User:Markh/Great Pyramid

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The Great Pyramid of Giza ( 29°58′41″N, 31°07′53″E) is the oldest and last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the World. A part of the Giza pyramid complex, it is arguably the most recognizable structure ever built on Earth and possibly the most intriguing as well. Though no pharaoh has ever been found buried in an Egyptian pyramid, it is presumed by traditional egyptologists to have been built as a tomb for the Fourth dynasty Egyptian king Khufu (also known under his Greek name Cheops), after whom it is sometimes called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu. The architect of the pyramid was Hemon, a relative of Khufu.

Great Pyramid of Giza. From a 19th century stereopticon card photo
Great Pyramid of Giza. From a 19th century stereopticon card photo

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[edit] Age and location

The most widely accepted estimate for its date of completion is 2580 BC; it is the oldest and largest of the three great pyramids in the Giza Necropolis on the outskirts of modern Cairo, Egypt.

A few hundred metres southwest of Khufu's Great Pyramid lies the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, one of Khufu's successors who is believed to have built the Great Sphinx, and a few hundred metres further southwest is the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre's successor, which is about half as tall. Khafre's pyramid appears the tallest on some photographs as it is somewhat steeper and built on higher terrain.

However, although this is the widely accepted age and ownership of the Great Pyramid and its sisters, it is by far not the only one. There are many discrepancies with the above account. First, the problem for any dating is that the age of the rock is of no help. Dating is usally a result of circumstancial evidence: what artifacts, marks or other clues that are found in close proximity to the site.

Second, there is no evidence at all to suggest that the pyramids were built as tombs. No funeral contents have ever been found, nor is there the common markings and painting on the inside of the building that always accompany a burial.

Third, there is very limited evidence of any connection with the respective pharaohs of Khafre, Khufu and Menkaure, let alone any connection with this dynasty to the Sphinx (which is considered by many to be far older than the pyramids). The evidence is limited to small markings, the type of which often accompanied repairs by subsequent rulers. Architects and builders consistently marked their creations with the insignia of their Pharaoh as well as that of the god to which it was offered. Neither is the case with any of these huge constructs. That the pyramid has been granted little restoration since Khufu (4500 years) and has survived so well might point to a date of maybe double that. It would certainly be reasonable to contend that the work of the original architect might have lasted longer than a subsequent patch-up.

Either way, much that is written about any of these buildings is only hypothesis and conjecture, and it is clear they will not give up their mysteries easily.

[edit] Construction

At construction, the height of the Great Pyramid at Giza was 280 Egyptian Royal Cubits (146.7 metres, or 481.3 feet). However, due to massive peak-dequarrying, and its pyramidion (topstone) missing, but found in 1992 -- according to Giza Plateau management -- current official remaining height is 455.21ft or 138.75 m.

Currently, each side of the structure, measured at the base, stretches out to an average length of 230.36 meters. However, legend, Egyptian priests, and found papyrus documents indicate that in Antiquity each base side measured 440RC (Royal Cubits of 20.63-inches, as discovered by Sir Isaac Newton). Thus, originally, the foot of the Great Pyramid covered approximately 5.3 hectares (53,158 m²), or, on a side 230.6 meters, for a base footprint of some 13+ acres. Its 1/2-meter thick, variegated, limestone supporting base platform extends out an even further 2-10 feet.

The reduction into the Great Pyramid's current rough-hewn appearance in size and area is due to absence of its original, white, polished, limestone casing stones... Some of which were up to 100" thick. The loosening of some of the casing stones by a massive earthquake in the 14th century (1301AD), suggested to townspeople of nearby Cairo that quarrying of the pyramid, of its remaining near-perfect stonemasonry, would be most useful in the Cairo post-earthquake reconstruction moreso than remaining fully intact as an Ancient Egyptian national monument. Consequently -- including absence of 26ft of its peak -- except for random casing here and there, and the few remaining casing stones basing each of the four compass points of the structure -- ultimately -- the Great Pyramid outer casing survived merely for the rebuilding of Cairo temples, mosques, bridges, and buildings after the 14th century earthquake.RJS

For four millennia it was the world's tallest building, unsurpassed until the 160-metre tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c.1300AD. The accuracy of Pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have a mean error of only 50 mm in length, and 12 seconds in angle from a perfect square. The sides of the square are unbelievably near-perfectly aligned to the NSEW four compass points to 3 minutes of 1 degree or better. These alignments are based on (not magnetic north, but) true north. The rise of the sides is assumed to be 51°51', mainly by 'pi' adherents.

