Pyramids. Are they really so technically clever?

a reply to: zandra

Sorry. I don't believe it was anything other than human in design and construction.

a reply to: blackcrowe
Agreed, another example that is blown out of proportions is the Antikythera mechanism

The thing is the Egyptians lived in the perfect country to build a pyramid. An Egyptian child at the time could show you the perfect geometry of a pyramid. There's sand every where. You take a flat dry surface, take a handful of sand and let it dribble through your hand, like an egg timer. Let it build up till it starts to collapse, stop, and you have the perfect angle for a pyramid. I did know the degree once but I forgot it.
As for the manpower. The builders were normal Egyptians who gave up a certain portion of their year to work on it. They were well paid, with medical aid provided, beer provided and days off when needed.
The problem we encounter is we think of a hundred men pulling a block but they had access to thousands at any one time.
Do not discount the power of thousands of men pulling at the same time.

a reply to: crayzeed

so you clearly think the past is just an analogue of your existance today, how simple the world must seem

Just to prove a point, years ago I watched a docu on the statues on Easter Island and they were exploring various ways of moving them with manpower/wood logs/rope, they didn't had much success but they did mention the locals legend that the "statues walked".
Now there is another docu out were they tie ropes to the top of the statue and put teams to 'rock' the statues and they do "walk" this way is much easier and faster.... took some years for us modern humans to figure out how the ancients did it.

As for being ....waterproof... that was very likely not an issue. And lets not forget that it is said they were veneered with an outer stone giving them a white appearance.

a reply to: manuelram16

I agree. There was no shortage of manpower.
Also. Too many people look at it from today's technological perspective.
It was a simpler time. No magic or aliens.

a reply to: username74No! I'm just stating that people make mountains out of molehills. Stop thinking "oh this must be really complicated because it's so big". Just time itself could be the answer. No-one knows how long they tried and failed as the majority of the time no-one ever sees the failures as they are eradicated.
It's like a Pythagorean triangle, 3, 4, 5, to find a 90% angle it is the same today as it was 5000 years ago. Now did they know that 5000 years ago? Who knows.

a reply to: crayzeed

As for the manpower. The builders were normal Egyptians who gave up a certain portion of their year to work on it. They were well paid, with medical aid provided, beer provided and days off when needed.

That's the best way to get the most from your workforce.
I wish modern day employers were as good.

a reply to: Plotus

If they were as technically perfect as some believe. they wouldn't need to seal the outside.

originally posted by: blackcrowe
a reply to: Byrd

Ok. Not that regular. But, still cube like.
How large would slabs have to have been in order to cover a size as large as the base?

Any size you like. They also did them out of mud brick. One man can make a thousand of those in a day (I have seen film clips of modern Egyptians doing that)

cutting and transporting slabs would be far harder than smaller cube like blocks.

The quarries are right beside the pyramids - less than a quarter mile for the pyramid of Menkaure. The only stone that was transported from any distance was the granite for the interior chambers. And the area of the Sphinx was once a quarry.

originally posted by: zandra
a reply to: blackcrowe

I' ll make a long story short:

A question we should ask ourselves: The greatest geniuses of our time came up with different scenarios for how the pyramids were built, but not one of them withstood reality tests. How can this be possible? And that more than 40 years after astronauts walked on the moon.

www.evawaseerst.be...

There are a whole lot of problems with that page - including the assumption that they somehow tried to haul the sarcophagus down there when the pyramid was finished. It's pretty obvious that they worked on it while that area was still accessible; while the pyramid was still partly built. And the "air shafts" aren't air shafts.

a reply to: Byrd

Thanks.
I think we have crossed wires in the first part of your reply above.
I originally meant that slabs being used to create a roof to cover the span of the base would be more difficult than building four walls that butt together . With like shaped blocks. They are also easier to move. Weather quarter of a mile away or further. And. slabs would have to sit on pillars which would decrease usable interior open spaces.
Point being. It would be harder to make a four wall and roof construction that big. The pyramid was the easy answer.

originally posted by: blackcrowe
a reply to: Raggedyman

Of course the GP is the pinnacle of all pyramids.
But, the shape designs itself. There's no other shape it could have been. For such a large base area.
A flat roof design would maybe be even more impressive.

A flat roof design would be ruins today.

Ancient Egyptians built flat roof structures, too.

The pyramids were built for permanence and weren't used as 'buildings' in the conventional sense that people gathered inside them for activities.

I believe the permanence of the pyramids holds a clue to their purpose.

I don't think it's a fair comparison between flat roof buildings and the pyramids. Their purpose is yet to be fully discovered.

originally posted by: blackcrowe
a reply to: forthelove

Easier than four walls and a roof. That's the point i'm trying to make.
Not made to represent the Ben Ben. Or , so the Pharaoh could climb to the sky. Or, to represent the suns rays.
But because it was easier than a four walls and roof construction.

4 walls and a roof is a far more simple building to design and construct than a pyramid. Any knucklehead (like myself) can slap up 4 walls and a roof. A pyramid is a much more complex building. I don't know much about the Pyramids but I'm sure their builders didn't choose the pyramid design because it was easier than 4 walls and a roof.

a reply to: blackcrowe

No revelation of how the Pyramids were built Is coming forth and that segment of Egyptology is a joke.

Cheops built it they say. It's clearly older than that and the method they were built beyond our own comprehension. As is the reason.


The only thing I can think of is that there is a grain of truth to the stories of giants in way ancient times and they built them. There are pictures of giants drawn on the Pyramids doing construction but they seem to be supervising.

Egyptologists should grow up and at least admit what they DO know, which is more than they will/are allowed to.


Most fascinating is we could never recreate a Great Pyramid with all of our "superior" technology.

In general. I don't think pyramids are so fantastic.
It was the simplest way to cover a large base area (whatever the interior purpose was intended for).
They are basic. And naturally stable when the angles are right.
Another basic, naturally stable building, (in it's own environment) is an igloo. Again, covering a base without walls and roof construction. Why? It's the easiest solution.
The link explains why Egyptians used the pyramid shape.
www.ancientegypt.co.uk...
It's a bit weak.
How many pyramids around the world don't include Pharaoh's? So, that's out for me.
Represents a hill called a Ben Ben. I can see the point they're shaped a little like a hill.
Represents the rays of the sun. Well, the sun was worshiped all over the world.
why can't the answer be. It's the easiest option? Anything else really would have been too technical.
As for not being able to make one today, even with our technology. They never required advance technology. It was basic tools, lots of manpower and an understanding of leverage and fulcrums etc.
I don't see the magic.

originally posted by: blackcrowe
The link explains why Egyptians used the pyramid shape.
www.ancientegypt.co.uk...
It's a bit weak.
How many pyramids around the world don't include Pharaoh's?

The ones that are not built by Egyptians. The only ones with pharaohs (and queens, actually -see this 2008 news story about one) are those built by the Egyptians.

As for not being able to make one today, even with our technology. They never required advance technology. It was basic tools, lots of manpower and an understanding of leverage and fulcrums etc.
I don't see the magic.

Agreed. And no aliens or anything else. Coral Castle is a good example of what one 100 pound man can do with levers and pulleys (and 40 years of labor by one person)

Again, I ask...where are the Egyptian records that demonstrate how and when the pyramids were built? Can anybody link me a source that actually shows the hieroglyphic writings detailing the processes involved.

I do not consider the alien-hypothesis a tenable one.