Closest Look Ever at How Pyramids Were Built
A map of pyramid casing stones proves how it was constructed.
It’s the most popular question in ancient history: how were the large pyramids of Egypt built? Many concepts have been suggested for thousands of years, all the way back to Herodotus in Ancient Greece. But while there are many ways the pyramid could have been built, the actual method is the one everybody wants to find.
Proposed solutions cite indirect evidence, combined with thought exercises that range from reasonable to hilariously impractical. There is virtually zero consensus on how to approach the problem, or even define the parameters of what was possible.
The goal of this video is to use direct evidence from the pyramid of Khafre to get us closer to the actual solution. The pattern is laid out for everyone to see - and anyone approaching the building question seriously needs to address the evidence presented here.
Thank you to everyone for their kind support. Become a Channel Member (the Join button) for the price of a cup of coffee, and help me continue the work. Or, just leave a great pun in the comments and rock on.
Thanks to Armend Kabashi for the Khafre photos which inspired the journey.
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Animations of pyramid builders from the works of Jean-Pierre Houdin:
• The Khufu Pyramid Reve...
• Khufu Reborn - Dassau...
Still frame of pyramid inset ramp from here:
• Egypt's Great Pyramid:...
Drone footage clips:
• Sébastien Léger live a...
0:00 Intro
1:58 Two Key Observations
3:09 New Casing Survey
4:13 Mission Parameters
5:35 Taking Photographs
7:19 Surveying Blocks
8:10 Scaffold Gaps?
8:39 Bonding Stone Design
11:09 Built for Efficiency
12:33 The Building Pattern
13:35 Obsolete Building Models
14:55 Construction Sequence
16:51 Next Casing Study
17:35 Collaboration
What I love most about your content is that it is not full of drama, music cut scenes, attempts at humor, and any of the other things that many KZhead creators put in their videos that simply fill up time. Thanks for keeping things to the point, well thought out, and delivered concisely. And thanks most of all for your scientific approach to what so many others have just overlooked or assumed.
It's my first time here and I am enjoying this too 👍
The rod measurement for this pyramid, is 6.75 royal cubits. You can derive this measurement from the dimension of the large chamber. When applied to the external dimension of the pyramid, the true math is revealed. Delete the two granite courses at the base of the pyramid. Then measure the dimensions in 6.75 cu rods. And voila - the Second Pyramid reveals itself as a simple multiple of the 3-4-5 pythagorean triangle. All these pyramids were mathematical. See book ‘K2, Quest of G-ds’. R
@@RalphElliswhy would the bottom two courses need to be removed for the math to work?
History for Granite is a play on words. You probably didn't notice that attempt at humor.
100% AGREE
I am a paramotor pilot and we are a pretty big community. I can't afford it, but every year there is a handful of people who go fly around the pyramids, as in very close to them. I know of one or two people who are also photographers. I wonder how much detail you could get out of an 8k video flying around the sides up top, because it seems like some of the limitations and red tape you ran into are ignored for us. Anyway, this is fantastic work. Definitely looks like signs of individual teams working side by side and joining their work once they meet. Its ridiculous that there are limits on the quality of camera gear you can bring to the pyramids, I'm almost convinced the Egyptian government doesn't want any discoveries made.
That's precisely the reason. Their whole tourist market would collapse once the truth is exposed.
What is that truth? @@mavenfeliciano1710
It's just a matter of how much you pay the guard to let you take your equipment there. I also believe they don't want foreigners unveiling any more secrets
@@mavenfeliciano1710why would it collapse? the more we learn, the more interesting the site becomes
@@mesofius except if it's all lies amd fraud.
Clearly your methodology deserves respect. I'm intrigued with not just the pyramids themselves, but also how well spoken and thought out all of this in summary(and entirety)shows. Thank you for your efforts..
Voice sounds like a typical monolog...
AI lol
The more evidence we gather, the closer we get to solving the puzzle. I commend you on your work and efforts. Keep it up!
There is no puzzle fool lmao if this still intrigues you after high school then you need to be held back
@ThePrinceofallsayain Then why are you here
I wouldn't be surprised if the puzzle has already been solved/discovered, but it's not in the immediate interest of Egypt to disclose it because of fear of losing tourism revenue...
@@ThePrinceofallsayain pump the breaks ya fukkin nerd
You and Mat have single handedly done so much amazing stuff for Egyptology that it's actually embarrassing for the egyptian government that two single people do more for the world than a whole government.
It's true.
Who Is Mat?
Zahi Hawas is a crook.
ha ha ha
its not there job to do so.. they are a government...
You're not just a historian now, you're now adding to history - You're adding to the knowledge base
Well the truly learned, the "experts", will sit in their ivory day care centers and refuse to ever look at this sort of stuff. They’ll protect themselves from such mis/dis/mal-information with the very earth itself - by sticking their heads into the dirt.
Is this kind of investigation even allowed? Next thing we know all pyramid videos on youtube can only be viewed at 360p and no photografy at Giza.
@@MrAwesomeBikerDude Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I know. I kept thinking why didn’t he just formally ask permission? That’s one thing, but to then tell the whole world in intricate detail how he shirked the rules and his better judgement to do it anyway, moots the plausible deniability that he would’ve had since as he mentioned it wasn’t 100% clear that it was explicitly forbidden but implicitly understood. He was super lucky that he wasn’t arrested bc Egyptian Jail and interrogation by torture would’ve fucking sucked. I’m just saying this because I don’t want him to get in trouble nor the things you mentioned.
@@annascott3542 It would seem that you don't know about the history of gatekeeping and opposition to critical inquiry among the Egyptian authorities who control access to the pyramids and other ancient sites. Asking for permission is the best way to ensure your visit would be either denied entirely, or that you'll be followed at all times by not one but likely a group of armed security guards making sure you don't do anything they don't approve of. For God's sake they didn't even want to allow researchers to do entirely unobtrusive scanning of the pyramids, even though it had huge potential for discovering its many secrets. As unfortunate as this attitude is, it's understandable in many ways, the history of colonialism, exploitation and unscrupulous grave robbing by Europeans has made many in Egypt skeptical of all outsiders coming to research these sites. The British still refuse to return thousands of artifacts they stole and pompously display in their museums as if they are part of their own great culture and not the proceeds of a criminal enterprise. When you add extensive corruption in contemporary Egyptian governments, its not a environment conducive to free scientific inquiry.
