Seemingly one of the seven wonders of the world, the famous Egyptian pyramids of Giza were built using concrete. That is, the Egyptians were 2.5 thousand years ahead of the Romans, who were still considered the first to use this building material.

According to Drexel University (Philadelphia) materials scientist Dr. Michael Barsoom, the author of this theory, the use of concrete blocks finally explains how the Egyptians could build such massive structures as the tombs of their pharaohs, starting from 2550 BC. e. As Barsoum reported in The Journal of the American Ceramic Society, ancient builders used concrete blocks, for example, in the upper levels of structures where it was difficult to lift cut stones.

Dr. Barsoum and his colleagues conducted a mineral analysis of the blocks of the pyramid of Khufu (Cheops).

According to scientists, the composition of the analyzed sample of building material does not correspond to any known type of limestone.

In fact, the material consists of a mixture of lime, sand and clay, that is, most likely, it is imported concrete. However, the researcher still leaves a tiny possibility that in ancient times there was a natural material similar to modern concrete.

“The idea of ​​using concrete is unrealistic and completely unproven,” said Zahi Hawass, secretary general for antiquities and head of excavations in the pyramid area, for example. In his opinion, the pyramids have been subjected to various types of restoration so many times that the samples that Barsoum worked with may well belong to the present.

However, there is another point of view. As National Institute of Standards and Technology geologist Sheldon Weiderhorn pointed out, this theory cannot simply be dismissed. "He (Barsoum - "Gazeta.Ru") comes up with a compelling theory, and I think his opinion is worth listening to,” Weiderhorn said.

The Pyramid of Cheops, also called Khufu or Khufu, is the largest building in the Giza complex.

The construction of the pyramid, which belonged to the second pharaoh of the IV dynasty, dates back to 2590-2568 BC. e. The construction of the burial complex on the stone plateau of the Libyan desert was carried out under the guidance of the famous architect Khafre and did not start from scratch. At the base of the pyramid of Cheops lies a very ancient, built about 14 thousand years ago, a squat pyramid of monolithic stone (modern archaeologists call it a "remnant"). This ancient pyramid, which had a powerful foundation and special passages for underground work, was increased in height and replanned by Khafre, but the remnant still makes up about half of the total volume of the Cheops pyramid.

According to the latest estimate, the final structure weighs about 6.3 million tons and contains more building material than it took to build all the cathedrals, churches and chapels in England. Now this last remaining wonder from the ancient list of the seven wonders of the world is at the base of a square with a side of 227.5 meters and is made up of 203 rows of masonry. During construction, the height of the pyramid was 146.6 meters, now, due to the fall of some of the upper stones during the earthquake, the pyramid is 9 meters lower.

The pyramid phenomenon has always fascinated scientists.

According to the Arab historian Abul Latifa, who was the Sultan of Cairo in the 12th century, the individual blocks of these burial structures are so precisely fitted to each other that even a knife blade cannot be inserted between them. Moreover, the Egyptian builders "customized" not only the external blocks, but also the granite building elements from which the walls and ceiling are made and which weigh 30 tons each. Each granite element was polished to such a degree of smoothness that the impression is still that we have a monolithic wall in front of us.

Until recently, scientists believed that the pyramids were built from limestone blocks mined in neighboring quarries using copper tools. In traditional Egyptology, there has long been an opinion that the stone blocks from which the tomb was built were mostly cut down in Mount Mukattam, east of the Nile River. From these ancient quarries, which are still clearly visible, they were brought by ship to Giza through a channel specially dug for this purpose. Moreover, archaeologists recently discovered a pier near the pyramids. According to the researchers, after being delivered to the plateau, the blocks were lifted to the pyramid along an inclined earth embankment.

However, none of the scientists still can not say for sure what is the reason for such a long-term preservation of the pyramid.

In the same way, none of the Egyptologists and archaeologists can describe the technology of erecting the oldest tombs. Perhaps now that Dr. Michael Barsoum has offered such a revolutionary view of the building process in ancient Egypt, scientists will reconsider their concepts and still find explanations for why a structure erected about 5 thousand years ago still stands and sometimes functions better than most modern buildings built with the most advanced technology.

Near Cairo, on the limestone plateau of Giza, between the hot yellow sands of the Libyan desert and the majestic Nile River, towering geometrically regular, tetrahedral, with square bases, colossal structures.

“Petrified geometry near the Nile,” one Egyptian archaeologist called them, and the Greeks called them pyramids. These are the tombs of the Egyptian kings of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty (27th century BC): to the right - the pyramid of Khufun (gr. - Cheops); in the middle - Khafra (gr. - Khafre, which has the remains of the original lining near the top); to the left - the pyramid of Menkaure (gr. - Mikerin).

Even in ancient times, they were called the first of the seven classic wonders of the world - the only ones that have come down to us from time immemorial. Arabic writer who lived in the 13th century AD. e., said: "everything on earth is afraid of time, and time is afraid of the pyramids." The pyramids of Giza are buildings of a religious nature. The ancient Egyptians believed (according to their religion) that the death of a person (especially such an omnipotent as a pharaoh) is only his transition to another other world in the kingdom of immortality. And therefore, it was necessary to place in the tomb everything necessary for his afterlife, which, as they believed, was a continuation of the earthly one.

Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops)

This is the largest pyramid in Giza, which in ancient times was called the "Great". Her project and all the necessary calculations were carried out by Hemiun, the pharaoh's nephew, an outstanding architect and scientist of his time, to whom the highest court title was awarded - "The King's Brother".

The height of the pyramid to the site, at the top - 137.3 m (the original height of the pyramid was 147 m); the length of the side of the square base is 230 m (according to some sources - 233 m); the angle of inclination of the side faces of the pyramid is 51 degrees 52 minutes (the faces form isosceles triangles). The total area of ​​the pyramid is 54 thousand square meters. km (its internal premises occupy 3-4%).

It is built from 2,300,000 cubic blocks of limestone. Each block weighs 2.5 tons, the heaviest - 15 tons (according to some sources - up to 40 tons). The total weight of the pyramid is 6.5-7 million tons. The blocks are held in place by their own gravity.

"Father of history" Herodotus, who visited in the 5th century BC. e. Egypt, according to the words of the priests, wrote down everything known both about the pyramid of Cheops, and about the pyramids of Khifren and Mykerin. Geradot reported that the pyramid of Cheops was built over 20 years by 100,000 people, continuously changing every three months. During the flood of the Nile (June-September), when the fields were under water, peasants worked, free from agricultural work. In the rest of the year - slaves - people taken prisoner after the war.

The pyramid of Cheops has three burial chambers. They correspond to the three stages of the construction of this pyramid, because the pharaoh wanted his tomb to be ready at any moment of the end of his earthly life. The first burial chamber was carved into the rock, below the base of the pyramid, at a depth of 30 m; its area is 8 * 14 m, height - 3.5 m. It is not finished, like the second one, which is located inside the pyramid, exactly under its top, at a height of 20 m above the base. Its area is 5.7 * 5.2 m, the height of the vaulted ceiling is 6.7 m.

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was the tomb of the queen (the wife of the pharaoh). The third burial chamber is completed. This is the tomb of the pharaoh, since his sarcophagus was found here. Now the entrance to the first two chambers is strictly prohibited for visitors. Only the tomb of the pharaoh is allowed to visit. The entrance to the pyramid is located in the center of its North side at a height of 15 m above the base. Visitors enter the pyramid through a low, narrow, sloping corridor, the length of which is 40 m. The angle of the corridor floor is 26 degrees 18 minutes.

At the end of the corridor, along a wooden staircase, visitors go up and enter a small granite "hallway". And then - in the heart of the pyramid - the Great Gallery. This is an original technical building. The length of the gallery is 47 meters, the height is 8.5 meters, the elevation angle is 26 degrees.

The false, magnificent vault of the Great Gallery is made of facing limestone slabs, which are laid in 8 layers one above the other so that the next layer extends 5-6 cm beyond the previous one. The sides of the Great Gallery are lined with stone blocks carefully fitted to each other (according to some sources - marble slabs).

Behind the Grand Gallery is the burial chamber of the Pharaoh. It was built somewhat south of the axis of the pyramid, at a height of 42.3 m above the base and precisely oriented to the parts of the world. The length of the chamber is 10.5 m, the width is 5.2 m, and the height is 5.8 m. It is lined with limestone slabs carefully polished and fitted to each other. The ceiling of the chamber is formed by nine granite ceiling beams, the weight of which is 400 tons.

