The Royal Cubit

The English word “cubit” comes from the Latin word “cubitum” or elbow.

Interpreting this, we might say that it hints at a sacred proportion within the human body. Measured from the fingertips, it’s the 1:√2 ratio of the forearm to the deltoid tuberosity:

In the artwork below, Seshat’s arm bands made of leopard claws hint at this:

In Seshat’s right hand, the marker signifies 1 unit from the bottom of the shen ring, with the vertical length of the sacred cord at √2. In her left hand, she holds the cord in the middle. These 1D ratios are found in 2D nested squares or 3D cuboctahedrons:

To the Egyptians the Stretching of the Cord ritual was born during the Old Kingdom. This was the archaic time of Djoser, Imhotep, Snefru, Amenhotep and Kanofer. The ceremony dealt with the dimensions of sacred temples and was governed by the gods of time and space. “Royal” gives us a clue here because it refers to the relationship between humans and the cosmos.

Now we come to the Earth/Moon system with some basic ratios below. Here we are reminded of the ancient hieroglyphic (top) which shows a half circle (Earth’s diameter) with a wavelength below it.

From this central square comes the lotus pattern below. It shows a series of nested squares that are drawn from the midpoint of their parents. This is the same as dividing each side by √2. While we have only drawn a short sequence below, in reality this Seal of Melchizedek features fractal squares that regress far beyond our visual acuity:

Using Earth’s idealised diameter of 12,425 kilometres, we can nest the outer square 49 times to reach the length of the Royal Cubit, or 52.37 cm.

Earth’s diameter ÷ (√2)^(49) ≈ Royal Cubit

7 x 7 is a perfect square, giving completion and wholeness in a geometric or symbolic sense. Using 49 powers of √2 creates a nested ratio system, a kind of “geometric fractal”. There were also seven palms in the Royal Cubit, yielding 28 lunar units.

The Egyptians weren’t interested in measuring Earth’s diameter with perfect accuracy. Instead, they encoded harmonic numbers and ratios that linked human, earthly and cosmic scales. These “ideal” numbers acted like a bridge between the human body, temple design and the heavens.

Today, our metric and imperial systems are mere abstractions. This fall from harmonic ratios was one of the most subtle and enduring mathematical debaucheries in our history: science remains unaware of the Rule of One to this day.