Georgia Guidestones

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Coordinates: 34°13′55″N 82°53′40″W / 34.2320°N 82.8945°W / 34.2320; -82.8945

The Georgia Guidestones in Elbert County, Georgia.

The Georgia Guidestones are a huge granite artifact in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. It is sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge", a title which has been applied at times to a number of other structures[1]. A message comprising ten guides is inscribed on the structure in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The artifact is almost twenty feet (6m) tall, and made from six granite slabs weighing more than 100 tons in all. One slab stands in the center, with four arranged around it. A capstone lies on top of the five slabs, which are astronomically aligned. An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the structure, provides some clarifying notes on the history and purpose of the Guidestones.

Contents

[edit] History

In June 1979, unknown persons hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure.[citation needed]

[edit] The message of the Georgia Guidestones

The stone featuring the English version.

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, ancient Chinese, and Russian. The message in English reads:

MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000
IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE
GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY —
IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY
UNITE HUMANITY WITH A LIVING
NEW LANGUAGE
RULE PASSION — FAITH — TRADITION
AND ALL THINGS
WITH TEMPERED REASON
PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS
WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS
LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY
RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES
IN A WORLD COURT
AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS
OFFICIALS
BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH
SOCIAL DUTIES.
PRIZE TRUTH — BEAUTY — LOVE —
SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE
INFINITE
BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH —
LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE —
LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE

A shorter message appears on the four vertical surfaces of the capstone, again in a different language and script on each face. The explanatory tablet near the Guidestones identifies these languages/scripts as Babylonian Cuneiform (north), Classical Greek (east), Sanskrit (south), and Egyptian Hieroglyphs (west), and provides what is presumably an English translation: "Let these be guidestones to an age of reason."

[edit] Commentary

The phrase Let these be guidestones to an age of reason is a reference to the book, The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine and appears to be a nod to Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus.[citation needed]

[edit] Explanatory tablet

The explanatory tablet, immediately west of the edifice.

A few feet to the west of the artifact, an additional granite ledger has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the structure and the languages used on it, lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was installed, and the sponsors of the project. It also speaks of a time capsule buried under the tablet, but the positions on the stone reserved for filling in the dates on which the capsule was buried and is to be opened are missing, so it is not clear whether the time capsule was ever put in place. The tablet is with one edge to each of the cardinal directions, and is inscribed such that the northern edge is the "top" of the inscription.

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

The text of the tablet is as follows:

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

At the top center of the tablet is written:

THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
CENTER CLUSTER ERECTED MARCH 22, 1980

Immediately below this is the outline of a square, inside which is written:

LET THESE BE
GUIDESTONES
TO AN AGE
OF REASON

Around the edges of the square are written the names of four ancient scripts/languages, one per edge. Starting from the top and proceeding clockwise, they are:

BABYLONIAN CUNEIFORM
CLASSICAL GREEK
SANSKRIT
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS

("Egyptian Hieroglyphics" is not properly the name of a script; a better name would be "Demotic.")

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

ASTRONOMIC FEATURES:
1. CHANNEL THROUGH STONE
INDICATES CELESTIAL POLE.
2. HORIZONTAL SLOT INDICATES
ANNUAL TRAVEL OF SUN.
3. SUNBEAM THROUGH CAPSTONE
MARKS NOONTIME THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR
AUTHOR: R.C. CHRISTIAN
(A PSEUDONYN)
SPONSORS: A SMALL GROUP
OF AMERICANS WHO SEEK
THE AGE OF REASON
TIME CAPSULE:
PLACED SIX FEET BELOW THIS SPOT
ON
TO BE OPENED ON

The words appear as shown under the time capsule heading; no dates are engraved. (The word pseudonym is misspelled on the stone.)

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

PHYSICAL DATA
1. OVERALL HEIGHT - 19 feet 3 inches (5.9 m)
2. TOTAL WEIGHT - 237, 746 POUNDS
3. FOUR MAJOR STONES ARE 16 feet (4.9 m),
FOUR INCHES (102 mm) HIGH, EACH WEIGHING
AN AVERAGE OF 42, 437 POUNDS.
4. CENTER STONE IS 16 feet (4.9 m), FOUR-
INCHES HIGH; WEIGHS 20, 957
POUNDS.
5. CAPSTONE IS 9 feet (2.7 m), 8-INCHES
LONG; 6 feet (1.8 m), 6-INCHES WIDE;
1-foot (0.30 m), 7-INCHES THICK. WEIGHS
24,832 POUNDS.
6. SUPPORT STONES (BASES) 7-FEET,
4 INCHES LONG 2 feet (0.61 m) WIDE.
1-foot (0.30 m), 4 INCHES THICK, EACH
WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 4,875
POUNDS.
7. SUPPORT STONE (BASE) 4-FEET,
2 1/2 INCHES LONG, 2 feet (0.61 m), 2-INCHES
WIDE; 1-foot (0.30 m), 7-INCHES THICK.
WEIGHT 2,707 POUNDS.
8. 951 cubic feet (26.9 m3) GRANITE.
9. GRANITE QUARRIED FROM PYRAMID
QUARRIES LOCATED 3 MILES WEST
OF ELBERTON, GEORGIA.

Below the two columns of text is written the caption:

GUIDESTONE LANGUAGES:

Below this is a schematic diagram of the upright stones of the structure, consisting of a small rectangle surrounded by four longer rectangles projecting to the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. The names of eight modern languages are inscribed along the long edges of the projecting rectangles, one per edge. Starting from due north and moving clockwise around the diagram (so that the upper edge of the northeast rectangle is listed first), they are:

ENGLISH
SPANISH
SWAHILI
HINDI
HEBREW
ARABIC
CHINESE
RUSSIAN

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

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT ELBERTON GRANITE MUSEUM & EXHIBIT
COLLEGE AVENUE
ELBERTON, GEORGIA

[edit] Location

The Georgia Guidestones are located on a hilltop in Elbert County, Georgia, approximately 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Atlanta, 45 miles (72 km) from Athens (precise distance is 44.3322 miles), GA and 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of the center of Elberton. The stones are standing on a rise a short distance to the east of Georgia Highway 77 (Hartwell Highway), and are visible from that road. Small signs beside the highway indicate the turnoff for the Guidestones, which is identified by a street sign as "Guidestones Rd."

[edit] Ownership

The ownership of the site is unclear. According to the Georgia Mountain Travel Association's detailed history: "The Georgia Guidestones are located on the farm of Mildred and Wayne Mullenix on Georgia State Highway 77, 7.2 miles North of Elberton Georgia, 1.3 miles South of Hart-Elbert County Line, 7.8 miles South of Hartwell Georgia."[2] On the other hand, the Elbert County land registration system shows what appears to be the Guidestones as County land purchased on October 1, 1979. [3][4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/OVERhenges.html
  2. ^ http://www.georgiamountains.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=156&Itemid=28
  3. ^ (land parcel information)
  4. ^ (parcel map)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones"
Personal tools