Above the ceiling of the burial chamber, in order to evenly distribute the weight of the pyramid masonry (which is almost 2/3 of the weight of the entire pyramid), there are five unloading chambers, their total height is about 17 m. The uppermost chamber ends with a gable roof, it consists of huge granite blocks that are placed at an obtuse angle to one another, and rest on two opposite walls of the chamber. They took on the weight of millions of tons of stone mass and excluded direct pressure on the burial chamber.

At the Western wall of the chamber, right on the floor, there is a sarcophagus. It is carved from one huge block of pink granite and looks like it was cast from metal. The sarcophagus is badly damaged: it does not contain either a lid or the pharaoh's mummy; any inscriptions and dates are also missing. Interestingly, between the Grand Gallery and the burial chamber, a trap for robbers was set up - a small airlock room, with a disguised "shelf" of sand and a heavy moving grate. All this was supposed to fall on the robbers who entered.

The interior of the pyramid of Cheops had two small-section ventilation ducts through which dry desert air entered to preserve the pharaoh's mummy. Laid through the thickness of the pyramid, these channels went outside, on the 85th layer of masonry of the Northern and Southern walls. The pyramid of Cheops also has a rather complex branched system of labyrinth corridors. Corridors, both low and high, some end in a dead end, others intersect with each other, and some break off abruptly, ending, as it were, in a bottomless failure.

Apparently, this is how they were arranged so that the robbers get lost before reaching the pharaoh's chamber. Having placed the mummy of the pharaoh in a wooden coffin, and then in a sarcophagus, the entrance to the chamber was walled up, and the nearby corridors were filled up with stones and rubble. However, the burial chamber of the Cheops pyramid was devastated and looted. Egyptologists believe that this happened as early as 2000 BC. e. And it was mutilated by the Arab rulers of Egypt, who used it as a quarry for the extraction of building material.

Ancient Greek historian of the 1st c. d.n. e., Diodorus Siculus argued that the Egyptians, exhausted by back-breaking hard labor during the construction of the pyramid, hated Cheops, who, moreover, brought him to complete poverty during his reign. A riot broke out and the Egyptians threw his mummy out of the tomb. It was revenge and the highest punishment for the hard life that Cheops inflicted on his people.

But there is another version. It seems that the mummy of Pharaoh Cheops was buried above the top of the pyramid (this, by the way, was told to Herodotus by the ancient Egyptian priests). And the found empty sarcophagus is a ploy to ward off the robbers from the treasures placed in the tomb.

Near the pyramid of Cheops (to the East of it) in 1939, during excavations, the Egyptian archaeologist Abu Seif, found the ruins of the Upper (mortuary) temple of the pharaoh. After the war, the excavations of the temple were completed by Lauer. The temple was built of Turkish limestone; its pediment was 52.5 m. In the courtyard of the temple, 38 square granite pillars were found, and in the vestibule in front of the sanctuary, 12 more of the same pillars were found.

The beautiful Lower Temple, towering 30 meters above the ground, stood on the edge of the valley somewhere in the place of the adobe houses of the village of Nazlat-es-Simman. It was destroyed in ancient times by people who needed building material. And 10 meters from the Upper Temple in 1954, during excavations, archaeologists discovered a "dock" carved into a limestone plateau. It contained a well-preserved skillfully and unusually built of Lebanese cedar, the boat of Pharaoh Cheops - the oldest ship in the world. Archaeologists have determined that its age is 5 thousand years.

The length of the boat is 44 m, the height is 8 m; it was composed of 651 small parts using wooden wedges, spikes and ropes (that is, without nails). There were also 12 5-meter oars, also made of Lebanese cedar. The tree swelled in the water and the boat became waterproof and durable. After being removed from the dock and conservation, the boat was placed in a special pavilion built next to the pyramid.

Pyramid of Pharaoh Khafre (Chephren)

In size, this pyramid is smaller than his father, Pharaoh Cheops, and has been preserved in the best condition. Its height from the base to the top is now 136.5 m (original - 143.7); sides of the square base 210.5 * 210.5 m (original - 215.3 * 215.3); the angle of inclination of the side faces is 53 degrees, 12 minutes. This "second pyramid" seems to be taller than the pyramid of Cheops because it stands on the highest point of the Gizekh Plateau and its sharp peak has survived.

It surpasses the pyramid of Cheops with its inaccessibility. Climbing it is prohibited, because if a person slips, he will have nothing to grab onto. The construction of this pyramid is similar to the construction of the pyramid of Cheops. Its internal structure is quite simple. On its northern side there are two entrances: the upper one is at a height of 15 meters, the lower one is located below it, at the level of the base of the pyramid.

Visitors enter the pyramid through the upper entrance and down a steep corridor that levels off under the base of the pyramid to the burial chamber. It is located almost on the base of the pyramid and stretched from East to West by 14.2 meters, from North to South - by 5 meters; its height is 6.8 m.

The inner walls of the burial chamber, as well as the walls of the corridor leading to it, are lined with well-polished granite slabs. The ceiling is made of limestone blocks set in the form of a gable roof. And above the ceiling, as well as in the burial chamber of the pyramid of Cheops, there are unloading chambers.

In 1818, the Italian archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni discovered a burial chamber in the pyramid of Khafre with an empty sarcophagus made of perfectly polished granite. And its lid, broken in half, lay nearby. The ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century AD) claimed that the mummy of Pharaoh Khafre suffered the same fate as Pharaoh Cheops.

This pyramid is interesting in that it is a very compact building: the volume of its limestone blocks is 1,629,200 cubic meters, while the free space in it is only 0.01%.

"The Radiance of Khafre" - this is how the ancient Egyptians called this pyramid. This radiance emanated from the top, lined with mirror-polished granite slabs, which descended from the top by 20-25 meters and formed a solid, powerful, regular-shaped canopy.

There is no particular interest among tourists in this pyramid. But it has always attracted scientists. So, in 1969, professor at the University of California, physicist, Nobel Prize winner Luis W. Alvarez, with the help of the American Atomic Energy Commission, and with the permission of the Egyptian government, installed cosmic radiation particle counters in Khafre's burial chamber.

With the help of cosmic rays, it would be possible to reveal empty spaces, which could accommodate caches with the pharaoh's mummy and treasuries. Alvarez was sure that such caches are located at a height of 60 meters, on the very axis of the pyramid. The devices worked clearly, but no empty rooms were found. Thus, it was confirmed that, according to the customs of the Old Kingdom, there should not have been any rooms above the burial chamber of the pharaoh. And the stories of the ancient Egyptian priests to Herodotus about the alleged burial of the mummy of Pharaoh Cheops under the top of his pyramid are untenable.

East of Khafre's pyramid stood on a special granite terrace, his mortuary temple. Its area was 145 * 45 m. Back in the 18th century AD. e., was in good condition. But then, it turned into a pile of ruins, as the local population, having destroyed the walls of the temple, used the blocks to build their dwellings. According to the ruins of this temple, it was established that for its construction, the architect developed five classical elements, which in the next century became the standard for the construction of mortuary temples. These are the following elements:

• entrance hall-lobby;
• the central courtyard (it housed 12 sculptural statues of the king and was surrounded by stone colonnades);
• five chambers with cult statues;
• warehouses;
• sanctuary.

From it, to the Lower "Granite Temple", a stone road 0.5 km long and 5 m wide led. It was built from local limestone and lined with Aswan granite. Its area is 45 * 45 m, height - 13 m, wall thickness - up to 20 m. On the eastern side of the temple there were two entrances, guarded by four lying sphinxes. Both entrances led to the hall - the vestibule, then, through a small corridor - to the central hall. The ceiling of the temple was supported by 16 granite columns, its walls were lined with well-polished pink granite slabs; the floor is of light alabaster.

In the Central Hall of the temple, which is 21 m long and about 4 m wide, there were 23 throne statues of Pharaoh Khafre made of dark green diorite and inlaid with greenish slate and light alabaster. One of these statues, well preserved, was found among the ruins of the temple in 1860 by the French Egyptologist and archaeologist Mariette Auguste.

