MJ Thomas Wrote:
> No other equations/ratios are necessary to create
> the entire plan of Khufu's pyramid.
I have no problem with 22/7 since it appears in the chambers of the red pyramid (as I mentioned to you in an earlier post). Gantenbrink made an analysis of the pyramid based on the 7/11 ratio. It may well have been intended to reflect Pi. But there are dimensions in the pyramid which cannot be derived from your equations, viz. the root two division of the height to locate the King's Chamber floor, to say nothing of other interesting passage length relations that have been proposed.
If the internal features of Khufu were designed on the theme of 7/11 then would not those of Khafre be laid out according to 3/4?
Whether or no Butler's sea level ideas are entertained, he correctly points out that the north south distance seperating the limestone bases of Khufu and Khafre is 252 cubits. The limestone base of Khafre is 408 cubits. Thus the spacing reduces to the ratio 21/34. This looks very Fibonacci-like to me.
But are we wrong to make mutually exclusive the use of Pi, Fibonacci numbers, and perhaps even calendrical cycles? The Egyptians constructed myths to explain the world around them, the movements of the stars, and perhaps a concept of 'sacred number', ie. numbers thought to have magical or perhaps philosphical significance.
Their particular form of arithmetic suited the discovery of simple numerical series and no doubt they had become familiar with the simple geometrical properties of plane figures. Men who could build on such a vast scale would have found it trivial to measure the circumference of a circle to arrive at a fairly accurate approximation. Yet they chose the simplest ratio 22/7. In this they seem to have been concerned to reduce geometry to its essentials.
Choosing this ratio allowed them to use pleasing approximations to root two which yielded almost whole numbers (eg. 280/root two = 198 + 82). Its importance might even be reflected in the 28 fingers of the cubit (assuming we agree that a 28 finger cubit was used in the Old Kingdom?). At any rate, the idea that they should reserve the ratio defining the pinnacle of geometry, the measure of a circle, to define their greatest monument should not come as a surprise.
poundr17
