America Unearthed: Secret Egyptian Relic Found in New York City (S3, E10) | Full Episode | History

the history that we were all taught growing up is  wrong my name is scott walter and i'm a forensic   geologist there's a hidden history in this country  that nobody knows about there are pyramids here   chambers tombs inscriptions they're all over  this country we're going to investigate these   artifacts and sites and we're going to get to the  truth sometimes history isn't what we've been told the big apple out of the 8 million  people that live in this city   i wonder how many of them stop to  think about the history all around them wall street is named after a  barricade that used to be there   one built by dutch settlers in  1624 to keep the english out back then manhattan was actually called new  amsterdam until the english finally broke   through and gained complete control  of the island renaming it new york clues to the past are hidden amongst  the skyscrapers subways and street signs   i'm here because one new yorker says she's  discovered a mystery right in central park a centuries-old tie between this  modern city and ancient egypt that's a beautiful pendant you must be dorothy  yes i am thank you it's wonderful to see you scott   here sit down and let's talk do you know what  this is i think so that's a cartouche and those   symbols are egyptian hieroglyphics cartouches  are basically a rounded vertical oval shape   that typically has the name of an egyptian  pharaoh and they were often carved into stone   and found inside the tombs of many of these  pharaohs and for archaeologists are very   important because they can use them for dating i  don't think i know who that is but i'll bet you do   it's tithmosis iii he actually is one of  the greatest pharaohs in egypt because he   expanded egypt to its greatest size ever and  i did some research and lo and behold i found   out that there's a monument in central  park with this cartouche really here   in central park here in central park  why don't we go and take a look sounds great so your monument it's an obelisk many people  in the city of new york and elsewhere don't   even know that there is an egyptian obelisk  here so is this a real egyptian obelisk yes   it is known as cleopatra's needle it's  covered in scaffolding what's that all about   well what happened was about two and a half years  ago an associate and i we sent some photographs of   the obelisk in its current condition to the  head of the supreme council of antiquities   in egypt so what exactly were you concerned about  we saw some cracks the hieroglyphs were eroded   we were concerned that this was a condition that  was going to continue unless some attention was   paid to it all you have to do is look at it you  can see that the corners at the base are very   degraded and on the second level of scaffolding  you can't even see the hieroglyphics and even   though this thing is a granite which is generally  a very hard and durable rock in a climate like new   york with many freeze thaw cycles if you don't  take care of it it's going to fall apart that's   right you mentioned something about that cartouche  being on here since the scaffolding is up there we   really can't see it so i do have some photos here  okay that you can uh see the cartouche right there   so we know that this is the cartouche for moses  iii but what does the rest of the hieroglyphics   say on this obelisk what it generally says is that  took moses was a great pharaoh and that he extends   his gratitude to ahmanra for his greatness aman ra  that's the sun god yes the most important god of   all of egypt for the simple reason that without  the sun it would be nothing that's right and they   understood that energy sure during the time of  tethmosis the top of the pyramid what's called the   capstone would have been covered in gold and that  would have radiated all over and there actually   were over a hundred obelisks and these all  would have been lighting up all of ancient egypt   when dorothy mentioned there were more obelisks  like this and that some were capped in gold   i remembered one i saw on a recent vacation in  paris the obelisk of luxor is located at the place   dalai concord which means place of peace this  obelisk was erected to symbolize peace and placed   at the spot where a guillotine used to stand  the same guillotine used to kill king louis xvi   and marie antoinette placement of this  obelisk is very significant to paris history   but now i'm wondering if the placement of new  york's obelisk also has meaning when i look at   this obelisk here that came from egypt my question  is why here why did they place it at this spot   in central park it's no accident that the obelisk  is here i don't think it's an accident either how   long has it been here in the park it's been here  for 135 years since the 1880s it's 3 500 years old   that's 1500 years before jesus's time that's  correct tooth moses had two of them made the   other one is in london and they were outside  of his temple in heliopolis heliopolis was   the harvard of ancient egypt it's where all the  important pharaohs went to school they learned   what are known as the ancient mysteries lessons  we now call