jamie wrote:My problem with all these theories claiming to debunk this stuff is stuff like this that these people somehow fail to address...Aliens or not, I don't care. It doesn't seem as simple as ropes and mathematics. Most often people just run away from the conversation after lol'ing and saying it all debunked.
https://www.youtube.com/...UUOavg1FtdeuyUTLz3wmuIKQ This will be my last post here on the nexus as I am shocked and appalled by Jamies actions here calling me out like this. As a mod, Jamie you should know better than to call me out me on this website as that is against the Attitude. And I don’t appreciate the cheap shot at all. But since you've taken it upon yourself to say I "ran away" when I had to go to class, I will give you a very long history lesson of the evolution of the Egyptian Pyramids. I doubt you'll even read this, but this is literally how much information you need to take in to understand these buildings. I’m not going to waste my time arguing back in forth over this, I’m just leaving this for the rest of the site to see.
There has been literally TONS of information that has recently come out about the pyramids. Within the last 10 years several innovations in technology have given us a glimpse INSIDE the pyramids, and to our discovery we found more than what had previously been explored. Mostly because these chambers that were discovered through the use of X-Ray Scanning Technology, were not accessible, they were closed off from the rest of the building. But, to begin understanding the pyramids at all, we must go back before the Iconic Great Pyramids of Giza, which were the LAST pyramids constructed.
“The Great Pyramid of Khufu, at Giza, was raised a century later. But these pyramids did not come from a technological void. A clear evolution can be traced from the most ancient prehistoric graves to the splendours of the Giza plateau.”
Let’s analyze first why the pyramids were even built in the first place. According to “Why Buildings Fall Down” the pyramids were meant to solve social issues that plagued the Egyptian Kingdom. While they had extremely fertile lands but lack of work, as well as establishing the “State” as a political force, but also a spiritual problem, attempting to observe the heavens and make sense of the mystery of death.
“One does not have to follow every detail in order to accept the general point. The Egyptian pyramids were large state-run construction projects. A surplus of idle agricultural workers available seasonally for three months a year during the Nile floods provided the labor pool. (Agricultural productivity was thus not affected by the demand for labor for pyramid building.) Contrary to a once-common belief, forced slave labor did not build the pyramids, but labor was conscripted (like military conscription today) and organized in work gangs. Workers received food supplied by state granaries, and the completed pyramids served as tombs for departed pharaohs. Inevitably, elaborate theologies, priestly ceremonies, and ancillary technologies (such as mummifying) grew up around burying pharaohs. But in their construction the pyramids functioned primarily as gigantic public-works projects, the effect of which helped maintain the economy of irrigation agriculture in the Nile River Valley and bolstered centralizing political and social forces, notably the state. Indeed, the heyday of pyramid building was the heyday of political centralization in Old Kingdom Egypt. The pyramids were symbolic as well as literal exercises in state building.”
These forms (or shapes) were logical representations of man-made mountains, and allowed them to build to extremely tall (481’ or 144m) as pyramids are one of the strongest geometric forms known to nature.
To say ‘Aliens built the pyramids’ is erroneous, for many reasons. To start, the Great Pyramids were the LAST of several pyramids built over several different Kings. The first burial structures to which Pyramids owe their heritage are called ‘Mastabas.’ These are step like burial buildings built in the First Kingdom around 3200 B.C.E. (Fakhry 3). After Mastabas were developed the next burial structure was something more similar to what the Mespotopians called a Ziggurat, which is a Stepped Pyramid.
The structural dynamics that went into this are as follows. The top stones of a pyramid had to support only itself, while the majority of work being done is carried out through the bottom blocks that support the weight of all the stones above them. The Egyptians adopted sloping faces for all of them around an angle of 52, which gives a height of 2/pi or about 2/3 of the square base. “This is a natural shape caused by gravity, since the main forces are usually acting on both pyramids and mountains are due to their own weight, the so-called dead load”
Here’s where it gets interesting, because most of these pyramids are FAILURES. Meaning that they either collapsed, or were significantly altered during construction due to structural collapses, shortage of materials, or just plain frustration leading to complete abandonment.
