All over the world traditional units of measurements are related and originally defined by astronomical and/or geodetic properties of the Earth. As such, they contain information about the size and movements of the Earth.
Carl Munck – Archaeocryptography – The Code
copyrighted Carl Munck 1996
Carl Munck is an archeocryptographer who re-discovered an ancient geo mathematical grid on Earth with precise latitude/longitude positions of ancient pyramids, mounds, effigies, monuments, and stone circles. He has been able to confirm these discoveries by simply pointing-out what is there for all to see, by use of simple math. One of his greatest achievements was in proving that the prime meridian is actually centered on the Great Pyramid of Giza instead of Greenwich, England. Sadly his re-discoveries are ignored, swept under the carpet of the collective unconscious.
Carl came out with a series of videos in the 90’s called “The Code”. This three part series is 5 hours long, but worth watching every minute. He clearly lays out this ‘geomath matrix’ in astounding detail and accuracy by surveying various ancient sites around the globe. He found a code that the ancient’s knew about and had used in determining where to place sacred temples, and sacred sites. It is simply known as THE CODE, or Code of the Ancients.
He’ since come out with several books out on this fascinating subject.
One of Munck’s major discoveries is his re-discovery of “our” original prime meridian for longitude measurement.
He determined that the prime meridian for this ‘geomath matrix’ passes directly through the center of The Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt.
So; we adjust our longitude (east or west, according to the site we are working with) by 31 deg 08 min 0.8 sec . . .the exact longitude distance between the current Greenwich, England prime meridian and the center of The Great Pyramid.
Alt Link: https://youtu.be/oVejksVkqkk
More information here: THE CODE
Carl Munck’s work is extensive! Here are few examples of pyramids decoded (based on his theory).
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.
COORDINATES: 29°58’45.03″ N and 31°08’03.69″ E
SLOPE Angle: 51°50’40″
4 Sides 440 Royal Egyptian Cubits each ( perimeter: 1760 Royal Egyptian Cubits )
Height: 280 Royal Egyptian Cubits
Let’s multiply latitude numbers 29 x 58 x 45.03 = 75740.46
Now, this pyramid has 4 sides, its perfect slope angle is 51.8428° and there are 365.24 days in a year:
4 x 51.8428 x 365.24 = 7,5740.26
Latitude: 51° 10′ 44.00″ N
Longitude: -1° 49′ 20.56″ W
In our current geographic coordinates system, the longitude for Stonehenge is: -1° 49′ 20.56″ W (West of Greenwich).
Today the Great Pyramid of Giza Longitude: 31° 08′ 2.21″ E.
When the Great Pyramid of Giza marks Longitude zero ( just like we use Greenwich today), the longitude of Stonehenge in the ancient “Code” system is: 32° 57′ 23.17″ West of Giza
Munck took the 60 original Sarsen Circle stones and multiplied them by 360 . . . 60 x 360 = 21600 . . . which “happens to be” the number of arc-minutes on any circumference, according to “our” math conventions.
Therefore 21,600 is the number of Nautical Miles on the polar circumference of Earth ( since nautical mile is defined as 1 min of arc of the Earth Circumference).
Pyramid of Kukulcan ( Chichen Itza )
Like the other pyramids of the Western Hemisphere, the Kukulkan Pyramid at Chichen Itza was a terraced monument as opposed to being a true pyramid form such an we see in Egypt. There were clear reasons for this departure from Egyptian architectural practice because in the West, pyramids convey specific numbers which can enable us to see why they were built where they were upon the earth.
The decoding process is generally quite simple, the only exceptions apparently having been at Tikal where the decoding process is not without certain complexities, otherwise the decoding is a simple process.
The Kukulkan is a classic example of this.
CORNER VIEW FROM THE GROUND
KUKULKAN PYRAMID at Chichen Itza on Mexico’s Yucatan.
Also known as the El Castillo (The Castle) and Quetzalcoatl,
Kukulkan Pyramid has staircases on all four sides.
With each staircase comprising 91 steps, the four
show 364 steps with the upper platform being the 365th step.
