I would also take issue with a few points the articles raise. First of all, although modern practice is to break structures into small pieces before moving them, this is not universal. A 2800-ton lighthouse (Cape Hattaras) may only represent a fraction of the pyramid's total weight, but it's considerably larger than any of the blocks the Egyptians had to move. To be sure, the lighthouse was in fact moved by modern machinery, but some of the same principles used there to move a 280-ton lighthouse might have been usable by a large group of people to move a 28-ton rock.
In a different article, the author seems to suggest that each rock must have been dug out of the quarry, then transported, and then put in place, all before the next rock could be dug from the quarry. The author figures that since the rocks couldn't have been moved in the time frame that would imply, that they couldn't have been moved at all. I would think that if one recasts the goal in terms of taking years to move each block (but having many in transit at a time) one gets a somewhat more realistic picture.
Given certain conditions, extremely large objects can be moved with manual labor, albeit very slowly. Use of just about any of the simple machines will suffice, when combined with the "ratchet" principle: build a structure that will let you pry or otherwise lift your load by 1/8", then while it's lifted insert something to hold it in place. Then build a structure to lift it another 1/8", then insert something to hold it in place, etc. This procedure would be too long and boring to make good television, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done.
By the way, how do the Pyramids compare in altitute to the alleged quarries? A square block can roll (keeping its center of gravity at a constant height) if the ground before it is prepped properly.
I personally find the concrete theory to be the easiest one to believe, but recognize that there may be other ways for manual labor to achieve the results that so obviously exist.
2 blocks per minute = 120 per hour. Formula for blocks per minute is # blocks per hour divided by 60; 31 or 32 blocks per hour is ~ .517 to .533 blocks per minute. Still impressive. I agree, a good read but if you're trying to convince the masses that are asses - attention to details like simple math are important. Thanks for an interesting post. I have always been amazed at how so many 'learned' men so strongly resist and sabotage new ideas, after all why would you want your name attached to a theory easily proven fallacious by later generations, ie 'The Earth is Flat' theoory.
So I went web-searching for rebuttal, and ran across *hundreds* of examples of routine quarrying of blocks in the 20-1000 ton range, *including* such examples as 50-ton granite blocks cut and moved large distances in the 1800's using nothing fancier than a wooden cart and a bunch of horses.
Subsitute a large team of slaves for the horses, and clearly the Egyptians were up to the same level of task, at the very least.
Apparently, neither does the idea that we went to the moon. Investigative journalism? Rigors?
damn, we need Ted Holden back
That's probably because they cut the stones to size before they lifted them to their spots.
That's a bit of presumption on the part of the modern-day builders.
If, however, a stone of approximately the right size were placed up there, it could then be dressed to the proper dimensions in situ. IOW, no need for precision rock-shifting.
As for the rest, it's brute force -- and the Pharoahs were not shy about using it.
The Pyramids: An Enigma Solved
by Joseph Davidovits
hardcover earlier edition with Margie Morris
read later.
Yeah, imagine.
It would ignite a huge scandal.
I'm still waiting...
This stuff is kooky, but I will admit that it is fun to read and imagine.
Marking.
earlier version:
Archaeological Cover-ups -- A Plot to Control History?
Extracted from Nexus Magazine ^ | April-May 2002 | Will Hart
Posted on 04/08/2002 11:55:01 AM PDT by PeaceBeWithYou
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/661973/posts
Bookmark bump
A lot of stupid spam. If the Egyptians didn’t do it then who? Aliens?