the seven classic arts and sciences   which included mathematics geometry and astronomy  today all that's left of heliopolis are ruins in   cairo an obelisk in london and this obelisk in new  york city so this obelisk here in central park how   did it get over here from egypt well it's a really  interesting story scott uh the new york masons   from the transporting to the paying to the actual  erecting they're responsible for the obelisk being   here so they were involved from start to finish  end to end yes freemasons interesting and 9 000   of them marched up fifth avenue in full regalia  really yes and i have some pictures here that   you can see this is a big group they've got their  masonic aprons this was important to them but that   begs the question uh for me why would the modern  freemasons be at a cornerstone laying ceremony   for an egyptian obelisk because the freemason  that went to alexandria and egypt found artifacts   inside the foundation stone that link right to  masonic symbols wait a minute you're saying these   are tangible artifacts that connect directly to  freemasonry yes now a lot of people believe that   modern freemasonry started in 1717 but is there  a connection going back to ancient egypt the   symbolism of obelisks in egypt are very important  but also the placement geographically where they   put them is also important and i'm wondering why  did they put this particular obelisk right here in   this spot in central park you know dorothy i don't  think it's an accident i'm going to find out why new york is one of america's oldest cities   but there's something inside central park  that's much much older than the united states i was surprised to learn that there is an ancient  egyptian obelisk here and more surprised to hear   that artifacts tied to freemasonry were found  under it at its original location in egypt that doesn't make any sense since  modern freemasonry didn't get started   until 3000 years after this obelisk was finished   that is unless there was a form of freemasonry  that existed much earlier this could mean that   the men who built the pyramids were intimately  tied to the men who built this country i have a lot of questions about the obelisk what  were the masonic artifacts found underneath it   is there a reason the obelisk  was placed in central park   could this new york connection to ancient  egypt redefine the history of our country   hi jan how you doing doing fine good i just came  from central park and i looked at the obelisk yeah   well i'm wondering if you could do a little  research and see if you can find anything out   about the geographic location of that obelisk you  know i just don't think it's a coincidence that   they put it at that spot in central park sure i  can do that that'd be great hey there's one more   thing you remember that freemason that we met in  new york what was his name uh yeah brendan green   brandon green that's it okay thanks for that  let me know what you find out okay bye honey good news i heard back from brendan we're going  to meet up in brooklyn later this afternoon hey brandon good to see you again god how are  you hey i was just in central park and i saw   the ancient egyptian obelisk that was brought here  back in the 1800s and one of the things i learned   is that the freemasons were involved in getting  it over here from egypt and you being a new york   freemason i thought who better to ask absolutely  i was brought over here by a fellow brother   henry honey church grinch of course is a freemason  it was a herculean task weighs over 200 tons and   it's about 70 feet tall henry honey church garinge  was a civil war veteran and a lieutenant in the   united states navy he arranged a furlough just so  he could lead the effort to bring the obelisk from   egypt to new york central park why don't we walk  over here to lady liberty for a comparison okay well there she is lady liberty i never uh never  get tired of looking at her likewise you know   some differences the obelisk is 70 feet and lady  liberty is 305 feet liberty was sent here in   over 200 cartons meanwhile the obelisk was sent  here in one piece you know that's amazing think   about it 200 crates and then she was assembled  and the obelisk was brought over in one piece   around 96th street they had built the  trestle bridge and it's only used for that   one time just for the obelisk to get it to central  park exactly right wow so there was a lot of money   spent a little over a hundred thousand dollars  and william h vanderbilt funded the entire thing   the vanderbilt family they were the ones that  made their money uh in the railroad business   when cornelius vanderbilt died he left his son  william 100 million dollars that would be worth   2 billion in today's dollars today there are  still a couple vanderbilts in the public eye   fashion designer gloria vanderbilt and her son  journalist anderson cooper but the question is   why would a family founded by railroad tycoons  pay a fortune to bring this obelisk to america so that begs a question do we know if  william vanderbilt was a free mason there   are many that speculate that he was but it's  an unanswered question but his father was right   from what we're told yes you