© Copyright Lorena Loo
The Circle and the Pentagon:
Wherein the 18 and 19 of Ancient Egyptian Biometrics
Part II
©Lorena Loo
Wherein the 18 and 19 of Ancient Egyptian Biometrics
Part II
©Lorena Loo
From the Ancient Egyptians to Da Vinci's Code:
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman military engineer and architect circa 70-25 BCE and probably best known for his Ten Books on Architecture in which he described the architecture of his era. In Book III, Chapter 1 of his de Architectura, he wrote that:
The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman military engineer and architect circa 70-25 BCE and probably best known for his Ten Books on Architecture in which he described the architecture of his era. In Book III, Chapter 1 of his de Architectura, he wrote that:
The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.
It is this passage that gave inspiration to Leonardo's Vitruvian Man drawing recorded in his notebooks (The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, Vol. 1 pp. 182-3. Translatedby Jean Paul Richter, 1883). Both the drawing and Leonardo's accompanying text are today on display at the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Venice, Italy. The outstretched arms and legs just touch the circumference of a circle centered at a point just below the navel (unlike Vitruvius who described the navel as the center). With his arms outstretched straight out to his sides and his legs together, Vitruvian man defines the boundaries of a square centered at the genitals.
Two vital aspects to note which to the best of my knowledge have seemingly escaped the notice of others who have examined this diagram are:
1. The center of the circle happens to divide Vitruvian Man into a ratio of 2:3.
2. The ratio of the diameter of the circle to the length of Vitruvian Man (and hence also the length of the sides of the square) are 6:5.
Why is this so important? The 6:5 ratio was used by the ancient Egyptians in both diagrams of human proportions and also embedded into their architectural design. As pointed out by Schwaller de Lubicz, the Egyptians approximated the
value of pi as: .
This yields a value of pi as 3.141640787 versus the actual value of pi as 3.141592654. Using this, the ancient Egyptians could "measure" the value of pi through phi exactly to four place accuracy as 3.1416.
In other words, the ratio 6:5 represented the ratio of to . Since the navel divides the body into a ratio and also , then the length of the entire body is also . Finally, with the length of the body as 5, the phi cut divides the body such that the length from the top of the head to the navel (the phi cut point) is 1.9 (1.909830056 to nine decimals). There is that number again. Quite remarkable how ancient Egyptian knowledge was hidden by da Vinci in this one little diagram.
1. The center of the circle happens to divide Vitruvian Man into a ratio of 2:3.
2. The ratio of the diameter of the circle to the length of Vitruvian Man (and hence also the length of the sides of the square) are 6:5.
Why is this so important? The 6:5 ratio was used by the ancient Egyptians in both diagrams of human proportions and also embedded into their architectural design. As pointed out by Schwaller de Lubicz, the Egyptians approximated the
value of pi as: .
This yields a value of pi as 3.141640787 versus the actual value of pi as 3.141592654. Using this, the ancient Egyptians could "measure" the value of pi through phi exactly to four place accuracy as 3.1416.
In other words, the ratio 6:5 represented the ratio of to . Since the navel divides the body into a ratio and also , then the length of the entire body is also . Finally, with the length of the body as 5, the phi cut divides the body such that the length from the top of the head to the navel (the phi cut point) is 1.9 (1.909830056 to nine decimals). There is that number again. Quite remarkable how ancient Egyptian knowledge was hidden by da Vinci in this one little diagram.
The Saros cycle is a period of 18 years, 11 days (effectively 18 years then). Solar and lunar eclipses will appear in the same order in the same time after each Saros as several lunar and solar cycles repeat after about the same period of time. After one Saros, the Earth, Sun and Moon return to almost the same places they were 18 years and 11 days before. Apparently it was the Babylonians who discovered and first used the Saros, which means "repetition," to predict eclipses.
The Greek astronomer Meton (5th century) noticed that 235 lunar months was almost exactly equivalent to 19 solar years.
1 solar year = 365.2425 days
1 lunar month = 29.53059 days
19 solar years = 19x(365.2425 days/year)x(lunar month/29.53059 days) = 234.99752 lunar months
The cycle was named the Metonic cycle after its discover and formed the basis for the Greek calendar (a lunar calendar) until the introduction of the Julian calendar in 46 BCE.
There is also the Eclipse year. The Moon's orbit around the Earth intersects the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun at two points called nodes. The time it takes for the Sun to pass successively through the same node of the Moon's orbit is called the Eclipse year. Because the lunar nodes slowly shift their orientation in space, one Eclipse year is short of one solar year. It is short by
18.618 days or (18+ )days! 18.618 years happens to be the period of
revolution of the moon's nodes. Also one Saros equals 19 Eclipse years.
For those familiar with the Flower of Life symbol, it consists of 19 circles, 18 arranged around a central one. This symbol is found the world over, including on the walls of Abydos in Egypt.
