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Celestial and Mathematical Precision in Ancient Architecture
Posted on Saturday, January 07, 2006 (CST) by Thoth
 Many ancient ruins demonstrate that the people who constructed them had not only a special regard for celestial bodies and mathematics, but also a spot-on accuracy. From Egypt to Mexico, there is no doubt that past civilizations were involved in incredibly complex space calculations, mathematics and architectural endeavours.
Although many historians and archaeologists debate exactly what these civilizations did intentionally and what they did by mere chance, here are a few examples of how ancient architecture was created with mathematics and the cosmos in mind.
In Giza there are many examples of attention to spatial coordinates. For instance, the Great Pyramid’s faces are aligned with the four cardinal directions almost perfectly. In fact, they are less than 0.2 of a degree off.
The pyramid
is very precise, with the corners as little as two seconds of a degree
(with 60 seconds in a minute of a degree, and 60 minutes in a degree)
off of a 90-degree angle. In addition to this (although contested), the
pyramids at Giza seem to match the stars of Orion’s belt with a certain
precision.
The Site of Teotihuacan,
“The Pyramid of the Sun,” as it has been dubbed, demonstrates advanced
math. The pyramid’s base has a perimeter of 2932.8 feet, while the
pyramid has a height of about 233.5 feet. If we take the ratio of base
to height, we get about 12.56, or rather, 4p. Although to some this is
thought to be a coincidence, the pyramid’s actual ratio is less than
0.05 per cent off of the true value for 4p.
The ancient Mayan site of
Chichen Itza exemplifies the culture’s celestial orientation. The huge
step pyramid (the pyramid of Kukulcan) that is the focus of the site
has 91 steps on each of its sides, which add up to 364 steps. Adding
the platform on top, there are 365 steps in total — the number of days
in a year. Also, on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (the first day of
spring and fall, when day and night are the same length of time), the
sunlight works to create a shadow of a giant serpent on the staircase
that faces north.
A building called the
Caracol, believed to have served as an observatory, is also found at
the site of Chichen Itza. The windows are set up to align with certain
points of interest. Although the top is damaged, remaining windows
point to the northern- and southern-most positions of Venus, the
position of sunset on the Equinoxes, and the corners of the building
itself point to the sunrises and sets of the solstices.
The Mayans had a
sophisticated calendar, losing only one day in 6000 years. Their
predictions of solar and lunar eclipses were incredibly accurate. As
many have heard, they predicted a date that they believed would be the
end of the world. This date, translated to our calendar, is on December
23, 2012. Although unlikely, the world is predicted to suddenly end in
about seven years (if we have just translated the meaning of their
calendar correctly).
The Mayans did have some
rationale behind this number. This date marks the time in the
precessional cycle of the earth that we will move out of the
constellation of Pisces and on to the age of Aquarius.
What is global precession?
I’m glad you asked. Everyone knows that the earth spins on its axis
while it revolves around the sun. Most remember from grade 10 science
class that the earth’s axis is not perfectly vertical, but rather
tilted about 23.5 degrees. However, the axis is not always this way, as
it slowly varies from about 24.5 degrees to 22.1 degrees, making a
complete cycle every 41,000 years.
While it is moving in this
way, due to varying gravitational forces, the axis wobbles (precesses)
in a clockwise circle. Just imagine the way the axis of a top spins as
it begins to fall. So, the angle of the earth stays the same (or
somewhere within its three degree variance), but the direction in which
it points changes. For example, our current North Star is Polaris (or
Ursae Minoris), as the North Pole points towards this star. However,
approximately 13,000 years ago, the North Pole would have pointed
towards the star Vega, as it will do again in about another 13,000
years. It takes about 25,776 years to complete one precessional cycle.
Anyone ever heard of the
song “Age of Aquarius”? Well, this is in reference to the earth’s
precessional cycle. Presently we are in the age of Pisces, which means
that when the sun rises on the vernal equinox it rises in the direction
that the constellation of Pisces is in the sky. However, due to
precession, every 2160 years on the vernal equinox the sun rises in a
different constellation. As mentioned above, we will be moving out of
the age of Pisces and into the age of Aquarius around the end of 2012.
So, the Mayans figured
there was something important to the changing of ages, hence their
predicted death date. However, they are not the only ones who seem to
have taken certain numbers into account. The perimeter of the Great
Pyramid at Giza is approximately 3,023 feet and the height is 481 feet.
In addition to exemplifying a ratio of exactly 2p, its measurements are
said to possibly represent the Northern Hemisphere of the earth, on a
scale of 1 : 43,200. Though controversial, some interpret this number
as exactly 20 times the precessional number of 2160, representing the
precession of the earth through 20 different zodiac constellations or
‘ages.’
These examples of
precessional numbers, mathematics and celestial orientations found in
ancient structures by no means scratch the surface of all of the
occurrences (or at least, proposed occurrences) present at various
historical sites, and even in cultural songs and myths. Whether or not
various theories or speculations concerning these spectacular
constructions are true or not (and we may never know), the meticulous
precision that was put into planning, calculating and building them is
hard to ignore, not to mention awe-inspiring.
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