Pharaoh Khafre sat on the throne: on his head is an elegant plateau, behind his head is the falcon-like God Horus. Now it is like a precious exhibit, is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Pyramid of Pharaoh Menkaur (Mycerinus)

"The Divine Menkaur" - so in ancient times they called the smallest of the three in Giza, the pyramid of the son of Khafre. It is located away from the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre, and stands on an artificial terrace paved with limestone stones. Its base is 108.4 * 108.4 m; height - 62 m; the angle of inclination of the faces is 51 degrees. The lower part of the Menkaure pyramid is lined with Aswan red granite slabs, and 16 of their rows have survived well to our time, since this part of the pyramid was covered with sand.

Further it was covered with slabs of Turkish white limestone. And the top was also lined with slabs of red granite. It remained so two-color until the 16th century AD. e., until it was plundered by the Mamluks. It was the most beautiful pyramid in Giza. Geradot tells that the araculus predicted to Menkaur a short earthly life. Therefore, the pharaoh drank, had fun day and night, and hurried with the construction of his pyramid. And even after millennia, this haste is felt.

This pyramid was built similarly to the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre. Only Mycerinus ordered the use of larger, much larger, and less carefully crafted blocks than in the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre.

The entrance to the pyramid is on the north side. The corridor leading to the burial chamber and its walls are lined with polished granite slabs. The burial chamber is not large: its area is 6.5 * 2.3 m, height - 3.5 m. The ceiling of the chamber consists of two blocks, which are carved from below in the form of a semi-arch. This creates the impression of a vault.

The burial chamber was found in 1837 by Europeans (first Caviglia, then Visa). In it, according to Perring's descriptions and drawing, a richly ornamented basalt sarcophagus was found, decorated with reliefs depicting the facade of the royal palace. The sarcophagus did not have a lid, and in another room there were pieces of a wooden coffin and the remains of the pharaoh's mummy. The researchers suggest that the burial chamber was ruined and plundered in ancient times.

And the London Museum became interested in the sarcophagus. It was removed from the pyramid, loaded onto a ship sailing to England. But off the coast of Spain, behind Cape Travalgar, during a strong storm, the ship was wrecked and sank with a precious cargo on board)))+). To the north of the pyramid, there is the mortuary temple of Mykerin, which, by architectural design, is similar to the mortuary temple of Cheops.

According to descriptions as early as 1755, it was in good condition. Its area was 45 * 45 m, in one half of which there was a courtyard, in the second - religious and storage rooms. In this temple, Reisner found a large collection of sculptures. Now the Egyptian Museum in Cairo stores slate reliefs of the pharaoh Menkaure. In the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston there is a slate group portrait of Mikerin and his main wife. To the East, 0.5 km from the Mortuary Temple, stood the Lower Temple, which had approximately the same dimensions as the Mortuary Temple.

They were connected by a road of polished limestone blocks. In the warehouses of this temple, beautiful, fine work sculptures were found: "Pharaoh in the company of two Goddesses."

Materials used in the construction of the pyramids

Basalt - a very hard crystalline rock, dark, almost black in color, formed as a result of solidification of magma. It contains up to 50% quartz and other silicas. Basalt blocks were used for laying the pyramids in the base - they were their foundation and support, they constituted, as it were, the "skeleton" of the pyramids. The sarcophagus of Pharaoh Mikerin was made of basalt. Basalt was mined from a quarry near the Fayum oaz.

Granite - a hard rock related to basalt, but it contains much more quartz and other silicas - up to 75%. However, it is very well processed and polished, as a result of which patterns of various beautiful shades are obtained on its surface. The pyramids were faced with polished granite slabs, which, firstly, gave them a peculiar beauty, and secondly, they protected the limestone blocks that formed the shell of the pyramids from destruction. The sarcophagi of the pharaohs Khufu and Khafre were made of granite. Blocks of red (pink) granite were mined in the distant quarries of Aswan.

Limestone - This is the third main material that was used in the construction of the pyramids. Limestone blocks are the "soft tissues" of the pyramids. The chemical composition of limestone is a completely different rock than basalt and granite. It was formed in sea water by pressing fossilized shells of mollusks and flints, organic and calcareous remains of marine plants. And also chemically. The main component of limestone is a mineral - calcite, with small impurities of silica. This is a fairly durable material, widely distributed in the earth's crust, but soluble in water. And yet, the outer shell of the pyramids is lined with its smoothly polished blocks. Blocks of white, fine-grained limestone were brought from the quarries of Tura and Mussar, located on the right bank of the Nile. Larger limestone blocks were also mined from the Giza hills.

Marble - this is the same limestone, in which, under high pressure and high temperature, recrystallization occurs and it turns into a dense, beautiful marble. It is well polished, as a result of which its patterned texture is clearly visible. Marble slabs are a beautiful material for facing both external and internal parts of buildings. In the pyramids of Giza, they were used in small quantities. According to some sources, in the Great Gallery of the Cheops Pyramid. Marble slabs were mined in nearby quarries in Tours and Mukkatan.

Sand - it contains a large amount of quartz and other silicas. They filled the niches in the pyramids. It is believed that it is capable, as a kind of shock-absorbing "pillows", to repay or redistribute mechanical loads inside the pyramids, and also is, as it were, a link between the "soft tissues" and the "skeleton" of the pyramids. When grinding and polishing blocks, it was used as an abrasive material.

Diorite - hard, beautiful stone texture. It was mined in the Tushka region, located several hundred kilometers south of Aswan. It was used to make statues of pharaohs in mortuary temples, as well as to process blocks.

Stone processing tools

• diorite sledgehammers of spherical shape, without a handle;
• diorite hammers with a wooden handle;
• stone hammers, picks, hoes;
• limestone balls (for crushing limestone fragments and obtaining a powder; this powder was part of the mortar used for laying facing slabs);
• flint drills - drill tips;
• flint ax;
• small flint saws (for sawing tree trunks of small thickness);
• flint blades and knives;
• grindstone made of quartzite.

brass instruments

• hatchets and adzes with a one-sided blade;
• pointed chisels;
• chisels with blades of various widths;
• saws without teeth, used together with water and sand as an abrasive;
• copper drills - cylindrical tubes with a diameter of 3-9 mm, several tens of centimeters long (they could even lighten stones of very hard rocks to a depth of 17 cm, obtaining cylindrical holes of small diameter);
• saws, their thickness is 0.5-1.5 mm, width - 4-6.5 cm, length from 25 to 42 cm (teeth, located obliquely, had a triangular shape);
• connecting brackets for fixing large blocks in the most critical places.

Copper for the manufacture of these tools was smelted in the Sinai and in small quantities in the Eastern Desert. It was practically pure, but soft metal without sulfur impurities. But the Egyptians obtained by forging exactly those tools that could not be replaced by either wood or stone. Moreover, they could process not only wood, but also stones, both soft and hard rocks. Blacksmiths also forged copper sheets using this method, which they put into gutters.

Various tools and materials - wood, ropes

Made from wood:

• handles for sledgehammers, adzes, axes, saws, hammers, drills;
• hoes, for leveling the surfaces of construction sites;
• elongated tools - mallets, necessary for masons when laying blocks and woodworkers;
• ropes and ropes - from hemp.

Rafts and boats for delivering stone blocks from the quarries located on the right bank of the Nile to the left bank were made of Lebanese oak or cedar.

Large thick beams, on which large blocks were installed with the help of ropes, were made of Egyptian acacia and sycamore.

Extraction and preparation of blocks

Blocks of basalt, granite and limestone were mined in quarries in the following way. The contours of future blocks were outlined in the rock, deep ditches were cut around them, dry wooden wedges were hammered into them, which were poured with water for a long time. Swelling, wooden wedges increased in volume, cracks expanded and stone blocks broke off from the rock.

Sometimes stone blocks were cut down directly from the rock with chisels. Here, in the quarries, master masons cut stone blocks with sledgehammers made of hard stone (diorite or quartzite). With tools made of copper and wood, they gave them the shape of a cube or parallelepiped so skillfully that they were delivered almost ready-made to the site where the pyramids were built.

In the vicinity of Aswan and now, in ancient quarries, many such ready-made limestone and granite blocks are found, but, as it was established, defective blocks.

