Pyramid Construction, A Theory that might work.

[JohnB]

You're talking about a variation of the "Single Ramp" theory. The biggest problem here is that such a ramp would need to be roughly 3 times the volume and weight of the Great Pyramid itself and that's if you make it out of stone. Making the ramp purely out of sand, I would hate to think about how big it would have to be.

Suppose they constructed a long ramp from sand and placed the ropes (4 perhaps) on the ramp first and then rolled the block onto the ropes until the ends were sticking out far enough to toss them over the top of the block, then get as many men as necessary to pull on the rope thereby basically rolling the block up the ramp?

Since some of the blocks weight 70 tonnes I doubt rolling them up a slope is a viable proposition.

 

The puzzle of "How to make a pyramid" really falls into two main parts. How do you move the blocks using the known tools of the time and how do you do it fast enough?

 

For the first you have people with time on their hands, so workforce isn't a problem. However you don't have pulleys or rollers. No winches, no carts, no wheels. You do have copper tools, ropes and wooden sleds.

 

Now the fun starts. The Great pyramid is estimated to contain 2 500 000 blocks each weighing from 2.5 to 70 tonnes. Records tell us that the construction took 20 years. That's 125 000 blocks placed each year. We believe that the crews hauling stones only did so for 6 months of the year so they laid around 694 blocks per day.

 

As the workforce weren't slaves, records tell us they only worked some 10 hours per day which means 69 blocks per hour or better than a block per minute. As you can see, even if they worked 24/7 a block still has to reach the top of the ramp every 4 minutes. (This is what leads the Von Danikens of the world to declare aliens helped them.)

 

So, to solve the puzzle you need to get a block per minute to the top of the ramp using only ropes, sleds and manpower. To make the puzzle even harder you need to work out how to keep building up your ramp without interrupting the flow of blocks.

 

We know they did it, we just don't know how.

[entwined]

 

So, to solve the puzzle you need to get a block per minute to the top of the ramp using only ropes, sleds and manpower. To make the puzzle even harder you need to work out how to keep building up your ramp without interrupting the flow of blocks.

 

We know they did it, we just don't know how.

 

That would be an intimidating task even today with modern methods and tools.

[JohnB]

That would be an intimidating task even today with modern methods and tools.

That's why there is a lucrative industry in books showing it was done by aliens or magic.

 

One reason I like this new theory is that it takes into account a little acknowledged part of pyramid building. Once you reach the "King's Chamber" you are at slightly less than half the total height but have completed around 2/3 of the total construction volume.

 

Except for the "airshafts", all the actual architectural building is done and you only have to pile the blocks up from that point on. It is reasonable to assume that a totally different method of raising the blocks comes into play at that point. All previous theories assumed that the same raising technique was used for the entire construction and they have all failed.

 

Isn't archaeology fun?

[entwined]

I have been thinking about the "block a minute" part of this puzzle and, while I do not dispute the arithmetic, I cannot accept that it would have been possible givin the equipment available at the time. Or for that matter, even now.....

 

After all, you can only get so many people on the job site before you reach the point where fewer people could do more and I can't see anything like a block a minute.

 

Something is wrong here. Either the length of time during construction is off or the total number of blocks is off or something.......

 

I don't think aliens did it, and I am not a believer in majic tricks, but they are there, (the pyramids) aren't they?

[JohnB]

Ah Grasshopper, now you begin to see the complexity and majesty of the puzzle.

 

Getting the blocks up at that rate using modern techniques is easy. Give me a ramp wide enough for two way traffic and a heap of forklifts and I'll get 20 blocks a minute to the worksite.

 

If you think the Great Pyramid is hard work, remember that Khufu's father Snefru built two. Firstly the "Bent" pyramid and when that had structural problems, the "Red" pyramid.

 

From the second link: "An inscription found at the base of this pyramid has shown that work had started during the year of the 15th cattle count of Snofru's reign. Since the cattle counts were held at irregular intervals during this reign, this refers to somewhere between Snofru's 15th and 30th year. It is very likely that the pyramid construction was started at the time when structural problems encountered when building the Bent Pyramid forced the builders to temporarily abandon this project.

 

Interestingly, a second inscription found 30 courses of stones higher is dated 2 to 4 years later than the inscription found at the base. This gives an idea about the speed at which the Egyptians were able to build a monument like this pyramid.

 

Within four years, 30 percent of the pyramid had been completed, and the entire pyramid was finished in about seventeen years."

 

Don't let the "block a minute" mislead you. It only means that the blocks reach the top at a rate of one a minute, not that they have one minute to come up the ramp.

 

Let's say it takes 60 minutes to pull a block from the store to the top of the ramp. (and 60 minutes for the crew to walk back down and hook up the next one.) If we have 120 crews, then at any given time 60 of them are on the way up and 60 are on the way down and the blocks reach the top at 1 a minute. (Maybe Henry Ford didn't invent the production line. )

I don't think aliens did it, and I am not a believer in majic tricks, but they are there, (the pyramids) aren't they?

Yup. We know they did it. We know what tools they used. We just haven't worked out the technique yet. A glorious puzzle.

 

"All things fear Time but Time fears only the Pyramids."