How the Egyptians MIGHT have built the Great Pyramid -
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ค. 2024
- Join me this week as I discuss the latest archaeological evidence as to how Khufu and the Old Kingdom Egyptians built the great pyramid.
Big thanks to everyone involved in the collab! Check out the full playlist in the pinned comment and History Time and Jack Rackam's video here (I guarantee you'll enjoy them).
Jack's: • The Rise and Fall of B...
History Time's: • The Nordic Bronze Age ...
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www.stefanmilo.com
Historysmilo
historysmilo
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Sources:
Hawass, Zahi A. Mountains of the Pharaohs: the Untold Story of the Pyramid Builders. Doubleday, 2006.
Lehner, Mark, and Zahi A. Hawass. Giza and the Pyramids. The American University in Cairo Press, 2017.
Lehner, Mark. The Complete Pyramids. Thames Hudson, 2008.
Manley, Bill. The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2003.
Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Stocks, Denys A. “Immutable Laws of Friction: Preparing and Fitting Stone Blocks into the Great Pyramid of Giza.” Antiquity, vol. 77, no. 297, 2003, pp. 572-578., doi:10.1017/s0003598x00092632.
Tallet, Pierre, and Gregory Marouard. “THE HARBOR OF KHUFU on the Red Sea Coast at Wadi Al-Jarf, Egypt.” Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, 2014, pp. 4-14., doi:10.5615/neareastarch.77.1.0004.
Verner, Miroslav, et al. The Pyramids: the Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. American University in Cairo Press, 2004.
Hatnub Quarry and Ramp. news.liverpool.ac.uk/2018/11/...
Image Attributions:
G5220 - giza.fas.harvard.edu/sites/541...
Heit el Ghurab msu-anthropology.github.io/da...
MesserWoland, Giza pyramid complex (map), CC BY-SA 3.0
Diego Delso, Great Pyramid of Giza, Giza, Egypt7, CC BY-SA 3.0
Soluvo, AIDAdiva Kreuzfahrt Mittelmeer 2012 (259), CC BY-SA 4.0
Rick Manwaring, Giza pyramids, from the Nile-3219946607, CC BY 2.0
??????, Cheops-Pyramid, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jeff Dahl, Re-Horakhty, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dolorite hammer: ashtronort.wordpress.com/2016...
Glenn Ashton, Aswan granite quarry with hole where an obelisk block was carved out, CC BY-SA 3.0
David Dennis from Scotts Valley, CA, USA, Flickr - DavidDennisPhotos.com - Pyramid at Giza, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ovedc, By ovedc - Interior of the Great Pyramid - 09, CC BY-SA 4.0
No machine-readable author provided. Bradipus assumed (based on copyright claims)., Barque Solaire4, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kurohito, Silsileh-Petroglyphe1, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ovedc, By ovedc - Egyptian Museum (Cairo) - 013, CC BY-SA 4.0
Djehouty, Ägyptisches Museum Kairo 2016-03-29 Papyrus 03, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kingn8link, Egyptian Farmers, CC BY-SA 4.0
Udimu, Mesehtisoldiers, CC BY-SA 3.0
Olaf Tausch, Giseh 02, CC BY 3.0
Mike Strand, Macys dep store, CC BY 3.0
![Egyptians OBVIOUSLY worked granite [REDUX]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yAIOykJ9pbg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Egyptians OBVIOUSLY worked granite [REDUX]](/img/tr.png)
"Researchers at the university of Amsterdam have discovered that mud is slippery"
Wasn't that the 35 million dollar research grant that got us that gem of information?
Hahahahaha.yea that’s how dumb they think we are….!
Ah. Usually that is just popular press gist reading. A lot of this sort of research is actually trying to answer an engineering problem.
@paddor its true, mud cant really contain sand without becoming a loam type soil
Only when it's wet
Kudos to ´poor wife´ for nearly unsung assistance!
I've worked on huge projects and sites with thousands of men and women on a single site. Its absolutely not hard to believe that the manpower was there in abundance. It actually was probably a dream come true to be a part of such an amazing project and likely would have attracted very eager and highly skilled people from all over.
I love the mystery around how they cut those stones and lifted some of the heavier stones.
That's a good point. Idk whether they were slaves, but in principle being part of the crowd to make this could have been a desirable thing. It's also possible that they would have been paid well, or that it got their family attractive perks or what not. There's something to be said about being part of a team that actually makes something worthwhile.
Especially when considered that most of the people probably working on it are farmers, of which in certain parts of the year cant attend the fields as the flood seasons set in.
Yes it was a dream come true when you died because then you could no longer feel the whipping and the beatings.....lol
So eager...yes...slavery must have been delightful
So what ? I did as well and i don't get the obsession....
This whole playlist:
Well researched - educated guesses explained and presented as such (not as straight forward facts) - excellent presentation - 100% informative - 100% captivating
PEARL of TH-cam 10/10
THANK YOU
History Channel content nowadays:
Not researched - insanely childish guesses presented as facts - presentation by people (like Giorgio Tsoukalos) with less factual knowledge then.. well, bronze age people - 0% informative - 100% bullshit
This is what I don't understand. So aliens travelled across the universe to advance a bronze age civilisation and help them build stone triangles, but don't share their technology for space travel? And for a civilisation to have such an advanced writing system for them not to mention that aliens came and helped them build it.
Well to be honest they didn't write down much of anything on how the pyramids were built, you'd think for such a monumental project there would be scrolls left with the exact time frame, how many men, how they did it etc etc.
They built it before Egyptian time also check saqqara bird
@@98Dreadboy They were build over 4,000 years ago. You honestly think the plans would last that long? We're lucky we know as much as we do about the Old Kingdom.
@@rr1309 uhhh no
The Egyptians were religious zealots like most of us gibbons here today, quite mad, which says to me we are really such primitive creatures.
