The Strange Journey of Humphries Brewer
Article published on 26 February 2019

by Irna

Those of us at all aware of crank theories of the pyramids know that there is a stumbling block for those devotees who believe that the Great Pyramid was built by a mysterious ancient civilisation, earthly or extraterrestrial: this stumbling block is the cartouche of Khufu/Cheops painted in one of the relieving chambers, at a location that was not accessible before 1837. Hence the theory, first proposed by the writer Zecharia Sitchin and subsequently taken up by the world of unorthodox pyramid theory in general, that this cartouche is a forgery, made by Colonel Howard Vyse in 1837. It appeared that Sitchin had even found some support for this theory when, in 1983, he announced that he had found an “eyewitness” to the forgery: Humphries Brewer, one of Vyse’s overseers, originator of a family tradition recounting the fraud that was eventually passed on to Sitchin by one of Brewer’s descendants.

Time has passed, and all of the protagonists of this story, including the descendant who had acted as Sitchin’s informant, have died. Was it still possible, in their absence, to research the question with a view to discovering the truth of the affair, and one way or another finally confirm or confute the authenticity of the notorious cartouche name? This was the challenge facing my friends and allies, Martin Stower and Jean Coburn. In an investigation lasting several years, they pulled up and examined all relevant available archive documentation by Vyse and his contemporaries in Egypt, and also by the Brewer family. Along the way, several surprising discoveries came to light …

These findings have now been published in the two parts of The Strange Journey of Humphries Brewer: Witness to a Forgery in the Great Pyramid? Various deceptions are revealed, although not necessarily perpetrated by Howard Vyse.

Both volumes are now available in English on Amazon Kindle: The Strange Journey of Humphries Brewer: Witness to a Forgery in the Great Pyramid? Part 1: Investigating the Legend; and The Strange Journey of Humphries Brewer: Witness to a Forgery in the Great Pyramid? Part 2: Uncovering the Truth.