L Cooper Wrote:
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> It seems pretty clear that the length of the royal
> cubit was not necessarily considered to be an
> absolute when it came to building design and
> construction. There were a number of other design
> imperatives at play in any given construction, all
> of which needed to be incorporated. It was not a
> matter of either/or - rather, it was a matter of
> adjustment and accommodation so as to allow the
> design to contain and reflect all of the desired
> imperatives. This was their mindset. As Hornung
> says, theirs was a "many-valued logic" that bears
> similarities to that of today's Quantum Theory.
> (See his "Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt" pp.
> 237-243).
>
> As a result, the "royal cubit" as a concept was
> what was important. It's actual length could be
> modified in order to allow for the 'argument' to
> be made that such and such length contained the
> required number of royal cubits. This then
> strongly implies that one or another of the other
> design imperatives carried more sway than did the
> actual length of the 'cubit' being used in any
> given structure, or in any given section of a
> structure. And as I've said before, I believe that
> in this realization is where the story really
> resides.
So which design imperative carried most sway? I should say the 14/11 and 99/70 ratios.
Strictly the level of the KC complex floor should, according to root 2 ratio, be 82 = 280 - 198, but is actually 82.1 by the 'Petrie cubit' (which also gives a base of 219.9 instead of 220). Is this result of some arcane plan, building error, or the consequence of teams charged with a certain job using a 'local cubit'?
Nevertheless, it would seem that a fundamental geometrical design was intentionally refined. The descending passage is justly famed for the precision of its execution, and laid out on the diagonal of the double square. The upper slopes (we may suppose intentionally) have been adjusted from this to give whole numbers of cubits along the slope. Consequently the horizontal length of the gallery becomes 78.9 -
- it is an interesting coincidence that continuation of the passage line to intersect the south wall and ceiling of the KC measures 29 cubits, the whole 192 or 8 X 24 - the module used to lay out the passage system.
Interesting also that the 'zone of the king' controls the boundaries and placing of structures in the Eastern cemetery - GG beginning to centre KC was probably considered as 100 cubits at the scale of the layout -
Incidentally, would 'many valued logic' explain why Khufu can be defined by both 'Pi' and 'Phi'?