Like I said in the original video, no one knows for certain how these were built and the methods I present here are just my best guesses based on my years in construction. Even today with so much technology at our disposal, much of the work that goes into putting together a building is done by hand by individual workers. And I don't see the great pyramids as anything other than a very large construction project with thousands of men doing relatively specialized jobs. As for how long it took to build one or when they were built, that not really important. I do know that even if it took 100 years, they still would have used the most practical methods possible, and practical usually means the simplest and most direct. I didn't mention another method commented on several times, and that's casting the stones from "geopolymer" concrete. It's easy to distinguish a real stone from one that's man-made, especially for the geologists that have looked at these structures. The limestone used for the bulk of the building was quarried from bedrock very close to the site and that limestone is relatively soft and easy to cut. The quarries are still there (Google search) and show the trenches between block as I described in this video. As for the tools used, I think it's entirely possible that chisels were made with hard tips to make them more effective for cutting the stone. We have those today, chisels with carbide tips, and the technology is not much different from putting an arrow head on a wooden arrow shaft. Sintering is widely used today to fuse diamond chips to a metal plate, and again that tech is not very advanced. While there's no evidence that it was used back then, you can't rule it out as a possibility. Like I said, the tools used to do this work were valuable and wouldn't be thrown away after they wore out. Not to mention the several thousand years between then and now, and how many people have had access to these buildings in that span of time and would have taken anything of value. Any kind of metal then was very valuable.
Seems to me the simplest reason John rules out aliens is because they talked with him and kindly asked him to. John is a decent guy like that. Seems to be a bunch of armchair archaeologists & philosophers engineering replies. Now if only someone could figure out what the Rube Goldberg machine was actually meant to do.
Fun fact, when the Pyramids were built, the land surrounding Giza was a lush savanna, not the desert we know today. All the beasts of Africa lived and were hunted for food in that area. Forests were also in abundance, so wood for building was available. Twenty Five thousand years later the climate changed.
hey john, this reminded me about this video about a guy who has figured out how to move giant stone blocks by him self. more proof of the power of leverage and gravity. ua-cam.com/video/-K7q20VzwVs/v-deo.html
Very nice! love your work. There is a branch of academic archaeology that is called Experimental Archaeology. They use materials and methods of the time. They measure amount of work, time and materials needed to complete a specific task. Please consider the use of counter weights to elevate heavy stones. Many stones weighing less are easy to get up (a ramp) to then be use as a counter weight to raise heavier stones. They used block and tackles on their ships, why exclude its advantages for stone mobility? The Great Pyramid of Egypt New Evidence Full Documentary (UA-cam, by National Geographic) , shows and proposes a counter weight system in the Grand Gallery to lift 60 ton granite stones. It is quite compelling. ua-cam.com/video/d83mn1yxCHc/v-deo.html They recovered saws, chisels and drill bits were recovered from a worker's village. They were an alloy of copper-arsenic-nickle, much stronger. Plus there are pictographs of them using drills and cutting stones. Also there are pictures of a team of oxen pulling stones on a sled. The oldest papyrus discovered is a ship's log which stated it was transporting casing stones for Khufu's pyramid. The stones were quarried according to how easy it was to cut along natural deformation of the layered sandstone.
I’m now a mechanical engineer, but I worked my way through engineering school as a general contractor. It absolutely amazes me how complicated “experts” try to make things. It’s amazing what you can do with cribbing and leverage!
My 2-1/2ton hydraulic floor jack barely lifts the front end of my truck, so I'll assume that it's close to 2-1/2 tons...the wooden cribbing I set up to keep it from falling down me doesnt seem to mind much, and we are talking about a small stack of 4x4x18" blocks of pressure treated pine....I figure if it holds up my Ford, it should hold up like stone too...
@@johnleasure3732 (their smarts would keep them from wasting the time of pouring concrete… not needed. Expensive, wasteful, time consuming and unnecessary)
@@johnleasure3732 "For large scale projects like buildings, concrete should last up to 100 years if it's properly cared for. Concrete projects that experience more wear-and-tear like sidewalks and driveways have an expected lifespan of about half that-50 years." Let's be glad they were smart enough NOT to use concrete, never mind the fact it hadn't been needed or invented at the time. Horrible idea.
I always find it funny how people always say when talking about this stuff. We can't do it even today! I was an Ironworker, people not in the trades would be amazed at what 5 or 6 guys can move with very simple hand tools and some leverage. We could build pyramids with the same accuracy today it's just that we don't want to and it's too expensive. Great video.
Same with the moon landing. We can't do it today because we don't have the political support and the money. Both of these things were plentiful for the pyramids
@@EmperorNerox doesn’t matter how they did it and there’s not much to reverse engineer it’s just block on top of block. The we is most any construction worker worth their weight in piss.
Use wood blocks every day to hold up locomotives and their parts. We also use wood blocks to get a locomotive back on the rails if it derails, really versatile simple tool.
I am sitting here listening to you talk about how the pyramids were built! What am I going to learn from this that has a practical application to what I do in today’s society? Well... levers. I have used them many times to lift things, especially when my sons were younger and they wanted to heave-ho something risking injury. I showed them how easy it is if you use practical applications to do a sometimes impractical task. Hence using a breaker bar on a cars lug nuts. Also, while you were talking about the stacking of the wood to raise each side of the stone, it brought back a memory of an older gentleman showing me his old studebaker car and how he said he built the garage it was parked in. The garage had a 20 ft. x 12” steel beam spanned across it. I commented that he must have had a lot of help in order to get that beam up there. He said “ nope “, did it myself. I thought he was nuts until he told me how he did it. He built the footer for each end of the beam and laid a cinder block, the next day, carefully raised the beam in place , went to the other side, put the new cinder block in, the next day he raised the beam on top of the the newest cinder block and so on until it reached the height he needed. He used a car jack and wood to raise it. What some would think would be an impossible task for one person was actually easy, not quick, but relatively easy with just a little common sense and patience.
I would like to add to the wood strength; I use 4x4" every day in work under a mobile cranes outriggers. Just four of those can handle easily like 50 metric tons of pressure without snapping or breaking.
@@glennhofstetter9409 the Egyptian society has documented boats that sailed up the nile? What did they build those ships out of? The same tradesmen who built boats moved them? In other words the expertise to move large objects was available in Egyptian culture and one of the objects mentioned was rafts for moving the stones from aswan, wouldn't it be feasible to just dismantle those rafts once they had arrived near the pyramid site, providing the very wood necessary to move the stones?
This is extremely relatable, I have a degree in Construction Management and what you say rings true. Sometimes it is the simplest way that is so difficult to grasp.
Your logic - the work was done by the simplest method - seems most likely. Scholars with no building experience add complexities and steps that make no sense.
Years ago I remember a New York sculpture , I don't remember his name, was looking to move a massive block of granite. He resersched the early pyramid builders and found tucked away in a museum bastment something that had been called a quarter wedge by the archeologists.They didn't know what it was used for. It was shaped like a quarter circle and flat on the other side. It was made of wood and was highly deteriorated.He figured that by taking four of these quarter wedges and strapping them around a stone he was able to roll the stone. A photograph I remember showed him rolling the assembly up a flight of stone stairs. I aways felt he had hit upon a a reasonable explanation for the pyramids construction. I used this method to move a heavy steel tank, worked great! Keep up the great work on your site. And don't ever stop figuren'.
I like your theory John. I’m a journeyman sprinkler pipe fitter and have worked with 12inch sch40 pipe which is over 50lbs per foot. The pipe comes on 21’ lengths. After it’s unloaded off the truck everything else is done by hand using many of the basic methods you mentioned to lift it and hang it 10+ feet in the air.
i think you're right about the simpler the method, the more likely it was used. I'm a superintendent and from my experience, the easier to explain a task, the larger the amount of people that will understand, SUPPORT, and perform your way forward.
Love this stuff. As an engineer i find it extremely interesting. I finally looked up this water elevator method thing, who in the world thought if this. Its complete lunacy. They built this massive river for miles and some massive water tight shaft straight up with locks like the Panama Canal. Its just crazy. The cost of building this elevator would greatly outweigh the lifting method John described, especially when labor was extremely plentiful. And then as soon as the video ended, an add for this book of fiction comes up.
I loved that explanation and also how you deal with criticism and intellectuals that have never touched a hammer at the same time while always remaining super friendly, calm and polite. Great video as always, please keep going, I really love watching your content.
