Using planetarium equipment, astronomer Ed Krupp of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, investigated these proposed correlations.

“In “The Orion Mystery”, Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert identified the three main pyramids at Giza as a symbolic representation of the three stars in the Belt of Orion. They fortified this conclusion by pairing an aerial photograph of the three pyramids, which appear as a diagonal line across the page, with a telescopic photograph of Orion’s Belt. Those stars follow a similar diagonal across the page. In pondering the two photographs, I realized the image of Giza is presented with south at the top of the page.”[1]

Indeed, this is what was done in the original book by Bauval and Gilbert (The Orion Mystery), which compared images of the pyramids and Orion without revealing the pyramids’ map had been inverted (Image 1).

Image 1. The Orion Mystery, R. Bauval & A. Gilbert

Normally, Egypt’s Giza Necropolis (or Giza Plateau), including the three pyramids known as the Great Pyramids in Egypt, is pictured as Image 2 (below). The Great Pyramids consist of the Great Pyramid of Giza (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu), the Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren), and the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west.

Image 2. Egypt Google Map & Giza Plateau

The picture of Orion’s Belt in “The Orion Mystery” is taken looking towards the south at Giza. You can, then, match Orion to Giza by looking south, but Krupp pointed out that the angle of Orion’s “Belt” (Image 3) compared to Giza Necropolis pictured in “The Orion Mystery” (Image 1) is okay, but this is equivalent to inverting the cardinal directions of Giza to do it.

Image 3. Orion in the south at Giza. Software by Stellarium.

For example, the map of Giza is normally presented with north at the top of the page. The map of the stars of Orion cannot produce the pattern of pyramids on the ground at Giza (Image 4) because the “Belt” of pyramids is angled the wrong way.

Image 4. Giza Plateau and Orion Looking South at Giza

To achieve the concordance in “The Orion Mystery” (Image 1), the pyramids have been rotated to suit. The validity of this match has been called into question by critics who have published detailed criticism and rebuttal of these ideas.[2]

References:

1. Astronomical Integrity at Giza by Dr E.C. Krupp
2. Correspondence between Hancock, Bauval and Krupp concerning Giza-Orion Correlation