know ironically  enough most of the famous freemasons   are publicly known but some of them when  you start searching and looking for it   they kind of don't show up you know brendan when  you think about this to bring a 200 ton massive   piece of stone over from egypt here to america  that was an engineering marvel that gringe did   and involved some pretty fantastic elements  of geometry and mathematics and these concepts   were very important to the ancient egyptians of  course and to modern freemasons exactly right   so how did they get these two obelisks to  england and the us well here let me show you oh okay this is the transportation  of the england obelisk   well freemason john dixon who was an engineer by  trade designed this submarine-like vessel this   vessel was actually towed behind a much bigger  ship the storm hit them in the middle of the   voyage and this sunk to the bottom of the biscayne  bay you're kidding how'd they get it up the towing   ship olga had to come back and save them and  six sailors were lost really absolutely yes   how long did it take for them to get this up  it sank to the bottom within four to five days   after that happened it's amazing it even survived  so how'd they get the american obelisk over here   honey church garange actually bored a hole through  his vessel because the obelisk was too long to   fit within it then they back welded around the  encasement of it and they transported that all   the way across the atlantic ocean so the obelisk  was sticking out the front of the ship absolutely   brendan this is really an incredible story  egypt allows two important obelisks standing   in the front of the temple at heliopolis one to  go to england one to come to the united states   but if you stop and think about it this was one  of the most amazing engineering feats of the time ancient egyptians not only  developed the first forms of writing   but were also instrumental in the way we use  medicine and mathematics today a 3 500 year old   obelisk being restored in central park has set  me on a journey to find out if the freemasons   a secret order that was largely  responsible for establishing america   could have existed during the time  of the pharaohs in ancient egypt   if this is true then it's possible that  one of america's most powerful cities   could have roots stretching all the way  back to the ancient pyramids of giza you know brendan one of the interesting things  that dorothy told me is that when the new york   obelisk was uh taken out of its original place  in egypt they found artifacts underneath it that   some say might be connected to freemasonry do you  know anything about that yes sir in fact henry   guring himself found those artifacts oh really  yeah he had to call on the grand lodge of egypt to   come out and validate that these were free masonic  symbols and tools that he found so they verified   that these artifacts were absolutely legitimate  exactly right what were these artifacts one was a   builder's square one was a trowel and the other  was a lead lime plum okay i have some examples   of that here for you as brendan and i spoke more  he revealed the significance of the artifacts to   freemasons a trowel to spread the mortar that  symbolically binds the brotherhood together a   builder's square and lead plumb line are reminders  to square their actions towards what is honest   and true but versions of these physical tools  were also used to build the pyramids in egypt   archaeologists have discovered that the  pyramids were not built by slaves as many   people think but by master architects these men  were experts in stone masonry and upon their death   were buried ceremoniously their bodies would be  entombed in the fetal position with their heads   pointing toward the setting sun but the question  remains were the ideals of the master architects   and ancient pharaohs also buried in ancient  egypt or were they brought here to the united states let's talk about the obelisk for a second itself  i've learned a little bit about the symbolism of   it it's a phallic symbol it's also representing a  ray of the sun and essentially it's also a sundial   so really there are aspects of astronomy here  that are connected to the obelisk and of course   astronomy is important to freemasonry is it  not it's one of our seven arts and sciences   when you think about it at the top of an obelisk  what you have is really a pyramid right yes sir   you know that reminds me of something we all see  this every day for that matter on the back of a   dollar bill we have a pyramid now the thing that  i'm not really clear on is why is it that the top   is separated from the rest of the pyramid and why  is there an eye in the middle masons would say   some masons that the eye is the all-seeing eye or  the eye of providence but the unfinished capping   stone represents an unfinished work this is a  symbol that the work of america is never done   never done like the pyramid i think the all-seeing  eye is a symbol that may have egyptian origins   i think it's connected to the  eye of horus which was an ancient   egyptian symbol that stood for protection  royal power and good health so if this   all-seeing eye here represents the eye of