Lapping can get stones very smooth, so you'd be able to fit them together very tight. A simple method. I think the main problem is us nowadays thinking they were too stupid in the past to be able to do anything advanced.
THAT MAKES US THE STUPID ONES FOR NOT WANTING TO BELEIVE THAT THESE PEOPLE FROM THE PAST WHERE VERY INTELEGENT FOR THEYRE TIME SO YOU ARE COMPLETLY CORRECT MY FRIEND THESE PEOPLE WHERE MASTERS OF WOOD STONE AND METAL MATERIAL .
I agree that most of the theories on how the pyramids were built probably came from Archaeologists or as you say intellectuals (people who either say they are smart or think they are) but who had no real understanding of or experience in/of building anything as big as these big piles of blocks. Because these good folks think in abstract and very intricate difficult patterns (to make the rest of us they are so more intelligent than we are) of course they will come up with the most difficult method of doing things just to make sound impressive on paper. They seem to have forgotten to look in the mirror -- or they would have realized people are basically LAZY and like to find the easiest and simplest ways to do everything.Great Video, keep em coming John.
Teeter Totter and wood cribbing method to raise stones. If you find the center balance point on a large rectangular stone, put a piece of wood underneath, rock stone back and forth lifting each end 1 inch or 1 foot, fill in with wood cribbing, you can raise heavy stones with little effort.
first of all i'm Egyptian and i can say that the most popular opinion about the theory of building the pyramids here in Egypt is the pyramids had been built by molding mixture of mud and other common materials of that time layer by layer, preparing the molds and cast the mixture and burn it until it Hardens in place. i kind of believe it especially that explains how they managed to plan all the chambers and corridors inside . i am a fan of yours and i really appreciate your helpful and wonderful videos god bless you,
personally, I find the theory attractive; especially when you can tell that some pyramids used stones and mortar & others adobe brick. However, the stones are pretty robust, and if the method were used for these stones, then why wasn't it continued in other structures? Also, wouldn't there by waste material (mis-castings) somewhere? Lastly, wouldn't it take more work to pulverize 2.5tons of limestone than to just cut the rock out? PS: I'll be in Cairo in 3 months, and look forward to seeing the pyramids again.
The 8 sides of the Great Pyramid was first observed by pilots in the 1930's who saw a distinct line down the middle of each side when the sun was at angles allowing the shadow to make it visible. And has been demonstrated and measured accurately for over 75 years. it is only a few degrees off flat on each side, but absolutely straight and precise, duplicated 4 times.
The granite stone blocks for the KC were pulled up the back side of the pyramid by a counterweight pulley system that was situated in the Grand Gallery
I love this discussion topic. I sometimes get ask when installing a good size kitchen full of cabinets, “where is your helper?” I’ve learned to maneuver and use leverage to get things in place. It’s a bit slower but customers are always impressed how I can get so much done by myself. Tricks of the trade and a little common sense goes a long ways. I like your theories and they make sense to me. Keep in mind that they the Egyptians were much closer to perfection than we are, (if you believe in the Bible says and it’s author) that they did not need computers or super sonic intelligence, they might have looked, analyzed things and tested before proceeding. I heard that Noah’s ark had titanium spikes in it! Look that one up on UA-cam, and cutting stone would not have been that difficult. If I think of or come across anything else, I’ll run them by you in the future. Thanks again.
I GET THAT ALL THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE SEE ME LIFT A 600 POUND WATER SLIDE INFLATABLE ALL BY MY SELF USING ONLY A HANDTRUCK TO PUT IT INSIDE THE VAN OR PICKUP TRUCK : )
Lovely theory. As a specialist in manual handling I have a few others. Your block flip up a level by lining the COG just above the edge works well in my experience.The pyramids had ramps, but try pushing a wheel barrow up a hill thats full of roadbase. You will be stuffed.They certainly were not for pulling stone blocks up. IMO they were for taking the horses up each day to work. Egyptian had chariots, ships, ships masts, ropes...pretty basic stuff. If I was building a pyramid with limited resources I would build it as efficiently as possible. 1. So here build canal to the centre of the pyramid site to unload. 2. Stick a tripod of ships masts with a chariot axle up top , Wrap the rope around the axle and turn the wheels acting like a rudimentary winch. 3. Lift blocks to slightly higher than their finished position so you can roll them down hill to the final position. 4. Use the horses to turn the chariot wheels. Not sure if they had block and tackle but that could be another option.
Show me a pyramid made from titanium or stainless steel and I'll entertain the idea of alien entervention. I've always been fascinated with how they got the masses involved and on board for such a project. " OK folks, now gather around, here's what we're going to do".........
The idea you show for the much heavier granite blocks probably was used for the smaller limestone blocks as well. With cribbing, no need to complete the lift in a single motion and the leverage could have been much greater. With a 10:1 lever you can lift half of a 3 ton block with only 300 pounds of downward force or the weight of just a couple workers hanging on the end of multiple levers. There is plenty of room for hundreds of these "jacking stations" around and up the pyramid. I think the 80 ton blocks would have been rocked side to side, not end to end to place the cribbing, allowing space for many more levers. I remember a TV program showing the remains of a vertical crosscut saw the Egyptians used to cut stone. Anybody able to direct us to that show?
Dude you are my new favorite pyramid guy. I’m extremely impressed with your model and logical explanation how it was built. One of the best and probably theories. And you actually moved stones unlike most people talking on the internet. Well never know until some crazy bastard goes out and builds a damn pyramid. And that crazy bastard is me.
I've been watching a few of these "how they were built" videos and this one so far makes the most sense. Well his first video. In the follow up he has great explanations to the questions.
So I have to weigh in here. John, I agree in principle your lever methold is very plausible and your arguments valid. In fact as a professional engineer I couldn't agree with you more that the guys on the job site will likely figure out the easiest way to lift the blocks. No one has a monopoly on good ideas from the laborer to the engineer. You just have to listen to everyone and sometimes you find a gem. Regarding your videos, I find it and the comments interesting as the exact ideas and arguments happened in the PBS show NOVA titled "This Old Pyramid" from November 4, 1992. In it, Roger Hopkins an artist and stone mason who was frequently the rock wall and granite steps guy on "This Old House" in the 80's and 90's, travels to Egypt with an archeologist, Dr Mark Lehrer, and another stone mason and sculptor whose name I can't come up with. They hire a local crew of masons to help build a small pyramid. On a rather chaotic jobsite with too many chiefs, they try out the lever and cribbing vs ramp theories. In this show, I don't think the lever method got a fair test. This second mason/sculptor wasn't very good as getting his ideas across. Roger wasn't patient as he had a deadline, and Dr. Lehrer was exactly like the intellectual you described in your video, who never probably made anything. So 27 yrs later I watch your video and think wow I have seen this before. If anyone can come up with the name of the other guy in the NOVA show, maybe we can find some further info about his (and John's) theories. Thanks, Jim Watch the episode season 19 episode 15 if you can
not sure of the name, but want to find it! By the way, the original excavator, Mariette, recorded finding wenches in the tombs of the Apis bulls (the cult existed at the time of the pyramid, although the earliest tombs we've found are from the 18th dynasty)
Please look at the work of Joseph Davidovits. The stones are man made (ancient concrete) in the same place with formwork so you only need the ramps or stairs to lift the material (men with buckets). Or maybe the ramps were used to lift granite blocks for the chambers.
It blows my mind that we've been to the moon, can raise skyscrapers that are dozens of stories high in only a few years, yet there's no definitive theory that is agreed on, on how the pyramids were built
Actually there is, it's just dumb ass people ignoring the facts that they were not built with primitive methods. As soon as you mention extraterrestrials everyone is programmed to deny it. Thousands of people know this, it is hidden. NOTHING about the "official" theories are bullshit....tomb? Egyptian religions don't even follow that concept, they put their bodies in the ground so that the spirit could be raised to the sky...
2.5M blocks in 20 years, that is about 340 blocks a day. Not to say it's impossible, I just cannot imagine it (cutting 300 blocks a day or moving and placing 300 blocks a day). The organization must've been something else! I would like to see a computer simulation of this building process. It will be very interesting to see various stages of the build, movement of stones etc. What we see here is the principle, but to see it all happening at the same time will be awesome. I think it will be a nice problem to solve for AI :)
Just excellent . The first common sense review I've seen and everything makes sense according to normal construction site practice and behaviour . Thanks (Jonny UK )
I am far from being an expert on pyramids, but I AM an expert on human physiology, so will have to correct one thing you falsely asserted - humans definitely ARE built for endurance. We are one of only a few animal species that can pant, which allows us to run for longer distances (dogs can also do this), and keep running. Most animals have to physically stop moving to catch their breath. Not us. In fact that’s how we used to hunt in some parts of the world. We’d run our prey down until they couldn’t run anymore and we’d kill them (or they’d die from over heating/exhaustion). We are literally the epitome of endurance animals. Aside from that, great video! Very informative.
