The mystery of the Great pyramid : traditions concerning it and its connection with the Egyptian Book of the dead : with numerous illustrations

NOTES

the problem of the Great Pyramid. Evidence disproving their theory of it as a tomb finds no place in their ** showcases ”’.

It is because the Great Pyramid is built on engineering principles, and utilizes the science of geometry in precisely the same terms that the civil engineer adopts in the solution of constructional problems—known as the science of ‘‘sraphic statics’’—that the many engineers who have studied and written upon this subject have, practically without any exception, disagreed with the orthodox theory of the Pyramid as a tomb. Such has been the reasonreinforced by other considerations—that has led the present writer, for one, to reject the Tombic Theory ever since taking up a study of the subject. We may, at the moment, still be in a minority, but it should be remembered that it is the minority that applies scientific knowledge to the elucidation of matters which are, as a rule, beyond the scope of the ordinary layman. It is due, indeed, to the efforts of such minorities that the field of applied science is ever expanding, and it is common knowledge that such work never receives the recognition due to it till circumstances compel.

Note O1: THe Great PyRAMID’S VENTILATING SHAFTS (page 49)

Cotsworth, regarding the Pyramid solely as an astronomical edifice, and apparently following Proctor in this respect, in his Rational Almanac suggests that the ventilating shafts to the King’s Chamber were ‘‘ observatory tubes, the North one at 30° marking the Latitude by ‘ sighting’ the Pole Star at the Equinoxes, while the Southern one was for ‘sighting’ the mid-day sun during its lower elevations near the Winter Solstice ” (p. 65, Pyramid section).

Neither channel, however, rises directly upwards in a straight inclined line from their opening in the walls of the Chamber, as one might expect, while the one directed to the north face of the Pyramid runs horizontally for a

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