1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,640 This video is not a theory about how the pyramids were constructed. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:12,120 It is about how I would have built them had I been the chief engineer using only the 3 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:13,120 materials available. 4 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:19,719 That is wood, rope, and stone, and maybe a little copper and iron. 5 00:00:19,719 --> 00:00:24,600 My interest in this subject was picked by a video I watched a few months ago by David 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:31,560 Childress about Peruvian megalithic structures like Sacsayhuaman where stones... 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:36,760 to 125 tons were fitted one to the other with great precision. 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:41,600 He said something I thought was rather pithy, that they used such large stones because it 9 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,600 was easy for them to do so, and if it were really hard they would have used smaller 10 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:47,600 stones. 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:53,400 So any construction techniques I might have employed would have been those using the... 12 00:00:53,399 --> 00:00:54,960 amount of energy. 13 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,000 For the pyramids, this rules out ramps. 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,039 Let's see why. 15 00:01:00,039 --> 00:01:05,519 The absolute minimum amount of energy needed to construct a pyramid is more than the... 16 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:11,000 of the potential energy put into the stone blocks by lifting them up through a... 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:12,680 gradient. 18 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:18,879 If we drag a block up a ramp, we invest potential energy into the block by raising... 19 00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:23,759 the potential energy of the men who went up with the block, undoubtedly at least doubling 20 00:01:23,759 --> 00:01:29,560 up the energy of the block, plus the potential energy of the ramp material that... 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:35,919 raised up, now perhaps tripling the energy total, plus the potential energy of the men 22 00:01:35,919 --> 00:01:40,679 who went up to drag the ramp material up the growing incline plane. 23 00:01:40,679 --> 00:01:44,679 That's probably quadrupling the minimum energy required. 24 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:49,560 Then we have to dismantle the ramp, and men have to once again climb up and climb down 25 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,720 towing rubble on sledge. 26 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,160 That would surely quintuple the minimum energy required. 27 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,680 And then there's the friction from dragging things up the ramp. 28 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,320 So let's sextuple the minimum energy requirement. 29 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:09,040 And I think I'm being extremely conservative here. 30 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:14,480 Clearly if we don't build the freaking ramp, we save as much as 75% of that miserable... 31 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,119 And if the fewest possible number of men go up on top of the pyramid site to work, 32 00:02:20,119 --> 00:02:26,439 we save another large percentage, leaving us much, much closer to the ideal total. 33 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:29,919 Man handling blocks up ramps is therefore unacceptable. 34 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:36,839 What a relief this is to the poor fellows who would have to haul 2.5 million, 2.5 tons 35 00:02:36,839 --> 00:02:41,839 stones up a 7 degree incline in 110 degree heat. 36 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,920 Let's face it, they'd drop like flies from heatstroke. 37 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:48,840 The death toll would be staggering. 38 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:54,000 There are schemes using levers they use close to the hypothetical minimum energy. 39 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,920 People climb up a distance and use their body weight to cancel the weight of the stone, 40 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:05,000 and up it goes to the next level, while they come down and have to recline to reset the... 41 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,480 The net total weight raised is then just the weight of the stone. 42 00:03:10,119 --> 00:03:14,560 The energy expended is equal to the potential energy invested in the raised blocks, plus 43 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,639 miscellaneous wasted energy. 44 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:20,719 However, if they come down each day, then climb back up. 45 00:03:20,719 --> 00:03:25,879 We start multiplying the miserable total once again. 46 00:03:25,879 --> 00:03:31,919 One drawback of all lever systems is the multiple handoffs to the lever at the next... 47 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,599 And you have men at every level of the pyramid standing out in the hot sun all da... 48 00:03:36,719 --> 00:03:41,400 If they want to take a break, or if they need to take a dump or piss, they have to 49 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:46,799 carry a pot to pee in, as well as their food and water for drinking, and carry it all down 50 00:03:46,799 --> 00:03:48,400 at the end of the day. 51 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,560 God help you if you break an arm or leg up there. 52 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,479 There would be hundreds of men on the flanks of the pyramid all day long in the 110 degree 53 00:03:56,479 --> 00:03:57,479 heat. 54 00:03:57,479 --> 00:03:59,840 You're going to have fatalities. 55 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,479 Remember it's a 52 degree incline. 56 00:04:02,479 --> 00:04:06,400 Easy to fall a few stories or more. 57 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,400 Since this is my pyramid, I won't have my guys dying like that. 58 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:11,400 They'd kill me. 59 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:18,480 I want them all as comfortable as possible, while still getting the job done on time. 60 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:24,319 The only idea that showed any promise of accomplishing my ends of least energy and... 61 00:04:24,319 --> 00:04:28,399 that proposed by Franz Loner of Germany. 62 00:04:28,399 --> 00:04:34,319 His system drags blocks up the finished side of the pyramid on wooden tracks. 63 00:04:34,319 --> 00:04:39,519 This is an extensive site, and I encourage anyone interested in pyramid construction 64 00:04:39,519 --> 00:04:43,199 ideas to spend some time here. 65 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,480 I also found Robert Hartranft's site. 66 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:51,399 He proposed using a long rope and pulling from the opposite side of the pyramid at... 67 00:04:51,399 --> 00:04:56,719 level to get a block on the other side to go up and over to be released at its appointed 68 00:04:56,719 --> 00:04:57,719 destination. 69 00:04:57,719 --> 00:05:01,719 His site isn't as developed as Loner's is. 70 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:07,260 On the other hand, his workers don't have to spend time on the hot flank of the pyramid. 