virgin Pariturae” (to the Virginwho has to bear).

The statues that represented Isis and that bore the above-cited inscription were numerous, especially

in the past.64

It’s obvious that these representations had nothing to do with the Christianity since theywere preceding to Christ’s birth.

The cult of Isis, Egyptian Cerere, was very mysterious and still today it doesn’t know very much aboutit. Every year she was celebrated solemnly and an ox was offered in sacrifice to her. Only the initiatescould take part in the rites, it was a prerogative of the Egyptians and the Greeks who punished the

transgressor with the death.65

Also Cibele and Rea are likened to Isis, for their common inscription that

sees them as gods’ mothers.66

On some of them, very ancient, there was the inscription “Virgo

paritura”, or the world before to be fertilized.67

Just this definition, that puts in relation the Virgin withthe primitive world, is a cue for an interesting consideration. What did “primitive world” mean and whichwas the reference to the Virgin?

The work made up to now let us to establish that the constellation of the Virgin is the time referenceto fix the period during which the man was created. The black Virgin, or Isis, shows Egypt as look-out

point and perhaps as the place of the event. With regard to it recent studies about DNA haveestablished that the first human beings were of African origin. The words “primitive world” might meanthe world before the creation of the man and the reference to the constellation of the Virgin wouldprove, exactly, when it happened. Linking the stars of the constellation of the Virgin (Spica with Auvaand Heze with Porrima) through two straight lines, it’s possible to observe that a cross is formed and sothis symbol might represent just the constellation.

The cross, that with the Virgin and the labyrinth is the most frequent symbol in the above-citedcathedrals, has a very ancient history. Used in every time and in any religion, also it is not only a

Christian symbol.68

The plan of the big religious buildings of the Middle Ages, like the cathedral ofChartres, follows perfectly the shape of the Egyptian Hieratic sign of the cross with handles (Ank in

Egyptian), using a semicircular or elliptic added to the choir.69

This symbol, that represents knowledgeand life, is very alike to a woman, certainly associable to Isis, or Venus. The Egyptians, we could verifyit on Heter’s sarcophagus, represented the constellation of the Virgin just with Isis crowned with bovinehorns. As regards Venus, the planet is represented by a cross with, above it, a bovine head.

Also the plan of the above-cited cathedrals is cross-shaped (North-East, South-West and North- West,South-East) and perhaps it’s necessary to make reference to the constellation looking at the East sincewhen who goes in the buildings goes eastwards. Also the constellation drawn on France’s land, throughthe cathedrals, is clearly arranged to be observed to the east.

The cross, to which we attributed the assignment to represent the constellation of the Virgin, finds inSt. Andrew’s cross an interesting reference. In fact St. Andrew’s cross is practically oriented how above-said (North-West, South-East and North–East, South-West).

As regards it now we consider the Basilica of St. Andrew placed in Vercelli(a town situated in anorthern Italian region, Piedmont). This building, in Gothic-Cistercian style, dates back to the thirteenthcentury and in spite of its apparent simplicity as regards its decorations, especially in the inside, givessome very interesting cues. The cross, in the position considered by us, is present on the top of the righttower that flanks the front and also on decorative canvases placed in the inside. Still in the inside it ispresent in many specimens both on the left wall and on the right one: they are red crosses, painted ona white background and inserted in two concentric circles that certainly reminds the Templar symbol. Onthe ceiling of the two aisles (there are nave and two aisles) are present the so-called symbols of the fourEvangelists that alternate with other decorations. The Eagle, the Lion, the Bull and the Angel arelikewise present at the base of the octagonal outer covering of the cupola. In the chapel dedicated tothe Virgin, placed on the right of the altar, there is a statue of Madonna with a halo of stars on herhead; the ceiling of the chapel is decorated with symbols that recalling the union of the two elements, orthe circle divided in two parts.

The elements that may be found in the Basilica are so clear that make us think this construction, asother ones analyzed previously, contains many clews about the subject treated up to now.

During the twelfth century near the present basilica, a chapel, dedicated to the same saint, was built,

wanted by bishop Uguccione of Vercelli in 1169.70

Some years before, in 1164, the church of St. Bernardwas erected in Vercelli; we are going to consider it just for the characteristics of its structure and of theworks that decorate it.

First of all the present building is formed by two distinct constructions made in different times butthat keep unchanged their decorative iconography. The part dating back to the second half of thetwelfth century is in Romanesque style and it is formed by nave and two aisles. Its inside ischaracterized with the presence of capitals decorated with a painting representing the Virgin with theChild who holds a globe with a cross above it in his left hand. The same subject was treated in apainting, probably dating back to the first part of the seventeenth century, situated in Madonna’schapel: here the Virgin holds the Child with her right arm who, also in the case, holds a globe up with across above it; they both have their heads crowned with stars and they are enveloped by clouds. Thereference to the sky is enough obvious and also to the bull that is represented here with very clearbovine horns placed under the Virgin’s feet. pic.15 At the base of the polygonal outer covering of thecupola, as in St. Andrew’s Basilica, there are the four symbols of the Evangelists, also present on thefront of the adding part. Crosses of different kind, traditional and St. Andrew’s, are widespread outside

and on the roof. Both St Andrew’s Basilica and St. Bernard’s church are proper to the period duringwhich the ascent of the Order of the Templars was uncontested and so it’s possible, if not even sure,these buildings are to put in relation with the Templar architecture.

A symbol in which it’s possible to find St. Andrew cross is the Chrism, just formed by a cross and the

letter “P”. pic.16 The letter “P” is considered as the representation of the sun71

and attributing to thecross the meaning of constellation of the Virgin it’s easy to think this representation might show aspecific period. Very interesting is the finding out of a specimen of that symbol during the excavations

made in Pompeii,72

so another clew, in that “initiated” town.

In the chapter dedicated to the interpretation of the “Astronomic Ceilings” of the tombs of thePharaohs and of some important personages it was verified how the reference to the constellation of theVirgin was present. But it was not spoken about the funeral monument of Sethi I in Abydus and so it’sright to treat the subject now. Observing again the picture number 6 it’s possible to note, on the leftabove the lion surrounding with stars, a little lion that looks at a cross. Is it the time reference to theconstellation of the Virgin?

Also the symbolic meaning that the sign assumes is very interesting and consequently theconstellation of the Virgin, too. In Egypt it was the sign of Isis. Its sixth place in the zodiacal order (asregards the sequence of the zodiacal signs during the year) makes it be part of the symbolism of thenumber six and of the Seal of Solomon. It governs the fire and the water and represents the conscience

that emerges from the confusion, the birth of the spirit.73

An important angle of the astrology is thegeomancy that sees the figure “Conjunctio” in the correspondence with the Virgin. This figure formed bysix points arranged so as to compose two triangles, one with the vertex up and the other one with the

vertex down, represents the matrimony, the association, the union.74

Its similarity with the star with sixpoints is accentuated very much and the comparison to the constellation of the Virgin would make tosuppose that the symbol derives just from it.

The fascinating supposition that sees the constellation of the Virgin drawn on the land of northernFrance, through cathedrals, points out that the probable contacts occurring between the Templars andthe Egyptians perhaps let the monks to know some knowledge unless it thinks that all this informationwas known in Jerusalem, so giving another value to the attention turned to Egypt, during the crusades.

The Templars, just some years before they were brought to trial, preferred attacking Damascus and

not Cairo, unlike the Hospitallers.75

Perhaps did they know that information without the others’ knowledge?

Might the end of the Templars be caused by their knowledge that they immortalized in the cathedralswith much ability?

The destruction of the Templars, because it’s just a matter of a destruction, was proclaimed by theking of France Philip the Handsome and by Pontiff Clement V in 1307, with an accusation of heresy. Thesupport of pope was necessary because the Order of the Temple was protected by the immunity of theclergy and so without the conclusive support of Pope Clement V the king of France would not have

succeeded in weeding out the Templars.76

The accusation that was moved to them, with regard to that period, left few hopes given themethods used by the Inquisition. To the Templars was contested the founding of a secret organization,fit to accomplish immoral deeds and against the Christian faith. It said that they denied Christ whenthey enlisted, they practised sodomy and exchanged obscene kisses, they omitted some words during

the consecration of the Host and they adored an idol.77

On 18th March 1314, Jaques de Molay, the lastGrand Master of the Temple and Geoffroy de Charny, Knight Commander of Normandy, after theyrecanted their confession, extorted to them with the torture, were condemned to the stake. It was the

last official act that put an end to the Order of the Templars.78

About why the Templars were wiped out some suppositions were formulated that would see pontiff

Clement V in a very inferior position as regards the position of king of France Philip IV who, seems, hada full control of the Pope who was not a strong figure.

The motives that would have stirred up the king’s wrath against the Templars would be to attribute tothe many debts that he himself had towards the Order, that, it is remembered, owned immense richesand also devoted itself to have other people’s treasures in its care, among which also Philip the

Handsome’ s ones.79

Another supposition would base itself on the big power that the Order acquired and that mightundermine king’s one, so putting in a discussion the total control of the Occident, given the Templars’

detailed presence in some Countries.80

They may be the real or probable motives that established the arrest and in many cases also thekilling of the Templars. The accusation of heresy was planned only to can strike them more easily, since

the debts were not pay to the heretics.81

Through the documents analyzed by some scholars and authors about the Templars it was notpossible to understand exactly which were the real motives that established their dissolution. As regardsthe accusation of heresy the only proofs are the confession extorted with the torture and so not valid,and the evidences of some knights expelled from the Order, of same value. Very probably somedocuments were concealed and certainly there aren’t any ones with regard to the other above-citedsuppositions.

And if were other the motivations that led the king of France, supported by the pontiff, to establishthe end of the Templars?

Is it possible that the subject treated up to now might be the motive of their end?

Certainly it would be included in the context of the accusation addressed to them officially since atthat time to support what emerged from the “Sator” and to be considered as heretics would be part ofthe normality.

This supposition, because it’s only a supposition given the absence of specific documents, gets someinevitable considerations flow that it’s necessary to analyze of course. It’s possible to think the Templars,initiated to the mysteries of the creation of the man, accomplished rites typical of other religions, forexample of Muslim one, and so seemed to the not initiates as heretics. But this supposition would meanboth the pope and the king of France didn’t know what learnt in the Holy Land during the crusades, andall this is rather improbable. It’s possible likewise supposing the Order decided to propagate its ownknowledge to the whole population and so the Church and the king of France hindered all that; they hadno interest to divulge a so important mystery, that at that time would have certainly aroused a generalchaos. We suppose that the Templars professed the man originated from the bull and Philip theHandsome and Clement V didn’t believe it, certainly that accusation would have been easy to prove atthat time and very probably some traces would be in the documents regarding the heresy, naturally if itwas not believed as a truth.

It’s possible to advance another supposition: perhaps the Templars had the Ark of the Alliancewithout the pontiff and the king’s knowledge and they, when knew the fact, exacted its possession that,not given to them by the Templars, provoked a cruel retort. Some pages could be written about thissubject but it would speak about supposition without certainties since the documents regarding theOrder of the Templars are really few: three copies of the official rule, one at Rome, one at Paris and the

other one at Digione, two account books, few provincial documents and some extracts from the trial.82

However if specific documents exist we don’t admit to their consultation and so we will keep to subjectssupported by evidences, or by historic remains, as the buildings left by the Templars. In many theirconstructions, that were churches or only “commanderie”, there are some representations of theBaphomet, a creature represented usually with a man head, the beard, the horns, a woman body, the

bat’s wings and the goat’s legs83

to whom the Templars, it seems, turned particular or even divinatoryattention. The interpretations given to these sculptures are different and one of them seems very

interesting: it identifies them with Knumm,84

god of Egypt, creator of the humanity and about which

was spoken in the chapter dedicated to bull Apis. Another supposition sees the Baphomet as the symbolthat represents the union of the male nature with the female one, the union of the absolute contrasts, of

the eternal with the temporal.85

This is a very interesting supposition, too, that connects to what saidup to now.

