THE GREAT PYRAMID MEASUREMENTS.
ARE we quite sure of the accuracy of the measurements of the Great Pyramid's passages as given in MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. III.? I have seen another measurement of the downward passage (3465 inches instead of 3416 inches), said to be from Prof. Piazzi Smyth's writings, says a reader.
We have no reason to question the accuracy of the figures given in DAWN III. They were all secured from Prof. Piazzi Smyth's work entitled, Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid. Moreover the manuscript of that chapter was submitted to Prof. Smyth by a friend before it was published and no flaw in its figures was noted. The illustrations are of Prof. Smyth's preparation, too.
We remark, however, that Prof. Smyth's interest centered in the upper chambers of the Pyramid, and the passages leading upward to these. Much less care and precision are manifested in his dealings with all other parts of the Pyramid than with this. As an evidence of this note the difference in the two drawings in VOL. III. which show this downward passage and the "pit" at its terminus. In the frontispiece the lower or level portion of the downward passage is shown as running to the axis line of the Pyramid, nearly one-half the length of the "pit." The illustration showing "The Passage System" of the Pyramid (MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. III., page 333) shows this totally different—it shows the depressed and broken floor commencing before the vertical axis is reached. Examine the illustrations carefully and note what we refer to.
The cut of page 333 is to a scale, and, being prepared by the one Astronomer Royal of Scotland, it should be accurate, yet the figures we have given (3416 inches) reach (into the "pit" of this diagram,—to the "pit" in the frontispiece) to the vertical axis of the Pyramid. We cannot therefore see how any longer measure for the passage could be possible. Measure for yourself, using the scale given on the diagram, page 333. If you have not the proper calipers use a piece of stiff paper as your measuring line and then apply it to the scale.
At the time of the Editor's visit to the Pyramid in 1892 the downward passage was filled full of debris and evidently had been long in that condition, as only one Arab was found who had any knowledge of it. He was quite an old man who many years before had assisted Prof. Smyth. The Editor, therefore, like other measurers of recent years, could ascertain nothing new respecting the "downward passage."