I would give 'History for granite' a watch, very based. Explains that the inner blocks are mostly uncut, and only features like rooms, hallways, and the outside surface, were polished or squared. And a whole lot more, like it seems the pyramid which Houdin says has an internal ramp, seems to be built in a spiral, untill the outer layers. *edit, oh and they also had mortar. Now king tut's chariot has crude bearings, ropes and pulleys cant be far off. Also, king tuts tomb was closed with a knotted rope (looks excellent for 3000 year old rope), with a stamped seal over it.
well said .... as a mechanic - builder(wood & steel) - excavator(dirt mover) - and plumber(pipefitting) on the commercial level I believe your theories are spot on . as a side note: there is nothing funnier than an engineering student trying to build a tool shed from the ground up. ......... the ones who "get it" become architects & engineers. the ones who don't become consultants ................... ;-p
So interesting. I've always learned and watched your woodworking videos. I love both of the "pyramid" videos, a change of pace. You are a wise man, intelligence can be read in books, wisdom happens from doing and experiencing. I love the thought process, and seeing how you think about something. Thanks for the vid!
Bravo for your explanation! The statues on Easter Island were just wobbly walked down the road to get them in position. Maybe the aliens were so advanced that they understand that playing with blocks in a sandbox is one of the most fun times that can be had! Never underestimate the joy of creative expression!
Hello John, I just wanted to let you know that I found your theories of levering the blocks up a more gentle internal step (four sides) to be utterly credible. I was gobsmacked by the most compelling evidence of a simple aerial photograph (perhaps even Google Maps) showing traces of that technique. I think the best part of the theory is that it is hypothetically testable at the actual pyramid sites. And a simple contemporary mockup of a full-size stone is imminently doable, and likely will be done before long. One might then do a simple calculation of man hours required as compared to the ramps. I also appreciated your gentle rejoinder to how academics think compared to builders. (signed, Harvard-trained architect) Yes, and the water idea would be difficult and preposterous to do even with modern tools, materials and techniques.
Thanks… as far as rope, the roads in Khufu’s funerary boat, 4500 years old can still be used today. Besides being good at stone and woodworking, the Egyptians were great rope makers… and with quality control experts they wouldn’t have let the ropes get to the point of exhaustion. Take away your fear of rope breaks, and weight/counterweight is efficient leverage for the 20+ ton granite blocks. And you are right about the inner fill, etc. Peter James is the man the Egyptian government hired to renovate the pyramids, and he says they made the outside strong and then used a lot of fill, etc., so there were a lot fewer than 2.3 million stones… I’ve done videos about that… thanks again…
Look, it's simple. A bunch of us Irish boys headed to Egypt and built the pyramids by carrying the blocks on our shoulders. The Great Pyramid took 8 days to build because we were on a price and couldn't spin out a contract. All the smaller pyramids were built in the time we had left before the boat went back to Ireland.
I love the sand box idea! I can just see all those aliens getting in a fight over whose blocks are whose and just having a big block throwing battle. We would be finding blocks everywhere all over the desert and mommy alien would be furious and send them all to their rooms! 😆😆😆
Hi Mr Heisz, looking at your animation where the longer block is lifted from both ends. I just taught that if you create one structure in the middle, you can use the own weight of the block as a lever and it would be much easier to rock it back and fourth while you build the structure underneath. This technique could even be applied to shorter blocks? I used this technique to lift a large and heavy beam by myself when building my house Hope this makes sense!
The structure in the middle doesn't gain you anything. You still have to lift the same amount of weight to make room for increasing the height of the middle structure.
On the topic of how sturdy wood is: also depends heavily on the wood you'd use, and most construction where people might have experience with it is soft woods. Harder varieties are much more sturdy. Plus if you round the corners of the underlying stone you don't get a sharp pressure point. PS: what I really wonder is how you get stones on and off ships. These days everything is done via cranes but without one this could become tricky to some extent at least.
Yeah, John is right about this, I have myself stood up a number of 1000 pound logs at a beach just by using the exact same technique that he talks about here. I'm talking about a water soaked log that is 3-4 feet in diameter and 12-15 feet tall eucalyptus. I could barely budge the thing by me self but by shoving a stick under the ends I was able to lift it up by slowly building the support up inch by inch. The higher up you get it the easier it is to continue pushing it because you are left holding up less of the weight. I was able to hold the thing straight up by my self. that was 1000 pounds if I had 4 other people helping me it would have been a piece of cake, I think it took around an hour to do it but that also included digging the hole to stand it in and lining it up with a circle of logs that was already there. you would be surprised what people are capable of if they really put the effort into it.
Bravo on your theory! I have used the "tip-and-flop" leverage method (described in the previous video) to move heavy things uphill, such as 100# blocks of concrete, and wood rounds prior to splitting for firewood. People today depend on brute force (big machines) instead of cleverness and leverage to do seemingly super-human tasks.
A lot of people underestimate what can be done with a big stick and a couple dudes, I've helped move small buildings with leverage and cribbing. My theory on why there isn't any remnant broken wood is that they just, burned any poles that broke (for cooking, warmth, light, or just to get rid of it).
Great explanation. It certainly is the simplest solution I have seen which makes it more likely that that was the way it was done. Usually the simplest method to accomplish something is the best way.
My theory crafting. The limestone is kept shaded and wet so its soft to cut and polish. Copper chisels and saws with sand hot welded to the edge do the cutting. Recycle continuously as they ware with a smith at the quarry. 1 smith per 6 to 10 masons. Add vinegar to the cut groove as it forms. Vinegar dissolves limestone. Level faces by placing a wooden frame with putty to the face edge add water and chisel off the high points above the water. Add a semicircular wood piece to each end of the block so it rolls end over end smoothly. For long trips add them to all four long sides not the ends so its a wheel. Put long ropes or woven straps under the block and lift the roller/ block with a counter weight Shadoof. Thus rolling a large block becomes a two man job. This is how they rolled barrels up gang ways in the age of sail. Use a pair of boat hulls attached either side with the block below water to move in a canal from the quarry to the site. We know there was a canal. With the roller blocks reattached roll up hill to the pyramid site. You will need to slide the blocks a little so mix clay, olive or other seed oils and water to make a slippery putty. Roll up steps with ropes or matting straps underneath to apply uniform lifting/turning pressure. Once at the level you need to place the block strip off the wood roller ends and have them used as counter weights for the shadoofs. Or strap them together to make a wide barrel shaped wheel and roll it back to the quarry. Move the block wit levers and wedges into final position. For the big granite blocks you would need the stomach acid from animals to acid cut the block. Add fluoride-containing minerals to the acid brew to generate some fluoric acid cutting. Float the block by building a large modular boat around it. Block lift it with counter weights and jacking. Slide it on the level using sand counter weights and slick putty. Use the smaller blocks for the bigger blocks roads ramps and docks. Then re deploy them to the top of the Pyramid.
I think Stonehenge etc were cut in summer and moved in winter sliding on ice with lots of leather rope and basketry with snow used to both pull the block as counter weights and push the block as its heaped and packed behind.
Well I'm not 100% on how the pyramids were built but, I will say this. Nice shirt man. My father taught me when I was young, to play this whole album on guitar.
I am not only fascinated by the construction itself but also by the logistics of this mind blowing project. Constantly so many people at the job site, think of the tool makers, grinders, all the support staff, cooks, food providers, animal caretakers, you name it......really mind blown project for today, hard to imagine to pull out then. We will have to accept the fact that our ancestors were much smarter than we attribute to them.
I'd say they were simply the best of their time. It was a different culture and so many factors played into their ability to create these structures. The Nile was incredibly fertile and provided abundant food. No one died of famine, so there was abundant humans workers. Animals were being domesticated for use. Technology permitted the creation, formation and handling of large stones possible. Social structures were strong enough that people acceded to the will of their leaders and came together for a singular purpose. And many other factors were involved as well.
Like you said it yourself, talk about what you know, humans are not better suited for sprinting, is long known and proven that humans are the best long distance runners on the planet, you can search it and find experts on the subject confirming it. Just a comment. 😊 Great video by the way, keep up your amazing work!
