#2417 - Ben van Kerkwyk

In this expansive episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan and guest Ben van Kerkwyk explore a series of profound mysteries surrounding ancient civilizations and their advanced technological capabilities. The conversation begins with the recently confirmed discovery of a massive underground labyrinth beneath Hawara, Egypt, revealed through independent ground-penetrating radar and satellite imaging, featuring a 40-meter-long, tic-tac-shaped metallic object at its core—sparking speculation about extraterrestrial or lost human technology. The discussion expands to the Sphinx, where geological evidence of water erosion suggests it predates the arid climate of ancient Egypt by tens of thousands of years, and the controversial 1997 Shore Expedition footage of Zahi Hawass entering a hidden tunnel beneath the monument, which mysteriously vanished. The duo then examine the Great Pyramid’s astonishing geodetic precision, encoding Earth’s polar radius and equatorial circumference with modern accuracy, and extend their inquiry to South America, highlighting Tiwanaku and Sacsayhuaman, where layered megalithic construction and astronomical alignments—such as the Calas Asaya observatory dated to 15,000 BC—suggest a global, prehistoric civilization. They also discuss submerged ruins beneath Lake Titicaca, tilted strand lines, and recurring megalithic styles across continents, pointing to a shared, advanced knowledge system possibly wiped out by cataclysms like the Younger Dryas. The episode concludes with a mythological deep dive into the 'Shamir,' a legendary stone-cutting entity from the Bible said to disintegrate rock with a gaze, requiring storage in lead and wool—raising intriguing parallels with radiation or alien tech—and a real-life discovery of a 'rock-eating worm' in the Philippines that eerily matches ancient descriptions, blending myth, science, and speculative wonder.