Georgia Guidestones

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The Georgia Guidestones are a huge granite monument located on a hilltop in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. It is sometimes referred to as the "American Stonehenge," [1] a title that has been applied at times to a number of other structures. A message comprised of ten guides is inscribed on the monument 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 monument is almost twenty feet tall, and made from six granite slabs that weigh 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^{[citation needed]}. An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the monument, provides some clarifying notes on the history and purpose of the Guidestones.

A view of the Georgia Guidestones, Elbert County, Georgia.

1 The Message of the Georgia Guidestones
2 Explanatory Tablet
3 History
4 Location
5 External links

[edit] The Message of the Georgia Guidestones

A portion of the English text. A larger image with the full text is also available.

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 monument from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, 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] Explanatory Tablet

The explanatory tablet, immediately west of the monument.

A few feet to the west of the monument, an additional granite tablet has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the monument and the languages used on it, lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was erected, 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 that follows.

The text of the tablet is as follows:

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

-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

- Hieroglyphics are not actually a language, the correct name of the Egyptian language is 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)

-The word "pseudonym" is misspelled on the stone.

SPONSORS: A SMALL GROUP

OF AMERICANS WHO SEEK

THE AGE OF REASON

TIME CAPSULE:

PLACED SIX FEET BELOW THIS SPOT

TO BE OPENED ON

-The words appear as shown under the time capsule heading; no dates are engraved.

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

PHYSICAL DATA:

1. OVERALL HEIGHT - 19 FEET 3 INCHES

2. TOTAL WEIGHT - 237, 746 POUNDS

3. FOUR MAJOR STONES ARE 16-FEET,

FOUR INCHES HIGH, EACH WEIGHING

AN AVERAGE OF 42, 437 POUNDS.

4. CENTER STONE IS 16-FEET, FOUR-

INCHES HIGH; WEIGHS 20, 957

POUNDS.

5. CAPSTONE IS 9-FEET, 8-INCHES

LONG; 6-FEET, 6-INCHES WIDE;

1-FOOT, 7-INCHES THICK. WEIGHS

24,832 POUNDS.

6. SUPPORT STONES (BASES) 7-FEET,

4 INCHES LONG 2-FEET WIDE.

1-FOOT, 4 INCHES THICK, EACH

WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 4,875

POUNDS.

7. SUPPORT STONE (BASE) 4-FEET,

2 1/2 INCHES LONG, 2-FEET, 2-INCHES

WIDE; 1-FOOT, 7-INCHES THICK.

WEIGHT 2,707 POUNDS.

8. 951 CUBIC FEET 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 monument, 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] History

In June 1979, a man who went by the supposed pseudonym R.C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the monument. The monument was erected in recognition of Thomas Paine^{[citation needed]}. Christian wanted the monument to "offer direction to humanity"^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Location

The Georgia Guidestones are located in Elbert County, Georgia, approximately 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Atlanta, and 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of the center of Elberton. The monument is situated on a rise a short distance to the east of Georgia Highway 77 (Hartwell Highway), and is 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."