71 00:05:07,260 --> 00:05:13,360 And I found this picture in a religious video, but I don't know who to attribute i... 72 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:18,680 Any number of people have thought of pulling blocks on wooden sludges along the flats 73 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:20,960 on a slick wooden train track thingy. 74 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:26,460 There are demos on the internet of such tracks in action, and they appear to be si... 75 00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:30,960 times easier to use than just hauling along on dry sand. 76 00:05:30,959 --> 00:05:33,639 Pulling wooden tracks is a no-brainer here. 77 00:05:33,639 --> 00:05:40,719 However, I had to make fairly extensive modifications to Loner's rope roll techniq... 78 00:05:40,719 --> 00:05:43,879 get it to work easy on my men. 79 00:05:43,879 --> 00:05:48,439 I took everybody off the side of the pyramid and put them either on top of the pyramid 80 00:05:48,439 --> 00:05:53,740 worksite setting blocks or at the bottom pulling the blocks up the side. 81 00:05:53,740 --> 00:05:59,039 Only track construction, inspection, maintenance, and repair personnel would ha... 82 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:04,400 flank of the pyramid and then only in small numbers. 83 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,400 And they would never have to climb up a ramp, at least not when it gets higher than about 84 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,400 10 feet. 85 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:16,400 I send my guys up on elevators using the same technique used for the blocks, except now 86 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,000 they are racing blockheads. 87 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,960 That's what my work gang is called, the blockheads. 88 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:28,400 That's because you'd have to be a blockhead to work on any stupid pyramid vanity project. 89 00:06:28,399 --> 00:06:34,199 And that is all it is, a vanity project. 90 00:06:34,199 --> 00:06:38,560 Some historians assert that because the ancient Egyptians did not use the wheel, t... 91 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,359 know how to make one. 92 00:06:40,359 --> 00:06:43,859 This is like saying they didn't know where babies come from. 93 00:06:43,859 --> 00:06:46,560 Of course, they knew what a wheel was. 94 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,159 Here's absolute proof that Egyptians at the time of Giza knew what a wheel was. 95 00:06:52,159 --> 00:06:58,000 These are screenshots from an excellent National Geographic documentary about... 96 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,680 Houdin's theory that an internal ramp was used. 97 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,480 I don't agree with Houdin, but it was a great documentary. 98 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,879 They're excavating where the workers lived, worked on the pyramids at Giza. 99 00:07:12,879 --> 00:07:14,600 Can you see the proof? 100 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,560 Yep, it's that pot. 101 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:23,000 This was made on a potter's wheel, which was in use in Mesopotamia, at least five... 102 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,240 before the pyramids were built. 103 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:26,500 See the wheel? 104 00:07:26,500 --> 00:07:28,100 See the axle? 105 00:07:28,100 --> 00:07:31,540 The bearing was a little rock under the big wheel. 106 00:07:31,540 --> 00:07:37,699 It works as a flywheel, and you spin it with your foot while you work the clay with your 107 00:07:37,699 --> 00:07:38,860 hands. 108 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:45,100 The official explanation for this pottery is that the Egyptian potters used their kids 109 00:07:45,100 --> 00:07:50,420 who spun around with the clay on their heads while their fathers worked it into a pot. 110 00:07:50,420 --> 00:07:53,459 Thus, they were the first potheads. 111 00:07:53,459 --> 00:07:59,180 I can't buy this official story, so instead I'm proposing that they just use a standard 112 00:07:59,180 --> 00:08:01,219 potterly wheel. 113 00:08:01,219 --> 00:08:06,899 That's a wheel, as in wheel of fortune. 114 00:08:06,899 --> 00:08:11,500 Wheels were certainly in use elsewhere before the pyramids were built, but the Egyptians 115 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:17,219 didn't need them because their country is only two miles wide and the 600-mile length 116 00:08:17,219 --> 00:08:19,219 has a liquid highway. 117 00:08:19,220 --> 00:08:24,100 There was no economic incentive to develop a regular highway system. 118 00:08:24,100 --> 00:08:27,580 The Egyptians didn't need roads because they had boats. 119 00:08:27,580 --> 00:08:33,220 Their oxen or donkeys dragged their produce to the riverbank on a sledge or travoy and 120 00:08:33,220 --> 00:08:35,340 they loaded it on a barge. 121 00:08:35,340 --> 00:08:40,740 I'm sure they had taxi boats as well to take them to Aunt Marge's place on the other side 122 00:08:40,740 --> 00:08:42,899 of the river. 123 00:08:42,899 --> 00:08:47,620 And they didn't have any wood, unless it was imported, no trees. 124 00:08:47,620 --> 00:08:51,819 A wheeled peasant's cart would have been a needless expense. 125 00:08:51,819 --> 00:08:55,220 And wooden wheels break on rough surfaces. 126 00:08:55,220 --> 00:08:58,379 And springs are nice and shock absorbers. 127 00:08:58,379 --> 00:09:01,439 And the axle has to be constantly greased. 128 00:09:01,439 --> 00:09:05,059 And you can't haul large blocks on primitive wheels anyway. 129 00:09:05,059 --> 00:09:06,860 They just break right away. 130 00:09:06,860 --> 00:09:09,980 Or the axle would break. 131 00:09:09,980 --> 00:09:12,059 But I need a wheel. 132 00:09:12,059 --> 00:09:18,139 So I took Franz Luner's rope-roll idea and expanded it into a full-blown wheel. 133 00:09:18,139 --> 00:09:24,299 Since I don't have to impress Egyptologists, I can use a real wheel on my pyramid. 134 00:09:24,299 --> 00:09:29,139 Egyptologists are universally opposed to the wheel because they can't find evidence 135 00:09:29,139 --> 00:09:31,299 of it in that time period. 136 00:09:31,299 --> 00:09:36,500 They must therefore take the logical position that the ancient Egyptians were simply too 137 00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:46,259 stupid to think of the wheel as even a bearing, let alone as a mechanism of... 138 00:09:46,259 --> 00:09:51,179 People who did fine work like this couldn't imagine a wheel. 139 00:09:51,179 --> 00:09:52,179 Hmm. 140 00:09:52,179 --> 00:09:54,299 Here's two guys. 141 00:09:54,299 --> 00:09:58,980 Boo-Boo on top of the developing pyramid, maybe 40 feet up. 142 00:09:58,980 --> 00:10:02,419 And another guy, Beedy, on the ground. 143 00:10:02,419 --> 00:10:03,940 Boo-Boo yells down. 144 00:10:03,940 --> 00:10:06,019 We need a jar of water up here. 145 00:10:06,019 --> 00:10:07,699 It's hot as hell. 146 00:10:07,699 --> 00:10:13,019 Beedy says, throw down a rope and you and Sebby can haul it up. 147 00:10:13,019 --> 00:10:18,860 Clearly the alternative is to walk up the ramp, which is now over 500 feet long,... 148 00:10:18,860 --> 00:10:19,860 the water. 149 00:10:19,860 --> 00:10:24,579 Obviously, that ain't gonna happen. 150 00:10:24,579 --> 00:10:29,500 Later they're raising and lowering all kinds of miscellaneous items by rope, while the 151 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:33,340 blocks are going up the tortuous ramp. 152 00:10:33,340 --> 00:10:39,420 And as days go by, Boo-Boo, Beedy, and Sebby improve their system by installing a wood 153 00:10:39,420 --> 00:10:43,860 track, initially to keep the pyramid from getting scratched. 