In this 3/4 view from ground level, notice that the pyramid shows us nine terraces.
This, the first number we use to assemble our formula for the decoding process.
The second number is 365. Kukulkan has four staircases, one on each side of the monument, on each staircase are 91 steps.
For the four, that totals to 364 steps with the top platform of the pyramid being the 365th step.
We now have our second number – 365.
In the overhead view, we see that the pyramid has four sides, and four staircases. We now have all the numbers shown by the architect and can put the decoding formula together:
9 terraces x 365 steps x 4 sides x 4 stairways = 52,560
There are also other numbers which also multiply to 52,560. These are 119, 42 and 10.51620648. Two rational numbers and an irrational, but these are not shown on the pyramid. These appear only on maps.
When the world’s pyramids were built, their longitudes were reckoned from a very ancient Prime Meridian (0/360° longitude) that ran from pole to pole across the Great Pyramid at Giza, a full 31 degrees, 08 minutes, 00.8 seconds to the east or our modern Greenwich Prime Meridian. In order to “read” our western pyramids this 31° 08′ 00.8″ longitudinal variance must be factored in to our present-day longitudes for these Western monuments, viz:
Copyright © 1996 – 2004, Carl Munck. All Rights Reserved.
The Moon and Earth
It’s curious that the Moon has such an influence on the oceans, which are made of water. And water’s boiling point is 273.2 % higher than its freezing point. We are something like 80% water.
The Moon is said to influence our emotions. Especially females. Women menstruate every full moon. Menstruation (menstrualis) literally translates to “monthly”. And “month” of course come from “moon”. Each ‘moonth’ lasts one full moon which is 29.53 days or 27.32 sidereal days(measured upon the background stars)
When we compare the size of Earth and Moon strange geometric synchronicities appear. The most fascinating of all is the ancient philosophical concept of ‘squaring the circle‘, that is drawing a square with the same area as that of the circle. You can also ‘square the circle’ with equal perimeters, which is what the Earth-Moon system do, to a very high degree of accuracy (99.97%).
The Earth and Moon’s diameters can be described as a simple ratio, 11:3, when comparing one to another. It turns out that this ratio is the solution to ‘squaring the circle’ (of equal perimeter). The Moon describes a circle that has the same circumference as the square’s perimeter that surrounds Earth. This fact was discovered or rediscovered by the late and great John Michell.
The magic number found in these geometries is 273, or more specifically 2732. I believe this is an overlooked constant in our matrix of reality. Here are some findings on this number.
- The ratio of Earth’s diameter to Moon’s diameter is 0.273. (The moon is 27.3 % the size of the Earth).
- Comparing a square’s perimeter to a circle having an equal circumference, the circle’s diameter is 27.3% longer than the edge of the square. (easier to visualize in the illustration).
- Inscribe a circle inside a square. The four corners make up 27.32% of the total area.
- This is reached through the formula: (4 – pi) / pi = 0.2732
- The relationship of the Great Pyramid’s height to half its base is 1.273:1 (or 4:?) and thus ‘squares the circle’.
- -273.2 degrees Celsius is the temperature of Absolute Zero.
- 27.32 is the freezing point of water on Kelvin scale (K).
- Absolute zero of water is 273.2% colder than the temperature it takes to boil.
- 273 days = average length of pregnancy (10 sidereal months).
- 27.3 days = human menstrual cycle.
- 27.32 earth days is the sidereal period of the moon (moon completes one full rotation, one ‘moonth’).
- 1/273.2 per C is the expansion/reduction of gas (Gasses expand by 1/273 of their volume with every degree on the Celsius/centigrade scale).
- Sunspots revolve about the Sun’s surface in 27.3 days.
- Water changes phase at 273°K.
- 273 days from the summer solstice to the vernal equinox.
- 2,730,000 is the circumference of the Sun in miles.
- The triple point of water is defined to take place at 273.16 K.
- The Cosmic Background Radiation is 2.73 K.
