Raising Very Heavy Stones

Extracts from a new book,
"The Pyramid Builder's Handbook"
by
Derek K Hitchins©

Pyramid Slopes Relieving Chambers Orion's Belt Circle Area
Constellations Oldest Stone Buildings Starshaft/Primes
Chambers Architecture Pyramid Ramps
Raising Stone Grand Gallery

Well now, this is the $64M question. It is explained and illustrated in detail in the book of course, but you wouldn't expect me to give that away for nothing, now would you?

Suffice it to say that it is easy to raise stones up the side of the pyramid in exactly the way that Herodotus was told by the priests - i.e. "using contrivances made of short timbers". The problem has been in interpreting those words, and most people think that Herodotus was describing a system of levers. Two problems with levers:

1. They hadn't been invented yet - even the shaduf for raising water out of the Nile had yet to be thought up
2. While levers might conceivably raise smaller stones, what about the 50 - 75 tonne stones of the Relieving Chambers? There is no way that wooden levers could accommodate such concentrated weight

So, no wooden levers - but then, Herodotus never said there were...

Pyramid Slopes Relieving Chambers Orion's Belt Circle Area
Constellations Oldest Stone Buildings Starshaft/Primes
Chambers Architecture Pyramid Ramps
Raising Stone Grand Gallery

Last updated: Sept 2005

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