154 00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:46,860 Then a wood cross beam to pull a rope over. 155 00:10:46,860 --> 00:10:53,100 And finally a primitive dumbwaiter to haul up bigger and more varied loads, and to lower 156 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:59,019 unwanted items, like night soil. 157 00:10:59,019 --> 00:11:03,980 Probably any engineer worth his salt would think, hmm, I wonder if we could pull those 158 00:11:03,980 --> 00:11:06,620 big-ass blocks up that way. 159 00:11:06,620 --> 00:11:10,659 He would then proceed to design something just like what I propose here. 160 00:11:10,659 --> 00:11:16,620 This should have been done on the first pyramids and been solved long before Khufu. 161 00:11:16,620 --> 00:11:21,860 In fact, solving these types of problems in other pyramids is what probably made Giza 162 00:11:21,860 --> 00:11:22,860 possible. 163 00:11:22,860 --> 00:11:28,939 But then, who knows, maybe the ancient Egyptians were as stupid as Egyptologists ... 164 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:29,940 were. 165 00:11:29,940 --> 00:11:36,700 The advantage of a wheel as a bearing over lunar's axle bearing is that the distance 166 00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:42,340 the axle frictions with a copper bearing is decreased by the ratio of the wheel radius 167 00:11:42,340 --> 00:11:43,820 to the axle radius. 168 00:11:43,820 --> 00:11:50,380 Thus, if the axle radius is one unit and the wheel radius is seven units, the friction 169 00:11:50,380 --> 00:11:54,580 of the axle on copper is reduced to one-seven. 170 00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:58,180 The pressure vector on that axle remains the same. 171 00:11:58,179 --> 00:12:02,779 Thus, the distance it must traverse to get the block up the side of the pyramid is cut 172 00:12:02,779 --> 00:12:09,059 to one-seven, because the rope pulling the block is not traveling in a one-to-one... 173 00:12:09,059 --> 00:12:16,019 with the axle, but now in a one-to-one correspondence with a larger wheel. 174 00:12:16,019 --> 00:12:21,259 Mr. Loner knows this, of course, but he can't make a wheel or the punents will cry foul, 175 00:12:21,259 --> 00:12:27,139 and he wants to be taken seriously by them, so he tries to get away with just the axle, 176 00:12:27,620 --> 00:12:29,659 or as he calls it, a rope roll. 177 00:12:29,659 --> 00:12:36,220 I, on the other hand, will never be taken seriously by any Egyptologist, or even... 178 00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:41,759 so I can say anything that I think is rationally expected of the ancient Egyptians. 179 00:12:41,759 --> 00:12:47,019 My opinion is that they had just as much native brainpower as we. 180 00:12:47,019 --> 00:12:51,860 I'm going whole hog here, so I'll have roller bearings in my wheel, too. 181 00:12:51,860 --> 00:12:56,899 The rollers are very large-diameter things, and the axle bearing assembly is rapidly 182 00:12:56,899 --> 00:13:03,340 replaceable by simply taking the weight off and pulling it out of its support cradle. 183 00:13:03,340 --> 00:13:07,180 My wooden roller bearings are fabricated on a lathe. 184 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:12,980 Now Egyptologists will groan when I say lathe, but they can make a lathe very easi... 185 00:13:12,980 --> 00:13:15,480 they can use power tools, too. 186 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:17,420 My carpenters have power tools. 187 00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:19,740 They're just not electric. 188 00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:22,419 They're oxen-powered or people-powered. 189 00:13:22,419 --> 00:13:31,340 And, I've also designed a telephone system and a telegraph system for communications, 190 00:13:31,340 --> 00:13:36,539 and air conditioning for my rest and relaxation tents, and there will be a... 191 00:13:36,539 --> 00:13:42,620 pyramid with an excellent starlight view of Egypt, and for the kids, Saturday thrill... 192 00:13:42,620 --> 00:13:48,340 on Khufu's Death Dare, the world's first amusement park ride. 193 00:13:48,340 --> 00:13:53,660 I don't necessarily think that ancient Egyptians had these things, but they were... 194 00:13:53,660 --> 00:13:56,500 available to them for only the mental effort. 195 00:13:56,500 --> 00:14:03,620 The largest pyramid is actually the culminating pyramid at the tail end of the... 196 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:04,620 of engineers. 197 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:11,160 That is, the engineers of Khufu's pyramid were the grandsons and great-grandsons of 198 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:15,740 people who worked with Imhotep, building Jozer's pyramid. 199 00:14:15,740 --> 00:14:17,940 Imhotep was a commoner. 200 00:14:17,940 --> 00:14:23,500 Jozer must have understood that if you allow commoners into advanced positions, you have 201 00:14:23,500 --> 00:14:28,460 a much larger pool of talent to pick from than if you only allow talent from the elite 202 00:14:28,460 --> 00:14:29,460 group. 203 00:14:29,460 --> 00:14:34,460 I've changed my mind about the wooden wheel rollers. 204 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:37,100 I'm making them out of copper. 205 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:42,220 Solid copper cylinders are about 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches long, and they'll 206 00:14:42,220 --> 00:14:47,180 roll between two copper sleeves about a half inch thick. 207 00:14:47,179 --> 00:14:51,699 Rollers are made from wood models, and liquid copper is poured. 208 00:14:51,699 --> 00:14:54,459 Now that's whole hog. 209 00:14:54,459 --> 00:14:59,139 Now that we have a viable heavy-duty wheel to act as a bearing, we need to design our 210 00:14:59,139 --> 00:15:02,939 sledge to take the blocks up the side of the pyramid. 211 00:15:02,939 --> 00:15:08,179 My pyramid sledge is just a slanted, but very heavy-duty dumbwaiter. 212 00:15:08,179 --> 00:15:12,219 The two ropes to haul it up are attached to the front of the sledge. 213 00:15:12,259 --> 00:15:16,220 It goes to the top and the smaller sledge to which the block is attached is pulled 214 00:15:16,220 --> 00:15:17,220 off. 215 00:15:17,220 --> 00:15:21,980 When the haulers feel the weight removed, they lower the sledge to get another block, 216 00:15:21,980 --> 00:15:27,379 which is patiently waiting the return of the sledge. 217 00:15:27,379 --> 00:15:32,759 Now when you've gotten to the top, you could remove the block on its transport sledge and 218 00:15:32,759 --> 00:15:35,019 haul it anywhere on that level. 219 00:15:35,019 --> 00:15:39,420 I gave some thought to letting the 200 men at the base of the pyramid haul the stone 220 00:15:39,620 --> 00:15:44,620 to the other side of the pyramid, unloading it near to its final destination, but in the 221 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:49,459 end rejected the idea because it was too easy for the men at the base of the pyramid to 222 00:15:49,459 --> 00:15:52,219 move the block over flat terrain. 223 00:15:52,219 --> 00:15:56,779 The productivity loss was that the haulers had to walk an extra couple hundred yards 224 00:15:56,779 --> 00:16:02,699 for every block, and the accumulated walking was a waste of time and energy. 225 00:16:02,699 --> 00:16:08,719 For hauling blocks, any non-pulling walking should be eliminated wherever possible. 226 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,720 If they aren't hauling, they shouldn't be walking around in the heat, wasting their 227 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:13,720 energy. 228 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:18,940 If they aren't working, they should be sitting, resting, in the shade, with prett... 229 00:16:18,940 --> 00:16:21,019 them. 230 00:16:21,019 --> 00:16:26,080 So some few guys at the top would have to haul the transport sledges back to the other 231 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:32,519 side of the pyramid to be unloaded where they'd be set in place. 