MJ Thomas Wrote:
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> Hello Anthony,
>
> Thanks for the feedback.
>
> First a reminder that my knowledge of surveying is
> to all intents and purposes non-existent; so, if
> my questions border on the idiotic, please make
> the necessary allowances.
Frankly, that is probably a better foundation for understanding how another culture does their "surveying" than what could be brought to the table by somebody who is only familiar with laser transits and elevations. I am not saying their knowledge is unusable, only that one might gain a better understanding of ancient practices by studying them FIRST, rather than AFTER learning how we do things in the modern world.
>
> If I understand you correctly, sightings taken at
> sunrise and sunset on an equinox can, at least in
> theory, be used to accurately locate due North and
> due South.
Yes and no.
The best line is actually the one that is drawn during the entire day. The extremes were where I found great variation (if memory serves).
>
> But, as you rightly point out, the main concern is
> the one of actual accuracy.
And that is based upon the length of the gnomon, the sharpness of the point, and the amount of "fuzz" we get in the shadow.
> If we assume for the sake of this discussion that
> Khufu's people orientated his pyramid by the sun,
> is it theoretically possible to tell from the
> orientation of the Pyramid's north and south sides
> what time of the year it was done?
It would either be the spring or the autumn solstice, and to my knowledge, they both give the exact same reading.
>
> According to Cole (1925 survey) the north side is
> out of kilter by a mean 165mms over 230251mms and
> the south side leans 131mms in 230454mms. This, so
> I read, translates into, respectively, 0:2:28
> south of west and 0:1:57 south of west.
> I've read many a time that even by today's
> standards this - assuming the aim was to set out
> the Pyramid's base due N-S-E-W - is very
> impressive indeed.*
I agree. But only because in its context, it is the most extreme example of accuracy of any of the pyramids. Because we can look at an entire group of pyramids (4th Dynasty) and they are all aligned the the cardinal directions, we can hypothesize that this was their intent. (Contrast this with the people who find 22/7 in a wall here, a chamber there, a gallery over there... and then try to claim it was all encoded.) If this were the only pyramid aligned in such a manner, we would be forced to conclude that it was a coincidence, and not an intentional act by the builders.
>
> Here's an odd thought: I wonder what the reactions
> would be if what we see as errors in the
> alignments proved to be fully intentional...
>
Since the hypothesis exists that the alignments are intentional, and it fits the group in question, it would be rather absurd to then say that they not only could measure them at least as accurately as we can today, but decided to deviate from the cardinality for some unknown, unproven, unevidenced reason. Ockam would be rolling over in his grave.
>
> *Where my wife and I used to live, from the
> gateway to the end of the road is about 760 feet.
> This proved very handy for my getting a sense of
> how little an 'error' is involved here. To my
> bespectacled eyes a measure of 165mms/6.5" that
> far away was effectively invisible...
>
That is true. Ah, those crafty Egyptians....
Anthony
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.