- The Earth and Moon orbital periods are reciprocals. 1/27.32 = 0.0366 (366 days in a sidereal year) (1/366 =.002732) 27.32 days in one ‘moonth’.
- 273 m/s2 = acceleration of the Sun.
- .273 cm/s2 = acceleration of the moon along its path around the Earth.
There are intriguing relationships between Pi and numbers multiplied in sequence…
- Pi = 3.141 592 653 589 793 238 462 643 383 279 502 884 197 169 399 375…
- Multiply first 7 digits of Pi: 3x1x4x1x5x9x2 = 1,080
- 2 x 1,080 = 2,160 = 3 x 720
- 10 x 1,080 = 10,080
- 11 x 720= 7,920
- 6! = 1x2x3x4x5x6 =720
- 7! = 5040
PS Units of Measuring Length/Distance
Measurement means the act of measuring or the size of something.
To Measure means to ascertain the dimensions, capacity, or amount (quantity) of something.
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of measurement.
People have always found it necessary to measure time, distance, area, volume and weight, and have devised units that measure these quantities.
For time, there is an absolute standard in the motions of the heavens, but for the other quantities the units have had to be chosen arbitrarily.
Official view is that only recently have we succeeded in creating system of measurement accepted all over the world as the standard system for use in science and trade: The International System of Units (SI). However some researchers suggest that in ancient times people were commonly using units of measure similar in value and closely related to each other.
All ancient cultures used units of measures. The earliest known uniform systems of weights and measures seem to have all been created sometime in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. Indeed, people who have not previously been regarded as civilized in the literal sense, manifestly utilised this sophisticated measurement system to extraordinary degrees of accuracy.
Similarity of certain units used by ancient architects around the world raises these questions:
- Was there a system as a whole, which all civilizations used as reference, that predated them all?
- Were ancient people able to arrive to the identical systems of measure because they used nature to define such units?
- Was there re any direct cultural contacts between the disparate peoples who used the identical system?
The modern practice of dividing a circle into 360 degrees, of 60 minutes each, began with the Sumerians.
Units of Time
Observing movement of the Sun and the stars suggested that Earth is spinning around its own axis and that the Sun is moving against the background of constellations. This suggested there are 2 cycles: earth axis spin cycle and earth around the sun orbital cycle.
In ancient times it was easy to observe the Sun in order to establish units of time so it is good assumption that such units would be “solar units of time”. We use them today and call them “solar days” or simply days (as opposed to stellar background based “sidereal days”).
After these cycles were noticed (discovered) the next step would be to quantify them (describe them using specific units of measurement).
Numbers like 360, 72, 30, 12 and multiples thereof were intentionally plotted in ancient myths. It was as if the storyteller were trying to convey a secret code. Here’s what the figures signify in the precession cycle:
- 360 degrees = 12 X 30 degrees, or one full circuit through the zodiac constellations
- 72 years = the time it takes for the stars to shift 1 degree
- 30 degrees = one astrological age (a different zodiac constellation rises with the Sun every 2,160 years)
- 12 = the total number of zodiac signs or astrological ages.
- Ancient divided the whole sky into 12 equal parts called constellations.
- Zodiac (circle division): 12 equal parts (or 4×3): 4 quarters each into 3 and further each third into 10 (4, 3, 10)
- Each Constellation had 30 degrees (360/12)
- 30 degrees = 1,800 minutes = 108,000 seconds.
- 12 times 2,160 = 25,920 years, or one full precession cycle
- In Babylonia, the ancient scribe Berossus wrote that mythical kings ruled before the Great Flood for a total 432,000 years.
- In India, the Rigvida contains exactly 432,000 syllables.
And although the calculation has created some confusion of late, the Vedic Kali Yuga (representing the current world age) is said to be comprised of 432,000 years.
- On the other side of the globe, Mayan calendar units parrot the precessional figures.
The standard Mayan base of 20 (ours is 10) is arrived at by dividing 43,200 by 2,160.
- For example: 1 tun (an astronomical year) = 360 days;
- 6 tuns = 2,160 days;
- 1 katun = 7200 days,
- 6 katuns = 43,200.
