Historical accounts for the construction of the Egyptian pyramids do little to point definitively to methods to lift the blocks; yet most Egyptologists refer to these accounts when discussing this portion of pyramid construction. Thales, according to the philosopher Hieronymus (3rd century BC), visited the Egyptian pyramids during the 7th century BC and by using the intercept theorem, also known as Thales's theorem, measured their height and thus their volume. The first historical accounts of the construction of these monuments came centuries after the era of pyramid construction, by Herodotus in the 5th century BC and Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC. Herodotus's account states: