"The Great Pyramid has lent its name as a sort of
by-word for paradoxes; and, as moths to a candle, so are theorisers
attracted to it. The very fact that the subject was so generally
familiar, and yet so little was accurately known about it, made it
the more enticing; there were plenty of descriptions from which to
choose, and yet most of them were so hazy that their support could
be claimed for many varying theories."
The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the
Khufu's Pyramid, Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops) is
the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza
Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt, and is the
only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that
survives substantially intact. It is believed the pyramid
was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian King Khufu (Cheops
in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding
around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made
structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
Originally the
Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a
smooth outer surface, and what is seen today is the
underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that
once covered the structure can still be seen around the
base. There have been varying scientific and alternative
theories regarding the Great Pyramid's construction
techniques. Most accepted construction theories are based on
the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a
quarry and dragging and lifting them into
place.
Source:
Wikipedia
Southern face of the Great Pyramid.
The base originally measured about 230.33m square.
The original height was 146.59m.
If you have Google Earth installed, use this
GP Google Earth Placemark file
(Save and Open) and it will fly you to a location*.
If not, you will
need to install Google Earth first (available at
http://earth.google.com ).
*Image Placemark Location:
longitude: 31.13101332492434 N, latitude:
29.97697709832755 E
Google Earth streams the world over wired and wireless
networks enabling users to virtually go anywhere on the planet and
see places in photographic detail. This is not like any map you have
ever seen. This is a 3D model of the real world, based on real
satellite images combined with maps, guides to restaurants, hotels,
entertainment, businesses and more. You can zoom from space to
street level instantly and then pan or jump from place to place,
city to city, even country to country.
The Great Pyramid (the Pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops in Greek) at
Gizeh, Egypt, demonstrates the remarkable character of its
placement on the face of the Earth.
The Pyramid lies in the center of gravity of the
continents. It also lies in the exact center of all the land area of
the world, dividing the earth's land mass into approximately equal
quarters.
The Plate XX from an original 1877 copy of
Piazzi Smyth's "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid".
Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900) was Astronomer Royal for Scotland
and a respected Scientist.
The north-south axis (31 degrees east of Greenwich) is the
longest land meridian, and the east-west axis (30 degrees north) is
the longest land parallel on the globe. There is obviously only one
place that these longest land-lines of the terrestrial earth can
cross, and it is at the Great Pyramid! This is incredible, one of
the scores of features of this mighty structure which begs for a
better explanation.
A total of over 2,300,000 (or only 590,712)*
blocks of limestone and granite were used
in its construction with the average block weighing 2.5 tons and
none weighing less than 2 tons. The large blocks used in the ceiling
of the King's Chamber weigh as much as 9 tons.
Construction date (Estimated): 2589 B.C..
Construction time (Estimated): 20 years.
Total weight (Estimated): 6.5 million tons.
The estimated total
weight of the structure is 6.5 million tons!
Original entrance of the Great Pyramid. Massive blocks of limestone form a relieving arch over the entrance.
The base of the pyramid covers 13 acres, 568,500 square feet and
the
length of each side was originally 754 feet, but is now 745 feet.
The original height was 481 feet tall, but is now only 449 feet.
The
majority of the outer casing, which was polished limestone, was
removed about 600 years ago to help build cities and mosques which
created a rough, worn, and step-like appearance.
The base measurements of the Great Pyramid are: north -
755.43 ft; south - 756.08 ft; east - 755.88 ft; west - 755.77 ft. These dimensions show
no two sides are identical; however, the distance between the longest and
shortest side is only 7.8 inches. Each side is oriented almost exactly with the four Cardinal points.
The following being the estimated errors: north side 2'28" south of
west; south side 1'57" south of west; east side 5'30" west of north;
and west side 2'30" west of north. The four corners were almost perfect right angles: north-east
90degrees 3' 2"; north-west 89 degrees 59'58"; south-east 89 deg
56'27"; and south-west 90 deg 0'33". When completed, it rose to a height of 481.4 ft., the top 31 feet of
which are now missing. It's four sides incline at an angle of about 51deg.
51 min. with the ground. At its base, it covers an area of about 13.1 acres.
It was built in 201 stepped tiers, which are visible because the casing
stones have been removed. It rises to the height of a modern 40-story building.
THE BEDROCK AND CORE
The pyramid is built partly upon a solid, large,
bedrock core and a platform of limestone blocks which can be seen at the northern and eastern
sides. The builder of this pyramid was very wise to choose this site because
most of the stones, with the exception of the casing stones, some granite
and basalt stones, could be cut right on the spot and in the nearby quarry.
This practical choice made it possible to reduce considerably the time
and back-breaking labor needed to drag the stones from distant quarries
across the Nile.
The first Step of the pyramid rests on a platform of
finely finished limestone blocks. These blocks are approximately 2.5 ft x 10 ft x 10
ft.. They project beyond the outer edges of the first Step's Casing
Stones an average of 2 feet on all sides. This platform is so flat that the
official survey of the Egyptian Government found that it was less than ½ of
an inch from being level. The removal of several platform stones showed that
the bedrock had been cut and leveled to receive each individual stone,
sometimes as deep as 1 to 2 inches. On the north side the platform stones have been laid at an irregular
angle, each socket being carefully cut to receive the next stone. One
explanation for this irregularity of stone placement is that these northern
platform stones will have greater resistance to sliding from the downward and horizontal pressures of the pyramid's face.
The many surveys done on the pyramid proved that the
Egyptians located the sides of the pyramid along the four Cardinal Points with extreme
accuracy. Whether they used the stars, and/or the rising and setting sun,
cannot be determined. One this is certain, that whatever method they used was
direct and very simple.
Once the sand, gravel and loose rocks had been removed,
down to the solid bedrock of the plateau, the whole pyramid site was open-cast
quarried into blocks, leaving a square core for the center of the pyramid (the
core is approximately 412.7 ft square, and rises approx. 46.25 feet high).
These blocks were then stored outside a low wall; made of mortared stone
that surrounds the core (the outside dimensions of the wall are approx.
887.3 feet square). Today there still remains the foundation of this wall
on the north, south and west sides of the pyramid, at an average distance
of 65 feet from the outer edge of the base casing stone.