Delivery of blocks to the construction site of the pyramids

Stone blocks processed in quarries located on the right bank of the Nile (mostly blocks up to 40 tons in weight) were delivered to the river bank on drag sledges. These sledges, knocked together from Egyptian acacia, Lebanese oak or cedar, consisted of two thick runners connected by crossbars. Stone blocks were dragged with ropes tied to a sled. The optimal time for the delivery of stone blocks to the banks of the Nile was summer, during its flood (June-September). It was at this time that the distance from the quarries to the river bank, by land, was minimal. Then, stone blocks were loaded onto rafts or boats, and transported to the left bank. Here they were loaded onto sleds.

And then, there were two versions of the transportation of these blocks to the foot of the future pyramid. The first one was that the drag sleds were pulled along a specially laid road, paved with stone blocks and slabs, 18 m wide. Its construction lasted 10 years, and according to Herodotus, it was only a little easier to build pyramids, since the height of the rise in some places reached 8 m.

The second, which was suggested by the American engineer John Bush, was that stone blocks were placed in round blocks and even only six people (according to his calculations) could easily roll them along the road, even over long distances. Large limestone blocks, which were mined in the quarries of the Libyan Highlands (left bank of the Nile), weighing up to 100 tons, were delivered to the construction site of the pyramids using stone rollers-cylinders, 10-20 cm in diameter, up to 80 cm long.

Blocks weighing more than 100 tons - with the help of stone rollers-balls, with a diameter of 12-40 cm, which withstood heavy loads, as they were made of very hard dolerite stone. The front side of the brought blocks was polished right at the foot of the future pyramid, using stone (cobblestone, sandstone), sand and water. Grinding gave the stone both a beautiful finish and made it a waterproof structure.

pyramid building technology

Herodotus also described the construction technology of the Cheops pyramid, which is fully confirmed by many years of research. The pyramids of Khafre and Mykerin were built similarly. First, the site for the future pyramid was cleared from stones and alluvial sand to the soil layer, using wooden and stone hoes.

They loosened the compacted layer of soil, rubble and sand were carried out with wicker baskets. In the meantime, the architect was developing a plan for the construction of the pyramid, determining its dimensions and the angles of the walls. This angle was calculated based on the fact that the height of the pyramid should be equal to the radius of an imaginary circle in which its base is inscribed. And also determined the location of the pyramid relative to the cardinal points.

Rectangular basalt blocks were laid on a leveled surface. This was the foundation for laying the first row of limestone blocks. Then, large corner blocks were fixed to form the square corners needed for laying the facing slabs in the future.

For laying and lifting blocks, an inclined mound of rubble was built perpendicular to one of the sides of the pyramid. The elevation angle of the embankment is 15 degrees, its length at the base of the pyramid is about 100 m. Moreover, the angle of inclination of the sides of the pyramid was the same as the angle of the two sides of the embankment. This was necessary to exclude the possibility of collapse or landslide.

With the increase in the height of the pyramid, the height of the mound was increased. Wooden beams were laid on the surface of the embankment - it was a solid road for the runners of wooden drag sledges, on which it was not difficult to pull stone blocks to the very top. So said Deodorus Siculus. And indeed, archaeologists have found the wreckage of such a sleigh. And in order to reduce friction, it is assumed that the wooden beams were constantly moistened with water.

The blocks, which were laid with the help of wooden levers, were so skillfully processed by masons that even a thin knife blade or a pin could not pass between them (the gap was only 0.5 mm). At the same time, the builders did not use any binding solutions.

Until now (2017), 201 rows of masonry have been preserved in the pyramid. During its construction, there were 215 or 220 rows, but when they began to dismantle the lining into stones, back in the fourth century AD, its top decreased by 10 m, a platform was formed (interestingly, during the Second World War, an English air defense post was placed on this site) .

The height of the first - the largest row of masonry, was 1.5 m; the second - 1.25 m; third - 1.2 m; the fourth - 1.1 m. The height of all subsequent rows is from 90 to 65 cm, and at the top of the pyramid the height of the blocks is no more than 55 cm. The sizes of the blocks also decreased as they approached the top of the pyramid.

The Pyramidion crowned the pyramid - a granite stone in the form of a pyramid. At its level, the width of the embankment was 3-4 m, since with each new row of masonry, the embankment narrowed.

After the installation of the pyramidon, their lining with carefully polished slabs began on top of the pyramids. Pyramid of Cheops - white limestone slabs; the pyramids of Khafre and Mykerin - with granite slabs. At the same time, the inclined embankment, as the facing slabs were laid, was dismantled. Facing slabs were laid on the thinnest layer of lime mortar.

There were other suggestions about the lifting and stacking of blocks in the Giza pyramids. French pyramid researchers A. Choisy (1904) and J. Legrain believed that builders used “rocking lifts” to lift and lay blocks. It was a kind of sled drag with semicircular skids.

Other researchers argued that such "mechanisms" in the era of the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians were not yet known. They began to be used in the era of the New Kingdom, with the construction of small pyramids, and not such as the giants at Giza. The German engineer L. Krohn (1925) suggested that when lifting and laying blocks, devices based on the principle of a lever were used. But, using such devices, the Egyptians would not have been able to build the pyramid of Cheops for 20 years - it would have taken much more time.

Egyptologists and archaeologists of different eras believed that in the era of the ancient kingdom, it was the embankments that were used in the construction of pyramids and quarrying. After the completion of the construction of the pyramid, the road from the Lower (Valley) Temple to the Upper (Requiem) Temple of Cheops, along which stone blocks were delivered to the place where the pyramid was erected, turned into a cult one. A vault was erected over it, which protected visitors from the rays of the scorching sun.

The vault was supported by granite columns decorated with bas-reliefs depicting hunting scenes. This road existed until the end of the 19th century and was destroyed during the construction of modern beautiful fellah villas in the village of Nazlat-S-Simman. Now this village, like Giza, is part of Greater Cairo. So far, only 80 m of this road has been preserved.

The purpose of the pyramids

And yet, why were such monumental stone giants built.? Is it only as the tombs of the almighty rulers of Egypt.? For centuries, pyramid researchers from many countries of the world have asked themselves this question, putting forward a wide variety of theories.

Back in the Middle Ages, the legend that the pyramids were the “granary of the pharaoh” was quite widespread. And they were built on his orders in those distant times when the biblical Josiah (son of Jacob) ruled Egypt. Interpreting Pharaoh's dream, Joseph suggested to him that, in view of the lean years in Egypt, it was necessary to build such structures to store grain.

In the fourth century A.D., Julius Honorius and Irufin reproduced this legend in the painting of the dome of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. And in the fifth century AD, Stephen of Byzantium introduces us to it. In 1395, the Champagne baron d'Anglur, who visited these holy places, wrote that according to legend, the pyramids are the "granaries of the pharaoh." But in 1486, Brendenbach of Meinen stated that these were not the granaries built by Joseph at the behest of the Pharaoh, since they had solid masonry. These are undoubtedly the tombs of ancient kings. In the 17th century, there were two assumptions in Europe: the pyramids were either granaries built by Joseph, or mighty bunkers, both for a few structures from sandstorms and reliable shelters from the global flood.

The well-known explorer of the pyramids of the late 17th century, De Careri, argued, having studied the works of ancient writers, that these were, of course, the tombs of the pharaohs, but they were also intended for astronomical observations. The French pyramid explorer Jomar (1809-1829) and Doncan McNaughton (1932) had the same opinion, believing that the Great Pyramid was an astronomical laboratory. From its lower long narrow corridor, at which the angle of inclination was 26 degrees, even in daylight, the North Star and the most important star for the Egyptians, which they wanted to observe - Sirius, were clearly visible.

Paul Dukas (late 17th century) and Cotsworth (1902) believed that the Great Pyramid was a kind of sundial, because it marked the seasons with its shadow: the winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice and autumn equinox. The Englishman Thomas Shaw, who visited Egypt in 1721, like Jomar, suggested that the pyramids (in particular, the Great Pyramid) could be temples where initiations took place, sacraments, various ceremonies and religious rites were performed in honor of Osiris.

Thomas Shaw drew attention to the fact that the granite sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid was much higher and wider than the sarcophagi in other pyramids, it also lacked any hieroglyphic inscriptions. Therefore, as he believed, sacred vestments, various images and tools, as well as living water could be stored in it.

However, Egyptologists have always had a negative attitude towards such theories and came to the unanimous conclusion that the great pyramid (Cheops), like the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, were erected as their tombs.