Image:Pyramide1r.jpg
Khafre's Pyramid. Unlike the Great Pyramid, Khafre's pyramid has some of its smooth outer casing stones intact.

The pyramid was constructed of cut and dressed blocks oflimestone, basalt, or granite, weighing two to four tonnes on average with stones in the interior weighing as much as 80 tonnes. Total mass is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. Volume of the pyramid (including an internal hillock)is believed to be 2,600,000 cubic metres. The Great Pyramid, the largest in Egypt and the world, is surpassed only the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Puebla, Mexico, which although much lower in height, occupies a greater volume.


At original finishing, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by 'casing stones' – slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished limestone. These created the building'star-bright, shining in the sun, visible from mountains in the south of Egypt as far away as 200 miles, perfectly smooth sides; sadly, for the most part now stripped from the building for recycling in the past to local building projects. Visibly, all that remains after the recycling is the sad, underlying, step-pyramid structure seen today.


Most of the limestone casing was removed by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 in order to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo.


A wonder of the ancient world in their own right, the casing stones of the Great Pyramid were cut to such optical precision as to be off of true plane over their entire surface area by only as little as 1/50th of an inch. The casing stones also fit together so perfectly that, to this day, the tip of a knife cannot be inserted between joints, even along any edge. Interestingly, legend has it that light reflected by the Great Pyramid precision encasement of such highly polished, bone-white, limestone could be seen miles away, even under moonlight, undoubtedly often a life-saving beacon or land marker to any lost traveller in its sight.

The Great Pyramid differs in its internal arrangement from the other pyramids in the area. The greater number of passages and chambers, the high finish of parts of the work, and the accuracy of construction all distinguish it. The walls throughout the pyramid are totally bare and uninscribed, except for suspect daubings in the upper chambers of the King's Chamber.

There are three chambers inside the Great Pyramid. These are arranged centrally, on the vertical axis of the pyramid.

The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built. This chamber, the largest of the pyramid's three, but totally unfinished, is only rough-cut into the rock.

The middle chamber or Queen's Chamber is the smallest, measuring approximately 5.74 by 5.23 metres, and 4.57 metres in height. Its eastern wall has a large angular doorway or niche, and two narrow shafts, about 20 centimeters wide, extending from the chamber to the outer surface of the pyramid, but blocked by limestone "doors" at several points. Egyptologist Mark Lehner believes that the Queen's chamber was intended as a serdab—a structure found in several other Egyptian pyramids—and that the niche would have contained a statue of the interred, but the true purpose of the chamber remains a mystery. King's Chamber

The uppermost chamber, commonly referred to as the King's Room or King's Chamber, is now somewhat subsided. Originally, however, the chamber was based upon a double SQUARE of 10 x 20 royal cubits (20.63 inches). This is according to archeologist Dr Zahi Hawass, Giza Plateau Research Director. The height of the chamber (possibly not even calculated) amounts to a construction-only, based on the chamber's floor-diagonal HALF-LENGTH. Such a floor-diagonal would, if calculated, be the square-on-the-hypotenuse (SOTH) of the 10 x 20 footprint of the chamber's (unsubsided) floor; viz., 10V5. The height of the King's Chamber, being constructed from HALF of the floor-diagonal, can thus be said to be – IN ROYAL CUBITS – 5 times the square root of 5 (5V5).

Today, with the advantage of the decimal system, we would say the height of the King's Chamber – in (20.63-inch) royal cubits – was 11.1803398875, the equivalent of 5V5; but – as the pyramid designers were deprived of decimals until their invention c.950AD by Arabian mathematician al Uqlidisi – 'construction-only' of the KC height was essentially a final option. (Fractions for the 5V5 11.1803398875 unavailable, but unsuitable for GP practical application, would have been; 2/11, too erroneous for GP accuracy consistency; 15005/83204, beyond usual egyptian fractional limits, besides being excessively precise [costly] for construction work; and, 1475/8179, within fractional limits, but unnecessarily difficult [costly] when a convenient 'construction' height-determination was at hand.)

