Celestial And Mathematical Precision In Ancient Architecture

Manitoban ^ | 1-7-2006 | Melissa hIEBERT

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[RightWhale]

less than 0.2 of a degree off

This is less than wonderful. Anybody can align something within a minute. Being off a minute makes for a poor shot.

[desertlily]

I believe that just like genuine artists don't have to be taught the principles of good design........so do true architects/builders have an intuitive understanding of shape and space and what will work and what won't.

[Lakeshark]

And we think we’re advanced

Amazing coincidence. I was at the top of this pyramid some years ago, marvelling and wandering around, when I went into the little room at the top, there was this woman, doing something like a Tai Chi dance, obviously trying to bond with the spirits of those who made the pyramid. She started telling me how amazing this place was, how it showed that there were others as advanced as us. She said the same quote: And we think we’re advanced

I listened and talked with her for a few minutes and then pointed to the side of the pyramid where it is said they threw the bodies of those whose hearts they had just cut out live......sometimes thousands in a day.

She was awfully silent after that.

[SunkenCiv]

Oddly enough, I have something to contribute that I was about to add to my links page here on FR, and had it ready in the Paste buffer:

GGG: Egypt: On Proving Ancient Megalith Construction by Jim Solley
http://slimebug.home.comcast.net/megaliths.html

[bnelson44]

How hard is it to aline a building with the North Star?

[canuck_conservative]

Re the occurence of "pi" in dimension-ratios of ancient buildings:

Not as advanced as you might think. Lateral distances can easily be marked off in "turns" of a wheel of unit diameter; so if height is measured in just the units, the ratio will always contain pi!

[Recon Dad]

I to climbed the pyramid a few years ago. Well I got half way to the top and my vertigo kicked in. Never saw such steep steps. Hugged them all the way down. Even with that I was totally fascinated with Chichen Itza. I got to go to Giza last May and I've been to the big pyramid at Teotihaucan outside Mexico City a long, long time ago.

Am I missing any biggies?

[Thebaddog]

How about that precessional wobble or whatever the name was for the wobble of the axis. Betcha that has something to do with climate change and the evil Global Warming every 41,000 years.

[ops33]

Why do we continue to be amazed that ancient people could count, add and subtract?

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

Don't know but need to know how to cut an arc 48 inches long. I am making a bench in the Shaker style. Sory that I am igorant but can't figure it out. If you have some formula let me know. Thanks. Archimedes where are you?

[festus]

She was awfully silent after that.

You're mean ;-) I like that. Facts never bother a liberal ( and Tai Chi types are invariably liberal.)

I bet they killed em very precisely too.......

[festus]

A valid observation.

[bkepley]

Anyone who has ever tried to do math the way they used to do it knows they had to be some pretty smart people.

[ops33]

Make a template using a string and a pencil. Cut the string to the correct length, place the pencil point at the center of the arc (or circle since an arc is only a portion of a circle) and draw 48".

[Lakeshark]

Am I missing any biggies?

Just the strange woman at the top.....

:-)

[Lakeshark]

As precise as you can be with a stone knife and a live subject.........why do these priests that were remind me of the Taliban?

I have no doubt this woman was a lib. Hopefully she has seen the error of her ways. I actually felt a bit sorry for her, all the same.........twas hard not to laugh when I saw her.......

Yeah......... mean.....but it was pretty funny too!

[Robert A Cook PE]

Good summary: but it is not that difficult to align large structures (even then!) with little more than a plumb bob, tight string or rope, and a straight pole.

Yes, it takes precision, but a few years of observation from the same place will give accurate sight lines to build the desired structure.

Strangely, this writer did not include Stonehenge, arguably much more complex than the pyramid because of the sun and moon sight lines to the equinoxes, the max point, minimum point, and the solar and lunar eclipse predictions made possible by the circles of stone and pits.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Make a template using a string and a pencil. Cut the string to the correct length, place the pencil point at the center of the arc (or circle since an arc is only a portion of a circle) and draw 48".

I don't that will work: the piece seems to be a curved member (What radius?) whose LENGTH along the outside of the arc is 48".

So, with a string and pencil, or thin board (1/2 x 1/2, 1 x 1/4) with a pencil hole in one end, and a pointer hole in the other (???) distance away, draw a circle. Take the string or tape measure, or one inch long strip of wood, or rule exactly one inch wide, and mark off 48 increments along the circle.

A little faster, but a little less accurate? Use a 2" or 3" strip. Get one of those cheap ($1.50) little compass sets from the grocery store and use it to mark off equal lengths.

For what you are cutting (Shaker furniture), this method of using a bunch of small straight lengths around the circle will be accurate enough.