Updated versions of the different ways of approximating the cubit. Also includes separate table for Grand Metre (1 plus royal cubit) == 1.5236…. == 1.524.
These are done with pi, phi, e, roots and powers (usually of basic primes), as well as ln, log, sin, cos and tan.
See square roots, cube roots and ln(4) for formulas not shown below.
Changelog at the bottom.See also The Magical Mystical Royal Cubit for the Pretty Picture version.
To borrow a phrase from Robert Bauval, this falls under the Spooky Stuff category.
It is a very strange connection between the Grand Metre (1 + royal cubit), the base of the natural logarithm ⅇ, and the royal cubit as measured in inches.
Changelog:
2018-11-29: added Spooky Stuff 7 and 8
2018-12-03: added Spooky Stuff 9
2018-12-04: added Spooky Stuff 10
2019-04-24: added Spooky Stuff 11
Royal cubit, e and inch
I have no explanation for this. It just highlights again the ancient origins of the metre, inch and royal cubit, and how they mysteriously link together with π and ⅇ. But what about φ you ask?…. here you go:
There are still some things that bother me about the Royal Cubit, in particular, why did they choose π/6, and why did they use it in preference to the metre.
Something interesting related to the first question has surfaced. Which may just be another random co-incidence like all the others, or maybe not.
First up, a reminder that the Royal Cubit is ⅙ of the circumference of a circle with diameter 1 metre, in other words the arc on a 360/6 = 60° segment, as follows:
As you may know, the ancient Egyptians were very fond of their ankh, which looks like this:
The power of the 0.01%.
The soup.
The ingredients.