Today we use decimal system (multiples of 10) however when it comes to measuring angles, we use ancient convention:
a circle is not divided into 100 (or 1000 parts), instead it divided in 360 units (called degrees) and each unit is further divided into 60 equal parts called minutes and each one of these is further divided into 60 equal units called seconds.
A full circle has 360 degrees, 21,600 (360×60) minutes and 1,296,000 (360x60x60) seconds.
Dividing the daily cycle into equal parts established units of time.
Ancient divisions were not decimal but based on 24 and 60:
1/24 of the Earth spin cycle was unit we call now 1 hour, Each hour is divided into 60 equal units (called minutes) and each minute is divided into 60 equal units (called seconds).
The finest unit of time in ancient times was one second:
1/(24x60x60) = 1/86400 part of one spin cycle (1 day). In other words 1 rotation cycle of the Earth (one day) has 24 hours, 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds.
Each day was divided into 24 parts called hours, each hour into 60 minutes and each minute in to 60 seconds (today we divide seconds using decimal system; 1/10, 1/100, 1/1000 (millisecond).
Each day has 24 hours = 1440 minutes (24×60) = 86400 seconds (24x60x60).
The Earth turns 15 degrees per hour.
- The average (typical) resting heart rate in a healthy adult is 60–80 bits per minute 1-1.333 bits per second
- In 1 second light travels 299,792.458 km, in 1.000692286 milliseconds – 300 km in a vacuum
Ancients established value for the earth axis spin cycle (called day) and used this as measuring unit for the longer cycle of earth orbiting the sun (or the sun returning to the same constellation on the sky.) Earth axial speed is 360 deg/axial cycle (day). Earth orbital speed is 360 deg/solar cycle (year).
If we choose time units based on a solar day (86,400 seconds), sidereal day will be 365/366 x 86,400 seconds = 86,163.929 seconds. It means it will be shorter than solar day by 236.1 seconds = 3.9345 minutes = 3 min 56.1 seconds (rounded to 4 min)
The Grand Scheme
By the time measurements of Mesopotamia were discovered, by doing various exercises of mathematics on the definitions of the major ancient measurement systems, various people (Jean-Adolphe Decourdemanche in 1909, August Oxé in 1942) came to the conclusion that the relationship between them was well planned.
Livio C. Stecchini claims in his A History of Measures:
The relation among the units of length can be explained by the ratio 15:16:17:18 among the four fundamental feet and cubits.
Before I arrived at this discovery, Decourdemanche and Oxé discovered that the cubes of those units are related according to the conventional specific gravities of oil, water, wheat and barley.
Stecchini makes claims that imply that the Egyptian measures of length, originating from at least the 3rd millennium BC, were directly derived from the circumference of the earth with an amazing accuracy. According to “Secrets of the Great Pyramid” (p. 346), his claim is that the Egyptian measurement was equal to 40,075,000 meters, which compared to the International Spheroid of 40,076,596 meters gives an error of 0.004%. No consideration seems to be made to the question of, on purely technical and procedural grounds, how the early Egyptians, in defining their cubit, could have achieved a degree of accuracy that to our current knowledge can only be achieved with very sophisticated equipment and techniques.
Note from the Editor: Ancient Egyptians used Remen as unit of length for measuring distance.
It was defined as 1 min of arc divided by 5000.
[ 1′ of arc distance on land could be established by measuring distance between two obelisks in two (distant cities) locations and measuring obelisks’ shadows at noon on the same day ( e.g. winter solstice ) ]
1′ of arc is 1/360*60 part of the Earth’s circumference and has value of 1 nautical mile ( 1852 m ). 1852m/5000 = 0.3704 m
[ Earth’s Circumference as estimated by ancient Egyptians: 5000*(Remen = 0.3704 m)*60*360 = = 40,032,000 m]
Egyptians also used larger unit of measure for building temples and pyramids.
It was called Royal Egyptian Cubit defined as sqrt(2) * REMEN = 0.5238247m = 20.623 inches.