@@annascott3542 I think you misunderstood his method. He didn't shirk the rules, he outlined the difficulties and stayed within the bounds of the law. Didn't carry/use a tripod and didn't attempt to photograph the western face, as to do so would have meant accessing an area that was forbidden. So he just used a digital SLR with the longest lens practicable without using a tripod. Common equipment for any tourist photographer. The interpretation and explanation of the resulting images is truly amazing part.
Excellent observation on your part. The fact that you use engineering, geology, construction methodology, and science to come to your conclusions gives me a great deal of respect for what you’re doing. It also gives you an enormous amount of credibility that the Egyptian government does not merit. Thank you .
I thoroughly enjoy your analysis. When you revealed the patterns of the casing stones my jaw dropped. To have potentially seen / discovered something that no one else may have known for thousands of years should be a milestone in anyone's life. I can't wait to see future videos of what you discover next. What lies in store for exploring the great void!!?!!!
The fact that there are tapered stones on every face, shows that the corner blocks were all placed first. Otherwise, you'd only need one stone to be dropped in from above, and could put them all one the side fewest people would see the pyramid from. I suspect every pyramid has a small vertical shaft in the center, that may or may not have been filled in later. That's just the best way to build a pyramid. You hang a plumb line down the shaft, and you're always working off the same reference point, so errors don't compound. Then you know where the corners need to be, in relation to the center line. They likely had markers built in the distance, along a line extending from the center of the pyramid, through the corners
The plumb line in the center and alignment markers in the distance only let you make a perfect square with perfect alignment, but they don't really determine the size of that square. The corner not being laid last only makes sense if you have to lay them first. They would be trivial to slide into position if they were last. Which would make building from the center of each face to the corners and then finishing it off by sliding the corner stones into place diagonally an obvious first guess on how to build the casing. It avoids the problem of having to slot bonding stones into place (since the corner stones do that job) and it lets 8 crews work on the casing of a layer at once (plus an arbitrary number of crews doing the interior fill). The only reason why you would NOT do that is that there are alignment advantages to putting the corner stones in first. The conclusion that I arrive at is that they left the whole edges un-covered, which let them see straight down that line in order to align the scorner stones. And with the corner stones of a certain layer in place, laying the remaining casing stones is merely a matter of forming a straight line between the corner stones - even if there is an external ramp blocking the center of a face.
An intersting idea. But would a central verticle shaft mean that stones would have to be drug in a tunnel beneath the completed lowest course of the pyramid to reach the central shaft? And depending on the width, that requires finished masonry along the roof of the entire tunnel's lenght, not roughly laid core masonry. Nothing like this has been discovered (yet?). More importantly, one central verticle shaft seems like a choke point for moving that much stone if the time to build was similar to the Great Pyramid (lay a block every few minutes). And then that still leaves, how do did the Ancient Egyptians finish the very top layers? Still, an interesting idea that bears further though of how it could be used wholly or partially to construct Khafre's pyramid.
@@eric1752 huh? Noooo. I mean a very small shaft. Just a few inches. Not for moving stones through, but to hang a plumb line down, so that as the pyramid gets taller, the center is always known
@@eric1752 I don't think that shaft would have been a route to move stones through. Also, you don't need to access the bottom. You can use 2 lines. 1 plumb line with a weight on the end to make it perfectly vertical, and a second line that's anchored to the bottom of the shaft. When both lines are parallel, you're directly above the center. The shaft only needs to be a foot wide for that.
I like your thinking.The plumb line was an essential piece of equipment back then.Everybody knows to put a gigs away together you do the corners first.The total lack of finishing stones in these areas does add weight to this position.
Thank you for your hard work! This is a great step forward to unlocking the mysteries of how these were constructed.
Agreed 🤝 this work can't be underestimated. Feels like they'll be studying these models in 10 years or less.
@@JonnoPlaysthis guy didnt study anything he has you believing they cut and carried the stones when in fact acids can dissolve rock and re conglomerate it. the acid deposits incas in peru used have been found. the egyptian ones are not found thanks to zahi hawass. thats the key to all of this. but once you learn the magic trick the magicians no longer impress you.
The rod measurement for this pyramid, is 6.75 royal cubits. You can derive this measurement from the dimension of the large chamber. When applied to the external dimension of the pyramid, the true math is revealed. Delete the two granite courses at the base of the pyramid. Then measure the dimensions in 6.75 cu rods. And voila - the Second Pyramid reveals itself as a simple multiple of the 3-4-5 pythagorean triangle. All these pyramids were mathematical. See book ‘K2, Quest of G-ds’. R
@@RalphEllis You better call Zahi Hawass - he would love your story!
ok
I love when new independent researches come along and offer new perspectives on this subject. Outstanding job!!. Just found your channel and look forward to catching up with the rest of your work.
What's good to see here is there aren't many, if not no, comments complaining about this video. It's very informative and well received..
I’m a mason , and I think you are right. It’s no different than laying a brick or block wall today. On a long wall, there is someone on each end , establishing the corners, then there are people in the middle. When you come together you install a “closure” ( that’s what you refer to as a bonding stone). Bricks are all uniform lengths now so you can make it look seamless but 100 years ago when common brick varied significantly, you can usually find the “ closure” brick
Being a mason doesn’t mean anything 😂
@@Quavan-yi9rwWhat you said only makes you look stupid.
@@Quavan-yi9rwDepends on if you mean freemason or actual tradesman.
@@Quavan-yi9rwthat’s like saying a rancher’s opinion on husbandry has nothing to do with some ancient shepherd’s work. Or a plumber’s or architect’s insight is meaningless to Roman aqueducts.
Quavan is a moron. Lmfao.
