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AWESOME: The Pyramids of Giza (Image: Kitti Boonnitrod / Getty Images)
This is one of the most persistent riddles in history. How did the pre-industrial Egyptians build their most famous wonder in the world?
After all, it is estimated that the Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 blocks of stone weighing between 2 and 30 tons, some weighing more than 50 tons.
What is more, the construction of the pyramids at Giza in 2300 BC. BC was only two hundred years after the creation of Stonehenge – whose construction remains equally mysterious despite the much smaller size of the most famous standing stones in Britain.
For decades, various assumptions have been made about how these intelligent Egyptians could accomplish their seemingly insurmountable task.
Although experts generally agree that pyramids were built from large copper-chiselled stones in stone quarries, the methods used to move and place the stones remain the subject of feverish speculation.
Some engineers and scientists have speculated that wooden levers or wooden cranes were the answer. Others suggest that land ramps were used and then dismantled.
Four years ago, Dutch scientists suggested that wetting the sand made it possible to pull the huge blocks across the desert with minimal friction by a human-powered machine.
Perhaps the mystery has finally been solved with a new discovery by a team of Anglo-French archaeologists who suggest that a stone banister with wooden posts could create much larger blocks big as previously thought in a kind of compound system suggested by the visionary director of the 1950s Hollywood movie, Land Of The Pharaohs, in which Joan Collins played an Egyptian queen.
Archaeologists have recently discovered such a ramp in an ancient alabaster quarry in Egypt, where stones of a size similar to those of the pyramids were raised.
With this new discovery, we are looking at 10 things you never knew about the mighty Egyptian monuments.
1 BRILLIANT PLATE
While the gigantic buildings of Giza are the most famous Egyptian pyramids, a total of 140 pyramids were discovered in Egypt.
These large tombs were originally covered with very polished white limestone interlocking stones quarried across the Nile, which have now been eroded.
These stones reflected the sunlight and were intended to make the pyramids shine like jewels. This is why the ancient Egyptians called them "Ikhet" or "glorious light".
A scene from the movie Land Of The Pharaohs (Image: AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo)
2,100,000 workers
They were built by 100,000 workers and, until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311, the Great Pyramid bore the title of highest synthetic structure in the world since 3,871 years ago. The total weight is estimated at 6 million tonnes.
Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were probably built not by slaves or prisoners, but by paid workers.
Each pyramid would have taken 200 years to build, requiring the work of generations of workers while the symmetrical structures slowly rose from the hot sand.
3 INTERIOR COOL
Inside the Egyptian pyramids, the temperature remains relatively constant at 20 ° C due to the thickness of the walls.
4 PORTCULLIS OF GRANITE
The Great Pyramid originally contained a stone harrow to deter grave robbers.
These hanging granite blocks were hanging in the antechamber of the king's room. Lowered after burial, they blocked access to the tomb and its treasures.
However, the system failed when the thieves chiseled and climbed the granite blocks.
5 IMPERMEABLE TO VANDALS
There was an attempt to destroy the pyramids in the 12th century when Al-Aziz, a Kurdish leader and the second Sultan Ayyubid of Egypt, tried to demolish them but had to give up because the task was too difficult.
However, he managed to leave a large vertical cut in the north face of the Menkaure pyramid.
Watercolor of British artist Peter Jackson depicting the construction of pyramids (Image: Peter Jackson / www.bridgemanimages.com)
6 ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENT
The three pyramids of Giza are precisely aligned with the constellation of Orion.
It was perhaps intentional because the ancient Egyptians associated the Orion stars with Osiris, the god of rebirth and the afterlife.
In addition, the descending passage of the great pyramid points to the polar star called Alpha Draconis.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu, otherwise known as the Great Pyramid, is not only the largest pyramid ever built, it also has the most complicated internal structure of all the pyramids.
7 PERFECT GEOMETRY
The Great Pyramid of Khufu, otherwise known as the Great Pyramid, is not only the largest pyramid ever built, it also has the most complicated internal structure of all the pyramids.
And it is clear from the construction of the king 's room that the engineers who conceived it had elaborated part of the Pythagorean theorem: the square of the hypotenuse (diagonal opposite to the right corner) of. a right triangle was equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides – 2,000 years before the birth of the Greek philosopher.
This is revealed by the measurements of the chamber which has a ground plan of 10 x 20 cubits (5.24 mx 10.48 m) but a height of 10.172 kb (5.33 m).
The experts were intrigued by the reason why the height of the room was not as an integer – 10 cubits, for example.
But it is clear that this is due to the mathematical genius of the master of work who has been able to construct right angles long before Pythagoras develops his theorem.
Indeed, the diagonal of the side wall measures exactly 15 cubits and the diagonal throughout the room is exactly 25 cubits, which allows to create a room at right angles.
8 PREPARED FOR AFTER-LIFE
The pyramids of Giza and elsewhere were designed to preserve the spirit of the deceased pharaohs who had ruled over ancient Egypt.
It was believed that a part of his mind called "ka" remained in a corpse and proper care was needed to allow an ancient pharaoh to fulfill his new duty as king of the dead.
The embalmed body was buried with various objects that it would need in the afterlife during its transformation and ascension. A number of pyramids include pits and ships, ready for a maritime astral future.
At the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of these ships has been restored and is exposed.
9 NORTH DUE
The Khufu pyramid, otherwise known as the Great Pyramid, faces north. In fact, it is the most accurate alignment on the geographic north of all terrestrial structures.
Although it was built about 4,500 years ago, it faces north with a degree of error of only 3 / 60th. However, this is due to the fact that the North Pole evolves over time.
At the time of its construction, it was supposed to be on site although it was built three millennia before the first compass was used for navigation during the Song Dynasty of the Chinese in the eleventh century.
Sudan: The country has twice as many pyramids as Egypt (Image: DeAgostini / Getty Images)
10 THE SUDAN HAS THE MOST
Egypt does not have the only right to claim pyramids. In fact, there is a country with twice as many pyramids: Sudan.
Eight hundred years after the ancient Egyptians stopped building their pyramids, the kingdom of Kush, a former African kingdom of the present-day Republic of Sudan, made its appearance.
After the fall of the 24th Egyptian dynasty, the Kingdom of Kush became the main power of the Middle Nile region – and their rulers wanted pyramids of their own.
The Meroe Nubian pyramids – there are more than 350 – are 200 km from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, although they are rarely seen by tourists due to their isolation.
