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Ancient Egypt's Pyramids: Norwegian Researcher Unlocks Construction Secrets
Science Daily ^ | 24 Sep 2010 | Science Daily

Posted on 09/25/2010 1:07:46 AM PDT by Palter

Scientists from around the world have tried to understand how the Egyptians erected their giant pyramids. Now, an architect and researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) says he has the answer to this ancient, unsolved puzzle.

Researchers have been so preoccupied by the weight of the stones that they tend to overlook two major problems: How did the Egyptians know exactly where to put the enormously heavy building blocks? And how was the master architect able to communicate detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men?

A 7-million-ton structure

These were among the questions that confronted Ole J. Bryn, an architect and associate professor in NTNU's Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art when he began examining Khufu's Great Pyramid in Giza. Khufu's pyramid, better known as the Pyramid of Cheops, consists of 2.3 million limestone blocks weighing roughly 7 million tons. At 146.6 meters high, it held the record as the tallest structure ever built for nearly 4000 years.

What Bryn discovered was quite simple. He believes that the Egyptians invented the modern building grid, by separating the structure's measuring system from the physical building itself, thus introducing tolerance, as it is called in today's engineering and architectural professions.

The apex point a key

Bryn has studied the plans from the thirty oldest Egyptian pyramids, and discovered a precision system that made it possible for the Egyptians to reach the pyramid's last and highest point, the apex point, with an impressive degree of accuracy. By exploring and making a plan of the pyramid it is possible to prepare modern project documentation of not just one, but all pyramids from any given period.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: bobbrier; egypt; ggg; giza; godsgravesglyphs; greatpyramid; internalramp; jeanpierrehoudin; norway; olejbryn; pyramid; pyramids
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1 posted on 09/25/2010 1:07:49 AM PDT by Palter
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To: SunkenCiv

Another theory, ping.


2 posted on 09/25/2010 1:08:26 AM PDT by Palter (If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. ~ Mark Twain)
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To: Palter

Slave labor. Most infants can construct a pyramid out of sand. Many will with no outside help. These people had backs to break, and I’m sure they broke them.


3 posted on 09/25/2010 1:10:40 AM PDT by allmost
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To: Palter
And how was the master architect able to communicate detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men?

The same way liberals communicate to their supporters. Duh...
4 posted on 09/25/2010 1:13:47 AM PDT by pennyfarmer (Even a RINO will chew its foot off when caught in a trap.)
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To: allmost
Some say that the slave labor, were merely skilled labor.
5 posted on 09/25/2010 1:14:23 AM PDT by Palter (If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. ~ Mark Twain)
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To: Palter

Looks like a pyramid scheme to me.


6 posted on 09/25/2010 1:15:48 AM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: Palter

With all the slaves available. Why would the Egyptians pay for the general labor? They were moving rocks. Cut rocks yes but still rocks.


7 posted on 09/25/2010 1:18:07 AM PDT by allmost
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To: bunkerhill7

LOL, but yes, the Pyramids do look to have been a Pyramid scheme.

The Pharoah got his ‘resurrection machine’ built for him (no mere tomb but a way to the next life).

And the laborers not only ate very well for people in the ancient world, but when they died they were buried in choice locations near the Pyramid so that they could join in the Pharoah’s eternal life.

(Disclaimer: all of the above is informed surmise, not established fact)


8 posted on 09/25/2010 1:41:42 AM PDT by agere_contra (...what if we won't eat the dog food?)
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To: Palter

Were the Hebrew slaves illiterate?


9 posted on 09/25/2010 2:10:08 AM PDT by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: Palter
The pyramid blocks were most likely poured. That is, they took wagon-loads of stone (of a reasonable size) from the quarry, poured same into formers, and then poured some liquid binding agent into the frame so that it hardened into a block. Trying to carve fitting stones from a quarry would waste 2/3 of the material and quickly turn the quarry into a heap of rubble.

The word 'pyramid' is a Greek word, the root part being the familiar 'pyr' (fire) which we also see in words like 'pyrotechnics', 'pyromaniac' etc. They originally had golden tips and acted like lightning rods, generating what you'd call St. Elmo's fire, which served for religious purposes.

10 posted on 09/25/2010 2:29:50 AM PDT by wendy1946
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To: skr

“Were the Hebrew slaves illiterate?”

Yes, they spoke from right to left.


11 posted on 09/25/2010 2:35:24 AM PDT by BuddhaBrown (Path to enlightenment: Four right turns, then go straight until you see the Light!)
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To: wendy1946
The pyramid blocks were most likely poured.

Gee, it seems to me that it should be easy to prove, or disprove, your theory - simply by examining the limestone blocks to see if they are composed of rubble cemented together.

Do you suppose that any archeologists have ever bothered to do that?

Regards,

12 posted on 09/25/2010 2:38:31 AM PDT by alexander_busek
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To: alexander_busek
They have. They find human hair, rope fragments and what not inside the blocks when they break them up with hammers.
13 posted on 09/25/2010 2:56:47 AM PDT by wendy1946
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To: alexander_busek

That also explains the ungodly tight fits of the blocks, it’s what you’d EXPECT from pouring the things.


14 posted on 09/25/2010 2:58:13 AM PDT by wendy1946
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To: wendy1946

That is one heck of a pour to last thousands of years. The exterior forms would be ridiculously complicated as well. The exterior shows individual blocks.


15 posted on 09/25/2010 2:59:44 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost

It appears as if ancient Egyptions as well as whoever built Puma Punku may have had technologies for working with stone which would have been beyond what we have. They actually had vases made of diurite, which is not much different from making a vase out of solid diamond.


16 posted on 09/25/2010 3:10:07 AM PDT by wendy1946
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To: allmost

I read about the quarries upstream of the pyramid sites where unfinished stones are still insitu. I think that they used ropes pulled thru the cut with grit on the rope to do the cutting.


17 posted on 09/25/2010 3:12:27 AM PDT by Thebaddog (Shakey Jake said, " The hippies will never survive!")
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To: wendy1946
I'm not familiar with diurite. What's the chemistry there?
18 posted on 09/25/2010 3:18:17 AM PDT by allmost
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To: Thebaddog

Considering the volume and timescale they probably used multiple methods. Steam fracturing and grinding from slave labor would be my best guess. It doesn’t sound pretty because it is not.


19 posted on 09/25/2010 3:21:51 AM PDT by allmost
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To: Palter

It seems to me we still have no idea HOW they moved the blocks into place, or WHO built it. Christopher Dunn, in the “Giza Power Plant”, (Amazon) explained WHAT it is


20 posted on 09/25/2010 3:37:07 AM PDT by The Wizard (Madam President is my President now and in the future)
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