This core gives the pyramid stability from the downward
and horizontal forces that will develop from the superimposed loads of blocks of
stones that are piled up, as the pyramid rises. Also, from the prevailing north-west winds that exert enormous pressures on the huge areas of
the pyramid's faces, thus increasing these forces further.
Leveling of the entire pyramid site was accomplished by
flooding the area inside the wall with water, leaving just the high spots. These them
were cut down to the level of the surface of the water. Next, some of the
water was released and the high spots again were cut down to the water's
surface. This process was repeated until the entire pyramid site, between the core
and the four walls, was leveled down to the base of the pyramid's platform.
THE CASING STONES
A few of the fine limestone casing blocks remain at the
base of the northern side and show how accurately the stones were dressed and fitted
together. The core masonry, behind the casing stones, consists of large blocks
of local limestone, quarried right on the spot, built around and over
the bedrock core. The size of this core cannot be determined, since it
is completely covered by the pyramid.
The casing stones were of highly polished white
limestone, which must have been a dazzling sight. Unlike marble, which tends to become eroded
with time and weather, limestone becomes harder and more polished.
HOW MANY BLOCKS DID IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO BUILD THE GREAT PYRAMID?
Most books and encyclopedia state that there are 2.3
million blocks of stone in the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), with no mention of method
used to figure this.
Socrates determined the size and weight of the blocks
(a standard block), and ran a Pascal Computer Program (a mathematical model of all the
blocks of stone needed; written by the author to optimize the sizes and
weights of the stones) to come up with the real number of blocks used. Since the
volume of passageways and internal chambers are very small compared to the
high volume of the pyramid, they are ignored at this time, just as though the
pyramid was built of solid stone blocks with mortared joints.
THE SIZE OF THE BLOCKS
The size of the blocks are based on a chance discovery
in 1837 by Howard Vyse. He found two of the original side casing blocks at the base of
the pyramid, 5 ft x 8 ft x 12 ft, with an angle of 51 degrees, 51
minutes cut on one of the 12 ft. sides. Each of these stones weighed (5 x 8 x
12)/2000 = 39.9 tons before the face angle was cut. These originally were used
for the side casing stones of Step No. 1, in the Pascal computer program.
The sizes of all the other blocks were scaled from these two original blocks
of the remaining Steps 2 to 201.
THE GREAT PYRAMID'S DIMENSIONS AND THEIR LAYOUT
One acre = 43,560 sq. ft, or 208.71 feet on a side. For the pyramid's base, length = width = (square root of 13.097144
acres) x 208.71 feet = 755.321 feet. Or 755.321 x 12 = 9063.85 inches.
Height = (755.321 x tangent 51deg 51 min)/2 = 480.783
feet. Or 480.783 x 12 = 5769.403 inches.
For the cap stone base: length = width = (32.18 x
2)/tangent 51deg 51 min = 50.55 inches.
The average size of a pyramid stone = (5 x 8 x 12) The average side measurement, at the base = 759.3 ft. The height used was 201 steps high, or 480 feet. (This is minus the
height of the Capstone, which was one piece in itself.
The number reached by the Pascal computer program was
603,728 blocks used. The solid core takes up the space of 13,016 stones. So, the actual number of stones used to build the Great Pyramid is
603,728 - 13,016 = 590,712. This figure is (2,300,000 - 590,712) = 1,709,288 blocks less than
the often published 2.3 million value.
NUMBER OF VARIOUS BLOCKS OF STONE USED TO BUILD THE GREAT
PYRAMID
Number of platform blocks used (2.5 ft x 10 ft square),
equals (759.3 x 759.3(pyramid base)) - (412.7 x 412.7(core base))/(10 x 10(platform
block base)) = 4,062.
Number of CORNER Casing stones where the pyramid faces
meet equals 201 steps x 4 sides = 804.
Number of side casing stones equals ((244 x 127) +
8,953) = 39,941.
Due to Bedrock Core, in the center of Step 1 through
10, the total number of blocks needed is reduced by 13,016.
THE NUMBER OF ALL BLOCKS BEHIND THE CASING STONES EQUALS
(590,712 - 804 - 39,941) = 549,967.
PLACING THE BLOCKS
The average number of blocks that have to be placed
each day equals (590,712 blocks)/(20years x 364.25 days) = 81 blocks per day.
If 10 crews of 300 men work on each of the four sides
of the pyramid, then the totals of 40 crews and 12,000 men will be needed. Each of the
crews will be responsible to place 81/40 = 2 blocks per day.
The workload passes through three phases of decreasing
difficulty, which are determined by the weights of the heaviest blocks: Steps 1 through 21 (60.59 to 27.24 tons) Steps 22 through 136 (17.66 to 6.44 tons) Steps 127 through 201 (3.05 to 2.63 tons)
As the weight of the blocks decrease, Step to Step, the
sizes of the drag crews will decrease. However, when this happens, the number of
blocks needed to be dragged each day can be reduced because one large block can be
dragged and cut into several smaller blocks that are needed.
As the pyramid rises there is less space for the crews
to work in and fewer block to be placed. In other words, the number of workers that will
be needed depends on three factors of: weight of blocks, number of
blocks to be placed, and the working space available.
If the calculations concerning the royal cubit are correct
the main dimensions of the pyramid should also prove that. The
approximate dimensions of the pyramid are calculated by Petrie
according to the remains of the sockets in the ground for the
casing stones whose remains are still at the top of the
pyramid, and the angle 51° 52' ± 2' of the slopes. The base
of 9069 inches is approximately 440
royal cubits (the difference is 9 inches which is not a
remarkable difference if we consider the whole dimension and
consider that the employed data represent only an estimation
of the real values) whereas the calculated height, 5776
inches, is precisely 280 royal cubits.
The relation 440:280 can be reduced to 11:7, which gives an
approximation of the half value of Pi.
Squaring the Circle
The circle and the square are
united through the circumference:
440x4=1760=2x22/7x280
area of square: 440x440=193600
area of circle:28x28x22/7=246400
sum: 440000
The engagement of Pi value in the main dimensions suggests
also a very accurate angle of 51° 52' ± 2' of the slopes
which expresses the value of Pi. Another coincidence is the
relation between the height of the pyramid's triangle in
relation to a half of the side of the pyramid, since it
appears to be the Golden Section, or the specific ratio ruling
this set of proportions, F =
(sqr(5)+1)/2 = 1.618 = 356:220. This ratio, 356:220 = 89:55 is
also contained in the first of Fibonacci Series:
1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 5589 144
...