One specifically poor built pyramid is the Meidum Pyramid, which could not even support its own weight. Engineers have claimed that the base that is the casings’ blocks collapsed due to an earthquake, though it could be asked, why didn’t this happen to the other pyramids? The answer is in the foundation. The foundation lies directly on desert sand rather than as usual, that the casing blocks are set in horizontal layers and not inclined inward as in all the successful pyramids. This easily explains how an earthquake could have destroyed this pyramid through these specific reasons: 1) Sand amplifies earthquake forces, 2) Setting the casings horizontally allowed the blocks to slide out and fall to the ground.
“Although further attempts at step pyramids were made by subsequent kings of the Third Dynasty, namely those of Sekhemkhet, Khaba and Nebka, they were neither completed or show any real sign of continuing evolution in pyramid design. It is not until the first king of the Fourth Dynasty, Sneferu, that a significant step is taken with the pyramid he built at Meydum. First scientifically investigated by Sir Gaston Maspero in 1882 (Edwards 75), the pyramid of Meydum sits in transition from the Step Pyramids of the Third Dynasty and the True Pyramids of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. The site chosen by Sneferu sits in a strategic location near the Fayium Oasis, overlooking the modern village of Meydum, from which the pyramid derives its name (Verner 160). In ancient times, however, the pyramid is thought to have been known as Djed-Sneferu, and it is this name which serves as one piece of evidence contributing to the pyramid's attribution to Sneferu (Lehner 97).”
“The pyramid is thought to have originally been planned as a mastaba which underwent six different stages in planning that would itself lead to a transition from mastaba to pyramid. The first stage was composed of a square mastaba-like structure of local stone dressed in fine Tura limestone from a quarry on the eastern side of the Nile, near Memphis(Edwards 35). In approximate association with the cardinal directions, a feature which later became prominent in royal Egyptian funerary architecture, it measured roughly eight meters in height with each side measuring 63 meters in length (Edwards 35). Stage two saw an extension on all four sides by four meters and a second dressing of Tura limestone was added (Edwards 36). The height of the second stage was lowered by 0.7 meters, thus forming a step-mastaba. Imhotep's third stage involved the elongation of the east side only, by 8.6 meters, forming a longer axis east to west (Edwards 36). This newly enlarged mastaba, which makes up stage four, then became the lowest step in what was planned as a four stepped pyramid. The construction of a mortuary temple on the north face of the pyramid was initiated but before either the fourth stage or mortuary temple was completed, it was decided to extend the pyramid to the north and west (Edwards 36). This extension on the north and west side, the fifth stage of construction, was abandoned at the fourth step in the pyramid. The sixth stage saw the addition of stone materials to each side of the pyramid which resulted in a completed six-stepped pyramid with a ground plan of 140 x 118 meters and a height of 60 meters, which was once again dressed in fine Tura limestone (Shaw 9).
Images of the Evolution of the Pyramid
“it is important to note that the substructure of Djoser's Step Pyramid, namely the vertical shaft and ramp, still retain elements which resemble earlier private mastabas (Edwards 47). If the Step Pyramid truly does serve as an evolutionary link between mastabas and pyramids, then features similar to later pyramids should also be observed. One such feature can be seen in that Djoser's tomb-chamber is built entirely from pink Aswan granite, a lithic-type later abundantly utilized in pyramid burial chambers (Edwards 37).”
“At this time Sneferu was apparently experimenting with ways of constructing a burial chamber in the superstructure of the pyramid (Lehner 9
.”
The greatest example of how the pyramids are just one giant experimentation in construction is the Bent Pyramid. The Bent Pyramid started out at 60 degrees, after a construction issue the angle was changed to 55, but they realized that they had to extend the base too far, so the angle was changed to 43. The reduction of the angle results in a 1.5/pi equation resulting in one half rather than 2/3ds of the side. This indicates to me, as one who has studied the evolution of architectural design and technology that the early pyramids that failed contributed to the success of the Great Pyramids.