232 00:16:32,519 --> 00:16:35,639 How many men are needed to pull up a block? 233 00:16:35,639 --> 00:16:39,840 My calculations are based on the mid-level of the pyramid. 234 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:47,000 It's about 115 meters square at this point, and has about 3 1⁄4 acres of open space. 235 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,000 That's about 11,000 square meters. 236 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:55,360 I'm going to use 400 men on each track, with 25 tracks total. 237 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:59,120 200 to haul the blocks up at one time. 238 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:04,180 For every track, it's one hour on and one hour off to rest. 239 00:17:04,180 --> 00:17:11,319 So we have a total of 10,000 men available to haul the blocks up to the top on 25 tracks. 240 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:16,519 The rate of block output is about 4 minutes per block per track. 241 00:17:16,519 --> 00:17:23,000 So for a 10-hour day, we get 150 blocks per day per track, and our setup then pulls up 242 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,200 3,750 blocks each day. 243 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:34,720 Note, this is for the inundation period when lots of young bucks are available with time 244 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,240 on their hands. 245 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,400 This lasted about four months, June to September. 246 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:48,640 So that's about 120 days, minus 16 Saturdays off, and 20 days travel time back and forth. 247 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:58,640 Then we get 84 workdays, times 3,750 blocks equals 315,000 blocks per inundation period. 248 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,759 To calculate the force required from each individual hauler, we need to add the weight 249 00:18:13,759 --> 00:18:19,599 of the block, the weight of the up sledge, the small transport sledge to which the block 250 00:18:19,599 --> 00:18:23,680 is attached, and the friction from sliding on the wood rails. 251 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:30,680 If the weight of the block is 5,500 pounds, that's 2.5 metric tons, and the weight of 252 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:35,440 the sledges is 500 pounds, we get 6,000 pounds. 253 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:42,360 And since the unit is on a 52-degree incline, we reduce the weight figure by 21 percent 254 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:45,200 to 4,740 pounds. 255 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:54,200 Dividing 4,740 by 200 men, we get 23.7 pounds per man. 256 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:59,820 Similarly, we can reduce the friction by 38 percent because of the incline. 257 00:18:59,819 --> 00:19:05,579 So if the frictional force at ground level required 10 pounds of force per man for 12 258 00:19:05,579 --> 00:19:11,539 men, it would require an additional 1 pound of force per man of the 200 at ground level. 259 00:19:11,539 --> 00:19:18,179 A trivial amount, so we really don't require any oil on the track going up the pyramid. 260 00:19:18,179 --> 00:19:22,779 Oil would stain the white Tura limestone anyway. 261 00:19:22,779 --> 00:19:27,720 This means that each man at ground level would have to pull, or rather push hard... 262 00:19:27,799 --> 00:19:33,200 raise about 25 pounds up, and you would have to push for less than two minutes to get the 263 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:38,079 block to its destination from ground level because you'd have to walk on the ground 264 00:19:38,079 --> 00:19:39,079 maybe 100 yards. 265 00:19:39,079 --> 00:19:44,880 Then you'd have to walk back 100 yards to reset for the next block, and you'd have to 266 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:51,880 do that 15 times each hour for an average walking speed of less than two miles per... 267 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,319 Note that of the four minutes hauling time, less than two minutes is spent hauling the 268 00:19:56,319 --> 00:20:01,119 block up, and the same is spent lowering back the empty sledge, so for most of the 269 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:06,559 four minutes the workers are hauling essentially nothing per man. 270 00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:11,000 There is a turnaround time for loading and unloading the block, but that's measured 271 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,319 in seconds, so I left it out of the basic calculation. 272 00:20:14,319 --> 00:20:19,319 The workday is 10 hours, but the shift is only 9 hours. 273 00:20:19,319 --> 00:20:24,639 That's because there are two shifts of 200 men per track, so 200 start at first light, 274 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,759 and the second shift starts one hour later. 275 00:20:27,759 --> 00:20:34,520 Each shift puts in 5 hours per day at the pulling station, with 4 one hour rest... 276 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:40,800 Or there could be a morning shift and an afternoon shift, or 4 three hour shifts, o... 277 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,200 see there are many different arrangements possible. 278 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:50,400 In the summer there are more than 12 hours of daylight, so have at it. 279 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,800 This might seem like an easy workday, but each man would have to walk about 10 miles 280 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:56,240 per day. 281 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,920 That's not too bad for young people who are used to walking a lot. 282 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:02,600 I personally couldn't handle that much walking. 283 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,280 I'd want an electric cart. 284 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:11,180 My guys who are resting from hauling can eat at the barbecue pits, get a massage, play 285 00:21:11,180 --> 00:21:15,759 games at the rec center, or take a nap in one of the air conditioned tents at the rest 286 00:21:15,759 --> 00:21:16,759 area. 287 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,319 And while they are hauling and sweating, the spritzer girls hose them down with sweet 288 00:21:21,319 --> 00:21:25,960 smelling water and give them drinks and dates and encouragement. 289 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,759 These blockheads are pampered beasts of burden. 290 00:21:29,759 --> 00:21:34,799 At the end of the day all workers are required to bathe, and perhaps have their... 291 00:21:34,799 --> 00:21:40,680 loincloths washed before they can go home, or to party down at the pyramid club. 292 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,359 And they have Saturday off. 293 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:45,319 No pyramid work on Saturday. 294 00:21:45,319 --> 00:21:46,319 No way. 295 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:52,279 At these rates and working only 16 weeks per year, the pyramid could be finished in 296 00:21:52,279 --> 00:21:54,279 maybe 8 years. 297 00:21:54,279 --> 00:22:00,039 There's a lot of leeway in here, but I don't see it taking the full 20 years. 298 00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:06,079 At the base of the pyramid there is a staging area where men hauling blocks from the... 299 00:22:06,079 --> 00:22:11,599 drag their blocks over wooden rails, and when an empty pyramid sledge arrives they 300 00:22:11,599 --> 00:22:16,480 haul their block on top of it and release it from their hauling ropes. 