🙋🏾Brick and Stone Mason for 27 years here. Love the details that you brought up that most don’t care about or just simply overlook. Great job keep up the good work 💪🏾😤
One of the most compelling and highly factual documents about the pyramids I have ever seen! It created a lot of emotion on me! Congratulations and keep up the excellent work!
What surprises me most is that I watched this video all the way to the end.
Thank God for people like you. Seriously. Your independent study is some of the best pyramid content I watch. Well done! Thank you. I hope your channel grows beyond belief. You deserve it.
Definitely
He might have shown what the blocks properties are in terms of material and shape, and the pattern in which they are placed all together to form the whole structure. But he hasn't proven who built it, and what techniques were used to gather all the material, how it was transported from the source to the building site, how it was cut into those laser precise shapes despite the mass and size, and how it was lifted and moved into all the right spots and by who or what.
You speak my mind!
well said
New videos on History for Granite means time to take a break at work. Edit: At 12:36, when you presented the pattern, my jaw dropped and eyes widened. Has no one seen this before?!? Simply incredible.
you need to publish this!
Yes! I laughed when the pattern was revealed. Under our noses all the time. But, it happens in other fields. Many times I've seen a group of programmers huddled around a screen trying work out why a program isn't doing what they think it should be doing. Then, a third party turns up, scans the screen, points and says "There". And walk away. This comment ignores the effort of traveling to Egypt with photographic kit he might be forbidden to use and then take photos that would be a challenge, even without restriction. The best angle to photograph buildings is when the plane of the camera sensor is parallel to the building. There are even specialist lenses for that purpose ($$$$). Correcting for that slope from such a distance was no small matter.
Cool video! Fascinating stuff for sure.
I appreciate the kind words! Your channel is amazing.
@@HistoryforGRANITE Last stone to be laid in a course is called a "closure stone". So your "bonding stone" already has a name in the world of masonry.
Woooow, so unexpected to see you here Zack! Awesome to know you're into egyptology too
@@HistoryforGRANITE Regarding the tripod problem, I see a monopod has been mentioned. IF you can get away with even a short monopod that can help by using your belt as a support point. Method 2 that I don't see mentioned, a chain or light cord with a screw for the tripod mount in the lens can be used. You just drop the cord, step on it and lift up. This has been used in museums that don't allow tripods, its quick and does not block the tourists around you.
True, and glad to see you here. You keep your good work too. God bless you all
The most clear explanation I have ever seen on pyramids and how the were build. And I have seen quite a lot of them. Great work!!
The fact that the mystery as old as human civilization is being solved by a single person with so much dedication, knowledge, humility, and grit all while making KZhead videos about it, is mind-blowing, amazing, super cool and I can't get enough of it. You rock, man! We will fund you, support you, join you, and, in the end, bring new discoveries and insights. Without governments, around gatekeepers, from the ground, through the air. Keep up the great work! ❤
Solved? lol,what a joke
@@adamlee9071so give us your theory, no wait, your theory probably has something to do with giants and lasers straight out of an Ancient Aliens episode. Now that’s a funny joke!
@MachineintheMonkey so are you answering the question for me? Those theories you suggested seem more plausible than what you suggested that's how ridiculous that theory is.
I’m not funding anyone
Meh...it's a workable theory. I guess ..I think the pyramids are much older than 4,500 years. Also Egyptians only had bronze and stone tools to work with...which are both softer than granite blocks so how did they carve 2 million blocks with bronze chisels and stone hammers? I thought the theory that the Egyptians built the pyramids was laid to rest in favor of the theory that they're closer to 12,000 years old and built by an unknown civilization, but I guess some people are still hung up on the Dynastic Egyptians building it.
I love everything about this channel... the video production, the data-driven approach, the clarity of your explanations, the dedication to travel to Egypt in pursuit of a hypothesis + spend hours meticulously inspecting photos/videos, the consistent uploads, and so much more. You're killing it man, keep up the good work!!
Second that 👌
"Our present knowledge of this pyramid indicate that all chambers are below ground, meaning that the entire mass of the upper structure was just for show." Except that the upper mass has the King's Chamber, the Grand Gallery, and the Queen's chamber. How are you so easily deceived?
@@epmcgee This episode isn't about the great pyramid, it's about the second in size. And it's the great pyramid that has the chambers you write about.
@@rogerkarlsson3996 Whilst you are correct about the Great pyramid, the hypothesis was presented as an inference that this was typical design for all the pyramids.
ABSOLUTELY AWESOME WORK!!!
By the way, it is also possible that the facing stones and the rest of the pyramid were built by two completely different civilizations, one major construction, and then much later on another civilization perhaps built the facing stones on it to protect the original pyramids from forsaught future flooding and catastrophic events. It is most notable that only these 3 pyramids here have remained almost completely intact.
I've binge watched everything. Huge thanks for your effort, it's such a refreshing lookout on those ancient marvels! It makes one stand in complete awe of the achievements of the past. One thing continues to puzzle me though. Have you seen any comprehensive theories for how a benben/pyramidion would be installed? Or might I hope for a video from you sometime in the future? Thank you so much again, you're really inspiring!
12:41 Maybe the bonding stones will tell you how many crews there were. Let's say you had five crews per side laying blocks, and when their row met another crew's row, they would connect them with these stones.
It seemed to me at a glance that there might be 4? What do you think?
Was going to mention this too, seems likely doesn't it. You'd expect the most skilled crews would be assigned to the corners as that's where the pitch angle had to be set with great accuracy. So there could be four teams one for each corner with three or so teams in between each corner crew laying out until a small enough gap presented itself for a bonding stone. Maybe there was a dedicated bonding stone crew too. Modern bricklayers will build up several courses in the corners first to get an accurate build so the corners could have gone up well before the central part of the layers were complete.
@benedictearlson9044 yeah that's a sound thought. It's like a lot of these ancient sites. If you have worked with your hands and on building sites you could well have better grasp of how these amazing structures were built.
4/5 on each face@@mixolydian2010
Four crews _per side_ though, so they could be working all four sides at the same time.