A single composition contains two apparently contradicting
irrational numbers P and F,
without disrupting each other. This appears to be completely
opposed to the classical architectural canon which postulates
that in 'good' composition no two different geometrical
systems of proportions may be mixed in order to maintain the
purity of design.
But analysis of other architectural and
artistic forms suggested that the greatest masters skillfully
juggled the proportional canons without losing the coherent
system, for they knew that these systems can be interconnected
if the path that links them is found. That is obvious In the
case of the Great Pyramid where two different principles are
interweaved without interference ruling different angles of
the composition, which is most importantly a most simple one,
namely 11:7, a most simple ratio obviously signifying such
infinite mysteries as the value of P
and most 'natural' value of F. In
spite of common miss-understanding of architectural
composition, the most mysterious and praised compositions are
very simple but not devoid of anthropomorphic appeal, since
everything is made out of human proportions, just like
Vitruvius describing the rations of the human body, very
simple and very clean. The numbers 7 and in 11 are successive
factors in the second of Fibonacci progressions that
approximate geometry of the pentagram:
1 3 4 7
11 18 29 47
76 123 ...
The summary of the selected main mean dimensions is:
dimension
b. inch
m
royal cub.
palm
digit
base
9068.8
230.35
440
3,080
12,320
height
5776
146.71
280
1,960
7,840
sum
720
5,040
20,160
slope
7343.2
186.52
356
2,492
9,968
edge
8630.4
219.21
418
2,926
11,704
The main source of all kinds of delusions and speculations
about our mythical past for the western man comes of course
from Plato. With the myth of Atlantis he planted the necessary
seed of mythical Eden, a culture of high intelligence that
lived before the known history. If Plato received any wisdom
from the ancient Egypt it could perhaps be traced in the canon
of numbers that is so latently present throughout his work,
but never on the surface. This canon seems to appear in the
descriptions of his fantastic cities where everything is most
carefully calculated and proportioned. The topic of Plato's
Laws is the description of the ideal state called Magnesia
which is entirely composed out of the mysterious number 5,040.
The distance* when Earth is closest
to Sun (perihelion) is 147x106 km, which is
translated into royal cubits 280x109, hinting at
the height of the Great pyramid,
280 royal cubits.
Do not miss this web site:
aiwaz.net_institute
- Great Pyramid and Giza plateau
Find out more amazing facts about the GREAT PYRAMID: Position
of King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber, Subterranean Chamber;
SECOND PYRAMID: Dimensions of Pyramid, Great Chamber, Coffer,
Lower Chamber; THIRD PYRAMID: Dimensions of Pyramid,
Chambers,MATHESIS of Giza Plateau.
The Golden Ratio & Squaring the Circle in the Great Pyramid
A straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean
ratio when,
as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the
greater to the less. [Euclid]
The extreme and mean ratio is also known as the golden
ratio.
If the smaller part = 1, and larger part = G, the golden ratio requires that
G is equal approximately 1.6180
Does the Great Pyramid contain the Golden Ratio?
Assuming that the height of the GP = 146.515 m, and base =
230.363 m, and using simple math
we find that half of the base is
115.182 m and the "slant height" is 186.369 m
Dividing the "slant height" (186.369m) by "half base" (115.182m) gives = 1.6180,
which is practically equal to the golden ration!
The earth/moon relationship is the only one in our solar system
that contains this unique golden section ratio that "squares
the circle". Along with this is the phenomenon that the moon
and the sun appear to be the same size, most clearly noticed during
an eclipse. This too is true only from earth's vantage point…No
other planet/moon relationship in our solar system can make this
claim.
Although the problem of squaring the circle was proven
mathematically impossible in the 19th century (as pi, being
irrational, cannot be exactly measured), the Earth, the moon, and
the Great Pyramid, are all coming about as close as you can get to
the solution!
If the base of the Great Pyramid is equated with the diameter of the
earth, then the radius of the moon can be generated by subtracting
the radius of the earth from the height of the pyramid (see the
picture below).
Also the square (in orange), with the side equal to the radius of
the Earth, and the circle (in blue),
with radius equal to the radius
of the Earth plus the radius of the moon, are very nearly equal in
perimeters:
Orange Square Perimeter = 2+2+2+2=8
Blue Circle Circumference = 2*pi*1.273=8
Note:
Earth, Radius, Mean = 6,370,973.27862 m *
Moon, Radius, Mean = 1,738,000 m.*
Moon Radius divided by Earth Radius = 0.2728 *
In the diagram above, the big triangle is the same proportion and
angle of the Great Pyramid, with its base angles at 51 degrees 51
minutes. If you bisect this triangle and assign a value of 1 to each
base, then the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) equals
phi (1.618..) and the perpendicular side equals the square root of
phi. And that’s not all. A circle is drawn with it’s centre and
diameter the same as the base of the large triangle. This represents
the circumference of the earth. A square is then drawn to touch the
outside of the earth circle. A second circle is then drawn around
the first one, with its circumference equal to the perimeter of the
square. (The squaring of the circle.) This new circle will actually
pass exactly through the apex of the pyramid. And now the “wow”:
A circle drawn with its centre at the apex of the pyramid and its
radius just long enough to touch the earth circle, will have the
circumference of the moon! Neat, huh! And the small triangle formed
by the moon and the earth square will be a perfect 345 triangle
(which doesn’t seem to mean much.)
Was the golden ratio intentionally built into the Great Pyramid
of Cheops?
Why would anyone intentionally build the golden ratio into a
pyramid, or other structure? What was the significance of to the
Egyptians? And did the ancient Egyptians intentionally design the
Great Pyramid to square the circle?
The answer to these questions is uncertain since designing the
Great Pyramid according to the simple rules explained by the graphic
below would give the pyramid automatically (by coincidence? ) all
its "magic" qualities.
The height of the Great Pyramid times 2π
exactly equals the perimeter of the pyramid. This proportions result from
elegant design of the pyramid with the height equal two diameters of
a circle and the base equal to the circumference of the
circle. Click here or on the image
below to see larger picture.
