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The casing stones preserved at the summit of the pyramid of Khafre are a precious window
into the distant past.
Perched up high and out of reach from looters, they remain a beautiful reminder of how the
second largest pyramid of Egypt looked in its former glory.
It was once a true and smooth pyramid, glistening white in the sun, beaming a message of divinity
across the horizon to every citizen of Egypt.
In one sense, the entire body of this pyramid is just a mound of rocks supporting the casing
stones which were designed to reflect light and inspire awe from great distances.
Our present knowledge of this pyramid indicates all chambers within it are below-ground, meaning
the entire upper mass of the structure was just for show.
Because the casing stones were the only blocks meant to be seen, the care and effort put
into their creation is of a much higher standard than the inner fill.
I have always believed these white Tura blocks might be a window into how the pyramid was
constructed, because they were so meticulously designed.
I previously made a video where I collated drone flybys of these casing stones, and used
that imagery as a reference to map the design layout of the top 47 courses of the pyramid.
The response to this video was enormous, and many viewers contacted me with incredible
ideas of how this stone layout could be mapped in 3-dimensions to better understand the design.
I had to pause this work, however – because the data just wasn’t adequate to make discoveries
beyond what I’d already observed.
There were two key observations from my original survey.
One was the highest pyramid courses have gaps between stones that could have held scaffolding
and afterwards been filled with small stones or mortar which has eroded away.
Another was that blocks of a particular shape were used to bond groups of casing stones
together, particularly in joining the largest corner blocks with the more regular sized
stones in the middle.
These bonding blocks were defined by two key attributes: they were smaller than average
for their course, and had a least one side tapering sharply downward.
The pattern of these uniquely-shaped stones on the north side of the pyramid gave a high
probability that this was their purpose, and so the challenge was simply to identify each
one that remains in place.
But I could only see the top 30% of the casing stones clearly enough to map their layout
with confidence, and so the job was just getting started.
Each pyramid face contains about 2000 casing stones still clinging to the pyramid, and
every block represents an opportunity to understand the pyramid a little bit better.
If you’re wondering how I know that exact number, well it’s because the next step
in this work is now ready for you to see.
In this video, we’re going to take the closest look ever at how the pyramid of Khafre was
built.
Not how it might have been built, or could have been built, or should have been built
– but how it was actually done.
After my first attempt at mapping the casing stones, a kind viewer sent me some really
good photos of Khafre’s summit – the clearest ones I had ever seen.
It still wasn’t detailed enough to map the stones – but it got me thinking.
Maybe a comprehensive drone survey of the stones wasn’t necessary to complete the
job.
Perhaps with the right camera equipment on the ground, I could see far enough to do the
work myself.
A primary obstacle was obtaining a reasonable vantage point for taking these pictures, because
the closer to the pyramid you get the worse your angle of observation becomes.
But the more distance you put between yourself and the pyramid, the more magnification is
required to see the thin joints between each block.
I ballparked 200 meters from the base of the pyramid as a reasonable compromise, putting
about 340 meters between me and the summit.
I laid out these coordinates on a satellite view of the Giza plateau, so I’d know ahead
of time exactly where I needed be.
The question of what camera gear to bring was also difficult, because the best equipment
to use was not suitable for this task.
The reason being I could only take camera gear that would fall into the bounds of something
appropriate for tourist activity.
Compounding this problem is that the line between what is allowed and what is forbidden
is not clearly drawn, and thus open to interpretation by whatever security officer carrying an oversized
weapon might think at the time.
Meaning you can be hassled or forbidden from taking pictures that you have every legal
right to take, depending on what circumstances develop.
And if that wasn’t problematic enough, tripods are prohibited at ancient Egyptian sites,
which increases the difficulty of taking photos from long distances.
In spite of these obstacles, I put together a kit that was small enough to fit into a
regular backpack and light enough to shoot hand-held for short periods of time.
For you camera geeks out there, the maximum focal range was 840mm on a full-frame 35mm
sensor.
When the day arrived for me to visit Giza and capture the casing stones, it quickly
became obvious it wasn’t going to be easy.
My kind driver looked at my camera kit and just laughed, suggesting I keep it in the
backpack when I wasn’t actively taking pictures.
This was my plan anyway, but his reaction didn’t instill much confidence.
Lastly, when I inquired about the locations to visit for this survey – it became clear
the western side of Khafre’s pyramid wasn’t going to be an option.
The area west of the road is forbidden, and even the western base of the pyramid was closed
to tourists at this time.
