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The measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza

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Egypt
 · 1 month ago
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The measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza
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There is a theory that aims to demonstrate how the Pyramid of Cheops was constructed based on highly developed geometric knowledge.

Towards the end of the 2nd century BC, the Greek grammarian Agatarchides of Cnidus discovered that the base of the Great Pyramid was exactly one-eighth of a minute of a degree in length. From here, it follows that multiplying the length by 8, then by 60, and finally by 360, the result is remarkably close to the Earth's circumference.

In 1638, the Scottish mathematician John Greaves, during his visit to Egypt, took some measurements: the sarcophagus in the King's Chamber (1.97m), the height of the Pyramid (146.6m), and the base side (211.2m). The goal was to discover the unit of measurement used by the Egyptian architects, but unfortunately, the surveys were insufficient.

The subsequent attempt was made by the team of French scientists brought by Napoleon to Egypt. The team leader, Edmé-François Jomard, like Greaves, intended to search for the unit of measurement used and then verify if the measurements of the Pyramid could be linked to the dimensions of the Earth.

Jomard measured one side of the base (230.9m) and the height (146.6m), from which he could calculate the slope at 51º19' and the hypotenuse at 184.7m. He knew that the ancients referred to the hypotenuse as 1 stade, and Herodotus had written that 1 stade was equal to 400 cubits, meaning 1 cubit is equal to 0.4618m. Some Greek scholars had stated that the base of the Pyramid was 500 cubits long. By multiplying 500 by 0.4618, Jomard obtained 230.9m, which is the length of the base he had measured.

In the early 1800s, John Taylor discovered that dividing the perimeter of the Pyramid by twice its height yielded a value very close to pi, the constant ratio between the circumference and its diameter. Pi was calculated with precision to the fourth decimal place only in the 6th century AD. Through this discovery, Taylor calculated the ratio between the height and the perimeter as equal to the ratio between the Earth's polar radius and its circumference: 2 pi.

Taylor's discoveries had a significant influence on a Scottish man named Charles Piazzi Smith. Smith calculated the "pyramid inch" as 1/25 of a cubit. In 1864, Smith traveled to Egypt. He calculated the Pyramid's position at approximately 30º latitude north. The shadow of the Pyramid completely disappeared at the spring equinox. His measurements improved the calculation of pi to the fifth decimal place. The perimeter, in pyramid inches, exactly corresponded to 1000 times 365.2 (the number of days in the solar year), a full 1500 years before the Greeks calculated the first calendar, while the ratios between the lengths of the Pyramid's corridors even revealed some pivotal dates in world history.

Moreover, according to Smith, the Pyramid also revealed the distance between the Sun and the Earth if its height in inches was multiplied by 10 to the power of nine (109, which was the ratio between the height and the width of the Pyramid). Joseph Seiss, an American clergyman, wrote that the stones of the Pyramid contained a numerical system that indicated measures, weights, angles, temperatures, degrees, geometric problems, and cosmic observations. Seiss was struck by the recurring appearance of the number 5 in his calculations.

Other proponents of this theory emphasized that the meridian and parallel intersecting at the Pyramid (30º north latitude and 31º east longitude) cross more landmass than any other, as if the Egyptians had intentionally placed the Pyramid at the center of the inhabited world. A quadrant extending northwest and northeast from the Pyramid perfectly encompasses the Nile Delta. To support this theory, Petrie went to Egypt in 1880 with highly reliable equipment. Petrie was amazed by the incredible precision with which the Pyramid was constructed: both in length and slope, the errors were so minimal as to be imperceptible. The walls of the descending corridor, perfectly straight for their 107m length, had an approximation of just 5mm. Petrie confirmed the calculation of pi, discovering that even the King's Chamber contained pi in the ratio between its length and perimeter.

To this day, there are still scholars who believe in the non-random significance of the dimensions of the Pyramid of Cheops. Recent measurements confirm what was previously stated. The pyramid inch (PI), whose discovery is attributed to Isaac Newton, is equal to 0.635660m, and the pyramid cubit is estimated to be 25 PI. As a result, the King's Chamber has a volume of 12,500 PI, or one pyramid ton. The angle of the Pyramid is exactly 51º, 51' and 14.3''. The internal volume of the sarcophagus is equal to half of the external volume. The exact location is 29º, 58' and 51.06'' latitude, and 31º and 9' longitude. The Great Pyramid has no shadow at noon on the spring equinox and faces true north with a deviation of 3', making it the most accurately oriented structure.

The parallel and meridian that cover the majority of the Earth's surface intersect at the Great Pyramid. The perimeter of the base divided by 100 gives 365.24, the number of days in a year, as do many other measurements. The height (147m and 75cm, although originally it probably reached 150m) multiplied by one million is very close to the distance between the Earth and the Sun. The estimated weight of 5.955 tons, multiplied by one billion, is a good approximation of the Earth's weight. The average height of the continents above sea level is almost exactly the height of the Pyramid. The four sides measure exactly: north side 230m and 25.05cm; south side 230m and 45.35cm; east side 230m and 39.05cm; west side 230m and 35.65cm. And with meticulous precision, its angles measure: northeast 90º, 3' and 2''; southeast 89º, 56' and 27''; northwest 89º, 59' and 58''; southwest 90º and 33''. Finally, the curvature of the walls (the Pyramid of Cheops is the only one to have a slight curvature on the walls, imperceptible to the naked eye) is identical to that of the Earth.

In conclusion, the Pyramid of Cheops, or Great Pyramid, is a 1:43,200 scale model of the Earth.

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eZine's profile picture
eZine lover (@eZine)

Great :)

1 month ago
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