For the angle of the Great Pyramid, any theory of
the base, combined with any theory of the height, yields a theoretic
angle; but the angles actually proposed are the following** :
Angle of casing measured
By theory of 34 slope to 21 base
Height : circumference :: radius to circle
9 height on 10 base diagonally
7 height to 22 circumference
area of face = area of height squared
(or sine) = cotangent, and many other relations)
2 height vertical to 3 height diagonal
5 height on 4 base
A silent message from 5000 years ago. From a letter to a
scientist:
"The conclusion should be made upon a probability, that it may
be just coincidental, that these 14 lines are forming a very
accurate model of the inner planetary system, showing also a precise
time position, that coincidentally matches (relative to the end of
Mayan Calendar) the beginning of the final 1260 days time period,
mentioned both in the Old and New Testament (surely one of the most
remarkable and disputed episodes in the Book), a time period, which
allows (and was supposedly measured for) to show in a relatively
short period of time, when, and what the End is all about - the
mystery of death and the origin of life.
After the probability is calculated, and if the figure shows
that all what was presented is most likely just coincidental, then
there would be no need to draw any conclusions. Yet if the
probability figure shows, that it is most likely not a coincidence
(if the figure is close to zero), then 12 21 '12 should be taken
very seriously, and it becomes also more clear why these structures
were built, and why so massive.
As you probably know, at the end of 12th century, the son of
Saladin, Aziz, led a muslim army "against the pyramids". The idea
was to demolish the Giza complex completely, in order to show the
superiority of Islam. They started with demolishing the smallest,
the third pyramid. After about eight month of hard labour they
realized how much time and money it would take to demolish all three
pyramids. The minor damage made to the third pyramid is still
visible.
The birth of all civilizations ca 5000 years ago (now also
called Great Divide), has been marked by many temple-structures,
simultaneously emerging in different continents. These structures
have proved to be carrying a certain information about the
beginning, the development and also the end of the current era,
while at the same time they have been clearly enhancing the growth
of reasoning throughout the era (despite all obstacles, stupidity
and controversy involved), through study and arts. There
is a simple rule: to define the end of a circle, the beginning must
be defined first. The current era began with the pyramids."
Yet there are also another two key words to the mystery of 2012:
Gravity and Immune System, both affecting everything that contains
mass - be it a body, planet, star or a spacecraft. The more detailed
insights to the mystery are presented in 7 parts under The Concept
section at
http://www.1214productions.com
Comparing the Great Pyramid with the Pyramid of the Sun in
Teotihuacan
The Pyramid of the Sun and the Great Pyramid of Egypt are
almost or very nearly equal to one another in base perimeter. The Pyramid of
the Sun is "almost" half the height of the Great Pyramid.
There is a slight difference. The Great Pyramid is 1.03 - times
larger than the base of the Pyramid of the Sun. Conversely, the base
of the Pyramid of the Sun is 97% of the Great Pyramid's base.
The ratio of the base perimeter to the height:
Great Pyramid
Pyramid of the Sun
6.2800001... : 1
(deviates by 0.05 % from the
6.2831853 value for 2 x pi)
12.560171... : 1
(deviates by 0.05 % from the
12.566371 value for 4 x pi)
Comparing the Great Pyramid with the Pyramid of the Sun in
Teotihuacan
The Pyramid of the Sun and the Great Pyramid of Egypt are
almost or very nearly equal to one another in base perimeter. The Pyramid of
the Sun is "almost" half the height of the Great Pyramid.
There is a slight difference. The Great Pyramid is 1.03 - times
larger than the base of the Pyramid of the Sun. Conversely, the base
of the Pyramid of the Sun is 97% of the Great Pyramid's base.
The Great Pyramid - Metrological Standard
The Great Pyramid is generally regarded as a tomb and as
grandiose memorial to the pharaoh who commissioned it. The
opposing view is that of the pyramid being the culminating
achievement of those who practised an advanced science in
prehistory.
The Great Pyramid is a repository of universal
standards, it is a model of the earth against which any standard
could be confirmed and corrected if necessary.
It is exactly the imperishable standard, which the French had sought
to create by the devising of the metre, but infinitely more
practical and intelligent.
From classical times, the Great pyramid has always
been acknowledged as having mathematical, metrological and geodetic
functions. But ancient Greek and Roman writers were further removed
in time from the designers of the Great Pyramid than they are from
us. They had merely inherited fragments of a much older cosmology;
the science in which it was founded having long since disappeared.
In his book The Egyptian Pyramids: A Comprehensive,
Illustrated Reference, J.P. Lepre wrote:
One very unusual feature of the Great Pyramid is a concavity of
the core that makes the monument an eight-sided figure, rather
than four-sided like every other Egyptian pyramid. That is to say,
that its four sides are hollowed in or indented along their
central lines, from base to peak. This concavity divides each of
the apparent four sides in half, creating a very special and
unusual eight-sided pyramid; and it is executed to such an
extraordinary degree of precision as to enter the realm of the
uncanny. For, viewed from any ground position or distance, this
concavity is quite invisible to the naked eye. The hollowing-in
can be noticed only from the air, and only at certain times of the
day. This explains why virtually every available photograph of the
Great Pyramid does not show the hollowing-in phenomenon, and why
the concavity was never discovered until the age of aviation. It
was discovered quite by accident in 1940, when a British Air Force
pilot, P. Groves, was flying over the pyramid. He happened to
notice the concavity and captured it in the now-famous photograph.
[p. 65]
This strange feature was not first observed in 1940. It was
illustrated in La Description de l'Egypte in the late 1700's
(Volume V, pl. 8). Flinders Petrie noticed a hollowing in the core
masonry in the center of each face and wrote that he
"continually observed that the courses of the core had dips of
as much as ½° to 1°" (The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh,
1883, p. 421). Though it is apparently more easily observed from the
air, the concavity is measurable and is visible from the ground
under favorable lighting conditions.
Ikonos satellite image of the Great Pyramid.
Click to view larger image.
I.E.S. Edwards wrote, "In the Great Pyramid the
packing-blocks were laid in such a way that they sloped slightly
inwards towards the centre of each course, with a result that a
noticeable depression runs down the middle of each face -- a
peculiarity shared, as far as is known, by no other pyramid" (The
Pyramids of Egypt, 1975, p. 207). Maragioglio and Rinaldi
described a similar concavity on the pyramid of Menkaure, the third
pyramid at Giza. Miroslav Verner wrote that the faces of the Red
Pyramid at Dahshur are also "slightly concave."