Pyramid Properties

Studying the pyramids in Giza, scientists found that at the location of these huge structures, firstly, space and time are distorted, groundwater rises, and energy has a healing effect on their visitors. Secondly, a constant temperature and humidity are maintained inside the pyramids, the processes of destruction of substances slow down: oxidized metals are released from the oxide film, water becomes absolutely pure, microbes completely die in it. The processes of adsorption, desorption, dissolution, crystallization slow down.

Apparently, knowing these properties of the pyramids, the ancient Egyptians placed the mummies of their rulers and prominent figures in them. According to sources that have come down to us, ancient American civilizations also knew about these properties of the pyramids. In 1991, Thor Heerdahl, an outstanding scientist and traveler, having carefully examined the pyramids located on the Canary Islands, came to the conclusion that they are very similar to the ancient Egyptian pyramids. And this means that in the era of the Old Kingdom, Egypt had direct ties with the states of Central America.

Pyramids have another interesting property. It is known that the heat capacity of air and the heat capacity of stone are different. Under the rays of the sun, the air heats up quickly, and after it sets, it cools down quickly. Stones, on the other hand, heat up slowly and cool down slowly. It is also known that in the atmosphere every cubic kilometer of air contains hundreds, and in summer even thousands of kilograms of vaporous water.

Based on this knowledge, it is possible to build “heaps” of crushed stone, gravel, that is, “heaps” of stones of various sizes that can “produce” water from the air, moreover, heaps can be round or pyramidal in shape and only 12 m high. Under the rays of the sun, the surface of the outer stones is heated, while inside the "heap" the stones have a lower temperature.

When streams of hot air containing water vapor, passing through a stone pile, come into contact with the surface of cold stones, vapor condensation occurs. It passes from a gaseous to a liquid state, many drops of water are obtained, a water stream is formed. This process of steam condensation does not stop even at night. It is like a "perpetual motion machine" for obtaining clean water from the air.

And the pyramids are a kind of huge "stone heaps", so they are able to condense water from the air. Apparently, the ancient Egyptian architect also knew about this, because archaeologists found grooves at all the pyramids in Giza, the bottom of which was covered with copper sheets.

Water flowed through them and collected in pools of square or round shape. Thus, it was possible to get a lot of water, so necessary for all living things, especially in the waterless deserts of Egit. Now these grooves and pools are covered with sand.

Features of building pyramids

Knowledge of mathematics and geometry was needed by the Egyptians of Ancient Egypt for:

• the construction of canals through which low water containing fertile silt was delivered to nearby fields when the Nile flooded;
• to restore the boundaries of the fields that disappeared during its flood;
• to create a network of irrigation canals;
• for drainage channels;
• for the construction of dams that protected the canals from flooding;
• to build the pyramids.

At the heart of these constructions, the Egyptians used a “peculiar standard of Ancient Egypt” - a right triangle with sides 3-4-5, and the angle between the leg AD and the hypotenuse AC was 53 degrees 08 minutes.

These three numbers corresponded to the three Gods worshiped by the Egyptians: Horus (3), Osiris (4), Isis (5). And the sum of these numbers - 12 - is the most significant number at all times and for all peoples. That is, the Egyptian right triangle was sacred, and everything that was connected with it also became sacred.

The Egyptians also used the right triangle to build complex figures. Two such triangles, folded by hypotenuses, form rectangles with sides 3:4. If 12 such rectangles are arranged in three horizontal rows of four in each, you get a square.

This square has an aspect ratio of 1:1. And these numbers are the first in the "golden row" (1:1:2:3:5:8:13:21 and so on), that is, the square corresponds to the harmonic proportions of the "golden section".

It was the shape of the square that represented the plot of land, restored after the flood of the Nile by land surveyors, for the Egyptian landowner. As you know, the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mykerin are made of stone blocks in the form of cubes or parallelepipeds. A cube has faces that are equal to each other - squares. The cube can also be folded from parallelepipeds, if they are arranged in a certain sequence. So, if 12 parallelepipeds are arranged in 4 horizontal rows of three in each, we get a square.

Thus, in the stone blocks of the pyramids there was an Egyptian right-angled triangle with sacred sides 3,4,5, which means that the pyramids became sacred.

Features of the location of the pyramids

Egyptologists, studying the location of the pyramids, found that the pyramids in Giza, firstly, are precisely oriented to the cardinal points. For example, from the modern astronomical north, the largest deviation of the Cheops pyramid is only less than 0.1 degrees. And this testifies to the knowledge of the ancient Egyptian scientists of astronomy and geometry.

Secondly, the diagonal of the base of the pyramid of Cheops from the Northeast to the Southwest coincides exactly with the continuation of the diagonal of the pyramid of Khafre. And these two pyramids form, as it were, a single complex. And the pyramid of Menkaure seems to stand aside. However, it is not. With a more detailed study of the location of these pyramids, their unity was proved by geometric constructions. It is established that the centers of their bases are located on the arc of a hyperbolic spiral.

The center of this spiral is located somewhere in the Nile Valley, to the South-East of the center of the base of the pyramid of Khafre at 2080 m or to the South-East of the center of the base of the pyramid of Menkaure at 1910 m. in space can be represented precisely by a hyperbolic spiral. In this case, attention should be paid to the angles that are formed by lines connecting the centers of the bases of the pyramids with the center of the spiral.

The angle between the directions to the pyramid of Cheops and Menkaure is 25 degrees (138-113 degrees). The angle connecting the center of the base of the Khafre pyramid with the center of the spiral is approximately equal to half the sum of these angles: (138 + 113) / 2 = 125 degrees. Hence the conclusion follows: the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure are located on the same turn of the spiral and at the same level of the energy zone.

There is another feature in the location of these pyramids. If we build a right-angled triangle ASD, connecting the centers of the pyramids of Cheops and Menkaure, then the angle between the leg of the SD and the hypotenuse of the AC will be 52 degrees, only 1 degree less than the angle of the Egyptian right-angled triangle. But this error is quite acceptable, since the distance between these pyramids is 1050 m.

Thus, the pyramids of Cheops and Menkaure are interconnected by the ratio of the sacred Egyptian right-angled triangle with sides 3-4-5. And all these three pyramids are a single inseparable, harmonic complex. Since 1979, the ancient Egyptian pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mykerin have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Conclusion

Thousands of years have passed ... But even in the 21st century, pyramid scientists from many countries of the world believe that their secrets have not yet been fully disclosed and ask themselves questions:

• why are the pyramids located in this and not in another place?
• why do they have this shape?
• Why do the faces of these pyramids have a different angle of inclination?
• why do pyramid building blocks have a certain aspect ratio and not another?
• what kind of energy do the pyramids have, how and where does it come from?

They are not yet answered (2017), but research is ongoing.

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The first wonder of the world. How and why were the Egyptian pyramids built Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

1. Mysteries of ancient Egyptian stone construction

Consider now the most interesting question. How were the great Egyptian pyramids and other grandiose stone structures of ancient Egypt built? Historians assure us that the pyramids and the temples surrounding them were supposedly made of solid stone blocks, cut with copper saws (?!) in quarries and brought tens and hundreds of kilometers away. It is very difficult to believe this. See fig. 100, fig. 101, fig. 102. In addition, it is completely incomprehensible how the ancient Egyptians raised such huge blocks to a considerable height and stacked on top of each other,. Recall that the height of the Cheops pyramid is about 140 meters.

Rice. 100. Rows of granite pillars in the temple of the Sphinx in Giza - huge solid pieces of stone weighing tens of tons with a perfectly flat surface, without a single crack. Allegedly, they were sawn out in the granite quarries of Aswan with copper saws, polished by hand and transported to Giza at a distance of 500 kilometers. Photograph 2008

Rice. 101. Blocks weighing hundreds (!) tons were used in the masonry of the walls of the Sphinx temple in Giza. How the ancient Egyptians could move such blocks remains a mystery. And, most importantly - for what? There is no need for them. With the same success, the walls of the temple could be built from much smaller stones. The task of moving such giant blocks would be extremely difficult even today. Photograph 2002

Rice. 102. The stone blocks of the pyramid of Cheops weigh several tons, and sometimes tens of tons. Such blocks cannot be lifted and moved manually. But they are stacked perfectly - they stand in even rows, tightly fitted to each other. Photograph 2006

The dimensions of the great Egyptian pyramids and the blocks that compose them are in obvious contradiction with the construction methods that, according to historians, were used by the ancient Egyptians. From time to time, Egyptologists put forward various ridiculous theories designed to explain how, for example, huge stone blocks were delivered from distant quarries in Aswan to the construction site of the pyramids in Giza for hundreds of kilometers. And then - climbed up to the height of the pyramid. It is believed that thousands and thousands of slaves worked in quarries, cutting down (or sawing out) monoliths weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons, and then pulling them on skids to the Nile, loading them onto boats and taking them to the construction site. Then, allegedly, with the help of ingenious lifting machines (imagined by historians without any engineering calculations), multi-ton blocks were lifted to a height of tens and hundreds of meters. See, for example, fig. 103. Or they dragged them up the giant sloping mounds made of sand. One of these funny "theories" is given and even illustrated in the book of the famous Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, p. 199. See fig. 104. However, from a structural point of view, all these "theories" are pure fiction.