301 00:22:16,519 --> 00:22:19,480 Immediately it is hauled up the pyramid. 302 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:25,240 About 3 minutes later the empty pyramid sledge returns for the next available block. 303 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,400 As you can see this setup is dirt simple. 304 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:34,400 At the base of the pyramid the ropes pulling the pyramid sledge are in channels underfoot 305 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,000 so transport sledges can be dragged over them. 306 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:44,599 The pyramid sledge is level with the ground so the transport sledge just slides onto it. 307 00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:48,879 And at the top of the pyramid it just slides off as easily. 308 00:22:50,879 --> 00:22:56,159 From a physics standpoint it is important that the block should be raised to the top 309 00:22:56,159 --> 00:22:59,159 in the least reasonable amount of time. 310 00:22:59,159 --> 00:23:04,439 When raising a mass through a gravitational gradient we have to supply energy equal to 311 00:23:04,439 --> 00:23:10,959 the potential energy gained by the mass plus the hovering energy that cancels out gravity 312 00:23:10,959 --> 00:23:14,159 for the time during which the mass is being raised. 313 00:23:14,599 --> 00:23:18,039 Think of it like a rocket that goes to the top of the pyramid. 314 00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:25,000 If it goes up fast in say 10 seconds it uses little energy, but if it goes up very very 315 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:31,159 slowly in say 8 hours it could use up all the rocket fuel in the world exhausting it 316 00:23:31,159 --> 00:23:32,639 on hovering energy. 317 00:23:34,639 --> 00:23:39,119 Up top there are tracks going out to all points of the pyramid work area. 318 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:44,240 It would not be easy to drag the block sledge over rough stones. 319 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,440 The footing on these stones might be fairly hazardous since there are gaps between them 320 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,279 big enough to swallow your foot and break your ankle. 321 00:23:53,279 --> 00:23:56,720 Perhaps these gaps are filled with sand and rubble. 322 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:01,599 I have never seen the pyramids and I can't make out fine details from the pictures I 323 00:24:01,599 --> 00:24:03,799 find on the internet. 324 00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:08,599 From what I do see and read it appears that the blocks are mostly taken from the same 325 00:24:08,959 --> 00:24:14,519 bed in the quarry and have the same thickness on each level except for the ones sticking 326 00:24:14,519 --> 00:24:18,480 up a few inches to interlock with the next level. 327 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:24,439 This was done to keep the levels from shifting relative to one another during... 328 00:24:24,439 --> 00:24:29,879 The facing blocks were laid first and the general body blocks were placed in the best 329 00:24:29,879 --> 00:24:32,079 possible fit mode. 330 00:24:32,079 --> 00:24:37,279 That is an engineer would assess each block on the fly and say put that one over here 331 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,160 They do not appear to have been placed relative to one another as they were in th... 332 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,359 from what I can detect. 333 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:51,039 And that wouldn't work anyway because of the principle of cumulative slop which means 334 00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:57,279 that the accumulation of small errors in placement make accurate planning from bloc... 335 00:24:57,279 --> 00:25:02,119 to block number 5000 impossible. 336 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:07,559 I have devised many machines for removing the block from the sledge and transporting 337 00:25:07,559 --> 00:25:11,159 it a few meters to its placement site. 338 00:25:11,159 --> 00:25:16,039 There is a frame walker which picks up the stone and you walk it to its destination like 339 00:25:16,039 --> 00:25:19,599 a tall ladder moved from one side of the room to another. 340 00:25:19,599 --> 00:25:22,319 You don't lay the ladder down you walk it. 341 00:25:22,319 --> 00:25:26,399 Then there is a simple crane where a group of men counterweight the block and swing it 342 00:25:26,399 --> 00:25:27,399 into place. 343 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,400 And there is a levering along the floor rock on rock or dragging it with ropes rock on 344 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:38,840 rock or pulling it into place with ropes from the next level that is being added. 345 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:44,880 I also devised walkers operated by one or two men utilizing a pendulum effect when the 346 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,920 block is swinging or rejected because it is too complicated. 347 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:55,920 But the most promising device was a long lever that allows two men to rotate the bl... 348 00:25:56,039 --> 00:26:01,000 and forth while another guy pushes the block into position. 349 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,039 Imagine a block near the top of the crown of a concrete roadway. 350 00:26:05,039 --> 00:26:10,600 If we keep twisting the block back and forth it will inevitably slide down the crown into 351 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:16,880 the ditch by the side of the road just by gravity gently nudging it in that direction. 352 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:23,120 Similarly one man pushing in the desired direction on the pyramid takes the place o... 353 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,239 and easily pushes it into place. 354 00:26:26,239 --> 00:26:31,479 I have devised some adjustable ground levers to push an inch or two at a time that push 355 00:26:31,479 --> 00:26:34,599 off on the cracks between the floor blocks. 356 00:26:34,599 --> 00:26:36,399 This is not hard to do. 357 00:26:36,399 --> 00:26:39,839 The levers they show in animations are a real hoot. 358 00:26:39,839 --> 00:26:41,599 They are only good for laughs. 359 00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:47,239 For a lever to work easily it has to be backed up to something solid in such a way... 360 00:26:47,239 --> 00:26:49,559 can't slip. 361 00:26:49,679 --> 00:26:54,839 Since there are so many tracks they simply extend to the far side of the pyramid and 362 00:26:54,839 --> 00:26:58,759 the block is delivered very near its final resting place. 363 00:26:58,759 --> 00:27:04,720 When the line of finished blocks gets near the track it is gradually dismantled and... 364 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:11,399 up to the next level just made and installed there for use on the next course. 365 00:27:11,399 --> 00:27:14,200 Here are some wood track pieces from the top of the pyramid. 366 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:20,279 They have to interlock without pegs or wheels for fast assembly and disassembly and they 367 00:27:20,279 --> 00:27:23,360 should all be identical if possible. 368 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:28,759 The people who stay around all year I call the hardcore. 369 00:27:28,759 --> 00:27:33,240 These are the skilled craftsmen who get paid and their families. 370 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:40,000 When the annual inundation comes 10 to 20,000 young bucks descend on the Giza Plateau to 371 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,120 do the bulk hauling. 