Diagram of the concavity (not to scale).
What was the purpose for concave Great Pyramid sides? Maragioglio
and Rinaldi felt this feature would help bond the casing to the
core. Verner agreed: "As in the case of the earlier Red
Pyramid, the slightly concave walls were intended to increase the
stability of the pyramid's mantle [i.e. casing stones]" (The
Pyramids, 2001, p. 195). Martin Isler outlined the various
theories in his article "Concerning the Concave Faces on the
Great Pyramid" (Journal of the American Research Center in
Egypt, 20:1983, pp. 27-32):
To give a curved form to the nucleus in order to prevent the
faces from sliding.
The casing block in the center would be larger and would
serve more suitably as a guide for other blocks in the same
course.
To better bond the nucleus to the casing.
For aesthetic reasons, as concave faces would make the
structure more pleasing to the eye.
When the casing stones were later removed, they were tumbled
down the faces, and thereby wore down the center of the
pyramids more than the edges.
Natural erosion of wind-swept sand had a greater effect on
the center.
Isler dismisses the first four reasons based on the idea that
"what is proposed for the first pyramid should hold true for
the others." He also dismisses the last two because they would
not "dip the courses," but rather have simply "worn
away the surface of the stone." Adding another category to the
list above, "a result of imperfect building method," he
proceeds to theorize that the concavity was an artifact of a
compounding error in building technique (specifically, a sag in the
mason's line). One is tempted to reject this theory based on Isler's
own reasoning: "what is proposed for the first pyramid should
hold true for the others."
The concavity has prompted more improbable theories, usually in
support of some larger agenda. David Davidson (cited by Peter
Tompkins in Secrets of the Great Pyramid, pp. 108-114)
defended the discredited Piazzi Smyth by attempting to demonstrate
that if measurements included the hollowing, they would provide
three base measurements that describe the three lengths of the year:
solar, sidereal, and "anomalistic." (These lines, on the
diagram below, would be AB, AEFB, and AMB.) What Davidson is
assuming is that the concavity, present today in the core structure
of the pyramid, would extend to the finished cased surface. There is
no evidence for this; indeed the extant casing is perfectly flat.
Maragioglio and Rinaldi observed that the granite casing of
Menkaure's pyramid was flat, but above the granite the
packing-blocks formed a concavity in the center of each face. The
evidence indicates that the concavity is a functional feature of the
core structure that was hidden from sight when the casing stones
were applied.
Three proposed "baselines" of the Great Pyramid (not to
scale).
John Williams, author of Williams' Hydraulic Theory to Cheops'
Pyramid wrote that "the only advantage that I can see - and
it is a great one - for having a concave face on a structure is to
contain extremely high internal pressures - the type of pressures
that would result from using a hydraulic method of my description.
Think of this in terms of an egg shell, arch or gabling." This
explanation is also voiced by other purveyors of the
"pump-theory" such as Edward J. Kunkel (author of The
Pharaoh's Pump, 1962) and Richard Noone (author of 5/5/2000:
Ice: The Ultimate Disaster, 1982). Unfortunately, they fail to
understand how an arch or load-bearing gable works. A supporting
arch is designed to convert the downward force, or weight, of a
structure to an outward force, which in turn is transferred to a
buttress, a pier, or an abutment. An arch simply redirects the
force; it does not make it vanish. If the sides of the Great Pyramid
were designed as arches, then those arches would serve to direct the
load into thin air. It doesn't make sense. The eggshell analogy is
yet less applicable because the pyramid is not egg-shaped. Like the
arch, the egg is strong because it transfers load pressure, in this
case into vertical as well as horizontal forces that are distributed
more evenly along the structure of the egg due to its shape.
Kunkel likened each pyramid face to a dam. He claimed that each
side bends inward against the pressure of the water inside the
pyramid just as a dam (Hoover Dam for example) bends towards the
force of the water it holds back. An arch dam employs the same
structural principles as the arch (described above). The dam curves
towards the hydrostatic pressure from the water behind it, which in
turn is distributed horizontally to abutments on the side walls
against which the dam is built. Again, the pyramid lacks such
abutments.
In Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture, Clarke
and Englebach wrote:
Most pyramids have individual peculiarities which are as yet
difficult to explain. For instance, in the Great Pyramid, as
possibly in certain others, a large depression in the
packing-blocks runs down the middle of each face, implying a line
of extra-thick facing there. Though there is no special difficulty
in arranging the blocks of a course in such a manner that they
increase in size at the middle, there is no satisfactory
explanation of the feature any more than there is of the
'girdle-blocks' [in the Great Pyramid's ascending passage] already
discussed. [p. 128]
The purpose for the concavity of the Great Pyramids remains a
mystery and no satisfactory explanation for this feature has been
offered. The indentation is so slight that any practical function is
difficult to imagine.
While shafts in the King's Chamber had been described as early as
1610, the shafts in the Queen's Chamber were not discovered until
1872. In that year, Waynman Dixon and his friend Dr. Grant found a
crack in the south wall of the Queen's Chamber. After pushing a long
wire into the crack, indicating that a void was behind it, Dixon
hired a carpenter named Bill Grundy to cut through the wall. A
rectangular channel, 8.6 inches wide and 8 inches high, was found
leading 7 feet into the pyramid before turning upward at about a 32º
angle. With the two similar shafts of the King's Chamber in mind,
Dixon measured a like position on the north wall, and Grundy
chiseled away and, as expected, found the opening of a similar
channel. The men lit fires inside the shafts in an attempt to find
where they led. The smoke stagnated in the northern shaft but
disappeared into the southern shaft. No smoke was seen to exit the
pyramid on the outside. Three artifacts were discovered inside the
shafts: a small bronze grapnel hook, a bit of cedar-like wood, and a
"grey-granite, or green-stone" ball weighing 8.325 grains
thought to be an Egyptian "mina" weight ball.
Shafts and passages of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
The Shafts of the Queen's Chamber Described
The openings of both shafts are located at the same level in the
chamber, at the joint at the top of the second course of granite
wall-stone; the ceilings of the shafts are level with the joint.