Rice. 103. Fantastic modern reconstruction of the “lifting machine”, with which the “ancient” Egyptians allegedly dragged blocks onto the pyramid. Taken from, p. 69

Rice. 104. One of the modern theories invented by Egyptologists in an attempt to explain how the huge blocks of the Egyptian pyramids were raised to a great height and stacked. But it is unlikely that such utopian ideas could be used in real construction. Taken from, p. 199

I must say that individual blocks of the great pyramids and the temples surrounding them weigh not even tens, but HUNDREDS OF TONS. Such blocks can be seen, for example, in the walls of the temple of the Sphinx in Giza standing next to the pyramids, see fig. 101 above. Egyptologist J.F. Lauer naively believes that the ancient Egyptians “SUCCESSFULLY MOVE monolithic blocks of increasing weight. The limit in this respect was apparently reached in the reign of Khafre. Hölscher discovered in the thickness of the walls of the lower temple of his pyramid blocks with a volume of 50 to 60 cubic meters. meters weighing about 150 tons, and in the walls of the upper temple one block is 13.4 meters long, weighing about 180 tons, the other - with a volume of 170 cubic meters. meters, weighing about 500 tons! Quite obviously, - rightly says J.F. Lauer, - that there could be no question of loading such blocks on the shovel", p. 189. One of the giant blocks left from the temple of the Khafre pyramid is clearly visible in fig. 89 above.

The colossi of Memnon, located in Central Egypt on level ground, away from hard rocks, “were originally made from solid pieces of extremely hard quartzite - a stone that, due to its high hardness, is practically impossible to work. The colossi weighed 750 tons each and rested on 556-ton stone foundations. Including the bases, their original height was 63 feet (about 19 meters - Auth.), which corresponds to the height of a seven-story building. The width of the shoulders of the colossi is 20 feet (about 6 meters), the length of the middle finger is 1.35 meters, p. 40. Subsequently, the Colossi of Memnon were smashed above the waist and fell to the ground, p. 136; , With. 70–71. Today they have been put back in place, but are in a dilapidated state. Their upper part is assembled from pieces. The colossi of Memnon in their modern form are shown in fig. 105.

Rice. 105. Colossi of Memnon. Contemporary photography. Taken from, p. 137

European scientists who first explored the Colossi of Memnon during the Napoleonic expedition of 1799 were amazed not only by their size and hardness of the stone. Upon closer examination of the surface of the Colossi, it turned out that the sculptor's chisel - and the Europeans were sure that the Colossi were sculpted with the help of a chisel, because they simply could not imagine any other way to make them - never deviated one iota when meeting with such hard inclusions in stone. like flint or agate. Europeans knew that with ordinary stone carving, this is simply impossible. This circumstance, as well as the too high hardness of the quartzite itself, of which the Colossi consisted, led European scientists to the conclusion that the Colossi of Memnon were sculpted using some mysterious method unknown to European science, p. 41.

J.F. Lauer speculates that "probably" the monstrous stone blocks for the pyramids were moved on rollers. But this assumption is unfounded and, moreover, completely implausible. Wooden rollers under such a weight would simply get stuck in the sand. And on a hard surface, a 500-ton block would quickly grind them into chips. In addition, in Egypt there are no hardwoods at all. The main tree in Egypt is a palm tree, which has a grassy loose trunk and is unsuitable as rollers. But that's not the point. Even in our time, moving a 500-ton stone block would be an extremely difficult technical task that cannot be solved without powerful construction equipment. However, the builders of the pyramids did not have modern technology! They did everything by hand or with the help of old fixtures.

A puzzling question arises. What prevented the "ancient" Egyptians from dividing such huge blocks into parts in order to make their work easier? After all, as Egyptologists assure, in the quarries of Ancient Egypt, stone blocks of various sizes were successfully “sawed out”. Why did the ancient Egyptians bother with multi-ton blocks, instead of working with smaller blocks? And thereby greatly simplify your life? For Egyptologists, all this remains a mystery. No wonder they still write numerous books and studies about the "mysteries" of ancient Egyptian construction. For example, the book of J.F. Lauer is called: "The Mysteries of the Egyptian Pyramids".

It turns out, however, that there is no mystery here for a long time. The only mystery is how stubbornly (worthy of a better application) Egyptologists do not want to notice the discovery made by chemical engineers several decades ago, according to which ancient Egyptian stone construction was carried out with the widespread use of CONCRETE.

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Seeing the controversy about the construction of the pyramids, one involuntarily comes to the conclusion about how little the supporters of the so-called alternative history know about Ancient Egypt. Alas, semi-literate hamsters with iPhones and burning tour packages to Egypt only add fuel to the fire. They photograph things they don't understand and don't even try to understand. All their knowledge is limited to a tourist guide. And so people who do not distinguish the Old Kingdom from the Middle Kingdom and confuse Ramses II with Senusret III begin to draw "significant" conclusions based on their kitchen logic, office knowledge and pictures from a school textbook that historians and scientists are lying. I'll try to dispel some misconceptions.

Egypt during the construction of the pyramids. This is the era of the Old Kingdom (28-23 centuries BC) - one of the few first civilizations of the Bronze Age among the barbarians. Others were the Sumerians in Mesopotamia and the Harappans in Punjab. After a long bloody struggle, many small city-states were united under the rule of one king-pharaoh. To make their power legitimate, the pharaohs assigned themselves a divine status, created a bureaucratic apparatus, an army (the arsenals of bronze weapons belonged to the pharaoh) and put the country under their control. The will of the pharaoh at that time was not limited to anything. Military campaigns made it possible to rob neighbors and increase the flow of copper and tin into Egypt, which were strategic materials at that time. Bronze was also enough for household tools, but they were in the minority - stone and wooden tools were used throughout the entire period of Ancient Egypt. The pharaoh's officials controlled the population literally - everything was recorded in the documents: to whom how much of what was given out and how much was produced. Moreover, the pharaohs appropriated all the arable land for private ownership. The pharaohs distributed the lands as a reward to nobles and temples. The population of Egypt was subject to taxes and duties, including for the construction of public buildings and canals. The peasant did not have any rights - the ancient peasant communities slowly lost their importance, lost their rights and fell under the rule of the pharaoh and nobles. The peasant had to work meekly and praise the gods and the pharaoh, otherwise any official could beat him with a stick.

What technology did the Egyptians of that time possess? They ideally worked with stone (they had a thousand years of experience), made ceramics, and mastered metallurgy. From the Stone Age, the Egyptians received and developed the technology of drilling, including stone, leather, bone, and wood processing. They knew the fermentation process for making bread and beer. The Egyptians used the full range of materials available to them, down to bird feathers and guts. It should be remembered that Egypt, in addition to stone, was in short supply in everything, including wood, so reed was widely used, which was plentiful (they made from mats and baskets to ships, not to mention writing material - papyrus). There was no lack of clay either. The Egyptians knew how to make glazed ceramics - faience. They knew how to make various paints and varnishes. The Egyptians did not know any super-technologies - they simply perfectly mastered the technologies available to them, which hamsters with iPhones are not even able to understand.

Slaves did not build pyramids. One of the most stupid statements of alternatively gifted comrades is that historians allegedly tell them about the construction of the pyramids by thousands of slaves. There is clearly a gap in knowledge here. The alternatives demonstrate their ignorance by attributing false statements to historians. It is very convenient: he himself came up with nonsense - he himself refuted it.