372 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:48,679 I call these easycore and along with the young bucks come loads of single women who 373 00:27:48,679 --> 00:27:53,239 do all the cooking and cleaning and the light girly work. 374 00:27:53,239 --> 00:27:55,159 Easycore doesn't get paid. 375 00:27:55,159 --> 00:27:56,759 It's an adventure. 376 00:27:56,759 --> 00:28:02,639 Getting away from the farm to see the sights and meet literally thousands of single women 377 00:28:02,639 --> 00:28:06,279 and the women come for just about the same reasons. 378 00:28:06,279 --> 00:28:08,919 Adventure and to snag a husband. 379 00:28:08,919 --> 00:28:11,079 All the young people don't go every year. 380 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:17,319 There's not enough room for them if the population of Egypt at that time was one a... 381 00:28:17,319 --> 00:28:22,079 people and the life expectancy was maybe 35 years. 382 00:28:22,079 --> 00:28:27,319 By the time they get to Giza their life is half over and they're only 20 years old. 383 00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:28,319 Tough life. 384 00:28:28,319 --> 00:28:34,119 They died like flies from waterborne diseases, malnutrition, snakes, crocs, hip... 385 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,720 plain general man. 386 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:42,000 On the side of the pyramid opposite the main block hoists are more hoists that deliver 387 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,680 materials and men to the top. 388 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:49,519 A number of men fill gaps in the line of blocks forming at the ready line. 389 00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:54,819 This happens because the blocks are not placed consecutively because this would li... 390 00:28:54,819 --> 00:29:02,360 to about one block place per minute or only 600 per day but rather concurrently from 25 391 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,400 different track lines. 392 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:09,920 They can't fit perfectly as they would have placed consecutively and the larger gaps 393 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:15,040 have to be filled with rubble that's sent up the opposite side hoists. 394 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,519 They take down unneeded used materials as well. 395 00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:24,680 The small sledges are stacked and tied down and sent back to the quarries to be reused. 396 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:32,000 Big jars of shice, piss and garbage are sent down as well and injured personnel to the... 397 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:39,279 Those with a mathematical bent will have noticed that if the pyramid is at half its 398 00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:44,440 height then this must be the last year that EZCorps is going to work on. 399 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:51,079 Clearly a pyramid one half as tall will have a volume of one half cubed or one eighth 400 00:29:51,079 --> 00:29:59,079 and one eighth of 2.5 million stones is 312,500 and we've already established that... 401 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:05,559 can put up 315,000 stones in a short summer season so there is no more work to be done 402 00:30:05,559 --> 00:30:07,879 after this year. 403 00:30:07,879 --> 00:30:12,519 Actually many would be sent home early because there is less room to work as the... 404 00:30:12,519 --> 00:30:14,159 narrow as they go up. 405 00:30:14,159 --> 00:30:21,679 The last 30 of the 210 courses contain only a total of about 7,000 stones and would be 406 00:30:21,679 --> 00:30:24,879 set exclusively by Hardcore. 407 00:30:24,879 --> 00:30:27,720 So all of EZCorps is gone by then. 408 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:33,759 They're involved in only courses 105 to 180 for the last year and then only a few are 409 00:30:33,759 --> 00:30:36,279 left by course 180. 410 00:30:36,279 --> 00:30:41,839 They've spent seven full summers on the lower courses 1 through 104. 411 00:30:41,839 --> 00:30:48,160 To place the final level of blocks Hardcore would make use of a crane along with the... 412 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:49,960 dumbwaiter lift. 413 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:54,559 The crane is mounted on the last track of the opposite side hoist. 414 00:30:54,559 --> 00:31:00,519 It consists of a very long sledge with a block on the lower end to act as... 415 00:31:00,519 --> 00:31:07,679 and a wheel bearing on the upper end to which ropes are attached which hoist the last... 416 00:31:07,679 --> 00:31:12,480 The last stone, the Pyramidion, is also lifted this way. 417 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:19,200 However at that point a working platform supported by the last remaining tracks is... 418 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:27,600 to accommodate more workers and religious officials and maybe the Pharaoh himself. 419 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:33,600 The 40 to 50 ton stones that make up the King's Chamber and Grand Gallery are lifte... 420 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:38,080 positions one level at a time by means of the rock and chalk method. 421 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:43,680 They are roped to these rockers and as the stone is rocked back and forth a piece of 422 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,559 wood is stuck in the available space. 423 00:31:46,559 --> 00:31:50,359 This is a tried and true means of raising such blocks. 424 00:31:50,359 --> 00:31:55,919 The effort requires minimal and an experienced team could lift a 50 ton rock ... 425 00:31:55,919 --> 00:31:59,759 course of the pyramid in no more than 2 minutes. 426 00:31:59,759 --> 00:32:05,279 With the estimated 90 blocks they can raise them all to the next level in a day or two 427 00:32:05,279 --> 00:32:07,319 with little problem. 428 00:32:07,319 --> 00:32:11,879 All of these stones are in their final positions before the mid level of the... 429 00:32:17,559 --> 00:32:24,319 The greatest pyramid construction error indicative of stupidity is the fact that t... 430 00:32:24,319 --> 00:32:25,599 at all. 431 00:32:25,599 --> 00:32:31,639 Truly these people must have been real retards to buy into any religious plan tha... 432 00:32:31,639 --> 00:32:34,240 so much effort for no tangible gain. 433 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,079 But that's a given that anyone can understand. 434 00:32:38,079 --> 00:32:44,639 The actual construction errors require a look at some basic engineering principles. 435 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,400 There are four upside down glasses. 436 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:53,640 One contains water, one contains sand, one contains small rocks and the last one... 437 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,240 two cubical blocks. 438 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:00,320 When we pick up the glass containing the water it falls down completely. 439 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:06,560 We can say here that all the liquid vectors that were formerly blocked have been... 440 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:12,840 Thus all the down vectors from gravity get converted into sideways vectors and the water 441 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:13,840 spreads. 442 00:33:14,559 --> 00:33:20,079 This is why a tsunami can't come in like a pyramidal wave and travel inland. 