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welcome
to history for granite
join me to explore ancient egypt
together we'll uncover secrets that only
stones from antiquity can reveal
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that drives me to make more of this
content for you
for thousands of years people have gazed
upward to marvel at the size and
grandeur of the great pyramid pondering
how such an enormous stone structure
could have been made by human hands the
ravages of time and greed have stripped
the pyramid of its valuable white casing
stones
laying bare the outer core backing
stones which give the structure its
rigidity and strength
the weathering of these blocks and their
somewhat irregular horizontal spacing
make it difficult to infer much about
the pyramid's construction at a glance
fortunately the past decades have
brought a renaissance of technology that
allows everyone around the world to get
an up-close look at the pyramids we are
no longer limited to the low resolution
and wide-angle photographs that populate
egyptology textbooks
anyone can search online for beautiful
and detailed images of the pyramids to
satisfy their own curiosity
a key innovation has been aerial drones
which can photograph the structures from
above up close at any conceivable angle
no longer confined to the desert floor
we can gaze down at the pyramids from up
high and appreciate their beauty from
this unique perspective
there was a time not so long ago when
intrepid tourists were allowed to climb
the great pyramid
but this practice is now forbidden so
drone photography is the only way the
general public can inspect its summit
for themselves
a favorite exercise of mine is finding
an exceptional image of a pyramid
complex and to just sit back and search
for patterns or details that might
easily be overlooked
these subtle clues can sometimes be
profoundly revealing and i want to share
that experience with all of you in this
channel's premiere video
here we see a series of photographs
taken directly above the apex of the
great pyramid
this allows us to easily inspect the
design for symmetry
because anomalous blocks will stand out
much better
as the images get closer various details
come into focus and you can appreciate
all of the history written into the
limestone the graffiti of travelers from
thousands of years
the beveled surfaces which give the
stones lateral stability and bore holes
which may anchor modern climbing
equipment or perhaps assisted with
original scaffolding these particular
photos have been digitally modified to
increase contrast which allows us to
make out each individual block at the
peak quite clearly also the metal frame
which marks the pyramid's original apex
has been removed so as not to distract
the eye
there is a single block at the summit
which appears quite dark but i'm fairly
confident this is not because the stone
is a different composition
other pictures suggest it is simply
stained perhaps by fire or some other
man-made cause i've never read any
account of a rogue granite block on top
of the great pyramid but if anyone has
details about this please leave a
comment below let's pull back a bit and
get all of the summit blocks into frame
from here we can inspect the entire top
level and it is from this view that i
want to give you an opportunity to make
the discovery for yourself
there is a secret embedded in these
stones which reveals much about how the
top of the pyramid was constructed and
perhaps even the entire monument
don't cheat yourself out of the chance
to figure it out on your own
pause the video here
make it full frame and give it some
thought
if you're still with me and not yet
convinced you can do it on your own i'll
give you a clue
pay close attention to the direction
every stone is facing
are they simply a jumble of roughly
squared blocks or is there a pattern to
how they are laid out relative to one
another
see anything yet
i'll give one final hint before i reveal
the answer
and that is to notice if there's
anything different between the outermost
stones and the ones in the middle
okay now it's time for the reveal
here at the flattened summit of the
great pyramid you will notice that the
perimeter stones are all perfectly
aligned to the superstructure with their
faces closely matching the cardinal
directions laid out by the monument
but all of the inner stones are not
quite so perfectly aligned they all
share a common clockwise turn by 5 to 10
degrees
it's very easy to see here with the
stones highlighted in different shades
and their joints emphasized by the lines
in yellow
did you see the pattern before the
reveal leave a comment below and tell me
if you got it right or what else might
have drawn your eye
so what does this alignment pattern tell
us about the great pyramid what reason
could there be for having all of the
inner stones turned slightly clockwise
well it suggests that when laying down
the center the perimeter blocks were
obscured by a spiraling ramp and that
these middle stones were instead aligned
to the ramp rather than the faces of the
pyramid notice how each of the perfectly
straight perimeter stones get deeper as
they approach a corner all in the same
clockwise direction
the easiest way to line up roughly
squared blocks is from an edge and the
inner stones are straight relative to
the edge of a spiraling ramp
not the outer pyramid faces
this is very strong evidence that a
spiral ramp structure was used at the
top of the gray pyramid and any theory
about the pyramid's construction should
reflect the masonry design we see here
there have been many pyramid
construction ideas put forth but few of
them align with evidence we can see in
this photo it cannot yet be determined
how many courses of the pyramid were
made in this way but once a building
technique is observed the likelihood of
seeing it elsewhere is dramatically
higher
here is a famous microgravimetry study
of the great pyramid made in 1986 which
suggests that there is a terrorist-like
density that is fairly symmetrical
leading to the summit professor of
mechanics h.d
wrote an in-depth analysis of the
density data in his 2011 book imaging
the cheop's pyramid his conclusion was
that there wasn't enough data to be
certain if the density suggested an
internal ramp such as the one proposed
by jean-pierre hudan or an external ramp
system that many theorists propose with
various iterations
i'm particularly intrigued by the idea
that all the pyramids of the fourth
dynasty were constructed in distinct
stages similar to the consensus about
how the first true pyramid in my doom
was built
the idea is that a core stepped pyramid
is built first and then afterwards a
true angular pyramid is finished over
the top
you can see evidence for this method of
construction in the menkare pyramid
which is the last large pyramid built at
giza
with an enormous excavated trench in the
center of its northern side you can get
a clear look at the inner structure of
the monument
within this great breach there are
finely squared blocks behind the outer
core that are only slightly offset from
a vertical alignment
this precision work behind a rough fill
layer is indicative of multiple stages
of construction
many queen's pyramids at giza have a
visibly stepped structure but it remains
unresolved if two of mankari's minor
pyramids were clad in white tour
limestone to form true pyramids
no evidence of casing stones for them
has ever been found
the usual explanation of unfinished work
is given for this absence of masonry
and this convenient excuse is provided
for just about every anomaly in
mankari's pyramid complex
amusingly some historical authors
writing about the great pyramid also
assumed it was unfinished due to the
missing top 8 meters of stone at the
summit
i doubt many researchers today would
agree with that analysis it's a great
reminder that those who follow in your
footsteps may find clues that for you
were entirely elusive
in closing my key takeaway from
examining the summit blocks of the great
pyramid is that if a construction theory
doesn't account for the change in
alignment between the inner core blocks
and the outer core backing stones
well it probably shouldn't be taken
seriously
there is still much to learn about the
construction of the great pyramid
and this piece of evidence is an
essential clue to unravel the mystery
thanks to everyone who watched this
video to the end
please subscribe to the channel to see
more of this content give a like or
comment as you see fit and above all
remember to ask your friends if they
take their history for granted
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