In current dimensions, the King's Chamber 10 x 20 x 5V5 royal cubits would be, in INCHES, 206.3 x 412.6 x 230.65. Therefore, in feet & inches, the original KC (in 20.63-inch cubits) is 17' 2.3" x 34' 4.6" x 19' 2.65". But, notice that a 12.13529412-inch foot divides equally into these inches: On that basis, the King's Chamber dimensions could be stated in modern terms as EXACTLY 17 x 34 x 19 FEET. The error in doing this is 1 part in 2,888; but, this error is less even than is the (1 in 2,784) error when world-famous 22/7ths is used in construction applications where a value for a circle's pi is called for. (In Egyptian mathematics, a reciprocal-fraction system, one expression for the special foot would have been 12'8'98'11107; height 19'153'23889, for which, when EXACTLY '19' feet is substituted, produces the minor 2888 error mentioned -- on the basis of the special 12.13529412-inch foot.)

The King's Chamber, similar to those of the Queen's chamber, also bears outwardly heading shafts. Each shaft, angling upward; North at 45 degrees, South at 32 degrees; hence are departing from and entering into the chamber. However, the KC- and QC-shafts differ in construction, in that the KC shafts penetrate through to the Pyramid's outside completely. Thus, fresh air can, and does, rush in. Of course, such air in the case of a mummy would be destructive; but, for the suspected use of the Pyramid as a temple for Initiates during their initiating interment in their study of Mysticism, the fresh air would, of course, be simply life-sustaining .

Entry into the King's Chamber is quite unlike that into the Queen's Chamber. One cannot simply 'walk in'. This is partly due to an intervening antechamber, which a person, after 'walking through', heading for the King's Chamber, in order to enter the final chamber, is then obliged to crouch -- or duck-walk -- through a short, approximately 3 x 3 x 8.5 foot tunnel. This begs the question of how might a deceased be transported into the chamber if, in fact, the King's Chamber was ever meant to contain a pharoanic, or any other, body. And, since the one and only sarcophagus in the KC (at its west end) stands 4ft high, of solid granite, how could such a deceased, let alone the coffer itself, be brought in? The conclusion among scholars is that the sarcophagus was deposited before the roof was.

The sarcophagus is completely hewn out of a single block of granite -- from a particular variety known as "Red Aswan Granite." This stone is found only at a location some 250 miles south of Cairo, then presumably transported by boat to the various designated Egyptian pyramid construction sites, such as Giza. This granite, as well as other types of stone, was used not only in construction on the Giza plateau, but elsewhere within the approximately 80 Northern Egypt pharoanic pyramid building sites. As some of these blocks weigh upwards of 80 tonnes and in the case of obelisks found in Luxor and elsewhere which weigh as much as 200 tonnes, there is no sufficient explanation as to the feasability of loading and tranfer of these stones by boat or land.

First noted by Sir Flinders Petrie in the late 1800's, closer inspection of the spiral groove cut marks of the interior of the sarcophagus reveal its hollowing could only have been accomplished by the use of high-speed/high-pressure drilling and not by hacking or sawing of the stone by conventional methods known to be available at the time. Though not understood as to what device was used, the evidence of such a process is well known to archaologists from other drill core sites on the Giza plateau as well as its prolific use in the making of single block, hollowed diorite vases and curiously inscribed diorite bowls among other things. Diorite is one of the hardest stones on Earth, rated much harder than iron, and is believed to have been an effective tool in the cutting and dressing of other stones used in ancient Egyptian construction.

The King's Chamber flat ceiling comprises nine large granite timbers. The weight of each timber is an estimated 80 tonnes. Above the ceiling is built a series of five small relieving chambers surmounted by a final hip-roofed chamber, intended to divert and spread away from the King's Chamber the tremendous downward pressure from the pyramid's weight above. Hence, despite its airy compartment, the King's Chamber is hopefully prevented from being crashed-in upon itself. A similar arrangement is, of course, provided in the so-called Queen's Chamber, for its safety. The hip-shape is strictly for construction purposes and has nothing to do with the gender of any interred. Furthermore, in actuality, pharoanic queens typically had their own pyramid, so that the term 'Queen's Chamber' generally is simply one of convenient nomenclature. R.J.Sloan

A descending passage leads from the pyramid entrace to the underground chamber. About half-way, a second passage begins ascending towards the upper chambers. This again breaks into two corridors, one runs horizontal, leading to the Queen's Chamber, and the other continues ascending, leading into the burial, or King's Chamber.

