Talk:Egyptian pyramid construction techniques

aliens

The pyramids were actually built as landing pads for alien spaceships. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.213.141.241 (talk) 06:44, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Interesting thing to say so, except I don't see how a pointed pyramid can act as a landing pad. Even Sitchin Zecharia did not have the nerve to say so...Adixit4476 (talk) 05:21, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

From your comments there it seems like you have been watching to much Stargate. 81.149.82.243 (talk) 12:33, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Why doesn't the article mention the theory that pyramids were built by aliens?98.220.130.63 (talk) 21:35, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

The theory that the pyramids were built by aliens is a fringe conspiracy; there is no real evidence for it. --Azuefeldt (talk) 14:45, 15 October 2017 (UTC)

Evidence of ramps

The article implies that evidence for ramps is sketchy, but the Great Pyramid contains two, both internal, one going up - and one down - to chambers inside. These 26 degree ramps therefore probably indicate the practical degree of slope of all ramps used in similar construction work. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.5.6.158 (talk) 16:29, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

there is not one bit of evidence that a functional ramp even exists except in minds there is a ramp ,but it is a down ramp they just have to look in the right place , and the Dig Down Concept will be confrtmed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.208.10.83 (talk) 15:54, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Security Considerations

This is more of a question than a discussion (but it certainly can turn into one): what were the security considerations for the Egyptian pyramids in ancient Egypt? I don't know, but I REALLY need help! Anyone know?

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Slander of Herodotus (in regard to "slaves" and "gross errors of fact")

From http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D2&force=y

"They said that Egypt until the time of King Rhampsinitus was altogether well-governed and prospered greatly, but that Kheops, who was the next king, brought the people to utter misery. For first he closed all the temples, so that no one could sacrifice there; and next, he compelled all the Egyptians to work for him. To some, he assigned the task of dragging stones from the quarries in the Arabian mountains to the Nile; and after the stones were ferried across the river in boats, he organized others to receive and drag them to the mountains called Libyan. They worked in gangs of a hundred thousand men, each gang for three months."

Clearly "all the Egyptians" were not "slaves". As for the "gross errors of fact", he ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE points out that he just relates what he was TOLD by those who appeared in the know. Note "They said..." above. In the article's quote: "...I leave this uncertain, as both possibilities were mentioned..". For goodness sake, he was trying to be balanced, unlike the one who's accusing him of "gross errors" in a disdainful "know better" 21 century's manner, as if he was lying or trying to invent something.

There is wealth of other info in Herodotus full narration about the pyramids, including diet and costs (with a disclaimer that it was what the interpreter reading pyramid inscriptions said) - all of it interesting, logical, entertaining and quite plausible, though obviously dependent on his source. He has spent time gathering information as it was known then, so that 2500 years later we can have the pleasure of finding about it too.

I suggest the historically qualified editors remove the incorrect references to "slaves" and "gross errors of facts" in regard to the pyramids, as I personally can't see any in the original text at the above link. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.72.13.106 (talk) 12:28, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

This has been (unsourced) in the article for more than 4 years. I added the citation needed tag. I will remove the two sentences when no source supporting the critizsm is found in a month or two. Is it OK? WikiHannibal (talk) 12:59, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

He wrote long after the events and depending on the equivalent of today's tourist guides. It should be easy to find sources commenting on his reliability. Doug Weller talk 16:59, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

From Herodotus where you can find the references:"The reliability of Herodotus' writing about Egypt is sometimes criticized.{{efn|Herodotus claimed to have visited Babylon. The absence of any mention of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in his work has attracted further attacks on his credibility. In response, Dalley has proposed that the Hanging Gardens may have been in Ninevah rather than in Babylon.<ref name="Dalley"/>}} Alan B. Lloyd argues that, as a historical document, the writings of Herodotus are seriously defective, and that he was working from "inadequate sources".<ref name="Lloyd"/> Nielsen writes: "Though we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of Herodotus having been in Egypt, it must be said that his narrative bears little witness to it."<ref name="Nielsen"/> German historian Detlev Fehling questions whether Herodotus ever traveled up the Nile River, and considers doubtful almost everything that he says about Egypt and Ethiopia.<ref>{{harvp|Fehling|1994|pp=4–6}}</ref><ref name="Baragwanath_19"/> Fehling states that "there is not the slightest bit of history behind the whole story" about the claim of Herodotus that Pharaoh [[Sesostris]] campaigned in Europe, and that he left a colony in Colchia.<ref name="Marincola_34"/><ref name="Fehling_13"/>{{efn|Fehling concludes that the works of Herodotus are intended as fiction. Boedeker concurs that much of the content of the works of Herodotus are literary devices.<ref name="Marincola_34"/><ref name="Boedeker"/>}}"