443 00:33:20,079 --> 00:33:21,439 Water falls down. 444 00:33:21,439 --> 00:33:29,119 A tsunami comes in like a fast tide, flat and rising rather than running tall. 445 00:33:29,119 --> 00:33:34,240 When the glass containing sand is picked up the sand starts to do what the water did 446 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:39,439 but it's stopped because its liquid vectors get cancelled by opposing vectors which stick 447 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,440 by friction and can't convert completely into lateral vectors. 448 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,400 The resulting pile is said to be at its angle of repose. 449 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,640 The glass with the small rocks falls too. 450 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:57,440 But as a higher angle of repose because it is easier for opposed vectors to get cancelled 451 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:01,279 when there are less randomly shaped pieces touching. 452 00:34:01,279 --> 00:34:06,759 The last glass when raised results in nothing happening because there are no liquid vectors 453 00:34:06,759 --> 00:34:08,599 present in the blocks. 454 00:34:08,599 --> 00:34:12,079 They are suspended by the shape of the block. 455 00:34:12,079 --> 00:34:17,960 If the two blocks touched along a slight angle with respect to the gravitational... 456 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,360 there would be cancelled liquid vectors. 457 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:26,759 Now if we look at the basic pyramid construction at Giza we see that all the... 458 00:34:26,759 --> 00:34:32,920 of cubes whose faces are all perpendicular or parallel to the gravitational gradient 459 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,079 indicating that they are intended to be completely suspended. 460 00:34:37,079 --> 00:34:43,679 The pyramid can't fall down unless blocks are moved laterally considerably out of place 461 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,319 as in an earthquake. 462 00:34:47,319 --> 00:34:53,079 We can then assess the grand gallery as being incorrectly engineered because the stones 463 00:34:53,079 --> 00:34:55,920 that make it up are set at a slant. 464 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:00,679 They are in fact cancelled vectors instead of suspended vectors which would have been 465 00:35:00,679 --> 00:35:05,440 the case if the gallery's corbeling were parallel to the ground. 466 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,519 This wouldn't look as good so they did bad engineering here. 467 00:35:09,519 --> 00:35:12,760 The pyramid is weak in the direction of the slant. 468 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:18,019 That is, in an extreme earthquake the side of the pyramid would puff out as the grand 469 00:35:18,019 --> 00:35:22,159 gallery block slid down and forced the north face out. 470 00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,679 Fortunately this hasn't happened yet. 471 00:35:25,679 --> 00:35:31,960 The so-called relieving chambers over the king's chamber are profoundly bad... 472 00:35:32,119 --> 00:35:36,880 Given that a flat ceiling was desired over the sarcophagus, the correct procedure was 473 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,840 to do a Lincoln log double corbeling. 474 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:45,800 This would fix any problem with weight because the flat ceiling could then be mad... 475 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:50,440 and have no pressure on it whatsoever other than its own weight. 476 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:55,880 Instead they made the stupid thing that nine engineers think is so clever. 477 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,159 This is probably Hemiyun who's screw up here. 478 00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:02,359 He's the king's cousin in charge of everything. 479 00:36:02,359 --> 00:36:08,239 I can picture the other engineer saying, I told you so, when it cracked, but there's 480 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:12,519 nothing they could do because he's the boss. 481 00:36:12,519 --> 00:36:14,319 Look at the statue of him. 482 00:36:14,319 --> 00:36:16,199 Look at the man boobs. 483 00:36:16,199 --> 00:36:19,539 This is undoubtedly a flattering statue. 484 00:36:19,539 --> 00:36:26,679 He probably spent more time eating and fornicating than engineering. 485 00:36:26,679 --> 00:36:32,659 By far the worst error in the pyramid probably wasn't due to the Hemiyunum, but ... 486 00:36:32,659 --> 00:36:37,039 of the architects to understand how to shape the facing stones. 487 00:36:37,039 --> 00:36:39,919 They are all made incorrectly. 488 00:36:39,919 --> 00:36:41,799 Here's the proper shape. 489 00:36:41,799 --> 00:36:46,239 The fact that they are all flat on the bottom is a real boner. 490 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:51,239 This allowed them to slide out of place during the 13th century earthquake and man... 491 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:55,359 to the ground ruining the appearance of the pyramid. 492 00:36:55,360 --> 00:37:00,920 This was fatal to the outer casing because the pyramid was a showpiece of any ruling 493 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,680 potentate who laid claim to the pyramids. 494 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:11,480 No autocrat will let you deface the pyramids since they were his property. 495 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,480 But after they were fallen they couldn't be replaced, so might as well use them to 496 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,360 rebuild Cairo. 497 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,960 And then since the pyramids now look bad, let's take them all. 498 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:28,519 It's easier than quarrying new stone, so they're almost all gone, thanks to the... 499 00:37:28,519 --> 00:37:31,559 error of the original architects. 500 00:37:31,559 --> 00:37:36,800 There are plenty of other inscrutable things wrong with the pyramids, but as you can see, 501 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:41,720 maybe the Egyptians were as stupid as the Egyptologists say they were. 502 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:47,619 I can't say for sure. 503 00:37:47,619 --> 00:37:53,900 This 1000 plus ton obelisk was abandoned because it cracked during quarrying. 504 00:37:53,900 --> 00:37:59,039 Looking at the area it lies in and conjecturing that they intended to float i... 505 00:37:59,039 --> 00:38:04,259 and erect it somewhere to the north makes one think, how did they intend to accomplish 506 00:38:04,259 --> 00:38:05,259 this? 507 00:38:05,259 --> 00:38:09,579 Clearly, they wouldn't have begun to quarry it unless they already had a plan to take 508 00:38:09,579 --> 00:38:14,980 it out of the hole it was in, get it to the river, transport it, and then erect it. 509 00:38:15,380 --> 00:38:18,019 What were their means of doing this? 510 00:38:18,019 --> 00:38:23,300 The least energy mechanics for this project would be the sand rocker method. 511 00:38:23,300 --> 00:38:30,019 This is similar to the rock and shack method used to raise the 60 ton blocks up successive 512 00:38:30,019 --> 00:38:32,019 levels. 513 00:38:32,019 --> 00:38:37,539 The sand rocker consists of solid, heavy duty rounded wood rockers placed all along the 514 00:38:37,539 --> 00:38:39,780 underside of the obelisk. 515 00:38:39,780 --> 00:38:42,940 On top there would be an overhanging deck. 516 00:38:42,940 --> 00:38:49,059 People on top of the deck walk back and forth in unison as others fill the pit with sand. 517 00:38:49,059 --> 00:38:53,900 The rocking obelisk will then rise slowly out of the pit in the manner of rock and 518 00:38:53,900 --> 00:38:58,340 shack with the sand filling the duty of their wooden shocks. 