Oxford engineering professor Alexander Thom, doing statistical analysis of survey data taken from over 250 stone circles in England and Scotland, came to the conclusion that there must have been a common unit of measure which he called a megalithic yard. This research was published in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (Series A (General), 1955, Vol 118 Part III p275-295) as a paper entitled A Statistical Examination of the Megalithic Sites in Britain.
As Professor Thom observed in his book Megalithic Sites in Britain (1967):
“It is remarkable that one thousand years before the earliest mathematicians of classical Greece, people in these islands not only had a practical knowledge of geometry and were capable of setting out elaborate geometrical designs but could also set out ellipses based on the Pythagorean triangles.”
Later, these ideas were further developed as defence for the Imperial units against the emerging metric system, and adopted by parts of the anti-metric movement. Robin Heath, in his book Sun, Moon & Stonehenge, connects the megalithic yard (and thus Stonehenge) to the imperial foot, and manages to connect a few astronomical phenomena, and the Egyptian Royal Cubit (and thus the Great Pyramid) into one grand equation (MY is an abbreviation for megalithic yard):
if the lunar year is represented by 12 MY then 1 ft corresponds precisely to the extra 10.875 days to coincide with the end of the solar or seasonal year. Furthermore, the period between the end of the solar year and 13 lunations – 18.656 days – is represented by another unit of length from antiquity, the ‘Royal Cubit’ of 20.63? or 1.72 ft.
This seems to bring pseudoscientific metrology to new heights, especially in view of the conclusion:
Hence the equally astonishing revelation that 1 MY = 1 ft + 1 RC. Assuming that the MY was the primary unit, then the derivative foot and cubit appear to have formed a logical and essential part of the astronomical and calendrical researches of our Neolithic ancestors. If, however, the foot preceded the MY in time – and here we must remember that 1/1,000th of a degree of arc around the equatorial circumference of the Earth is just 365.244 ft in length! – then knowledge of the roundness of the Earth must have predated use of the MY…i.e. well before 3,000BC. There are no other choices readily apparent!
All over the world traditional units of measurements are related and originally defined by astronomical and/or geodetic properties of the Earth. As such, they would have to contain information about the size of the Earth.
Such unit was used by ancient builders of megaliths – it is called the Megalithic Yard (MY).
The MY turns out to be much more than an abstract unit such as the modern metre, it is a highly scientific measure repeatedly constructed by empirical means. It is based upon observation of three fundamental factors:
- The orbit of the Earth around the sun
- The spin of the Earth on its axis
- The mass (size) of the Earth
The Megalithic Yard is a unit of measurement, about 2.72 feet (32.4 in or 0.829 m), that some researchers believe was used in the construction of megalithic structures. The proposal was made by Alexander Thom* as a result of his surveys of 600 megalithic sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.
Christopher Knight and Alan Butler further develop the work of Smyth’s and Stecchini’s “Grand Scheme” in their Civilization One hypothesis, which describes a megalithic system of units. This system is claimed to be the source of all standard units used by civilization, and is so named after the Neolithic builders of megaliths. Knight and Butler contend the reconstructed megalithic yard (0.82966m) is a fundamental part of a megalithic system. Although the megalithic yard is the work of Alexander Thom, Knight and Butler make a novel contribution by speculating on how the MY may have been created by using a pendulum calibrated by observing Venus. It also explains the uniformity of the MY across large geographical areas. The accuracy claimed for this procedure is disputed by astronomers.
Knight and Butler describe a procedure for Neolithic astronomers to make a “Venus Pendulum“, using the transit of Venus across the sky to give both time and distance units.
Measures of volume and massare derived from the megalithic yard. It is divided into 40 megalithic inches. Knight and Butler claim that a cube with a side of 4 megalithic inches has a volume equal to one imperial pint and weighs one imperial pound when filled with unpolished grain. They also posit ratio relationships with the imperial acre and square rod.
