There are many mysteries in this world that hasn't been solved, and one of the biggest
ones is the construction of the Great Pyramids Of Giza.
Join us as we explore the mystery, what we know about its construction, and the things
that still boggle people's minds.
8.
What Is The Mystery?
For those who don't know, the Great Pyramid of Giza as we call it now was built in about
a 10-20 year span that finished up in 2560 BC.
It was built on the order of the Pharaoh at the time, Khufu, and when it was completed,
it was by and large one of the most grand things that the world has ever seen.
So much so that it was later put into the designation of one of the "Seven Wonders Of
The World", and of those 7, it's the only one that has remained largely intact.
Mainly because of its construction and how it was built to withstand the desert weather
and such.
"So what is the mystery?" you might be asking me.
That would be simple...how did they build it?
No, really, look at the pyramids.
That pyramid is 455 feet tall and 756 feet in length, and as you can see, it's made of
pure stone, very heavy stone in fact via Limestone and Granite.
Plus, given that this was 2560 BC, that would mean that many of the modern tools and tricks
that would be used to do a modern construction would NOT have been available to them.
Which means that they had to work with hands and basic tools and such in order to get things
to where they are right now.
Now sure, if we're looking at this in the objective sense, there are many man-made wonders
that have been done by hand and have been done with great accuracy.
Such as the Great Wall of China.
The difference though is that the Great Wall of China wasn't constructed out of massive
blocks of stone that had to travel across a desert and then be lifted somehow onto each
other hundreds of feet into the air (for the record the tallest parts of the Great Wall
is only 46 feet in the air, 1/10th of the pyramids in question).
So when you think about it...and I mean REALLY think about it...there's no way the Great
Pyramids of Giza should've been able to be built by the ancient Egyptians.
And yet, not only did they do it, they did it multiple times!
There are three of the "Great Pyramids" of Giza, two being built after the main one.
So even though they knew how to do it the second and third time, that still means they
did it, multiple times...and no one can really agree as to HOW it got done outside of a few
things.
7.
Things We Do Know About #1: Manpower Ok, let's talk brass tacks, ok?
If you wanted to make a massive pyramid in Egypt, especially given the terrain (desert)
that you are building on, you'd need to have a LOT of manpower in order to get it done.
Right?
After all, we know based on estimates and historical records that the pyramid in full
took about 10-20 years, which proves that this wasn't a simple task even with their
"construction techniques".
It took time, a lot of it.
Which means that they were slow, methodical, and had a lot of manpower to deal with the
problems of making the pyramids.
There's been a lot of conflicting information to be honest about how much manpower was used
to make the pyramids.
As well as questions of whether only slaves were used in the building of them.
Part of this is due to the Christian and Jewish Bibles, where in the book of Exodus it's noted
that Moses killed a slave driver for punishing the workers of the pyramids too hard.
However, further looks into the background of the construction shows that this may not
be fully true.
Slaves likely were used at some point in the 10-20 years, but remains found around the
pyramids show that there were small "villages" that were there to house and feed the workers.
Even more research has come to light to note that there may have been another kind of worker
at the site, known as a "Corvee of Peasants".
Basically, it's a kind of unpaid labor, but one that only lasts a few days.
So obviously, they could pull from all over Egypt (which they did) and then sent them
home after a few days so that they wouldn't have tired workers and complaining people.
Obviously though, there were some dedicated specialists and everything.
They needed stonemasons, stone cutters, painters, and more to get the materials to where they
needed to be, protected how they needed to be, and shaped so that they could be stacked
against one another perfectly.
While it's impossible to know just how many people worked on it over the years, there's
little doubt the numbers were in thousands, or even tens of thousands depending on how
the cycles of work went.
You almost have to wonder just what it would've been like and felt like to work in those conditions
to try and build the pyramid.
6.
Things We Do Know #2: How Did They Get The Stones There?
So, as I outlined earlier, the Great Pyramid of Giza wasn't just made of stone, it was
made of HEAVY stone.
In fact, over 170,000 tons of Limestone make up the Great Pyramid of Giza.
And here is where one of the biggest mysteries came into play...where did the stone come
from and how did they get it to the pyramid in the middle of a desert?
The first answer was honestly really easy to find.
Because rocks of all shapes and sizes have signatures and traces that can lead back to
their point of origin.
So, for the limestone, it was a mere eight miles away from where the pyramid sits.
Hard to travel to get to back in those days, but not impossible.
However, the granite that is in the pyramid came from a MUCH farther distance.
Say like...533 miles away in Aswan?
Yeah, that's FAR, and for that period of time?
It would be near impossible, and improbable, to go that distance just for a stone to be
used in a pyramid.
So how in the heck did they get it to do that?
Well, they got clever.
A scroll was found that revealed a key bit of the mystery to the pyramids.
Mainly in that they used the Nile River to go and ferry the massive granite from Aswan
to the pyramids.
The same was done for the Limestone, only they used canals that were there from the
Bronze Age.
Speaking of which, the canals were how they got the Granite to the pyramid from the Nile
River.
As the pyramid itself wasn't next to the Nile.
They used canals that would car 2.5 ton stone blocks to the pyramid itself.
There was a port found near the pyramid that confirmed this.
