The Great Pyramid.

THE GREAT PYRAMID .

BY BRO . JOHN CHAPMAN , F . R . M . S ., P . PBOV . G . D . DEVON .

( Continued from page 155 . ; THE HISTORIC TESTIMONY OF THE GREAT PYRAMID . HAVING treated upon the Scientific revelations of the Great Pyramid , and finding its solutions of the various problems worked out with a

mathematical nicety which cannot be improved , we will now proceed with its Historic pointing . The computing of Bible dates , according to the efforts of distinguished chronologers , indicate very great uncertainty . It is true that the late researches in this interesting field of labour have proved highly satisfactory , but the chain of evidence is far from complete . The Assyrian

explorations have revealed facts that have corrected some of the fallacious dates that have been given ; a careful examination , however , of several of these charts ( by able authors ) will lead us to the conclusion that they have not yet obtained satisfactory data on which to establish a perfect chronology . The monumental records of both Egypt and Assyria have been carefully placed

before the student , to enable him , as far as they go , to spell out the facts of Biblical history . Mr . W . Rowbottom has contributed a very interesting work on this subject , entitled " The Mystery of the Bible Dates solved by the Great

Pyramid , " which is well worth perusing . Mr . Rowbottom says what must be proved is this : — " That the Pyramid , which gives dates without events agrees exactly with the Bible , which gives events and periods without dates . " Just so . This we are prepared to prove .

The Historical data , symbolised by the Great Pyramid , is clearly defined , It does not profess to gives dates prior to the Deluge ; it has recorded that date by the mouth of the entrance passage ; but all its pointings from the birth of Abram forward were prophetic . So that we do not seek for deductions from its data for anything which bears upon the history of the antediluvian

world . It would not be very difficult , however , to imagine a period of 1 , 949 years prior to the erection of the Great Pyramid ; so that if we add that number , with the number of inches of the history-recording passages , from the Messianic lines or birth of Abram ( which is the date of the Great Pyramid erection ) , 2170 B . C ., to the termination of the Grand Gallery , we then arrive

at a total of 6 , 000 years . This , however , forms no part of our programme . The intention of this paper is to bring out the Historic data that formed the prophetic pointing at the time of its erection , 2170 B . O . And let us also note this fact , that from the date of its erection , up to the present time , the pointing then was strictly prophetic , and that it is only the lapse of time

that has brought it within the range of History . If , therefore , the great events that have marked the history of the Hebrew family during the past 4 , 066 years can be found symbolised in its true time-recording passages , then we maintain that there is undoubted evidence upon which to rest for the unfulfilled portions of that prophecy that marks the future . Only a very

short period must now elapse before we find ourselves face to face with the termination of the Grand Gallery ; when there , we shall be anxiously gazing upon the scroll of prophecy , and striving by its light to read the future of

that wonderful providence that has attended the past ; but we are not quite there yet , so let us retrace our steps , and , cautiously creeping down the ascending passage , make our way up to the entrance of the building , and there begin to note the date of the erection of this wonderful structure .

The cosmical truths that have been our theme must now give place to the study of the ethical features , which will be treated by the same inductive process as the former . In following so able an authority as C . Piazzi Smyth , LL . D ., and accepting his careful computation of the various measures , we shall only be recognising true merit , and establishing the Historical pointing

of the Great Pyramid on what should be regarded a reliable basis . If , therefore , the reader is prepared to make the effort , and will ascend with us the mound of rubbish that has been accumulating for centuries at the mouth of the entrance passage on the north side of the building , and will minutely follow ( in imagination ) the late Astronomer Royal for Scotland , as he

carefully introduces that finely wrought measuring-rod , and " the best instruments that the most advanced skill could produce , " to the battered opening of the descending-passage , he will find that the following facts , among others , will be deduced . The passage-angle of inclination will be found to be 26 ° 18 ' . " Let us then try to roll back the events of the past 4 , 066

years , and carefully make our way down the inclined plane of the entrance passage , on a fine clear night in the autumn of 2170 B . C ., and by directing our attention up the passage we shall be able to observe with the naked eye the then Polar star , a Draconis , bolow the Pole . This date astronomically determines the erection of the Great Pyramid . The confirmation of this

date is found by taking the measuring-rod and tracing the distance between the north end of the Grand Gallery and the Messianic lines ( to which we shall presently refer ) , which yields the same result , viz ., 2 , 170 inches . Having observed the position of the then Polar star , a Draconis , let us note the remarkable position of another important constellation , the Pleiades group .

While a Draconis in the year 2170 B . O ., in the Northern hemisphere , was crossing below the pole , at that same instant the Pleiades , in the Southern meridian , was crossing above the pole . This event will not be again repeated for 25 , 827 years . Dr . C . Piazzi Smyth gives us the event in very clear terms

he states that , " When a Draconis was so looking down the entrance-passage in the North , then Tauri , the chief star in the Pleiades group , was crossing the local terrestial meridian towards the South , in the vertical plane direction of the Grand Gallery , but at a point high up in the sky near the equator . At the same moment of that year , 2170 B . C ., the celestial meridian

The Great Pyramid.

of the vernal equinox also coincided with that same Tauri star , and gave it for the time extraordinary chronological super-eminence over all others . " Taking then for granted that the date of erection is astronomically fixed by the then polar star , a Draconis , and having shown that the still more

important constellation , the Pleiades , at the same moment indicated the angle of the Grand Gallery , we must conclude that these star pointings had a closer connection with the chronological scale of the Great Pyramid than is generally admitted .