The problem with the water theory is the pressure at the bottom as the height increases. With a height of over 450 feet the water pressure at ground level would be tremendous. Any water leaks at the bottom would produce high pressure jets that would probably be fatal if they hit a human, and they'd be impossible to plug up.
Well put John & I would agree with your explanation. What I would like to know is the exact dimensions, length, width & height, of each individual block? Because unless the length is more than twice the height, the method that you suggest would not work because the ratio would not allow for the tipping process. At least that is what makes sense to me. What say you?
John: There is another water system. The Isis Dam concept. There have been many dams through out history at the narrows of the Nile at the island of Roda near the three great pyramids of Egypt. The Nile valley walls have deposits of silt high on the sides. The dam blocks sealed with a coating of cement dust to help water proof them. You may want to consider this concept.
Since I was a kid and first saw these and other megalithic structures. I though some of them were 'poured' or cast in place like cement. It is super exciting that they are finding the evidences only recently supporting this in some sites. They surely used combinations of methods, I don't understand why people tend to get stuck in only one way thinking. Having a mechanically inclined brain that can easily visualize the way things work or visualize process, we been saying such things and dismissed over the preference of Giants or Aliens having built them, it is disturbing. They literally dismiss entire social classes of humans enslaved to work. I love the illustrations, people seem to really need them to see what we do in our mind. Great work.
It is strange that it is so unusual to hear someone who can actually think clearly. You must have some actual experience in building things, unlike those who imagine fanciful ideas. Not only are water lifters and ramps absurd, but those who think concrete was used to pour the blocks in place have probably never worked with concrete. Making two-sided forms would be no easy task considering the pressure they would need to withstand. Not to mention cement or polymer based concrete was not a known technology. Another absurd idea. Skilled craftsmen can create results that look amazing to those who do not have experience with their methods. As a Mechanical Engineer who has spent several years in that field and then 30+ years in residential construction, I appreciate your clear thinking.
Very good points! I agree that water elevator concept is a nonsense for practical reasons. I believe, however, they used a number of small ramps around the pyramids to speed up the process of transporting the blocks to lower levels. I think it was overall faster with ramps in those areas, but on higher levels of the structures the method of rolling the blocks you showed was more practical. People also often tend to miss the idea of power of parallel processing :) Multiple teams worked simultaneously, making the whole pyramid building process very efficient. Thanks again for your videos!
Hi John, CRIBBING... i believe wood was a major contributor to building, (mostly as Fulcrums-Rollers)IF you move the cribbing pieces closer to each other away from the ends, the OVERHANG acts as a counterweight thereby reducing the power needed to lift. These Pharaoh engineers had hundreds of years experience building pyramids.
I think that you correct here. The thing is they did have to build them somehow . I’ve seen a bunch of kids tip over a car weight about 1 tonne. So imagining men using lengths of wood to lever the blocks is an absolute certainty and it would be easy. It’s a shame you can’t find some blocks and get a small crew together to show how easy this would be. I’m with you on the water idea it’s absolutely absurd to think they floated the stone up the pyramid 😂.
Around 10:00 you mentioned using diamond to cut the stones. You can use sand between the bronze/copper tool and the stone to make an effective cutting tool for stone. I have tried that and while slower than a diamond tipped blade in a modern saw it works. I also tried your method of using the levers to flip the stones and by myself I can move a large stone nearly twice my weight. I think you are closer to the truth than what many schools teach.
add: they had abundant basalt and obsidian; IMO, those chips/powder would have easily done the trick when wet. In fact, you can use the dust/chips of these materials and ANY other medium (leather, bone, etc) to achieve a cut.
One thing about the internal ramp theory, it doesn't really become "internal" until the sheathing is applied. Until then it's running along the outside faces.
Some people wants to believe in aliens and not to give credit to human knowledge and habilites, some others does not have experience or the view to solve this construction situations, so big ramps was the best they can think about, but this ramps most be bigger than the same pirámides with more materials volumes. Your theory is a really good one including the corridors made of stone and then used to finish the construction. Plus the river was closer 5000 yeas ago, so bring bigger stones must have a simple explanation to. As we know, LESS IS MORE. I’m architect and I’m pretty surprised with your explanation, the most logical and real viable to. Congratulations. Brgds.
John, great ideas, however I think they might have used granite as a way to cut the limestone which is much weaker than the granite... granite was cut with granite - the old addage - iron sharpens iron... Great videos and ideas!
As someone with a degree in architecture, has worked in residential and commercial construction as a trades person, AND has been to the pyramids themselves, your ideas hold weight. There is some evidence at one of the great walls in the Luxor Temple site that shows the use of earth ramps to get stones and workers to higher levels and then used to back fill in the surrounding site as the work is competed from the top down - a method possibly for the finish layer of smaller bricks that would have covered the outside of the pyramids (note also reason why the 8-sided idea is just stupid as the surface we see now was not even visible or intended when construction was complete). Additionally, people that have not really studied and/or been to the site may not understand the overall scale of the site and the surrounding campus of workers (slaves) housing that is part of the site. They are still uncovering dwellings to this day which implies that the site was essentially its own village of people that lived and worked on site throughout the construction project. This means a nearly unlimited labor force for which to build and move things that easily would surpass estimates for build length by our modern standards of a 8-10 hour work day.
People have wondered why the causeway seems to cut across the Sphinx enclosure. Well, they could have moved the Sphinx further from the causeway but the Sphinx is the gateway to a huge underground library.
Great analysis. There is also evidence (in the form of cut marks on some stones) that they used giant circular saws up to 30 feet in diameter to make the precise cuts in the harder rock like granite and basalt. Not sure how they would be powered, maybe by elephants running in a giant hamster wheel connected to the giant saw blades by gears. Maybe water-power.
Well Mr. Heisz, you gave me something to thinck about. This does not mean that I beleive you ore not. For the moment I just have finished looking at your video, so it is to soon to give another comment. It is interesting and good to thinck about, what I can tell you right now, (I saw the documenterie on TV), is that you will be right to reject the water issue. Your contra meaning makes a lot of sence. Thanks for sharing your thouhts, thumbs up. Willy from Belgium.
I genuinely think you have some great ideas and points here, you obviously know what your talking about, now just align them to the stars above. I also know I'm a bit late on commenting lol
The reality is that the vast majority of intellectuals would die off if they were put in a situation that required them to figure out how to survive. But lots of ordinary joes will thrive as they do it every damn day.
Like I said in the original video, no one knows for certain how these were built and the methods I present here are just my best guesses based on my years in construction. Even today with so much technology at our disposal, much of the work that goes into putting together a building is done by hand by individual workers. And I don't see the great pyramids as anything other than a very large construction project with thousands of men doing relatively specialized jobs.
As for how long it took to build one or when they were built, that not really important. I do know that even if it took 100 years, they still would have used the most practical methods possible, and practical usually means the simplest and most direct.
I didn't mention another method commented on several times, and that's casting the stones from "geopolymer" concrete. It's easy to distinguish a real stone from one that's man-made, especially for the geologists that have looked at these structures. The limestone used for the bulk of the building was quarried from bedrock very close to the site and that limestone is relatively soft and easy to cut. The quarries are still there (Google search) and show the trenches between block as I described in this video.
As for the tools used, I think it's entirely possible that chisels were made with hard tips to make them more effective for cutting the stone. We have those today, chisels with carbide tips, and the technology is not much different from putting an arrow head on a wooden arrow shaft.
Sintering is widely used today to fuse diamond chips to a metal plate, and again that tech is not very advanced. While there's no evidence that it was used back then, you can't rule it out as a possibility. Like I said, the tools used to do this work were valuable and wouldn't be thrown away after they wore out. Not to mention the several thousand years between then and now, and how many people have had access to these buildings in that span of time and would have taken anything of value. Any kind of metal then was very valuable.
your missing a part of the alien theory and its that they mated with humans and then with the new hybrid knowledge they built it.
Seems to me the simplest reason John rules out aliens is because they talked with him and kindly asked him to. John is a decent guy like that. Seems to be a bunch of armchair archaeologists & philosophers engineering replies.
Now if only someone could figure out what the Rube Goldberg machine was actually meant to do.