A Megalithic Yard is a unit of measurement, about 2.72 feet (0.83 m), that some researchers believe was used in the construction of megalithic structures. The proposal was made by Alexander Thom as a result of his surveys of 600 megalithic sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Britanny. Thom additionally proposed the Megalithic Rod of 2.5 MY and suggested the Megalithic Rod could be divided into one hundred and the Meglithic Yard divided into forty, which he called the Megalithic Inch of 2.073 centimetres (0.816 in). Thom applied the statistical lumped variance test of J.R. Broadbent on this quantum and found the results significant while others have challenged his statistical analysis and suggested that Thom’s evidence can be explained in other ways, for instance the average length of a pace.Source: Wikipedia
Michell claims that all over the world traditional units of measurements are related.
He goes on to point out the value of the pu that still survives in Indo-China is given in L.D’A. Jackson’s Modern Metrology (available on the net) as 2.7272 miles with the fraction repeating.
Without knowledge of the pu’s existence its former use in Britain was deduced by J. F. Neal, who called it the Megalithic Mile because the ratio is similar to that between the foot and the Megalithic Yard.
Since the ratio between the dimensions of the Earth and Moon is 10:2.7272 the following relationships unambiguously exist.
- Earth’s diameter = 7,920 miles
- Moon’s diameter = 792 megalithic miles
- Perimeter of the square containing the circle of the Earth = 31,680 miles
- Perimeter of the square containing the circle of the Moon = 3,168 megalithic miles.
- Sun’s diameter = 864,000 miles = 316,800 megalithic miles.
The Imperial System
Britain introduced Imperial Units, based on the yard, pound, and second, in the 19th century to resist the metric system and to uphold an alternative comprehensive system.
In engineering, English units were divided decimally just like metric ones, especially in the United States.
Both the Imperial units and US customary units derive from earlier English units. Imperial units were mostly used in the British Commonwealth and the former British Empire. US customary units are still the main system of measurement used in the United States despite Congress having legally authorized metric measure on 28 July 1866. Some steps towards US metrication have been made, particularly the redefinition of basic US units to derive exactly from SI units, so that in the US the inch is now defined as 0.0254 m (exactly), and the avoirdupois pound is now defined as 453.59237 g (exactly).
The basic English unit of length was the yard of three feet, or the fathom of six. Each English foot was divided into 12 inches, and each inch into 3 barleycorns or 12 lines.
Eventually, one inch was defined as exactly 25.4 mm, which tied the English and metric units together. In the United States, a meter was sometimes defined as exactly 39.37 inches, which gave 1 inch = 25.40005 mm, just enough different to be annoying in geodesy. 12 such inches made a survey foot, used by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 5 feet, 6 inches, and 7 lines was written 5? 6? 7?‘. The single and double apostrophes have survived into modern times, but not the triple.
The modern feet are descended from the Roman measurement of the same name and approximate value. The Roman foot, 11.65 modern inches (29.6 cm), was usually divided into 16 inches, not 12, however (as four palms of four Roman inches, about 3 modern inches, each). Divisions by powers of 2 are specially useful, since they are binary, and much more adapted to computers than powers of 10. The English inch was later divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and so on, because of the utility and extendibility of this system, which completely replaced the use of lines.
Roman standards were relatively uniform, an interlude between times of confusion. Most Roman units of length survived in name or spirit in the English and other systems, even if changing somewhat in absolute value. For example, the stadium, which was 1/8 of a Roman mile, or 202 yards, became the furlong, 1/8 of an English mile, or 220 yards. The cubit, a forearm’s length, was 1-1/2 Roman feet or 6 palms, and typically used in building. Some ancient cubits seem to have been longer than this, up to about 22 inches. Hands of 4 inches are still used to measure the height of a horse (at the shoulders).
Note how length units were conveniently based on parts of the body used to measure distances.
- The Roman mile consisted of 1,000 double paces, or 5,000 Roman feet, or 1480 metre, or 1619 yards.
Distances on Roman roads were measured by odometers attached to carriage axles, as described in Vitruvius, and marked on mile stones.
- Roman foot originated from Greek foot defined as 1 min of arc divided by 6000: 1853m/6000 = 0.30867 m.