519 00:38:58,340 --> 00:39:04,260 If the pit was watertight, water may have just covered the sand so that in sloshing 520 00:39:04,260 --> 00:39:11,659 back and forth as the obelisk rocked the sand would have been deposited under the rockers. 521 00:39:11,659 --> 00:39:17,819 Once the obelisk is up high enough, a ramp is built of wood, stone, and sand along which 522 00:39:17,819 --> 00:39:22,899 the obelisk can be walked to the water by the same rocking motion. 523 00:39:22,899 --> 00:39:29,420 There is no danger of the obelisk rolling over if the rockers are made correctly. 524 00:39:29,420 --> 00:39:34,420 The ramp has a slight incline that goes to where the water will be when the annual Nile 525 00:39:34,420 --> 00:39:36,480 flood comes. 526 00:39:36,519 --> 00:39:42,599 To get the obelisk started downhill, one end is raised by rocking and throwing sand under 527 00:39:42,599 --> 00:39:44,199 that half. 528 00:39:44,199 --> 00:39:50,159 As the end rises, the whole obelisk will begin to move slowly and safely down the r... 529 00:39:50,159 --> 00:39:51,719 it is rocked. 530 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:57,240 It doesn't take thousands of people, just several hundred and lots of patience. 531 00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:03,800 It is delivered to a pre-constructed dock that will be inundated by the flood, where 532 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,640 it is attached to two barges utilizing the truss deck. 533 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:12,960 When the flood comes, the obelisk is floated while submerged in the water. 534 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:18,320 The reason for leaving the stone submerged is that underwater it will weigh 37% less 535 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,080 than above water, making it easier to handle. 536 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:27,320 This presumes that the Nile flood is not too shallow for the draft of the boat. 537 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:31,600 If so, it would have to be carried above water on much larger barges. 538 00:40:31,599 --> 00:40:37,400 The obelisk may be carried at a slight angle, corresponding to the inclination of the ramp. 539 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:43,559 When it arrives at its destination, we wait for the flood to end and the obelisk ends 540 00:40:43,559 --> 00:40:48,000 up on a prepared dock, which is now high and dry. 541 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:53,039 Now we have a difficult problem of hauling the obelisk uphill to its destination. 542 00:40:53,039 --> 00:40:56,559 There are two possibilities here. 543 00:40:56,559 --> 00:41:02,000 The first is to construct a ramp section and raise the obelisk to some height, on 544 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,840 which it runs uphill by going downhill, as shown. 545 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:11,320 The difficulty here is that it is time consuming to keep raising the obelisk and... 546 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,199 a ramp ahead of its movement. 547 00:41:15,199 --> 00:41:20,920 A faster way is to use ganged frame walkers along the obelisk, which lift it up while 548 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,400 attached to a sledge an inch off the ground. 549 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:30,519 As the frame walker arcs over, the obelisk is advanced perhaps 10 feet with each haul. 550 00:41:30,519 --> 00:41:36,160 The design requires that all the frames be on a separate sledge that is advanced... 551 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:37,160 with the obelisk. 552 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:43,440 I made some calculations and concluded that such a device would be about 10 times easier 553 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:50,119 to use than a straight up haul and that the frames would have a weight approximating 5% 554 00:41:50,119 --> 00:41:52,260 of the weight of the obelisk. 555 00:41:52,260 --> 00:41:56,700 This procedure would require hundreds of men, but many less than a straightforward 556 00:41:56,700 --> 00:41:58,340 haul. 557 00:41:58,340 --> 00:42:03,120 When the destination is reached, the obelisk is raised on one end a few degrees until it 558 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:06,260 slides forward to its prepared base. 559 00:42:06,260 --> 00:42:08,920 Two stones arrest its progress. 560 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:10,740 These stones are pivotal. 561 00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:15,500 Two holes are cut into the base and filled halfway with loose sandstone. 562 00:42:15,500 --> 00:42:20,180 Two blocks that fit into the holes are then placed on top of the sandstone, such that 563 00:42:20,259 --> 00:42:22,539 they are partly in and partly out of the hole. 564 00:42:22,539 --> 00:42:29,199 It is against these two stones that the obelisk pivots when raised. 565 00:42:29,199 --> 00:42:34,299 As the weight of the rising obelisk presses down on these stones, they crush the... 566 00:42:34,299 --> 00:42:36,099 and recede into the holes. 567 00:42:36,099 --> 00:42:41,980 Thus, the obelisk can't slide on the base during the early stage of the raising. 568 00:42:41,980 --> 00:42:47,739 To get it up, we construct the pictured device which is half a wheel in principle. 569 00:42:47,739 --> 00:42:52,619 On the other side of the wheel, a sand ramp is constructed, and on this a heavy wooden 570 00:42:52,619 --> 00:42:58,019 ramp is loaded with small stones until the weight on this side is greater than the... 571 00:42:58,019 --> 00:42:59,659 of the obelisk. 572 00:42:59,659 --> 00:43:04,899 The sand under this counterweight is then gradually removed, and as the counterweight 573 00:43:04,899 --> 00:43:08,059 drops, the obelisk is raised. 574 00:43:08,059 --> 00:43:11,179 The process must be repeated several times. 575 00:43:11,179 --> 00:43:17,299 So, when the counterweight goes to the ground, a sand ramp is made to support the... 576 00:43:17,300 --> 00:43:22,500 at its new position, and the counterweight is reconstructed higher up. 577 00:43:22,500 --> 00:43:27,340 At the final stage, the obelisk is rigidly connected to the counterweight, so that when 578 00:43:27,340 --> 00:43:32,700 the sand is removed from under the counterweight, the obelisk will gently go ... 579 00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:38,900 position rather than plunking over with a thud with possible damage to its base or 580 00:43:38,900 --> 00:43:41,019 lower corners. 581 00:43:41,019 --> 00:43:46,700 Now everything can be removed, and a scaffolding constructed for artisans to ca... 582 00:43:46,699 --> 00:43:47,699 on its sides. 583 00:43:47,699 --> 00:43:55,460 The entire operation is readily doable by the ancient Egyptians if they are smart enough 584 00:43:55,460 --> 00:43:57,539 and patient enough. 585 00:43:57,539 --> 00:44:04,779 How the pyramids were built is not written down anywhere, yet there are pictures of... 586 00:44:04,779 --> 00:44:07,899 life in the tombs of many people. 587 00:44:07,899 --> 00:44:13,819 Therefore, it must be concluded that there was a consensus that no such depiction should 588 00:44:13,819 --> 00:44:15,219 be made. 589 00:44:15,500 --> 00:44:20,779 Perhaps the pharaohs ordered that no pictures were to be made, or maybe it was considered 590 00:44:20,779 --> 00:44:22,739 bad juju to do that. 591 00:44:22,739 --> 00:44:29,659 At any rate, the absence of pictures of pyramid construction was not because they... 592 00:44:29,659 --> 00:44:33,219 They couldn't possibly forget something that big. 593 00:44:33,219 --> 00:44:40,539 Somebody told them not to make pictures, and they complied. 594 00:44:40,539 --> 00:44:44,939 Trying to figure out how the pyramids might have been built is a fun thing to do, kind 595 00:44:44,940 --> 00:44:48,860 of like an intellectual vacation, because there's no heavy lifting.