Sacred Number, by Richard Heath - Book Review

Intentionally or not, we are predisposed and taught that the Ancient World was a place of simplicity and ignorance.  The imagery is usually one of people so unfortunate as to live lives hand to mouth,  gathering fruits and berries, handling simple farming and doing little to no analysis of the world.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sacred Number and The Origins of Civilization, The Unfolding of History through the Mystery of Number, by Richard Heath sends the above premise into the trash.  Think of measuring the following measurements of the Earth in the modern age, gotten via GPS and satellite tracking, in addition to using advanced math:  Equatorial Radius, Equatorial Circumference, Mean Radius, Mean Circumference, Meridian Circumference and Polar Radius.  All of these were measured by the ancient peoples of the earth, and were known thousands of years ago.  Not only did they know, but the accuracy of the measurements is astounding.  The LEAST accurate measurement by the ancients was the Meridian Circumference of the Earth, and it was 99.906% accurate to the modern measurement.  All of the others were closer, from 99.962% accurate (Mean Circumference), to 99.998% accurate (Mean Radius). (p.55) 

Stated further, not only was the Equatorial Bulge of the planet known, it was measured correctly by people who did not have modern methods, electricity, manned flight or rapid travel.  While reading I kept thinking of the Isaac Newton quote "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  Perhaps these were the people about whom he spoke.

Sacred Number not only shows what these people knew, but how they represented their knowledge of the Earth and the Heavens.  The Great Pyramids of Egypt show the mathematical relationship of the Earth to the Moon, as well as serving as a solar calendar.

"Squaring the Circle", or having a circle with the same perimeter as the square (see above) inscribed by the mean Earth.  The Great Pyramid of Giza has the exact shape to demonstrate the 3:11 relationship of the Moon to Earth.  The difference between the perimeters of the two circles above (the perimeter of the Earth and the circle that passes through the center of the Moon) equals in length exactly the circle that is the Moon.  The Moon is exactly in this proportion to the mean Earth.  The Egyptians had figured this out thousands of years ago, and Heath goes further, noting that the difference in height between the uncapped pyramid and the capped pyramid is the ratio between the mean and polar radii of the Earth.

Sacred Number is more than simply letting on what the Ancients knew.  Heath's premise is a philosophical one.  The idea of God, God's works and the representation of God(s) can all be found in the monuments, temples and placement of these representations.  He gives a wonderful summation of this premise in the chapter called "Life, the Universe, and Everything".  The 'prehistoric' way was God and the Works of God, and it became, during the 'historic' era, The Idea of God and the Works of the Idea of God.  We know this now as the Word of God, or Logos, or scripture.

Sacred Number effectively shows the role of Number in nature, and the recognition of this knowledge by the Ancient People in the ancient monuments.  Heath is open about the lack of recognition by The Establishment of this knowledge, and in doing so, shows a genuine respect to the societies of yesteryear, as opposed to the trendy snark that passes for modern analysis.  The chapter "Ancient Theme Parks" is worth the price of the book, as you'll be amazed at the deft accuracy of monuments throughout the world and the celestial and solar relationships they mirror.  

This video, from Secrets is Plain Sight, got me interested in Ancient knowledge.  It is from the bibliography here that I learned about Sacred Number.