1 Roman foot 24/25 Greek foot = 0.2963 m = 11.665 ”
Roman mile was defined as 5, 000 Roman feet = 1481.6 m
- Roman foot originated from Greek foot defined as 1 min of arc divided by 6000: 1853m/6000 = 0.30867 m.
- The English mile of 5,280 feet is 1609 metre.
- English mile started as Roman mile but in 1593 it was redefined from 5000 feet to 5280 feet.
The statute mile therefore contained 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards.
The English long continued the Roman computations of the mile as 5000 feet, The English statute mile was established by a Weights and Measures Act of Parliament in 1593 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
The English mile happened to come out a little larger than the Roman mile, to which it was intended to be an approximation.
- English mile started as Roman mile but in 1593 it was redefined from 5000 feet to 5280 feet.
- The nautical mile is 1852 metre, which corresponds to one minute of arc of latitude, approximately.
- The ‘geographical’ mile was 7420 metre, and the Prussian mile 7532 metre. These long miles were about five Roman miles.
- The league was another measure of journeys, usually 3 English miles. France had an assortment of leagues: 2,000 toise for the lieue de poste, 3 Roman miles for the lieue de terre, 4 kilometers for the lieue kilométrique, and 3 nautical miles for the lieue marine.
- The Greeks had the stadium of 580-622 feet, and the plethron of 97-100 feet.
- The ancient Persian parasang was 3.25 to 3.3 miles, 30 Greek stadia.
Any great accuracy in the size of old units is illusory unless a critical study is made. The standards have, of course, disappeared, and their magnitude can be determined only by remeasuring a distance in modern terms.
Source: History of units of measure: http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/oldleng.htm
Units of length at Ancient Sites of Puma Punku and Tiwanaku
It is astonishing to learn that units of measure used during construction of these ancient sites (which according to research of Jim Allen, are likely remnants of Atlantis culture ) are modern inches and feet we use today.
Size of the Gate of the Sun and its components indicate use of Sumerian (or modern units) of measure. E.g. each Chasqui is 8 inches or 12 Sumerian shusi square…
Source and Credit: Jim Allen Tiwanaku_cubits_and_Calendar
Looking at the following chart we can see why Plato said the numbers 5 and 6 did “honour to the odd and even”.
Taking the circumference of the world as 360º, each degree comprises 60 “geographic” or “nautical” miles.
We can then choose to divide the geographic mile by 6,000 for geographic feet, or by 5,000 for Egyptian remen.
But first, we have four different ways to calculate the geographic mile.
- We could take the polar diameter x
?(pi) and divide it by 360 x 60.
- Or we could take the equatorial diameter
?(pi) and divide it by 360 x 60.
- There again we could take a minute of latitude of where we lived and use that as our geographic mile which would vary depending on whether we lived in Greece, Athens or Babylonia,
- or alternatively, for a more Universal geographic mile we could take the mean figure for a minute of latitude and use that.
The Greeks to calculate the Greek mile or geographic mile used a minute of latitude in Greece then divide by 6,000 to find the length of the “Greek foot”.
In Egypt on the other hand, they took the mean figure for a geographic mile then divided this distance by 5,000 and called this distance 1 x remen.
From the base of a square of 5,000 remen of 14.58″, (one geographic mile) they obtained a diagonal which became 5,000 Egyptian Royal Cubits of 20.625″.
This was very useful for land surveying since in order to set out a square of 100 royal cubits, all they had to do was to set out a baseline of 200 remen and intersect two arcs of 100 royal cubits on one side of the base line, and intersect 2 arcs of 100 royal cubits on the other side of the baseline to form a perfect square.
- The Egyptian royal cubit comprised 28 fingers which was 7 palms,
- whereas the regular Egyptian cubit was 6 palms or 24 fingers,
- and the Egyptian foot was made of 4 palms or 16 fingers.
If you set out a square whose sides were 2,400 Egyptian royal cubits of 20.625″, and then divided by 2,500 you would then have units of Sumerian cubits of 19.8″.
