The Great Pyramid (Nelson Barbour 1876)

Nelson H BarbourProfessor C. Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, has published a remarkable book of over 500 pages, with 17 explanatory plates, entitled "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, "which appears to have a remarkable bearing on science, and some of the leading prophetic events of the world.

The Great Pyramid stands in latitude 30, at the center of an area which sweeps the Delta of lower Egypt. Isaiah appears to allude to this massive monument in the following language; "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt" (Isaiah 19:19,20) This witness testimony of the Great Pyramid was only to be made manifest in the latter days.

The base of the Great Pyramid covers more than 13 square acres, and is built on a rock leveled for the purpose. The four corner stones are let into the main rock, and the four sides face exactly the four cardinal points of the heavens. Its height is 484 feet.

THE SACRED CUBIT

The ten-millionth part of the earth’s semi-axis of rotation is 25 Pyramid inches, or 25.025 British inches; which was suggested by Sir Isaac Newton, in his day, to be about the length of the sacred cubit employed by Moses.

The length of a base side of the Pyramid is 9,130 pyramid inches; and this divided by sacred cubit, or 25, gives precisely the number of days, hours, and minutes in the solar year; and by measuring the four sides, it gives the leap-year, there being exactly that difference in the length of one of those base sides.

Mr. Wm. Petrie, C.E. has computed from the Great Pyramid, the distance to the sun at 91,840,000 miles, while, a few years ago, one group of astronomers computed the distance to be 91,500,000; and another group give it as 92,500,000; thus the Pyramid sun distance, falling between the two computations of those two groups of modern astronomers, is perhaps as nearly correct as science will ever determine.

The mouth of the only entrance passage into the Pyramid is about 49 feet above the ground, on the north side, and descends by a very small bore, leading in a straight line to a subterranean rock-chamber 100 feet below the center of the base of the whole monument.

Down this entrance passage about 1,045 inches from its mouth, there is an ascending passage leading from the entrance passage to the Grand Gallery. This latter passage is 47 inches high, and 41 inches broad, and is at an elevation of 26 degrees. The Grand Gallery being 28 feet in height, is just seven times the height of the passage leading thereto, and is also at an elevation of 26 degrees.

Near the entrance of the Grand Gallery, is a hole or passage descending almost perpendicularly to a natural grotto in the rock beneath the Pyramids base, and from thence, this passage descends still lower till it forms a junction with the descending entrance passage, a short distance above where the entrance passage leads into the subterranean rock chamber, which chamber is over 140 feet beneath the floor of the Grand Gallery.

The Grand Gallery leads to the Ante-chamber adjoining the King’s Chamber. The Ante-chamber is 116 Pyramid inches in length, 65 in breadth from east to west, and 149 in height. The grand symbol in this chamber on the south wall is its division into 5 perpendicular spaces; while on the east and west walls there is a granite leaf, with a boss on each leaf. Here we have the sacred, or the Great Pyramid’s own cubit divided into 5, in the shape of this boss on the granite leaf, just 5 inches broad. And further, it is divided into 5 again; for the thickness of this remarkable boss is 1-5th of its breadth; thus giving the divisions of the sacred cubit into _ 5X5 inches.

The size of the King’s Chamber, in Pyramid inches, is 412 in length, 206 in breadth, and 230 in height. In this chamber there is a stone coffer of the same commensurable capacity as the sacred Ark of the Covenant.

The division into 5, of the wall courses of the King’s Chamber, strikes the eye of the visitor as he enters the low door way. Each course round the room is about 4 feet high, except the lower course which sinks one-tenth below the floor, so that the top of the lowest course is on a level with the top of the granite coffer. Two separate sets of measured numbers in Pyramid inches, for the length, breadth, and height of the lowest course, give, when divided by the coffer’s contents, 50. So we have = the multiple of _ 5X5 equals 25, and twice 25 equals 50, which is a prophetic or jubilee number. And it is somewhat striking that while the Queen’s Chamber stands on the 25th course of masonry, the King’s Chamber stands on the 50th course, from the base of the Pyramid.

The molten sea of Solomon’s temple contained 2,000 baths, or 50 times as much as the laver, and also exactly 50 times as much as internal cubic contents of the sacred Ark of Moses. And it is remarkable that the lower course of the King’s Chamber was so adjusted in height, by the removal from sight of its lower 5 inches, that the cubic content of that lower course amounts to 50 times, the coffer’s contents, and exactly equals that of Solomon’s molten sea. "When, then," asks the Astronomer Royal, "came the metreological ideas common to three individuals in three different ages, and involving reference to deep cosmical attributes of the earth, understood by the highest of human learning at none of those times? The answer can hardly be other than that the God of Israel inspired the architect of the Great Pyramid, as well as the Prophet Moses, and King Solomon."

