Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: Secrets of the pyramids finally revealed

Friday, June 24, 2016

Secrets of the pyramids finally revealed

Jean-Pierre Houdin via ; Wisdom Quarterly

(Lexxtex 293) THE HIDDEN SECRET OF THE GREAT PYRAMID"S CONSTRUCTION UNCOVERED

The Great Pyramid of Giza (aka Pyramid of Khufu or Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt.

It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact. Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) over a 10 to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BCE.

Initially at 146.5 meters (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the tallest human structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Originally, it was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface of the underlying core structure we see. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base.

There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. These theories are based on false assumptions.

There are three known chambers inside. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up in the structure.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

Khufu's vizier, Hemon or Hemiunu, is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid. It is thought that the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian cubits tall, 146.5 meters (480.6 ft) but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 meters (455.4 ft).

The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic meters. Based on these estimates, building this in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day.

Similarly, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night. The first precision measurements of the pyramid were made by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880-82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh.

Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Many of the casing stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid were fit together with extremely high precision. Based on measurements taken on the north eastern casing stones, the mean opening of the joints is only 0.5 millimeters wide (1/50th of an inch).