[Dan Day]

The biggest problem becomes friction on the ground/ ramp. Gotta have some sort of wheel or roller or lubricant, especially when on the ground, that sand can be really annoying stuff. Gotta avoid the drag that will dramatically increase the effective weight of the stones. But there are very low tech solutions to that: logs, water, grease.

It's also possible to strap wooden or stone "cradles" to the giant blocks which in effect "round them off" temporarily, at which point you can just roll them up the ramp with almost zero friction by running a rope or ropes down the slope, under the block, up the back side, over the top, and then back up the slope. Pull on the top of the rope, and the block simply rolls nicely up the ramp.

Discussed, and with pictures, here

[discostu]

Make the whole block a wheel, painfully obvious when you think about it. Now you're no longer dragging the object but rolling it. Anybody that's ever push started a car knows how little effort it takes to roll a heavy object. Most cars weigh around a ton and take 2 people to push, 3 people and you can get 'em going without any serious effort. Scaling our math a 2.5 ton block should take 5 people to push around, maybe add two people for awkardness (since the whole thing is a wheel rather than being suspended on 4 wheels). All of a sudden that theoretical 20,000 slaves can move 2857 blocks at a time.

The more you look at this stuff the easier it gets. Like all physical labor it's all about cheating. That's why we invented things like pullies and gears and these sled looking things in the first place: to cheat and make things easier.

[The Wizard]

no offense but the process you're talking about doesn't work with blocks this big....I have personally watched today's machines try to cut and move 20 ton blocks and it just ain't do-able.....you have to actually see these stones to realize how ludicious some people's comments are.......(we don't cut stones this big, when we need something like this we build it in place like a foundation)

And I mean no offense, but go to a construction site, or talk to a crane operator and find out first hand what their limitations are.....I can't quote exact tonnage, but it ain't 20....

Then let's say you could lift it, just for the sake of argument....you ain't gonna lift it up 400 feet or so to a point that is smaller than the base /\....you just have to go look for yourself and you'll see two things....the great pyramid wasn't built as any tomb, and we still can't build it today....ask someone from Jersey in construction......he'll tell you.....