Ah, that's just what I need today in all this craziness: a sane view of Egypt's history!
🤣😂🤣
I love people showing me how love and understanding can be hard to tell apart. Especially, if you take enough time with something. Great works here. Thank you sir.
Hey man, I've been watching your channel for awhile now. You do great work, keep it up
I have waited anxiously for your safe return, anticipating that your observations, findings and conclusions would be of great interest. What I hadn't considered was how moved I was, watching and hearing you share your experience -- you have single-handedly answered questions humanity has posited for nearly 5,000 years. I am overwhelmed, and I believe your achievement surpasses even the importance of the recent chamber discoveries, as the patterns you have mapped now serve as a demonstrative proof illustrating the method of construction and its preservation, without which the interiors could not have survived in the first place. (I may have said this to you before, but I can't help but imagine Mary and Joseph bringing home a tri-fold brochure from 'Nazareth Travel', surprising a teenaged Jesus with news of their summer vacation destination-- thanks to you, the imaginary leaflet could include your comprehensive diagrams. After all, the Great Pyramid was already 2,000 years old at the time). I would like to help any way I can, and hope we may speak to that end.
Amusing Hebrew myth jest, you sharpwit The Egyptians hieroglyphs and pictograms are only 2D. Thus prior to the Giza plateau development a Pharaoh may have just said that a few giant triangles would brighten up the boring skyline putting Cairo on the map
I think you're work work on construction techniques is unique, i certainly haven't come across anyone else describing the casing stones like you have , the sloting of a last block with an angle is a pratice used in woodworking, the ancient Egyptians were very good at wood working ,
I’m here because Stefan Milo said how much he respects your work, and I respect Stefan’s work. So I thought I’d check you out. I like what I see so far. You have earned my subscription.
Great study of this. A lot of work went into this and your theories seem well supported… We will likely never know why and how things were done so long ago and i think it’s important to stay humble and recognize that we are not solving these mysteries but rather proposing solutions. I like your proposed solution and the idea of crowd sourcing viewers to help divide and balance the workload. Please take my comment with the respect and goodwill intended. I enjoy your work.
Would love to help you count and map a few rows - that would be awesome. The work you are doing is incredible, literally putting Egyptologists to shame. They need to step up their game massively because there is clearly so much more to learn about the pyramids.
I think at this point even after the ScanPyramids hubbub it is viewed as something of a low hanging fruit mass media subject for many academics when there is far more higher hanging furit associated with the lives of "everyday dynastic Egyptians" to ply the archaeology skillset to that the public mostly doesn't care about, but the understanding of these minor things as a whole can give us a much greater insight into the world of ancient Egypt than obsessing over minutae of their monuments.
One of the things I always think about with the pyramids is how glorious they must have looked when new. With the sun hitting the casing stones, they must have shone brilliantly. They are a spectacular sight today, they must have been utterly mindblowing to see when they were still fairly new. Something I try my best to do, is to understand how something must have looked back in the day. Both in general and to the people of that time period. The pyramids are one of the best examples I know (if not the best), which I can then tell other people about. Since basically everybody knows at least a little about them. addendum: The second best example I can think of is to get people thinking about what bronze armor must have looked like when new. Since people are familiar with how bronze armor looks in museums with a lovely patina, but don't have a lot of experience with fresh bronze.
I like to know how they decorate the pyramid at the time. Like every year, they change the look of it, or decorate it with ton of gold. I remember this pyramid at one time have a gold top.
@@gioviocorleone6577 Nobodys quite sure where the idea that the great pyramids would be gold-tipped came from, only very small pyramids (10m size individual tombs) have ever been found with evidence of this. Its also been pointed out by academics that it would be pretty hard to see a small golden tip atop a colossal structure of gleaming white limestone shining intensely in the egyptian sun.
It’s nice to know how the pyramids were finally built . After all these years of not knowing. Thank you for KZhead!!!
What you are doing might be one of the coolest things ive ever seen. A truly curious and analytical mind at work. Could you make a video about the politics at work egypt and what stops this type of research from freely taking place?
One thought on the bonding stones. I am wondering if perhaps they were not lowered into place from above, but pushed into place from behind. Perhaps the taper isn't top to bottom, but actually back to front, like a pizza slice. A wedge shaped block could be pushed in from the back until it stops, and then the front cut down off to match the face of the pyramid once it's in place. A block placed in this manner could fill a wide range of gaps without having to be measured carefully. A wedge shaped block would look like it tapers top to bottom, thanks to the sloped side at the front of the pyramid.
That's an interesting thought. Considering there is the hypothesis that casing stones were grounded/polished to perfection after being placed (I forget which pyramid still has convex casing stones left, red pyramid?), it would not be much additional work to cut down the bonding stones. It does pose the question as to how they were cut if there was no external ramp/structure to help workers work the surfaces.
Houdin's Internal ramp theory? Built in advanced, brought up from inside, pushed into place. the casing stones always higher, and before the filling stone.
I thought he said that was a possibility during the video. I could be wrong though.
@@SandstoneMan does Houdin theorize how the top layers would be placed with an internal ramp? The pyramidion would be difficult to place
@@asdfghjsdfgg1841 the top area would of been no different in placing the outer facing stones and corner stones first to keep the shape of construction. It was built up at one level at a time they would of left a tunnel, possibly a stepped tunnel leading up to the next level big enough for them to climb up and big enough to pull a stone up. It would of been a stepped tunnel as that would be easier to backfill in once the construct was built to its hight.
A total of 16 starting points around the perimeter means they might have 32 teams working the course of casing stones. 1 team on each end of each starting point. More teams must have been doing the filler stones. This gives an idea of how many masons were employed (enslaved?) on the pyramid itself. More teams would be cutting blocks, quarrying, transporting to the pyramid construction site and lifting the stone blocks to the course level (my guess is wooden ramps laying against the lower casing stones making wooden ramps straight up midway between the 16 starting points. A wooden fixture would hold a stone block with ropes pulling it up the ramp like a sled. They may have had oxen on top of the working level course to pull the ropes. They may have used dual levers to ratchet the wood sled & block up the ramp.)
