Egyptian pyramid Khafra with its topmost Tura stones still intact.

Does anyone know why there is between 70 to 90 stone courses of Tura stone that is still intact at the top of the Egyptian pyramid Khafra ?

There are a few answers like :

1) For unknown spiritual reasons the locals left the top section alone whilst removing the rest for their Mosques.
2) The top most section became unreachable after the lower layers fell away.
3) There is a unknown force inside the pyramid that is keeping the Tura stones intact.
4) Luck.
5) Link between the capstone and the All Seeing Eye of Horus.
6) Other unknown reason.




If anyone has come across a answer to this question then please leave a link because I am curious to find out why.

a reply to: Rapha

I would flag you if i could.

Excellent post!

originally posted by: XstReturnsX
Excellent post!

Thanks. I am just really curious as to how that top layer still exists. Maybe the masons that constructed it put extra effort into the top section. But again, why the extra effort for the top section.

a reply to: Rapha

Mmm agreed..there is more than meets the eye. I dont know why, but i can speculate. If this were ancient Egypt, i'd be dead simpy revealing my identity and what i think.

Ok..

a reply to: Rapha

I seem to recall somewhere reading/hearing the pyramids were stripped of the outside layer because it was limestone and used for building . Perhaps it got to a stage where the effort was not worth the reward . Or i could be wrong .

a reply to: Rapha

Yeah, the lower stones were most likely bigger, and were useful, when making other buildings.

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: Rapha

I seem to recall somewhere reading/hearing the pyramids were stripped of the outside layer because it was limestone and used for building . Perhaps it got to a stage where the effort was not worth the reward . Or i could be wrong .

yup and if i remember correctly it was saladin (probly butchering his name) the muslim general who kinda opened up the doorway for it to be stripped of the limestone after he opened up cairo to everyone and there was a big building boom. so you can probly see much of the stone to this very day just walking through cairo

Weathering damage is always lower. There is a point when in deserts the winds reduce as you go higher reply to: Rapha

a reply to: Rapha


Intersting parallel to the dollar. Good eye! I like it when peoples eyes are open and connected to their thinking.

Realistically, its more about practicality than anything.

1) For unknown spiritual reasons the locals left the top section alone whilst removing the rest for their Mosques.

Not unknown. I read somewhere they stripped the facing up to the highest point beyond which they were afraid to go for fear the rest of the top would suddenly give way and take them wth it. Had to do with the work area getting smaller and smaller towards the top.

Or something like that.

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: Rapha

I seem to recall somewhere reading/hearing the pyramids were stripped of the outside layer because it was limestone and used for building . Perhaps it got to a stage where the effort was not worth the reward . Or i could be wrong .

Correct. The pyramids were stripped of rock for roads and buildings.

a reply to: Rapha

It's probably physically easier to start with the blocks on the bottom and work your way up, than to start removing them from the top.

a reply to: Rapha

I believe that an earth-quake might have been responsible for some of the casing stones coming off.....I think that this happened in the 1300's....and the locals collected this rubble and used it for building projects in and around Cairo...

I apologize for not having a reference on hand....

a reply to: TheScale

It was Saladin; not only a great general, but also a great administrator. He significantly streamlined the new building permitting process and revised the zoning rules taking zones from 6 to just 3 so that commercial and residential zones were combined to the delight of both local business owners, home/apartment builders and mortgage lenders.

Interesting fellow. Although he was a bit dismissive of artifacts until near the end of his reign his son started a lucrative tourist and tour servce which inclued Nile cruises and such.

originally posted by: tri-lobe-1
I believe that an earth-quake might have been responsible for some of the casing stones coming off.....I think that this happened in the 1300's....and the locals collected this rubble and used it for building projects in and around Cairo...

I apologize for not having a reference on hand....

No problem. I remember reading about that as well.

So it seems that with ancientthunder's answer and yours, erosion affected all layers except the top for many centuries. Then when the earthquake hit, the eroded blocks fell easily.

Then the conclusion is not luck but coincidence that the situation today looks uncannily similar to the All Seeing Eye on a Dollar bill.

6. The work to remove it was interrupted by some external reason. Perhaps war, death of the person who ordered it, death of a key engineer ,or no need for the material at that time and once they did need it again the set up had decayed.

Basically unknown and unless someone wrote about it we will never know.

I'm not sayin it was aliens. But, it was Aliens.

This is all fun for speculation and whatnot ...but...

Wasn't the outer layer made of PLASTER???

So who's going to chip away plaster to build their house or road with?

When you start chipping away at plaster I believe it crumbles..

I don't know...where's Byrd when you need her?

a reply to: Rapha



Removing those outer casing stones would have been a major undertaking. I could only image how many lives were lost as the excavators went higher and higher. These stones would have crushed so many people if their removal didn’t go just perfect. Look at the scale of the pyramid compared to a human.

They certainly removed the solid gold capstone, though.

a reply to: Rapha

my guess...

it was far too complicated to get the stones down from such a height after the lower stones were removed

Literally not worth the effort... or the death involved