Bizarre

oldarchystudent · Post by **oldarchystudent** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:08 am

I just did a google as Min seems to be away right now. This would seem to indicate it's not that far away....

http://www.aeraweb.org/khufu_quarry.asp

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:12 am

So if the ramp was half a mile long, it had about a 5 to 1 slope, which may have gotten the job done.

oldarchystudent · Post by **oldarchystudent** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:15 am

Genesis Veracity wrote:So if the ramp was half a mile long, it had about a 5 to 1 slope, which may have gotten the job done.

But I'm still not sure a ramp that long is practical. I'm no engineer but surely it would sag under it's own bulk? The wrap around model still looks best to me.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:17 am

It was an earthen ramp.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:19 am

Genesis Veracity wrote:Hey min, how far from the GP is the old quarry, and what is their difference of elevation?

Several hundred yards I think...and the elevation would have varied as the quarry got deeper.

oldarchystudent · Post by **oldarchystudent** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:24 am

Genesis Veracity wrote:It was an earthen ramp.

...which would sag constantly, especially considering the weight it had to support. Wrapping it around the pyramid itself (remembering that you would only go up to the completed levels so overseeing of the construction of those lower levels is no longer necessary) would give strength to the ramp.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:24 am

Genesis Veracity wrote:So if the ramp was half a mile long, it had about a 5 to 1 slope, which may have gotten the job done.

10 to 1 is the preferred rate among ramp theorists.

We have the remains of Flavius Silva's ramp at Masada which was built many years later and designed to facilitate the movement of one tower with a battering ram. Other Roman war machines of the times (the scorpions and ballistas) would have been much lighter. Ramps which could support stones of the weight in the Kings Chamber are of a completely different magnitude.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:28 am

Then it could have been a ramp with a ninety degree jag in it, total length about a mile.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:39 am

Genesis Veracity wrote:Then it could have been a ramp with a ninety degree jag in it, total length about a mile.

The GP was roughly 480 feet tall so a 10-1 slope gives you 4,800 feet which is indeed the better part of a mile.

The problem is the volume of such a ramp...it would have been 3 times the size of the GP itself which would have made the ramp one of the wonders of the world. Then....they had to take it down.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:24 pm

In the Dr. Schoch thread, Doug has posted a link to Colin Reader's article on the sphinx which includes a site map which will answer some of your questions.