The Sines of the Tribes

1
Adapted from the work of Bernard I. Pietsch
By Suzanne Thompson

Whether the Bible is fact, fiction, myth, or allegory is not at question here; neither is
its authorship. What is being offered is new evidence that one of the books of the
Old Testament employs a clearly defined method of coding using number, measure
and geometry. We have found fragments of such a system in numerous early
writings and ancient architecture, leading us to believe that early civilizations
understood more about the nature of the universe than is presently acknowledged.
On the surface, the text of The Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Pentateuch,
appears to be a straight forward rendering of the story of the Israelites during their
forty year sojourn in the Sinai. It is actually a brilliant example of veiled"
communication-- a message conveyed by code. Although nothing is actually hidden,
the intended information is expressed indirectly and incompletely. We might
presume that such manner of encryption was used to protect the data from
corruption and to insure that it would be received only by those who had the
resources to interpret it.

The narrative of the Book of Numbers includes HOUSE CENSUS

various laws, ritual duties and lists of things. The Reuben 46500
particular enumeration we are interested in here is Simeon 59300
the census taken of the twelve tribes or houses, of
the Children of Israel. Table 1 shows the name of Gad 45650
each tribe and the head count of every male from Judah 74600
twenty years old and upward, all that were able to
Issachar 54400
go forth to war," as recorded in the first census
found in Chapter I, verses 1-46. Zebulun 57400
Ephraim 40500
This is the only data provided.
Manasseh 32200
Notice that in all but one case, there are two ciphers Benjamin 35400
or zeros at the end of each number of the census Dan 62700
possibly a device used to protect the significant
digits from being dropped or altered during tran- Asher 41500
scription. Naphtali 53400
Total 603,550

Table 1

1
Originally published in Voices In Stone by Bernard I. Pietsch 1972.
The Sines of the Tribes Bernard I. Pietsch 2010 Page 2 of 5

HOUSE CENSUS DECIMALADDED

The first step in decoding the data is to place a Reuben 46500 .4650
decimal point before each number, as shown in
the third column on the right. See Table 2. Simeon 59300 .5930
Gad 45650 .4565
Judah 74600 .7460
Next. If the decimal number is taken as the Issachar 54400 .5440
sine of an angle a most interesting and Zebulun 57400 .5740
ingenious 'co-incidence' is revealed.
Ephraim 40500 .4050
When the trigonometric process is invoked and Manasseh 32200 .3220
the sines are translated into degrees, minutes, Benjamin 35400 .3540
and seconds of arc, the population of each
tribe takes on a completely new dimension. Dan 62700 .6270
Asher 41500 .4150
The twelve sines become twelve angles. Naphtali 53400 .5340
See Table 3 below. Total 603,550

Table 2

HOUSE CENSUS SINE DECIMAL ANGLE

Reuben 46500 .4650 27.71022205 The level of sophistication

Simeon 59300 .5930 36.37018758 encoded here is illustrated yet
Gad 45650 .4565 27.16148847 again when the decimal angles
are added together.
Judah* 74600 .7460 48.24506340
Issachar 54400 .5440 32.95635359 See Table 3.
Zebulun 57400 .5740 35.02963162
Ephraim 40500 .4050 23.89112714 The total number of degrees
Manasseh 32200 .3220 18.78391961 of all the angles equals
Benjamin 35400 .3540 20.73216914 366.5047315 --a value closely
approximating the number of
Dan 62700 .6270 38.82913316 days in the mean sidereal
Asher 41500 .4150 24.51931648 (star) year.
Naphtali 53400 .5340 32.27611926
Total 603,550 366.5047315 Theres more.

Table 3
The Sines of the Tribes Bernard I. Pietsch 2010 Page 3 of 5

Observe what occurs if the single number representing the Tribe of Judah, 74600, is
treated as the cosine of an angle or 41.7549366.

Another significant coincidence emerges

HOUSE CENSUS SINE DECIMAL ANGLE DEGREE ANGLE

Reuben 46500 .4650 27.71022205 2742' 36"

Simeon 59300 .5930 36.37018758 3622' 12"
Gad 45650 .4565 27.16148847 2709' 41"
Judah* 74600 .7460 41.7549366 4145' 17"
as acosine
Issachar 54400 .5440 32.95635359 3257' 22"
Zebulun 57400 .5740 35.02963162 3501' 46"
Ephraim 40500 .4050 23.89112714 2353' 28"
Manasseh 32200 .3220 18.78391961 1847' 02"
Benjamin 35400 .3540 20.73216914 2043' 55"
Dan 62700 .6270 38.82913316 3849' 44"
Asher 41500 .4150 24.51931648 2431' 09"
Naphtali 53400 .5340 32.27611926 3216' 34"
Total 360.0146047 36000'52"
Table 4

The total number of degrees of all twelve houses becomes exactly 360.0146047
or 36000' 52".033.

36000'52" is significant as it represents the length of the sacred year of 360 days
and the full circle of the heavens, as 360 degrees. It also incorporates, in the
additional 52 seconds of arc, an annual value for the rate of the precession of the
equinoxes in a period of about 25,000 years--approximately 50+/- seconds of arc per
year.

* The inference that the tribe of Judah is meant to be singled out from the rest we take from the Book
of Genesis, Chapter 49, where in verse 9, Judah is referred to as "the lions welp." In verse 10 it is
written, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah."

Judah is compared here to the Lion, holding the scepter, or pointing the way, "until Shiloh come, --a
very long time, perhaps one cycle (or more) of the precession of the equinoxes. References in many
cultures associate the lion image with leadership or direction--most notably in Egypt in the sculpture
of the Sphinx. In other publications we show how the alignment between the head of the Sphinx and
the tip of Kephrens Pyramid focuses on Regulus, the king star, in the constellation of Leo.
The Sines of the Tribes Bernard I. Pietsch 2010 Page 4 of 5

For ages, scholars have attempted to correlate the Twelve Tribes with the twelve
divisions of the zodiac, citing various Biblical metaphors comparing the twelve sons
of Israel with zodiacal characters.1 There appears to be no uniform agreement as to
the exact designation of each tribe with its referent constellation. As to which tribe
corresponds to which constellation, we surrender this debate to others more
qualified to argue the case. But the correlations below are compelling.

If a contemporary astronomical atlas is consulted, one will find a constellation in the

zodiac corresponding within a few degrees to an angle derived mathematically from
the numbers in the census. See Table 5 below.
HOUSE SINE DECIMAL ANGLE MODERN ASSIGNMENT

Reuben .4650 27.71022205 27.8315 Capricornus

Simeon .5930 36.37018758 36.7229 Taurus
Gad .4565 27.16148847 24.7303 Aries
Judah .7460 41.7549366 43.9593 Virgo
cosine
Issachar .5440 32.95635359 33.4184 Sagittarius
Zebulun .5740 35.02963162 35.8124 Leo
Ephraim .4050 23.89112714 23.2372 Libra
Manasseh .3220 18.78391961 18.5999 Ophiuchus*
6.5905 Scorpius
Benjamin .3540 20.73216914 20.0504 Cancer
Dan .6270 38.82913316 37.0368 Pisces
Asher .4150 24.51931648 24.1625 Aquarius
Naphtali .5340 32.27611926 27.8479 Gemini
Total 360.0146047 360
Table 5

Associating the sines of the tribes with the signs of the zodiac is not meant to
rationalize astrology. We propose instead that the persons responsible for the
narrative were in possession of a rigorous knowledge of astronomy. The calculation
of a precessional value is no mean accomplishment; it demonstrates capability of
the highest order. Generations of astronomical observation would have been
necessary to achieve accuracy at this level.

*Legends and figures associated with configurations of stars are very ancient, and appear variously in
cultures the world over. What stars constitute a constellation and how its boundaries are determined
th
is inexact and has changed over time. The ascriptions used above were adopted in the 19 century
by modern astronomers, and are used today.
Note: Although recognized anciently, the constellation Ophiuchus was not included in the modern
zodiac. Ophiuchus was replaced by the constellation Scorpius which it overlaps. When the angles of
both constellations are added together, the circle of 360 degrees is fulfilled. It may or may not be
worthy of note that the house of Levi, the priestly class was exempt from the census and ordered not
th
to be counted. The Levites would have been the 13 tribe, 8580 in number.
The Sines of the Tribes Bernard I. Pietsch 2010 Page 5 of 5

It is also conceivable that the lists in the Book of Numbers are remnants of an earlier
science of which even the transcribers had lost direct knowledge. Much is left to
speculation on this point, but the evidence in the numbers remains.

The systematic presented above demonstrates the sophistication employed by the

ancients for passing on "sacred" or "secret" information. We have recovered
similarly astounding examples in holy books like the Bhagavad-Gita, and in the early
literature of the Greeks, e.g. Homer, Herodotus and Plato.

Scholars may someday re-evaluate these writings in light of their

mathematical/numerical significance. The riches of these ancient treasuries have yet
to be discovered.

Other articles discussing how an archaic system of number, measure and geometry are encoded in
the art, literature and architecture of the ancient world can be found on Bernards site at
www.scribd.com/bernardpietsch

Spoken presentations are available on the video sharing site:

http://www.vimeo.com/channels/writteninstone

Comments or questions may be addressed to Mr. Pietsch directly at

mailto:bernard@sonic.net