“This change in angle allowed for a reduction in the size and number of blocks used in courses laid above 45 meters and was probably made in reaction to damage, evidenced by cracks, in the inner chambers (Verner 175). No other pyramid in Egypt retains as many of its casing stones as does the Bent, which is probably due in part to the traditional method of laying courses inclining inwards below the change in angle (Edwards 80). After the alternation in the angle of the pyramid was made, the courses were laid in the horizontal manner seen in use with later pyramids, including that of Khufu's at Giza (Lehner 102). In this respect the Bent pyramid sits in transition from the building practices utilized in the Third Dynasty with those of the so-called Great Pyramids at Giza built later in the Fourth Dynasty.”
In-between the bent pyramid and the Great Pyramids is the Red Pyramid constructed again by Snefuru. This Pyramid was a success, and is the refined pyramid look we know of today, however is much smaller in scale in respect to the Great Pyramids. The red pyramid was built according to the lessons from the Bent Pyramid at the angle of 43.5.
The Great Pyramids are giant machines. This is a recent discovery that hasn’t received a lot of attention because it’s BORING compared to people running around saying “ALIENS!!!! ALIENS BUILT THE PYRAMIDS!!!” A French Architect produced a documentary documenting his theory with physical evidence, as well as data comprised from an exact 3d model made from 3d scanning technology.
“According to a report by the fifth-century bce Greek historian Herodotus, 100,000 people toiled for twenty years to build the Great Pyramid; perhaps 4,000-5,000 craftsmen worked at the site year round. The techniques of pyramid construction are now well understood, and accepting the possible use of a cantilevered machine to lift stones, no categorically new building methods developed compared to what one finds in Neolithic building techniques. Simple tools and practical procedures carried the day but, characteristic of the new powers of civilization, more people, by orders of magnitude, were deployed and construction completed that much faster than at Neolithic sites.”
Let’s get into what architects call the Materials and Methods. For some reason people think it was impossible to cut these stones, but this is not true at all! The Egyptians had various methods to cut granite using sand and copper. “The person who was doing the sawing on the sarcophagus sawed, for a while, at the incorrect angle before realizing his mistake and going in the right direction. This left us a pretty large mark to study.[13] These copper saws came in three basic styles. One was a two-person saw, like an old time lumber saw. Another type was a small, hand held saw with a wooden handle.[14] And finally there was a tubular saw for making holes in granite and other stones.[15]” These saws are depicted in the hieroglyphs, all they needed was sand, and the sand would actually do the cutting. “All of this information severely dents Ancient Aliens’ credibility due to the fact that, all throughout the series, they try to make it seem like working with granite was only possible through the use of diamond-tipped alien power tools.” But this is only relevant to the roof supports for the burial chamber, the rest of the pyramid is sandstone and lime stone. In fact the Great Pyramid was built in the middle of a sandstone quarry.