Herodotus explaining that Khufu/Cheops used slaves

"Up to the time of Rhampsinitus, Egypt was excellently governed [124] and very prosperous; but his successor Cheops68 (to continue the account which the priests gave me) brought the country into all sorts of misery. He closed all the temples, then, not content with excluding his subjects from the practice of their religion, compelled them without exception to labour as slaves for his own advantage. Some were forced to drag blocks of stone from the quarries in the Arabian hills to the Nile, where they were ferried across and taken over by others, who hauled them to the Libyan hills.[1] Doug Weller talk 17:57, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

References

• The Greek text is just "μετὰ δὲ ἐργάζεσθαι ἑωυτῷ κελεύειν πάντας Αἰγυπτίους" ("and then [they say that] he ordered all the Egyptians to labour/work for himself.") [2]. Furius (talk) 22:46, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Chris Massey Water Shaft Theory

Greetings, I know this seems odd at first, but has anyone actually refuted this theory? That the Great Pyramid was built by constructing a waterproof causeway from the Nile and then up the side of the pyramid, and floating the blocks.

https://blog.world-mysteries.com/mystic-places/building-the-giza-pyramids-water-shaft-theory/

https://www.amazon.com/Pyramids-Egypt-Chris-Massey-ebook/dp/B00II6RJFM

It seems as plausible as anything else. Joel J. Rane (talk) 20:50, 4 February 2019 (UTC)

I attempted a write-up, but it was removed for reasons I understand. At some future date, the hypothesis may merit inclusion in this article, but likely not yet.22:06, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Nippon Corporation pyramid-building experiment

@WikiHannibal: by undoing my edit yesterday, you wrote down the reasons. Now I will give my arguments. Unfortunately, the article cannot use a YouTube link as a note. And I wanted to add this note: youtu.be/FrTLmpVKM1k?t=283 I think watching this video will be enough to restore my edit in the article! LibreOffice User (talk) 13:15, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

Hi, even if your addition to the article were treated as sourced, what does it say about Egyptian pyramid construction techniques (which is the topic of this article)? The gist of your text is that a smaller copy of the Cheops pyramid was built using cranes and other modern tools. It does not say anything about how the pyramids were built. I see no reason why it should be in the article, sorry. WikiHannibal (talk) 13:58, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

@WikiHannibal: The essence of the article is that it expresses both historical and structural hypotheses about how the Egyptian pyramids were built. There are many different versions. But in fact, no one knows for sure. And to this day it remains a mystery. Therefore, in 1978, the Nippon Corporation tried to build a smaller copy of the Cheops pyramid, to get answers to some questions:

“And many secrets may be solved,” promised their press release. “How many workers were needed to pull a four‐ton stone block? What size rollers were used? What was the method used to synchronize the workers’ efforts? The rhythmic beat of drum or a chant? How were the thousands of workers and slaves organized into effective working groups?

Sajuki Yoshimura, an archeologist from Waseda University. He thought that a do‐it‐yourself pyramid might help answer the riddles about the manner of the pyramid construction

In this video youtu.be/FrTLmpVKM1k?t=300 hired workers are seen manually dragging the top of the pyramid (pyramidion) to the pyramid. But they could install it on the very top of the pyramid only with the help of a truck crane. Also in the same video youtu.be/FrTLmpVKM1k?t=283 you can see that at least one block of the pyramid is installed using a truck crane.

In my opinion, it is obvious that the Nippon Corporation tried to build a pyramid using manual labor as in 1997 NOVA.

Here is an English video in which the pyramid is visible: youtube.com/watch?v=OHOgtQa7LVw

Here are excerpts from the above video description: …research scientists from Japan (Nippon Corporation) who began to undertake a reconstruction of the Great Pyramid on a smaller scale. This film is one of the few documents of this attempt to use basic tools (basic tools, ramps, local labor force) to create sophisticated fittings of the limestone blocks. In the end, it proved too difficult to continue with primitive methods and they resorted to modern means to create their small model.

So why can't you write about it on Wikipedia? Moreover, Nippon Corporation built a pyramid on the Giza Plateau! I think that this experiment should be written in an article on Egyptian pyramid construction techniques. - LibreOffice User (talk) 11:07, 18 May 2021 (UTC)