Fun fact, when the Pyramids were built, the land surrounding Giza was a lush savanna, not the desert we know today. All the beasts of Africa lived and were hunted for food in that area. Forests were also in abundance, so wood for building was available. Twenty Five thousand years later the climate changed.
hey john, this reminded me about this video about a guy who has figured out how to move giant stone blocks by him self. more proof of the power of leverage and gravity.
ua-cam.com/video/-K7q20VzwVs/v-deo.html
Very nice! love your work. There is a branch of academic archaeology that is called Experimental Archaeology. They use materials and methods of the time. They measure amount of work, time and materials needed to complete a specific task.
Please consider the use of counter weights to elevate heavy stones. Many stones weighing less are easy to get up (a ramp) to then be use as a counter weight to raise heavier stones. They used block and tackles on their ships, why exclude its advantages for stone mobility?
The Great Pyramid of Egypt New Evidence Full Documentary (UA-cam, by National Geographic) , shows and proposes a counter weight system in the Grand Gallery to lift 60 ton granite stones. It is quite compelling.
ua-cam.com/video/d83mn1yxCHc/v-deo.html
They recovered saws, chisels and drill bits were recovered from a worker's village. They were an alloy of copper-arsenic-nickle, much stronger. Plus there are pictographs of them using drills and cutting stones. Also there are pictures of a team of oxen pulling stones on a sled.
The oldest papyrus discovered is a ship's log which stated it was transporting casing stones for Khufu's pyramid.
The stones were quarried according to how easy it was to cut along natural deformation of the layered sandstone.
I’m now a mechanical engineer, but I worked my way through engineering school as a general contractor. It absolutely amazes me how complicated “experts” try to make things. It’s amazing what you can do with cribbing and leverage!
My 2-1/2ton hydraulic floor jack barely lifts the front end of my truck, so I'll assume that it's close to 2-1/2 tons...the wooden cribbing I set up to keep it from falling down me doesnt seem to mind much, and we are talking about a small stack of 4x4x18" blocks of pressure treated pine....I figure if it holds up my Ford, it should hold up like stone too...
@@johnleasure3732 (their smarts would keep them from wasting the time of pouring concrete… not needed. Expensive, wasteful, time consuming and unnecessary)
Yes!
@@johnleasure3732 Nevermind the fact that concrete hadn't even been invented yet
It wouldn't be for ~1100 years
@@johnleasure3732 "For large scale projects like buildings, concrete should last up to 100 years if it's properly cared for. Concrete projects that experience more wear-and-tear like sidewalks and driveways have an expected lifespan of about half that-50 years." Let's be glad they were smart enough NOT to use concrete, never mind the fact it hadn't been needed or invented at the time. Horrible idea.
I always find it funny how people always say when talking about this stuff. We can't do it even today! I was an Ironworker, people not in the trades would be amazed at what 5 or 6 guys can move with very simple hand tools and some leverage. We could build pyramids with the same accuracy today it's just that we don't want to and it's too expensive. Great video.
Same with the moon landing. We can't do it today because we don't have the political support and the money. Both of these things were plentiful for the pyramids
yeah really, and of course ancient egypt was a superpower, so they really have a lot of money to put it together.
"Its just because we don't want to.." 😂😂😂🤣😂
Who's we? If " we" could build it. Then reverse engineer the ones already there and explain how they did it. I'll drop the mic and wait
@@EmperorNerox doesn’t matter how they did it and there’s not much to reverse engineer it’s just block on top of block. The we is most any construction worker worth their weight in piss.
Use wood blocks every day to hold up locomotives and their parts. We also use wood blocks to get a locomotive back on the rails if it derails, really versatile simple tool.
@UPSIPO That is where planning and job specialization comes into play. Keep them organized and keep those not involved away.
How about 1000tons like balbeck. Multiple 1000ton stones 20feet up .
Do that with wood.
They didn't have much wood to pick from . Be more curious how the boxes at the serapeum were moved placed and cut
I am sitting here listening to you talk about how the pyramids were built! What am I going to learn from this that has a practical application to what I do in today’s society? Well... levers. I have used them many times to lift things, especially when my sons were younger and they wanted to heave-ho something risking injury. I showed them how easy it is if you use practical applications to do a sometimes impractical task. Hence using a breaker bar on a cars lug nuts. Also, while you were talking about the stacking of the wood to raise each side of the stone, it brought back a memory of an older gentleman showing me his old studebaker car and how he said he built the garage it was parked in. The garage had a 20 ft. x 12” steel beam spanned across it. I commented that he must have had a lot of help in order to get that beam up there. He said “ nope “, did it myself. I thought he was nuts until he told me how he did it. He built the footer for each end of the beam and laid a cinder block, the next day, carefully raised the beam in place , went to the other side, put the new cinder block in, the next day he raised the beam on top of the the newest cinder block and so on until it reached the height he needed. He used a car jack and wood to raise it. What some would think would be an impossible task for one person was actually easy, not quick, but relatively easy with just a little common sense and patience.
I would like to add to the wood strength; I use 4x4" every day in work under a mobile cranes outriggers. Just four of those can handle easily like 50 metric tons of pressure without snapping or breaking.
Thats fine but no wood in a diameter capable of making a 4X4 beam was anywhere near
@@glennhofstetter9409 the Egyptian society has documented boats that sailed up the nile?
What did they build those ships out of? The same tradesmen who built boats moved them?
In other words the expertise to move large objects was available in Egyptian culture and one of the objects mentioned was rafts for moving the stones from aswan, wouldn't it be feasible to just dismantle those rafts once they had arrived near the pyramid site, providing the very wood necessary to move the stones?
This is extremely relatable, I have a degree in Construction Management and what you say rings true. Sometimes it is the simplest way that is so difficult to grasp.
That last line is classic!
Your logic - the work was done by the simplest method - seems most likely. Scholars with no building experience add complexities and steps that make no sense.
spot on.....Keep is simple stupid !
Years ago I remember a New York sculpture , I don't remember his name, was looking to move a massive block of granite. He resersched the early pyramid builders and found tucked away in a museum bastment something that had been called a quarter wedge by the archeologists.They didn't know what it was used for. It was shaped like a quarter circle and flat on the other side. It was made of wood and was highly deteriorated.He figured that by taking four of these quarter wedges and strapping them around a stone he was able to roll the stone. A photograph I remember showed him rolling the assembly up a flight of stone stairs. I aways felt he had hit upon a a reasonable explanation for the pyramids construction. I used this method to move a heavy steel tank, worked great! Keep up the great work on your site. And don't ever stop figuren'.
I think that this video is a pyramid scheme. lol
I like your theory John. I’m a journeyman sprinkler pipe fitter and have worked with 12inch sch40 pipe which is over 50lbs per foot. The pipe comes on 21’ lengths. After it’s unloaded off the truck everything else is done by hand using many of the basic methods you mentioned to lift it and hang it 10+ feet in the air.
i think you're right about the simpler the method, the more likely it was used. I'm a superintendent and from my experience, the easier to explain a task, the larger the amount of people that will understand, SUPPORT, and perform your way forward.
Love this stuff. As an engineer i find it extremely interesting.
I finally looked up this water elevator method thing, who in the world thought if this. Its complete lunacy. They built this massive river for miles and some massive water tight shaft straight up with locks like the Panama Canal. Its just crazy. The cost of building this elevator would greatly outweigh the lifting method John described, especially when labor was extremely plentiful.
And then as soon as the video ended, an add for this book of fiction comes up.
Nope, you're wrong. Aliens. Alien Children! Told to go play in the sand while Mummy is busy fishing for helium breathing Leviathans on Jupiter.
I loved that explanation and also how you deal with criticism and intellectuals that have never touched a hammer at the same time while always remaining super friendly, calm and polite. Great video as always, please keep going, I really love watching your content.
Lapping can get stones very smooth, so you'd be able to fit them together very tight. A simple method. I think the main problem is us nowadays thinking they were too stupid in the past to be able to do anything advanced.
THAT MAKES US THE STUPID ONES FOR NOT WANTING TO BELEIVE THAT THESE PEOPLE FROM THE PAST WHERE VERY INTELEGENT FOR THEYRE TIME SO YOU ARE COMPLETLY CORRECT MY FRIEND THESE PEOPLE WHERE MASTERS OF WOOD STONE AND METAL MATERIAL .
I agree that most of the theories on how the pyramids were built probably came from Archaeologists or as you say intellectuals (people who either say they are smart or think they are) but who had no real understanding of or experience in/of building anything as big as these big piles of blocks. Because these good folks think in abstract and very intricate difficult patterns (to make the rest of us they are so more intelligent than we are) of course they will come up with the most difficult method of doing things just to make sound impressive on paper. They seem to have forgotten to look in the mirror -- or they would have realized people are basically LAZY and like to find the easiest and simplest ways to do everything.Great Video, keep em coming John.