“AA: “In order to really move massive amounts of stone like that, they would have had to have been levitated, somehow made weightless and then moved through the air by some sort of device. Perhaps even a handheld device like some sort of beam weapon.” If levitation was how the ancient Egyptians moved stones, they had a funny way of showing it. This is because there are plenty of depictions of them using wooden sleds to move everything from blocks the size and shape of the ones used for the pyramid, to massive 1,000 ton monuments and obelisks – all using wooden sleds.[22]
There is an interior ramp spiral up to a level near the corners, where the blocks were transferred to the center. In the center is a large vertical shaft, this shaft has two stones parallel to each other with dents along to the top part. These dents were made by wooden rollers that were used to help move stones up the building as they worked on it. At the top was a mechanism that allowed a counter weight (also discovered through the X-Ray scan) to make use of gravity to pull the massive stones up to the top, including the massive granite cap stone. “They actually found evidence of this internal ramp through their study[32], but had no idea what to think of the spiral pattern they saw at the time, so they simply filed it away until they heard about Jean Pierre’s internal ramp theory 14 years later. In addition there is a notch high up on the Great Pyramid which, according to Jean Pierre, rests exactly on the 7% grade where you’d expect to find the internal ramp, and would be at the exact place where the workers would have lifted the blocks and changed the direction for the pullers.[33]”
“Jean Pierre has proposed that the Grand Gallery was used as a massive counterweight system, where a wooden trolley was loaded with stones and rigged with ropes and used to provide the force to lift the heaviest objects. Basically it was the equivalent of a freight elevator. There is actually a lot of physical evidence for this too[39], and it explains all kinds of peculiar details about the Grand Gallery. For example, the odd holes in the so called “benches” of the Grand Gallery were used to connect a wooden guide system for the trolley. It also explains why there are remnants of grease as well as scratches along the bottom of the chamber where the trolley would have rubbed against the stone. It was apparently lubricated to make it run smoother. It explains the odd way the stones were worn at the so called top “step” of the Grand Gallery exactly where the ropes would have had to be. This area has now been cemented over to make a step, but you can see in old pictures what it looked like when explores first arrived. This freight elevator would have required a small external ramp, which there is some evidence for[40], and even those who oppose the long single ramp theory agree there was probably a small ramp at the beginning of the construction. This ramp would have been dismantled after the completion of the Kings Chamber, and the stones would have been dragged up the internal ramp to finish the rest of the pyramid.[41]”
“In 2005 Houdin, the Egyptologist Bob Brier, Tayoubi and Breitner with a team of engineers of Dassault Systèmes decided to analyse the King’s Chamber cracks with software normally used by industrial corporations to simulate the behaviour of their products in operation and to detect any structural weaknesses in order to solve problems as early as the design phase (SIMULIA). The team concluded that the pyramid’s architect, Hemiunu, concerned that the cracks imperiled the whole structure, cut a tunnel into a sealed space above the burial chamber to assess the damage, and filled the cracks with plaster as a “tell-tale” that would indicate if they were widening. The beams held and the pyramid was completed. The existence of the cracks in the burial chamber beams has been known since the 1880s, but the team is the first to put forward a hypothesis about what caused them and when and to use such a methodology with 3D industrial software in Egyptology.”
Let’s suppose Aliens did build the Pyramids. Aliens would have to have incredible technology for interspace travel, vast knowledge of our gravity, air content, and aerodynamics existing within our planet, agreed?
Well if this is the case then how come there were so many FAILED pyramids? Why were so many subject to collapse, or abandonment due to inability to get materials to the site?
How about the withering of the limestone on the great pyramids from wind erosion? You’re telling me that Aliens who had vast knowledge of aerodynamics failed to attribute wind erosion?
So let’s explore the idea that maybe people got stupid… This is very possible as humans lost the technology of CONCRETE for nearly 1000 years. Filippo Brunelleschi built the magnificent dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore without a scaffold. Just as much of an engineering feat as the Egyptian Pyramids. And that is why pyramids occupied 60% of my architectural history education.
You want to know some really amazing building technology? Look at old Japan’s wood construction techniques. These are some of the most advanced, strongest, most intriguing fastening methods the world has ever seen. Japan has a wooden building that is 1300 years old and has survived countless earthquakes. Aliens or human trial and error?
Documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTgxGJfXRQ0Sources:
http://www.touregypt.net...ies/pyramidevolution.htmhttp://education-portal....ts-structure.html#lessonhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/his...ns/pyramid_gallery.shtmlhttp://ancientaliensdebu...ranscripts/the-pyramids/http://symbolankh.devhub...ring-by-trial-and-error/Spiro Kostoff’s “A History of Architecture”
Marvin Trachtenberg & Isabelle Hyman’s “Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernism”
Francis Ching’s “Architecture: Form, Space and Order”
Francis Ching’s “A Visual Dictionary of Architecture”
Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori: “How Buildings Fail: Why Buildings Fall Down”
Creator help me live in a way that will make my ancestors proud.