Hi Ritva,
what is the Rc?
According to Dilke (1987: 23), the royal cubit was based on the forearm. (He adds that shorter and longer cubits found in AE "appear to be non-Egyptian").
And why it would be so
> meaningful to building for afterlife, and
> especially afterlife?
What other unit were they going to use?
> > > You have not understood one word I have
> > written,
> > > have you?
> >
> > On the contrary: I understood very well!
>
>
> I'm sorry, but you sure as heck had me fooled!!!
I understood your argument, Ritva. The idea that the Eye of Horus could represent the Royal Cubit is absolutely fascinating ... the problem is that I can't find any evidence for it. The evidence that you say you have found elsewhere fails to convince me ... We always come back to this sticking-point, I'm afraid!
>
> Ok, let's part company then. To me the tale of
> Horus, Seth and Thoth, as well as it's very
> context is evidence of the possibility of EoH
> being the Rc.
Sorry ... but now you've really lost me!
Btw, had you noticed that the famous
> 1/64 is written with the hieroglyph mn't i.e. the
> Mooring Post, the very same they pictured in the
> tombs?
>
You mean that sort of wiggly thing underneath the pupil - the bit that actually represented 1/64? I don't think I did realize (or, at any rate, had forgotten it) until you mentioned it - thanks for pointing it out.
>
> Did it ever occur to you, that "macigal" missing
> part could be important to the Egyptians, that,
> and not their stupidity, being the reason for
> their tale? Or in your opinion can't it be so
> because Hart doesn't mention it?
As far as I'm aware, o-one - least of all me - thought of them as stupid! And nor is anyone, TTBMK, disputing that the 1/64 part was important. I don't know why Hart didn't mention it (reasons of space, maybe?), but Betro does. She calls it "a reflection of the Egyptian faith in the continual reintegration of universal harmony".
But I still can't find any way in which it could be specifically connected with either the cubit or the inch. Dilke (1987: 24) says that scribes wrote in individual parts of the eye in order to denote fractions of the hekat (used as a corn measure). Nothing about units of length, though ...
Hermione
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