Maragioglio and Rinaldi did not undertake the task of field checking previous surveys of the dimensions of GIII. They summarized the findings of Perring, Vyse, Petrie and Goyon and thought that the intended shape of GIII was a true pyramid. M&R concluded their discussion of the topic with this observation:

"Lauer (Probleme etc. cit., p. 88) gives as the length of the base side 108 m. (like Vyse), height 66.4 m. (like Vyse), and layout error (op. cit., p. 86) of the base side 14' (like Petrie). He points out (op. cit., p. 197) that Petrie found (with some difficulty, as the granite casing had not been smoothed and that in limestone is missing) that the angle of the faces was 51° 11'. Now an angle of 51° 20' 25" corresponds to that of Viollet le Due's Egyptian triangle, i. e. right-angled with catheti of 4 and 5. The inclination of the apothem is therefore in the simple ratio of 5/4. An angle for the faces very close to that proposed (51° 29'53") would give the equally simple ratio of 8/9 for the corners. The angle adopted for the inclination of the faces of the pyramid of Mycerinus thus facilitated the construction and checking of the slope of the casing both on the faces themselves and along the edges."

L'architettura delle piramidi menfite. Vito Maragioglio, Celeste Ambrogio Rinaldi, 1963, Vol VI, page 96, Note 5.

C. Wayne Taylor
Richmond, Virginia USA