"Ah! that is like what the world says | chizedek. By supernatural means, the of saints," he said, sharply. "You make architects were instructed to place the me wretched and then pray that I may be happy." "Oh, no, no," she cried, the tears coming to her eyes. "How can I have made you wretched? It was only an accident. It has been only a moment. You will not refuse to say good-bye." Foolish Agnes! she had nothing to do but to leave him, having said her say. But, instead of this she argued, bent upon making a logical conclusion to which he should consent, convinced, though against his will. On the whole she preferred that it should be against his will - but convinced she had determined that he must be. They walked away softly through the little street into the sunset, which sank lower every moment, shedding a glory of slant light upon the two young figures so sombre in garb, so radiant in life. Where they were going they did not know, nor how the charmed moments were passing. Every shade of the coming evening lay behind them, but all the glory of the rose tints and glowing purple, the daffodil skies and gates of pearl, before. From Fraser's Magazine. pyramid in latitude 30° north; to select for its figure that of a square pyramid, carefully oriented; to employ for their unit of length the sacred cubit corresponding to the twenty-millionth part of the earth's polar axis; and to make the side of the square base equal to just so many of these sacred cubits as there are days and parts of a day in a year. They were further, by supernatural help, enabled to square the circle, and symbolized their victory over this problem by making the pyramid's height bear to the perimeter of the base the ratio which the radius of a circle bears to the circumference. Moreover, the great precessional period, in which the earth's axis gyrates like that of some mighty top around the perpendicular to the ecliptic, was communicated to the builders with a degree of accuracy far exceeding that of the best modern determinations, and they were instructed to symbolize that relation in the dimensions of the pyramid's base. A value of the sun's distance more accurate by far than modern astronomers have obtained (even since the recent transit) was imparted to them, and they embodied that dimension in the height of the pyramid. Other results which modern science has achieved, but THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. Which by merely human means the archi BY RICHARD A. PROCTOR. tects of the pyramid could not have obtained, were also supernaturally comDURING the last few years a new sect municated to them; so that the true mean has appeared which, though as yet small density of the earth, her true shape, the in numbers, is full of zeal and fervor. configuration of land and water, the mean The faith professed by this sect may be temperature of the earth's surface, and so called the religion of the great pyramid, forth, were either symbolized in the great the chief article of their creed being the pyramid's position, or in the shape and doctrine that that remarkable edifice was dimensions of its exterior and interior. built for the purpose of revealing-in the In the pyramid also were preserved the fulness of time, now nearly accomplished true, because supernaturally communi- certain noteworthy truths to the human cated, standards, of length, area, capacity, race. The founder of the pyramid relig-weight, density, heat, time, and money. ion is described by one of the present The pyramid also indicated, by certain leaders of the sect as "the late worthy features of its interior structure, that when John Taylor, of Gower Street, London; "it was built the holy influences of the but hitherto the chief prophets of the new Pleiades were exerted from a most effecfaith have been in this country Professor Smyth, astronomer royal for Scotland, and in France the Abbé Moigno. I propose to examine here some of the facts most confidently urged by pyramidalists in support of their views. But it will be well first to indicate briefly the doctrines of the new faith. They may be thus presented :— The great pyramid was erected, it would seem, under the instructions of a certain Semitic king, probably no other than Mel tive position-the meridian, viz., through the points where the ecliptic and equator intersect. And as the pyramid thus significantly refers to the past, so also it indicates the future history of the earth, especially in showing when and where the millennium is to begin. Lastly, the apex or crowning stone of the pyramid was no other than the antetype of that stone of stumbling and rock of offence, rejected by builders who knew not its true use, until it was finally placed as the chief stone of the corner. Whence naturally, "whoso- | table land-surface of the globe; or, again, ever shall fall upon it " — that is upon the pyramid religion "shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder." If we examine the relations actually presented by the great pyramid-its geographical position, dimensions, shape, and internal structure without hampering ourselves with the tenets of the new faith on the one hand, or on the other with any serious anxiety to disprove them, we shall find much to suggest that the builders of the pyramid were ingenious mathematicians, who had made some progress in astronomy, though not so much as they had made in the mastery of mechanical and scientific difficulties. The first point to be noticed is the geographical position of the great pyramid, so far, at least, as this position affects the aspect of the heavens, viewed from the pyramid as from an observatory. Little importance, I conceive, can be attached to purely geographical relations in considering the pyramid's position. Professor Smyth notes that the pyramid is peculiarly placed with respect to the mouths of the Nile, standing "at the southern apex of the delta-land of Egypt." This region being