In proof that the Baphomet had a specific role in the esoteric practise of the Templars and that theinterpretations just described might be the right way there is a bearded head with the horns and theopen mouth on the tympanum of a window of the post-office in Saint Bris-Le Vineaux (Yonne,Burgundy). On this building, that was a Templar “commanderie”, the Baphomet’s head is placed with

the presence of an ox86

(bull).

Scenes including the Virgin and the Child are very frequent in the Templar iconography, as anexample in the church of St. Maria de Franchis (today called Consolazione) in Altomonte (Calabria,

Italy).87

Here, in a painting dating back to the end of the fifteenth century, the period might show theinitiation of the artist since it is following to the one of the Templars, there is a representation ofMadonna who holds the Child in her arms: both the figures have a halo but the very interestingcharacteristic is that the Child has on his head two very evident horns, as a continuation of his air.

Also Napoleon was concerned with the Templar cause, or better with the motives that brought about

the end of the Templars, and he wanted to examine the documents in the Church’s possession.88

Whatwas the Emperor looking for, who was attracted very much by Egypt and particularly by the BigPyramids?

Going back to the esoteric practise of the Templars a component of dualistic symbolism emergeswithout doubt that is possible to perceive in some their symbols, among which the banner formed by thewhite and black colours and especially the stick owned by the Grand Master that was called “abacus”

and that finished with a square platform, on which there was a sphere.89

So the circle and the square,the sky and the world, the spirit and the matter, God and the Bull.

THE DOMUS AUREA

Another building having the octagonal shape is the “Octagonal Room” placed in the middle of the“Domus Aurea” of emperor Nero. This stately construction of which still today it’s possible to admire apart of it, including the above-cited room, might give some confirmations to the supposition that Neroinspired the sack of the temple of Jerusalem.

In consequence of the fire of 64 A. C. that destroyed a good three of the fourteen regions thatformed Rome emperor Nero got a reconstruction work effected; it was one of the most important works

in the city during the Roman Empire.1 Naturally among the various works that were built there was the

new imperial residence since the “Domus Transitoria”, the former residence, was almost completely

destroyed.2 The “Domus Aurea” was finished in only four years with the management of architects

Severo and Celere.3

Nero, perhaps inspired by Seneca also in this project, before his educator and then his trustworthycounsellor during the principality, got a residence built without precedent: the above included buildingsthat extended eight hectares occupying the zone around the place where some years later Flavi’s

amphitheatre, the Coliseum, was built.4

It seems that inside the buildings everything was coated with gold and adorned with gems andprecious shells. The dining-rooms had the ceiling covered with movable and perforate ivory slabs so asto enable a “rain” of flowers and scents; the most important of them was circular and revolved nightand day as the Earth. In the middle of the valley the “Stagnum Neronis” was realized, an enormousartificial lake, where today there is the Coliseum. Just Flavi’s amphitheatre took the name of Coliseumfrom an imposing bronze statue, more than thirty-five metres high and representing Nero with god

Sun’s attributes, with a globe in his hand and a crown formed by seven rays, each of them six metres

long.5 The “Domus Aurea” certainly followed the Hellenistic style, the royal palaces that were typical of

the kings of the nearby Orient, that was in close contact with Rome.6

The big quantity of gold and the wonderful light plying had to emphasize god Sun, in fact Nero

wanted to appear like him.7

The real centre of the building, both material and ideal, was the above-cited “Octagonal Room”. Theconcrete big vault, in which a hole let the light of the sun go in, leaned on thick walls, overshadowed by

pilasters.8

An octagonal room was certainly a novelty for the Roman architecture that was inspired by the Syrian

and Persian world, by which Nero was inspired for his ideal of monarchy.9

To this place different roles were attributed as, for instance, to be a room ordained to contained

works of art, placed at guest’s disposal, who banqueted in the dining-rooms that flanked it.10

And if did Nero make this particular room prepared to receive really important something?

The octagonal shape has obviously a religious meaning; we verified it in the various cultures andcivilizations considered and so it seems not very probable that the “Octagonal Room” of the “DomusAurea” of Nero has not any religious connection.

It’s obvious that they are only possible suppositions but to think that Nero, who dominated the world,wanted to build a temple to keep the “Ark of the Alliance” is not an impossible supposition. Perhaps allthat came to nothing at his death.

The “Domus Aurea”, after Nero’s death, began its slow decline so much that it was put underground.At the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the remains of the building started to come out, manyartists, among whom Pinturicchio, too, let themselves down the Roman underground, as real

speleologists, to see the paintings that adorned the walls.11

These works, made by Famulus, painterpraised by Pliny in his “Naturalis Historia”, imitated some styles proved previously in the formerresidence of the emperor, the “Domus Aurea”, and were inspired also by works present in the Pompeianhouses.

The representations, frescos and mosaics, have as their theme episodes derived from the Greek

mythology where vegetable, animal and human scenes alternated.12

The whole residence could becompared, of course, with the proportions due given the vastness of the building, to the Roman villas inCampania(the Italian region where Naples is placed), used for holidays.

Nero was especially devoted to Pompeii. Poppea Sabine, the woman who the emperor married after62 A. C., was Pompeian. She owned four houses in that town, among which there were the house of

the golden Cupids and the house of Menander.13

So Pompeii, the town where the most ancientspecimen of the “Sator” was found, was closely connected to Nero and obviously to Seneca.

Many times we mentioned the Ark of the Alliance and so it’s right to give a space to it in this researchto try to suppose which was its way during its very long history and which might be the materialincluded in it.

Supposing the mysteries about which it was spoken up to now might be kept in the Ark of Alliance wewill try to understand which was its first placing.

The traditional history says that during the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt Moses received theTable of the Law by God on Mount Sinai. So an Ark was built to contain and to carry them. Later on itwas placed in the Temple of Solomon.

It’s obvious that the accounts are wrong if inside the Ark besides being the Table of the Law, therewere documents, too, that explained the above-cited concepts; all that is probable, otherwise fromwhere would that information have arrived?

Testimonies of Ancient Egypt, or the graphic representations of the tombs of the Pharaohs and thepyramids themselves, preceded Moses thousands of years and however rules similar to the TenCommandments were already known by the Egyptians.

Just this detail could make us consider the possibility that the Ark kept by Moses before and bySolomon then, came from Egypt. Whit regard to this it’s to remember that the Hebrews were pursuedby the soldiers of Ramses II when they left his Country and that the Ark appeared the first time just inthat period. It seems rather strange that a big personage as Ramses II allowed the Hebrews could leaveEgypt and then he changed his mind.

And if did Ramses II realize that among his treasures was missing just the most precious one and sohe tried to recuperate it? Certainly this fact is reliable as a motivation to pursue the Hebrews.

Certainly it doesn’t want to consider Moses as a thief, because it would be an arduous task for anyearthly court defining a right owner of that object. If an Ark of Alliance really existed, or it still exists,the ownership of it due to all humanity.

Now let’s see some characteristic of the Ark that could give credit to above-cited all. The Ark of theAlliance would have the proportions of its volume equal to the proportions of the “sarcophagus” placedinside Cheops’s pyramid. Was it the first place that contained those very important documents?

When in 587 B. C. the Temple of Solomon was destroyed during the siege of Babylonians perhaps theArk was put in safety by Jeremiah at the foot of Mount Sinai. If this supposition is proved, there wouldbe the possibility that the Hebrews, after returning from the Babylonian exile, got it back and thenplaced it in the new temple built. So the Romans, after storming Jerusalem, decided to besiege also theTemple just to try to get the Ark back.. Many times it was said that they are only suppositions, giventhe whole absence of checks, but finding some confirmations to these suppositions would be a veryarduous task . Flavio Giuseppe himself wrote that the Romans didn’t find anything in the SanctaSanctorum of the Temple, but he was just at the court of Flavi family and so he might hide that fact.

We have no idea where the Ark of the Alliance may be now, but if its contents included alsoinformation about what was said up to now, the Templars got possession of it, or at least examined itssubject.

The information kept in their stone documents, their cathedrals, that lead to Egypt and to itsmysteries, is too much.

THE KEPT TRUTH

Scouring thousand years of history it was easily known that the man has always been conscious ofown origin. But it was known that this knowledge was reserved only to some men and not to allhumanity. Considering Ancient Egypt the starting point of all this knowledge, given its very ancienthistory that can be proved still today by many monuments, we can be sure that during the millenniumsa kind of transfer of deliveries has happened, so that those very important truths were handed down tothe future populations.

Calling it as a kind of transfer of deliveries we want to mean that it was not really in that way or atleast it did not happen always like that.

With regard to this both Emperor Titus and the Order of the Templars went to the Holy Land to fightand so some information, it seems also paradoxical, is due to war events that in those periods wereconsidered almost normal.

After this introduction we still have to know who is or who was in possession of the last deliveries. Isit possible that today there are people who received the “inheritance”, for example by the Templars?

It seems no possible to think that today anybody doesn’t own the “inheritance” and so who receivedthe deliveries, very probably, has kept the secret as it happened in the past. In the thirteenth chapter itwill can verify that, until the end of the nineteenth century, there was somebody who knew the secretkept in the “Sator”. Now we will try to understand who could have the kept truth today.

The dualistic system (sky-world) and the historic-religious way, that puts in connection Ancient Egyptwith Jerusalem, that regards the Romans and the Middle Ages of the Templars, are certainly part of thearguments of the Masonry.

As regards the union of the sky with the world, first of all it’s necessary to point out that the twosymbols that represent them in the Masonic symbolism are the compass (circle-sky) and the square(square-world). Another symbol very used by the Masonry is surely the pyramid that, in the case in pointCheops’s pyramid, is seen like the monument which the architects, who built monuments like Castle delMonte and the cathedral of Chartres, followed.

Cheops’s pyramid has in its geometric structure determinate characteristics that have helped to givealchemic interpretations. The perimeter of its square base is equal to the length of a circumference withits radius equal to the height, so meaning that the ratio of the square base and the circle is expressed inthe raising. It can imagine a circumference whose radius would have the height of the pyramid and thatwould be pivoted on the top of it, both in the vertical position as a wheel, both in the horizontal positionas a disk, and in oblique position on quite another plane. It’s likewise imaginable a sphere whose axis isthe pyramid’s one and whose circumference has the same length of the perimeter of the pyramid. Forthe alchemists it might be a kind of solution of the problem of the squaring of the circle. Still thealchemists would see in the four triangular faces of the pyramid the four elements whose ascension

would be a creation of the circle corresponding to the sky,1 but above all this interpretation might

identify the union of the four elements and so the hexagram in Cheops’s pyramid.

About the connection with the Hebrews it’s necessary to remember that architect and king of Tyre

Hiram is considered as a Master and as a model to follow2 and so he puts in relation the Temple of

Solomon itself with the above-cited monuments. The star with six points, how it was pointed outpreviously, assumes a meaning of totality for the Masonic lodges; it’s present in the Sacred Royal Arch ofJerusalem.

