Measurement Standards and Double Standards Reassessing Charles Piazzi Smyth’s Egyptological Reputation
Resource type
Book chapter
Creator (person)
Potter, Daniel M
Date published
2024
Abstract
In 1864–5, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819–1900),3 his wife Jessie (1812–1896),4 and a small team of Egyptian archaeological workers conducted an extensive survey of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Smyth had become interested in the structure as he read John Taylor’s The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built—And Who Built It?, in which Taylor argued that the pyramid was not a tomb, but rather a divinely inspired
metrological monument, essentially serving as a biblical time capsule of weights and measures built by Noah. In its measurements the ‘pyramid inch’, a hidden ancestor of the fractionally larger Imperial inch, could be identified.5
Book title
Alternative Egyptology: Critical essays on the relation between academic and alternative interpretations of ancient Egypt
Editor
van den Bercken, B J L
Pagination
54-67
Publisher
Sidestone Press
Place of publication
Leiden, Netherlands
Official URL
Related URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
Full paper available via the official URL