ancient | Galvin Entalai

Pyramid has been one of the greatest human inventions in the world. Until now, pyramid still maintained it’s status in the 7 Wonders of the World. However, many people still question the facts about pyramid. I could not tell much on how they were built. But, I will try my best to simplify on what I have read and discovered on the mystery of pyramid.

Pyramid of Giza

History

According to Redford, professor of Classics and ancient Mediterranean studies at Penn State, “the Egyptians began using the pyramid form shortly after 2700 B.C., and the great heyday of constructing them for royalty extended for about a thousand years, until about 1700 B.C.” The first pyramid was built by King Djoser during Egypt’s Third Dynasty. His architect, Imohtep, created a step pyramid by stacking six mastabas, rectangular buildings of the sort in which earlier kings had been buried. The largest and most well-known pyramids in Egypt are the Pyramids at Giza, including the Great Pyramid of Giza designed for Pharaoh Khufu.

Basis

The cores of the pyramids were often composed of local limestone, said Redford. Finer quality limestone composed the outer layer of the pyramids, giving them a white sheen that could be seen from miles away. The capstone was usually made of granite, basalt, or another very hard stone and could be plated with gold, silver or electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, and would also be highly reflective in the bright sun.

White limestone

The pyramid blocks were hewn from quarries using stone and copper tools. There are examples of each stage of block extraction at existing ancient quarries. Granite was quarried using pounding stones of dolerite, some of which have been found laying about the quarries. The blocks were transported to the pyramid site from remote quarries using barges, and from local quarries using wooden sleds. The Egyptians did not use the wheel during the Pyramid Age, an invention that would have been of limited used on softer ground under heavy loads. The sleds were dragged manually, sometimes with the help of beasts of burden, over smoothed roads. Some of the existing pathways were equipped with transverse wooden beams to lend support to the sled. A lubricant may have been poured upon the road to reduce friction.

It stands 450 feet tall (137mtrs) and consists of two million blocks of stone, weighing from the most common at 2.5 tons up to 50 tons. The weight of the pyramid is six million tons.

Processes

During excavation, massive dolerite “pounders” were used to pulverize the stone around the edge of the granite block that needed to be extracted. According to Redford, 60 to 70 men would pound out the stone. At the bottom, they rammed wooden pegs into slots they had cut, and filled the slots with water. The pegs would expand, splitting the stone, and the block was then slid down onto a waiting boat.

Illustration on human bulding pyramid

Theories

Who built the pyramids, aliens or men? The pyramids are so accurately aligned with the points of the compass that only aliens could have achieved this all those thousands of years ago. The angle of the slope of the sides is so precise only aliens could achieve this. The blocks are so heavy and the pyramid so tall only aliens could achieve this. In the period 2500 BC man did not have the tools or knowledge necessary to build the pyramids, so only aliens could have done it. How the aliens built the pyramids is not known, but they would have employed the use of advanced construction equipment.

Aliens on the wall

Human built pyramid

Never underestimate the ingenuity of man. We have long forgotten the techniques that were used in the building of the pyramids, but this doesn’t mean that we are unable to work out how it was done. It was men that built the pyramids, make no mistake. Do not underestimate the intelligence of the ancient Egyptians or the trained manpower that was at their disposal. It was a colossal effort of team work taking 80 years to complete.

Pyramids around the World