THE PYRAMIDS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17701, 1 March 1923, Page 9

THE PYRAMIDS.

The well-known. Egyptian'' pyramids were, not erected by early .monarchs of that realm as monuments to their greatness, nor as tombs for their bodies; bmt were liuge sundials, with, .the aid. of which the yearly procession of the equinoxes were discovered and the calendar devised, according to Moses B. Cotsworth, writing in 'a recent publication of the "Pan-American Union." The Pyramids were constructed' by mathematicians and astronomers, Mr Cotsworth holds, the size, height,-and-slopes of each being determined to aid astronomy. Each of the piles in, Lower Egypt was built at a different period, until the last was found to be the more nearly perfect' for studying the sua and stars on the meridian of Egypt. Not' until each was abandoned for a bettor, he declares, was a pyramid given over to the uses of a royal tomb. The pyramidal form, in conjunction with the obelisk, was devised to cast a shadow of sufficient sharpness to be measured and analysed day by day. The wonderful Washington monument in Washington, which shadow measurements proved to be constructed perfectly from base to peak, while following the form of the Egyptian obelisk, is too high, he found, to cast a shadow useful for solar measurements. The blending of the sun's rays around the top at that distance blurs the shadow. However, the shadow was used for certain measurements, which proved that September 23rd, and not September 21st, is the day of the fall equinox. The pyramid was the result of the Egyptians' efforts to get a sufficiently long shadow to measure the months and years njore accurately, and along its sides the early astronomers gazed to mark the movements of the stars and planets. Stonehenge, an ancient monolithic ruin in England, attributed to the Druids, was, another mechanical means of determining solar and lunar movements, it was said, as was the purpose also of several other similar ancient stone constructions in various parts of the world. The primary reason for the calendar in early days was the need of knowing when to sow and reap, how to handlo. cattle, and to determine other pro- ! pitious days. All peoples, it is sup--1 posed, used the periods of the moon as their longest time-space, but this was varied and unequal through the year.