We only have about one percent more DNA than Chimps but we think we are so much more clever, just think if a creature had one percent more intelligently evolved DNA than us how stupid it would make us look
The French architect gives convincing evidence that an internal ramp was utilized and the Grand Gallery also played a big part in the hauling of granite. Well worth the 55 mins. in view time. Cheers...
I have heard that yeah, certainly possible. I'll try and look into that, thanks.
But the Scan Pyramids Project using muography found no evidenceof an internal ramp. I think Houdin was right about the Grand Gallery though.
@@robertrobertJ You don't know what you are talking about. The Scan Pyramids Project found no evidence, none, zero, zip for an internal ramp. They did find some evidence of voids, but not voids that indicate or suggest an internal ramp. Houdin did have some basis for his internal ramp theory, but it has now been disredited by the muography study.
@@haroldbridges515 ....but I do think it was built from the outside in....
@@haroldbridges515 Damn, I was emotionally attached to that theory. lol.
What a fantastic video! The bronze age is the best age, especially considering all those wonderful aliens that came to visit and helped us build all of our monuments and temples. I yearn for the day of their return, so that they may finally reveal to us how they put the top of the pyramid on. My guess is a hovercraft with rope. Seriously though, a really great video.
Thanks man! You're right the bronze age is totally underrated. That's why we had to throw this collab together.
@@StefanMilo I'm watching the playlist as I type this, it's really good so far. Wanted to ask you, are you familiar with the tomb of the "Griffin Warrior of Pylos"? I can stare at the Pylos agate found in his tomb for hours on end, imo it's the single most beautiful work of art from the BA. It hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. It rivals any great work of any age. I'm an ancient coin expert, I would go as far as saying that the greatest engravers of 5th cent bc in Sicily could not compete with the person that engraved the agate, it's that good. And the Sicilian engravers were the best the world has ever seen. Keep up the great work!
You know I haven't heard of that but i'll definitely look into it now. I'd love making videos on less covered aspects of archaeology and history. What coins do you study? Shame the Egyptians didn't have any.
@@StefanMilo The Egyptians eventually did have coins, but it came under Ptolemaic rule, but I don't think that's what you meant lol. I deal in Greek, Roman and Judaean coins, with Roman Imperial coinage being my primary area of focus. I've definitely noticed that you cover those wonderful niche areas of history that I so love, and that was partly my motivation for telling you about the Griffin Warriors tomb. It's a recent find which really shook the foundation of our perception of BA art. I think that the only comparable piece is the Minoan god boy statue, I don't recall what he's called. I'm curious, do you have a favorite dynasty? It's really easy to love the 18th. And Ramses III is highly underrated imho.
The alien mama-ship beamed down all blocks in no time like it was a Tetris. On the way back home they have stopped to pop a few crop circles in Great Britain and were back home before lunch, no sweat ;)
Great choice of background! Some folks say that the blocks in the pyramids were so heavy (about 2.5 tons apiece) that we no longer have the technology to stack them in large numbers. And yet I spent a whole summer as part of a small crew of 8 people, doing the impossible; placing thousands of 4,000-5,000 lbs (about 2-2.5 ton) gravity blocks on retaining walls that stretched along several US freeway extensions. And we weren't the only crew, there were others in metropolitan area and I'm sure there were others throughout the state and throughout the country. Just in tonnage, based on some basic multiplication and DOT filings, we placed more of these puzzle-piece retaining blocks in the last 23 years than Egypt did in it's entire history.
I don't know why, but I'm obsessed with Mr Milo's channel. He presents things in an approachable, genuine, sometimes humorous way that other youtubers could learn from.
His human evolution content is some of the best on the platform.
Excited about this collab Stefan! As I was telling Jake, I find the Bronze Age pretty fascinating. I know it's cliché but it always baffles me to think that the great pyramids were as old for Cleopatra as she is to us. I wish we could know more about this period. It makes you wonder how much of history is gone because none of it survived to us.
I know! It's incredible really such cultural continuity. Thanks for watching Barris!
@@StefanMilo My pleasure. Couldn't thank all of you one by one but really had a blast with this collab.
"it always baffles me to think that the great pyramids were as old for Cleopatra as she is to us." -> In fact, probably only the refurbishing by Kufu dynasty was as old for her than her for us. The building of these pyramids was probably FIVE TIME older to her than she is to us. She's 2ky old, pyramids were 2ky ago refurbished at her age, and 10ky old build.
I for one am a proud member of the Iron Sucks Gang
Bronze pride!
Haha
Be careful the god of steel from the alter speed has lots of metallic friends . And I am a really proud member of Steel pisses on the green gang !!!! So take your hands off that metal computer you are a false prophet . Imperial King Emperor High Holy God of Steel shall not be taunted !!!
Bronze gang 💯
@@StefanMilo, as it happens, I was already subscribed to 'most all of the Iron Sucks Gang channels, as they are qualitative' more sound than many other such, and the others have been subscribed to also -thanks for that dude.
Egyptians built the aliens, confirmed!
(I would know)
Finally the circle has been squared!
No proof Egyptians ever existed.
@Francis Srečko Fabian So how do you explain the crop pyramids?
Are you stupid??Are you??
I'm just glad Indiana Jones finally defeated ancient Egypt and sent them back into outer space.
I'm sure some of you much smarter than me can blow holes in this, but we still use string today to level and square things. I'm thinking a string up the side of the pyramid once the angle was established by the first two courses of stone could have gone a long way to keeping the sides at a constant level. Once you lay out the 1st course, you put course 2 in place and by adjusting how close that course is to the outside of course 1 will determine the angle of the side of the pyramid. 2 stone closer to the edge, steeper angle. Farther from the edge, not as steep. Mix to taste, but then once that is established, attach the string to the upper outer edge of the first course and bring it up to where it just touches the upper outer edge of course 2. Put course 3 roughly in place and pull the string up so that it barely touches course 2 and then make the final adjustment of the course 3 stone. As long as each course touches the string, the side will be the angle created by the first two stones.