The final ascending corridor is a fantastic space with a height of approximately 8 metres. This has earned it the name of 'Grand Gallery'. After about 100 yards of grueling upward climb, the Grand Gallery ends suddenly with a 3 foot high 'Great Step'. Laboriously climbing over that Step, one is in the Antechamber prior to the King's Chamber. The antechamber functioned to stand between the King's Chamber and the Great Step, to be used for a one-time release of each of three huge granite slabs, let down into place by three heavy hawsers, blocking and permanently sealing the entrance to the King's Chamber.

The foot of the Grand Gallery also contained some sort of sealing device; a sand release mechanism for releasing three enormous stone plugs to block entry into the ascending passage. Once the three giant ascending passage plugs were slid down into position, the entire upper part of the pyramid was permanently sealed.

There was one secret passage that was not sealed, leading through the very rock upon which the pyramid was built, towards the descending passage and outside the pyramid, through which the last of the workers and funerary priests could escape after the ascending passage plugs were set.

Apart from accessible chambers and corridors, the Great Pyramid also holds inaccessible spaces. The previously mentioned airways or 'air shafts' are channels which run in opposite directions through the stone mass of the pyramid at about a 45 degree angle, connecting the burial chamber of the king with the north and south faces of the pyramid outside. Why these were planned and built is now believed to have been for 'air' or 'ventilation' shafts for possible templar periods of the Pyramid. Formerly, possibly the airways had a symbolic meaning, allowing the soul of the deceased king to travel to the stars in the north and south sky, which were important in Egyptian religion and mythology. (Today, based on further evidence, it is understood by certain societies that the Great Pyramid was a tomb only symbolically, while in actuality a temple, used by and for Initiates into the mysteries of the cosmos -- of which doubtless Khufu was himself the main financing student. Hence, the open shafts purpose was simply to provide primarily for Initiate ventilation.)

In 1993 a miniature remote controlled robot was used to enter the southern shaft and after a considerable distance found it to be blocked by a small stone door with eroded copper pins or handles. Later discoveries which were made by inserting a fiber optic camera into a tiny opening at the edge of the door revealed another 'blocking stone' lying several inches behind it. In 2002 a second robot was sent into the northern shaft and encountered a nearly identical door. What lies beyond these doors or what purpose they may have served is currently unknown.[1]

Another interesting feature of the Great Pyramid are the so-called 'relieving chambers'. They are part of an ingenious system raised over the king's burial chamber, constructed to relieve vertical and horizontal loads. The relatively thin wall between the burial chamber and the grand gallery likely could not absorb all of the horizontal pressure from the granite roof of the chamber. Thus, the granite roof had to be raised above the level of the grand gallery.

However, this created another problem, since now the walls of the burial chamber would be more than 8 meters high, and thus very unstable. Thus, huge granite slabs were placed horizontally as stabilizers between the walls, one above another. The five empty spaces between granite slabs today are called relieving chambers, though they were never meant to be accessed; and they were not until the 18th and 19th centuries.

It was Nathaniel Davison, British Consul in Algiers, who discovered the first relieving chamber during a visit in 1763. Davison gained entrance to the space after climbing through a small hole near the ceiling of the Grand Gallery and crawling through a 25-foot-long shaft. The uncovering of the other four relieving chambers was the work of British Colonel Howard Vyse, who gained access to them in 1836 by blasting away part of the underlying granite slab with gunpowder. On the walls of the chambers, which were not meant to be seen or accessed, Vyse made the remarkable discovery of hieroglyphic graffiti, thought to have been left by pyramid workers during the pyramid's construction. Aside from this find, the Great Pyramid was, and remains to this day, completely devoid of original inscriptions or artwork.

Included in the relieving chambers' inscriptions were cartouches containing the name of Khufu. The allusion to Khufu is of great importance, being possibly the only connection between the Old Kingdom ruler and the Great Pyramid other than the writings of the historian Herodotus, who lived approximately two millennia after Khufu. Vyse's discovery was accepted by Egyptologists for a long time, but doubt has been cast on his inscriptions in recent years. Some experts claim the hieroglyphs found in the relieving chambers are written incorrectly and with a mish-mash of linguistic styles, incorporating forms that do not appear elsewhere in Egypt until the Middle Kingdom era. It is also considered suspicious by some that all four of Vyse's relieving chambers contained graffiti, while Davison's did not; and that Vyse did not mention the hieroglyphs until the day after his discovery of the relieving chambers.

