Rating: 
Summary: An Interpretation of Ancient Egypt that Finally makes Sense
Review: John Anthony West has done the world an enormous service with this bold, brilliance, beautifully written and thoroughly engaging book. He extends the work of Alsation philospher and mathematician, R.A, Schwaller de Lubicz, making it not only comprehensible to the lay reader, but the only plausible explanation for the grandeur and magnificance of ancient Egyptian culture. West is anything but a New Age flake, and he takes some fairly tough-minded positions on the absurdities of modern scholarship. Yet he has the advantage over most orthodox Egyptologists in that he can (a) write -- and write superbly -- and (b) he has a sense of humor, which makes even his most vitriolic attacks on those who persist in ascribing the monuments of Egypt to a race of egomaniacal barbarians the work of a rational giant in a world of Lilliputians. His grasp of the entire sweep of Egyptian history is extraordinary, and his ability to render even the most complex accounts of Pythagorean geometry or symbolism in the hieroglyphs is something every would be academic should take notes on. Besides all this, the book is magnificently illustrated on every page. Without any question, this is one of the best books I have ever read
Rating:
Summary: FASCINATING
Review: One autum day in september i stumbled upon the fascinating book The Serpent in the sky and it just blew me away. I have for years studied the sfinx and the pyramids in Egypt together with my "thinktank" and partner Mikael Knagg and had looked for the book for a while. Another chapter of fascinating reading has opened for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly enlightening but a hard read for the layman.
Review: Parts of this book are easily understood, where other parts are incredibly complex and difficult to grasp for the lay person. However, all in all, I do recommend it to anyone interested in ancient history & cultures, Egypt, pyramidology, archeaology, complex numbers, the sphinx, or higher knowledge of the past..as well as of the future. It's fascinating!
The 4 stars, rather than 5, are given for the complexity of some parts of the book.
~DP~
Rating:
Summary: The Intriguing Study of Symbolic Egyptology
Review: Symbolic Egyptology, the school of Egyptological thought derived from the ideas of visionary philosopher/scientist/mystics R.A. Schwaller De Lubicz and G.I. Gurdjieff, is an untapped reservoir of metaphysical information. This book is a fabulous introduction to the subject, yet it falls into the unfortunate trap of the author's regressive sociopolitical vision and new-age beliefs. Aside from this, however, the presentation is stunning, and I'd argue that this book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in Egyptian Archaeology, Hermeticism, or any of the ancient spiritual disciplines that originated in ancient Xem.
Rating:
Summary: The Intriguing Study of Symbolic Egyptology
Review: Symbolic Egyptology, the school of Egyptological thought derived from the ideas of visionary philosopher/scientist/mystics R.A. Schwaller De Lubicz and G.I. Gurdjieff, is an untapped reservoir of metaphysical information. This book is a fabulous introduction to the subject, yet it falls into the unfortunate trap of the author's regressive sociopolitical vision and new-age beliefs. Aside from this, however, the presentation is stunning, and I'd argue that this book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in Egyptian Archaeology, Hermeticism, or any of the ancient spiritual disciplines that originated in ancient Xem.
Rating:
Summary: for open-minded readers
Review: The author has always been an unorthodox scholar and this shines through in this work, in which he espouses the views of Schwaller de Lubicz and his own. It is a pioneering study with revolutionary interpretations. The author puts forward his case for a Sacred Science of the Pharaohs, which was conveyed through the hermetic messages embodied within the hieroglyphs. He details Egyptian science, medicine, mathematics and astronomy in vivid and concise detail. The book ends with a presentation of his views on the age of the Sphinx. This book is a must for open-minded readers.
Rating:
Summary: for open-minded readers
Review: The author has always been an unorthodox scholar and this shines through in this work, in which he espouses the views of Schwaller de Lubicz and his own. It is a pioneering study with revolutionary interpretations. The author puts forward his case for a Sacred Science of the Pharaohs, which was conveyed through the hermetic messages embodied within the hieroglyphs. He details Egyptian science, medicine, mathematics and astronomy in vivid and concise detail. The book ends with a presentation of his views on the age of the Sphinx. This book is a must for open-minded readers.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult unless you know what he is talking about.
Review: This book is difficult unless you have an idea of what he is talking about. If you don't then bone up on Schawller de Lubicz' works. This book is not for the casual reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Book about pseudo Pythagorean mysticism not ancient Egypt!
Review: This book is really about some pseudo Pythagorean mysticism with very little to do with ancient Egypt. It's a shame that this book will make it easier for Egyptologists to ignore the the subject altogether.Egyptologist dismissal of the unknown civilization possibility is obviously dogmatic as is the favoring of Greek classic culture over others. However, West's theories - ranging from intelligent guesses to wild fantasies but presented as facts - is every bit as dogmatic and more. Trying to reconstruct something alien to us is usually a result of our own ideas but West take it to the extreme with nothing really to link it to ancient Egypt. This book is more like a Rorschach test... Burgess tells a story about a Moslem scholar trying to figure out the completely alien notion (to him at least) of tragedy and coming to the conclusion that it must be the art of praising something...
Rating:
Summary: This Is Great!
Review: This is the greatest book! I love to learn about Egypt and this is a great eye opener. I've watched John Anthony West's Mystery of The Sphinx like 700 times! I know it all by heart! I recomend any book he's ever written! I wish I could have gone on the tour of Egypt that he had last January but it was cancelled. -_- Kara
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