The Egyptians built the pyramids. The best of the pyramids, erected in the Fourth Dynasty, were built during a small window in history when the means, motive, and opportunity were all present, a situation that would not be repeated for the remainder of Egypt’s history. Tombs before this time evolved from archaic-period pit tombs covered by simple mounds to underground tombs with rectangular superstructures, the prototype of the grander “mastaba” tombs. By the Second Dynasty, mastaba tombs had developed into low but massive rectangular structures. At least one of these, mastaba 3038 at Saqqara, has sides made up of eight steps rising at a 49° angle, lending to it a definite pyramid appearance. It was not a great leap in architecture to decide to stack mastabas one atop the other to form a stepped pyramid, and thereafter to smooth the sides into a true pyramid shape.
Most of the common labor force that worked on the pyramids were Egyptian citizens. Because Egypt had a non-monetary economy, taxes had to be paid in kind. If not livestock, produce, or manufactured goods, taxes were extracted by a demand of corvée labor. Most of the brute pyramid workforce was comprised of such laborers, working off their obligation to the king. These “peasant conscripts” were divided into teams and divisions and were provided with the basic necessities of life during their term of duty. Skilled builders and craftsmen were in the permanent employ of pharaoh and lived together in villages near the pyramid site. Slavery was rare in Egypt before the Ptolemaic Period. The class usually referred to as serfs existed throughout Egypt’s history of course. These might have variously been born into their common position, captive foreigners, or even prisoners serving their sentence. The serfs served as workers for pharaoh, as helpers in the temples, and as servants for wealthier citizens. True slaves in the classical sense owned nothing at all and were considered chattel to be bought and sold at will. They did not play a part in the building of the pyramids.
The exact number of stones was orginally estimated at 2,300,000 stone blocks weighing from 2-30 tons each with some weighing as much as 70 tons. Computer calculations indicate 590,712 stone blocks were used in its construction. It area covers 13.6 acres with each side greater than 5 acres in area.
There are supposedly 144,000 casing stones, all highly polished and flat to an accuracy of 1/100th of an inch, about 100 inches thick and weighing about 15 tons each with nearly perfect right angles for all six sides. Computer calculations indicated 40,745 casing stones were used averaging 40 tons each before the face angle was cut.
The average casing stone on the lowest level was 5 ft. long by 5 ft. high by 6 ft. deep and weighed 15 tons. The casing stones weighing as much as 20 tons were placed with an accuracy of 5/1000ths of an inch, and an intentional gap of about 2/100ths of an inch for mortar.
The casing stones for the Great Pyramid were cut in quarries from Tura and Masara located on the east bank of the Nile on outskirts of Cairo.
The mortar used is of an unknown origin. It has been analyzed and it’s chemical composition is known but it can’t be reproduced. It is stronger than the stone and still holding up today. The cornerstone foundations of the pyramid have ball and socket construction capable of dealing with heat expansion and earthquakes. The four corner sockets are at different heights. The vertical distance between the highest and lowest is 17 inches. The reference point known as the “mean socket level”, or base level, is generally used as the reference for height and perimeter measurements. The “sidereal socket level” is the mean of just the SW and SE socket heights.
The length of a base is 9131 PI from corner to corner in a straight line. The length of a base side at the base socket level is 9131 pyramid inches or 365.24 pyramid cubits. The length of a base side at sidereal socket level is 9131.4 pyramid inches or 365.256+ pyramid cubits. The length of the perimeter at the sidereal socket level is 36525.63629+ pyramid inches. 201 complete courses of masonry remain with remnants of 2 more at the summit.
The top surface is 5478 pyramid inches above the mean socket level. Another 335 pyramid inches higher is the geometric apex formed by the corner edges of the projected mantle. The 35th course of stones is roughly 50 inches tall, nearly twice the height of the previous courses. The height of the 35th course = 1162.6 PI from ground or the length of the Antechamber x 10.
CAPSTONE THEORIES
The capstone is thought to have been intact about 100 B.C. since no mention of its absence was recorded by the historian Diodorus Siculus. The capstone of the pyramid is thought to have always been absent.
The capstone is thought to have been an exact replica of the large pyramid on a scale of 1 to sqrt(Pi)/100. The ratio of any corresponding pyramid dimension over the capstone dimension, when multiplied by the square root of Pi equals 100. The estimated height of the capstone is about 103.03+ pyramid inches and about 6-1/2 cubits on a side.
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DOORS
The Great Pyramid had a swivel door entrance at one time.
Swivel doors were found in only two other pyramids:
Khufu’s father and grandfather, Sneferu and Huni, respectively.
It is reported that when the pyramid was first broken into that the swivel door, weighing some 20 tons, was so well balanced that it could be opened by pushing out from the inside with only minimal force, but when closed, was so perfect a fit that it could scarcely be detected and there was not enough crack or crevice around the edges to gain a grasp from the outside.