We have already alluded to the Messianic lines , that are so exquisitely cut in the wall of the entrance passage , 357 inches from the opening ; but , before dealing with these lines , let us note the fact that this part of the wall is composed of blocks of stone constructed in two rows , that have suggested to some the idea of the doubling of the space , as a measuring record . Let

us leave this until more light is evolved , seeing that it terminates before the block of stone that precedes the Messianic line , and which will form the point for many of the date measurements . The mean transverse height of this passage being only some forty-seven inches , and the breadth forty-one inches , we shall not have too much space in which to adjust the instruments

for computing the various angles and distances ; but , with the exercise of a little patience , the circumscribed area will undoubtedly yield its timerecording scale . Having , then , disposed for the present of the indications of the first 357 inches of this passage , we now come to the important lines known as Messianic , at which we fix the date of the birth of Abram . These

transverse lines are , as already stated , of very fine execution , as though they had been cut by a sharp instrument , as a ruled line , and are preceded by a vertical block of stone , the joints of which appear to point to the important date , which , up to the year 1872 , has been designated " the uninterpreted sign , " but which we now regard as the duplicate of the date of erection , and

also the date of the birth of the Patriarch to whom the promise was first given , that in him and his seed should all the families of the earth be blessed ; hence the propriety of the term " Messianic lines . " Regarding , therefore , the birth of Abram , as fixed by these lines , 2170 B . O ., let us now take the measuring-rod down the passage , along the floor-line , for a distance of 628

inches , and we shall come to an ascending passage . The name of Abram has been changed into Abraham . The promises of the most High have been vouchsafed to the Patriarch—his son Isaac is born , and the terrible test is given to Abraham's faith—the test proves the stability of the Patriarch ' s faith . Jacob is born to Isaac , and there is a succession of very remarkable

events , such as the purchase of the birthright—the supplanting of his elder brother Esau—the obtaining ( through fraud ) of the parental blessing ; and a very eventful career , in which he receives the Divine confirmation of the promises given to Abraham . Among these events we might refer to that midnight struggle , which changed his name from Jacob into Israel ; the

sojourn in Egypt , & c . Nearing the ascending passage , we arrive at the date of the birth of Moses . Here we recognise a new epoch in the history of the Hebrew family . It becomes a question whether we should lay on one side the measuring-rod , and continue our downward course for the remaining 3 , 461 inches that Colonel Howard-Vyse gives to the passage beyond the

junction of the ascending passage , or proceed up the ascending passage in the direction of the Grand Gallery and in the interior of the building . It would appear that up to the present there has not been any time-recording dates connected with this passage beyond the junction of the two passages . From the intersection of these two passages downwards , the only interpretation

offered , with regard to its pointing , is that it " is held to symbolise man's departure from God and righteousness down to the pit of perdition , this subterranean chamber having a finished roof and walls , but no finished floor . " While we hold ourselves free from this theory , we are , nevertheless bound to admit that , according to Colonel Howard-Vyse ' s computation of its

length , there is nothing in its dimensions that indicates a historic pointing . We will , therefore , direct our attention to the junction of the two passages that gives the date of the birth of Moses , taking the point of intersection of the ascending passage , which makes the thirty-three years , supposed to be the period in the life of Moses when he " refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter . "

We will now proceed with the measuring of the ascending passage . In carefully examining the construction of this ascending passage , how forcibly we are struck with that unique description of the old English astronomer Professor Greaves . Some two hundred and forty years ago he described it in the following graceful terms : —" The pavement of this rises with a gentle

acclivity , CDnsisting of smooth and impolished marble ( limestone ) , and , where not smeared with filth , appearing of a white alabaster ( cream ) colour . The sides and roof , as Titus Livius Burretinus , a Venetian , an ingenious young man who accompanied me thither , observed , were of impolished stone ,

and not so hard and compact as that of the pavement , but more soft and tender . " Time has not unsettled the old Professor ' s statement . The measuring-rod gives the floor plane of this passage 1 , 542 inches and a fraction , and then opens out the Grand Gallery .

We can fully understand the Biblical student when he inquires for dates that mark the interim ; for the period between the Exodus of Israel from Egypt to tho birth of our Lord is so pregnant with startling events that we feel tempted to enter into the details of this important period of Israel ' s history ; but we cannot , in the limited space of this paper , do more than

give the fact which the limestone joinings of the floor-plane indicate . The following dates we must leave for the solution of the chronologists , who up to the present have found it so difficult to establish the known events on a satisfactory data . Measuring from the north beginning of tho Grand Gallery to the intersection of the entrance passage , these lines register the following