![]() In 1995, the Giza Inspectorate “excavated trenches through thick layers of limestone debris south of the southwest corner of Khufu’s pyramid. ( Vermeulen-Perdaen / Adobe stock)Īmazingly, the potential construction ramp of the Great Pyramid has already been discovered, and it was similar to these other ramps. ![]() ![]() Remains of an ancient mud-brick ramp at the Temple of Karnak at Thebes (First Pylon, New Kingdom). Likely built by Huni, Sneferu’s father and Khufu’s grandfather, this pyramid has four construction ramps still in place, composed of two outer mud-brick walls with an interior fill of debris and stone chips. Further examples come from the abandoned step pyramid of Sinki at Abydos. Made of mud brick, it was never completely disassembled, and it stands today as testament to the manner in which these large stone structures were built and decorated. The best example comes from the Temple of Karnak at Thebes, where it can be found still leaning against the back of the towering First Pylon. What About the Evidence?Įvidence of earth ramps do exist in Egypt. There is also a depiction on a New Kingdom stela showing six oxen pulling a block on a sled (~1575 BC), and many actual sleds have been recovered. Numerous recent experiments have confirmed this possibility, including a study in 2014 by Daniel Bonn and other scientists from the FOM Foundation and the University of Amsterdam that demonstrated the right proportion of water on sand could reduce the required people hauling a block by half. Three different pyramid ramp proposals, by Uvo Hölsher (left), Dieter Arnold (center) and Mark Lehner (right). They suggest that water or milk would have been used to lubricate wooden sleds strapped with stone blocks, similar to a scene from the Middle Kingdom tomb of Djehuti-hotep (~1900 BC). ![]() Meanwhile, Giza archaeologists Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner believe the material evidence most clearly points to a spiral ramp that would have twisted up the exterior of the pyramid, either resting against the structure or on a large earthen mound. Late German Egyptologist Uvo Hölscher believed the Egyptians employed a short ramp that zig-zagged all the way up the face of the pyramid, while Dieter Arnold, the German archaeologist who wrote the famous Building in Egypt (1991) believes a long ramp was used, but that it cut through the center of and was partially composed of the pyramid itself. Three types of single, straight pyramid ramps to build that could have been used in the construction of the ancient site. Since then, this idea has largely been discredited due to lack of evidence, and other theories have taken its place. Many Theories for the Pyramid Rampīy the end of the 19 th century, Petrie had carefully measured the Pyramids of Giza, particularly the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and determined that the likeliest manner of their construction was using a single, long ramp, with a smaller zig-zag ramp near the summit. This idea was first mentioned two millennia ago by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, who recounted what the Egyptians told him about the pyramids: "It is said that … the construction was undertaken with the help of ramps of earth, since at that time cranes had not yet been invented." (Library of History 1. As famed Egyptologist Flinders Petrie records in his The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh (1883): “The means employed for raising such masses of stone is not shown to us in any representations.” The brightest minds in the world still wrestle with competing ideas, offering educated guesses based on incomplete evidence.Įvery theory begins with the inclined plane, or the pyramid ramp. The mystery of how the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt were built continues to elude scholars, even in the 21 st century.
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