shaped like a fan, the pyramid, set at the part corresponding to the handle, was, he considers," that monument pure and undefiled in its religion through an idolatrous land alluded to by Isaiah; the monument which was both an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof,' and destined withal to become a witness in the latter days, and before the consummation of all things, to the same Lord, and to what he hath purposed upon mankind." Still more fanciful are some other notes upon the pyramid's geographical position: as (i) that there is more land along the meridian of the pyramid than on any other all the world round; (ii.) that there is more land in the latitude of the pyramid than in any other; and (iii.) that the pyramid territory of Lower Egypt is at the centre of the dry land habitable by man all the world over. It does not seem to be noticed by those who call our attention to these points that such coincidences prove too much. It might be regarded as not a mere accident that the great pyramid stands at the centre of the arc of shore-line along which lie the outlets of the Nile; or it might be regarded as not a mere coincidence that the great pyramid stands at the central point of all the habi any one of the other relations above mentioned might be regarded as something more than a mere coincidence. But if, instead of taking only one or other of these four relations, we take all four of them, or even any two of them, together, we must regard peculiarities of the earth's configuration as the result of special design which certainly have not hitherto been so regarded by geographers. For instance, if it was by special design that the pyramid was placed at the centre of the Nile delta, and also by special design that the pyramid was placed at the centre of the land-surface of the earth, if these two relations are each so exactly fulfilled as to render the idea of mere accidental coincidence inadmissible, then it follows, of necessity, that it is through no merely accidental coincidence that the centre of the Nile delta lies at the centre of the land-surface of the earth; in other words, the shore-line along which lie the mouths of the Nile has been designedly curved so as to have its centre so placed. And so of the other relations. The very fact that the four conditions can be fulfilled simultaneously is evidence that a coincidence of the sort may result from mere accident.* Indeed the peculiarity of geographical position which really seems to have been in the thoughts of the pyramid architects, introduces yet a fifth condition which by accident could be fulfilled along with the four others. It would seem that the builders of the pyramid were anxious to place it in latitude 30°, as closely as their means of observation permitted. Let us consider what result they achieved, and the evidence thus afforded respecting their skill and scientific attainments. In our own time, of course, the astronomer has no difficulty in determining with great exactness the position of any given latitude-parallel. But at the time when the great pyramid was built it must have been a matter of very serious difficulty to determine the position of any required latitude-parallel with a great degree of exactitude. The most obvious way of dealing with the difficulty would have been by observing the length of shadows thrown by upright posts at noon Of course it may be argued that nothing in the world is the result of mere accident, and some may assert that even matters which are commonly regarded would not be easy to draw the precise line dividing as entirely casual have been specially designed. It events which all men would regard as to all intents and purposes accidental from those which some men would regard as results of special providence. But common sense draws a sufficient distinction, at least for our present purpose. indicate by its circling motion the position in spring and autumn. In latitude 30° north, the sun at noon in spring (or, to speak precisely, on the day of the vernal equinox) is just twice as far from the horizon as he is from the point vertically overThe pole of the heavens, we know, vahead; and if a pointed post were set exactly upright at true noon (supposed to ries in position according to the latitude occur at the moment of the vernal or of the observer. At the north pole it is autumnal equinox), the shadow of the post exactly overhead; at the equator the poles would be exactly half as long as a line of the heavens are both on the horizon; drawn from the top of the pole to the end and, as the observer travels from the equaof the shadow. But observations based tor towards the north or south pole of the on this principle would have presented earth, the corresponding pole of the heav many difficulties to the architects of the ens rises higher and higher above the pyramid. The sun not being a point of horizon. In latitude 30° north, or onelight, but a globe, the shadow of a pointed third of the way from the equator to the rod does not end in a well-defined point. pole, the pole of the heavens is raised The moment of true noon, which is not one-third of the way from the horizon to the same as ordinary or civil noon, never the point vertically overhead; and when does agree exactly with the time of the this is the case the observer knows that vernal or autumnal equinox, and may be he is in latitude 30o. The builders of the removed from it by any interval of time great pyramid, with the almost constantly And clear skies of Egypt, may reasonably be between zero and twelve hours. there are many other circumstances which supposed to have adopted this means of would lead astronomers, like those who determining the true position of that thirdoubtless presided over the scientific tieth parallel on which they appear to have preparations for building the great pyramid, designed to place the great building they to prefer a means of determining the lati- were