The northern shaft runs horizontally for just over six feet
(76"), then turns upward at a mean angle of 37º 28'. The shaft
terminates about 20 feet short of the outside of the pyramid. The
total length of the northern shaft is about 240 feet and rises at an
angle of 38º for the majority of its length.
The southern shaft also runs horizontally for just over six feet
(80"), then turns upward at a mean angle of 38º 28'. The total
length of the southern shaft is about 250 feet and, as its northern
counterpart, ascends at an angle of 38º for the majority of its
length and comes to an end about 20 feet short of the outside of the
pyramid.
The Shafts of the King's Chamber Described
The openings of both shafts are located at roughly the same level
in the chamber, at the joint at the top of the first course of
granite wall-stone. The northern opening is slightly lower, its
ceiling being level with the joint, while the floor of the southern
opening is roughly level with the joint.
The northern shaft is rectangular, about 7 inches wide by 5
inches high, a shape it maintains throughout its length. The shaft
begins on the horizontal for about 6 feet then takes a series of
four bends. While maintaining its general upward angle, it shifts
first to the north-northwest then back to north, then to
north-northeast, and finally back to true north. It has been
speculated by some that this unexplained semicircular diversion
might have been necessary to avoid some heretofore undiscovered
feature of the pyramid. The total length of the northern shaft is
about 235 feet and rises at an angle of 31º (with a variation of
between 30º 43' and 32º 4') for the majority of its length.
Though the first eight feet of the northern shaft is intact, the
next thirty or so feet have been excavated by treasure seekers,
presumably following the direction of the shaft in search of
treasure. The breach to the shaft was made in the west wall of the
short passage leading from the antechamber to the King's Chamber. A
modern iron grate today guards the mouth of this breach.
The southern shaft is different in appearance. Its mouth is
larger, about 18" wide by 24" high. The dimensions are
reduced to about 12" by 18" within a few feet, and then
narrows yet more to about 8" by 12". The shape is not
rectangular, as is the northern shaft, but has a dome shape where it
enters the chamber, with a narrow floor, the angle of the walls
being slightly obtuse, and a dome-shaped ceiling. The shaft is
horizontal and true south for about 6 feet. At the first bend, its
shape changes to an oval, and continues thusly for about 8 feet. Its
orientation also changes slightly from true south to
south-southwest. At the second bend its shape changes yet again to a
rectangle, with a height greater than its width. It retains this
shape for the 160 feet to the outside of the pyramid where it
emerges at the 101st course of stone. It also changes directions
once again at the second bend to a more severe south-southwest
diversion. The total length of the southern shaft is about 175 feet
and ascends at an angle of 45º (with a variation of between 44º
26' and 45º 30') for the majority of its length.
The Function of the Shafts
When Sandys described the Great Pyramid in 1610, he wrote of the
shafts:
In the walls, on each side of the upper room, there are two holes,
one opposite to another, their ends not discernable, nor big
enough to be crept into -- sooty within, and made, as they say, by
a flame of fire which darted through it.
Greaves also wrote of the King's Chamber shafts in 1638. Considering
the presence of the lampblack inside, he concluded that the shafts
had been intended as receptacles for an "eternal lamp." In
1692, M. Maillet wrote that the shafts served as means of
communication for those who were buried alive with the dead king.
Not only did the shafts provide air, he reasoned, but they also
provides a passage for food which was placed in boxes and pulled
through by rope.
By the 20th century, the shafts were presumed to have been
designed to provide ventilation. That view has slowly been changing,
however. I.E.S. Edwards wrote, "The object of these shafts is
not known with certainty; they may have been designed for the
ventilation of the chamber or for some religious purpose which is
still open to conjecture." (The Pyramids of Egypt, 1961,
p. 126.) Ahmed Fakhry wrote, "They are usually referred to as
'air channels,' but most Egyptologists believe that they had a
religious significance related to the soul of the king." (The
Pyramids, 1969, p. 118.) More recently, Mark Lehner wrote:
A symbolic function should also be attributed to the so-called
"air-shafts," which had nothing to do with conducting
air. No other pyramid contains chambers and passages so high in
the body of masonry as Khufu's and so the builders provided the
King's Chamber with small model passages to allow the king's
spirit to ascend to the stars. (The Complete Pyramids,
1997, p. 114)
There are many reasons why it is not likely that the shafts were
meant for ventilation. The complex angles of the shafts necessitated
the piercing of many courses of stone, a daunting logistical
challenge during design and construction. Horizontal shafts would
have been much easier to build: shafts carved through a single
course of stone. One might well wonder why ventilation would
be needed at all! No other known pyramid builder made such
provisions; even workers in rock-cut tombs managed on the air
provided solely by the entrance passage. When the bulk of work on
the King's Chamber was being done, ambient air was plentiful as the
ceiling had not yet been put in place. The chamber was finished as
the superstructure rose.
There are also, however, reasons why it is not likely that the
shafts were meant to serve as "launching ramps" for the
king's ka. When, in 1964, Alexander Badawy and Virginia
Trimble determined that the shafts are "aimed" at certain
"imperishable" circumpolar stars and at the constellation
of Orion, the function of the shafts as cultic features seemed
certain. But the ka did not require a physical means of
egress from a tomb -- false doors served this purpose quite nicely
both before and after Khufu's reign. The passage that ascends to the
entrance of the pyramid is also directed at the circumpolar stars in
the manner of previous pyramids. The northern shafts for such a use
would have been a needless and bothersome redundancy, although
admittedly the Egyptians were not adverse to redundancies.
That fact that no other pyramid in Egypt is known to posses
similar shafts as those of the Great Pyramid is problematic. If the
shafts were so important for either ventilation or as passages for
the king's ka, then why were they omitted in other funerary
structures? It is obvious that the builders of Khufu's pyramid went
to a jolly lot of trouble to incorporate the shafts into the design
of the pyramid, but the true reason why still remains a mystery.
Find more about the SHAFTS
from the The UPUAUT Project web site (by Rudolf
Gantenbrink).
With a few minor exceptions, the four so-called "air
shafts" of the Cheops Pyramid were constructed in accordance
with one unvarying system. The shaft roof and both walls were cut
from one block to form something like a stone canal. The floor was
provided by a second block, effectively sealing the shaft from
below. Thus, the joins connecting the upper blocks normally ran
perpendicular to the floor of the shaft.