Good point. As a technician, I have to note that the distance between the reference points significantly affects accuracy. I think line of sight is the key. If you can sight along two points A and B 100m distant, then finding a point on the line 1m distant from point A is very accurate.
So my theory would be: They would have built wooden scaffolds, of maybe 10m tall, to hold points to sight against (surely a trivial task given the magnitude of the whole pyramid project). Once you have built 10m of the height of the pyramid, you can use the sides of the pyramid to sight against. The higher the pyramid gets, the longer the sighting distance gets, and the more accurate the extrapolation of the line to the higher levels.
you can build a skyscraper with a plumb, level and hammer. Oh and string.
@@mikefabbi5127 String is a very fine thing! Works well unless it’s very windy. As for level, the Egyptians were probably aware that water surfaces are level. When I was building my House of Steel back in the early noughties, I was lent a laser level. Quickly reverted to my primitive water level. It was quicker and easier to use.
It’s always simple things like this that could explain the building process. I seen villages before where they have some cool granary structures or make large canoes for traveling and it’s always something simple and logical to how they build, I end up saying oh of course that’s how you do that.😂
all silliness, clearly they built it from the top down
It was built upside down from the bottom-up
I watched a documentary where an architect came up with a more likely way of building the great pyramid. His computer design lead to the idea that there is a spiraling tunnel on the inside of the pyramid similar to a multi story parking garage. I feel like that is the most likely way it was built. From the inside out, after the first 20 meters using a ramp.
It would be good t see these amazing workers and architect, what other building they made prior to the pyramids or after ?
You're not sure what tools they used to level the pyramids? I'm pretty sure Giorgio Tsoukalos knows.
I'm sure he thinks he knows
Hey knowing better I love your channel
there are ancient mines in the area which are a copper-arsenic mix. this would have made a very good natural alloy.
Knowing Better, Giorgio's hairstyle is a clear and ever present disclaimer. wiseup.
They used teleport machines stolen from the Egyptian invasion in martians
people constantly and consistently underestimate what you can accomplish with just the sheer human muscle power of thousands upon thousands of people.
Lol
And the fact that average literate man today isnt smarter than average literate man back than.
@@hanbanaroda They were for sure craftier back then compared to humans today, just because we have more general knowledge today doesn't make us more intelligent I agree.
@@hanbanaroda the average man today is actually smarter than 99.99999% of all humans that have ever lived...thanks to the internet
@@mattolah7127 Well, no, but actually... no, youre just wrong XD
There is a French architect who quit his job to study how the pyramid was built. I think he nailed it -even found a use for the holes on the sides of the ramp. I can't remember what the documentary was called though, I'd love to see it again.
Would this have been Jean-Pierre Houdin?
Yes, evidence of an internal ramp, later covered by the exterior structure.
I wish that this was covered more, as it appears that no one is even considering this. It is a decent suggestion, that uses available technology of the time (and not aliens or Atlanteans), yet it seems that because Houdin is not a part of the Egyptian Archeological Society, his theory is being dismissed. Hell, you hear more about advanced ancient societies than him.
@@blowfishes "available technology at the time" which includes hauling 3 ton stonnes around a spiraling ramp, how do you maneuver around the corners? :D just shove it? 340 stones per day, while also working in there to align every single stone to perfection.
@MrSmash1000 they used to be covered in polished marble
Here's the full playlist & underneath some corrections. Deffo the best thing you'll watch today! th-cam.com/play/PL4kqG-CL4ToARSQlWqu6jRzeEnbFAQCkB.html&jct=ehHtt9DaoZ3ysm_4jLwudD5PLBJFkg&disable_polymer=1
Corrections: The grand gallery is not lined with granite, just the King's chamber. The trial passages are to the east of the great pyramid and to the north of the Queen's pyramid. My bad guys, misread a couple things.
Khufu's pyramid has 8 sides (not including whatever's on the bottom).Too many people take the Pyramids for granite. That was one of my father's jokes. I'm one of my mummy's. But seriously folks...
I’m a little late, but this comment isn’t pinned.
Found it, it’s not pinned though so had to go through the whole timeline 😅😅
The one thing I can take from this is that construction has always been a real shitty job
Why do you think the immigrants do it?
So you DO drag your wife out to film with you like I do. lol
Got to be done. My wife is my entire film crew!
bahahahaha. This might be the most I've ever enjoyed a youtube comment. Love you Mr. Beat
Can't we just ask Betty White how they did it? She might remember.
Going back through old Stefan videos for my fix. I am not disappointed. Amazin’ 👌🏻
I heard a theory that the granite was cut with sandsaws: basically saw handles with no blade, under which they'd just pour sand. They'd rub the sandsaw back and forth, using the sand itself to cut stone. Apparently it works, and you're never going to run out of sand, because as you work, you get more and more granite sand.
As for what the postholes do... I dunno, to me it seems obvious that people would wrap ropes around these posts and use them as pulleys.
That is ridiculous granite is a really strong stone, you will need more than just sand to cut that you idiot
@Oftin Wong sand isnt just quartz, and granite is made of 20-60% quartz anyway you idiot. Granite and silica sand are the same on the mohs scale pretty much both are 6-7, and you really think a saw handle and sand would work to cut granite? No it wouldnt you fucking idiot so shut up you ent smart.
Took them a few days to get 2 inches hahahahahaha you fucking spastic. You know why it takes that long? Because granite is as hard as sand you stupid muppet. So you have proven yourself wrong.
@@maxanom6234 Sure, equate the progress of some dweebs who've never done it before to people who were professionals at the time. I assume you have never noticed this, Mr. Tourette's, but the smaller something is, the harder it is to break. And even if the sand does break, it's still effective at cutting the stones. But sure, aliens.