Getting food, water, other necessaries up was probably done on sleds sliding up a vertical wooden ramp resting on the pyramid outer casing wall. also. People may have walked up/down a wooden staircase resting on the outer wall. There must have been 500 workers up there, maybe 1000. That’s a lot of food and water
Most likely it was seasonal - when the Nile flooded thousands would b available, then when the Nile receded they returned to their farms leaving skeleton crew behind@@douginorlando6260
@@douginorlando6260 What puzzles me is that if there was any sort of structure resting on the casing stones, it would have likely left visible marks. But no marks of any kind are visible.
@@FUZxxl yeah. I suspect even if it was like laying a ladder against the pyramid, I bet they had some kind of anchor points to keep it from slipping every few casing levels. It would be logical to look for evidence where such a wooden ramp would likely have been. If evidence of anchor points could be found, that would prove it. If not, then they could have supported the ramp from slipping with ropes coming down from the top supporting its weight and holding it from moving out from straight up the pyramid side.
Another site showed a technique where 4 semi circular wood Rims could be lashed to the 4 edges of the stones( ie draw a square , now draw a circle touching all 4 edges - you see his proposal) and with a few men in a walking drum taking up rope , rolled it up a ramp . A whole lot of mechanisms along with it I wont go into
Bravo 👏👏👏 Well done! I’ve been following the evolution of the facts you’ve been presenting and it’s fantastic!! Thank you for these videos. Keep up the good work!
I suspect the authorities in charge of the pyramids don’t want there to be a definitive theory of how they were built, more mystery means more tourism money.
Khafre's has always been my favourite Pyramid. It's simply huge but due to a slightly steeper slope it looks even bigger, it's very well preserved, has the outer layer still in place so we can see how these structures were supposed to look, and there is something weirdly astethic about a pyramid with a "missmatching" top. The bent pyramid is a close second for similar reasons. Then Khufu's
Isn't it taller because its base plateau is a little higher ?
Great work. Very interesting and awesome approach. Looking forward to whatever you discover along the way. Three thumbs up.
That's interesting, without your awesome drone footage here, I never would have noticed that not all the blocks are the same, and some of them have that slanted angle to keep it more sturdy. I also had no idea some of them are longer and shorter. O_o Please do supply more imagery!
Wonderful to see more engineering and science in egyptology. I earnestly look forward to every one of your videos and can only imagine the countless hours spent in research
Your illustrations depicting four Egyptians moving a 2 ton block of limestone with sticks was hilarious. 🤣
Hilarious, this video is completely so far from how they did anything. These things were built with ancient lost high-technology .
exactly there is literally no way u can move those stones with man power and wooden tools or any wooden machine. And i am so surprised just few people realizing that fact. This video is not even scratching surface of reality. Thanks god for people like Graham Hancock at least speaking about it loud.@@alexanderthegreat4358
@@alexanderthegreat4358 Right. And where can we find this high-technology? Which museum exactly? Where was this technology developed and how? Where did the resources came from? Who developed it?
@@ProfezorSnayp Nobody has definitively proven or disproven there was some kind of technology that was lost over thousand of years. Nobody to this day has definitively proved how stones of that weight were moved by simple man power and leverage. And there's similar monolithic stones found all around the world. Considering that, it's foolish to think this "High technology" never existed without an open mind. If our civilization today was lost by some kind of cataclysm, there would probably be little evidence of how any of our structures were built if being studied by peoples thousands of years from now. And that's assuming anything is still standing.
@@ProfezorSnayp Nobody has definitively proven or disproven there was some kind of technology that was lost over thousand of years. Nobody to this day has definitively proved how stones of that weight (Some in the 400 Tonne range) were moved by simple man power and leverage from distances of hundreds of miles and placed with such precision. And there's similar monolithic stones found all around the world. Considering that, it's foolish to think this "High technology" never existed without an open mind. If our modern civilization was lost today by some kind of cataclysm, there would probably be little evidence of how any of our structures were built if being studied by peoples thousands of years from now. And that's assuming anything is still standing.
Great job and wonderful editing of rare footage and photos. Looking forward to future videos.
Excellent presentation. Tons of work leading to great conclusions and confident steps toward finding answers.
I can never get enough videos of the pyramids because that is the biggest enigma of our lifetime
By looking at the number of vertical rows of bonding stones, it might be reasonable to conclude that there were that many crews working simultaneously on each course. For instance, say five rows of bonding stones on each face, leaving 6 gaps between on each side. If one crew worked on each corner, that leaves 5 crews for each face, letting us know that there may have been 24 crews working all at the same time for that particular course
I had that same realization. But that's surely not the limit of what that fact can tell us? If we know the total number of workers who worked on these layers (specifically the upper fraction that is still present), then we can divide that by the number of crews. The resulting crew size would tell us how many logistical workers (moving stones up the pyramid and towards their destination in the layer) and aligning workers (taking the stones over somewhere close to their final destination and moving them precisely into place) there were taken together. And to get an upper bound for how many workers could have been in one aligning crew, we could measure how many workers fit around a typical corner casing stone (specifically a corner one because we need to see it from 2 sides to get all 3 of its dimensions). Also, if they built the casing stones from the corners inwards, it's more likely than not that they also built the filling stones from the edges inwards. In which case the total number of crews would be the number of crews laying casing stones. (24) But there may also have been crews that only worked on filling stones, and whose work was later merged with the work of the crews laying the casing stones and the fill directly behind. In that case the total number of crews would be the square of the number of crews laying casing stones on one side (36), since the crews laying interior fill would likely have a similar distance between each other, at least roughly. On one hand, they can work faster (and thus fill a larger area on each layer) because the interior stones don't have to be aligned as neatly. On the other hand, the crews laying casing stones would benefit from having their area of responsibility be wider than it is deep. Since they'd work slightly slower this would result in their designated area being mainly less deep and similarly wide.
