Origen wrote -"l think that the ark, as much as is clear from the things that are described, had four angles rising from the bottom that gradually narrowed as they came to the peak and came together in the space of one cubit. Thus the cubit is the length and width of the peak." The question of how Origen arrived at this peculiar and unorthodox idea of the ark as a pyramid remains an interesting question. At any rate it is clear that early 15th.C artists tried illustrate the ark/pyramid identity.

My question concerned Ghiberti's representation of the pyramid which seems to agree with modern reconstructions. But this jarred with other crude early representations of pyramids, as illustrated on this otherwise speculative site -
[earth-chronicles.com]

One explanation might be that he used the dimensions found in Herodotus, but would he have had access to this source? - only a few translations (in latin) were circulating in the early 15th.C. Or is his depiction, with its 'zones' and 'ramps', the results of a graphic or geometric exercise? - I have not yet found any links explaining the numbers and divisions shown on the pyramid. I wonder if anyone here would know?