Teeter Totter and wood cribbing method to raise stones. If you find the center balance point on a large rectangular stone, put a piece of wood underneath, rock stone back and forth lifting each end 1 inch or 1 foot, fill in with wood cribbing, you can raise heavy stones with little effort.
first of all i'm Egyptian and i can say that the most popular opinion about the theory of building the pyramids here in Egypt is
the pyramids had been built by molding mixture of mud and other common materials of that time
layer by layer, preparing the molds and cast the mixture and burn it until it Hardens in place.
i kind of believe it especially that explains how they managed to plan all the chambers and corridors inside
.
i am a fan of yours and i really appreciate your
helpful and wonderful videos
god bless you,
personally, I find the theory attractive; especially when you can tell that some pyramids used stones and mortar & others adobe brick.
However, the stones are pretty robust, and if the method were used for these stones, then why wasn't it continued in other structures?
Also, wouldn't there by waste material (mis-castings) somewhere?
Lastly, wouldn't it take more work to pulverize 2.5tons of limestone than to just cut the rock out?
PS: I'll be in Cairo in 3 months, and look forward to seeing the pyramids again.
Your method makes the best sense of all the ones I’ve seen over the years either way John it’s damn interesting trying to figure it out🤠👍🔨
The 8 sides of the Great Pyramid was first observed by pilots in the 1930's who saw a distinct line down the middle of each side when the sun was at angles allowing the shadow to make it visible. And has been demonstrated and measured accurately for over 75 years. it is only a few degrees off flat on each side, but absolutely straight and precise, duplicated 4 times.
The granite stone blocks for the KC were pulled up the back side of the pyramid by a counterweight pulley system that was situated in the Grand Gallery
I love this discussion topic. I sometimes get ask when installing a good size kitchen full of cabinets, “where is your helper?” I’ve learned to maneuver and use leverage to get things in place. It’s a bit slower but customers are always impressed how I can get so much done by myself. Tricks of the trade and a little common sense goes a long ways. I like your theories and they make sense to me. Keep in mind that they the Egyptians were much closer to perfection than we are, (if you believe in the Bible says and it’s author) that they did not need computers or super sonic intelligence, they might have looked, analyzed things and tested before proceeding. I heard that Noah’s ark had titanium spikes in it! Look that one up on UA-cam, and cutting stone would not have been that difficult. If I think of or come across anything else, I’ll run them by you in the future. Thanks again.
I GET THAT ALL THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE SEE ME LIFT A 600 POUND WATER SLIDE INFLATABLE ALL BY MY SELF USING ONLY A HANDTRUCK TO PUT IT INSIDE THE VAN OR PICKUP TRUCK : )
Lovely theory. As a specialist in manual handling I have a few others. Your block flip up a level by lining the COG just above the edge works well in my experience.The pyramids had ramps, but try pushing a wheel barrow up a hill thats full of roadbase. You will be stuffed.They certainly were not for pulling stone blocks up. IMO they were for taking the horses up each day to work.
Egyptian had chariots, ships, ships masts, ropes...pretty basic stuff.
If I was building a pyramid with limited resources I would build it as efficiently as possible.
1. So here build canal to the centre of the pyramid site to unload.
2. Stick a tripod of ships masts with a chariot axle up top , Wrap the rope around the axle and turn the wheels acting like a rudimentary winch.
3. Lift blocks to slightly higher than their finished position so you can roll them down hill to the final position.
4. Use the horses to turn the chariot wheels.
Not sure if they had block and tackle but that could be another option.
Show me a pyramid made from titanium or stainless steel and I'll entertain the idea of alien entervention. I've always been fascinated with how they got the masses involved and on board for such a project. " OK folks, now gather around, here's what we're going to do".........
The idea you show for the much heavier granite blocks probably was used for the smaller limestone blocks as well. With cribbing, no need to complete the lift in a single motion and the leverage could have been much greater. With a 10:1 lever you can lift half of a 3 ton block with only 300 pounds of downward force or the weight of just a couple workers hanging on the end of multiple levers. There is plenty of room for hundreds of these "jacking stations" around and up the pyramid. I think the 80 ton blocks would have been rocked side to side, not end to end to place the cribbing, allowing space for many more levers.
I remember a TV program showing the remains of a vertical crosscut saw the Egyptians used to cut stone. Anybody able to direct us to that show?
Dude you are my new favorite pyramid guy. I’m extremely impressed with your model and logical explanation how it was built. One of the best and probably theories. And you actually moved stones unlike most people talking on the internet. Well never know until some crazy bastard goes out and builds a damn pyramid. And that crazy bastard is me.
I've been watching a few of these "how they were built" videos and this one so far makes the most sense. Well his first video. In the follow up he has great explanations to the questions.
So I have to weigh in here. John, I agree in principle your lever methold is very plausible and your arguments valid. In fact as a professional engineer I couldn't agree with you more that the guys on the job site will likely figure out the easiest way to lift the blocks. No one has a monopoly on good ideas from the laborer to the engineer. You just have to listen to everyone and sometimes you find a gem. Regarding your videos, I find it and the comments interesting as the exact ideas and arguments happened in the PBS show NOVA titled "This Old Pyramid" from November 4, 1992. In it, Roger Hopkins an artist and stone mason who was frequently the rock wall and granite steps guy on "This Old House" in the 80's and 90's, travels to Egypt with an archeologist, Dr Mark Lehrer, and another stone mason and sculptor whose name I can't come up with. They hire a local crew of masons to help build a small pyramid. On a rather chaotic jobsite with too many chiefs, they try out the lever and cribbing vs ramp theories. In this show, I don't think the lever method got a fair test. This second mason/sculptor wasn't very good as getting his ideas across. Roger wasn't patient as he had a deadline, and Dr. Lehrer was exactly like the intellectual you described in your video, who never probably made anything. So 27 yrs later I watch your video and think wow I have seen this before. If anyone can come up with the name of the other guy in the NOVA show, maybe we can find some further info about his (and John's) theories. Thanks, Jim
Watch the episode season 19 episode 15 if you can
not sure of the name, but want to find it!
By the way, the original excavator, Mariette, recorded finding wenches in the tombs of the Apis bulls (the cult existed at the time of the pyramid, although the earliest tombs we've found are from the 18th dynasty)
Please look at the work of Joseph Davidovits. The stones are man made (ancient concrete) in the same place with formwork so you only need the ramps or stairs to lift the material (men with buckets). Or maybe the ramps were used to lift granite blocks for the chambers.
It blows my mind that we've been to the moon, can raise skyscrapers that are dozens of stories high in only a few years, yet there's no definitive theory that is agreed on, on how the pyramids were built
Archeologist need to be send to an engineering school before let them talk again.
@UPSIPO Yes.
Actually there is, it's just dumb ass people ignoring the facts that they were not built with primitive methods. As soon as you mention extraterrestrials everyone is programmed to deny it. Thousands of people know this, it is hidden. NOTHING about the "official" theories are bullshit....tomb? Egyptian religions don't even follow that concept, they put their bodies in the ground so that the spirit could be raised to the sky...
@Paul We didn't evolve from apes. Apes and Humans evolved from a common ancestor.
@Paul this is bait.
you're on youtube how hard is it to look up the evidence to prove that wrong?
Blocks in a sandbox!!! That is terrific!!!
2.5M blocks in 20 years, that is about 340 blocks a day. Not to say it's impossible, I just cannot imagine it (cutting 300 blocks a day or moving and placing 300 blocks a day). The organization must've been something else!
I would like to see a computer simulation of this building process. It will be very interesting to see various stages of the build, movement of stones etc. What we see here is the principle, but to see it all happening at the same time will be awesome. I think it will be a nice problem to solve for AI :)
the so call air shafts, blow my mind. the building of the inside structure of the pyramid is complex. it is more than just moving and stacking stones.
Just excellent . The first common sense review I've seen and everything makes sense according to normal construction site practice and behaviour . Thanks (Jonny UK )
I am far from being an expert on pyramids, but I AM an expert on human physiology, so will have to correct one thing you falsely asserted - humans definitely ARE built for endurance. We are one of only a few animal species that can pant, which allows us to run for longer distances (dogs can also do this), and keep running. Most animals have to physically stop moving to catch their breath. Not us. In fact that’s how we used to hunt in some parts of the world. We’d run our prey down until they couldn’t run anymore and we’d kill them (or they’d die from over heating/exhaustion). We are literally the epitome of endurance animals.