It was only a few yards away from the pyramid itself.
So the rock was dumped off, the ship spun around and would go and do the next one.
Imagine doing that ride for years.
Regardless, that was a MAJOR part of the mystery solved, because it just didn't seem likely
that the Egyptians could get the stones to the site.
When in fact, they had the perfect way to do it with minimal effort: water.
Before we get into the things that we DON'T know about the Great Pyramids of Giza's construction,
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5.
Things We Don't Know #1 - Stacking So, we know how they got the stones to the
site, that's cool.
But how did they get them UP the pyramid to where it had such a slope that it...well...looks
like a pyramid?
Sure, if we're talking about the foundation and the first few levels, it would be easy
enough.
Not perfect, but easy enough with the right amount of force.
But, as you go up?
Yeah, that gets harder and harder, not to mention steeper and steeper.
There have been many, MANY theories as to how the stacking was done.
And we MAY have an answer...albeit not a complete one.
Basically, many people think that the Egyptians built ramps into the pyramids on the outside
so that they could slide the blocks up the ramps and then into position.
A recent find from 2018 backs this up, as ramps of a sort were found by a team of archaeologists,
and they seem to indicate the use of both ramps and postholes to get the stones up:
“The system we have discovered would allow more people to exert force at one time, so
it means you would be able to exert more force and move the blocks more quickly,” said
Dr Roland Enmarch, a senior lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool and the co-director
of the project that made the discovery, the Hatnub Survey.
Whether this is true or not though is up for debate.
The ramp theory is plausible, likely even, but there are still some mysteries around
it.
Including whether it really was that easy to use the ramps to get the blocks up.
Plus, while the team did find the ramps, and their methods do date them back to the time
when the pyramid was under construction...it doesn't prove that they were used.
They even admitted that the slopes of the ramps were much steeper than anyone ever anticipated.
So it could be the answer...but it's just not there yet to be confirmed.
4.
Things We Don't Know #2 - Putting The Pieces Together
Alright, here's another brain teaser for you.
Let's say that the ramps were the way they got the blocks up.
It seems logical so we'll go with it.
Now, once the blocks were up on the level they needed to be...how did they so perfectly
place them next to each other...WITHOUT damaging them?
Yeah, not so simple.
Now yes, I'm sure you're thinking, "Uh...they push and pull them!".
Which I'm sure they did on some level.
But think about it from the large perspective.
To do that without damaging the other blocks is really hard to do.
And while the pyramid does look weathered, it's because of time and weather, not the
construction, that made it that way.
How were they able to get such precision?
I'm sure there is an explanation out there, but it's one that will be met with a lot of
scrutiny.
Oh, and speaking of precision...
3.
Things We Don't Know #3 - Shaping The Pyramid When you're making a pyramid, you need to
have a certain shape, right?
And it's easy to draw a pyramid in one dimension, but when it comes to making a full-on massive
pyramid it takes a lot of work to get the shape JUST...right.
So...how did the Egyptians do it with basically no errors?
The pyramid is perfect on all sides, the slope is exactly the same.
Which is odd, because you'd think there would be some major errors given that this was the
first major pyramid of its size (not the first pyramid though, just to be clear) of its time.
That's why it's the Wonder of the World and not the ones that came before it.
Yet, they seemed to have no issues getting everything into place.
Oh, and let's not forget, there are chambers within the pyramid.
Including some we've only recently found!
There are tombs, and "voids" and many other things that would've had to be worked around
just right so that the stones could protect the inner chambers without ruining the overall
shape and structure of the pyramids.
Now I'm sure we could think of a simple explanation.
Good planning, map renders maybe, or even drawing out the lines in which to place the
stones?
Those could explain it, but whether that's actually true is...uncertain.
2.
Things We WISH To Know #1 - Were Aliens Involved In the Building Of The Pyramids?
Ok...this one is a little tongue in cheek...but come on!
You know you've heard of this.
Basically, because we don't know exactly how the pyramids were made in full, there have
been a TON of theories, and conspiracy theories, stating how it MAY have happened.
With one of the biggest ones being that there was alien involvement.
Now, while it may be easy to disprove this theory based on what we know definitively
about the pyramids (including the fact that if the aliens did help do you think it would've
taken them 10-20 years to do it?), you can't fully disprove it either.
Mainly because depending on "how they looked", the Egyptians may have seen them as their
gods and not aliens.
Also, the potential "advanced technology" that they would have would explain things
like the precision of the construction and whatnot.
There are other theories out there of the more outlandish nature, but the aliens one
is the most fun no doubt.
1.
Will We Ever Truly Solve The Mystery?
That is the question, isn't it?
Because mysteries WANT to be solved.
What's more, this is a mystery that can help further show how advanced Egypt was in terms
of their ability to do great constructions.
If we find out how they did it, and did it so well, we might find out new secrets about
their methods, as well as the other pyramids themselves.
Now, WILL we solve it?
Who can say?
The evidence of it has been withering away for thousands of years, so it's possible we
may never know the full truth.
But, there are a TON of people looking for answers, so maybe one of them will find the
missing pieces to the puzzle.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What do you think about the mystery of the pyramids of Giza?
Do you have ideas on some of the mysteries surrounding it?
How do you think the Egyptians did it?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!