Ancient Egyptians Used Wet Sand to Drag Massive Pyramid Stones

[KingsX]

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That canal theory interested me because that is similar to how Persian King Cyrus was able to conquer ancient Babylon around 538 BC.

The city of Babylon sat on the Euphrates River and around the city was a huge tall wall so strong and wide that chariots riding on top of it could pass each other. Cyrus knew he could never overtly breach that wall. So he put his troops to work elsewhere secretly digging canals. When the time was right, Cyrus diverted the water from the Euphrates River so his troops could easily enter the city of Babylon by going under the wall along the dried up river bed and conquered Babylon via a surprise invasion.

Revelation 16:12 is an interesting prophetic reference to this history that the Israelites knew well [because it was also a vital part of their history.]

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[Traveler]

I suppose they also could have used round logs as rollers with a gang picking up the ones behind and bringing them to the front as they pulled the stones along. I have seen that done on a smaller scale.

What I have a problem with is not the moving of the stones, because you can use brute force for that or animals pulling.

Did they have oxen?

It's the lifting the stones into place.

Yes, absolutely they had oxen. The Apis Bulls were worshiped as a God-like creature. There are unground tombs, with massive sarcophagus. Inside we find the mummified remains of the bulls. Horses however, were unknown in Egypt at the time. I don't recall ever seeing any original paintings/drawings of the bulls pulling anything.

 

[Traveler]

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I recently saw a TV documentary that showed evidence of what might have been a large pool of water in front of the Sphinx.

That and other evidence in the area has given rise to speculation that canals were used to bring in building stones.

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Yes, I have read that also. Funny thing how memory works. I think that the Giza Plateau is slightly higher than the Nile. Jeez. I wish I could remember for sure. I was right there and could have easily checked it out but I didn't think of it at the time. I was just too enthralled with all of the monuments and museums.

 

[Traveler]

Wait, I DO remember walking up-hill from The Great Sphinx to the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

I just checked on google. The elevation above sea-level of the Nile River at Cairo is 23 meters. The elevation above sea-level of the Great Pyramid of Khufu is 64 meters. So, the total difference between The Nile and the Great Pyramid is about 133 feet.

Of course it is possible that water was carried to a "reflecting pool". Fact is I just don't have any hard evidence to support a canal theory. If anyone has different info, I'd surely appreciate it.

 

[KingsX]

Wait, I DO remember walking up-hill from The Great Sphinx to the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

I just checked on google. The elevation above sea-level of the Nile River at Cairo is 23 meters. The elevation above sea-level of the Great Pyramid of Khufu is 64 meters. So, the total difference between The Nile and the Great Pyramid is about 133 feet.

Of course it is possible that water was carried to a "reflecting pool". Fact is I just don't have any hard evidence to support a canal theory. If anyone has different info, I'd surely appreciate it.

Here is a recent news article:


Did the Egyptians create a canal and a port to bring stone to the Great Pyramid?

Archaeologist Mark Lehner says he’s found evidence of a port next to the pyramids, which would solve one of the mysteries of how heavy stone blocks were transported.

October 06, 2017

A Boston-based archaeologist has developed a theory that the Egyptians delivered stone to the pyramids at Giza through a system of canals and harbors, shedding more light on the mystery of how ancient people — sorry, not aliens — built the massive structures.

Mark Lehner, director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates, says his research indicates that, when the Nile River was in flood, Egyptians could steer boats laden with stone to a major port city at the pyramid complex.

The Egyptians, consummate engineers, cut waterways from the Nile through floodplain that now is covered by sand and the urban sprawl of Cairo, Lehner believes. Illustrations developed by Lehner show water within several hundred yards of the Great Pyramid, a startling vision to anyone who has long thought of them as being surrounded by dusty desert."

more at link

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...eat-pyramid/xtoi4NzlTz9PYRo2QnmG0M/story.html

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[Camper6]

I'm not buying the canal theory.

Is no one figuring out what size canal it would take to float a 2 ton block.

There's no evidence in pictures of any canals.

And if there was a pool it would be used for drinking water and making bread .

They probably kept the plans of how the pyramids were built a secret to dissuade tomb robbers .

My theory is that the base was laid first with the stones being dragged into the middle and then built outward into a square. The stones don't seem a random size. They look all the same..

Once the base was built the job became easier. To lift the next layer into place cantilevers were used and then the process was repeated. It was easier dragging the stones into place on the harder surface.