The Greek astronomer Meton (5th century) noticed that 235 lunar months was almost exactly equivalent to 19 solar years.
1 solar year = 365.2425 days
1 lunar month = 29.53059 days
19 solar years = 19x(365.2425 days/year)x(lunar month/29.53059 days) = 234.99752 lunar months
The cycle was named the Metonic cycle after its discover and formed the basis for the Greek calendar (a lunar calendar) until the introduction of the Julian calendar in 46 BCE.
There is also the Eclipse year. The Moon's orbit around the Earth intersects the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun at two points called nodes. The time it takes for the Sun to pass successively through the same node of the Moon's orbit is called the Eclipse year. Because the lunar nodes slowly shift their orientation in space, one Eclipse year is short of one solar year. It is short by
18.618 days or (18+ )days! 18.618 years happens to be the period of
revolution of the moon's nodes. Also one Saros equals 19 Eclipse years.
For those familiar with the Flower of Life symbol, it consists of 19 circles, 18 arranged around a central one. This symbol is found the world over, including on the walls of Abydos in Egypt.
Bas relief from Temple of Luxor illustrating cortege of priests carrying solar barque. To right is closeup image of the temple gate and the Greek letter capital pi.
Let's return to the ancient Egyptians for a moment. In the next diagram, I have taken an image and this time phi cut the body three successive times. Again the initial phi cut is at the navel. The next phi cut was done from the top of the head to the navel and is located at the throat. The final phi cut was from the top of the head to the throat (i.e. location of the previous phi cut) and is located at the brow. This image was also gridded on a 19 to the top of the head and 18 to the brow. That means three successive phi cuts of the body not only locates us at the brow but at the 18th level on the square grid.
Remember Agrippa, the 16th century alchemist and magician? He too knew of the navel as the phi cut of the human body. In the same chapter as Agrippa's Pentagram Man, a diagram of Cosmic Man appears. The diagram below shows Agrippa's Cosmic Man along with the accompanying text that appears in the book. Note closely the cross on the body of the figure. The center of the cross is the location of the navel as Agrippa himself states a few diagrams after Cosmic Man.
Also the four square measure is the most proportionated body; for, if a man be placed upright with his feet together, and his arms stretched forth, he will make a quadrature equilateral, whose center is in the bottom of his belly.
When we phi cut Cosmic Man, the phi cut point is at exactly the center of the cross. i.e. Once again it is the navel! Incidentally, the true meaning of the word "occult" (as in the "Occulta" in the title of Agrippa's works) is "hidden." It refers to a system of wisdom which its practitioners felt must be kept secret. Like any true magican of his time, Agrippa included symbolism in his diagrams such as Cosmic Man. The common thread amongst occult practices was the use of symbolism to bring about profound changes in consciousness and hence allow the practitioner to discover fundamental truths about himself or herself as well as the nature of reality itself.
Now let's return to Leonardo and see what else he hid in Vitruvian Man. In the diagram below I contructed a square grid over Leonardo's drawing such that there are 19 square grids from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. When I did that, something remarkable occurred. Using such a grid, 18 squares gets you to the brow and 23 squares defines the diameter of the circle. On the same square grid, the same canon of proportions of 19 to the top of the head and 18 to the brow of the ancient Egyptians crops up in Vitruvian Man. With 23 defining the diameter of the circle, it yields the ratio of diameter of circle to height of Vitruvian Man as 23/19 = 1.21 which is virtually exactly 6/5 (1.2).
In the diagram below, I have broken down some of the geometries of Vitruvian Man to reveal that Leonardo understood the human canon of the ancient Egyptians very well indeed.
The numbers 5, 6, 18 and 19 (1.8 and 1.9 multiplied by a factor of 10) appear other places as well. The innermost circle of Stonehenge, which is really an open horseshoe-shaped configuration, is comprised of 19 stones. The next circle of stone, also horseshoe in shape, consists of 5 trilithons (see image to left). These trilithons or lintels look exactly like the Greek letter . At the temple of Luxor in Egypt, Schwaller de Lubicz discovered a bas relief depicting a cortege of priests bearing the king's solar barque as they exited the temple of Karnak. Incorporated into the dimensions of the great gate was the value of accurate to four decimals. The gate
happened to resemble a Stonehenge trilithon. And just how is it the ancient Greeks adopted the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter? Also, note there are exactly five of these -looking trilithons at
Stonehenge and or . It is thought that Stonehenge
contains many stellar as well as solar and lunar alignments and was even used to predict solar and lunar eclipses. Gerald Hawkins is among those who claim this. The numbers 18 and 19 turn up in this regard in astronomical cycles of the Sun and the Moon.
Stonehenge and or . It is thought that Stonehenge
contains many stellar as well as solar and lunar alignments and was even used to predict solar and lunar eclipses. Gerald Hawkins is among those who claim this. The numbers 18 and 19 turn up in this regard in astronomical cycles of the Sun and the Moon.
