One of the Wonders of the Ancient World
The Great Pyramid is still among the world's largest ancient structures, standing almost as tall as a 50 story skyscraper. Standing 455 feet tall with a base of 750 feet in each direction forming a square at the bottom. A Masterpiece of Engineering Khufu's pyramid is perhaps the greatest single building ever erected by mankind. Its sides rise at an angle of 51° and each corner points exactly to the four points of the compass, North, East, South, and West. The Great Pyramid is a masterpiece of skill and building ability. The casing stones were placed with so much accuracy that you can't get a knife blade in between the joints. |
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Where did they get the stone from?
Stone blocks were cut from a plateau near the pyramid site. Some harder and smoother stone came from quarries just across the Nile. Stone was also brought from quarries all along the Nile for a distance up to 100 miles upstream.
Using the Nile to transport the blocks was easier than moving the stones across land from closer by. The sides of the blocks will have been carefully cut to have a flat surface.
The Nile river is most likely to have been used to transport huge limestone or granite blocks to the site where the pyramid was to be built. From there, builders thought of ways to to move them into place.
It is believed they built sledges or rolled the blocks along wooden logs by using oxen and gangs of men to pull the blocks along. Each gang of men had a name: "boat Gang," Vigourous Gang," "North Gang," Friends of Khufu Gang," "Powerful Gang," etc. We know this because these names are still marked on some of the blocks. These names indicate that they were not slaves but more likely to be devoted workers for the pharaoh, who they believed to be god on earth.
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The Tools
Only 2 metals were known to the Egyptians during this time, gold and copper. Since gold was too soft they used copper tools, such as a saw, chisel, and drill, (sharpened by the many metalworkers) with strong handles made of wood. Here are some of the tools that have been discovered:
Copper Chisels. Since gold was the only other available metal they chose the stronger copper for their tool-making. They pounded with granite dolerite rock balls and wooden mallets into granite to split the bedrock.
Copper Saws. These were used to cut the soft stone blocks. They also sawed into large wooden posts that were used to lever the blocks into place.
Adze with a Copper Blade. They used this as a plane and to smooth the objects and shape them to the correct finish.
Copper Drills. These were spun by twine attached to a cross-piece that was moved back and forth like a bow. They were also used to make furniture and other tools.
How Was it Raised?
This is still a mystery. There are many different explanations as to how the huge blocks were moved around.
The most realistic answer is that the Egyptians, who had no cranes or lifting equipment for lifting heavy weights, built a ramp of stone, earth, and sand, which was increased in height and in length as the pyramid got taller. Then the blocks were hauled up the ramps with sledges, rollers, and levers. They could have used one ramp or 4 ramps (one for each corner).
5000 years later, we still do not know to this day how the pyramids were constructed!!.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? HOW DO YOU THINK THEY MOVED THE GIANT STONE BLOCKS?
This is still a mystery. There are many different explanations as to how the huge blocks were moved around.
The most realistic answer is that the Egyptians, who had no cranes or lifting equipment for lifting heavy weights, built a ramp of stone, earth, and sand, which was increased in height and in length as the pyramid got taller. Then the blocks were hauled up the ramps with sledges, rollers, and levers. They could have used one ramp or 4 ramps (one for each corner).
5000 years later, we still do not know to this day how the pyramids were constructed!!.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? HOW DO YOU THINK THEY MOVED THE GIANT STONE BLOCKS?