The above-listed monuments have in common, included in their geometric dimensions, the golden

number 1,618.3

About the origins of the Masonry many suppositions were thought that would attribute its descent tothe biblical times, to the Pythagoreans, to the followers of Zoroaster, to Ancient China or Ancient Egypt.

It also speaks about a filiation from the Templars.4

Up to now it could understand that all symbolic elements (hexagram, circle, square) of which weoccupied ourselves are included in the Masonry and also the connections with Egypt, the Temple ofSolomon and the Templars are evident.

All this lets us to suppose that the Masonic lodges were founded on the mysteries of the life thatsince the most ancient times were not revealed to the whole humanity.

To the Masonry belonged the people who were initiated through some degrees so as to assume, onthe ground of the degree itself of initiation, a qualification that saw its greatest manifestation in the titleof Grand Master. On 24th of June 1717, St. John’s day, patron of the association, in London the first bigsymbolic lodge was founded joining at least four pre-existent operative lodges. From then on, inEngland, the lodges proliferated considerably. Members of all social castes, ecclesiastics included, were

part of it.5

The lodges were inspired to an abstract concept of freedom, of moral brotherhood and ofcosmopolitanism that turned to the recognition of the universal fraternity. The search for truth, theprofession of the altruism and of the brotherhood had to help in removing what could prevent the moral

6

union of the mankind that ignorance, fanaticism, superstition escaped certainly.

The English lodges stayed out of political conflicts and religious fanaticism. Also not Christians were

admitted to them, even if they were part of them only after 1800.7

So the Masonry came of a mutual assistance society following to the principle of brotherhood that

recruited initiates who were qualified as apprentice, companion and master.8

Besides leading a life based on the above-listed principles, the masons had to follow the strictobservance of the rules among which, it stood out without doubt, the not diffusion of what was known.

Since the first half of 1700 the Masonic lodges spread in all Europe: from the Northern Countries to Italy, fromPortugal to Russia, reaching to North America. In 1928 there were about four millions and a half of masons in the

world, of whom more than three millions in America.9

The opposition of the Church was inevitable, in fact since 1738, with a bull of Clement XII, the

Masonry was convicted as a sect.10

To the Masonic lodges belonged men who held very important positions, both in the aristocracy andso among the men in power, and among artists. Napoleon himself, who was interested very much in the

Templars and in the pyramids, was near the Masonry.11

We will dedicate special attention to a famous composer of that time who started to be part of theMasonry of Vienna in 1784: he was Wolfang Amadeus Mozart.

Many were the Viennese intellectuals who belonged to the Masonry, especially after the death of its

very fierce enemy, empress Maria Teresa.12

For Mozart was not difficult to put himself in touch with theimportant exponents of the eight Viennese lodges, which were supported also by Joseph II himself. On14th December 1784, perhaps persuaded by baron von Gemingen, Mozart affiliated with the lodge “ZurWohltatigkeit” (for the charity) with the rank of apprentice. After neither a month he became

companion.13

About Mozart as a mason it speaks especially in reference to his last work, “The Magic Flute”, thatprobably he became to compose with his friend and Masonic brother Emanuel Schikaneder since May1791. They met ten years before on the occasion of the theatrical performances that Shikaneder gave in

Salzburg, native city of Mozart.14

During that period they both belonged to lodge of the “Crowned Hope”, less important than the “Real

Harmony” whose baron Ignaz von Born was Grand Master15

who, it seems, being an expert

Egyptologist, took part in realising “The Magic Flute”.16

In fact this work, besides including obvious Masonic clews, for example the reference to the numberthree, to the compass, to the trowel, and so forth, has clear references about Ancient Egypt in some itspersonages. The two protagonists, Prince Tamino and Pamina, Queen of Night’s daughter, were initiatedto the mysteries of Osiris and Isis.

Besides it’s to remember that Sarastro is to refer to Zoroaster,17

about whom we spoke in thechapter dedicated to the cult of the bull.

This work helps especially to identify, without shadow of doubt, the connection between the Masonryand Ancient Egypt and so to testify much more the leading role of this ancient civilization.

To speak about the “Sator” and its subject and so to find a connection to the Masonry, we will usetwo other works set to music by Mozart. As regards the solution of the “Sator” it would be ingenuous toexpect information near what was said up to now from Masonic documents. But it’s possible to find

rather convincing connections that would endorse the supposition that the members of the Masoniclodges were initiated to the mysteries of the creation of the man.

At the end of July 1791 Mozart had to stop the composition of “The Magic Flute”, that was finished in

September, to begin to write “The Clemency of Titus”.18

This work, composed for the coronation ofEmperor Leopold II as king of Bohemia, was written by Caterino Mazzolà who revised the original work

written by Metastasio in 1734.19

In this work Emperor Titus is celebrated, who lavished every kind ofhelp, favour, pardon and exactly clemency.

In spite of the plan of betrayal, that had to culminate with his murder, Emperor Titus decided toforgive all his conspirators. This unusual behaviour exalts the extraordinary gifts of Titus, perhaps tomean that he, knowing the origin of the man, of his provenience, could understand and so justify alsothe biggest mistakes of the mankind. Such a behaviour is unique in all course of the ancient history andnot only of Roman one where, for much less, the person were thrown to wild beasts. But where couldall that clemency come from if not from an extraordinary knowledge of the men? Just Titus, one of theprincipal protagonists of the history of the “Sator” had, without doubt, that knowledge. Caterino Mazzolà

wrote previously (1781) the Egyptian work “Osiris” that was set to music by mason Georg Naumann20

and so it’s probable that also he could be part of the group of initiated personages who were near theMasonry.

Going back and analysing one of the first works set to music by Mozart we will find other interestingreferences, connecting to the “Sator”.

The work that we want to consider is “Ascanius in Alba”, written by Giuseppe Parini in 1771. Thiswork narrates about the arrival of Ascanius in the town founded by his father Aeneas and about theencounter with his future wife. Ascanius, guided by Venus, is initiated to some mysteries that are kept inan altar, placed in the open country. Venus makes his son (she calls Ascanius like that) to observe anincised wild beast on the altar, saying that his father Aeneas put it there as a memorial to the fact, or

rather at first in that place that animal, from which the name Alba derives, was found.21

Just the factthat the animal in question is not ever specified makes the atmosphere full of mystery and the name ofthe town is rather unusual. If the name Alba would come from this animal, only because at first it wasfound there, any other animal or common thing would have the same effect on the choice of the nameof the town. Recapitulating: if the animal stays at Alba because it was there at first, the same thingwould be worth for xxx if it was there at first. The explanation that the town took the name of Albabecause there the animal was found has some gaps.

About the existence of the town of Alba Longa there would not be doubts given the discovery of avast necropolis brought to light on Mount Cucco and on mount Crescenzo at North-West of CastleGandolfo. The town had to rise on the hills called Albani from its name, at about twenty kilometresSouth - East of Rome and the tradition says that it was Ascanius himself to found it with the help of

some groups of inhabitants of Lavinia, the town built by his father Aeneas on the coast near Ardea.22

After ascertaining the truthfulness of the story written by Parini, it’s necessary to understand whatwas the animal that was incised on the altar and so to find a connection with the name Alba.

When this town was destroyed , at about the half of the seventh century B. C., the town of Boville,23

name clearly infused with the animal in question, inherited its rites, continuing the cult of the ancientdivinities who were still venerated at the time of Iovenalius.

In the work a reference is made to an altar where the wild beast is incised (prodigious animaladorned with unusual hairs). The definition “wild beast” should have to make a certain selection byitself. Then the parallel with Alba (beginning) should have to facilitate most its parallel with the bull. InHebrew the word “Aleph” means both bull and “A” (the first letter of the alphabet, the beginning).

Another confirmation that this work has a connection with the treated subject is the fact that it wascomposed for the marriage of Archduke Ferdinand of Asburgo Lorena, third son of Empress MariaTeresa, who was governor and captain-general of Lombardy, with Princess Maria Ricciarda Beatrice of

24

Este of Modena. Asburgo Dynasty was near the Masonry and its mysteries and so it’s probable thatthe works dedicated to them had a strong initiation component. In that period Mozart was not part ofthe Masonry but in only one month he changed from the rank of apprentice to the rank of companion.Perhaps was he already initiated to some mysteries before beginning to be part of the Masonry? Mozart,before “The Magic flute”, already composed works of Masonic kind on the occasion of commemorationsand celebrations. The “cantata”, of 1791 too, “Eine kleine Deutsche Kantate K 619”, composed duringthe month of July, is based on a text of a certain Ziegenhagen, merchant of Hamburg; he was

passionately fond of the naturalistic writings of Rosseau.25

This work is a real list of the principalMasonic rules:

loves order, harmony and accord!

Love among you and your brothers!

Physical strength and beauty are your pride, light of the knowledge is your nobility!

Hold out your hands fraternally as eternal friendship, that only an error, never the truth, took from you

a long time.26

It’s a little difficult finding some adverse angles in these so noble principles, and so it’s not clear whyan organization of such a great human depth, haunted by ingenious people like Mozart, could be pointedout as a sect during the years. But perhaps the truth is just in these words and the “truth was takenfrom you a long time” is perhaps the truth that caused the end of other Orders in a rather strange andinexplicable manner.

IL QUADRATO MAGICO - LE CARRE’ SATOR - MAGIC SQUARE…

The inscription of the “Sator” had a considerable diffusion during the Middle Ages and especially inFrance and Italy still today it’s possible to admire its reproductions. Unlike the inscriptions made duringthe Roman Empire, the medieval ones were made in the contrary formula: Sator Arepo Tenet OperaRotas, and they didn’t always appear in the usual square disposition, but also placed one behindthe other one or to form a circle.

Now we are going to list some of the many reproductions present in Europe dwelling in detail uponthe specimens that it’s possible to find in the cathedral of Siena, in the Church of St. Orso in Aosta andin the Castle of Issogne, again in Valle D’Aosta.

In Italy we find it: at Pieve Terzagni near Cremona (Lombardy), drawn as a mosaic on the floor of thepresbytery of the church of St. John the Baptist Decollate (twelfth century). pic.17 The mosaic, for themost part rehashed, is part of a big composition that occupied the whole flooring and that sees amongits subjects also the representation of the four symbols of the Evangelists. Templar crosses are presentin the inside of the church that is divided in a nave and two aisles by circular columns covered with asquare clothing. This particularity is well visible through two openings made by the engineers on the firstcolumn on the right and pointed out with glass cover. Through the little that it’s possible to see thecolumns would seem decorated with a typical Templar iconography. The front, barely made again,presents on its top an interesting subject: a triangle, with an eye in its middle, is inserted in a sun.

At Castle Mareccio on the outskirts of Bolzano, scratched on a wall of the tower.1 The castle, unlike

the other medieval buildings, is not situated on a hill but on a plain and is without natural defences. Thefirst construction of the tower would have to date back to the first half of the thirteenth century andonly in 1477 the castle was acquired by Romer family and then was refitted in the shape in which still

today it’s possible to admire it.2 The first building is in the middle of the Templar period.