All engineers know you need a good base to start with.

You could try building a pyramid using dominos and you would probably use the same method I described without the cantilevers of course. As each layer was completed the next layer would be cantilevered into place.

They had plenty of time. It's estimated it took twenty years.

They started in a small way and learned as they went along.

 

[KingsX]

The Egyptians, consummate engineers, cut waterways from the Nile through floodplain that now is covered by sand and the urban sprawl of Cairo, Lehner believes. Illustrations developed by Lehner show water within several hundred yards of the Great Pyramid, a startling vision to anyone who has long thought of them as being surrounded by dusty desert."

more at link

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...eat-pyramid/xtoi4NzlTz9PYRo2QnmG0M/story.html


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Not only do populations of countries change racially, religiously, culturally... but topography also changes over time.

For example, the Persian Gulf used to be a river valley before the ice age meltdown. The ancient city if Ur [from which Abraham was called] used to be on an ancient shoreline until sediment from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers over time created a large delta area which is now most of Kuwait.

The Nile has changed course over time and has repeatedly flooded at various depths. Now the Nile is controlled by human dams. Back in the 1960s when my father was a member of the Dallas Archaeology Society, a Texas archaeologist organized a group of international archaeologists to record, excavate and save some of the ancient sites that were going to be flooded by the [then] upcoming Aswan dam.

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[Traveler]

KingsX, interesting info. thanks for sharing

 

[Camper6]

Wait, I DO remember walking up-hill from The Great Sphinx to the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

I just checked on google. The elevation above sea-level of the Nile River at Cairo is 23 meters. The elevation above sea-level of the Great Pyramid of Khufu is 64 meters. So, the total difference between The Nile and the Great Pyramid is about 133 feet.

Of course it is possible that water was carried to a "reflecting pool". Fact is I just don't have any hard evidence to support a canal theory. If anyone has different info, I'd surely appreciate it.

Thanks for that. The Nile floods every year. Surely they couldn't count on that method once a year to bring the stones in.

 

[Camper6]

Not only do populations of countries change racially, religiously, culturally... but topography also changes over time.

For example, the Persian Gulf used to be a river valley before the ice age meltdown. The ancient city if Ur [from which Abraham was called] used to be on an ancient shoreline until sediment from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers over time created a large delta area which is now most of Kuwait.

The Nile has changed course over time and has repeatedly flooded at various depths. Now the Nile is controlled by human dams. Back in the 1960s when my father was a member of the Dallas Archaeology Society, a Texas archaeologist organized a group of international archaeologists to record, excavate and save some of the ancient sites that were going to be flooded by the [then] upcoming Aswan dam.

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Yes I remember that. I remember it was the Russians who were building the Aswan dam. They used human labor as a make work project and they didn't care about the antiquities and temples being flooded.

It was the Americans who took them apart and resettled them. It would have been a shame to lose those antiquities.

 

[KingsX]

Yes I remember that. I remember it was the Russians who were building the Aswan dam. They used human labor as a make work project and they didn't care about the antiquities and temples being flooded.

It was the Americans who took them apart and resettled them. It would have been a shame to lose those antiquities.

Great point !

When I was a kid in the 60s, my father would take me to the Dallas Archaeology Society meetings. He also took me on an SMU excavation of a nearby Indian burial ground before a Texas dam would cover it with water. We also took family vacations to visit ancient Zuni and Mesa Verde ruins. So you can see why I still have an interest in ancient history and archaeology.

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[Elsie]

?? (I haven't read all the knowledge here of how the pyramids could have been built.) Were there miles of open land around where the pyramids were built??--from which the humungous pyramid blocks were cut and dug up? Then dragged-? to where the pyramid would be built? .... complete one side at a time in order to have open space from within it to work on building the other walls? (you can stop laughing now... layful

 

[Camper6]

?? (I haven't read all the knowledge here of how the pyramids could have been built.) Were there miles of open land around where the pyramids were built??--from which the humungous pyramid blocks were cut and dug up? Then dragged-? to where the pyramid would be built? .... complete one side at a time in order to have open space from within it to work on building the other walls? (you can stop laughing now... layful

The quarries where the stones were cut by hand are still there. The stones were floated down the Nile. Then they were put into place somehow because they are still there.

There are other pyramids in the world. Not as big as the ones in Egypt but still substantial.

We have no evidence of whether they built one side at a time. My theory is they were built from the bottom up the way everything is built today for tall structures.