Speculations regarding the technical abilities of our ancestors abound but one burning question shrouded in mystery stands out from our past, ‘How did the Egyptians raise the pyramid stones that were the backbone of its construction?’ If this knowledge was lost with the decline of the ancient world, all we can do is wonder and investigate the how and the why! Secrets locked in the past.
The work and dedication of countless scholars, especially the archaeological fraternity, have been invaluable to modern science. However, if the solution to the
mystery of the pyramids was dependent on academic qualifications, it could be argued that surely it should have been solved years ago. Scholars maintain that the Egyptians left no written records relating to the construction of the pyramids.
The theory proposed in this work is based on man’s ability to learn and adapt known technology of the time, with basic materials and a large dose of ingenuity.
I was taught that man evolved from prehistoric caves, learnt how to make fire, hunt for food then progressed to domesticate animals and ultimately farming. To me this represented a learning curve, that our ancestors were perhaps less intelligent than ourselves at the beginning of this time line. Intelligence in general terms is a mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, it also reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings "catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and most of all learn from experience’. When modern man fails to answer a mystery, it can be said that this knowledge has surpassed modern man, perhaps indicating that modern man is not so intelligent after all. Perhaps we have all made erroneous assumptions regarding our ancestors which have, in turn lead us to this dead end of being unable to solve the mystery. Answers to these questions are sometimes more complex than we can imagine, but holding on to established theories as the truth regardless of other possible hypotheses or explanations would no doubt hold back man’s progress. People look at the same evidence and interpret it differently, that’s just human nature. We all have our unique perspective, and see and interpret according to it. The building blocks of history are built on the interpretations of our peers of archaeological artefacts and ancient texts left by our ancestors. We depend on this information to help know our place in the universe, to understand where we have come from, where we are going and how are we going to get there. A significant percentage of what we know of our past is based on theory and conjecture, or educated guesses. Often, it is the simplest answer that’s the hardest to accept. If we fail to answer these and many other secrets of the past we are doing a disservice not only to our ancestors but also to ourselves, and to the generations to come. So, this inevitably raises the question ‘Why have I written this book when the bookshelves of our libraries groan under the weight of pyramid theories?’ Well that’s a story in itself. I intend to demonstrate through an analysis of current interpretation that the ancients did leave clues within the stories of myth that they told, and the hieroglyphic symbols they left behind. The analysis will be accompanied with models specifically built to test this theory. In this model building process, one can see the concept in action, and the associated problems that have to be overcome during pyramid construction. It is argued in this work that the ancient Egyptians possessed a construction technique unknown to modern man. They also had the ability to quarry and process stone at an alarming rate.
I do not regard myself as a free thinker or believe that aliens or giants raised the pyramid stones. I am just an average guy who challenges widely held ideas and theories and suggests an alternative interpretation based on common sense. The Egyptians built it; all we have to do is figure out is how. “It’s that easy, but where do you start?” Unless stated otherwise, all images have been provided by the author.
The Holiday
The story starts in the summer of 2004, when my wife and I toured an ancient Greek temple site named Olympia. This site marked the origin of the Olympic Games. Our guide, a young girl studying at university, told us stories of the ancient Greeks, and spoke of mysteries and the gods. Being a good orator, she held our attention with her tails of mystery and myth but some of her explanations led me to question her knowledge. This was the first time I had ever questioned the viewpoint of an academic. I was intrigued with the ancient buildings that surrounded the area, and the techniques that were used to construct such massive monuments at a time when no motorized mechanical machines existed.
How did they build such monumental structures like the temples of Olympia or in-fact the Parthenon without the aid of computer models and electronic communications, not to mention the logistical problems of labour, food and transport? I started to investigate the possible ways in which these buildings could have been constructed. Scholars admit, voiced by Manolis Korres (The stones of the Parthenon, Melissa 2000 page 7) ‘that even with today’s high powered electric and petrol engines, and the use of powered tools and modern machinery, it would be impossible to construct a replica of the Parthenon today’.
So ‘How did they do it?’ After considerable thought and discussions, I proposed a little ramp theory and a new method of construction.
The basic idea indicates that the grooves in the column drums at most temple sites are an aid to construction. In the diagram below is a single column drum protected by quarter round battens cut to match the shape of an inverted cypress tree.
The tapering of the column is a direct effect of using a tree to protect the groove. You can now roll the drums without chipping or damaging the stone. The grooves in the drum can be pre-cut to support the batten, or left smooth and cut later, depending on the weight and spacing between the columns.
Pictured above is a hypothetical set up of the construction site. The idea is simple. Drums are arranged into a square base and successive drums are rolled into position using small platforms between each drum. The battens that protect the drum also act as support for the platforms. In this scenario, drums are rolled in an anti-clockwise fashion.