It’s one thing to wander out of bounds alone, and another thing to do so hoisting a super-telephoto
lens that might attract suspicion all by itself.
Determined to stay firmly within the bounds of the law, I figured 3 of 4 sides would be
good enough.
Also, the western face is opposite from the quarry, the most heavily damaged, and the
least likely side to contain patterns that might reveal a construction method.
I began on the north side, a bit shy of 200 meters from the base because the western cemetery
was also off-limits, and stood upon a small bluff next to the road.
As I hoisted my long lens toward the apex of the pyramid – the wind picked up and
it actually began to rain a little.
The pyramid wasn’t going to give up its secretly easily, but I had come prepared and
had even practiced on a skyscraper in my hometown.
I mention these details not only because I hope you’ll find them amusing, but also
to point out why nobody else has done this work before.
It’s not just a matter of buying expensive equipment and pointing it at the pyramid – there
are tight constraints and only careful planning made such a job possible.
Mapping stones from a low angle added the challenge of accounting for that geometry,
but it was delightful to see their layout better than anyone since the pyramid was constructed
4500 years ago.
I could see the builders had best-practices, but occasionally would bend design rules based
on constraints at the time.
This is, in essence, what the tapered bonding stones represent.
The easiest way to fit separated casing stones together was with a smaller block that could
slide down from above.
Starting again at the top, I discovered my images were better than drone videos for spotting
details, and therefore could improve on work I had already completed.
It was time to look at the pyramid as it was actually built, rather than a model of perfection
which Khafre wanted to project far and wide.
The first thing I looked for was the masonry gaps at the top of the south face, hoping
to determine if they were in-fact the remnants of scaffold-anchoring points.
The results were mixed, but the possibility for this construction method still remains.
This little casing stone which originally caught my attention looks more like a broken
end, as it matches the appearance of its neighbor upon closer inspection.
Here was another potential example of a tiny fitted stone, but whether or not it’s a
broken fragment is more of a toss-up.
However, this section looks stranger than ever, and having inspected six thousand casing
stones I can say that no other block has such an appearance.
Is it a crushed end which has deformed with moisture and time, or instead the remnants
of mortar and limestone filling the gap?
And what about this little hole right above it?
Is it a chipped corner with a deformed edge, or a gap that was filled in by the builders?
¬The visual data was not conclusive, but lidar measurements of the pyramid apex would
tell us if these gaps are explainable by the movement of stones.
With enhanced resolution we can see that the top of the pyramid has separated slightly,
as shown by the angle of its slope increasing.
However, the separation distance appears to be smaller than what can account for the gaps
between stones at the highest courses.
These gaps may still be a combination of pyramid separation and original spacing made to hold
scaffolding.
Now, let’s discuss the small tapered blocks, which I call bonding stones, that can give
us a real insight into the construction methods for Khafre’s pyramid.
It’s important to understand why these bonding stones exist, and also how we can distinguish
them from other casing stones.
When assembling the pyramid, there would obviously be many different work crews laying stones
simultaneously to finish the job as efficiently as possible.
Laying one stone next to another is a simple task, you cut the ends to match and then can
shove them together laterally.
But with many crews working on different sections at the same time, eventually those sections
would need to be joined together.
This job of connecting two completed sections is more complicated, because you can’t just
push their sides together as you would before.
Hypothetically a fitted stone could slide in from behind, but this would be extremely
difficult.
The reason is that a stone would need to travel perfectly straight to not get caught on either
side.
Given the weight of these stones and the force required to move them, such precise movement
would be quite challenging.
The solution revealed by the bonding blocks is that a casing stone could be maneuvered
more easily from above, and then slide down into place.
A quick final adjustment of the tapered edge would ensure a perfect fit every time.
This explains the two key characteristics of the bonding blocks.
The tapered edge allows the perfect sliding fit, and the smaller size makes it easier
to maneuver into place.
But it’s important to remember the Egyptian builders had incredible skills, and they could
fit large stones together using an enormous variety of shapes and sizes.
Thus, the bonding blocks are not a rule of construction but rather a byproduct of efficiency.
Having studied the stonework, it is clear that bonding stones didn’t have to be small.
Also, sometimes you find a conspicuously small stone without a tapered edge that might have
been fitted a different way.
But, if you loosen parameters of what could be considered a bonding stone, then you start
getting false positives for other stones that just happened to be shaped similarly.
I wish my methodology was perfect, but just like the builders, I had to accommodate the
blocks that were available.
Thus, the rules for a bonding stone are that it must be much smaller than average for its
course, with one or both sides tapering sharply downward.
Each rule could be relaxed slightly for the other.