Aside from that, great video! Very informative.
We are built for endurance in aerobic situations. What about anaerobic situations like lifting?
ikeknights no animal is designed for that. It’s not some that naturally occurs in nature.
We love the videos John. I feel like I have a lot more common sense I had lost to conspiracy fever again after watching! Keep up the good work.
You present very compelling ideas and theories, John. Your logic is sound.
The best explanation on construction method i have heard.
I would give 'History for granite' a watch, very based. Explains that the inner blocks are mostly uncut, and only features like rooms, hallways, and the outside surface, were polished or squared. And a whole lot more, like it seems the pyramid which Houdin says has an internal ramp, seems to be built in a spiral, untill the outer layers. *edit, oh and they also had mortar. Now king tut's chariot has crude bearings, ropes and pulleys cant be far off. Also, king tuts tomb was closed with a knotted rope (looks excellent for 3000 year old rope), with a stamped seal over it.
Occam's razor the simplest answer is usually the best. Your logic is spot on.
well said .... as a mechanic - builder(wood & steel) - excavator(dirt mover) - and plumber(pipefitting) on the commercial level I believe your theories are spot on . as a side note: there is nothing funnier than an engineering student trying to build a tool shed from the ground up. ......... the ones who "get it" become architects & engineers. the ones who don't become consultants ................... ;-p
So interesting. I've always learned and watched your woodworking videos. I love both of the "pyramid" videos, a change of pace. You are a wise man, intelligence can be read in books, wisdom happens from doing and experiencing. I love the thought process, and seeing how you think about something. Thanks for the vid!
Bravo for your explanation! The statues on Easter Island were just wobbly walked down the road to get them in position.
Maybe the aliens were so advanced that they understand that playing with blocks in a sandbox is one of the most fun times that can be had! Never underestimate the joy of creative expression!
Thank you for this down to Earth simple solution.
Hello John, I just wanted to let you know that I found your theories of levering the blocks up a more gentle internal step (four sides) to be utterly credible. I was gobsmacked by the most compelling evidence of a simple aerial photograph (perhaps even Google Maps) showing traces of that technique. I think the best part of the theory is that it is hypothetically testable at the actual pyramid sites. And a simple contemporary mockup of a full-size stone is imminently doable, and likely will be done before long. One might then do a simple calculation of man hours required as compared to the ramps. I also appreciated your gentle rejoinder to how academics think compared to builders. (signed, Harvard-trained architect) Yes, and the water idea would be difficult and preposterous to do even with modern tools, materials and techniques.
Pyramidology....fun and interesting.. well done. Thanks
Talking about the great pyramid like it's just another construction project your buddy worked on last year. Great practical analysis.
Thanks… as far as rope, the roads in Khufu’s funerary boat, 4500 years old can still be used today. Besides being good at stone and woodworking, the Egyptians were great rope makers… and with quality control experts they wouldn’t have let the ropes get to the point of exhaustion. Take away your fear of rope breaks, and weight/counterweight is efficient leverage for the 20+ ton granite blocks.
And you are right about the inner fill, etc. Peter James is the man the Egyptian government hired to renovate the pyramids, and he says they made the outside strong and then used a lot of fill, etc., so there were a lot fewer than 2.3 million stones… I’ve done videos about that… thanks again…
Look, it's simple. A bunch of us Irish boys headed to Egypt and built the pyramids by carrying the blocks on our shoulders. The Great Pyramid took 8 days to build because we were on a price and couldn't spin out a contract. All the smaller pyramids were built in the time we had left before the boat went back to Ireland.
I liked your video, I can imagine you as an ancient Egyptian project manager telling the Pharos "here's how were going to do this"
I love the sand box idea! I can just see all those aliens getting in a fight over whose blocks are whose and just having a big block throwing battle. We would be finding blocks everywhere all over the desert and mommy alien would be furious and send them all to their rooms! 😆😆😆
Hi Mr Heisz, looking at your animation where the longer block is lifted from both ends. I just taught that if you create one structure in the middle, you can use the own weight of the block as a lever and it would be much easier to rock it back and fourth while you build the structure underneath. This technique could even be applied to shorter blocks? I used this technique to lift a large and heavy beam by myself when building my house Hope this makes sense!
The structure in the middle doesn't gain you anything. You still have to lift the same amount of weight to make room for increasing the height of the middle structure.
On the topic of how sturdy wood is: also depends heavily on the wood you'd use, and most construction where people might have experience with it is soft woods. Harder varieties are much more sturdy. Plus if you round the corners of the underlying stone you don't get a sharp pressure point.
PS: what I really wonder is how you get stones on and off ships. These days everything is done via cranes but without one this could become tricky to some extent at least.
Your theory is as good as any other proffered thus far. Thanks for the critical thinking.
Yeah, John is right about this, I have myself stood up a number of 1000 pound logs at a beach just by using the exact same technique that he talks about here. I'm talking about a water soaked log that is 3-4 feet in diameter and 12-15 feet tall eucalyptus. I could barely budge the thing by me self but by shoving a stick under the ends I was able to lift it up by slowly building the support up inch by inch. The higher up you get it the easier it is to continue pushing it because you are left holding up less of the weight. I was able to hold the thing straight up by my self. that was 1000 pounds if I had 4 other people helping me it would have been a piece of cake, I think it took around an hour to do it but that also included digging the hole to stand it in and lining it up with a circle of logs that was already there. you would be surprised what people are capable of if they really put the effort into it.
Bravo on your theory! I have used the "tip-and-flop" leverage method (described in the previous video) to move heavy things uphill, such as 100# blocks of concrete, and wood rounds prior to splitting for firewood. People today depend on brute force (big machines) instead of cleverness and leverage to do seemingly super-human tasks.
A lot of people underestimate what can be done with a big stick and a couple dudes, I've helped move small buildings with leverage and cribbing.
My theory on why there isn't any remnant broken wood is that they just, burned any poles that broke (for cooking, warmth, light, or just to get rid of it).
Great explanation. It certainly is the simplest solution I have seen which makes it more likely that that was the way it was done. Usually the simplest method to accomplish something is the best way.
My theory crafting. The limestone is kept shaded and wet so its soft to cut and polish. Copper chisels and saws with sand hot welded to the edge do the cutting. Recycle continuously as they ware with a smith at the quarry. 1 smith per 6 to 10 masons. Add vinegar to the cut groove as it forms. Vinegar dissolves limestone. Level faces by placing a wooden frame with putty to the face edge add water and chisel off the high points above the water.
Add a semicircular wood piece to each end of the block so it rolls end over end smoothly. For long trips add them to all four long sides not the ends so its a wheel. Put long ropes or woven straps under the block and lift the roller/ block with a counter weight Shadoof. Thus rolling a large block becomes a two man job. This is how they rolled barrels up gang ways in the age of sail.
Use a pair of boat hulls attached either side with the block below water to move in a canal from the quarry to the site. We know there was a canal. With the roller blocks reattached roll up hill to the pyramid site. You will need to slide the blocks a little so mix clay, olive or other seed oils and water to make a slippery putty.
Roll up steps with ropes or matting straps underneath to apply uniform lifting/turning pressure. Once at the level you need to place the block strip off the wood roller ends and have them used as counter weights for the shadoofs. Or strap them together to make a wide barrel shaped wheel and roll it back to the quarry. Move the block wit levers and wedges into final position.
For the big granite blocks you would need the stomach acid from animals to acid cut the block. Add fluoride-containing minerals to the acid brew to generate some fluoric acid cutting. Float the block by building a large modular boat around it. Block lift it with counter weights and jacking. Slide it on the level using sand counter weights and slick putty. Use the smaller blocks for the bigger blocks roads ramps and docks. Then re deploy them to the top of the Pyramid.
I think Stonehenge etc were cut in summer and moved in winter sliding on ice with lots of leather rope and basketry with snow used to both pull the block as counter weights and push the block as its heaped and packed behind.
I like your theory. It's more logical and practical than those ramps and water theories.
What a video...I recently discovered your channel and instantly bacame your fan....Love you
Well I'm not 100% on how the pyramids were built but, I will say this.
Nice shirt man. My father taught me when I was young, to play this whole album on guitar.