Though these theories first put forth by maverick orientalist scholar and author Zecharia Sitchin in the 1970's are compelling, to actually see the hieroglyphs in situ, one can clearly discern the Khufu related inscriptions run between block joints and are in an almost inaccesible position to incribe after the fact, and as such being nearly impossible to fake. It was journalist Graham Hancock in his best selling book "Fingerprints of the Gods" who further cast Sitchin's theories of conspiracy and forgery into the mainstream, but only after the books release was he able to view the inscriptions in the chamber personally and subsequently reversed his opinion, stating publically he now believes the hieroglyphs to be genuine because of their precarious location despite the phonetic irregularities of the spelling.

With this being said, genuine or not, when considering the evidence as a whole it still does nothing to solve the problem and only serves to deepen the mystery of Khufu's role in the Great Pyramids construction or restoration.

[edit] Labor

RJ or RL-shaped supports possibly used to raise several-ton stone blocks.
RJ or RL-shaped supports possibly used to raise several-ton stone blocks.

Many varied estimates have been made regarding the labor force needed to construct the Great Pyramid. Herodotus, the Greek historian in the 5th century BC, estimated that construction may have required the labor of 100,000 slaves for 20 years. Polish architect Wieslaw Kozinski believed that it took as many as 25 men to transport a 1.5-ton stone block; based on this, he estimated the workforce to be 300,000 men on the construction site, with an additional 60,000 off-site. 19th century Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie proposed that the labor force was largely composed not of slaves but of the rural Egyptian population, working during periods when the Nile river was flooded and agricultural activity suspended. Egyptologist Miroslav Verner posited that the labor was organized into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 1000 men, divided into five zaa or phyle of 200 men each, which may have been further divided according to the skills of the workers.

Some research suggests alternate estimates to the aforementioned labor size. For instance, mathematician Kurt Mendelssohn calculated that the labor force may have been 50,000 men at most, while Ludwig Borchardt and Louis Croon placed the number at 36,000. According to Verner, a labor force of no more than 30,000 was needed in the Great Pyramid's construction.

Regardless of how many workers were required for construction, to use the following equation: 2,400,000 (total stones used in construction) ÷ 20 years (estimated time of completion) ÷ 365 days in a year ÷ 10 work hours in a day ÷ 60 minutes in one hour, the resulting answer is 0.55 stones/minute. What this means is that no matter how many workers were used or in what configuration, to complete the construction of the Great Pyramid within this time frame 1.1 blocks would have to be put in place every 2 minutes, 10 hours a day, 365 days a year for 20 years straight. To use the same equation, but instead placing the time of completion at 100 years instead of 20, it would require 1.1 blocks to be set every 10 minutes.

Herodotus speculated that the stone blocks used in the Great Pyramid's construction were maneuvered into place by raising them up a succession of short wooden scaffolds. Another possibility proposed by the ancient scholar Diodorus Siculus was that the giant blocks were dragged along a system of ramps to the necessary height. More recently, Mark Lehner speculated that a spiralling ramp, beginning in the stone quarry to the southeast and continuing around the exterior of the pyramid, may have been used. In Lehner's model, the stone blocks may have been drawn on sleds lubricated by water. Another source claims milk was a lubricant.

The most precisely cut stone blocks were reserved for the outside. Once in place their corners were smoothed to give an almost shiny outer appearance of the pyramid.

The idea of using rollers to move stone blocks was made popular in Hollywood movies, but as of today, whether it be ramp, roller, or otherwise, there are few historical records to demonstrate how ground transportation was done.

If a ramp were used to push the top-most blocks of the pyramid into place, the incline would contain more material than the pyramid itself and this material would have had to be removed after construction was completed. Yet, evidence of dismantled ramps at the Giza Plateau has never been found.

According to the theory of materials scientist Joseph Davidovits, the blocks that form the pyramid are not strictly carved stone, but mostly a form of limestone concrete (not moved, but) 'cast', as with modern cement blocks, except -- because of the blocks huge 2.5-15+ tons size -- each in situ.