At Magliano de’ Marsi (Abruzzi), legible on the front of the medieval church of St. Lucy, at the side of

the rose-window.3

In Latium, in the abbey of Valvisciolo, where during a restoration the five words that form the enigma

were found, inserted in five concentric circles.4 The abbey dedicated to St. Stephen around 1128, was

built by Greek monks in the seventh century whom the Templars succeeded, then replaced by the

Cistercian monks.5

In Marche the little church of St. Maria Plebis Flexiae (Fabriano, hamlet Torrececchina) was for someyears the keeper of a bell where the enigma of the “Sator” is present. It seems the bell dates back to

1412, even if a writing that precedes the “Sator” would attributed it at 1441.6 This little church was

property of the seminary of Nocera and then of some noble families; today the property of it is of a

private someone and the famous bell is kept in a safe place.7

Still in the same region, kept in a lonely tower of Canavaccio, near Urbino, there was another bell

including the enigma.8 But this is not its first place, in fact the bell was kept, before its demolition, in

the church of St. Andrew in Primicilio, at Canavaccio. Now the bell is kept by private people.

In Siena, in the cathedral begun during the first half of the twelfth century and then modified by thework of some planners. Its structure has a Latin cross plan with nave and two aisles separated by roundarcades on polystyle pilasters, with a large transept not very overhanging, a hexagonal dome on thecrossing with nave and a spacious rectangular choir. On the right side is placed the high church-tower

with six orders of apertures growing from the bottom upwards.9 The inside is wholly stoned following

the typical Tuscan dichromatism. The “Libreria Piccolomini” situated near the left aisle was built from

1492 and it was frescoed by Pinturicchio and his apprentices.10

The walls include ten stories thatillustrate the magnificence of Pope Pio II (it’s very suggestive reading the name “Aeneas” on thepainting).

Both on the walls and on the ceiling Piccolomini family heraldic bearings are present: a cross with fivehalf-moons that recall Templar symbols.

The works of the cathedral were supervised by some planners and it’s known that in 1257 they weredirected by Brother Vernaccio from St. Galgano and then by Brother Melano and Brother Maggio, all

ones of the same abbey.11

The structure was already well defined in 1215 and it’s well-known in thatperiod the big constructions were the work of the Templars. The new front was ordered to GiovanniPisano, who since 1284 to 1298 realised the lower part formed by three portals with deep spays topped

with triangular spires.12

In 1325 Master Camaino from Crescentino closed the vaults over hanging Pieve

of St. John.13

Camaino from Crescentino was the father of more famous architect Tino from Camaino,who was one of the shop of Giovanni Pisano and it seems that he took part in the realising of the pulpit

of the cathedral.14

Certainly the artists who took part in the realising of the cathedral of Siena knew thesecrets that it kept and that it would have kept. Without doubt the “Sator” summarized the essence ofthose secrets and Tino from Camaino, who worked later on at the court of King Robert in Naples,occupying himself with the Charterhouse of St. Martin and with Castle Sant’Elmo, might be source oninspiration of the star with six points contained, exactly, in the walls of Castle Sant’Elmo.

From 1376 the front was finished by Giovanni from Lecco with a very different than the one of the

lower part.15

It was said that it was the period of the big Templar buildings whose some tokens are just in Siena.Near the Camollia gate of the Tuscan city is placed the church of “St. Pietro alla Magione that previouslybelonged to the Monks of St. Miniato and during the twelfth century it became property of the

Templars.16

The famous enigma is situated outside, on the left wall of the church placed in front of theArchiepiscopal House. It appears in the formula that sees the word “Sator” as the first on high and it iscarved on a white calcareous marble stone at about two metres of height. Its square disposition is

regular, its rather reduced dimensions and its secluded position make its individuation rather difficult.pic.18 Also its dating presents some difficulties: it’s possible that the engraving might be realised alsobefore the laying of the block or even the stone previously belonged to another building.

Many are the works that adorn the cathedral both outside and inside. The whole floor of the church iscovered with graffiti and engraved marbles; its execution lasted from the fourteen century until thenineteenth century and in the course of the years the damaged parts were replaced. To avoid otherdamages the floor is covered for the major part of the year with special panels that prevent to see it. Assoon as somebody goes into the cathedral, immediately after the biggest portal, he puts his feet on theprincipal decoration of the floor: it’s the representation of Hermes Mercury Trismegistum. As regardsHermes Trismegistum (three times great), his origin is attributed to Hermes, god of the Greek mythologywho was compared to Egyptian god Thot, keeper of the mysteries of the writing and of the knowledge.Once more Egypt returns to be part of this research. The figuration presents mythic Hermes who handswith his right hand a text to two personages who represent the East and the West and who alludes tothe Egyptian origin of the knowledge; with his left hand he holds an engraving up, leant on two

sphinxes, regarding the creation.17

Both writings have a strong recall to Egypt that seems to be theoriginal lynch-pin of the creation and of the knowledge. It’s necessary to observe the position of the twopersonages: the east one is placed before the west one, perhaps to show the order of learning of theknowledge that, how seen, passed from the Ancient Egyptians to the Hebrews through Moses. Theinscription situated in the lower part of the representation is dedicated just to Moses: “Hermes MercuryTrismegistum, contemporary with Moses”. Perhaps does it mean that the knowledge of Moses was learntin Egypt? The research made up to now would seem embrace this hypothesis.

The “Sator”, with its ciphered secret, and this representation of Hermes would seem connected in avery close way. On the front of the cathedral and inside there are some representations that regard theVirgin and the Child, about whom it was spoken previously; the bull, too, is present in some works: it issculptured at the height of the architrave of the left lateral portal, engraved in low relief on the centralportal and in other three symbols that would represent the four Evangelists under the circular glasswindow of the front. In the gable of the little niche placed in the left part of the front is situated the key-symbol of this research: there is nothing less than a star with six points formed by a black triangle withits point turned on high and by a red triangle with its point turned low; the star is inscribed in a redcircle, that is inscribed in a triangle, still red.

The presence of the star with six points completes the obscure scenery of this our research about thecathedral of Siena that certainly hides many other clews in the innumerable works that adorn it, as anexample the Sun that is represented on the major portal, in the middle of the principal dome surroundedby star with eight points and also in the middle of the cupola of the Vow-Chapel. Perhaps has God Sungot to do with all this?

In Valle D’Aosta it is present in two places, one disclosed recently in the church of St. Orso at Aostaand the other one placed in the Castle of Issogne. Now we are going to see, observing the history of thetwo buildings, the probable connection that there is between them.

The Castle of Issogne rises in the homonymous place of Valle D’Aosta on the right side of the river

Dora Baltea, on the remains of an ancient castle.18

From the twelfth century it became one of theproperties of the bishop of Aosta and at the end of the fourteen century it passed to Challant family,

precisely to Ibleto.19

In 1480 it was inherited by Giorgio of Cahallant who changed the residence in a

sumptuous place.20

Giorgio of Challant, ecclesiastic and very cultured man, brought structural modifications to the buildingso as to become an only horse-shoe shaped building with an interior court. The works of art made toadorn the castle are many, both inside and outside. Under the directives of Giorgio of Challant thefrescos were made also on the outer walls that look on to the court, among which it’s possible to seethe heraldic bearings of the families that married into Challant family.

Inside the numerous rooms are decorated with frescos made between the end of the fourteen centuryand the beginning of the fifteenth century on walls and fire-places; the ceilings are coffered. On a wallof the Big Baronial Room or of Justice there are some frescos that represent Jerusalem with theoctagonal Mosque of Omar in foreground. Both Jerusalem and octagon, as we could verify, are integral

part of this research and above all they refer to the enigma of the “Sator”, that in the Castle of Issogneis present on a white wall of a corridor that connects some rooms among them. It’s presumable that theinscription was made during the period between the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning ofthe fifteenth century and although five hundred years have passed it’s still rather visible. It’s red,probably of a particular clay, and it is in the original square disposition, slightly inclined. The inscriptionis integrated with horizontal lines and with vertical lines so as to every letter is inserted in a little square.

Going back to the octagon it’s to point out that in the interior court of the castle the Fountain of thePomegranate is placed, built with wrought iron, octagon-shaped, on request of Giorgio of Challant as a

gift to Filiberto, his destined heir, and to his wife Louise Aaberg.21

At this point, the “Sator” of the Castle of Issogne doesn’t certainly appear as an object out of place.The references with Jerusalem, with the octagon of the Mosque of Omar and of the Fountain of thePomegranate are enough convincing clews that Giorgio Of Challant, who ordered all the above-citedworks, was a member of that group of personages who were initiated to the mysteries of the creationand he, very probably, carved the enigma in his residence. Besides his ancestors, particularly Ibleto ofChallant, went to the Holy Land many times and so it’s probable that knowledge was already known by

his predecessors.22

A reference is to make also to a pictorial representation present in the chapel that represents a sceneof nativity: it regards the adoration of Magi, were in the low right side the head of a little ox (bull) isrecognisable. It’s very significant that only the ox is present (usually there is also the presence of theass), characteristic common with the work present on the front of the above-described Templar“commenda”.

On the upper floor of the residence there is a room called of the “King of France”. In 1494 KingCharles VIII of France stayed there and as a proof of that event there are the lilies of his coat of arms

that adorn both the fire-place and the ceiling.23

The connection with the Franks, about whom it wasspoken in the chapter dedicated to the crusades, would not seem insignificant.

The other specimen of Val D’Aosta is situated in the church of St. Orso in Aosta.

Recent archaeological excavations have made it possible to get a square-shaped mosaic, of aboutthree metres, back, under the flooring of the ancient choir of the church. pic.19

In the attempt to find the tomb of St. Orso, which, it was supposed, could be in that place, aninteresting artistic composition was brought to light: the tesserae that form the mosaic are white, blackand brown. Through the thick glass placed by the engineers, now integrating part of the flooring, it’spossible to admire some concentric circles inscribed in a square in whose middle the fight of Samsonwith a lion is represented. On the side of the square four mythological animals are placed: a dragon, alioness, a triton with a snake and a pair of eagles with one head. The biggest circle is the frame of twophrases separated by two crosses while another frame, at the back of Samson and of the lion, containsthe famous writing “Rotas Opera Tenet Arepo Sator”, obviously placed to form a circle and not in theusual disposition. The circle and the square, the sky and the world, the spirit and the matter, all thiscould explain the unusual disposition, supported also by the presence of the symbols, for example littlecircles and squares placed between the two frames that contain the phrases and by particular knots thatcertainly show an union.

To make possible the view on the work, since it was under the altar, this one was moved of somemetres back so as to a glass cover could be placed; the cover makes the mosaic representation still

more suggestive, datable around the first half of the twelfth century.24

The flooring that hid the mosaic,made expressly, dates back to the end of the fifteenth century, when the work was directed by Giorgio

of Challant.25

The reason of the hiding could find an explanation through the particular disposition of the charactersthat form the phrase: arranging the words of the “Sator” as a square it can easily notice that someletters are turned upside down, following so the direction of the text given by the star with six pointsthat made possible that we could interpret the enigma.