Yes this is what I thought too. Say we have 3 sets of joining stones on a course. If the joining stones on the right side are the closest to the end, then they would have had 3 teams, the first starts on the left side and works to the right. The other teams start to the right of where the joining stones are and they too work towards the right.
They also appear to have a preference to work from left to right as the right edge has predominately more joining stones. Where a joining stone is absent on the right I expect one team worked in reverse direction till the met the team working the other way.
Yep thats my thought, teams starting at different points to expedite the process.
Exactly. Going off my experience in construction (which admittedly was electrical work and only about 6 years), it makes sense to have different crews working on only one task. That's how we do things today, and it's most efficient to have people handle one system or one area of a floor when building a building. I think having more skilled facing stone crews makes sense, as those would have to be the most precise blocks, and with the filler stones, yeah it makes sense for them to have built it from the outside in. Just like previously mentioned, each section between the bonding stone would have to be made by separate crews, because if there was only say, two crews per face, each face would have only one row of bonding stones, since each crew would just ass a block next to the one they just laid down. If there were crews dedicated to particular areas of filler stones (which seems likely in my mind), there may have even been another more skilled crew handling the bonding stones, possibly having that one be made of workers from the facing stone crews as well, since once the facing stones were laid, they would have to get at least the perimeter bonding stones installed on that course before the next course of facing stones could be laid. @@Pystro
In several of your images detailing the bonding blocks, It appears they are not only tapered downward on one side, but possibly larger to the rear as well. This would secure the block vertically, but also keep it from sliding forward ( outward ) for any reason. It could also indicate the blocks were pushed into place from behind until they wedged, and then the outer faces were chiseled to match the blocks on either side. Just my 2 cents. Great video. Thanks.
Something else to note, that due to the viewing angle, and the angled face of the pyramid, the tapered side "wedge shape" that you identified might also be simply an arifact of a trapezoidal shape. A block with a narrower face than rear, when viewed from the outside on an angled face, will 'appear' to have a wedge shape (looks like it has tapered sides to drop into place), when in fact it might not be tapered at all. You can see this clearly at 11:02 Some of the blocks here appear to be wedge shaped, but if you look closely at the sides, and take into account the viewing angle, those blocks aren't wedge shaped at all, and have near vertical faces on the sides, they are just trapezoidal with a wider 'back' of the block than a 'face'. When you can only see the surface of the block, this isn't obvious, but luckily we have some blocks where we can see part of the side of the block too, due to broken adjacent blocks. This to me indicates clearly that the bonding stones were placed from behind, and indicates that the casing stones were the first stones to be laid in each course.
Your dedication to this endeavor is admirable. Your satisfaction is your reward but you have provided a valuable service for those you will follow you. Congratulations you are a true pioneer. Best wishes for continued success.
Amazing that you have come this far, mostly on your own. Great work for someone who operates on passion rather than funding and notoriety.
Chat GPT now does image analysis, I wonder if it could spot anything a human would miss if you gave it the right images and prompts. You’re doing great work, always interesting to see what you find!
It can spot smth a human would miss but it for sure will also miss smth which a human will spot.
What prompts and images would you suggest? It's not like there is a any previous reference you could feed the machine. Only now after all the work we could attempt to use the findings as reference although each pyramid is different so it may not work.
@@kacperwoch4368 prompt: "how was this pyramid built?" + image + part of script of this video
OH GOD WHAT HAS WIRTUAL DONE TO ME?
Thanks for a very absorbing presentation. This has to be the BEST examination of the building techniques used by the ancient Egyptians. And there were no hysterical alien architect builders popping by to show how clever they were.
There is no thanks enough for this seminal work you do. What is so mind blowing is the fact that so important historical research is being done by such a tiny body of dedicated brilliant men such as yourself. Unbelievable. Hope you get the funding and definitely the accolades acclaim and respect you so definitely deserve. Your passion is advancing knowledge on a subject that is long overdue is fantastic. Thank heavens for men of your ilk.
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Thank you for your diligence, attention to detail, careful planning, scientific labor, skilled video editing and masterful public speaking. These are very interesting findings and I look forward to sharing them with people. I've always loved this topic since I was a kid and I still look for compelling receipt, revelatory content like this. This time, however, I got a lot more than expected. Thank you again.
This is basically Wikipedia. Anyone could do this.
Very interesting video, love the analytical approach. Keep up the great work!
Great work putting this together, very clearly explained and a good watch. I do ponder my mind over the following statement you make though. That external ramps are out of question because of this pattern. As i see it: If you build the pyramid (somewhat) layer by layer, and place the outer casing stones before you begin the next layer, that would (imo) you could still make an external dirtramp reaching the level that you are working on and increase hight when needed/wanted without it affecting the pattern in which the stones are laid.
Thank you for effort in understanding this mystery. It is truly perplexing, but progress is being made and I agree with you that it is possible to fully understand the methods and techniques utilized to build these amazing structures. The drone footage gave me a new respect for the pyramids as I have never seen them in person but got a better perspective of how truly awe inspiring they are. Your photos that show the outlined casing stones amaze me also. It almost looks like the whole pyramid but the fact it is only a small fraction of the remaining casing stones around the top blew my mind, Thank you
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Like many, many others here, I am so fascinated by the pyramids not matter how many videos I watch about them. I sit here and just look at my screen in awe and try to imagine how they were constructed with such primitive technology thousands of years ago. Not only the building of the pyramids but the planning that went behind it. It's not like they woke up one day and said "let's build some pyramids". My simple mind cannot even fathom all the planning that went into this. Another GREAT video by the way. Your knowledge on the subject is world class.
Egyptian tech was far from primitive, they had math, astronomy the list goes on, they are problem solvers, just like we are.
I'd redefine primitive technology, we can't even fathom it.
@@MrRecklessryan I could have worded that better. I strictly meant the tools and heavy machinery that we have today. No electricity etc...
@@WorldwideDarts True, I think you're right about the planning, the logistics are even more impressive than the actual construction, just feeding that many people would have been a logistical nightmare.
