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Using the so‑called chimney in the Bent Pyramid to measure solar elevations in summer

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Weyburne K.

Pražské egyptologické studie (Prague Egyptological Studies)

2021

issue 26

126-138

The so called “chimney” is a deep, vertical shaft located in the centre of the Bent Pyramid that starts at ground level and descends for over 15 metres into the earth. While the purpose of this chimney is disputed in scholarly literature, this paper offers the speculative hypothesis that it served as a tool for solar obser vations. For a period of time (before the pyramid was built above it), the shaft would have been open to the elements, allowing the sun’s light to reach the bottom corner at the summer solstice, and thereby dividing this structure into two equal, but inverse triangles: one filled with light, the other dark. This precision sug gests that the chimney may have been specifically designed to enable this phenomenon to occur. Moreover, further investigation shows that, for a period of 47 days centred around the solstice, the sun created a line of light on the floor of the chimney that would have made it possible to accurately measure solar elevations.

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1 Pražské egyptologické studie (Prague Egyptological Studies)

1 Weyburne K.

1 2021

Search results

Using the so‑called chimney in the Bent Pyramid to measure solar elevations in summer