The collegiate church of St. Orso is a vast medieval structure built in the place of the previouscathedral of Aosta where, in the church dedicated to St. Peter, St. Orso officiated. The wholeconstruction, even if it is formed by some buildings of different times, appears very pleasant to beunique in all region. The front of the church, with the big Gothic portal, attracts directly attention of thepeople who cross the little square. The bell-tower, separated from the church, is in the Romanesquestyle and it dates back to the thirteenth century when it was built with the stones of the Roman walls.It lodges the biggest bell of the whole diocese of Aosta. The mosaic, as it was said, is situated near thealtar, on whose sides it’s possible to admire the ancient wooden choir, probably Jeninus Brave’s work toorder of Giorgio of Challant. The church that is possible to admire today is the result of somerestorations that were made in the past centuries. The first one, in the tenth century, that readjustedthe ancient remains of a temple of the sixth century, whose ruins are still today under the high altar.The present look is the result of the works ordered by Giorgio of Challant around 1500. The constructionis completed by the handsome cloister formed by forty-four columns adorned with particular capitalshaving as a subject religious themes or infused with popular fantastic mythology. The inscriptions on

the capitals date it back to the twelfth century.26

On a wall it’s possible to admire, although it wasrehashed, a painting regarding a Black Virgin with a black child in her arms. They both are wreathedwith a crown having a cross on its top. The Virgin holds another crown in her left hand and her head issurrounded with stars. Perhaps would this fact be a reference to the constellation of the Virgin observedin the sky of Egypt?

So the connection between the two specimens of the enigma in Valle D’Aosta is Giorgio of Challantand his ecclesiastical life might give interesting developments about those who knew the content of theenigma. He studied at the universities of Lyon, Avignon and Rome and he was nominated prior of theCollegiate Church of St. Orso in Aosta; his refined learning made it possible for him to begin the activityof patron with success for about half century, during which the development of the Late Gothic art in St.

Orso and in the Castle of Issogne had a considerable increment thanks to his spirit of client.27

As seenpreviously the specimen of the “Sator” present in Issogne, arranged as a square, is just datable whenthe flooring that covered the one of Aosta was made. Giorgio of Challant, very probably, thought thatthe mosaic included some too evident indications or perhaps he thought just that it was too pagan to bepresent in a church, and so he decided to cover and to hand down it and not to destroy it.

Some specimens are present in France:

-in a Carolingian Bible of 822;

-on a parchment of the twelfth century;

-in the above-cited castles of Loches and Chinon and in Agnès Sorels’ house in Beaulieu-les-Loches;

-in the castle of Jarnac;

-in a house of the Puy-en-Velay;

-in the Hall of Justice of Valbonnays (Isère, Rhone- Alpes);

-in the Church of Saint-Laurent at Rochemaure (Ardèche, Rhone-Alpes), carved on an outer stone.28

In Europe, there are many evidences of the presence of the “Sator”:

-in Spain, at St. Giacomo of Compostela, very famous place of pilgrimage;29

-in Hungary, at Budapest (Aquincum) where the palindrome is present on a brick found during

archaeological excavations. It’s datable around 107-108 B. C. and it’s inserted in a Chrism,30

about thatit was previously spoken;

-in Great Britain, on a ceramic potsherd31

and in a house of Roman origin at Cirencester.32

It’s obvious that the accounts about this enigma are really numerous and its presence is justified inthe monuments that are connected to the Order of Templars.

Instead it’s rather difficult to find the historic connections and especially the sources that made itpossible to their owners to know the meaning of the “Sator” on other buildings, built in former or infollowing times to when the Order exerted its mission.

THE CHARTERHOUSE OF TRISULTI AND PAINTER FILIPPO BALBI

The sacred history of the Charterhouse of Trisulti started around the end of the tenth century when

St. Dominic from Foligno arrived there, who founded the Benedictine monastic life.1 With the

construction of the original charterhouse the sacred history of Trisulti continued and extended with theCarthusian monks from the thirteenth century to 1947, when the Cistercians of the Congregation ofCasamari took the place of them; they are still keepers of the Charterhouse according to the spirit of the

Benedictine rule.2

As established previously the Order of the Cistercians gets its origins from the rules of St. Benedictdeveloped by St. Bernard afterwards.

Besides the origin and the history of the charterhouse, that have references with the Order of theCistercians and so with the Templars, the work of painting of Filippo Balbi at the charterhouse is toconsider attentively.

Two paintings of the old chemist’s shop have to be analyzed, given the subject of the research. In thefirst one the artist associated the mythic Abante to the “Sator”. pic.20 Starting from the top part it’spossible to observe: the bust of a human personage with clear taurine aspect (the face, the horns-shaped locks and a leg on his front banish every doubt) with a lizard on him; under him the enigma isrepresented in the contrary version to the Pompeian one and there is also, placed at the bottom, aphrase that says: “Ma il cambiar di natura è impresa troppo dura”(But to change nature is a very hardundertaking).

We will analyse the painting with much attention, beginning from the Abante. The Abante is amythological personage who had a misfortune: Ippotoone’s son, or Celeo’s, and Megarina’s, waschanged into a lizard by an angry goddess, Cerere, because he made fun of her surprising her to drinkwith too much avidity. Other personages are remembered with the same name of Abante, among whom

one of the Trojans who escaped with Aeneas during the sack of Troy.3

In this case Balbi, famous for his eccentric ideas, wanted to play with the brush, the mythology, the

puzzles and the grammar.

Painting the Abante with a taurine aspect, whose association to Aeneas doesn’t appear accidental,and associating to him the transformation represented by the lizard, it’s evident that the Neapolitanpainter knew the real meaning of the “Sator”. The association, pointed out formerly, between goddessCerere and Isis is not to disregard.

About the grammar, now it’s necessary to analyse the phrase at the foot of the painting. “But”, theinitial word, is a conjunction and so the phrase is the continuation of another one.

Through the Creator the Bull is transformed into Aeneas (man) but to change nature is a very hardundertaking.

This phrase, besides to be an instrument to decode the enigma, is at the same time a confirmation ofit. It says to him who got the content of the “Sator”: “You are not wrong, the contained phrase is reallythat one”. Of course it’s also a clear reference to the initiation of the craftsman of the painting.

But who was Filippo Balbi? How could he know that secret and why did he decide to immortalise it inhis work in the charterhouse of Trisulti?

He was born in Naples in 1806 and studied drawing and painting at the Royal Academy of the FineArts. Balbi was the pupil of Costanzo Angelini, famous neo-classic portraitist and besides dedicatinghimself to the study of drawing and painting he was interested in literature, mathematics, physics and

anatomy, without that, he asserted, it was not possible to be a real artist.4 Balbi, moved to Rome in

1846, two years before the proclamation of the Roman Republic, risked to be shot owing to his presence

during the rescue of cardinal Lambruschini, took out of the clutches of the people.5

He had the bravery to accompany the corpse of cardinal Mezzofanti, famous philologist and polyglot,to the graveyard with few relatives and with the help of one lit lantern because of the anticlerical

opposition of those times, defined “climacteric” by Balbi.6

The period from 1850 to 1860 was the one during which the Neapolitan painter carried out hisgreatest artistic effort. He went to Trisulti in 1854 for the first time to examine the vault of the church

because it was subject to damp. That advice brought the painter six scutes.7 He returned there in 1856

and from 1857 to 1865 he worked with surprising activity.8

Balbi followed with much apprehension the revolutionary insurrections stirred up in the Reign of twoSicilies by the Piedmontese people inclined to the national unity, because he was politically connected to

King Francis I, conservative and faithful to the political order constituted some centuries before.9 Many

supporters of Borboni family, constrained to run away, found a way out on the mountains of Trisulti,part of the Apennines Ernici and the last bulwark of defence of the Papal State in Southern Latium,neighbouring to the Reign. There Balbi knew and entered into friendship with some of them, risking to

be found out and killed for the help given to them.10

During his works in Trisulti some Zouave Pontifical

officers, who were in detachment in the surrounding territory, visited the charterhouse.11

Balbi received

the “Commenda” of the Royal Order” by king Francis I, on 5th February 1863.12

Not long before he hadto renounce, owing to the adverse historic events, to the title of “Director of the Academy of Fine Arts”

in Naples, given to him, too, by the king.13

Balbi retired in Alatri in 1865, after he contributed in a fundamental manner to the artisticembellishment of the charterhouse of Trisulti; there are his works both in the church and in thechemist’s. Living in a rented small house, he continued to work for the churches or for the religiouscommunity of Ciociaria (a zone of Latium) and to teach drawing and painting to the young people. He

died on 27 November 1890. 14

Analysing his life it’s easy to note his attachment to Borboni family, particularly to king Francis I, and

to Church. It’s a little difficult, with the materials at our disposal, to establish exactly how he knew thesecret kept in the “Sator”. Also he could be arrived at the solution starting from documents found in thelibrary of the charterhouse that perhaps regarded that enigma. Just this supposition could be the mostcredible since near the charterhouse there are two Templar buildings: the abbey of Valvisciolo and the

ruined chapel of Trisulti, few kilometres from Veroli.15

In proof of the past presence of the Templars at

Valvisciolo there are the many crosses of the church16

and a specimen of the “Sator” that, as previously,is placed to form a kind of target, where the words are inscribed in five concentric little circles andengraved in the cloister of the abbey. It’s possible that the vicinity of the charterhouse of Trisultiitself with Templar constructions (the chapel of Trisulti is quite nearby) and that the following presenceof the Cistercians have left conclusive evidences for the interpretation of the “Sator”. It’s sure, given thedevelopments of the research, that he knew the right content of the “Sator”, and the answer to why hetoo decided to not divulge it can be obtained from the interpretation of his another work .

The work at issue is present on the right wall of the passage of the chemist’s shop and it is part of

those works which the painter liked to call “whim or oddity”.17

It is formed as follows: a blue globe (theworld), in which some words are present, is on a column, on the globe there is a being with an aspectboth human and animal (like Baphomet), everything is surrounded with a green landscape.

The definition “whim or oddity” is very appropriate to define this work, or so it seems. It’s possible togive the right interpretation only after the solution of some plays upon words that were put in the globe.

BALSAMO (balsam)

RO TUNTIQUABITITUTINITAZIO

DEL DOTTORE (doctor)

T ES AURO CRIP S O NIGROCRISITES

EFFICACISSIMO RIMEDIO

(very efficacious cure)

PER I MORALISTI OMIOPATICI

(for the homeopathic moralists)

It’s necessary to accomplish some rotations, or to change some letters and in a particular way someconsonants with other ones included in the words, of uncertain meaning, that form the work (colorsshow the way).

Here is the result: ROTAZIONI - TUTTI QUANTI I TUBI (rotations - all the ducts) as regards the firstword of uncertain meaning, ES TAURO NIGRO CRIPTO SCRISSI E’ (of the “Es” of the kept black bull - Iwrote ) concerned the second word of uncertain meaning.

It’s necessary to accomplish some rotations, or to change some letters and in a particular way someconsonants with other ones included in the words, of uncertain meaning, that form the work.

Here is the result: ROTAZIONI - TUTTI QUANTI I TUBI (rotations- all the ducts) as regards the firstword of uncertain meaning, ES TAURO NIGRO CRIPTO SCRISSI E’ (of the “Es” of the kept black bull- Iwrote ) concerned the second word of uncertain meaning.

The word “rotations” explains the operation that is necessary to do to decode the sequence of words.

With the above-cited operation the following phrase is obtained: CURANDO TUTTI QUAN- TI I TUBIDELL’ES DEL TORO NERO NASCOSTO E’ EFFICACISSMO RIMEDIO PER I MALATI DI MORALISMO(treating all the ducts of the “Es”, the unconscious, of the kept black bull is a very efficacious remedy forthe ill of moralism).

Recapitulating we can conclude: the word “balsam” means medicine, remedy; the part to treat is the

“Es”, or the zone of the mental apparatus in which the impulses originate that coincides substantiallywith the unconscious and that is the original cause of the ego and the super ego; the word“homeopathic” is referred to the kind of treatment.