It has also been suggested that Egyptians might have moved the stones with wind power, relying on kites and pulleys rather than huge numbers of slaves. On June 23, 2001, Caltech aeronautics professor Mory Gharib and a small team of undergraduates raised a 3000kg, 3m-tall obelisk into vertical position in 22mph winds in a California desert in under 25 seconds, using a 10m kite connected to a pulley system and support frame, to demonstrate that wind power can be harnessed to create large lifting forces. The originator of this idea, business consultant Maureen Clemmons, recalled seeing a building frieze now displayed in a Cairo museum, showing a wing pattern in bas relief that did not resemble any living bird, directly below which were several men standing near vertical objects that could be ropes. However, though the engineering may have been feasible, Egyptian experts point out there is no evidence that ancient Egyptians used either kites or pulleys as we know them today.

[edit] Numerical significance

The pyramids of Giza. The largest pyramids, from left to right, are Menkaure's pyramid, Khafre's pyramid, and the Great Pyramid.
The pyramids of Giza. The largest pyramids, from left to right, are Menkaure's pyramid, Khafre's pyramid, and the Great Pyramid.

Some of those who have examined the Great Pyramid have made speculations regarding the numerical significance of the dimensions, angles, and ratios present in the structure.

One popular assertion is that the ratio of the pyramid's perimeter to its height times two ( P / 2H ) gives a close approximation of the mathematical value π; that is, the height is to the perimeter as the radius is to the circumference of a circle ((squaring of the circle by π). According to Stecchini, in "Secrets of the Great Pyramid", Tompkins, (363-8), this characteristic is determined by the linear slope of the Pyramid's north and west sides. In fact, Stecchini claimed that any pyramid with a slope of arctan ( 4 / π ), or approximately 51°51′14″, will have this characteristic. However, as 4 / π, to an accuracy of 1 in 1043, is equal to the square root of ø, obviously quadrature (squaring the circle) exists for ø, as well.


The difference is, the theoretical π angle in the Pyramid is 51°51′14.31″, the ø, 51°49′38.25″. However, it is important that originally in the Pyramid, for the W- and E-faces to respectively include both π and ø, the builders were obliged to use the fractional slope-equivalents; namely, 14/11 and 145/114, respectively, to represent π and ø; because, decimals were not invented until c.950AD, by the Arabian mathematician, al Uqlidisi.

Other records substantiating π and ø in Egypt were a) Early Dynasty records that indicated the pharoah's loin cloth was fashioned on ø; and b)Late Dynasty records, eg., RP (Rhind Papyrus) of a millenium after the building of the Pyramid, indicating circular area via ((8/9)d²) without mention of ø. Of course, more enlightening records substantiating π and ø could have been lost, in the over 4500 years since Great Pyramid construction began, and included The Great Flood. Whether the Great Pyramid's builders intended for the structure to express π and ø must always remain unknown; but, that π and ø are definitely 'in' the Great Pyramid, even among such distinguished dissenting parties as Lauer and Pochan, is mutually acknowledged.

Moreover, Cole survey results imply that inclusion of ø in the design simply cannot be denied. In fact, Moustafa Gadalla, an Egyptian, in "Pyramid Handbook", 2000, (112), points out π and ø have been utilized in Egypt for at least 3000 years; called, respectively, 'Circle Index' and 'The Neb', and even "same geometric characteristics" (112) were incorporated into the Meidum pyramid built BEFORE the Great Pyramid. The Circle Index - while suggesting 3.1415926535... in practical pyramid work, for the lack of decimals - it is 22/7. Derived easiest from P / 2H, 22/7 was possibly derived even earlier from the Egyptian Series 1,3,4,7,11, ... ø, wherein the fifth backward ratio already produces 'π/2' -- 11/7 -- half of 22/7, and along the series as well, good estimates of terminal-ø, the Golden Section so-called and numerically represented by such as 1.61803398875...


Further, since from the Cole survey of 1925 the sides of the Great Pyramid embody two slopes into one, the averaging of the two slopes produces a conventional 'average' (sic) angle of 51°50′2.59″. This may seem peculiar, yet that angle expresses π and ø together more harmoniously -- as in Ancient Egypt,'harmony' was much worshipped -- than in any other surviving Egyptian pyramid.


In worthy, earlier, slope estimates; a)WMFPetrie determined the weighted mean angle of the north face of the Great Pyramid to be 51°50′40″, within 37.4 arcseconds, about 0.01 degrees, of the new average 51°50′2.59″; b)Petrie also evaluated the southern face slope, finding it to be 51°57′30″; c)Colonel Howard-Vyse, in 1837, discovered in situ casing stones, with slopes 51°50′ to 51°52′15.5″, and d)Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal of Scotland, in 1865 -- enamored by π -- estimated a chronologically impossible 51°51′14″. Sadly, all were denied the Cole peak-tipping discovery, and truth. Separately, consider accurate west 14/11 π-slope to be 51°50'33.98'; accurate east 145/114 ø-slope, 51°49'31.18".


