Taylor regarded the pyramid inch to be 1/25 of the sacred cubit whose existence had earlier been postulated by Sir Isaac Newton. The principal argument was that the total length of the four sides of the pyramid would be 36,524 (100 times the number of days in a year) if measured in pyramid inches.
The same year that Taylor’s book was published (1859), Darwin’s book On the Origin of the Species was published. And it was truly a time of pointcounterpoint on the issue of evolution and its “up-from-the-apes” views versus the spiritual nobility of humanity and divine creation.
Taylor proposed that the Hyksos, literally foreign rulers, had built the Great Pyramid under the leadership of the High Priest Melchizedek. Hyksos was a term which he and others often incorrectly translated as “shepherd kings” and had incorrectly assumed that they were the Israelites (Genesis 14:18). But there is much evidence indicating that the Hyksos were Syrian-Palestinian migrants and soldiers who only seized the northeastern portion of the Nile River Delta, never governing enough of Egypt to build the pyramids on the west bank of the Nile at Giza.
Additionally, Professor Smyth and others believed that the people of Great Britain are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Of the original Twelve Tribes, ten “disappeared” from historical accounts after the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians in 732 BC and again in 720 BC, completely destroying the northern kingdom of Israel. This did not affect the southern kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem and the Temple. That destruction came later when Babylon invaded in 586 BC. Interestingly, in the south, the city of Jerusalem actually grew during the Assyrian invasions and occupations of the north, and many members of the northern tribes migrated to Jerusalem to avoid Assyrian capture and deportation. Given the information available, it is difficult to identify exactly which of the twelve tribes were “lost,” but the seven northern tribes (Reuben, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher) are all considered to be among the “lost” tribes. Since the tribe of Joseph, which had divided into the two sub-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, lived directly in the path of the Assyrian invading forces, much of it was “lost”; actually they came under Assyrian rule. That would leave the four tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, and Levi; and it is known that all these southern tribes were not affected by the invasion. However, the tribe of Simeon “disappeared” by being integrated into the tribe of Judah, so one could think of it as being among the lost tribes. Actually only nine tribes were “lost”: Reuben, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, and Manasseh. However, Assyrian and biblical records indicate that in the 732 BC invasion Reuben, Gad, and western Manasseh were captured and resettled in Assyria, not Britain. A portion of Ephraim, including the city of Janoah, was captured and ruled by an Assyrian governor; few were resettled. In the 720 BC reinvasion, massive deportation of the people of Israel did occur and was documented. It was because these tribes kept appointing their own kings despite Assyrian authority! But, here again, records indicate that many were sent to Assyria (the lands of modern-day Iraq). Even so, there is also evidence that the seafaring Phoenicians, Cypriots, and even Philistines helped many Israelites of the northern tribes escape by sea, sending them to lands in Western Europe, Britain, and Scandinavia. This gave the pyramidologists in Egypt (particularly the British ones) a sense of their personal, historical involvement in biblical Egypt.
The Scripture that was pointed to most often by pyramidologists was Isaiah 19: 19-20: “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt . . . ” Pyramidologists believe that this passage is speaking of the Great Pyramid when it refers to “an altar to the Lord” and “a pillar to the Lord,” but a pyramid is hardly an “altar” or “pillar” and it is not on the border. In his book A Study in Pyramidology, Raymond Capt states that the Hebrew word translated as “pillar,” matstsebah, is “correctly translated monument.” However, I could find no Hebrew Lexicon that translated matstsebah as anything other than a pillar or tree stump. However, matstsebah can be a pillar that is a “monument” to someone or some event, but it is in no way a massive pyramidal structure. Now some correlate this Hebrew word with the Arab word mastaba, which is a low, rectangular structure with an underground tomb. But the primitive root word from which matstsebah comes is natsab, which is associated with “standing,” like a stanchion or pillar, or to “take a stand” or “take an upright position.” This is an example of how pyramidologists too often stretched some facts to better fit their theories and to connect their theories with sacred Scripture—when it was unnecessary because what they had was sufficiently profound and meaningful.
When we read this often quoted passage from Isaiah in context with the whole of the chapter, it does not appear to be speaking about the Great Pyramid but rather an offering altar to Yahweh and the pillar of a spiritual person or persons who will lead the people closer to God. Here is chapter 19 of Isaiah (Revised Standard Version, RSV):
An oracle concerning Egypt: Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, every man against his brother and every man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans; and they will consult the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the wizards; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And the waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry; and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more. The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets upon the water. The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for hire will be grieved. The princes of Zo’an [area in the Nile Delta] are utterly foolish; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, ‘I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings’? Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. The princes of Zo’an have become fools, and the princes of Memphis [area just before the Delta, near Saqqara] are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion; and they have made Egypt stagger in all her doings as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. And there will be nothing for Egypt which head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do. In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand which the Lord of hosts shakes over them. And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians [this would indicate a time long after the Great Pyramid was constructed]; everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose which the Lord of hosts has purposed against them. In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts [Genesis 14:2 tells us their names: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar (or Bela)]. One of these will be called the City of the Destruction. [One of the Dead Sea Scrolls changes “City of Destruction” to “City of Sun,” and most modern Bibles use this more positive term. In Hebrew, heres is “sun” and hheres is “destruction.” Since Zoar is the only city that is spared in the Bible story (Genesis 15:16), it is believed to be the City of Sun. But the City of the Sun may also be the Egyptian Heliopolis; literally, “city of the sun.”] In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border [to the Promised Land]. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the Lord because of oppressors he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and burnt offering [the altar?], and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. And the Lord will smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they