It’s obvious that Balbi, being a passionately fond of pharmacy, or better an expert in pharmacy,wanted to play upon that fact and so he used his knowledge to give an answer to the “homeopathicmoralists”.

Filippo Balbi tried to explain what were the reasons that prevented him, and very probably alsoothers, from divulging what he knew. The main problem was the moralism that he considered as aillness and he attributed the denial to want to divulge the content of the “Sator” to it.

But there is a solution, a treatment, that is given by the homeopathy: it’s necessary to act on amental level, making come out, or better, so making emerge and accept that the man gets his originfrom the animal. So a treatment, the homeopathic one, that acts giving the same substances which areat the origin of the disease, with very light doses.

It’s to remember and to point out that in 1860 it would not have been easy at all, and especiallysecure, to divulge what was said before and so the difficulties that a possible divulger had to face wereinsuperable.

THE VERDICT TO THE SCIENCE

The result of this research has produced a certain quantity of materials so that what emerged fromthe “Sator” is considered with reliability.

I’m sure to have left out many useful information, however the subject is so vast that there areprobably references in many documents, obvi- ously to decode. I’m likewise sure that much materials inthis connection was hid or destroyed.

I feel to point out Virgil as the author of the “Sator”, “Aeneas” is very indicative, or however his somecontemporary or someone come immediately after him.

Very probably the author of the “Sator” began from the hexagram then making to run the lettersalong its all course. The conclusive word was just “Sator” since means the Maker and contains three ofthe letters that form “toro” (bull). For this reason, in this research, “The Magic Square” is identified tothis word.

However it is not to leave out the supposition that Virgil could interpret and, or translate documentsof other personages who have got a conclusive role also in this research . The “Key of Solomon”, inwhich we were interested, is a very interesting document.

Still in the manuscript (La Clavicule de Salomon- King’s 288 British Library), analyzed by me, there isanother interesting pentacle in which a face with a clear taurine aspect is described as the face of“Saday” (El-Sadday, the Almighty God) which all the creatures obey and the angelic spirits respect himon their knees. About the dating of the “Key of Solomon” the opinions of the scholars are discordant andhowever it is supposed the possibility that the original text is just of King Solomon. The way covered inthis research makes us understand that Solomon certainly knew the ancient mysteries of the creationand since this text of magic rituals has his name and since in it there is a magic square with his onepsalm, I think that it’s impossible to discard the hypothesis that the “Sator” is to connect to him.

If it is like that, the reference found on the Pompeian specimen, the word “ANO” and the triangle (thering with the triangle) could be also a clew to make possible the identification of the original author ofthe enigma, or Solomon. It’s necessary to remember, with regard to this, that the specimens of the“Sator” dating back to the Roman period begin with the word “rotas”, unlike the ones of following timesthat begin with the word “sator”. I have often wondered the reason of this and above all which were themotives that later on induced to make the “magic square” in the contrary version.

The answer could be given just by the fact that the “magic square” of the “Sator” is a transliterationand, or an adaptation from the Hebrew, that, as known, is written and read from the right to the leftand so the version that sees the word “rotas” as the first one imposes, obviously, a reading of thesquare to the left. Besides the versions of the “Sator” in Hebrew are formed by sixteen characters sincethe Hebrew omits some letters.

Adopting the version starting with the word “sator” could mean that this inscription was to considerLatin. The specimen in Hebrew present in the “Key of Solomon” translated by Abraham Colorno, is put inclose connection to the seventy-second, 8 Psalm, in Latin characters too, as if it means that version is tointerpret in Latin characters. It’s not to forget at all that “Aeneas” could be valid, as a term to mean theman, only for the Romans and so, if the original is attributed to the Hebrews, the reference to the manis certainly expressed by another word (probably Adam).

Besides the presence on the territory (Rome, Pozzuoli, Pompeii) of temples dedicated to Egyptiandivinities already from the second century B. C. points out that very probably the Romans had someknowledge for some time.

This knowledge, we could verify it in all the research, was a prerogative of many famous personages:from the ancient Pharaohs, to the king, to the emperors, to the great artists. Just in the last ones, intheir works that have arrived today , it’s possible to find some references that, without definiteknowledge, would result meaning-less or interpreted in a wrong manner. So probably, “Vitruvius’s Man”of Leonardo da Vinci, inscribed in a circle and in a square, now can appear in a different way. Thegenius of this personage was so great and the acquaintances, that he had in Italy and abroad (forexample the king of France Francis I) were so important that it would seem improbable to think hedidn’t know those mysteries. Certainly the powerful who knew those mysteries wanted to know theopinion of the great geniuses of their period about that subject and so it’s probably that they informedthem about what they knew. Besides Leonardo spent the last years of his life in the Valley of Loira,where the walls of the castles still today keep those secrets. Very probably geniuses like Leonardo hadnot the need to be initiated to those mysteries by others.

Dante Alighieri is another very lofty personage who could have kept and handed down through hisworks, some interesting references. First of all Dante was considered the head of the Followers of Love,an organization that spread in Italy after the disappearance of the Templars and that had to take their

place.1 In its “Divina Commedia” (Divine Comedy) he took sides against Philip the Handsome defending

the Temple. During a part of his travel through the “Paradise” he was even taken by St. Bernard. Andthen is it possible to leave out the presence of Virgil just at the beginning of the work? Perhaps did allthat want to be a special reward to him who was the author of works that kept the knowledge?

The astrologic references, present in the “Comedy”, point out that the author was an expert aboutthat subject. The cross, to which I have attributed the meaning of constellation of the Virgin, finds aninteresting reference in a version of the “Divine Comedy” of 1491: it’s placed in a starry sky and there

are twelve personages represented in the act of adoring in its inside.2 In the fourteenth canto of the

“Paradise” (109-111), Dante says:” Di corno in corno e tra la cima e ’l basso si movìen lumi, scintillandoforte nel congiungersi insieme e nel trapasso…” (From horn to horn and between the high and the lowlights moved, twinkling strongly during their joining and the change…). The horn is easily compared tothe bull while the top is to mean as the sky and the low as the world.

Some think that Dante was fully a member of the Organization of the Templars and when the lastGrand Master (Jaques de Molay) was arrested, he was in Paris, just to take the inheritance of GrandMaster. In the few representations of Dante he always wears white and red clothing: the colours of the

Temple.3

As regards the confirmation to what emerged from my research about the “Sator” it will be up only tothe science to express a final verdict, to say now or when the knowledge will make it possible.

In the meantime it’s possible to penetrate, obviously as laymen, but however we were so and we areso also about the other treated subjects, in some scientific experiments that are very topical in these lastyears.

The scientific experimentation concerning the animals, and I’m referring to the genetic manipulationand the cloning, has stimulated many polemics among the various organs that practise and manage it.Many times, it is read in the newspapers that the aim of these experiments would be to prepare the wayfor a possible cloning of the human being; from this cause the main criticism to the experiments come.

But it must not forget the animals that are used by the human beings (but not by all) both as foodand as clothing and in some scientific experiments about that we could discuss a long time, for examplethe experimentation of the medicines or only of the cosmetics. I don’t want to enter upon this subjectbut it’s necessary to say that some “manifestations” allowed or not by the law, for instance the bull-fights or the dog-fights are very despicable and I don’t know if it’s worse to organise them, some“shows”, or only to watch them. Now, stop that!

There is already the possibility to modify genetically sheep, cows and swine so that they becomeliving producers of human “component parts”. Some sheep were modified to produce through their milk

some human proteins good for the treatment of the hereditary emphysema.4 Instead transgenic swine

with segments of human DNA are able to produce human hemoglobin, so they are consistent with our

immune system.5

As regards the bovine race, the one that is more interesting for us, for manifest reasons, Ermanno’sstory, the bull with the human milk, is very interesting.

Ermanno is a bull born in 1990 through a scientific experiment that made possible to modify his DNAas that his female progeny can produce a milk from which it’s possible to obtain a great amount of

human proteins, good both for the nourishing contribution and for the pharmaceutical one.6

Through the genetic manipulation, would a bull be able to give life to a species unlike its?

It’s up to the science to answer that, with its experiments, is making to discuss very much.

Perhaps it will possible to understand the why of many things. For example which are the causes thatlet a disease like the one of the BSE (Creutzfeld Jacob’s syndrome) to infect the human being (it seemsthat the structure of the prions of the human beings and of the bovine animals, that just cause the

infection, is practically identical),7 and in past times, instead, why the smallpox was transmitted

between the two species.8

Another interesting information: do you know that the human species and the bovine one are theonly to have a period of pregnancy of about nine months? Is it a coincidence?

Now we report an interesting topical piece of news: “The board of education of the state of Kansas(USA) voted and decided to take the evolutionistic theories from the curricula of biology and physics.Beginning this school year the students of all the schools of Kansas (that include six universities) willlearn that the world and the universe were created according to the Bible. Man and woman would be

appeared in the world about six thousands of years ago”…9

All this, not to vouch for the subject of my research somehow that, as seen, would date the creationof the human being some millenniums before, but especially to point out that perhaps there is not toomuch reliability about the theory that sees the man as a being who evolved from the monkey in thecourse of million years.

During all the period of my research I asked myself why the real origin of the human being was nothanded down from the beginning. If the work that I developed will find some scientific confirmationswhich will vouch for it, it would be necessary to revise the whole human history.

This theory has the inevitable need of the scientific confirmation. The science, that has concentratedmany efforts just for the genetic manipulation and also for the interplanetary missions during these lastdecennia, has got the keys that open those doors, those barriers which keep the naked eye andespecially the human mind from seeing beyond a certain “distance”.

I repeat, I have asked myself many times why, if it is naturally true, this history was hid in the courseof the time and if today it is opportune and lawful to make it public.

As regards the fact that this kind of knowledge was at disposal of only some personages the answerscould be different: power, to feel omnipotent, for some; for other perhaps, how Neapolitan painterFilippo Balbi said in one of his enigmatic paintings, the morals could have been a check to its diffusionthat would have been arduous without the help of the scientific proof. They who tried to divulge it cameto a bad end. It’s just from those terrible executions that were inflicted on the so-called heretics that it’snecessary to find the force for an absolute search of the truth, without that, there will not be a future.

Is it lawful to make it public today? The science has done immense steps and it will do most big onesduring the next years. Then the evolution of the species should make it possible for us, we hope, to benot burnt in some square. I think there are all the presupposition in order that it’s possible to proceedwith a precise scientific and historic research. Another thing: “I have not taken over by anyone. I haveno obligations of oaths and so of silence”.

A species like the human one, with all the doubts that were carried over on millennia, shall be able toknow which way to run, towards which direction to go, if the man doesn’t know where does he comefrom?