horus  in essence the eye of god or the eye of the sun   that takes us back to egypt as well it's 100  correct you know as i think about this obelisk   in central park do you think that the placement  of it in central park at that spot has some type   of meaning i would say absolutely i would also  venture to say it's not by any coincidence at all i know a lot more after talking to brendan  trouble is he took a vow of secrecy when   he joined the freemasons and that vow  prevents him from telling me any more   about the specific placement  of the obelisk in central park this investigation reminds me of another  american obelisk connected to the freemasons   the washington monument when i was in dc  investigating secrets about the city's design the   washington monument was also under restoration i  found out that the city was laid out in accordance   with a precise plan dictated by freemason george  washington to an architect named pierre lanfant structures like the washington monument and  the white house were designed by freemasons   and were placed in very specific spots which   create alignments and masonic  symbols when seen from above i feel like the obelisk the  masons placed here in new york   must be part of something bigger as well but what hi jan what's up well i think i found  something really interesting oh yeah what's   that you remember that william vanderbilt  paid for the obelisk to come to new york   i do he was also the one who got to decide  where to place it once it got there oh really   i haven't figured out why he chose central  park yet but i did find something else what's   that the vanderbilt family was responsible for  building grand central station really yes and   there's something in there that's amazing the  ceiling has a mural painted on it that's huge   and it seems to have  something to do with astronomy when i heard there was an egyptian artifact i  needed to check out in new york city i assumed it   was something sitting in a museum instead it was a  real egyptian obelisk standing inside central park   brought here by the freemasons the obelisk  has eroded over time it's being restored today   but i think the obelisk secrets have eroded too  not only could this monument prove that aspects   of freemasonry existed during the times of the  ancient pharaohs in egypt but it could also   reveal an unexplored history of new york city i'm  trying to figure out why william h vanderbilt one   of the wealthiest men in america during the 1800s  would have placed this obelisk in central park   a desolate part of manhattan at the time  oddly enough the vanderbilts were also   instrumental in building another new  york landmark grand central station my wife says that our next clue in this masonic  mystery could be on grand central ceiling   half a million people walk through here  every day but hardly anyone ever looks up on the ceiling are astronomical  constellations similar to the night sky but the ones here are not quite right all of them appear to be reversed like  pegasus the winged horse orion the hunter   also appears to be reversed but if you look  closely you see that the stars in his belt   are actually in the right position even  though he's facing in a different direction   it's almost like i'm looking at  the view god would have from above   but it's like orion is calling  out to us here on earth why hi scott i found some additional  information online that actually points   to two other obelisks in new york that  may be related to the one in central park   both seem to have masonic connections i hope this  helps janet janet's email pointed out two more   obelisks the first is at the corner of broadway  and fulton street in the cemetery of an old   church there also seems to be another at  the corner of broadway and fifth avenue   i gotta check out these other obelisk sites  and i bet dorothy will want to join me dorothy i'm so glad you came st paul's  church is one of the oldest churches   in new york city my wife janet sent me an  email what she found on google earth is that   there are three obelisks you remember  we started up at central park with   cleopatra's needle absolutely well there  are two more obelisks in new york city and   they appear to line up the second one is right  here at st paul's church oh that's amazing   it's weird to see an obelisk rising up in the  middle of a church cemetery the monument honors   thomas addis emmett an immigrant who was exiled  from ireland and made himself an american success   he wasn't a freemason but there is someone  else at this church who was and i think   freemasonry is what connects this obelisk to  the one in central park recognize that face   george washington washington this is  where he attended church when he became   president this was where he prayed and after his  inauguration just a couple blocks down the street   he came here to pray so there's obviously some  very strong masonic connections here and there's   another person that you might find very curious  that has a connection to saint paul's church here   pierre lafont the one who designed washington  dc he also designed parts of this church as well   he was a mason for sure absolutely so  there are strong connections here with   