@Oftin Wong okay then mate the Egyptians very clearly cut granite with sand and saw handles, you clearly provided such good evidence. Because "sand is quartz" oh wait no its not sand is made of multiple materials. And because "sand is harder than quartz" oh wait no it's not they are the same have a little look on Google since it seems you like it so much. And because "there is plenty examples" oh wait no there isnt you showed me one example and yes the sand does cut it, but it cuts it at an extremely slow rate making it a completely useless way to cut anything so obviously wasnt used to create blocks for the pyramids. So I think maybe you are stuck in your head a little instead of looking at the facts here.
Hahahah. Absolutely love the avatars in the Bronze Age introduction. So glad you keep making these things. You have a way about you that is informative without being too authoritative...and really dang funny. Thanks for keeping this channel going. I'm a new fan!
0:06
Wow! You visited the legendary IS wall? Epic. Thanks Mr. Columbia.
Lol, god damn it!
_"How the Egyptians MIGHT have built the Great Pyramid"_ *So, it was probably Aliens,* ...but it MIGHT have been the Egyptians, eh?
This is funny!
Great work on all of your content. Love this channel. This was a prefect 'cliff notes' video of all of the most reasonable theories laid out in the most digestible way possible. Well done!
Love you video and your enthusiasm considering the conditions. Personally I like Jean-Pierre Houdin's internal ramp theory of how the pyramids MIGHT have been built. Keep up the great work.
A water filled trench around the site would provide perfect level. i have seen an experiment where teams of men levered stones up from level to level, each team staying on the same level. I hope someone cracks the answer soon as I'm getting on.
that has to be the easiest and most accurate way! it would even account for the curvature of the earth
In the image shown of the sledge being drawn, you can see an individual carrying a large notched log. Perhaps this was used in concert with the post holes in some way to periodically heave the stone a short distance up the ramp before resting in a sort of “heave, heave, heave!” Motion.
Like a ratchet, the log prevents the stone from retreating, and can be moved up the ramp in pairs using the post holes to hold them or anchor them somehow?
We appreciate your suffering to educate us with this fine video. Enjoying ALL your work, many thanks!
Fantastic video, this channel is super underrated!
Thanks man!
Would be interested to see a video on the water erosion on the Sphinx and your thoughts on how that may change the dating of some sites in Egypt.
I like the internal ramp theory, solves Stefan's two problems, the top of the Pyramid and maintaining a consistent angle.
The best video on the topic for me........... And that "location" shows both determination and humor..... ♥️. .. ♥️ . ♥️
And I am struggling to build a wood shelf. Infinite shame.
Rey is in Star Wars,
Ra, on the other hand...
Old Archeology, whatever they didn't understood had something to do with religion. They needed some life experience, instead of getting the servants to do every thing
Love your rather cold looking Egyptian Sandstorm! Great video, thanks! Also, as a metal caster myself I gotta say; Copper and arsenic or tin always beats boring old iron for sheer awesome.
Love your video!! I've been following Hancok's and Uncharted X for some years now... I really like those guys and some of their claims are great mind candys worth enjoying... It really makes you wonder and pondering some questions... But still I love more evidence based ideas... I am still perplex by the evidence of presion tools in Egypt and other parts of the ancient and bronze age world... I think this is what the internet was made for!!! A feel of wonder and acquiring knowledge from everywhere... Thanks your videos Stefan!
Have you considered the internal ramp theory?
Some french scientists came up with it after doing thermal scans of the pyramids.
I agree i think it was built inside out. Internal ramps slopeing up at each completed corner in a spiral staircase type design
not only has he considered it, he put it in the video 11:19
You’re channel is so underrated
Thanks! I just like making videos on my hobby. If I become big time or not, doesn't matter.
This is really excellent. I've been watching for awhile and this is for sure your best! Congratulations.
Thanks, I appreciate you saying that.
Love your backdrop!
(When the video popped up I thought…oh not another one of those pyramid explanations…until I saw it was YOUR video!)
I've watched my father cut sharpening stones out of boulders collected from the river before. He scores a line on the top and sides of the block then puts a long dull sword looking piece of metal to the top line and hits it a few times really hard and the block of stone breaks straight a part following the lines.
If you chalk a line across the center topside of the blocks, it makes it easy for novice laborers to align the next block and the next layers of blocks.
Can't you keep a constant angle by just putting each new layer equal distance from the border of the previous?
That's a great way to accumulate errors.
Line-of-sight is probably the best way to keep something straight over those distances, just as lasers & theodolites do today.
As for possible ramps blocking LOS, I'm sure it wouldn't have been beyond Egyptian capabilities to leave culverts for sighting through.
Stacking tolerances. Too many errors.
Herodotus mentions a special lifting mechanism, and afaik, there were some actual depictions of this mechanism for lifting stones.
Wow finding a 20 degree ramp with staircases and post holes on each side sounds a lot like a really effective way to turn ropes to pulling crews who are stepping downhill comfortably on clean level stairs. This adds much applied work detail that is always missing from speculative ideas and suggests drilling and cutting methods are probably also far better developed than we can think up.
oh the answer is to just move 340 gigantic stones per day for 20 years. up 20 degree ramps (how many ramps?)
you realize the ramps have to be bigger than the pyramid itself? :D
@@gnubbiersh647 Never underestimate the power of engineering
th-cam.com/video/E5pZ7uR6v8c/w-d-xo.html
@@fulviopontarollo2952 nah we cant build pyramids today
@@gnubbiersh647 says you.
@@fulviopontarollo2952 no we cant build million stone megastructures
The ancient Egyptians actually aligned their pyramids to the north with the stars. This can be seen from the later pyramids being progressively turned at a slightly different angle than the older ones, as the Earth tilted its axis away from what was the polar star at the time.