PICTURES

pic.1 Reproduction of the Sator of the Big Palestra in Pompeii.

pic.2 Big Palestra of Pompeii - colonnade .

pic.3 Theseus and the Minotaur. National Archaeological Museum of Naples; from Pompeii.

pic.4 The Punishment of Dirce. Vettii's House in Pompeii.

pic.5 Altar of the temple of Vespasian in Pompeii.

pic.6 Particular of the Astronomical Ceiling of the cenotaph of Sethi I in Abydus . Lefebure M.Gustave- Paris 1886.

pic.7 Particular of the Astronomical Ceiling of the Tomb of Ramses II. Neugebauer O. Parker R. A.Egyptian Astronomical Texts Londra 1960.

pic.8 Astronomical Ceiling of the Tomb (353) of Senmut. Neugebauer O. Parker R. A. - EgyptianAstronomical Texts Londra 1960.

pic.9 Particular of the cover of the wood sarcophagus of Heter. Neugebauer O. Parker R. A.-Egyptian Astronomical Texts Londra 1960.

pic.10 Reproduction of Imperator Fu-hi. Drawing by Galasso Pasqualina.

pic.11 Plan of the church of Citeaux. Drawing by Galasso Pasqualina.

pic.12 Plan of the external ceiling of S. Bevignate's church in Perugia.

pic.13 Plan of the lower floor of Castel del Monte.

pic.14 Magic Square whit the symbols of the Four Evangelists.

pic.15 Virgin with the child in St. Bernad's church in Vercelli.

pic.16 Altar with Crism.

pic.17 Particular of the floor of Decollated Baptist's church in Pieve Terzagni (Cr).

pic.18 Sator on the external wall of Siena's Cathedral.

pic.19 Particular of the mosaic in the collegiate church of St. Orso in Aosta.

pic.20 Reproduction of Filippo Balbi's Sator. Drawing by Galasso Pasqualina.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES

The origins

1 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, Dizionario dei Simboli Rizzoli, Italian edition traduced by Maria Grazia Margheri Pieroni, Laura Moriand Roberto Vigevani - see: quadrato.

Ernout A., Dr. Pépin, Histoire Naturelle, Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1950, see note n. 20 book XXVIII.

2 Brion Marcel, Pompei ed Ercolano, Istituto Geografico De Agostini Novara 1962 Italian edition traduced by Franca Ottolenghi p. 14.3 Id.4 Id. p. 15.5 Id. p. 16.6 Id. p. 18.7 Etienne Robert, La vita quotidiana a Pompei, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore1992 Italian edition traduced by Mario Andreose and SimonaProietti p. 281.8 Id. p. 286.9 Id.10 Dardano Maurizio – Trifone Pietro, Grammatica italiana con nozioni di linguistica, Zanichelli Editore, seconda edizione capitolo I (1.4), dallatino all’italiano p. 33.11 Id.12 Id. p. 35.13 Etienne Robert, quoted work p. 286.14 Dardano Maurizio, Trifone Pietro, quoted work p. 37.15 Id. p. 38.16 Id. p. 41.17 Id.The star with six points1 Enciclopedia dei Simboli Garzanti, see: Stella di David.2

Id.3 Id.4 Id.5 Id. see: Yantra.6 Id. see: I-ching.7 Id. see: Yin-Yang.

8 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work see: uomo (4).

Aeneas

1 Tocci V., Dizionario di mitologia, Edizioni Librarie Italiane 1954, see: Enea.

2 Brion Marcel, quoted work p. 98.

3 Enciclopedia della Letteratura Garzanti, see: Virgilio.

4 Id.

Solomon's temple1 Old Testament: The kings 6, 38 / 7, 1.2 Id. The Kings 5.3 Id. The Kings 6, 19-20.4 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work see: tempio.5 Id.6 Old Testament: The kings 7, 23-24-25-26.7 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, p. 1025.8 Bresciani Edda, L’Antico Egitto, De agostini 1998, see: Religione.

9 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Ebrei (la storia antichissima).

10 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Israelitica religione.11 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Ebrei (La fondazione della monarchia).12 Id.13 Id.14 Id.15 Id.

16 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Israelitica religione p.541.

17 Id.18 Id.19 Id. pp. 541, 542.20 Id. p. 542, 543.21 Id. p. 543.

22 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Ebrei (dal ritorno dall’esilio alla distruzione del secondo tempio).

23 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Israelitica religione p. 543.

24 Id.25 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work see: toro.26

Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Babilonese religione p. 59.The capture of the temple of Gerusalem

1 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Vespasiano, Tito.

2 Congresso Internazionale di Studi Flaviani, Rieti 1981, Centro Studi Varroniani vol. I, II, Rieti 1983.Barzanò Alberto, “Tito e Tiberio Giulio Alessandro” p.195, vol. II.

3 Id. Pafo’s Temple see: Id. pp. 195-202.4 Id. pp. 197, 198 .5 Id. p. 198.6 Id.7 Id. pp. 200, 201.8 Id. p. 201.9 Congresso Internazionale di Studi Flaviani, quoted work, author: Montevecchi Orsolina, “Tito alla luce dei papiri” p. 347, vol. II.10 Id. pp. 347, 348, 349.11 Id. p. 347.12 Id. p. 348.13 Id. p. 353.14 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Vespasiano.15 Id.16 Id.17 Id.18 Congresso Internazionale di Studi Flaviani, quoted work, author: Zucchelli Bruno. “Ci fu libertà di parola sotto il Principato di Tito?” pp.415-419.

19 Enciclopedia della Letteratura Garzanti Milano 1990, see: Plinio il Vecchio.

20 Storia Naturale by Gian Biagio Conte – Einaudi 1984/85, L’Inventario del Mondo, XVII.

21 Enciclopedia della Letteratura Garzanti Milano 1990, see: Plinio il Vecchio.

22 Storia Naturale quoted work, biobibliographical note of Barchiesi Alessandro, Ranucci Giuliano e Frugoni Anna.

23 Congresso Internazionale di Studi Flaviani, Grilli Alberto, Tito e il mondo letterario p.135, vol. I.

Id. Magno Pietro, La dedica della “Naturali Historia” pp.333-335.

24 Storia Naturale, quoted work Frugoni Anna, LXII, vol. I.

25 Id. book 28/20, vol. I.

26 Id. Calvino Italo, Il cielo l’uomo e l’elefante p. VIII (II,13)vol. I.

27 Id. p. IX ( book II,27).

28 Id. book VIII.

29 Id. Calvino Italo, quoted work pp. XIV-XV. Vol. I, book VIII.

30 Congresso Internazionale di Studi Flaviani, quoted work, Deschamps Lucienne, Il ritratto di Titonell’opera di Marziale p. 72 vol. I.

Id. Tremoli Paolo, Marziale adulatore di Tito p. 338 vol. II.

31 Epigrammi, Marco Valerio Marziale. Traduce by Scàndola Mario, notes of Merli Elena- Rizzoli 1996 vol.I – Libro degli spettacoli.

Pompeii: the initiated town

1 Etienne Robert: quoted work pp. 301, 302.

2 Brion Marcel: quoted work p. 131.

Etienne Robert: quoted work pp. 103-105.

3 Enciclopedia dei Simboli Garzanti, see: Minotauro, Minosse.

4 Enciclopedia delle religioni Garzanti, p. 353 (Era).

5 Agizza Rosa, quoted work p. 74.

6 Etienne Robert, quoted work p. 173.

7 Id. p. 126.8 Id. p. 181.9 Id.10 Id. p. 182.11 Id.12 Id. pp. 182, 183.13 Camillieri Rino, Il Quadrato Magico, Rizzoli 1999, p. 98.14 Etienne Robert, quoted work p. 183.15 Id.16 Id. pp. 183, 184.17 d. pp. 186, 187.18 Id.19 Id.20 Id.Bull Apis

1 Vegetti Mario, dalla rivoluzione agricola a Roma, Zanichelli 1978 p. 47.

2 Id.

3 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Api.

4 Id. see: Mnevi.

5 Id. see: Bukhi.

6 Id. see: Sethi.

7 Id. see: Thoeris.

Enciclopedia dei Simboli Garzanti, see: ippopotamo.

8 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Sobek.

9 Id. see: amuleti di forma inanimata.

10 Id. see: Anubi.11 Id. see: Thot.Jacq Christian, I Grandi monumenti dell’Antico Egitto, Italian edition traduced by Raffaele Donnarumma Arnoldo Mondadori Editore 1998 p.335.

12 Id. p. 333. Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Horo.

13 Jacq Christian, quoted work p. 150.

14 Id. p. 157.

15 Jacq Christian, quoted work p. 150.

16 Neugebauer O. Parker R. A., Egyptian Astronomical Texts, London 1960.

17 Id. quoted work vol. III, see: Heter (71).

18 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Giza.

19 Fairall Anthony, Professor of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, and Planetarium Director SouthAfrican Museum, Precession and the layout of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, Astronomy & Geophisics(The Journnal of the Royal Astronomical Society) June 1999 vol. 40.

Fairall Anthony – Orion’s Belt and Layout of the Three Pyramids at Giza, see:

http://www..museums.org.za/sam/planet/pyramids.htm

20 Bauval Robert, Hancock Graham, Custode della Genesi Corbaccio 1997 Italian edition traduced by Lucia Corradini pp.90-98.

21 Jacq Christian, quoted work p. 27.

22 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Amon.

23 Id. see: Ra.

24 Id. see: Path.25 Id.26 Jacq Christian, quoted work p. 27.27 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Hator.28 Id. see: Cosmogonia.29 Id. see: Cosmogonia (L’Enneade Eliopolitana) .30 Id. see: Osiride.31 Id. see: Iside.32 Id. see: Seth.33 Id. see: Nefti.34 Id. see: Cosmogonia (L’Enneade Eliopolitana).35 Id. see: Cosmogonia (Menfi and Ermopoli’s versions).36 Id.37 Id.38 Id. see: Serapide.39 Id. see: Serapeum.40

Id.

41 Id.

42 Id.

43 Jacq Christian, quoted work p.252.

The veneration of the bull

1 Corriere del Giorno, Minotauro, simbolo di Creta Egemone of Josè Minervini, 30 agosto 1997.

2 Rotundo Domenico, Templari, Misteri e Cattedrali, text

regarding: “Moneta Ausona reggina col Toro”.

3 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted book, see: toro.4 Id.5 Id.

6 Sander N. Ph, Trenel I., Dictionnaire Hebreu, Français, see: Aleph.

7 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: toro.8 Id.9 Id.10 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Mitra.11 Id.12 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: toro.13 Id.14 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Zoroastrismo.15 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: toro.16 Id.17 Id.18 Id.19 Id.20 Id.

21 Meridiani, Sahara, Editoriale Domus anno XII n. 84 p.159.

22 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Boviano, Boviano Vetere.

23 Torino, Guida De Agostini, Novara 1990. Storia di Torino of Ballaria Barbara p. 15.

24 “La Stampa” Venerdì 26/01/2000 article of Maurizio Lupo p. 23.

25 Dembech Giuditta, Torino Città Magica, Edizioni L’Ariete, Settimo Torinese (TO) 1995 vol. I pp. 21-23.

26 De Carlo Stefano, Il Museo Archeologico di Napoli,

Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli e Caserta, Electa Napoli 1994 p.362.

27 http://s3.unigre.urbe.it/pubblicazioni/paulius/t2.htm

03/11/1999.

28 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: vischio, ramo d’oro.

29 Id. see: rosa.

30 De Carlo Stefano, quoted work pp. 309, 310.

31 Id. p. 334.

32 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 126.

33 Nijinsky Vaslav, Diari – unabridged version, Adelphi Edizioni 2000. Traduced by Maurizia Calusiopp.25, 30, 31, 46, 47.

The magic square, the crusades and the Templars

1 De Mahieu Jacques, I Templari In America, Edizioni Piemme spa Casale Monferrato 1998, Italian edition traduced by AldaTeodorani, pp. 140, 141.

2 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Citeaux.

3 Demurger Alain, Vita e morte dell’Ordine dei Templari Garzanti 1996, Italian edition traduced by Marina Sozzi, see the pictures14 e 15.

