Standing Lofty: How the Great Pyramids of Egypt Were Built?

The Process of Building the Pyramids

The ancient Egyptian who built the three great pyramids; Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure depended on a specific process to build them perfectly following some steps:

1. Selecting the position
2. Preparing the foundation
3. Raising the blocks

Selecting the Position of the Pyramids

The ancient Egyptians chose a suitable site beside the Nile on the west on high ground to be far away from the flooding danger during the Nile’s inundation. However, at the same time, they are not very far from the Nile because they needed the river water to transport the limestone blocks.

Preparing the Foundations

The ancient builders prepared a strong foundation by removing the loose sand from the rock. Then, they made the rock base totally flat.

Raising the Blocks

The precise method of raising the pyramids is unknown; however, the historians reach some information about that saying that the Egyptians combined a straight ramp that ran part way up the pyramid with a spiral ramp to the very top levels. Then, they dragged up the ramp putting into their final position through using levers.

The Pyramids Building Tools

Copper

Although the tools were very old during the time of building pyramids, and the available resources were very limited, the builders were able to challenge all of that. The available metal alloys at that time were copper and gold; the ancient Egyptians used copper to break the stones as it is harder than gold. it was also used to make chisels and saws to break into the bedrock and cut stones.

Drill

Drills were of the tools used in building pyramids despite they were primitive. They were made up of sharp copper with a wooden handle. They attached a piece of wood at the center in the shape of a cross; so that, it was sliding back and forth like a bow resulting in spinning the copper piece being used as a drill bit.

Stones

Stones were very important tools in building the pyramids; there were two main types of stone used in the construction: limestone and granite. The inner walls were built from Low-grade limestone, while the outer walls were built from smoother high-grade white limestone. Tools that are made of granite such as hammers or balls were used to break the limestone at its layers because the limestone is a sedimentary rock that will split along its layers.

Wood Sleds and Straps

Wood sleds and straps were also one of the significant tools that were used to transporting the stones from place to another. Therefore, the animals or slaves would drag the sleds of wood by straps to haul the massive stones.

Leveling Tool

The ancient Egyptians created in constructing the pyramids as they made the sides of them so geometrically precise; they all rise at the exact same angle and line up perfectly with the four points on the compass. They were able to accomplish that by leveling the ground which is a very difficult challenging task at that time. leveling tools, as we know them today did not exist however The Egyptians knew, though, that water always settles to its level. they drug the Channels around the site filling them with water. When the water leveled, rocks and sand were used to fill in the channels.

Ramps

The builders were able to build very crucial helpful tools used in constructing the pyramids. they built ramps that were used when the pyramids became higher and higher to drag up the heavy stones.

The Pyramids Building Techniques

There were specific techniques to construct pyramids perfectly. Firstly, the ancient Egyptians should have aligned the pyramids sides to the cardinal points of the compass. Secondly, they should have made the corners of the pyramids on the right angles. Finally, they should have put the pyramid’s foundation on the correct level to support the enormous weight of the upper of the pyramid. The techniques used to build the pyramids of Giza took centuries to develop.

Ramps

The ancient Egyptian builders were able to solve the problem faced them; how they could lift the massive stone blocks to be on the required height:

They built the mud brick and rubble ramps to be on the sloped level. Then, they dragged the blocks on sleds to the identified height.
The higher the pyramids became the more needed ramps the builders used. They extend the ramp in length and its base was widened.
It is worthy to mention that builders used a different form of construction in the pyramids of the 12th and 13th ‎Dynasties. Solid walls of stone moved from the center, cross walls formed a set of ‎chambers filled with stone blocks, rubles or mud bricks.

To conclude, we can say that the Pyramids Building clarify the creativity of the ancient Egyptians in engineering and architecture. The pyramids construction process is very sophisticated and the scientists and researchers till today try to explain the building techniques used by the Egyptians. Stones, wood sleds, straps and leveling tools were of the important tools used in building the pyramids. Moreover, the ramps played an important role to construct the pyramids high.

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