To gain height, small ramps are positioned between each drum. The pusher has a small area to rest on the top of each drum. The pusher goes up the ramp and then rests, and proceeds up to the next ramp and then takes another rest. In this way, the construction workers make what initially looks like a daunting task, simple. Finally, all the column stones to complete the structure are pulled up in a designated order, with the highest placed stones being brought up first and so on. You now lower the drums down the little ramps, assembling the temple from the top down. You may think that I am way off topic talking about the ancient Greeks. However, the general consensus of opinion is that the Greeks obtained their technical ability from the Egyptians and according to George Sarton, (A History of Science Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952) Sarton points out that ‘the Greeks did not suddenly “invent” science: “the Greek ‘miracle’ was prepared by millennia of work in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and possibly other regions’. Since my hypothesis started at the ancient site of Olympia, it is only fitting for this work to begin here.
What the Egyptians Knew
I wondered whether this hypothesis of the ‘little ramp theory’ had its roots set back further in time, and whether it could be adapted to other buildings. Could the hypothesis hold true for support both the construction of temples in Greece and of the pyramids in Egypt? To begin the investigation, it may be pertinent to mention reverse engineering, a common way of developing a hypothesis to explain the construction of a particular thing. There are countless mysteries the solution for which there may be many clues.
However, if because of an erroneous hypothesis, or because of the perspective of the researcher, these clues are not fully understood or not recognized, the enigma and the mystery will remain. Conversely, if the hypothesis is correct, it should solve some, if not all, the secrets.
Clearly, stability and having stable platform from which to work were absolutely necessary. The Egyptians knew the value of kinetic energy and the value of increasing the pressure to a cutting tool.
You can see evidence of this in the picture above. The efficiency of the drill was reinforced by the addition of the weights, probably in the form of sand which was placed in leather bags and steadied with string on the rod of the drill. There is also evidence that the Egyptians used lathes and drills, as seen in the Cairo museum (top right).
 | Pictured left is a painting from the 5th dynasty tomb of Ty at Saqqara. It shows two carpenters using a bow drill on a piece of wooden furniture. The man on the right is pushing the drill onto the wood with a capstone, while the other is rotating the drill by moving the bow backwards and forwards. The bow can also be used to operate a cutting wheel. |
Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since predynastic times. The ancient bow evolved from the ability to make fire, and by rubbing two sticks by hand. A natural progression of this would be to rotate the sticks by another method; evolution involves a continuous process of adaptation. This art of making fire
from our natural surroundings is still practiced today.
An example can be seen with The Society of Primitive Technology, Rexburg USA an organization dedicated to the research, practice, and teaching of primitive technology, it promotes the practice and teaching of indigenous life skills. The components of the bow drill consist of the spindle, the hearthboard, the bow and the bearing block. Downward pressure is applied by pushing down on the bearing block. The spindle is rotated by pushing the bow backwards and forwards. In the photo above, notice the left thumb is used to push down on the string to separate the string as the spindle is rotating. This keeps the strings from abrading each other. Also in the photo, the right wrist is locked into the shin of the right leg to stabilize the rotating spindle. (Maintaining stability is an important point which will be discussed later.)
A leaf is then placed underneath the notch to catch the char dust. A consistent sawing motion is used to create char build-up in the notch. Once the spindle on the hearthboard begins to smoke, the char dust ignites into an ember.
The glowing ember is then transferred from the leaf to the tinder bundle, and animal down is placed in the tinder bundle (see photo at left). This helps to extend the fire of the ember. The tinder bundle is then blown into in order to ignite the ember. One of the problems inherent in the bow drill friction fire method is when trying to start a fire with a bow drill. First, the cord is not wrapped tightly enough around the spindle so that the cord slips and the spindle stop’s spinning. Increased rubbing also weakens the cord away or the spindle then slides out of the socket and propelled by the increasing tension in the string, it flies through the air. The ancient Egyptians came up with a solution. They placed an extra long cord on the bow and either tied the middle of the cord around the spindle or passed the cord through a hole drilled in the middle of the spindle. Next, they wrapped the extra length of cord around the spindle. This made slippage of the cord impossible and it prevented the spindle from flipping into someone's eye. This non-slip connection between the cord and spindle may also allow the use of a thinner, weaker cord. Pictures courtesy of Dick Baugh primitive ways.
A natural progression for the bow drill is to fit a cutting bit to the tip. Again, the ancient Egyptians came up with this idea themselves. Denys Stocks, an Egyptologist who has studied and tested ancient Egyptian tools for more than two decades, in his book (Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology Publisher, Routledge 2003 ) Stocks experimented with copper tools that the ancients used.
A copper tube can be fixed to the tip of the shaft. This transforms the rotating shaft into a drill. Stocks found that the bow drill relied on the quartzite in sand to do the actual cutting. It was found that this tubular copper drill was able to cut at a ratio of three to one (i.e., one inch in depth of stone cut would wear out three inches of copper tube). As the drill increased in size, so the dimensions of bow had to increase accordingly. However, there must come a point when the bow becomes ineffective and difficult to hold. The reader is probably wondering what bow drills have got to do with building the pyramids. Please stay with me and hopefully all will become clear. So, the Egyptians possessed this early drilling machine. However, was anything written in the ancient texts that is pertinent to this constructional theory?
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