How the Pyramids were Really Built

The main fault I find here is the supposed application of fire to make the concretion, what was burned to produce the heat needed? Why were no charcoal ruminates discovered on site or near the site? And if this is the method used what did the mesoamericans use to manufacture their pyramids?

joshua

There is a lot of Ancient Egypt that has not been uncovered yet.

Kilns to burn blocks that size may not have been made of anything permanent and would very well have been eroded away from the winds and sand, and certainly any charcoal remnants would have long since been scoured away.

As far as the South American pyramids are concerned, it seems to me that there hasn't been as much work towards them as there have been with the Egyptian pyramids.

I give you a thumbs up for your answer.

Oh no, the whole concept of huge blocks hardened in kilns is dumb...I mean, why harden blocks in the ground, then move them up the ramp when you could move small bags of concrete mix up the hill and mix them there? Normally when you burn limestone in a kiln, it calcines down into a powder, and I would have said that you could not harden limestone in a kiln at all, though this fella's experiments have blown that idea out of the water...apparently when there is enough silt, clay or dirt in the limestone, it can be fired like a brick, making it less crumbly and more useful as a building stone. Never saw THAT one coming! Next step of course would be to see if such a process actually WAS used, rather than just a "proof of concept" that it "might" have been used. Remember, the Kon Tikki expedition was nothing more than a "proof of concept" exercise as well.

Actually, this is not such a stretch...we know they DID burn clay (or river mud) to make bricks which DID get used in the temple complexes (base of the sphinx for instance, this is not at issue. The idea that they filled up the pyramids 2 ton versions of this brick is absurd, and far too easily refutable, but the idea that they would have salvaged questionable limestone by burning it is an interesting one. Of course, it seems silly to ME to try to salvage limestone in a land known as the "land of stone" but having worked in a limestone quarry once upon a time, I have seen some pretty buttery stone being cut up and put on the skids!

Anyway, just wanted to get that out of the way...this discussion seems to be suffering from the same sort of attitude which pronounced with great gravity that it would be impossible for trains to travel more than 22 miles per hour, or that it was just co-incidence that the red rock of Prince Edward Island, Canada so much resembles the stone of Carlisle England.

The last I heard the Sphinx was built 10,000 years ago, well before the pyramids were.

They've identified the erosion on the Sphinx to have been caused primarily by rain, where as erosion in the pyramids is caused by wind.

I could rationalize that (kilning) could have been a part of the manufacture of obelisks, but I would also have to think that (fragments of) smaller obelisks would have to have survived in some circumstances that would have revealed their manufacture to be of a similar nature. But an (assembly-line)-type of process for blocks which where then placed in the inner portions of a pyramid are even more doubtful, but technically possible...

Hauling large blocks up sides of a large pyramid would become increasingly difficult to manuever around corners, as the pyramid became higher, unless they were first moved to the far side of the layer, to form a relatively level, (mesa)-like, platfrom upon which to spread the blocks of the next (masaba?) out. The problem is that the axis of the ramp, if perpendicular to the face of a pyramid, would only allow for a practical slope of, maybe, half that of the pyramid itself. Thus, such an incrementally rising ramp would have been a major structure unto itself, but remained un-depicted in any reliefs that I have seen (which is, admittedly, very few...), possibly rising to the very top of the pyramid, and then, totally dismantled... If so, then what happened to all that material?...

Also, the average size of the blocks would have, most probably, gotten smaller and smaller, as the (plateaus) got higher and higher. I do not think that the average size of the blocks at the top of the pyramid are not correspondingly smaller, in size, than those at the bottom. Although there is probably some reduction in average size, is there enough?...

It is apparent that, after a very careful (construction control survey), the corners of the pyramid were placed first, as controls, with the intermediate blocks filled-in. A big question should be about how they were physically able to achieve adequate construction-control of block placement well enough to achieve (essentially) the desired slopes, all the way up the sides, layer by layer, with relatively primative surveying equipment and techniques...

It may well not have happened, but it would have been smarter to have built the inner portions of the pyramid all the way up to the top, placed the capstone(s), and then placed the facing layer(s), from the top, down, removing the ramp(s), as the (workhead) receded back down each of the layers of the pyramid. What does the evidence say about which way the pyramid was surfaced?

Additionally, have the pyramid facing stones that were (recycled...) into Bey's palace walls ever been studied to estimate their original size, thickness, and/or source?

A cursory view of any of the egyptian pyramids will reveal that the block sizes vary substantially, and yet, some of the quarry photos indicate an attempt at some uniformity of size. Apparently, (suppliers) were not required to provide blocks of x-cubits by y-cubits by z-cubits with any consistancy. Did the (government) prescibe minimums?

If all the relevant sites have not yet been thoroughly investigated, isn't it still possible that a quarry existed then, from which such proto-concrete blocks could have been drawn?

There was a TV-special on years ago that showed archeologists walking between the layers of an (Aztec?) pyramid. This would seem to indicate that they were periodically enlarged, as the community population increased, to add shell upon shell, and are therefore fundametally different in their construction methods, than the solid egyptian pyramids?...

Well with the advanced technology that the aliens possessed I'm sure they used tractor beams to accomplish those difficult feats, but then again with such an advanced intelligence, safety would have been a priority but we find bodies of people that were crushed between those blocks.

They used to say those blocks weighed 10 tons each but then later it came out that the blocks only weighed 2 tons at most.