Interestingly enough, a rectangle whose base length was 600 Sumerian feet of 13.2″ and whose side is 500 Sumerian feet of 13.2″, will also have a diagonal of 500 Egyptian royal cubits of 20.62″.
100 Egyptian royal cubits made an Egyptian unit called a “khet”
while 100 Sumerian cubits make what we might call an “Atlantean” or “Olmec” stade which correspondingly comprised:
- 100 Sumerian cubits,
- 150 Sumerian feet,
- 60 Sumerian yards,
- or 30 Sumerian double-yards of 100 Sumerian shusi
– if you divided it by thirds you had 50 Sumerian feet and two thirds were 100 Sumerian feet while if you divided it by 96 it became 96 Egyptian royal cubits or dividing by 48 gave Mayan hunabs so 1 x Mayan hunab was 2 x Egyptian royal cubits.
2 x Atlantean stades of 165 feet made an Atlantean stade of 330 feet, and 2 x the 330ft stade made the furlong of 660ft which was 600 Sumerian feet….
The differences arose depending on your preferred mathematical method, whether you divided by halves, quarters or eighths or by thirds,
while the Babylonians/Sumerians generally preferred 60’s, the Egyptians 10’s and the Mayans 20’s ….
When the Egyptians or whoever it was calculated the length of the Royal Cubit, they obtained one value by measuring from the meridians and the other value by measuring from the equator. Instead of dividing the circumference into 40,000,000 to obtain a metre, they divided the equatorial circumference by 360 then by 60 to obtain a geographic mile. They then divided this by 5,000 to obtain a unit called a “remen” which became the sides of a square whose diagonal was one cubit – in this case the “royal cubit” of 525mm.
For an alternative cubit for land surveying, they could take the average nautical mile of 6076.884ft, or the meridian mile as defined above of 6076.82ft, divide this by 5000 gives a remen of 14.584″ which becomes the sides of a square and gives a corresponding diagonal for the square as 20.625″ royal cubit with 24/25ths of this Egyptian Royal Cubit being the Sumerian cubit of 19.80″. This cubit when made the diameter of a wheel measured out a distance of 66″ – the Sumerian double yard of 100 Sumerian shusi and land plots of 100 Sumerian cubits of 19.8″ were equivalent to 96 Egyptian cubits of 20.625″ – all very practical for land surveying and subdivision.
In the time of the Inca, the Empire was divided into four quarters and the country known as “The Land of the Four Quarters”. When we think of the modern metre, the circumference of the globe was theoretically divided into 40,000,000 parts to obtain the value of the metre, and this meant that correspondingly, each quadrant was divided into 10,000,000 metres.
What if the ancient Tiwanakotas divided the quadrant not into 360 in the manner of the Egyptians and Babylonians, but counting in 20’s, divided by 20,000,000? Then they would obtain a cubit of 500 mm (19.685″) and could even further subdivide by 20 giving an “inch” of 25 mm and this in turn could be divided by 20 giving “lines” of 1.25mm so a “loka” of 600 mm would be 24 “inches” of 24 mm or 480 “lines”, an Egyptian cubit of 525 mm would be 420 “lines” an Egyptian geographic cubit of 450 mm would be 360 “lines” and an Egyptian foot of 300 mm would be 240 “lines”. The Egyptian cubit of 525 mm was ordinarily divided by 28 to give a digit of 18.75 mm, but if we calculate in “lines”, then it would be 15 “lines”…
The English inch, as we call it, was obtained not from the circumference of the globe, but from the diameter which was divided firstly by 1,000,000,000 to obtain a “half-inch”, then this unit was doubled to give the English inch, or alternatively we could think of it as the polar radius divided by 500,000,000 – this in turn could also be divided by 20,000,000 to give a “sacred cubit” of 25″.
Edmund Kiss published (1937) in a book on Tiwanaku some dimensioned plans of additional temples in Tiwanaku and these suggest the cubit of 19.68″ was also used there, but once again, lack of available, accurate data means that at this stage we can only offer these cubit variations as possibilities to be borne in mind.