Contemporary Great Pyramid Document

[circumspice]

Yeah, I've worked in a desert for extended periods of time & I can personally attest to that notion. I never thought that Houdin's ideas were very viable. Still, at least people are actively try to find answers that don't involve the intervention of gods or aliens. They get props just for seeking an earthly solution to the question.

[Minimalist]

I probably won't explain this very well and I'm a shitty artist so I can't draw a diagram but wouldn't it be more logical to build in two directions at the same time?

The tradition seems to be that they build one level to completion and start the next level, raising the ramp as they go. Suppose they started in the middle with the core and built outward? While that's going on other teams could start bringing up stones for the second tier and they would only have to lift them 4-5 feet which could be accomplished with a shadoof type device which was used to bring water to the fields. Certainly not an unknown technology to the Egyptians!

When the second tier got big enough they could start building the third tier in the same way. Build upward AND outward at the same time? It seems like a far more efficient use of manpower than having another enormous crew standing by for ramp extension.

[circumspice]

Of course that would make more sense & be more efficient. One caveat though... We are often cautioned to never ascribe modern values or reasoning to ancient peoples... So what we consider sensible may not apply to the ancients.

That said...

I have read that the core of the Great Pyramid is a natural mound of bedrock. In other words the builders didn't need to build the entire bulk of the Great Pyramid at all. They built around said bedrock mound to save on materials, labor & time... They didn't start from a flat, level foundation... That makes great sense to me, but I'm a person who's looking at it from a perspective of nearly 5000 years later in time. The debate is centered around just how much of the Great Pyramid is masonry & how much is the actual bedrock core.

[circumspice]

Just some recreational reading material pertaining to The Great Pyramid. Nothing official or even particularly scholarly.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/en ... id_of_Giza

[Minimalist]

I don't know about that one.

The remaining core of the collapsed Meidum pyramid does not look as if it were carved out of solid rock.



Besides, what are the odds that they would find 3 free standing rock outcrops at Giza?

[circumspice]

Who claimed that 3 outcrops of bedrock were used in the building of the 3 major pyramids on the Giza Plateau? I have never seen such a claim. I've only seen such a claim for the Great Pyramid. However... I have seen it stated that the smallest of the three major pyramids was built on an elevated point of the Plateau, making it appear to be slightly taller than the Great Pyramid even though it is the smallest of the three.

Correction: The Khafre Pyramid, not the smaller Menkare Pyramid, was built on an elevated point of the Plateau which made it appear to be taller than the Great Pyramid.

[circumspice]

Being confined indoors due to bad weather causes me to explore the internet searching for interesting archaeological news or websites associated with archaeology. I found a website concerning the robot that was sent in to explore the 'air shafts' in the Great Pyramid. Many of us have seen the documentary based on that robotic exploration. It is an interesting website. It even gives some insight into the politics of the archaeological expeditions in recent times. (ie: Zahi Hawass)

http://www.cheops.org/

Anywho... the following statement on their LINKS page really cracked me up... So if you're bored, you're likely to find some entertainment value in this website.



RECOMMENDED LINKS


This is not one of those thousand-links pages,
but a very limited collection of what I personally find
useful, informative, weird or funny.

If your browser gives you too much Bauval, Hancock and West when you are looking for the
Sphinx or the Pyramid, try the search engine below.
You'll be surprised what else can be found on the net.
Argos is a limited-area search of the ancient
and medieval internet

[Minimalist]

Who claimed that 3 outcrops of bedrock were used in the building of the 3 major pyramids on the Giza Plateau?

It was just the implication that they built pyramids in that fashion. Anyone can clearly see that the King's Chamber in the GP was built from blocks of stone, not carved out of some rock outcrop.



Remember, most pyramids in Egypt look like this, now.




Clearly, their later efforts were less than successful!

[circumspice]

Min... Look at this cross section of the Great Pyramid... This is a conservative estimate only. As I have stated before, it is a known fact that part of the core is an elevated bedrock outcrop... the debate is exactly how much of the Great Pyramid is bedrock core & how much is masonry. To get a perspective, remember that the unfinished underground chamber is some 90 feet below ground level. Both the other chambers are well above ground level & were not carved out of the bedrock outcrop. I am assuming that the construction details of the Descending Passageway & the Escape Shaft is the reason why it is known that at least part of the core of the Great Pyramid consists of an elevated bedrock outcrop... All the other interior features are constructed with stone masonry. I have seen other cross section illustrations of the Great Pyramid. This one seems to be the most conservative & the best labeled one though.

[circumspice]

I probably won't explain this very well and I'm a shitty artist so I can't draw a diagram but wouldn't it be more logical to build in two directions at the same time?

The tradition seems to be that they build one level to completion and start the next level, raising the ramp as they go. Suppose they started in the middle with the core and built outward? While that's going on other teams could start bringing up stones for the second tier and they would only have to lift them 4-5 feet which could be accomplished with a shadoof type device which was used to bring water to the fields. Certainly not an unknown technology to the Egyptians!

When the second tier got big enough they could start building the third tier in the same way. Build upward AND outward at the same time? It seems like a far more efficient use of manpower than having another enormous crew standing by for ramp extension.

I have a hard time visualizing how the pyramid builders installed the finished limestone facing... All the reports that I have seen claim that the facing was installed from the top down. How in the hell would they do that?

[Minimalist]

It's from the single ramp theory. They would finish building with the ramp nearly 500 feet high and a couple of miles long and then as they install the siding they dismantle the ramp and move down a level. The problem is that building the ramp would be an even greater building project than the pyramid itself. Also, as Brier pointed out, the geography of the area does not allow for ramps that big.

It's a puzzle.

[circumspice]

In my opinion, which is not an expert opinion by anybody's standards, I think that they installed the polished limestone facing as they built the damn thing, from the bottom up... I can't think of any other way to do it without cranes and/or immense scaffolding.

[Minimalist]

I don't see any alternative to that, either.

With my theor...um, hypothesi....um, speculative, wild-ass guess you would merely need to finish the first tier before the second tier and so on up the pyramid. Then you could indeed place the finishing stones at the end of each tier.

Of course, the work at the very top would be done in a highly compacted area but that is true no matter what type of ramp is used.

[circumspice]

Ramps were used, in part. Otherwise, why did archaeologists find remnants & traces of ramps? Which leads to another question... If a pyramid, any pyramid, were completed why would'nt the builders remove all traces of the ramps??? Why leave the remnants? Wouldn't that ruin the esthetic aspect? After all, the pharaohs were trying to project a godlike & powerful image...

I have a gazillion questions...

[alexia30]

I want more information regarding this historic document, If anyone had more information please share, It would be really grateful.