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This book represents a forensic-engineering exploration of the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. Most archaeologists believe that about 25,000 workers spent about 20 years to build the Great Pyramid (or Khufu's Pyramid) at Giza in Egypt over 4,500 years ago (Lehner, 224). But, by closely examining the clues and relics left behind, and by assuming that the Egyptians were intelligent and creative, it is found (conservatively) that about 10,000 workers could have built the Great Pyramid in about 346 days. However, there is evidence that 4,000 workers were used (Lehner, 225). And by using a relaxed production schedule, a value of four to six calendar years is probably a more reasonable estimate.
These values are based entirely upon archaeological evidence, logic, common sense, and scientific and engineering principles. Every aspect of pyramid building will be examined in detail. This includes quarrying the blocks, moving the blocks, lifting the blocks, fitting the blocks, placing the top-most blocks and finishing the outer casing blocks. It will be shown that each of these challenges can be successfully addressed using the materials and crafts that the Egyptians are known to have possessed. Additionally, tool specifications, wood requirements and machine designs will be appraised. Surprisingly, such an analysis has not been done before.
Not all of the important factors that allowed the pyramids to be built are directly related to these construction procedures. General pyramid geometry, available worker population, the social effects of large works, and scale factors in engineering are critically important as well. Lastly, there is the concept of "Energy Management" or, moresimply: work smarter - not harder.
Other Books
There are many, many books and papers about the pyramids. Generally these can be broken into three main classes: picture books, specialized approaches, and archaeological works. Interested readers most often turn to picture books. They provide a general history of the pyramids with many beautiful pictures of Egyptian constructions and antiquities. And without any doubt, Egyptian artifacts can be exquisitely beautiful. Most often these books only briefly discuss the mystery of how the pyramids were built. Typically they provide a few pages of speculations that are based on the generally accepted view that it took 25,000 workers about 20 years. Little original work is found here.
The "specialized approaches" usually examine one aspect of pyramid building, often without regard to the archaeological evidence. These writers often have a specific idea that they believe could be applied for moving blocks, or lifting blocks, etc. These works have a very focused approach, typically with application to a single aspect of pyramid building. Unfortunately, while the work is often very imaginative and original, it doesn't match what has been found in Egypt. Nor are these approaches applicable at the massive engineering scale necessary for the Great Pyramid. Some of these will be examined in more detail later.
The archaeological works are where the important information comes from. But archaeologists are not engineers. They cannot be expected to recognize important engineering functions of various artifacts or specialized tools. Generally, their works are descriptive. They offer drawings and photographs of things found at the pyramid sites. Of course, since their interest is in archaeology, they tend to focus their effort on items that relate to ancient Egyptian society. Tools that have no obvious function are, naturally, only mentioned in passing. One very important archaeological work is J. P. Lepre's The Egyptian Pyramids (1990, McFarland & Company). This is an extremely detailed compilation of information from all of the Egyptian pyramids. Lepre is also extremely precise in his descriptions and drawings. For these reasons his book will be referenced with regularity in the following pages. Note that there are many variations in the spelling of Egyptian names and places. Unless otherwise noted, the spelling that Lepre uses will be incorporated here. It is also important to note that Lepre is an archaeologist, not an engineer or mathematician. As such, there are a number of mathematical errors in his book.
Currently there seems to be increasing interest in the building techniques employed for the Great Pyramid. In particular, Dr. Mark Lehner, in association with the NOVA television program, went to Giza and actually built a small pyramid using the "standard methods" of sledges and ramps. This work is documented in his book The Complete Pyramids (1997, Thames and Hudson) and of course, the television program, "This Old Pyramid." This experiment provides some useful benchmark information that will be examined closely. Additionally, Dr. Lehner is arguably the foremost archaeological authority on pyramid construction today. For that reason, his book is also an important reference.
Lastly, there is the very recent book by Dr. Craig Smith, How the Great Pyramid was Built (2004, Smithsonian Books). Dr. Smith is an engineer with experience as a construction executive for public works projects. His book is written from a program manager's perspective, or "top-down" approach, and is oriented to the high-level planning and construction of the Great Pyramid. He relies heavily on Dr. Lehner's work as well as that of Dr. Zahi Hawass (secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Director of Excavations at Giza and Bahariya Oasis). Dr. Hawass is generally considered to be a leading archaeological authority on the Giza plateau constructions. It is clearly necessary to address the approaches that are presented in Smith's book. This will be done, in detail, in a later chapter and it will be shown that the standard methods are simply not feasible.
For convenience, book references will provide the author and a page number so that the reader will be able to locate the appropriate passage easily. Non-book references will provide an author or internet source and the date. All book and non-book references are fully listed at the end.
The approach taken here is different from these other works. Instead of using the standard methods of dragging blocks with sledges and lifting blocks with ramps, new strategies will be developed that will be based on evidence and creativity. There is no doubt that the Egyptian builders were brilliant. The simple fact that their some of their creations have lasted nearly 5,000 years is a testament to their ingenuity and intellect. If we assume from the start that the Egyptians were intelligent, organized and resourceful, the task becomes one of deciphering the clues that they left behind in order to determine the methods they used. It will be found that critical clues have been overlooked or ignored that offer clear and direct insight into the Egyptian construction techniques.
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