In fact, Egypt slavery at that time was patriarchal, that is, slaves were used in the household. There were not many slaves, mostly women. The pyramids were built by the most ordinary Egyptian peasants. Construction usually took 3-4 months during the flood of the Nile, when the peasants had nothing to do. Construction work was a kind of coven for the peasants, because they received food rations for their work. It is clear that the annual work, willy-nilly, developed their professional qualities. Therefore, by the time of the construction of the Great Pyramids in Egypt, there were enough professional builders. The stone blocks themselves were cut down by professional teams of stonemasons who worked for the state for food, clothing and beer (there was no money at that time). It can be assumed that private orders were also carried out for the tombs of nobles. All the peasants of Egypt knew how to make bricks.

The construction was overseen by officials appointed by the pharaoh. It is difficult to say how much they understood mathematics and geometry, but there were specialists who were able to calculate the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe base and the angle of inclination. True, sometimes they were wrong. So the pyramids of Pharaoh Sneferu (2613-2589 BC) turned out to be defective: Egyptologists called one "broken", and on the second "pink" the architects messed up with measuring the angle of inclination.

Bent Pyramid at Dahshur.

"Pink" pyramid.

Therefore, by the time of the IV dynasty, whose pharaohs built the Great Pyramids, the Egyptians had accumulated experience and knowledge for such grandiose construction projects. Cheops, Mikerin and Khafre only used all the resources of their state and eventually undermined the economy of Egypt and the foundations of the power of their dynasty, when the priests of the god Ra in Heliopolis eventually seized power.

Pyramids built from 10-50 ton blocks. Another lie that alternative comrades feed gullible readers. This is understandable, because the drawings from children's books paint truly terrible pictures, where half-naked people drag huge blocks down the slope.

Something like this is how alternatives stigmatize historians.

In fact, these are nightmares from ignorance. In fact, large blocks are only at the base of the pyramid. The higher the pyramid was, the smaller the blocks became. Here is a photo of the upper tiers of the Cheops pyramid - pay attention to the pigeons for scale. The height of the block is 45-50 cm, that is, the Egyptians had saws to cut blocks of this size.

Horrors about the middle blocks of the Cheops pyramid of 2.5 tons came from an outstanding English Egyptologist of the 19th century. F. Petri, who made the calculations on the pyramid. At the same time, for some reason, he calculated the mass of sandstone as 2.2 tons per cubic meter. m., although in fact - 1.7 tons per cubic meter. m. The weight of limestone is 1.6 tons per cubic meter. m. It is from these rocks that the pyramids were built. The volume of the Petri block was calculated at 1.14 cubic meters. m. As you can see, in fact, the average block did not even reach 2 tons. But many blocks are less than a cubic meter. Even the largest blocks of the lower tiers do not reach 5 tons. This is understandable, the masons would not make blocks that the workers could not budge.

It is not difficult to notice that the ancient builders did not particularly bother with the processing of blocks - they cut it somehow and that's enough. Anyway, no one will see them later, since the pyramid will be lined with slabs.

Millions of blocks in the pyramid of Cheops. The myth came from Wikipedia (I don’t know who squeezed this information in there).

The number of blocks of the average volume does not exceed 1.65 million (2.50 million m³ - 0.6 million m³ of rock base inside the pyramid = 1.9 million m³ / 1.147 m³ = 1.65 million blocks of the specified volume can physically fit in the pyramid, without taking into account the volume of the solution in the interblock seams); reference to a 20-year construction period * 300 working days per year * 10 working hours per day * 60 minutes per hour results in a paving (and delivery to the construction site) speed of about a block of two minutes.

Really impressive. In fact, we do not know exactly how many blocks are in the pyramid. The calculations are made speculatively, based on the total volume of the pyramid (minus the voids and the rocky base). In fact, the pyramid may not be entirely monolithic. So, during the excavations of the Palace of Knossos in Crete, archaeologists discovered that the ancient builders of the palace wall, where stone blocks were used, built them with cavities that were clogged with rubble. It can be assumed that this is Egyptian technology. And given that scientists constantly find mysterious voids clogged with sand in the pyramid of Cheops, it is quite possible that the Egyptians saved time and materials with just such cavities, filling them with sand and rubble. And besides, the error in this calculation is that such a thing as a man-hour is not taken into account. Of course, if the workers, lining up in one row, lay one block at a time, then the calculation is correct. This is how an alternatively gifted mind thinks - they simply cannot imagine the organizational abilities of their ancestors. In fact, the construction was grandiose. Dozens, if not hundreds of brigades worked there. So the pyramid was built from all four sides at once by several dozen brigades at the same time.

Cheops did not have time to complete his pyramid - he died before the interior finishing work began. So he was buried in an unfinished tomb, where the working marks of the ancient builders remained on the walls.

Therefore, millions of blocks in the Cheops pyramid is still a big question that is waiting for its solution.

Geopolymer concrete. Well, the most delicious. Alternative gifted individuals, instead of looking for answers, began to invent them. If, in their opinion, pyramids could not be built from stone, then they were cast from concrete. Why it is easier is not clear. The bike about "geopolymer" concrete was thrown by the French chemist of Jewish origin Joseph Davidovich. It is not difficult to look at his site geopolymer.org to understand - Davidovich did a good business, shoeing suckers with tales of ancient geopolymers. Here and the sale of books, lectures, courses, paid of course. It is also not difficult to find out that the mythical Egyptian geopolymers have nothing to do with real geopolymers. In Russia, this bike was picked up by two neo-hrenologists - Fomenko and Nosovsky, already shoeing our suckers.

Geopolymers are materials based on binders of alkaline activation (metakaolin, for example) or on the basis of finely dispersed amorphous or crystalline aluminosilicate materials mixed with solutions of alkalis or salts that have an alkaline reaction (usually solutions of hydroxides, silicates or aluminates of sodium and potassium). In the minds of the alternatively gifted, this is not the case. They have it just a stone crushed into powder, which was diluted with water, after which anything can be made from the mixture - even a block, even a column, even a statue.
The novohrenologists Fomenko and Nosovsky themselves imagine the process as follows:

To obtain primitive concrete, it was enough to grind the rock into a fine powder, remove moisture from it, and then mix it with water. It is easier to use soft rocks, for example, limestone, the outcrops of which are located right on the pyramid field in Egypt. Here it could be taken simply underfoot, next to the pyramids under construction. To obtain cement, moisture must be removed from the rock. But in the conditions of hot and dry Egypt, where it sometimes rains ONCE IN FIVE YEARS, v.15, p.447, special drying was unnecessary. The rock was already quite dry. After grinding, ready-made cement was immediately obtained. If you pour it into a formwork made of boards, fill it with water and mix thoroughly, then after drying, the particles of crushed rock will firmly bond to each other. When the mortar dries, it will turn to stone. Get primitive concrete.

This quote is the whole alternative theory about "geopolymer concrete". Next, adherents of neo-hrenology usually have dozens of photos of supposedly "liquid stone" and supposedly historical insights of alternative brains. I can say one thing, do not actually make such concrete, otherwise such "concrete" will fall apart right before your eyes. Why? Because a component with binding properties must be present in concrete, but alternatively gifted creatures are not aware of this. By itself, crushed limestone or gypsum does not have astringent properties. To do this, they need to be burned. It was because of the labor-intensive manufacturing process that concrete did not become widespread until the advent of the industrial age. It was easier to cut down a stone block than to grind rock into powder, burn it, mix the mortar. Machines facilitated and accelerated this process, with the result that concrete displaced stone and brick from construction. But the new Khrenological Chukchi are not builders, but astronomers.

But let's move on to an alternative version of "geopolymer concrete". For some reason, alternative comrades are firmly convinced that it is easier to cast a pyramid from concrete than to build from stone. Consider the process of building from stone: they cut down a stone in a quarry, hewn it, delivered it to the construction site, put it in a pyramid.

Now the concrete casting process.

1. They cut down a stone.

2. They crushed the stone into rubble.

3. Crushed rubble into powder.

4. The powder was burned on fire.

5. Fall asleep in bags or baskets.

6. Delivered to the place.

7. We built the formwork.

8. Knead the solution.

9. Waited for the block to dry.

10. Put in a pyramid.

As you can see, this is a longer and more costly way of construction. What are the objections?