ASTRONOMY OF ENTRANCE PASSAGE

"In the year 2170 B.C. (Viz. 125 years before the call of Abraham) the Pole star (or north star) Draconis, was three degrees and 42 minutes from the Pole of the sky, and therefore, when at its lowest culmination looked right down the entrance passage.

When the Pole star was so looking down the entrance passage (which, it will be remembered, is a small bore beginning about 49 feet above the base of the Pyramid, and descends, in a straight line, to the rock chamber situated 100 feet below the center of the base of the Pyramid) Tauri, the chief star in the Pleiades group, was crossing the local terrestrial meridian, at a point high up in the sky, near the equator, and simultaneously with the celestial meridian of the vernal equinox. That whole stellar combination had not taken place for 25,000 years previously, and will not take place again in 25,000 years.

This grand quantity, or peculiar celestial cycle, is further defined by the length of the diagonals of the base, which lay out the whole Great Pyramid’s position, when their sum is reckoned up in Pyramid inches.

From the north beginning of the Grand Gallery floor there, in southward procession, begin the years of the Savior’s earthly life, expressed at the rate of a Pyramid inch to a year. Three and thirty inch years, therefore, bring us right over against the mouth of the well, which extends down to the bottomless pit, the type of his death; while the long lofty Grand Gallery shows the dominating rule in the world of the Gospel Church, over spanned above by the 36 stones of his months of ministry on earth, and defined by the floor length, which measures 1881 inch years. The Bible, fully studied, shows He intended this dispensation to last only for a time; a time too, which may terminate very much sooner than most men expect, and shown by the southern wall IMPENDING.

The southern wall of the Grand Gallery was found impending, by a quantity, if that interests any one, of 1 degree, (about 6 inch years.)

NOTE BY EDITOR

This is an interesting coincidence; for as the floor measure points to 1881, for, as we believe, the commencement of the return of literal Israel; the 6 years, "impending," is the exact measure of the time from the spring of 1875, where according to the jubilee cycles, the "times of restitution," should have begun.

Again: The mouth of the well, the type of Christ’s death, is 33 inches from the Grand Gallery; and this 33 inches added to the measure of the Grand Gallery floor 1881, make 1914, the date of the end of "The Times of the Gentiles."

The measure of the descending entrance passage of the Great Pyramid as far as its junction with the ascending passage to the Grand Gallery is given as 1045 inch years, but its complete length, as it passes on, in a direct line to the bottomless pit, is unfortunately not given, only as "more than 4,000 inch years." This was an oversight; for if from the mouth of the descending entrance passage of the Pyramid, down that passage as fra as the junction of the ascending passage to the grand Gallery, measures the time to the beginning of the law dispensation, then from the mouth of the entrance, straight down the descending passage to the bottomless pit, should be the measure to the time of the fulfillment of Re 20:1-2, where the "dragon" is to be cast into the "bottomless pit." This passage, simply referred to as over 4000 inches, is a little less than one half of the length of the diameter of the base of the Pyramid; that is, a little less than 4565 inches; and by drawing a diagram of all the given measurements of the Pyramid, I find it to be about 4442 inches in length.

As given in the pamphlet from which I copy, the measure back from the Grand Gallery to the mouth of the entrance passage represent the year B.C. 2527; which would be 56 years before the flood, 4442 inch years straight down the descending passage, where it enters the bottomless pit, bring us to A.D. 1914: when, according to the period measuring "The Times of the Gentiles", the "dragon" should be bound.

Again, the passage through which Christ "descends into hell," the natural grotto below the Pyramid, has a lower entrance forming a junction with this long entrance passage of the Pyramid, at a little distance before that entrance passage arrives at the bottomless pit. Unfortunately also, this "short distance" is not specified. It shows however, that the resurrection is due a little before Satan is bound. And if that "short distance" should prove to be 40 inches, that also would harmonize with the prophetic period which makes the resurrection due 40 years before "the times of the Gentiles" end. At all events, these measures approximate to, and wonderfully harmonize with the prophetic periods.

MELCHIZEDEK

"Now the man who built the Great Pyramid, or laid its foundations in 2170 B.C. was contemporary with or a little older than was Abraham. Melchizedek was a grandly mysterious kingly character, to whom Abraham offered the tenth of the spoils. He was "king of Salem, and priest of the Most High God."