about to erect. tude depending on another principle. The stellar heavens would afford practically unchanging indications for their purpose. The stars being all carried round the pole of the heavens, as if they were fixed points in the interior of a hollow revolving sphere, it becomes possible to determine the position of the pole of the star-sphere, even though no bright conspicuous star actually occupies that point. Any bright star close by the pole is seen to revolve in a very small circle, whose centre is the pole itself. Such a star is our present socalled pole-star; and, though in the days when the great pyramid was built, that star was not near the pole, another, and probably a brighter, star lay near enough to the pole to serve as a pole-star, and to It so happens that we have the means of forming an opinion on the question whether they used one method or the other; whether they employed the sun or In fact, were it the stars to guide them to the geographical position they required. not for this circumstance, I should not It will preshave thought it worth while to discuss the qualities of either method. ently be seen that the discussion bears importantly on the opinion we are to form of the skill and attainments of the pyramid architects. Every celestial object is apparently raised somewhat above its true position by the refractive powers of our atmosphere, being most raised when nearThis effect is, est the horizon, and least when nearest the point vertically overhead. indeed, so marked on bodies close to the horizon that if the astronomers of the pyrThuban, the Dragon, is now not very bright, being amid times had observed the sun, moon, rated at barely above the fourth magnitude, but it was and stars attentively when so placed, they formerly the brightest star of the constellation, as its could not have failed to discover the pename indicates. Bayer also assigned to it the first letter of the Greek alphabet; though this is not abso- culiarity. Probably, however, though they lutely decisive evidence that so late as his day it retained noted the time of rising and setting of the In celestial bodies, they only made instruits superiority over the second-magnitude stars to which Bayer assigned the second and third Greek letters. the year 2790 B.C., or thereabouts, the star was at its mental observations upon them when these nearest to the true north pole of the heavens, the diam- bodies were high in the heavens, and so eter of the little circle in which it then moved being remained ignorant of the refractive powers of the air. Now, if they had determined * This star, called Thuban from the Arabian al considerably less than one-fourth the apparent diameter are very few conspicuous stars in the neighborhood. garded as a very useful pole-star, especially as there Even that skilful astronomer Hipparchus, who may be justly called the father of observational astronomy, north of the position where refraction would just have made the apparent elevation of the pole correct, simply in order that the pyramid might correspond as nearly as possible to each of two conditions, whereof both could not be fulfilled at once. The pyramid would indeed, they say, have been set even more closely midway between the true and the apparent parallels of 30° north, but that the Jeezeh hill on which it is set does not afford a rock foundation any farther north. "So very close," says Professor Smyth, “was the great pyramid placed to the northern brink of its hill, that the edges of the cliff might have broken off under the terrible pressure had not the builders banked up there most firmly the immense mounds of rubbish which came from their work, and which Strabo looked so particularly for 1,800 years ago, but could not find. Here they were, however, and still are, utilized in enabling the great pyramid to stand on the very utmost verge of its commanding hill, within the limits of the two required latitudes, as well as over the centre of the land's physical and radial formation, and at the same time on the sure and proverbially wise foundation of rock." the position of the thirtieth parallel of lati- | the pyramid south of the true parallel and tude by observations of the noonday sun (in spring or autumn), then since, owing to refraction, they would have judged the sun to be higher than he really was, it follows that they would have supposed the latitude of any station from which they observed to be lower than it really was. For the lower the latitude the higher is the noonday sun at any given season. Thus, when really in latitude 30° they would have supposed themselves in a latitude lower than 30°, and would have travelled a little farther north to find the proper place, as they would have supposed, for erecting the great pyramid. On the other hand, if they determined the place from observations of the movements of stars near the pole of the heavens, they would make an error of a precisely opposite nature. For the higher the latitude the higher is the pole of the heavens; and refraction, therefore, which apparently raises the pole of the heavens, gives to a station the appearance of being in a higher latitude than it really is, so that the observer would consider he was in latitude 30° north when in reality somewhat south of that latitude. We have only then to enquire whether the great pyramid was set north or south of latitude 30°, to ascertain whether the pyramid architects observed the noonday sun or circumpolar stars to determine their latitude; always assuming (as we reasonably may) that those architects did propose to set the pyramid in that particular latitude, and that they were able to make very accurate observations of the apparent positions of the celestial bodies, but that they were not acquainted with the refractive effects of the atmosphere. The answer comes in no doubtful terms. The centre of the great pyramid's base lies about one mile and a third south of