From: veritasium
The Great Pyramid stood as the tallest man-made structure for nearly 4,000 years, only being surpassed by the Eiffel Tower in 1889, which was 147 meters high [00:00:04]. These impressive structures were built over 4,500 years ago [00:00:27].
Scale and Time
Each pyramid required approximately 2 million stones, or “giant rocks,” weighing between 1.5 and 3 tons each [00:00:37]. The construction of a single pyramid took about 20 to 30 years [00:00:45]. To achieve this, stones would have needed to be laid roughly once every three minutes, considering a 10 to 12-hour workday [00:00:55].
Myths and Misconceptions About Pyramid Builders
The exact methods of pyramid construction remain largely a secret, as no detailed plans survive [00:01:05]. This lack of clear historical accounts has led to countless conspiracy theories, including involvement of aliens, time travel, or lost technologies [00:01:23].
A widely accepted, though less far-fetched, myth is that the pyramids were built by slaves [00:01:30]. However, recent discoveries, including well-preserved tombs near the pyramids, suggest that the builders were skilled workers whose hard labor and sacrifice were rewarded with honorable burials [00:01:35]. Slaves would not have received such dignified burials [00:01:49].
Engineering Challenges in Pyramid Construction and Materials and Techniques Used in Building Pyramids
Transport and Tools
The Egyptians did not have wheels or steel; the only metal available was copper and copper alloys [00:00:29]. They did not even use rollers [02:02:01]. Stones were likely transported across the desert on sleds [02:02:05]. To reduce friction, experiments show that wetting the sand in front of the sled could reduce the required pulling force by half [02:02:20].
Materials
The internal structure of the pyramids was made of Limestone, a softer and easier stone to work with, which could be shaped with copper chisels [02:02:29]. Some blocks may have been cut using copper saws combined with an abrasive like sand, which would wear away the stone despite copper’s softness [02:02:39].
The exterior of the pyramids was covered with much harder granite [03:03:09]. This granite was quarried in Aswan, nearly 1,000 kilometers away from Giza [03:03:17]. During the annual Nile flood, water would reach the quarry, allowing the quarried stones to be floated on rafts back to Giza [03:03:26]. Quarrying granite, one of the hardest rocks (containing quartz, a 7 on the hardness scale where diamond is a 10), was an extremely difficult task, often involving smashing dolerite rock into the granite, achieving only about 5 mm of progress per hour [03:03:40].
Site Preparation
Before construction, the ground needed to be leveled [02:02:55]. It is speculated that floodwater from the Nile was channeled onto the site to identify high and low points, aiding in the leveling process [03:03:02].
Lifting Stones
While no clear accounts exist, the best guess for raising stones is the use of ramps [04:04:07]. Ramps have indeed been found at incomplete pyramids [04:04:13]. However, a single straight ramp would be impractical, as it would require more material than the pyramid itself [04:04:17]. A more likely theory suggests a ramp that wrapped around the pyramid [04:04:27]. For the top third of the pyramid, which only accounts for about 4% of the total material, levers were likely used to lift the final levels [04:04:30].
Visual and Cultural Significance of Pyramids
While today the pyramids appear weathered, they were originally a brighter white [04:04:43]. This was due to a casing of smooth white Limestone that covered the entire face of the pyramid [04:04:48]. The very top may have been capped with electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver, creating a spectacular and shiny metallic apex [04:04:54].
The pyramid shape itself was designed to represent sun rays [05:05:02]. Imagine its initial appearance with a gleaming metallic top and smooth white sides [05:05:07].