Khufu's Pyramid

Every morning I generally sit at my computer for an hour or so and look to read things. I try to find something that is new to me that is interesting instead of perusing some almost-stranger's photos of his or her trip to Folly's Beach. Much to my chagrin, the latter creeps up more than I care to remember. This past weekend I stumbled across some articles about the Pyramids of Giza–Khufu's Pyramid in particular.

Fascinating stuff.

There is something super mysterious about this structure from antiquity. It's mondo old and big. It's survived over 4500 years of wars, famine, natural disasters, and looting. It's well preserved–the only intact Wonder of the Ancient World, and in my opinion, the most recognizable building on earth. The most intriguing of all, it tells us a great deal about the intelligence and craftsmanship of its makers, the Egyptians.

Ok, we all know about the Egyptians to some extent and that they all wear eyeliner and don snakes for hats. Hey, I ain't judging, we have Ed Hardy... I won't get into a high school history lesson.

The raw facts about this massive chunk of rock in the desert are astonishing. It was the tallest building in the world for 3800 years, until surpassed by the Lincoln Cathedral in England. It was completed around 2550 B.C. To put this in perspective, it's as old to Alexander the Great as he is to us. It was 1,100 years old when Moses left Egypt with the Hebrews. It was 500-600 years old when God made his Covenant with Abraham. The 13.1 acres it covers is made with over 2.3 million limestone blocks that collectively weigh around 5.9 million tons. In the course of 20 years it took to construct Khufu's pyramid, one block after the other had to have been set in place ever two and half minutes. The limestone blocks are so perfectly crafted, it has been said that you cannot slide a human hair in between them. Consider this: the Great Pyramid was built in the bronze age. Dr. Craig Smith of a pyramid construction management study notes that "The logistics of construction at the Giza site are staggering when you think that the ancient Egyptians had no pulleys, no wheels, and no iron tools. Yet, the dimensions of the pyramid are extremely accurate and the site was leveled within a fraction of an inch over the entire 13.1-acre base. This is comparable to the accuracy possible with modern construction methods and laser leveling. That's astounding. With their `rudimentary tools,' the pyramid builders of ancient Egypt were about as accurate as we are today with 20th century technology."

The greatest mystery of all–nobody knows how the Egyptians did it. How do you get 2.5 ton blocks up 480 feet without pulleys or wheels? A ramp would be the most practical method, as agreed by most Egyptologists, but it will only get you so far. The top 4% of the pyramid is equal to 1/3 of the height. It gets too high too fast at the end. A ramp would have had to have been a mile long, and the total volume greater than that of the pyramid. No ramp of that magnitude exists. Levers are commonly thought to have supplemented the use of ramps, but no trace of levers big enough to handle 2.5 ton bricks has ever been found–let alone some of the 70 ton bricks recorded at the pyramid! Jean-Pierre Houdin came up with a theory several years ago that if not darn close, is quite fascinating. He suggests that a a standard straight ramp was used for the first 1/3 (in height) of the pyramid. Then an internal ramp that spirals up the pyramid just inside the exterior wall transports the blocks the rest of the way up. The blocks from the straight ramp would be used to complete the rest. The interior ramps, according to Houdin, would reach an open space at each of the corners of the pyramid (see photo) to allow a crane of sorts to rotate the blocks 90 degrees to continue up the next interior ramp. There maybe some holes to this theory, but there are holes in every one since Herodotus first tried to figure it out.

In my subconscious, I tend to think, even though I know better, that people living in this current day in age are the smartest in history. We have electricity, automobiles, nuclear warheads, and iPads. We've sent men to the moon, and build skyscrapers 5 times as high as the tallest building in the Medieval period. Our medical practices far out match even those of a 150 years ago. We have AC in the Deep South–aaaaaaahhh!!! Obviously our technological advancement is superior to the Egyptians. The keyword though is advancement, or progress. All our progress stems from a predecessor. But what civilization preceded the Egyptians? John Anthony West (another Egypt expert) writes: "How does a complex civilization spring full blown into being? Look at a 1905 automobile and compare it to a modern one. There is no mistaking the process of 'development'. But in Egypt there are no parallels. Everything is right there from the start." The Egyptians were extremely advanced and intelligent–not just for their time, but for all time.

People have always been people.