Primitive? They were exceptionally advanced (the wheel hadn’t been invented just yet) with maths (about another 2000 yrs before Arabic numbering was used and which we use today) & physics, astronomy etc and it naturally flowed from that they could work out how to carve some rocks and shift ‘em up higher and higher. Some pyramids were not so successful and they took many decades to complete. Of course they had cordless power tools to help them, they couldn’t pronounce Milwaukee so they used Makita, charging batteries was a problem as electricity generation was a few thousand years away (and don’t give me that about the supposed Baghdad “battery”, it wasn’t). 😅
This was an excellent presentation of a very methodical investigation. It appears that a LIDAR scan and study could be done in a fairly quick amount of time and the resulting models may reveal a significant amount of information. Your photographs and analysis appear to be the result of painstaking work. Great job! I am surprised that given the number of superstructures that we can build today that there has been no architectural or engineering study that can definitively say how the pyramids were built. It seems that it is definitely a problem involving the physics and logistics of how to manufacture, move, and elevate so many large stone blocks. Besides weathering, have there been any earthquakes to worry about? Would the makers been aware of this and employed guards in the design? No matter what, it does literally stand today as a fantastic achievement. Your work certainly stands out as one of the best presentations I have seen!
WoW! Gotta say you have put in a lot of work into finding facts that make these interesting & incredible videos! Thank you so much :)
We might live to late to discover the world or too early to discover space but we live at the right time to solve the pyramids. You are doing an awesome job
Every time your videos come out, I am glued to the computer. It is so refreshing to see actual progress being made toward solutions that have seemingly been intentionally obfuscated for as long as I can remember. I certainly hope you're receiving the respect you deserve for this fine work. Thank you.
I’m exited to have found History for Granite just yesterday! It is a binge-worthy channel and I’m doing just that. This video, however, is exceptional. Your bonding block work is ingenious and the accompanying graphics are illuminating.
You set a high bar for objectivity and a clear separation between description and speculation, right down to your choice of words. You are a true champion of civilisation, in a post fact world. Ancient history isn't just an esoteric hobby or escape: it is a window into human behaviour. In the end, the backbreaking precision labour is an important link with our ancestors: the goals and methods may be exotic, but the struggle is something most of us know well.
I love how you shedding light on evidence that no one seemed to be interested in before good job looking forward to more. And judging by how many have seen and commented on this video in the last hour you have definitely has struck a cord with the public
Wow. Forgive me for the long comment, but I must say how great this work is. I love all your videos, but this one may be the best yet. This is groundbreaking work. When you showed the block patterns, I was amazed. The work it took for you to get to that point is not lost on me, and many others who enjoy your content. My second thought when seeing the patterns, was how in the world has no one done this work before? My theory is that if the Great Pyramid still had casing stones, this would’ve already been researched thoroughly. I’ve said many times that Khafre’s pyramid is criminally understudied in the modern era. I’ve actually been laughed at by others for saying that Khafre’s pyramid still holds secrets and deserves MUCH more attention than it gets today. You sir are my hero today for doing this work. I hope you publish this and it goes around the world where other researchers can take it and run with it now. That’s how we learn and figure mysteries like this out. But someone has to do the hard work to start the ball rolling, and thankfully you’ve done it. It’s hard to tell what things we will learn from this work after it’s been studied for some time. Id be interested to hear thoughts on this from people who do stone work or are experts in ancient stone masonry. I’m just amazed at having any new knowledge about the construction of monuments that have been studied for thousands of years. You’ve done something amazing here imo. This also is a good example of how valuable it can be to get to go to these monuments to study in person. I can only imagine how enthused you and my other favorite creator Matt are right now after getting to see and touch these structures in person. I’m sure there will be more great videos coming soon, and I can’t wait. Thank you.
This was magnificent research! I am so glad I found your channel. Can't wait to watch all of your videos
So basically this reveals that no ramps were used, this just got more mysterious
Love your analysis method and commitment to this type of work. There are still so many questions these enigmatic structures invite asking and it’s fantastic that we get to see you answering some of them in your very well produced videos.
Dude, those shots at over 1000 feet are amazing! This critical look is invaluable to egyptology and you took the risk of photographing with a rig almost 3 feet long. The images are amazing!
I always thought archiology was boring. If i were smart enough and had the resources to figure stuff like this out though I'd definitely make it a career! This IS breathtaking!
Echoing your ask for support for the bent pyramid - great idea - whenever you have a view on how to do, count me in. Thanks for the great work you're doing.
Incredible work, Mr Granite. You have single-handedly reignited my interest in Ancient Egypt. Your research and findings with such limited access and resources are groundbreaking.
I’ve been watching your content from the start of your channel and I’m happy to be a day 1 “channel member”. Keep up the good work.
It was a small group in the early days, I appreciate you sticking around!
@@HistoryforGRANITE You came out the door with great quality content and I always eagerly anticipate your next video. I appreciate the massive effort you clearly put in.
Appreciate all the hard work you put into this. This video was very insightful!
This stone blocks over A ton or tons 😮
As a stonemason, I always find it fascinating how the pyramids were built. Thank you for this super great video. I found it very, very interesting and insightful.😊
That was well worth the wait. Your work is exceptional. No-nonsense, grounded on solid evidence and unique. I've always been fascinated by old Egyptian structures and it's a major pleasure to follow along with your discoveries and analysis. I wish I had knowledge or expertise to offer in help.
Your content keeps getting better and better! It can't be easy to continue to create interesting videos on what is, essentially, the same topic. However, you haven't disappointed me yet. Your increasing subscriber count indicates that I'm not alone. Luckily, I found your channel when you'd only posted 4 videos. I look forward to seeing your 100th in the future! Keep up the fantastic job.
It would be interesting to overlay the three sides you did on top of one another to see the similarities/differences.
We should also consider the age of the builders.. so if it took more or less 30 years to build, and the average age then was 38-40 new builders arrived often. What is really amazing is getting those stones from the quarry, hundreds of miles away. Thank you for sharing the video, absolutely fantastic with the drone.
