A number of Egypt's most magnificent pyramids follow a pattern
of invisible diagonal lines, an Italian study has concluded.
According to Giulio Magli, professor of archaeoastronomy at
Milan's Polytechnic University, these invisible lines would
connect most of the funerary complexes raised by the kings of
the Old Kingdom between 2630 and 2323 BC. "Following these
diagonals, it appears clear that the arrangement of the
monuments was carefully chosen in order to satisfy a number of
criteria, which include dynastic lineage, religion and
astronomical alignments," Magli tells Discovery News. The study
examined the chronology and geographical location of all the
pyramids of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, from the Step
Pyramid of Djoser (2630-2611 B.C.) to the now-collapsed pyramid
of Unas (2356-2323 B.C.), both in Saqqara. "Our starting point
was the so-called 'Giza diagonal,' an ideal line which connects
the southeast corners of the three main pyramids and points to
Heliopolis. This was an important religious cent