Theories about how to build pyramids in ancient Egypt

Pyramid is the pride of Egypt about a brilliant civilization. But so far, humanity has been constantly arguing around the question of why Egyptians can move many blocks, each weighing up to 2.5 tons to build this great building.

Here are 3 most feasible hypotheses about how to build Egyptian pyramids.

Hypothesis 1: Egyptians 'roll' the stone to build the pyramid

This view is rooted in an idea that dates back to ancient times, saying that the ancient Egyptians used wooden sticks tied around the stone and rolled to a predetermined location.

However, this idea has some problems: under the weight of the rock, these logs will create an enormous pressure on the road surface and cause the road to be seriously destroyed.

Modern studies show that the ancient Egyptians had to move 40 blocks of stone every day to keep up the construction schedule. If so, no matter how sophisticated the road is, it will not be able to withstand the devastation caused by the weight of the rock mass, and require significant maintenance procedures.

Physicist Joseph West and colleagues at Indiana University have come up with a completely different approach, which makes this 'rolling' method significantly reduce the level of damage caused to the road surface and has It is much easier to roll stones than to drag.

He and his colleagues carried out this method by tying ropes around the rock so that the blocks from the square are now 12-sided, so they can roll easily.

West experimented with a prism long 40cm, 20cm high and weighed about 30kg. The team used three ropes tied to the sides of the rock, turning it from angular shape into a 12-sided block.

After that, they tied a string to the top of the rock and measured the intensity of the force needed to be able to move the rock. Accordingly, the kinetic coefficient if moving the rock is 0.3 and need 50 workers to be able to move the mass of 2.5 ton with a speed of 0.5m / sec.

Hypothesis 2: Use water to build pyramids

The group of physicists at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) said that the answer to this mystery is water. Below is a picture carved on the floor of King Djehutihotep's grave, recreating the scene of a group of workers pulling together a large statue.

What makes the physicists notice is the image of the worker standing right at the foot of the statue pouring water down the sand layer below.

Physicists then conducted practical tests by pulling a heavy object on the sand. They realized that when water is absorbed, sand will not be extruded and obstruct heavy objects when moving.

Thus, the friction force acting on the scissors is greatly reduced and the traction force is reduced to half. As a result, only a handful of workers are needed to move the heavy objects needed.

Although many people are skeptical about this hypothesis, Amsterdam physicists believe that the country is a viable solution and strengthens the belief with ancient paintings carved from ancient times.

Hypothesis 3: The pyramid is built inside and out

Construction engineer Peter James dismissed the hypothesis that existed for centuries when he said that the ancient Egyptians could not pull heavy blocks of stones up to gentle slopes and build pyramids from outside and inside. .

According to him, they actually built inside and out . More specifically, the Egyptians set up the inner core with smaller and lighter rocks, then enveloped with large stones that were moved by scaffolding.

According to James, the way the ancient Egyptians built pyramids was like building a modern home. It was possible that they had built four corners of the pyramid first, similar to the four corners of the house, then created four entrances in the center of the pyramid.

Next, the tomb room will be built of granite. From the wall of the tomb room, the ancient Egyptians could build gentle slopes on the outside with smaller and lighter rocks following predetermined zigzag lines, stacked one by one.

Later, they would pull heavy rocks in gentle slopes on skis or use wooden scaffolds to stack stones outside the pyramid.

James said that when building the rest of the pyramid, the rocks from the top and bottom will be in place and fit in the same structure as Lego puzzles.

He was very sure of his hypothesis because he realized that no stone had a thickness of 30-40cm. Besides, he can further assert his hypothesis thanks to radar and thermal cameras.