Insight into manpower moving heavy objects. I work at a vineyard and had to help my boss move around wine, we had a pallet jack to aid us but it's not much different than using rollers or sleds. The two of us, just two of us, moved wine 3/4ths of a ton at a time. Moved about 2,500lbs of wine in total in about an hour. If two men can move 3/4s of a ton, then surely 8 men could easily have moved two or three tons. Mind you, I'm not at peak physical health or strength.
When it comes to maintaining the angle, my guess is that they simply calculated the number of stones for the length and width of the base, and then reduced that number by a fixed ratio to get to the number at the top.
It's like if you are setting up bowling pins, you know you've got 10 pins and want a single one at the front. That leaves 9 pins, and you want it to be wider at the base. Well, 4+3+2 makes 9, so you align them in a triangle of 4 at the base, 3 for the next layer, 2 for the next, and 1 for the apex.
Except you're doing that in a three dimensional space, which makes it sound complicated, but you'd only have to figure out a single side and can still treat it like a two dimensional plane, cutting a cross section through the widest point, cutting that in half bilaterally, and then doing a little trig. The first records of the study of triangles goes as far back as the 2nd millennium BC in Egypt, so, in the grand scheme of things, possibly contemporary with the building of the pyramids. You don't necessarily have to get into super complex mathematics in order to calculate the number of stones needed to create the length and height of that right triangle, as you can do it by hand, much like writing out 5x4x3x2 instead of 5!. It would take a while, but, with nothing but a writing implement and a straight edge, you could draw up that triangle, draw out the divisions to indicate the stones, and physically count them.
Much math is just shorthand for observations of reality, a way to conceptualize it and break it down into something that others will understand. You could calculate out the proper amount of pressure you need to apply to your gas pedal in order to accelerate your car to highway speeds while merging in front of a car coming from a certain distance away, but you just feel it. That mathematical shorthand, especially if you understand it well, will easily beat out someone trying to physically count each stone they're going to need when it comes to time, but you're still likely to reach the same conclusion.
I'm sure they went in with an idea of how tall and how wide they were going to be, and the angle of that might just be a byproduct. Maybe the width and height bear some sort of significance when it comes to their amounts in cubits and spans or whatever unit of measurement they happened to use at the time? Like you said, more information is needed to know for sure how and why.
They say it's a mystery, but I always just assumed that they started at the bottom and worked their way up >.
Have you heard of the internal ramp hypothesis? Gravimeter measurements seem to show a ramp spiraling up and around inside the pyramid.
it also seems like the most reasonable way to do it.
using the pyramid itself as the ramp rather than waste time making yet another huge structure alongside it.
Yeah the debate as to whether these large pyramids had internal step pyramids is really interesting. Hopefully more research will reveal more.
@@Kalleosini
Not to mention that if it were a single ramp, that ramp would have to be MASSIVE, as in it would be larger than the Pyramid itself. So you would expect there to be some traces left of it if it was that big, but there isn't any. It can't have been a spiral ramp either because turns would have been impossible and making sure the Pyramids edges were correct would be difficult.
The internal ramp just seems to make the most sense, but unfortunately there isn't much physical evidence to prove its existence.
@@marvelfannumber1 and there shouldn't be much evidence of it, unless we dismantle the pyramid itself to look for traces of wear on top of the blocks inside.
which we wont do because we're preserving the whole site.
4:50 If they did use copper saws (definitely IMHO), they wouldn't necessarily lose the copper blades. Just take the fallen sand from the cutting technique, and heat it. The tiny bits of copper that had worn off the blade would be in the sand. Heat the residue sand, the copper would melt and percolate to the bottom. In a molten state it could be recast.
so you do that how many times for each tool? 100 years is the official timeline, right? how many resources devoted to the pyramid is that? and just to bury a guy that's not there anymore? while there's a Valley of Kings for pharaos to be buried? Sounds sketchy to me.
I thought the same thing. Collect the filings and melt them down to recast them. The only cost is the fuel for the furnaces.
@@Yarblocosifilitico They didn't start using the Valley of the Kings for burials until much later, though.
@@karsten11553 as far as we know, they didn't ever start using the pyramids as tombs. Even if we find a mummy in one of them, that wouldn't necessarily mean that being a tomb was the main purpose of the pyramids.
@@Yarblocosifilitico Except we know they were built as tombs. The Egyptians had writing.
Probably the best “how they built the pyramid” video I’ve seen
You mentioned that ramp with the post holes...I saw a documentary where a similar setup exists inside the Great gallery, and the archeologist showed how it functioned as a ramp and counterweight setup to haul stones up the pyramid...replete with wear marks, etc. Search it out, best theory I've seen on how the upper pyramid section was constructed
Yes, that was the architect Jean Pierre Houdin who worked with the Egyptologist Bob Brier. The documentary's name is Khufu Revealed.
i think i learnt more fascinating facts from this short video than i do from the full length expensive tv documentaries that don't go into such depth
I just recently found your channel and i think your videos are great, i've long been fascinated by prehistory
Thanks I appreciate that. I had no idea before I made this video that there are so many people that think the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids.
So after watching this video a video from the Universe Inside You was recommended to me. I got sucked in watching a video on a theory the pyramids are electrical power sources. And how there are civilizations on the moon! Oh and how the moon was PLACED where it is in space by aliens. Darn it Stefan Milo!!!
Yup that'll happen! fans of those videos are equally disappointed when they stumble across mine too.
@@StefanMilo hey I'm a fan of those and your video was good too. Some of us like to counter balance our wild imaginations. I pretty much went down the same rabbit hole Shannon did, but to me it was a lot of fun, no regrets whatsoever :P
How is it that the moon is precisely the right size and distance away from earth to create a full eclipse?
@@Yarblocosifilitico I go down that rabbit hole from time to time just to see how wild the theories are getting. they never dissapoint.
You can split Granite with Granite. They probably only used bronze tools on granite for part of the process.