The original entrance was located on the north face, about 49 feet above the base and 24 feet east of the central axis of the north face.
IR SHAFTS
Of all the pyramids, only the Great Pyramid has “air shafts”.
The King’s Chamber has 2, about 5 inches in diameter which connect to the exterior.
The Queen’s Chamber has 2 which stopped just short of the walls of the chamber and which do not penetrate completely to the exterior.
The cross section of these shafts are sometimes oval, sometimes domed, and sometimes rectangular.
SYMBOLS
There are no hieroglyphics or writings in the Great Pyramid other than those written later but not the pyramid builders. They are found in an upper relief chamber – some graphics on the wall of the Room of Chaos.
CEILINGS
Each of the ceiling stones in the Grand Gallery were individually removable.
The Great Pyramid could have functioned as a stellar observatory during its construction.
There are 36 ceiling stones in the roof of the Grand Gallery.
Taking average earth density as 1.0, the average density of the core limestone blocks is 0.412, the limestone casing blocks is 0.367, the granite of the King’s Chamber is 0.479.
The estimate for the average density of the pyramid as a whole, taking into account the different type and quantities of stone as well as the hollow chambers is 0.4078994+ times that of the average earth density (taken as 1.0)
SECRET ROOMS
Sixty-five meters up the southern shaft of the Queen’s Chamber is a miniature portcullis slab discovered by a robotic camera in 1993. Attached are two copper fittings, one broken. This area of the shaft is lined with Tura limestone, which is typically used in pyramids only for lining chambers.
In the King’s Chamber all of the stone joints are very tight except in the lower eft-hand corner of the west wall. Here the joints are larger than normal and covered by mortar. This is a strong indication of an opening to another chamber or passage. The Egyptian government has refused requests for further exploration.
In 1986 a French team using microgravimeter equipment detected small hidden cavities behind the west wall of the horizontal passage to the Queen’s Chamber. They were permitted to bore a 1″ diameter hole and found a cavity filled with sand. They were not permitted to dig or tunnel for further investigation.
The cavities in the horizontal passage to the Queen’s Chamber correspond to two floor stones in this passageway with joints perpendicular to the rest of the joints in the floor stones. This type of indicator can also be found at the junction of the descending and ascending passageways.
About 70 feet along the north side of the Great Pyramid from the northeast corner is a 4×10 ft stone sunk into the foundation at an angle. The joints are very precise and this is the only stone in the foundation perimeter not at a right angle to normal construction. It would have been covered by the mantle but is now accessible since the mantle is gone. It is very likely an entrance. No further investigation has been done.
It has long been believed that the Sphinx had subterranean tunnels leading to each of the three major pyramids. In October, 1994, a passage leading to a subterranean area beneath the Sphinx was re-discovered.
In 1987 a Japenese team used an electromagnetic wave method to search for cavities in the Great Pyramid. They identified a cavity under the horizontal passage to the Queen’s Chamber about 1.5 meters beneath andextending for 2.5-3.0 meters in depth. They also identified a cavity behind the western part of the northern wall of the Queen’s Chamber. They identified nocavities within the King’s chamber, possibly due to the denser granite walls. Three potential cavities were identified in the area of the Sphinx.
MISCELLANEOUS
The interior temperature at 62 degree Fahrenheit.
The pyramid is the only remaining structure of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
The polished surfaces of the original mantle reflected heat, sunlight, and moonlight and was probably used as to aid Nile river navigation at night.
No mummy has ever been found in a pyramid in Egypt. Mummies have always come from mastabas or tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
The word Pharaoh is from the Hebrew interpretation of the Egyptian per aa, originally meaning the great house.
The word pyramid is composed of the Greek words pyra meaning fire, light, or visible, and the word midos meaning measures.
Between 1300-1700 A.D. mummy flesh was ground into powder and used in Europe as medicinal aids. Mummy powder has also been used for artist paints.
Mummy wrappings were at one time used to make paper and burned in fireplaces by poor Egyptians.
The pyramids of Giza are among the oldest man-made structures in existence.
Cleopatra was the last pharaonic ruler of Egypt before it fell to Rome in 30 B.C.
Initially, after the 5 chambers above the King’s Chamber were opened, those that entered the 2nd chamber were turned black by a powder which existed only in that chamber. It was analyzed and determined to be the dust from the cast off shells and skins of insects.
Most pyramids were accompanied by smaller satellite pyramids usually built to the south and east of the main pyramid. Some were tombs for queens and princesses. Most of the structures were mastabas built to entomb the pharaoh’s family, members of royalty, and the priestly class. In nearly all of the pyramids and tombs, it was a general practice that the burial chamber was oriented slightly west of the north/south center line of the pyramid.
In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh’s wives were never buried with them in pyramids or tombs, they were buried separately.
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