freemason you know there's one more obelisk  and if you have some time i'd love to have   you come with me and we'll go take a look at  that last one well let's go let's grab a cow today an ancient egyptian obelisk  sits in new york city's central park   out of the 40 million people who visit the park  each year i bet few of them know that this obelisk   is actually part of a series of obelisks that  may tie freemasonry to the ancient egyptians   both groups use mathematics geometry and astronomy  to track the movements of the heavenly bodies   but history says that both groups were also  separated by nearly 3 000 years and couldn't   have had contact if the freemasons did in fact  carry on traditions from the ancient egyptians   this could mean that many of our country's  oldest cities including this one could have   hidden alignments cryptic symbols and a forgotten  history that stretched back to 1400 bc dorothy i   want to show you something i think you're going to  find interesting take a look at this picture see   these three points yes this first point you'll  recognize that's where the egyptian obelisk was   you know so well the second point is saint paul's  chapel now where we're going is to a third obelisk   look at how they form a line that's stunning and  i don't think it's a coincidence do you no no not   at all this third obelisk is really interesting  because this is an obelisk which is a monument   to general william worth i'm sure he was a mason  here you see him if you take a look at the blanket   on the horse see the five-pointed star i think  that's confirmation that he was indeed a freemason   there's another thing dorothy that's very  surprising worth's body is buried at the obelisk   well that's that's highly unusual to have  someone buried in the middle of manhattan   it really is my understanding is  is that the obelisk is right near   the flatiron building so we  have to be looking for that there it is all right as long as i've been in new york city i've never  noticed it well you know this general worth is an   interesting character he was assigned to be the  secretary of war in texas so you've heard of fort   worth texas right absolutely well now you know why  it's named that why is he buried here why isn't he   buried in fort worth that's a good question and  the reason is he's a native new yorker ah well   there you go okay dorothy let's think about this  for a second we've got three points on our line   the first one that was put down with st paul's  church and this is significant to freemasons   because at st paul's church this is where george  washington prayed and lafont had a hand in its   design that's not the yes now the second one  that was put down is the worth obelisk general   wirth was a freemason and the last one to be put  down is the real egyptian opolis connected to   freemasonry without question because you had nine  thousand freemasons that traveled right up fifth   avenue here walked right by the worth obelisk  to central park for that ceremony that's correct   i assumed that these three were in a line a  straight line and when i looked at it closely   they're not straight there's a little bit of a  jog here the question is why and to your point all   of this area did not have all of these buildings  so it would have been very easy for surveyors to   make a straight line from central park all the way  down to saint paul's and they didn't back in those   days almost all the surveyors were freemasons  and if they wanted to make a straight line   that would be no problem for them but because  this is not there has to be a reason for that alignments have always been  very important to people   freemasons the egyptians  and even modern new yorkers twice a year the setting sun lines up  perfectly with manhattan's east-west streets   a phenomenon that locals call manhattanhenge  which is supposed to happen today the reality is   that it happens in any city laid out on a grid  but new yorkers have really embraced the event   i can't believe how early photographers line  up to get a good spot on the tudor city bridge   over 42nd street some of these guys have been here  since noon trouble is there are some clouds on the horizon despite the weather   people are everywhere hoping to get a  glimpse hoping for a break in the clouds it's not going to happen   this is what manhattan hinge looks like when  clouds don't get in the way the star we can't   live without the sun shines right between the  city's buildings and people get excited about it   the name of this new york phenomenon is connected  not to egyptians but to the people who built   stonehenge an ancient structure in england that  i've examined there's disagreement about when   stonehenge was built maybe as early as 1600 bc but  we know with certainty that stonehenge was built   in large part to track the sun i'm glad i got to  see people turn out for manhattanhedge but now i   need to figure out the mystery behind the three  obelisks and why they're placed where they are   some people may think it's just a  coincidence that the central park   emmett and worth obelisks are laid out the way  they are not me i think there's a reason for   their placement in a row just shy of a straight  