I get why ancient aliens conspiracies are appealing to so many folks.
1) it plays on the underlying belief (desire?) that a lot of people have that we are smarter/more-special than ancient 'ignorants', so it's impossible for them to have thought as cleverly as we do & been crafty enough to accomplish things that we still find impressive;
2) it helps reinforce some eurocentric (read: bigoted) beliefs that would prefer it if the presence of advanced native-african (or new world) civilizations like we have so much evidence for along the Nile & the east coast of the continent could be discredited by attributing all of their accomplishments up to extraterrestrials; now that it's become harder to pretend that it was secret white people like the Hamitic "hypothesis".
3) like all conspiracy theories it simplifies things so that rather than facing the reality that life on earth is the result of billions of independent wills pulling our species in all directions at all times, you can just blame everything on the lizard people secretly controlling everything;
4) it's more fun than a long slog with a lot of blood, sweet & tears; even if others of us enjoy finding out that the ancient builders of the pyramids who toiled away to achieve these amazing constructs, received part of their salary in beer
5) as more & more of us become convinced that intelligent must exist somewhere else in the universe...which in turn means that there's a good chance that it is wide-spread throughout the universe; given how far from the center & oldest portions of the universe our galaxy sits...we want to think that we are special enough for them to have visited us; which leads either to ancient aliens -- be they pyramid builders/atlanteans or the cause of conscious thought -- or to Area 51 & modern lizard people.
6) if life on earth was sparked by meteors bringing some of the building blocks of life to the planet, then we are in a way the result of ancient aliens even without intelligent life from other planets having played a part in our history. So on a very metaphorical level there's a ring of truth to the idea, one that is simply taken too a literal extreme because of the previous factors.
I think “aliens” are used by mainstream academics to disregard any other theories but no one is saying aliens. Some people just don’t think that copper tools were able to make these enormous monolithic stones and then dragged these stones to the sites miles out. Some of these stones are 10-30 tons which means a ramp like the ones used in mainstream theories aren’t liable.
Hatnub's ramp has a slope of 20 percent not degrees - huge difference. I had to check it out because 20 deg seemed impossible
I would of thought they used string/rope lines to keep to the precise angles and degrees, held up by scaffolding, but some stones are up to 200 tonnes, a lot more than 2.5.
The interior ramp theory is FASCINATING
love the candid way you present your videos : )
Mate, it was aliens, you're wrong.
I knew it was them!!
Even when they tried to tell me it were the lizard people from hollow flat earth i knew it were the space aliens after all! 👾
Aliens? Don't be silly it was the Ice Age Atlanteans!
@@StefanMilo LOL. In all seriousness, i really enjoyed this video, it was really well made and very professional, you're a credit to Sheffield Uni!
4:45 The bigger mystery is how did that guy manage to take that photo of his phone?
Aliens.
Here are my theories on the 2 last questions.
1; The People used the ramp and worked off that. The final parts were probably just the workers moving the Stones used for the ramp up to fill out the remaining part.
2; The angle was kept by ground people looking at the pyramid with big sticks or similar instrument to measure if it was complete. Or they were the beta version of Pytagoras.
"How did they keep that steady angle?" how bout a huge (think young tree trunk) ruler? Or a plate of angles and a level. Or both.
Much easier with UFOs.
What no aliens or UFO’s?😂
But aliens... and big foot. And time traveling Elvis. Your description was just all too realistic and likely. Lol
Great job and dedication to put up with the snow!
Lol, the truth is always more interesting than these wild theories!
I propose the post holes are to mount rollers or polished, oiled fulcrum to operate counter weights to pull the stones up
Yes!
If I recall correctly, the pyramid has the remnants of a moat or channel around it. If this was filled with water during the initial phases of construction, it could have been used as a level reference. Good vid.
Giza plateu was made almost level
Great video
After studying this very topic for the best part of my 74 years, I myself have come to some controversial conclusions:
That they had iron tools. What percentage of their tools were iron, bronze or copper I'm not sure, but for the granite I suspect iron. A video from Ancient Architects shows the location of an iron ore mine on the Gizeh plateau which probably dates from the 4th dynasty.
Secondly, I suspect that the Great Pyramid was built in stages, corresponding to the 3 "tombs", and that the building was finally completed by Kufu....and that Kufu did at least build the upper chamber, grand gallery and "relieving chambers" I think is now beyond dispute...but the "Queen's chamber" and the "cellar" ??
What really fascinates me is whether the whole complex was a single design - which I think it was - or whether they pyramids were build one after the other - I suspect they were all built at the same time as some sort of pattern and I think Bauval is right about this...
As for the Sphinx.......
An iron mine alone is not sufficient as evidence for iron tools, it is the temperature at which iron becomes malleable that is difficult to achieve
Im very interested in the construction of the inner core of the entrances / tunnels & Queens & Kings chambers. Before any outer stones were laid all the main decending entrance and grand gallery would of been built using round logs as rollers and planks to move granite stones up through the lower decending entrance via counterweights to build the grand gallery and queens chamber using pulley counterweights system
I think this is your best video yet. keep it up!
Thanks man!
Dude, two words: GREEN SCREEN!
Love your videos keep it up but the comment section has me convinced it's aliens too
Hey Stefan, I love what you do! What do you think of the water elevator theory when it comes to the building of the pyramids? Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks! I'm sure they used the flooded nile to help lift rocks off boats but as for a water elevator I'm not convinced. More likely they just used a big ramp. Or series of interconnected ramps
@@StefanMilo Thanks for the reply, Stefan! Yeah, I agree that it does seem a bit far fetched, but nonetheless it is an awesome theory. This video blew my mind: th-cam.com/video/C1y8N0ePuF8/w-d-xo.html when I first saw it.
Do you have a video on the construction of Saqsayhuaman, Peru?
Your channel is a gift!