the thirtieth parallel of latitude; and from this position the pole of the heavens, as raised by refraction, would appear to be very near indeed to the required position. In fact, if the pyramid had been set about half a mile still farther south the pole would have seemed just right. Of course, such an explanation as I have here suggested appears altogether heretical to the pyramidalists. According to them the pyramid architects knew perfectly well where the true thirtieth parallel lay, and knew also all that modern science has discovered about refraction; but set overlooked this peculiarity, which Ptolemy would seem to have been the first to recognize. The next circumstance to be noted in the position of the great pyramid (as of all the pyramids) is that the sides are carefully oriented. This, like the approximation to a particular latitude, must be regarded as an astronomical rather than a geographical relation. The accuracy with which the orientation has been effected will serve to show how far the builders had mastered the methods of astronomical observation by which orientation was to be secured. The problem was not so simple as might be supposed by those who are not acquainted with the way in which the cardinal points are correctly determined. By solar observations, or rather by the observations of shadows cast by vertical shafts before and after noon, the direction of the meridian, or north and south line, can theoretically be ascertained. But probably in this case, as in determining the latitude, the builders took the stars for their guide. The pole of the heavens would mark the true north; and equally the pole-star, when below or above the pole, would give the true north, but, of course, most conveniently when below the pole. Nor is it difficult to see how the builders would make use of the pole-star for this purpose. From the middle of the northern side of the intended base they would bore a slant line from a point due south of the cor- passage tending always from the position | posed to be determined from the centre; of the pole-star at its lower meridional or to a displacement of a southern corner passage, that star at cach successive re- by fifty-three inches on an east and west turn to that position serving to direct their progress; while its small range, east and west of the pole, would enable them most accurately to determine the star's true mid-point below the pole; that is, the true north. When they had thus obtained a slant tunnel pointing truly to the meridian, and had carried it down to a point nearly below the middle of the proposed square base, they could, from the middle of the base, bore vertically downwards, until by rough calculation they were near the lower end of the slant tunnel; or both tunnels could be made at the same time. Then a subterranean chamber would be opened out from the slant tunnel. The vertical boring, which need not be wider than necessary to allow a plumb-line to be suspended down it, would enable the architects to determine the point vertically below the point of suspension. The slant tunnel would give the direction of the true north, either from that point or from a point at some known small distance east or west of that point.* Thus, a line from some ascertained point near the mouth of the vertical boring to the mouth of the slant tunnel would lie due north and south, and serve as the required guide for the orientation of the pyramid's base. If this base extended beyond the opening of the slant tunnel, then, by continuing this tunnelling through the base tiers of the pyramid, the means would be obtained of correcting the orientation. This, I say, would be the course naturally suggested to astronomical architects who had determined the latitude in the manner described above. It may even be described as the only very accurate method available before the telescope had been invented. So that if the accuracy of the orientation appears to be greater than could be obtained by the shadow method, the natural inference, even in the absence of corroborative evidence, would be that the stellar method, and no other, had been employed. Now, in 1779, Nouet, by refined observations, found the error of orientation measured by less than twenty minutes of arc, corresponding roughtly to a displacement of the corners by about 37.5 inches from their true position, as sup Now there is a slanting tunnel occupying precisely the position of the tunnel which should, according to this view, have been formed in order accurately to orient the pyramid's base, assuming that the time of the building of the pyramid corresponded with one of the epochs when the star Alpha Draconis was distant 3° 42m.. from the pole of the heavens. In other words, there is a slant tunnel directed northwards and upwards from a point deep down below the middle of the pyramid's base, and inclined 26° 17m. to the horizon, the elevation of Alpha Draconis at its lower culmination when 3° 42m. from the pole. The last epoch when the star was thus placed was circiter 2160 B.C.; the epoch next before that was 3440 B.C.; and between these two we should have to choose, on the hypothesis that the slant tunnel was really directed to that star when the foundations of the pyramid were laid. For the next epoch before the earlier of the two named was about 28000 B.C., and the pyramid's date cannot have been more remote than 4000 B.C. The slant tunnel, while admirably fulfilling the requirements suggested, seems altogether unsuited for any other. Its transverse height (that is, its width in a direction perpendicular to its upper and lower faces) did not amount to quite four feet; its breadth was not quite three feet and a half. It was, therefore, not well fitted for an entrance passage to the subterranean chamber immediately under the apex of the pyramid (with which chamber it communicates in the manner suggested by the above theory). It could not have been intended |