pyramid stands at the centre of the
arc of shore-line along which lie the outlets of the Nile; or it might
be regarded as not a mere coincidence that the great pyramid stands at
the central point of all the habitable land-surface of the globe; or,
again, any one of the other relations above mentioned might be regarded
as something more than a mere coincidence. But if, instead of taking
only one or other of these four relations, we take all four of them, or
even any two of them, together, we must regard peculiarities of the
earth's configuration as the result of special design which certainly
have not hitherto been so regarded by geographers. For instance, if it
was by a special design that the pyramid was placed at the centre of the
Nile delta, and also by special design that the pyramid was placed at
the centre of the land-surface of the earth, if these two relations are
each so exactly fulfilled as to render the idea of mere accidental
coincidence inadmissible, then it follows, of necessity, that it is
through no merely accidental coincidence that the centre of the Nile
delta lies at the centre of the land-surface of the earth; in other
words, the shore-line along which lie the mouths of the Nile has been
designedly curved so as to have its centre so placed. And so of the
other relations. The very fact that the four conditions _can_ be
fulfilled simultaneously is evidence that a coincidence of the sort may
result from mere accident.[16] Indeed, the peculiarity of geographical
position which really seems to have been in the thoughts of the pyramid
architects, introduces yet a fifth condition which by accident could be
fulfilled along with the four others.

It would seem that the builders of the pyramid were anxious to place it
in latitude 30 deg., as closely as their means of observation permitted.
Let us consider what result they achieved, and the evidence thus afforded
respecting their skill and scientific attainments. In our own time, of
course, the astronomer has no difficulty in determining with great
exactness the position of any given latitude-parallel. But at the time
when the great pyramid was built it must have been a matter of very
serious difficulty to determine the position of any required
latitude-parallel with a great degree of exactitude. The most obvious
way of dealing with the difficulty would have been by observing the
length of shadows thrown by upright posts at noon in spring and autumn.
In latitu