One can go through all the chambers, passageways, etc. as well
as make it transparent and move around the internal mass of the
pyramid so as to view the internal chambers from the outside, and
from any angle. Pretty well done, and a great visualization tool.
More geometric Analysis of the Great Pyramid of
Khufu:
aiwaz.net_institute
- Great Pyramid and Giza plateau
GREAT PYRAMID: Position of King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber,
Subterranean Chamber; SECOND PYRAMID: Dimensions of Pyramid,
Great Chamber, Coffer, Lower Chamber; THIRD PYRAMID: Dimensions
of Pyramid, Chambers,MATHESIS of Giza Plateau
A download link to the e-book "The Pyramids and Temples of
Gizeh," by Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie 1883. This PDF file
was produced by Graham Oaten of Melbourne, Australia.
Related links:
The question remaining to the many who have arrived by one
route or another at the conclusion that he was not buried in his
pyramid.
No tomb has yet been found at Giza which could have been his. At
one time the idea was circulated (it is in Edgar's Great Pyramid)
that the tomb near to the Sphinx, called 'Campbell's Tomb', had been
that of Khufu; but this tomb is now known to be of a very much later
date. Taking the procedure adopted with Hetep-heres, one can assume
that Khufu would probably have chosen a position within the boundary
of his royal cemetery, which limits are clearly defined, but this
area has been almost entirely excavated down to the rock. The
possibilities lie in the 'almost '. There is, for instance, a pre-Khufu
quarry alongside and beneath his causeway, which has been filled in
with large blocks of limestone and gypsum. This was done presumably
to give a level floor for Khufu's causeway, which crosses it, and
the filled quarry lies within a few yards of the tomb of Hetep-heres.
The clearing of this would be a difficult, laborious, and expensive
task; but it cannot be said that there is nothing there but a filled
quarry until the quarry has been emptied.
The area of the pyramid-temple has also remained unexcavated so
far, though there appears to be little left beyond the basalt floor,
across a part of which thousands of tourists trek yearly to the
Sphinx, and perhaps the lowest courses or other traces of some of
the walls There seem to be no other possibilities so far as we know
at present. That there was a problem connected with Khufu's place of
burial was known in later Egyptian times, when the fact that the
Great Pyramid was his work must have still been well known; and the
question was then put into writing as to who knew the places of
burial of Im-hetep, Seneferu and Khufu, as though it were an
oft-repeated query.
Edgar Cayce - Great Pyramid and Sphinx
Reading from 1932
READING 5748-6.
This Reading given by Edgar Cayce July 1st 1932.
1. EC: Much has been written respecting that represented in the
Great Pyramid, and the record that may be read by those who would
seek to know more concerning the relationships that have existed,
that may exist, that do exist, between those of the Creative Forces
that are manifest in the material world. As indicated, there were
periods when a much closer relationship existed, or rather should it
be said, there was a much better understanding OF the relationship
that EXISTS between the creature and the Creator.
2. In those conditions that are signified in the way through the
pyramid, as of periods through which the world has passed and is
passing, as related to the religious or the spiritual experiences of
man - the period of the present is represented by the low passage or
depression showing a downward tendency, as indicated by the
variations in the character of stone used. This might be termed in
the present as the Cruciatarian Age, or that in which preparations
are being made for the beginning of a new sub-race, or a change,
which - as indicated from the astronomical or numerical conditions -
dates from the latter portion or middle portion of the present fall
[1932]. In October there will be a period in which the benevolent
influences of Jupiter and Uranus will be stronger, which - from an
astrological viewpoint - will bring a greater interest in occult or
mystic influences.
3. At the correct time accurate imaginary lines can be drawn from
the opening of the great Pyramid to the second star in the Great
Dipper, called Polaris or the North Star. This indicates it is the
system toward which the soul takes it flight after having completed
its sojourn through this solar system. In October there will be seen
the first variation in the position of the polar star in relation to
the lines from the Great Pyramid. The dipper is gradually changing,
and when this change becomes noticeable - as might be calculated
from the Pyramid - there will be the beginning of the change in the
races. There will come a greater influx of souls from the Atlantean,
Lemurian, La, Ur or Da civilizations. These conditions are indicated
in this turn in the journey through the pyramid. 4. How was this
begun? Who was given that this should be a record of man's
experiences in this root race? for that is the period covered by the
prophecies in the pyramid. This was given to Ra and Hermes in that
period during the reign of Araaraart when there were many who sought
to bring to man a better understanding of the close relationship
between the Creative Forces and that created, between man and man,
and man and his Maker.
5. Only those who have been called may truly understand. Who then
has been called? Whosoever will make himself a channel may be raised
to that of a blessing that is all that entity-body is able to
comprehend. Who, having his whole measure full, would desire more
does so to his own undoing.
6. (Q) What are the correct interpretations of the indications in
the Great Pyramid regarding the time when the present depression
will end?
(A) The changes as indicated and outlined are for the latter part of
the present year [1932]. As far as depression is concerned, this is
not - as in the minds of many - because fear has arisen, but rather
that, when fear has arisen in the hearts of the created, SIN lieth
at the door. Then, the change will occur - or that seeking will make
the definite change - in the latter portion of the present year. Not
that times financially will be better, but the minds of the people
will be fitted to the conditions better.
7. (Q) What was the date of the actual beginning and ending of
the construction of the Great Pyramid?
(A) Was one hundred years in construction. Begun and completed in
the period of Araaraart's time, with Hermes and Ra.
8. (Q) What was the date B.C. of that period?
(A) 10,490 to 10,390 before the Prince entered into Egypt.
9. (Q) What definite details are indicated as to what will happen
after we enter the period of the King's Chamber?
(A) When the bridegroom is at hand, all do rejoice. When we enter
that understanding of being in the King's presence, with that of the
mental seeking, the joy, the buoyancy, the new understanding, the
new life, through the period.
10. (Q) What is the significance of the empty sarcophagus?
(A) That there will be no more death. Don't misunderstand or
misinterpret! but the INTERPRETATION of death will be made plain.