I am not only fascinated by the construction itself but also by the logistics of this mind blowing project. Constantly so many people at the job site, think of the tool makers, grinders, all the support staff, cooks, food providers, animal caretakers, you name it......really mind blown project for today, hard to imagine to pull out then. We will have to accept the fact that our ancestors were much smarter than we attribute to them.
I'd say they were simply the best of their time. It was a different culture and so many factors played into their ability to create these structures. The Nile was incredibly fertile and provided abundant food. No one died of famine, so there was abundant humans workers. Animals were being domesticated for use. Technology permitted the creation, formation and handling of large stones possible. Social structures were strong enough that people acceded to the will of their leaders and came together for a singular purpose. And many other factors were involved as well.
Like you said it yourself, talk about what you know, humans are not better suited for sprinting, is long known and proven that humans are the best long distance runners on the planet, you can search it and find experts on the subject confirming it. Just a comment. 😊 Great video by the way, keep up your amazing work!
The problem with the water theory is the pressure at the bottom as the height increases. With a height of over 450 feet the water pressure at ground level would be tremendous. Any water leaks at the bottom would produce high pressure jets that would probably be fatal if they hit a human, and they'd be impossible to plug up.
Enjoy your thought process and open mindedness to questions and allowing a discussion.
Your theory sounds very sensible. I'd double check if the pyramid stones are cubes or more rectangular, like yours.
Well put John & I would agree with your explanation. What I would like to know is the exact dimensions, length, width & height, of each individual block? Because unless the length is more than twice the height, the method that you suggest would not work because the ratio would not allow for the tipping process. At least that is what makes sense to me. What say you?
John: There is another water system. The Isis Dam concept. There have been many dams through out history at the narrows of the Nile at the island of Roda near the three great pyramids of Egypt. The Nile valley walls have deposits of silt high on the sides. The dam blocks sealed with a coating of cement dust to help water proof them. You may want to consider this concept.
Since I was a kid and first saw these and other megalithic structures. I though some of them were 'poured' or cast in place like cement. It is super exciting that they are finding the evidences only recently supporting this in some sites. They surely used combinations of methods, I don't understand why people tend to get stuck in only one way thinking. Having a mechanically inclined brain that can easily visualize the way things work or visualize process, we been saying such things and dismissed over the preference of Giants or Aliens having built them, it is disturbing. They literally dismiss entire social classes of humans enslaved to work. I love the illustrations, people seem to really need them to see what we do in our mind. Great work.
John 🤔👍👍👍
Under the BOTTOM corner stone is a set of IBUILIT table saw plans, a bag of diamonds and snapshot from TOT.
😎😎😎😎
It is strange that it is so unusual to hear someone who can actually think clearly. You must have some actual experience in building things, unlike those who imagine fanciful ideas. Not only are water lifters and ramps absurd, but those who think concrete was used to pour the blocks in place have probably never worked with concrete. Making two-sided forms would be no easy task considering the pressure they would need to withstand. Not to mention cement or polymer based concrete was not a known technology. Another absurd idea. Skilled craftsmen can create results that look amazing to those who do not have experience with their methods. As a Mechanical Engineer who has spent several years in that field and then 30+ years in residential construction, I appreciate your clear thinking.
This is a great idea. Thank you for your time and research
Congrats to identify that subject with the pyramids. You well deserve the (almost) 1.1 million views of the first video!
“Play with blocks in a big sandbox” best retort for the alien theory!
Very good points! I agree that water elevator concept is a nonsense for practical reasons.
I believe, however, they used a number of small ramps around the pyramids to speed up the process of transporting the blocks to lower levels. I think it was overall faster with ramps in those areas, but on higher levels of the structures the method of rolling the blocks you showed was more practical. People also often tend to miss the idea of power of parallel processing :) Multiple teams worked simultaneously, making the whole pyramid building process very efficient. Thanks again for your videos!
Hi John, CRIBBING... i believe wood was a major contributor to building, (mostly as Fulcrums-Rollers)IF you move the cribbing pieces closer to each other away from the ends, the OVERHANG acts as a counterweight thereby reducing the power needed to lift. These Pharaoh engineers had hundreds of years experience building pyramids.
Building a piramid in Minecraft is way much easier than in the real big sandbox ;-) and by far less dangerous.... Very nice approach of yours.
Sir, you're a genius. I would trade you over any of my university physics professors
Very true. One thing that defines "intellectuals" is an abiding scorn for anything that happens from the neck down.
Your theory rocks, man.
I think that you correct here. The thing is they did have to build them somehow . I’ve seen a bunch of kids tip over a car weight about 1 tonne. So imagining men using lengths of wood to lever the blocks is an absolute certainty and it would be easy. It’s a shame you can’t find some blocks and get a small crew together to show how easy this would be. I’m with you on the water idea it’s absolutely absurd to think they floated the stone up the pyramid 😂.
Around 10:00 you mentioned using diamond to cut the stones. You can use sand between the bronze/copper tool and the stone to make an effective cutting tool for stone. I have tried that and while slower than a diamond tipped blade in a modern saw it works. I also tried your method of using the levers to flip the stones and by myself I can move a large stone nearly twice my weight. I think you are closer to the truth than what many schools teach.
add: they had abundant basalt and obsidian; IMO, those chips/powder would have easily done the trick when wet. In fact, you can use the dust/chips of these materials and ANY other medium (leather, bone, etc) to achieve a cut.
One thing about the internal ramp theory, it doesn't really become "internal" until the sheathing is applied. Until then it's running along the outside faces.
Some people wants to believe in aliens and not to give credit to human knowledge and habilites, some others does not have experience or the view to solve this construction situations, so big ramps was the best they can think about, but this ramps most be bigger than the same pirámides with more materials volumes. Your theory is a really good one including the corridors made of stone and then used to finish the construction. Plus the river was closer 5000 yeas ago, so bring bigger stones must have a simple explanation to. As we know, LESS IS MORE.
I’m architect and I’m pretty surprised with your explanation, the most logical and real viable to. Congratulations.
Brgds.
Cool ideas and explenations. Thank you.
John, great ideas, however I think they might have used granite as a way to cut the limestone which is much weaker than the granite... granite was cut with granite - the old addage - iron sharpens iron... Great videos and ideas!
As someone with a degree in architecture, has worked in residential and commercial construction as a trades person, AND has been to the pyramids themselves, your ideas hold weight. There is some evidence at one of the great walls in the Luxor Temple site that shows the use of earth ramps to get stones and workers to higher levels and then used to back fill in the surrounding site as the work is competed from the top down - a method possibly for the finish layer of smaller bricks that would have covered the outside of the pyramids (note also reason why the 8-sided idea is just stupid as the surface we see now was not even visible or intended when construction was complete).
Additionally, people that have not really studied and/or been to the site may not understand the overall scale of the site and the surrounding campus of workers (slaves) housing that is part of the site. They are still uncovering dwellings to this day which implies that the site was essentially its own village of people that lived and worked on site throughout the construction project. This means a nearly unlimited labor force for which to build and move things that easily would surpass estimates for build length by our modern standards of a 8-10 hour work day.
What was the simulation software you used to visually show us your explanation?
People have wondered why the causeway seems to cut across the Sphinx enclosure. Well, they could have moved the Sphinx further from the causeway but the Sphinx is the gateway to a huge underground library.
Great analysis. There is also evidence (in the form of cut marks on some stones) that they used giant circular saws up to 30 feet in diameter to make the precise cuts in the harder rock like granite and basalt. Not sure how they would be powered, maybe by elephants running in a giant hamster wheel connected to the giant saw blades by gears. Maybe water-power.
Some say that vast majority of stones were made of geopolymer (concrete), so blocks were formed in their final place.
Well Mr. Heisz, you gave me something to thinck about.
This does not mean that I beleive you ore not.
For the moment I just have finished looking at your video, so it is to soon to give another comment.
It is interesting and good to thinck about, what I can tell you right now, (I saw the documenterie on TV), is that you will be right to reject the water issue.
Your contra meaning makes a lot of sence.
Thanks for sharing your thouhts, thumbs up.
Willy from Belgium.
you and wally wallington (the stonehenge guy) should meet up!
Good teorhy,thanks for shere ,greetings from Aguascalientes México.
I genuinely think you have some great ideas and points here, you obviously know what your talking about, now just align them to the stars above. I also know I'm a bit late on commenting lol
So no aliens?
The reality is that the vast majority of intellectuals would die off if they were put in a situation that required them to figure out how to survive. But lots of ordinary joes will thrive as they do it every damn day.