Capone Bianca, I Templari in Italia, Armenia Edizioni Milano 1977 p. 123.

4 Enciclopedia della Letteratura Garzanti, see: Bernardo di Chiaravalle.

5 Taglienti Atanasio, La Certosa di Trisulti, Edizioni Casamari 1987 pp. 204, 205.

6 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Cistercensi.

7 Storia Naturale Einaudi, quoted work biobibliographical note of Frugoni Chiara p. LXII.

8 La Clavicule de salomon Roi des Hebrew traduite de l’hebreux en italien par Abraham Colorno par ordre de S.A.S. de Mantoueet mise nouvellement en françois. King’s 288, XVIII cent. British Library, London.

9 De Mahieu Jacques, quoted work p. 7.

10 Demurger Alain, quoted work p. 23.

11 De Mahieu Jacques, quoted work pp. 7, 8.

12 Id. p. 8.

13 Id.

14 Id. p. 9.

15 Charpentier louis, I Misteri dei Templari, Atanor Roma 1974, p. 75.

16 Demurger Alain, quoted work p. 175.

17 Id. pp. 193, 335 .

18

I Castelli di Napoli, Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici di Napoli. Elio de Rosa Editore Napoli 1992, see: CastelSant’Elmo.

19 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Angiò.

20 Richard Jean, la Grande Storia delle Crociate, Newton & Compton Editori Roma 1999, Italian edition traduce by Maria PiaVigoriti - pp. 359, 360, 471.

21 Id. pp. 464-466.

22 Id. p. 322.

23 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Castel del Monte.

24 Charpentier Louis, quoted work.

25 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Federico II.

Richard Jean, quoted work pp. 321-326.

26 Enciclopedia Treccani, quoted work: Castel del Monte.

27 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see : Otto.

28 Boncompagni Solas, Il Mondo Dei Simboli, Edizioni Mediterranee 1984 pp. 101, 102.29 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: Otto.30 Id. see: Ottagono.31 Id. see: Otto.32 The perimeter of pyramid’s base is equal to a circunference having the height of the pyramid itself as radius.For this argument see: Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: Piramidi (5), Numero (5).

33 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: ottagono.

34 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, see: Cupola della Roccia p. 1019.35 Orsenigo Riccardo, Vercelli Sacra, Libreria Giovannacci Vercelli 1995 p. 290.36 Id. p. 291.37 Id. p. 292.

38 Richard Jean, quoted work pp.464-466.

39 Id. p. 443.

40 Id. p. 445.41 Id. p. 446.42 Id.

43 Melchior Bonnet Sabine, Les Chateaux de la Loire Larousse 1984 pp.92-101.

D’Huart Simone, Les Chateaux de la Loire, Bonechi 1998 pp. 117-121.

44 Charpentier Louis, quoted work pp. 209, 210.

45 Melchior Bonnet Sabine, quoted work p. 72.

D’Huart Simone, quoted work pp. 122-125.

46 Id.47 Caselli Giovanni, Loira, Il fiume dei castelli Giunti Firenze 1992 p. 123.

48 Rotundo Domenico, Templari Misteri e Cattedrali, Edizioni Templari 1983 pp. 189, 190.

49 Id. pp. 237-238. Notes regarding: “La via della realizzazione di sé secondo i misteri di Mitrha”.

50 Id.

51 Weekly “L’Azione”, Fabriano (AN) 13 giugno 1998, article of Luciano Stroppa p. 16.

52 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: Tarocchi.

53 Bresciani Edda, quoted work, see: Piramidi p. 266.

54 Bluche François, L’Età di Luigi XIV, Salerno Editore p.229.

55 Fulcanelli, Il Mistero delle Cattedrali, Edizioni Mediterranee Roma 1973 p. 64.

56 Id.

57 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, pp. 1050, 1051.

58 Charpentier Louis, quoted work p. 113.

59 Fulcanelli, quoted work p. 53.

60 Charpentier Louis, quoted work p. 147.

61 Fulcanelli, quoted work p. 51, 52.

62 Id. p. 51.63 Fulcanelli, quoted work p. 62.64 Id. pp. 61, 62.65 Id. p. 65.66 Id.67 Id. p. 62.68 Id. p. 49.69 Id. p. 50.

70 Orsenigo Riccardo, Vercelli Sacra, Libreria Giovannacci Vercelli 1995 p. 117.

71 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: Crisma.72 Etienne Robert: quoted work p. 191.73 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: Vergine.74 Saltarini Kinauer Helene, Astrologia, Bietti Milano

1975 p. 94.

75 Demurger Alain, quoted work p. 198.

76 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 42, 43.77 Id.78 Id. pp. 44, 45.

79 Id. p. 41.80 Id.81 Id. p .42.82 Id. p. 23.83 Id. p. 19.

84 Id. p. 21.

85 Id. p. 19.

86 Charpentier Louis, quoted work pp. 195, 196.

87 Rotundo Domenico, quoted work, see picture.

88 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 23.

89 Charpentier Louis, quoted work p. 81.

The Domus Aurea

1 Nerone, la vita , le follie. Le meraviglie della Domus Aurea. Le Grandi Storie di Meridiani, EditorialeDomus 1999. Author: Davide Domenici.

2 Id.3 Id.4 Id.5 Id. p. 36.6 Id.7 Id.8 Id. p. 38.9 Id.10 Id.11 Id. author Stefano Zuffi, pp. 41, 42.12 Id. pp. 43, 44.

13 Etienne Robert, quoted work p. 87.

The kept truth1 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work, see: pi-ramidi.2 Id. see: Hiram.

3 Id. see: numero.

4 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Massoneria.

5 Id.6 Id.7 Id.8 Id.9 Id.10 Id.

11 Id.12 Stinchelli Enrico, Mozart, la vita e l’opera, Newton 1996 p. 78.13 Id.14 Id. p. 110.15 Id. pp. 110, 111.16 Id. p. 112.17 Enciclopedia delle Religioni Garzanti, see: Zoroastrismo p. 744.18 Stinchelli Enrico, quoted work p. 113.

19 Mioli Piero, Tutti i libretti di Mozart, Newton 1996 p. 210.

20 Stinchelli Enrico, quoted work p. 113.

21 Mioli Piero, quoted work p. 127.22 Enciclopedia Treccani, see: Alba Longa.

23 Id. see: Boville.

24 Mioli Piero, quoted work p. 124.25 Stinchelli Enrico, quoted work p. 111.26 Id. pp. 111, 112 (for the translation see: note n. 2).Il quadrato magico – le carrè sator – the magic square… 1 Capone Bianca quoted work p. 160 (see note n. 1 art. 9).2 Teborelli Gian Maria, Castelli Dell’Alto Adige, De Agostini 1982 p. 155.3 Weekly “L’Azione”, quoted work 13 giugno 1998 p. 16.4 Id.5 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 129.6 Pilati Dalmazio, Le campane di Fabriano, Istituto Internazionale di Studi Piceni Sassoferrato 1998 pp. 132, 133.7 Id. p. 132.8 Id. p. 135.

9 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, p. 1058.

10 Carli Enzo, Il Duomo di Siena, Scala, Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, Firenze 1999 pp.61, 62.

11 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, p. 1058.

12 Id.

13 Carli Enzo, Il Duomo di Siena, Scala, Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, Firenze 1999 p. 13.

14 La Nuova enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, see: Tino di Camaino.

15 La Nuova Enciclopedia dell’Arte Garzanti, p. 1059.

16 Capone Bianca, quoted work pp. 119, 120.

17 Santi Bruno, Il Pavimento del Duomo di Siena, Scala, Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, Firenze 1982.

18 Giacosa Giuseppe, Castelli Valdostani e Canavesani, Enrico Librai Editori, Ivrea 1962 p.95.

19 Id. p. 36.20 Id. p. 94.

21 Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Assessorato all’Istruzione e alla Cultura, testi di Barbieri Sandra.22 Giacosa Giuseppe, quoted work p. 36.23 Id. p. 100.

24 Notiziario, Soprintendenza Beni Culturali Regione Autonoma Valle D’Aosta, anno 1, numero 1, 1999 p. 4 Direttoreresponsabile Anna Maria Belley.

25 Id.

26 Clerici G. Castelli della Valle d’Aosta, pictures of Mazzola M.. Distributore esclusivo: Rivetta Souvenirs snc Brescia. Stampa:Co. Graf. A. srl, Usmate (MI). See: Collegiata di S. Orso pp. 6-11.

27 Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Assessorato all’Istruzione e alla Cultura, texts of Barbieri Sandra.

28 Carcopino Jerome, Etude d’Histoire Chrétienne, Le Christianisme Secret du “Carré Magique” Editions Albin Michel 1953 pp.21, 22.

29 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 29.30 Camillieri Rino, Il Quadrato Magico, Rizzoli Editore 1999 p. 81.

31 The archaeological find is preserved in “Manchester Museum Archaeology Mediterranean Gallery”.See:

http://www.museum.man.ac.uk/exhibitions/museum.man.

ac.uk/exhibitions/mediterranean_gallery.hmt

32 Carcopino Jerome, quoted work p. 28.The charterhouse of Trisulti and painter Filippo Balbi1 Taglienti Atanasio, quoted work p. 11.2 Id. p. 22.

3 Tocci V. quoted work, see: Abante.

4 Taglienti Atanasio, quoted work p. 140.5 Id.6 Id.7 Id. see note n. 2.8 Id. p. 140.9 Id.10 Id. p. 141.11 Id. p. 142.12 Id.13 Id.14 Id. p. 143.

15 Rotundo Domenico, quoted work p. 87.

16 Id.

17 Taglienti Atanasio, quoted work p. 116.

The verdict to the science

1 Capone Bianca, quoted work p. 121.

2 Chevalier Jean, Gheerbrant Alain, quoted work pp. 347, 348.

3 Capone Bianca, quoted work pp. 121, 122.

4 For this argument see: Http://www.unimondo.org/

globpopoli/schede/allevame_017.htlm

5 Id.6 Id.7 p.bia. Tuttoscienze (“La Stampa”), Decifrata la struttura molecolare del prione bovino, 26 luglio 2000, p. 3.8 Buoncristiani Anna, Tuttoscienze (“ La Stampa”), Scienze a Scuola, Edward Jenner scoprì gli anticorpi del vaiolo senza saperlo. Nel 1976usò per primo il siero proveniente da un bovino infetto, 16 dicembre 1998 p. 4.9 Giacobini Ezio, Tuttoscienze (“La Stampa”), Nel Kansas l’Università mette al bando Darwin – 15 settembre 1999 p. 1.

AKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my brother Aniello and to my sister Pasquslina who have believed in the importance of mywork from very the start. Besides my brother showed me possible connection of the subject treated byme with what Nijinski wrote in his diaries. My sister, apart from being the translator of the Englishversion, provided me material about the latin language.Thanks to Roberto Carà who realized my website.

THE AUTHOR

Elio Galasso was born in Serralunga di Crea (AL) on 28 February 1968.

“The kept truth” is his first work of literature. A research begun during February 1999 and lasted aboutthree years that got him to do also some journeys: Pompeii, Siena, Aosta, where are present some ofthe specimens of the Sator, as far as London, to consult the manuscripts of the British Library.Commercial high school leaving qualification, Elio Galasso could be considered a scholar even if he likesto define himself a searcher of questions, to which, sometimes he managed to give an answer. In thistime he’s working at a new literary project.