DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15#0118
leâ THÈ GRÈÀT PYRAMID. ■ ■
less also Cheops's coffin until his body was " resur-
rectionised " by the thieves who first broke into the
pyramid), do contain clear indications.' The cubit
referred to is the working cubit of 2θ| inches, or
about a fiftieth of an inch less. For a person of
average height, it is equal to about the distance
from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, plus
a hand's-breadth, the former distance being the
natural cubit (for a person of such height). The
natural cubit is as nearly as possible half-a-yard,
and most probably our yard measure is derived
from this shorter cubit. The working cubit may be
regarded as a long half-yard, the double working
cubit or working Egyptian yard measure, so to
speak, being 41^ inches long.
The length of the base-circuit of the great pyra-
mid may be most easily remembered by noticing
that it contains as many working cubits as our mile
éontains yards, viz., 1,760 ; giving 440 cubits as the
length of each of the four sides of the base. If
Lincoln's Inn Fields were enlarged to a square
having its sides equal to the greatest sides of the
present Fields, the area of this, the largest ' square '
in London, would be almost exactly equal to that
of the pyramid's base—or about 13^ acres. The
front of Chelsea Hospital has almost the same
length as a side of the pyramid's base, so also has
less also Cheops's coffin until his body was " resur-
rectionised " by the thieves who first broke into the
pyramid), do contain clear indications.' The cubit
referred to is the working cubit of 2θ| inches, or
about a fiftieth of an inch less. For a person of
average height, it is equal to about the distance
from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, plus
a hand's-breadth, the former distance being the
natural cubit (for a person of such height). The
natural cubit is as nearly as possible half-a-yard,
and most probably our yard measure is derived
from this shorter cubit. The working cubit may be
regarded as a long half-yard, the double working
cubit or working Egyptian yard measure, so to
speak, being 41^ inches long.
The length of the base-circuit of the great pyra-
mid may be most easily remembered by noticing
that it contains as many working cubits as our mile
éontains yards, viz., 1,760 ; giving 440 cubits as the
length of each of the four sides of the base. If
Lincoln's Inn Fields were enlarged to a square
having its sides equal to the greatest sides of the
present Fields, the area of this, the largest ' square '
in London, would be almost exactly equal to that
of the pyramid's base—or about 13^ acres. The
front of Chelsea Hospital has almost the same
length as a side of the pyramid's base, so also has