line and i intend to figure out what it is the skyline of new york city was  developed over hundreds of years but three things hidden within it may  reveal a forgotten history of the city   my investigation into an old egyptian obelisk  in central park has led to a bigger mystery   which involves two other obelisks carefully placed  by freemasons into the layout of the big apple   i think the specific locations of  these three obelisks could reveal   that an ancient egyptian alignment is  present right here in manhattan but why   i've asked a friend of mine who's a designer  to help me determine why the freemasons would   have placed these obelisks the way they did  nearly a hundred years ago wow that is awesome   i tried to put some landmarks just to kind of give  you a picture of where things are and you know set   up a little atmosphere you did a great job thanks  empire state building that one i know is a flat   iron building it's pointing right at the worth  obelisk and of course uh the freedom tower they're   not to scale but it kind of just gives you an  idea of where things are located well what about   the obelisks i have those too they're much bigger  so that you can get some of the detail in them so   it doesn't get confusing let's pull these off and  then we'll pull out the albums great let's do it   here's the first one well this is the  real egyptian obelisk in central park   which is right by the metropolitan museum  of art right about there the worth obelisk here's the lesson this is the emmett obelisk  and this one goes to st paul's chapel right here   okay now when you look at  this what does it look like a line a straight line that's what i thought   but actually it's not a straight line and i  want to check that to see if indeed it is off   why don't we start by marking these three points  here's saint paul's chapel here is the worth   and then central park egyptian obelisk  so i have a straight edge here perfect   it's off yeah just slightly we've got three points and the one  that's off is the worth obelisk the question is why is it not straight why does  it take this bed carrie you know what something   just occurred to me hold on a sec i've got  some pictures here that i took of new york   this is in grand central station and when i was  in there i noticed something very unusual there   are a number of constellations that are depicted  on the ceiling and what's unusual about them is   they're not depicted as we look up at the stars  they're actually depicted looking down from space   or what god would see except for the stars in  orion take a look at these three stars right here   these are the three stars in orion's belt and  they're not straight they're almost straight just   like these three obelisks are almost straight  this has got to be a depiction of orion's belt   so why would anyone spend this much energy  recreating orion's belt in manhattan you know   what there is a precedent and it goes back over 5  000 years in egypt we see the same thing the great   pyramids in giza are laid out like orion's belt  this was discovered not that long ago so what's   so special about orion's mouth well in egyptian  mythology orion symbolized osiris the male god   these three stars in orion's belt point to the  star sirius sirius and ancient egyptian mythology   symbolize the goddess isis and you know what if  you notice these three obelisks point out into the   harbor at what the statue of liberty the statue  of liberty she symbolizes the goddess isis amongst   many other goddesses so i do think we are onto  something here and i think this is orion's belt   and this is exactly the type of thing that the  freemasons would do so really what these three   obelisks represent is a piece of egypt here in  manhattan the central park obelisk manhattanhedge   orion's belt these are all clues that tie to one  sacred subject astronomy it was one of the ancient   mysteries taught to the pharaohs in egypt but  today it is inscribed in nearly every free masonic   lodge around the world understanding the way  our world fits within the universe was not only   important for ancient cultures but still holds  great importance today this investigation proves   that the bonds between freemasons and the ancient  egyptians were much stronger than i ever suspected   i wonder if there are other old structures  like the central park obelisk holding secrets   of our country's past i'm sure they're  out there and i can't wait to find them if you have a mysterious  artifact or site i need to see   i want to know about it go to history.com on earth you

Channel: HISTORY

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Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, america unearthed, history america unearthed, america unearthed show, america unearthed full episodes, america unearthed clips, full episodes, America Unearthed season 3 episode 10, America Unearthed s3 e10, America Unearthed s03 e010, America Unearthed 3X10, America Unearthed s3 full episodes, America Unearthed season 3 clips, Episode 10, Season 3, New York City, Secret Egyptian Relic, Egyptian Secrets of NYC

Id: xCp8vhcUo54

Length: 43min 9sec (2589 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 14 2021