20 



DISCOVERY 



and conclusive. Let me, then, describe the manner 

 in which this venerable enigma of the builder's lore 

 lurks, unseen by the average eye, in the unchanging 

 lineaments of the Pyramids. For some years I tried 



Fig. 2.— a F.WOURITE slope of rVR.\MIDS. 



unsuccessfully to find a relation between the slope of 

 the Great Pyramid and any of the angles of the 3.4.5 

 triangle. Failing in that direction, I directed my 

 attention to some of the others out of the many 

 Egyptian pyramids and met with the following extra- 

 ordinary result. In the Encyclopcedia Britannica the 

 slope of the Second Pyramid, that of Kephron, and 

 also of the seventh, eighth, and ninth pyramids, is given 

 as 53° 10'. The discrepancy between the 53° 8' of 

 the 3.4.5 triangle and this statement of the measure- 

 ment by engineers is, as a matter of material practice, 

 so small that there seems little reason to doubt that 

 in the building of these pyramids the 3.4.5 triangle 

 was used to regulate the slope of the sides in the 

 manner shown in Fig. 2. The agreement is so close 

 between the theoretical angle and the angle recorded 

 as measured that in the Second Pyramid, whose 

 height is given as 472 ft., the recorded height is within 

 a few inches of the theoretical height. When we take 

 into account the ill-defined surface of the stonework, 

 the instrumental and personal errors, the theory may 

 fairly be regarded as a true explanation. 



Even in the Great Pyramid itself, although the 

 slope of the side cannot be made to conform with this 

 theory, there lies a cryptic revelation of the 3.4.5 

 proportions hidden in the dimensions of the King's 

 Chamber, the very nucleus of the stone immensity. 



The dimensions of the King's Chamber are given as 

 34 by 17 ft., with a height of 19 ft. The floor is a 

 simple oblong, twice as long as it is broad — a figure 

 which has some little interest in itself, yet, in view 

 of what follows, the simplicity of its design might 

 almost be considered as an intentional blind to divert 



one from the true secret concealed in the dimensions. 

 The curious relation of width to height, 17 to 19 ft., 

 lacking, so far as I could find, any feature of interest, 

 led me to probe in other directions, and finally I 

 discovered that an imaginary' 3.4.5 triangle will 

 exactly fit into the chamber if the 4 side is assumed 

 to lie along the foot of one of the side walls with the 

 opposite angle of the triangle raised until the 5 side 

 forms the solid diagonal of the chamber. The dia- 

 gram in Fig. 3 will make this clear. 



The statement is not an airy creation of fancy. If 

 the measurements, on which the calculations are based, 

 are correct (and there is no reason to doubt their 

 accuracy), then the result is a mathematical certainty. 

 Taking the 34 ft. as representing one side — the 4 side 

 — of the 3.4.5. triangle, the 3 side is the diagonal of 

 the end wall, that is to say, v'l?'' + I9" = 25"5. 

 Then, to find the 5 side of the triangle we have 

 V^S'S^ 4- 34^ = 42'5. The three sides of the imaginary 

 triangle are, thus, 25^5, 34, and 42'5. These will all 

 divide by 8"5, and are found to be in the ratio of 3.4.5. 



The work of setting out the dimensions in this 

 chamber would have been carried out more easily by 

 cords than by rods. Three of the priestly architects 

 working in solitude, so as to preserve the special 

 knowledge which they alone possessed, would deter- 

 mine the intended height of the chamber by the 

 simultaneous stretching of two cords. Once the 

 height had been determined, the polished red granite 

 blocks forming the walls would have been built up, 

 the roof slabs laid, and the superstructure completed. 

 The treasure buried in the heart of the Great Pyramid 

 was not a hoard of gold or jewels that could be ran- 

 sacked ; it was entirely immaterial ; an idea, not a 



Fig. 3.— the secret OF THE KING'S CHAMBER. 



tangible thing ; and so it came about that through 

 forty centuries of turmoil and change it rested there 

 an unsolved mystery, the most baffling of all the 

 puzzles in Time's amusing toy-shop. 