Absent anachronistically-nonsensical decimals, Great Pyramid is best said to be double-angled, designed 440 wide x 280 tall (but now decapitated '15'), with slopes North+West 14/11, and East-145/114, ingeniously including in itself thereby both Golden Section-Neb and π-Circle Index... 1000s of years ahead of the subsequent Greek and Italian re-inventions of the latter two. RJSloan

Initially, Smyth had claimed that the measurements he obtained from the Great Pyramid indicated a unit of length, the pyramid inch, equivalent to roughly 1.001 British inches, that could have been the standard of measurement by the pyramid's architects. From this he extrapolated a number of other measurements, including the pyramid pint, the sacred cubit, and the pyramid scale of temperature.

Applying these to the dimensions of the structure, Smyth inferred the existence of expressions of the polar diameter and mean density of the Earth, the length of a solar day, the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and the precession of the equinoxes.

[edit] Alternative History, Paranormal and prophetical allegations

As a structure of impressive construction and mystery, in which many of the features modern technology would be hard pressed to duplicate today, the Great Pyramid has (as have many other aspects of ancient Egyptian culture) attracted the attention of alternative history theorists, occultists and the biblically religious-minded. Accordingly, the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx are often alleged to have been built by forces other than human labor, such as Atlanteans, extraterrestrials, or other such herto unknown monument creators.

Though biblical ties to the GreatPyramid are easily dismissed as having no basis in reality or relevence to Egyptian society at the time of its construction, the idea of Giza's history being much older and more technologically complex than could been attained by the ancient Egyptians alone or without precedent, as well as the many other unexplained megalithic sites around the world, is an ever growing credible field of study relying not on faith, but on simple logic and provable facts.

While most people instantly relate such thoughts to Plato's mythical Lost City of Atlantis, it is irrelevant whether Atlantis was actually a real place or not being the body of evidence for such claims already exists. Megalithic ruins of herculean proportions as well as the pyramid in its myriad of similiar forms can be found in South America, Certral America, Europe, North America, the Meditteranean, the Pacific Islands, Africa, the Middle East, and China just to name a few.

All have similiar and in many cases near identical megalithic structures of objectively unknown origin and construction technique dated to the very beginnings if not well beyond the societies they are attributed to without visible precedent or known technological or logistical means of execution. The Giza plateau as well as other ancient Egyptian sights such as the Osereion in Abydos are no exception begging the need for such ideas to be included in rational discussions concerning the beginnings of human civilization.

In 1978, the Grateful Dead rock band attempted to create their own magic at Giza, playing three dates on the Giza Soundstage, with the pyramid rising behind them.

It has also been alleged that the dimensions and details of the Great Pyramid provide prophecies of events covering 6,000 years from ancient to modern times. The prophetic capabilites of the Great Pyramid were first proposed in the 1800s by John Taylor, who believed the pyramid had actually been constructed by the biblical Noah. Charles Piazzi Smyth later elaborated on Taylor's prophetic theory in the book Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid. However, to date, scientific evidence in support of such allegations has been scant. Edgar Cayce apparently was sympathetic to 'pyramid prophecy', but his convoluted language makes difficult the certainty of that conclusion.

Further in the religious vein, the pastor, E. Raymond Capt, in A Study In Pyramidiology, 1986, 12, claims that although the Pyramid's top section is 'missing', there may be good reason for this. Capt claims the Pyramid's present physical height is exactly 5,449 inches exactly in accordance with the Isaiah 19'19-20 passage of scripture which when counted down in 'original' Hebrew exactly equals 5,449. Original design specification and other information notwithstanding, there is no evidence to support Capt's theories if only to the contrary in which he gives no reliable sources to back up his claims.

[edit] Further reading

  • Smyth, Piazzi, "Great Pyramid: Its Secrets & Mysteries Revealed". Gramercy; 4th Rep edition. October 23, 1994. ISBN 0-517-26403-x
  • Verner, Miroslav, "The Pyramids - Their Archaeology and History", Atlantic Books, 2001, ISBN 1-84354-171-8

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Archeology

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