Thus, a dramatically small block wouldn’t need quite as tapered of an edge, or a block
with dramatically tapered edges could be slightly less petite.
But neither rule could be broken, and thus a bonding stone always needed a downward tapered
edge and a smaller than average size for its course.
Distinguishing by each course mattered, because courses were built with different heights
and varying average lengths of stone.
With only the most probable bonding stones identified, the building pattern of the pyramid
emerged.
Lost for four and half thousand years, we can now see the exact locations the builders
chose to join finished stonework.
Starting on the north side, you see them run vertically up the pyramid and join together
as the surface area decreases.
The horizontal spacing between streams of bonding stones is consistent, until they sharply
converge upon one another.
It's breathtaking to see the ancient past emerge this way, hidden in plain sight since
the dawn of civilization.
Looking at the east face of the pyramid, a similar pattern of bonding stones is seen.
Notably, the streaks of bonding stones converge down to two at the same elevation near the
top.
Finally, the south face of the pyramid shows the same general layout as the others, and
by comparing these three patterns we can reach some important conclusions about pyramid construction.
The first conclusion is that for Khafre’s pyramid at this high elevation, there was
no primary external access point or ramp that would distinguish one face from another.
If this were the case, the bonding stone locations would not follow the same pattern on all the
sides.
The western face remains less certain, but the layout of the Giza plateau makes it an
unlikely candidate for such a design.
Next, we notice the center of each face does not have any bonding stones, proving the centerlines
were always a starting point for the casing stones rather than a finishing one.
This eliminates the centerlines as a point of external access.
Furthermore, the corners of the pyramid do not always have bonding stones near them,
even though they are frequently found there.
What these patterns show, is that when laying the casing stones near the top of Khafre’s
pyramid there was no external structure or ramp obscuring the faces.
The builders wouldn’t always set casing stones from the center of a face outward if
there was any external obstruction.
The bonding stones would have clustered at the location of an access ramp before it was
elevated, this being the final point of stonework for each course.
But that never happened, and there is no evidence for an external ramp on the casing stones.
The largest casing stones were the corner blocks and they were set early.
Next, stones were laid from the center outwards, with additional starting points in between
the center and the corners as space allowed for.
Each side of Khafre’s pyramid was constructed this way.
This is no longer speculation, this is what the physical evidence clearly reveals.
Many construction models can be confidently laid to rest now – ranging from the pretty
good one of Flinders Petrie down to the more ridiculous design of Mark Lehner.
If there was any large ramp or embankment abutting the face of a pyramid, there would
be no reason to lay the casing stones from the center outwards.
You would start from opposite the ramp, and finish the course at the ramp’s upper end.
The ramp would obscure the outer geometry of the pyramid on that side, and thus there
would be no benefit to always laying the casing stones from the center.
But if each pyramid face is free and unobscured, then a centerline can be established and the
casing stones would be set extending from that position.
I confess I’d hoped the casing stones would reveal an obvious construction solution, but
at the very least they’ve eliminated many possibilities.
There’s still a lot more analysis and data that can be gathered, and I do believe determining
how the largest pyramids were built is a solvable problem.
This video is only a second step towards reaching that goal.
The important message to convey, is that we can solve big mysteries if we take a close
look.
The pyramids are a literal mountain of evidence and the clues are still there, waiting to
be found.
I’m sure many of you watching will have wonderful ideas about what the next steps
are for solving this mystery, and I encourage you to share them in the comments and via
email.
This video was a huge job and there’s a ton of interesting details that don’t fit
into a story, so for the next casing stone study I’m going to need your help.
Yes, you heard that right – we’re going to tackle the Bent Pyramid casing stones as
well.
This pyramid still has about 70% of them in place, best preserved towards the bottom of
the structure.
But as much as I enjoy this work, I may lose my mind if I do it alone in solitude.
So perhaps a collaborative effort in livestreams will help me stay sane and let others notice
details I might overlook.
The Bent Pyramid’s casing stones are a much greater challenge because the courses don’t
always stay flat, sometimes combine or separate layers, and have numerous patches where quick
repairs were made.
There’s a lot more variables to account for, and it would be easy for one person to
miss an important pattern.
Also, because this channel is taking up an increasing amount of time and resources, I’ve
opened up YouTube channel memberships for those who wish to give support in that way.
I’m also eternally grateful to everyone who has shared some kind words towards solving
humanity’s oldest mysteries.
It’s your passion and encouragement that keeps the work moving forward.
Together, we can reconstruct the past like never before.
Thanks to everyone who watched this video to the end.
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