Have you heard the building theory that they possibly built a water elevator to float blocks up since the Nile was closer and acted like a harbor
A little bit. I'm sure they used the flooded Nile to raise boats and stones out of the river but as for up the pyramid I'm sceptical. The ramp has much more evidence going for it.
Stefan Milo totally it’s a theory that was proposed by this engineer which at scale works and by all means should work. The shaft would be made of brick wood and sealed with pitch and animal skins and removed after construction so there wouldn’t be any discernible traces of it left
m.th-cam.com/video/dup19cX6yXo/w-d-xo.html
Personally I think it’s a pretty neat practical theory that the Egyptians who knew better than most the properties of water would be totally capable of
Thrashdragon
Simple physics tell us that that particular theory is a pipe dream.
Covfefe Dk which aspect of physics tells us that? ie what physical law determines it as not possible?
Thrashdragon
Just to mention one thing. If you have a shaft of a diameter large enough to contain ONE block and it’s float, the weight of the water column would create a very substantial pressure at the bottom. Consider the way it has to be harnessed and how the gates have to be operated against that pressure. I often travel on canals, and the locks they have there are difficult enough with a head pressure of 4 meters.
And to name another thing. Have you tried looking at elevation maps of the Gizeh Plateau? You still think it is plausible let alone possible, considering there are other ways that actually work?
If you have two sticks in a 90 degree angle and you have a third stick attached in the required angle of building. You can place this triangle on the base with the bottom crossing at the edge of the stone. The next row of stones should be placed against the straight up stick and the height of the stone should be at the top crossing of the triangle. Now you have the required angle between the base stones and the next row. If you follow this rule every next row of stones you will get a consistent angle all the way to the top of the pyramid.
Simple but brilliant! Thank you.
I like the idea of the blocks being floated up through specially designed water channels.
I liked the idea that those notches along the ramp were used for a pulley system, their locations on the sides of the ramp would make them similar to what the Greeks used some 2000 years later. The implication of the egyptians having this technology would change a lot. As far as we knew this technology wasn't invented until 2000 years later.
Unfortunately all of the wood and rope would have been long gone by now so we may never know.
My theory: I think, in reality, the ancient Egyptians would have been able to build the pyramids a lot faster, with a lot less men than what these estimates assume.
This is because I understand, in science, more conservative estimates are generally preferred, and Stefan clearly said these estimates are based on what the average modern man is capable of. Which means these estimates are ignoring the fact that these were farmboys - ancient farmboys, with primitive tools. These boys worked unimaginably hard all day, almost every day of their lives.
You ever try to arm wrestle a farmboy? I consider myself slightly above average in strength by city-boy standards, if I can't win an arm wrestle I can usually at least give a decent fight. But with these farmboys there's no way, they slammed my arm down immediately with no effort, every single one of them.
I feel like a team of ancient Egyptian farmboys could haul more stone, faster, and with less men than what your average modern men are capable of.
They were not physically as big or nourished like today’s farm boys.
@@SoggySoxSaga Compared to todays farm-boys, perhaps. But they'd still wipe the sand with any modern city-boy.
Stefan did you not know that they have found the "internal building ramp" used to move stones to the upper portions of the great pyramid? Well here is the very interesting story. An archaeologist who theorized that that's how it was done went to Egypt to prove his theory but wasn't having much luck since he was not going to be allowed to dig into the great pyramid to prove his theory,but he published or in some way got some media coverage of his theory and received a call from a German company. It seems that 3 years before (I Believe it was 3 years before) this company had been payed to do a ground penetrating survey of the great pyramid and when this engineer saw his video or whatever he remembered a strange oddity that they had seen on the images they made and could not explain. The engineer reviewed those images and of course it was that internal ramp. since then they have even found one of the necessary turn around that he theorized would have been necessary to turn the blocks around at each corner.
I read that the dolerite balls were actually not round when they were working with them and had hard edges. They became round as they were used and the round balls were then used for another task. Given that you would need round balls in the later phases of construction it makes sense they would be found at the end of construction. I found this info from an academic source that was explaining the giant obelisk with the so-called "scoop marks" and the video was explaining the process of burning super hot fires and then banging out those scoop marks by hand with the dolerite balls with the harder sharp edges not the round ball style tool. I would love to see a video about this subject because every alternative history channel covers this huge obelisk and it is easily explainable using techniques we know the Egyptians used.
I think you are referring to the article by Adel Kelaney? He did an interview on the World of Antiquity channel.
7:19 "here's a snippet of it."
Immediately gets ad for Shopify.
Kufu built the pyramids? Hmmm...
Yes he did, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that. In fact there is only evidence to suggest that. Both written and archaeological.
@@StefanMilo The ancient greek historians who visited the pyramids and asked the priests, said otherwise.
kufu just renovated
@@ultrafeel-tv Not Herodotus. They told him it was built by Khufu (Cheops in Greek). Even so that was thousands of years after the Pyramid was built. Two inscroptions dated to it's construction say it was Khufu. The wadi el jarf papyrus and the "Friends of Khufu" inscription inside the pyramid. Which is in an extremely hard to access part of the pyramid. Not placed there during any renovation.
@@StefanMilo I think the evidence you speak of is coming straight from people who covered-up\obscured what likely took place there (Egyptologists working for the Egyptian Government).
What are your thoughts on possible use of stone hardcore to inner parts of pyramid rather than blocks? As an architect it would make much more sense. Also, could they have used emery stone to help with cutting granite?
There was also a fourth criteria which was actually the most crucial one of all and that was it needed line of sight to their sun temple.. whether it be the main one or the secondary one that was built for the pyramids further south west..
Watching this from Bangkok, where anything below 20º is referred to as "freezing". It's amazing how much we have learned about Egypt in the past several decades, yet there are still more questions to be asked. I would assume they used water drawn from The Nile to prepare to sand for the sledges, really making use of the river in the construction of the pyramid.