11. (Q) If the Armageddon is foretold in the Great Pyramid,
please give a description of it and the date of its beginning and
ending.
(A) Not in what is left there. It will be as a thousand years, with
the fighting in the air, and - as has been - between those returning
to and those leaving the earth.
12. (Q) What will be the type and extent of the upheaval in '36?
(A) The wars, the upheavals in the interior of the earth, and the
shifting of same by the differentiation in the axis as respecting
the positions from the Polaris center.
13. (Q) Is there not a verse of scripture in Isaiah mentioning
the rock on which the great pyramid is builded?
(A) Not as we find; rather the rock on which John VIEWED the New
Jerusalem - that is, as of the entering in the King's Chamber in the
Pyramid.
14. (Q) What is the date, as recorded by the Pyramid, of entering
in the King's Chamber?
(A) '38 to '58.
15. (Q) If the Passion of Jesus is recorded in the Great Pyramid,
please give the date according to our present system of recording
time?
(A) This has already been presented in a fair and equitable manner
through those students of same, and these descriptions have been
presented as to their authenticity.
16. (Q) How was this particular Great Pyramid of Gizeh built?
(A) By the use of those forces in nature as make for iron to swim.
Stone floats in the air in the same manner. This will be discovered
in '58.
17. (Q) What is the significance of the character of the figure
of the Sphinx, mentioned above?
(A) In this particular period of Araaraart and of the priest (that
began those understandings - and passed through those of the hell in
the misinterpretation of same), there was even then the seeking
through those channels that are today called archaeological
research.
In those periods when the first change had come in the position
of the land, there had been an egress of peoples - or THINGS, as
would be called today - from the Atlantean land, when the Nile (of
Nole, then) emptied into what is now the Atlantic Ocean, on the
Congo end of the country. What is now as the Sahara was a fertile
land, a city that was builded in the edge of the land, a city of
those that worshipped the sun - for the use of its rays were used
for supplying from the elements that which is required in the
present to be grown through a season; or the abilities to use both
those of introgression and retrogression - and mostly retrograded,
as we are in the present.
The beginnings of these mounds were as an interpretation of that
which was crustating in the land. (See, most of the people had tails
then!) In those beginnings these were left. When there was the
entrance of Arart and Araaraart, they begin to build upon those
mounds which were discovered through research. With the storehouse,
or record house (where the records are still to be uncovered), there
is a chamber or passage from the right forepaw to this entrance of
the record chamber, or record tomb. This may not be entered without
an understanding, for those that were left as guards may NOT be
passed until after a period of their regeneration in the Mount, or
the fifth root race begins. In the building of the pyramid, and that
which is now called the Mystery of Mysteries [the Sphinx], this was
intended to be a MEMORIAL - as would be termed today - to that
counsellor who ruled or governed, or who acted in the capacity of
the director in the MATERIAL things in the land.
With the return of the priest (as it had been stopped), this was
later - by Isis, the queen, or the daughter of Ra - turned so as to
present to those peoples in that land the relationships of man and
the animal or carnal world with those changes that fade or fall away
in their various effect. These may be seen in a different manner
presented in many of the various sphinxes, as called, in other
portions of the land - as the lion with the man, the various forms
of wing, or characterizations in their various developments. These
were as presentations of those projections that had been handed down
in their various developments of that which becomes man - as in the
present.
When ancient architects completed construction on
the Great Pyramid at Giza, they left behind the greatest riddle of the
engineering world how did builders lift limestone blocks weighing an average
of two and a half tons, 480 feet up onto the top of the pyramid? For
centuries, adventurers and Egyptologists have crawled through every passageway
and chamber of the Great Pyramid, measuring and collecting data in an attempt
to determine how it was built. For the first time, a revolutionary theory
argues that the answer may be inside the pyramid. Architect Jean-Pierre Houdin
has devoted his life to solving this mystery by creating incredibly accurate
blueprints of the Great Pyramid, using cutting-edge 3-D software. Unlocking
the Great Pyramid follows Houdin and renowned Egyptologist Bob Brier in Giza
as they put Houdins theory to the test.
Based on the author's work in Egypt in the 1880s,
this unusual volume addresses one of history's greatest puzzles -how were the
pyramids of Gizeh built? Before Petrie undertook this study, the Great Pyramid
was a byword for paradox - something that was generally familiar, yet not
accurately known. No measurements or detailed examination had been performed.
Petrie set out to apply mathematical methods to the study of the pyramids and
surrounding temples, with the objective of understanding the methods and
abilities of the ancient workers. The result, presented in this volume, is
a complete set of measurements of the pyramids, both inside and outside.
These provide the foundation for the rest of the book, which deals with the
architectural ideas of the pyramid builders, the mechanical methods they used,
and a comparison of previous theories with the facts that Petrie had newly
established.
International explorer,
archaeologist and authorJonathan Gray has traveled the world
to gather data on ancient mysteries. He has penetrated some
largely unexplored areas, including parts of the Amazon
headwaters. The author has also led expeditions to the bottom
of the sea and to remote mountain and desert regions of the
world. He lectures internationally.
"Dead Men's Secrets" by Jonathan Gray is 373 pages
of discovering ancient technology and lost secrets.
Do not miss his new books that followed "Dead Men's Secrets":
Book 1 –
"The Killing Of... PARADISE PLANET" lays out stunning evidence of a
once-global paradise,
with a temperature-controlled climate, idyllic
landscape and long-lived human giants… but a super culture
ready to wipe
itself out. The world BEFORE the Great Flood of 2345 BC
Book 2 –
"SURPRISE WITNESS" shows what happened DURING that great Deluge
- the cosmic calamity that ripped the Earth to shreds and wiped out the
original Mother Civilization. Not only were the antedeluvian people
buried, but their technological achievements were destroyed, including all
form of machinery and construction. The skeptic may shout himself hoarse. But this event surely happened.
We have evidence that is more substantial than for any other event of
history.
Book 3 –
"The Corpse CAME BACK!"
Now comes the fast moving, fascinating
story of the settling down
of Planet Earth AFTER the Flood, and its effect
upon human history.
The Great Pyramid (the Pyramid of
Khufu, or Cheops in Greek) at
Gizeh (Giza) in Egypt:
Statistics, Construction, Amazing Facts, Shafts, Age, Orion mystery and more...