1. How and with what was the crushed stone of the herald and sandstone crushed into powder? Some alternative comrades are of the opinion that they say the stone was rubbed on graters by hand. Well, let them try to do it themselves and see how they succeed. And it’s not at all clear how such a trick will work with granite, basalt, diorite or quartzite. They often offer historians to either make a catapult or make a stone block. So I propose - to crush a couple of granite stones into granite chips with your own hands. It will be very interesting to see this process.

2. The number of tools for such work will be simply fantastic - hundreds of hammers, picks, pestles and everything from expensive bronze and copper, which was very scarce at that time. Egypt of the Old Kingdom could not afford such a consumption of metal when the country actually lived in the Stone Age.

3. It is not clear where the Egyptians got so much firewood for burning limestone or gypsum into lime. Egypt is poor in wood and barely enough for the needs of metallurgy and ceramics. And without firing, no concrete will work.

4. Bags for cement, as we are told by supporters of the alternative version, were allegedly in cash. Like, if a block, according to Petri, is 2.5 tons, then having a bag of 50 kg is 50 bags for casting one block. So, alternative comrades, it was Egypt III millennium BC. e. There were no bag factories. All textiles were produced by women - wives and slaves. The sacks themselves were mainly used for storing wheat - c. 60 kg per bag. The question arises: where did they get so many bags for millions of tons of cement?

5. How were these bags of cement delivered to the construction site? The stone was mined on the opposite bank of the Nile. From the Nile to Giza - approx. 10 km.

Drag bags on your own back - I advise alternative comrades to do this experience themselves. Drag on donkeys - expensive for that time. And there were not so many donkeys in Egypt. Drag on a sled? So what's the advantage over a stone block?

6. What were the formworks made of? Wood in Egypt is a rare scarce imported raw material. It was barely enough for ceiling beams, furniture, weapons, so they had to import or simply rob neighboring peoples. And here we need tons of wood for formwork. It took us 1.5 million blocks for the pyramid of Cheops, remember? But apparently, the alternative comrades themselves understand this. A certain Kolmykov even published a new renology article in a serious journal, where he wrote in all seriousness:

"The combination of features allows us to make a categorical conclusion that the blocks of the Cheops pyramid were made by casting into formwork. The formwork could be, for example, animal skins sewn together or sheet metal with an uneven surface or other material fixed in the frame and allowing you to leave such marks on the trace-receiving surfaces".

An unexpected sensation against the backdrop of the peaceful flow of the International Congress of Egyptologists held in Toronto in 1982 was the report of Professor I. Davidovich of the University of Bern. He insisted that the Pyramid of Cheops and similar ones were made of artificial material - simply put, assembled from cast concrete blocks.

According to Davidovich, this is confirmed by the chemical elements contained in the composition of the material, which are not found in natural formations. The Egyptologists were shocked and almost unanimously declared: “This cannot be, because it can never be!”

For permission to conduct research, Davidovich turned to the Egyptian authorities. He wanted to prove directly on the spot the artificial origin of the materials from which the pyramids, the sphinx and other similar structures are made. However, the Egyptian authorities responded with a decisive refusal.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS?

Of course, the Egyptian pyramids are the main attraction for millions of tourists from all over the world. In addition, one of them - the pyramid of Cheops - is the only one of the seven wonders of the world that has come down to us.

This is how guides today explain to tourists the origin of this miracle, referring to the works of eminent Egyptologists: its construction was carried out in the III millennium BC and lasted 20 years. The number of participants in this titanic work was, according to various sources, from 20 to 100 thousand people.

2.5 million stone blocks were laid in the body of the pyramid, most of them weighing from 2.5 to 15 tons, but there were blocks of 80, 150 and even 500 tons each. Moreover, the adjustment of the blocks to each other is so precise that even a thin knife blade will not enter between them. Such accuracy is unattainable even today.

All these statements raise many doubts. Simple calculations show that in order to complete the construction in 20 years, it was necessary to lay one block into the body of the pyramid every 5 minutes, doing this around the clock all year without interruption. Agree, this seems unlikely.

Previously, many thousands of slaves worked on the manufacture of blocks in quarries. However, experts are well aware that the output of commercial stone from quarries is no more than 20%, the rest goes to the dump. Moreover, the larger the blocks, the more waste. This means that somewhere there must be mountains of waste, adequate in volume to four pyramids. Why hasn't anyone come across these mountains yet?

By the way, how were the huge blocks delivered to the construction site from the quarries, and then raised to a multi-meter height? Experts calculated that only the transportation of all the blocks, even using today's technology, would take at least 70 years.

STONE CONCRETE DAVIDOVICH

All these quite reasonable questions and doubts are solved if Davidovich's hypothesis is accepted. As he continued to study samples of the material of the Egyptian pyramids, he found more and more evidence of their artificiality. A hair was found on the surface of one of the samples.

Studies performed in three different laboratories confirmed that "a small flagellum of three organic fibers is precisely a hair." However, natural limestone, formed millions of years ago at the bottom of the ocean, could not contain organic elements. The hair inside the stone could belong to the person who cast it from the solution.

In a comparative x-ray study of natural stones taken in Egypt and fragments of pyramid blocks, their significant difference was noted. Based on this, the French professor Drexel, who conducted the experiment, claims that the blocks that make up the pyramids are actually synthetic, cast during the construction process like concrete slabs.

The researchers found aluminum oxide in the composition of the blocks, exactly the same as that contained in the Nile silt. This discovery, in their opinion, directly indicates that both silt and water from a nearby river were used in the casting of the blocks.

The deciphering of the found hieroglyphic inscription on the obelisk of the 3rd dynasty gave scientists, in fact, a recipe for the preparation of ancient concrete, which included 13 components. The indefatigable Davidovich patented the concrete formula and began its commercial production.

Thus, a new branch of applied chemistry, called geopolymerization, arose. With the help of this technology, it was possible to produce concrete that is practically indistinguishable from natural stone. It does not require high temperatures or high pressures.

Geopolymer concrete quickly shrinks at room temperature and turns into a beautiful artificial stone. The French Institute of Geopolymers continues research on the development of new compositions of geopolymer concretes.

RUSSIAN VERSION

The well-known Russian traveler,
Vitaly Sundakov, creator of the Slavic Kremlin Museum, founder of the School of Survival. He came to the conclusion that the pyramids were made up of blocks cast directly in the construction process.

According to Sundakov, the ancient Egyptians prepared concrete in the following way: they ground limestone to a state of powder (it was not for nothing that millstones were found during excavations), and river silt was taken as a binder.

Then the crushed stone rock was mixed with the equally thoroughly ground soft limestone rock and water. As a result, a solution with natural aggregate was obtained, which was poured into a wooden formwork. Thus, in stages, building up the formwork, huge blocks of the required shape were cast.

AND THE CASKET JUST OPENED!

Recognition of the fact that the ancient Egyptians used geopolymer concrete provides answers to many questions that puzzle Egyptologists.

For example, it becomes clear why the blocks of the pyramids are not covered with cracks. It is well known that any natural limestone, being a sedimentary rock, has a layered structure. Therefore, over time, natural cracks inevitably appear in it along the layers.

And concrete, being a homogeneous, amorphous material, does not form cracks. It also explains the absence of the so-called tan on the surface of the pyramids, which eventually forms on the open surface of any natural stone.

The fact is that due to the crystalline structure of natural stone, various chemical elements come to its surface from the inside, leading to darkening. On concrete, sunburn does not occur, since the crystalline structure in it is destroyed when the rock is crushed into powder.

Another riddle of the pyramids is also convincingly explained - the unusually precise fitting of the blocks to each other. It's just that the builders, folding blocks into a pyramid, specially separated neighboring blocks so that they would not stick to each other. Before casting the next block, they covered the surface of the previous blocks with a thin layer of lime mortar to prevent sticking.

Without this, the pyramid would have turned into a huge concrete monolith without seams, which would inevitably burst over time under the influence of internal stresses and the influence of constant seasonal and daily rather significant temperature changes. The ancient builders reasonably reasoned that it was possible to avoid internal stresses only by folding a pyramid from individual concrete blocks.

So, thanks to the use of geopolymer concrete in the construction, many different objects with a thousand-year history have been preserved to this day. Today, in addition to the pyramids, we can observe temple complexes, statues, sculptures, and sarcophagi built using a similar technology.

When creating them, artificial granite, basalt or diorite were used. In each case, the builders selected the most suitable special artificial stone for their creation.

Anatoly BUROVTSEV, Konstantin RISHES