Aliens didnt build them. If aliens built them then they would be a lot more perfect
Why assume aliens were any good at building pyramids? :-P
Very interesting insight indeed. However, I still incline to the other theories. As you mentioned at the end of the video.. HOW on earth did they stack those massive stone blocks on top of each other? Why were the pyramids build atop of a water reservoir? What is the purpose of the inner shaft / tunnel system? WHY aren´t there any hieroglyphs in the pyramids? WHY wasn´t there any mummy discovery inside the pyraminds (literally. there was no mummy found in a pyramid, ever.)? How did they manage to build the Great pyramid in the center of the earths landmass? And why aren´t the pyraminds EVER mentioned in the hieroglyphs??
It´s all confusing. Dang!
Built atop a water reservoir because they used an inner well to lift water to each succeeding level of rise... thus answering how they kept it square at the top as the video-maker rightly wonders about... this is a little known fact I will be revealing with diagrams, etc. down the road a bit on my channel....
1. How did they stack those massive stone blocks on top of each other?
The video provides an answer for the lower levels, and a possible explanation for higher levels. It would've been hard work, and probably require a great deal of practical know-how and some geometric understanding - but we know that the Egyptians had all that, and the pyramids do exist, so clearly they made it work.
2. Why were the pyramids built atop of a water reservoir?
Do you have a source on the water reservoir? I tried googling it, but I just found mentions by conspiracy theorists.
3. What is the purpose of the inner shaft/tunnel system
Something related to the construction or inspection? Doesn't strike me as particularly mysterious.
4. Why are there no hieroglyphs in the Great Pyramid?
Well, why are there no emojis on gravestones? The answer is likely that trends in decoration changed over time. For a long time, it's quite possible that they preferred more austere, minimalistic decoration of the grave chambers. For example, the first stepped pyramid, that of Pharaoh Djoser, contains hieroglyphic inscriptions in the grave room, and it also has a ton of caskets and boxes which were inscribed with the names of previous rulers. Then there is a long gap with no hieroglyphic decorations inside the grave chambers, but by the Fifth Dynasty, these decorations return, in the Pyramid of Pharaoh Unas.
EDIT: Turns out there were some hierglyphics left inside the Great Pyramid. They weren't decorations, though, but probably left by builders for practical purposes during construction: www.nbcnews.com/id/43314221/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/mystery-pyramid-hieroglyphs-it-all-adds/#.XH6eaYhKhPY
Here are hieroglyphics from the grave chamber of Pharaoh Tetit, who was the son-in-law of Pharaoh Unas:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/T%C3%A9ti-textes.jpg
5. Why has there never been discovered a mummy inside the pyramids?
Well, first off, there actually has been recovered human remains inside a pyramid: they found parts of Pharaoh Djoser's mummified foot inside his still-present sarcophagus in his stepped pyramid. However, secondly, the more clear answer is: grave robbing. Pyramids REALLY stand out against everything else, they are giant monuments rumored to have treasures in them. So they got robbed. And there were several thousand years to rob them. We do have mastabas though (mastabas were grave-mounds that the Egyptians used before they began making pyramids) where we have found full remains of mummies and bodies inside them. Mastabas have the benefit that they are less conspicuous against the horizon. Inside them we also find such things as sarcophagi (which we also find in pyramids, albeit usually empty and looted), and grave goods. We also find these in the later style of tombs, the cavern tombs in the Valley of Kings and such. There has also been discovered a full sarcophagus in the pyramid of Pharaoh Menkare, which is also located at Giza. So we know there used to be bodies in there - but as I said, they were looted.
6. How did they manage to build the pyramid in the center of Earth's landmass?
Where the centre of Earth's landmass is depends on what you regard as the outer limits. People have have gotten results such as lower Egypt, Turkish Anatolia, and even Romania:
gis.stackexchange.com/questions/83022/calculating-centroid-of-all-lands-of-earth-using-sql-server-spatial
In the end, it's a pointless issue, but a "center of Earth's landmass" does not have any specific significance, nor would the Egyptians have known about the Americas, Antarctica or Australia in order to find one. The answer is mostly that the Egyptians built their pyramids next to the Nile. Because that's where they lived.
7. Why aren't the pyramids ever mentioned in the hieroglyphs?
Did you miss the papyrus in the video that explicitly talked about Khufu's pyramid? Here's more on it:
www.history.com/news/egypts-oldest-papyri-detail-great-pyramid-construction
Here are the Pyramid Texts, a series of holy prayers which were written on the pyramids at Sakkara, which date from the 5th and 6th Dynasties (around 2500 BC). In "Utterance 600", they explicitly mention pyramids, since they were written to protect them, of course: www.history.com/news/egypts-oldest-papyri-detail-great-pyramid-construction
Enthused Norseman #7 you have wrong link
@@nakenmil thanks for this. glad someone is here to explain in full detail with links to show these people who are automatic experts in egyptology what it's like to know a thing or two..
I might suggest that the apparent dips in the middle of each side, which you don't directly address in this video, could be the artifact of the way they maintained the perfect angle along each edge to the top. If one were to use a technique involving sight from the ground that could be difficult to do in the middle of a side, an edge you can put a person on opposite sides on the ground to get a look but for the middle of a side you couldn't do that.
Now that is dedication standing in that weather. Great vid, I am fascinated with the Bronze Age for its lessons today.
The Egyptians couldn't even build the Suez Canal; NOTHING compared to the pyramids.
Love this and you guys! Awesome! 🧠👍🏻
I've got it! They buried the whole thing under a ramp and built it from the top down!
I think it is hilarious that people now wonder how the Egyptians moved such huge stones with only manpower yet none surprised that the biggest obelisks today are not in Egypt because the Romans picked them up and transported most them to Europe. With basically the same tools Egypt had access to.