Amazing! I am so excited about your findings! The security and hostility around researching the pyramids always blows my mind, there really is a clear incentive in place by the authorities to keep a veil of secrecy and mystery in place. But, this work you are doing is far more interesting to me than anything else I've ever seen discussed about the pyramids. This is true detective work, the real tedious science that is required to make definitive discoveries. Thank you for bringing us along on this journey, I will be watching for your updates and maybe some live streams!
There's no "veil of secrecy" kept in place by the Egyptian authorities, except in the mind of conspiracy theorists. Access to the pyramids and research work around them is understandably restricted, as is the case for virtually every famous ancient monument on the planet. In fact, all things considered, few other ancient monuments have been more accessible to foreign researchers of all sorts than the pyramids and temples of Egypt. That was the case in the recent past (last few centuries) when foreigners didn't bother to ask for permission, of course, but still up until quite recently, researchers and academics from around the world were able to conduct extensive and sometimes even invasive research into the pyramids. Given the excesses that sometimes took place it would be understandable if the Egyptians were now a little more careful, but that's all. Go to Stonehenge for example and see how much "research" you're able to do before you're stopped if you didn't go first through the proper channels and obtained the permission to work there...
@@elchapito4580 This isn't a conspiracy theory post, it's a compliment to the hard work that the author of this KZhead video had to go through just to get some pictures, and only of 3 out of 4 sides at that.
@@elchapito4580 What harm is a photograph with professional equipment going to do? So why restrict it?
Awesome, love finding people that devote themselves to things as you clearly have and I find your findings intriguing.
Great work! It makes a great deal of sense, and I'm looking forward to what you find out about the Bent Pyramid.
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you Wirtual for bringing me to such an interesting channel to watch.
As always, these videos of yours are just next level. Amazing to see our knowledge of how they built the pyramids move one step forward with each of these presentations of yours.
Never disappoints, love it. One of your best works yet. Thank you for all the fine details and the way you exhibit all your data. Can’t wait for the next one…a live stream would be amazing.
Awesome research. You could actually be the guy in history that solved one of the most intriguing enigmas EVER.
I can't effectively critique a topic which I know nothing about, such as this. It will possibly be any number of small insights that finally become a well-recognized solution to identify the actual methods of building these massive pyramids. I hope all his diligent work contributes to that long-awaited insight.
Well done! I appreciate your meticulous research, planning and common sense approach to solving mysteries of construction. Thank you for sharing your findings and keep up the great content!
I lived in Egypt from 1960- 1964 age 5-10. We lived in a far suburb called Maadi . At age 9 I went to Giza with my family and as soon as possible, I ran away from the group and began climbing up the great pyramid stone by stone . The guards spotted me after I was about 3 levels up , they shouted at me in Arabic , but I kept climbing , more slowly as time went by since it was extremely tiring to pull myself up each step . I was a cub scout and had a canteen to drink water on my blue scout belt . I did not have gloves and my fingers started hurting , but I kept going . Eventually a guard started climbing up after me , and to get away , I just ran around on the level I was on to another side and began climbing up again , going around again whenever I noticed the guard under me . I made it up about 1/3 of the total height before getting too tired, and also I was getting scared of what the guards might do to me when I got caught . On the way down , I did the same thing to avoid capture, running around as I went down . The guards had to run farther than I did since they were on a lower level that was longer around . I was also faster than they were . I got down ok , found the tour group near some buses and hid among the crowd . My father asked where I had been for the last hour or so and I just said I got lost in a tomb walkway inside the pyramid .
You, my friend are an absolute genius, and it was a pleasure to watch your videos. It’s about time somebody made some real high-quality videos like this one keep up the fantastic work and keep solving whatever mysteries nobody else can solve. Maybe you can next year work on the Easter island stones
Respects for hand holding a 840mm lens and getting such sharp images. Amazing. I do understand not being allowed to use tripods. Many ancient sights properly ban the use of them. The spikes at the end of each leg could cause huge amount of damage. Obviously not one or two, but thousands might be used every year. When i was in Rome, I was (politely) asked not to use my monopod inside St Peters basilica, (Vatiican) even though there were no spikes, just rubber. I didnt argue, i respected their rules. Very interesting and informative video.
Your work just keeps amazing me. Logic and hard work are at their best in your channel. Please keep up the great work!
This is amazing, I had almost given up hope on how the pyramids were built but you make me find my curiosity again, you do a fantastic job and it is deeply appreciated.
Simply put, wow! Your comment that this observation of casing stones, is eliminating some of the building concepts, is THE top aspect to me at present. I am so impressed that no one else has done this, and I will be pulling for you as you continue this work. You may be the only person (or group by now) that is really going to figure out how the pyramids were really built. Bravo and persevere!!!
I don't think his logic is sound. The casing stones were likely laid from the top down, not the bottom up - after the fill stones were placed.
@@aidasworthington9129 I thought the same, and would explain why it branches from the center out - a ramp would begin at the top center and then spread towards the edges the lower you go. Perhaps a system of 4 lower ramps and 2 upper ramps was used in order to work on as much of the face as possible.
The ramp was inside the pyramid. There was no external ramp.
@@cnlienI don’t believe that is accurate. The ramp and transportation are the biggest mystery.
I will never understand how this construction was accomplished!! The scale of the pyramid is mind-boggling.... Amazing.
My father was a mason, and both of us are professional rope technicians/riggers with extensive experience with rigging tripods, A-frames, etc. Based on that and what youve shown, this is my take: What I see is, by and large, vertical lines up the structure where the last joining/closure stones are generally on top of each other or at least near each other. As the pyramid comes to a point, these lines get eliminated, moving from four vertical lines to two. To me, this suggest that there were lifting stations at each of these points where stones were raised up the side of the structure via ropes, and the location of the lifting frame was also where the final stones were laid for each course. The frame would be moved up to the top of the new course, and the cycle would be repeated. As the pyramid tapers to a point, there would be less and less room for fewer and fewer and fewer frames, to the point that eventually each face would only have two frames, then only one frame, and finally, only a final frame for all the faces to share as the capstone was put in place.