English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

9 answers

This answer deals with the larger stone pyramids of the Old Kingdom in Egypt. Royal pyramids were also constructed during the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom, but were of a different design, utilizing less solid stone block construction. Pyramids were also constructed of mud-brick for royal family members and non-royal elites in Egypt. Smaller, more steeply sided pyramids were constructed by the Napatan and Merotic king of Nubia (modern Sudan).

While all of the precise methods regarding how the pyramids were built are not known, there are some general areas of consensus among professional scholars. (Think about it - if you saw a modern skyscraper, fully built, but had no idea about modern building techniques and had no written materials directly relating to the building of the skyscraper, would you know exactly how it was built?)

Tools included square levels and plumb bobs, set squares, and vertical plumb bobs (which can be seen in the Cairo Museum), as well as copper blades for stone cutting, pounding stones for dressing stone blocks, and a ridged, mushroom shaped device that may have served as a sort of "proto-pulley."

There is a general consensus among professional Egyptologists about construction techniques, most involving the use of ramps, the consensus breaks down a little on the details of construction, but there are several very good theories about the practicalities of moving blocks into place, etc. The most common theory involves the construction of ramps either directly outward or in a sort of spiral that rose as the pyramid rose. Blocks were dragged into place on sledges or on rolling logs. There is also evidence to suggest that those blocks that were not quarried on-site were moved to the building site during the annual innundation (flood) when they could be floated in close to the building site, and then moved by brute force into place.

It should also be kept in mind that each royal pyramid was constructed individually and while there was a standard layout and design of the overall complex, specific techniques probably varied slightly from pyramid to pyramid, depending upon the building site, size of the pyramid, and materials used.

Experimental studies by Dr. Mark Lehner have demonstrated that large blocks can be moved with a sufficient amount of man power - do a Google search for his name for more information on this. I believe it was also a subject of a NOVA special called "This Old Pyramid."
Unfortunately, until recently the evidence for the ramps has been circumstantial as such things would obviously be removed post-construction.
A French Egyptologist has recently found good evidence for remnants of ramps. I'm not certain how widely disseminated the information has been in the public sector - the reference I'm familiar with is in French in a scholarly journal.

Pyramid construction relied on highly skilled teams of workmen who were housed nearby the pyramid fields - in the Old Kingdom located in the general vicinity of the ancient capital Memphis at sites now knows as Giza, Saqqara, Meidum, and Dashur. A few pyramids in the Middle Kingdom were located near the Fayum, roughly Middle Egypt.
In addition to the full-time workmen, there was likely a seasonal labor requirement asked of the lower classes of Egyptian society - a sort of taxation, often referred to by the French term "corvee" labor. This is distinct from slavery. While the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (writing over a thousand years after the construction of the pyramids at Giza) reported that he was told the pyramids at Giza were constructed by slaves, Herodotus was wrong about any number of things in his reports and may not even have visited Egypt in person, so he is usually not taken as a realiable source.

The Egyptians were perfectly capable of using the basic mathematics necessary for the construction and layout of most pyramids. Despite the superb accuracy of the layout and plan, this was not impossible for them to achieve, nor did it require calculus. While no mathematical texts from the Old Kingdom survive, texts from the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period demonstrate a clear familiarity on the part of the Egyptians with basic arithmetic, geometry, and trigonometry.

If you're interested in more information, I strongly recommend looking at "The Complete Pyramids" by Dr. Mark Lehner, one of the foremost Egyptologists studying pyramids today. The book is well illustrated, easy to understand, and widely available.

2006-07-03 15:14:12 · answer #1 · answered by F 5 · 0 0

No, actually.

No one knows exactly how they built the pyramids in Egypt, although there are plenty of theories. The one I've heard most is used logs to roll the blocks one at a time to the building site. The pyramids started out small and with steps, and were steeper. Through trial and error, the Egyptians invented the methods necessary. There's even one called the Bent Pyramid, which they started building very steep but had to make less steep as the construction progressed.

For years we've thought that they used slave labor to build the pyramids, although recent evidence suggests a combination of slaves, paid workers and volunteers were used.

2006-07-03 14:05:15 · answer #2 · answered by Tim 4 · 0 1

No, we can't.

It isn't completely known how the pyramids were built, what machines were used, etc. There are a lot of theories, and their is general agreement on a lot of issues, but so far no one method has been absolutely proven to be the right one.

This problem has been bothering folks for years, and there are a lot of aspects to it. These issues include how all the workers were fed, where they got the wood for rollers, exactly what technology was needed and whether they had it. Also, what they did with it once the pyramids were built isn't known.

What is agreed upon is that it took a fantastic effort to build them, and it would be a challenge to make them today.

2006-07-03 14:02:29 · answer #3 · answered by drslowpoke 5 · 0 1

No, nobody can tell you how they built the pyramids in egypt... that is why it is still one of the "Wonders" of the world! It is one of life's mysteries. if any tell you different then they are only giving you a theory!

2006-07-03 13:59:31 · answer #4 · answered by scorp_byte 2 · 0 1

Dwarves with special levitation wands sung the stones into place.

2006-07-04 12:10:47 · answer #5 · answered by Gevera Bert 6 · 0 1

no one can tell u (with detailed process) but ofcourse its not the aliens!!!

2006-07-03 14:28:11 · answer #6 · answered by Moona 5 · 1 0

This might answer your question. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/builders.html

2006-07-03 13:59:37 · answer #7 · answered by spiritguide68 2 · 0 0

Most defiantly the ALIENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-03 13:59:37 · answer #8 · answered by Nikki 4 · 0 1

...aliens...;)

2006-07-03 13:58:39 · answer #9 · answered by magnamamma 5 · 0 1

fedest.com, questions and answers