They hold their construction as being phenomenal because they are fitted together with such tightness that you can't hardly slip a piece of paper between them.

I don't think their engineering skills were very primitive. They would be considered primitive because it was an ancient civilization but it's obvious that they were a little more advanced then we give them credit for because our modern day engineers are still theorizing how they did it. It's technology that has been lost and may turn up when they've uncovered more of the buried ruins.

Ok, but to specifically which space aliens do you refer? Perhaps those from Mars? or Alpha Centauri? (or Texas?)

I saw a show with that Fracker guy from Star Trek the Next Generation guy hosting.

At the end he showed some hieroglyphics that showed a helicopter and jet plane and some other things that we use as present day technology.

Maybe someone will be inventing a time machine and going back to teach them how to do it and we're just going through a continuous circle.

I read the article, and am left with more questions than answers. I have never visited the pyramids of Egypt, and so really don't know what they are made of...I was always under the impression that they were made from sandstone or low grade limestone (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/material.htm), with a limestone faceing. Why is there a need for cement or concrete of any kind? I get the impression that this fella is suggesting that the pyramids of Egypt are made from concrete blocks. Or rather, something a little more interesting...calcined limestone....a material I am not familiar with outside of a bag of mortar cement.

I applaud him for coming up with a new theory, and actually subjecting it to experiment, even if I cannot quite see why he would bother! "Because it is fun and interesting" is good enough for me!

That link above also reminds us that much of the ancilliary (and more important IMHO) buildings are built from fired mud bricks, so they certainly DID have the technology to make kilns. And as far as charcoal and wood goes.....well, I live on the Ottawa river, and within MY memory, there were times when you could walk across the river on the logs floating down to the mill. I am sure some Ancient Egyptian entrepreneur must have noticed that "hey, wood floats", and "hey, there is a whole continent of timber just upstream". But I speculate here.

I like the experiments, and the interesting experimental results. Very thought provoking! May prove interesting in other fields. Most experimental research does.

Since there are several pyramids and they were built at different times, I would assume that each one was build a little differently then the others and that their material make up would be different. Some might even have been built from a combination of different materials. The oldest one was built with a lot of smaller blocks then the newer ones.

REALLY?

Monstrous kilns built and fired for each block? Whence the firewood to fuel these kilns? The entire land of Egypt would be stripped bare of all trees in a relatively short time. Then what?

Would not a microscopic examination of the limestone blocks of the pyramids prove conclusively their origin as natural or man made ? If such an examination has not been made was it not done in fear of learning the truth of the origin?

This thesis raises far more problems than it solves.

In my opinion <TheForgottenTechnology.com> provides a far better scenario for the movement and erection of the pyramids. This is not even mentioned in the OP.

Do nothing simply if a way can be found to make it complex and wonderful!

Seems to me a quick, simple analysis of the material the pyramids are made from would determine rather easily whether they were natural limestone/sandstone or artificial concrete. But then, I may be missing something here...

There are a lot of different sized pyramids. Some of the low budget pyramids might have been built from fired bricks and someone might have come across something stating that but it was probably not related to the major pyramids that we see in all the pictures.

Please refer to thread:

What is in the pyramid shape that fascinated the ancients?

All Giza Pyramids. Zoom in to get a sense of proportion.

A lot of theories have been established explaining how the ancient Egyptians were really built their pyramids, but till now I think the real procedure still unknown or secret.

Given your proximity, I think I'd take your word over most. Any idea if an analysis of the material(s) of construction has been done, and if so, what the results were?

We, like yours and all people, appreciate all efforts, ideas and trials to explore the secrets in building the Egyptian Pyramids (Great Pyramid of Giza).

Thank you. My reading of this indicates no evidence for the presence of concrete in any form that we know it - limestone, basalt, granite, possibly sandstone, but no artificial materials. And an indication that Egypt (at least since the last ice age) has had insufficient timber resources to make fuel for creation of concrete (slaked lime) a remote possibility at best. I remain in awe (as do most), but will not join this current band of (thanks to Petrie) "pyramidiots"!

How did one small man build coral castle ?

Many people have claimed that the pyramids were built by slaves, or even by aliens. In the past, it was difficult to convince the public that it was actually ordinary Egyptians who constructed these great monuments. With the discovery of the Cemetery of the Pyramid Builders, however, I was finally able to reveal the truth to people around the world – Dr. Zahi Hawass.

There's no way of knowing. Egyptians never recorded their failures.

The Hebrews have claimed to have been Egyptian slaves all these centries. Articles are never really reliable sources because people write them with their own biases included. Isrealis have never been liked in the Middle-east. What's to say the author of that article wrote it with an underlying agenda to discredit the Hebrew culture.

Furthermore the actual Hebrews bear very similar physical features as the Egyptians and other Middle-eastern cultures. It was easy for them to infiltrate strategic military installations in the 1960's to win the wars with Egypt and the other Arabic countries.

Since the Hebrews had different beliefs, they most likely took care of their dead in a different manner than the Egyptians. Maybe they weren't allowed to dispose of their bodies near the location of any Egyptian burials.

I would also like to add that don't you think there could be a corallation with the Exodus of the Hebrew slaves and the Pyramid structures getting smaller and discontinuing all together.

Could those Egyptian peasants have been hired to complete the work that was left behind by the slaves.

If you have any questions about how the pyramids were build just ask eigher myself or Al Gore, we were both standing right there when they were being built. Al Gore will tell you it was a much cooler time back then because there wasn't any global warming.