The Casing Stones & Pyramidion of The Great Pyramid
Reconstructions of the Great Pyramid often show it glistening and smooth with an enormous gilded capstone. But how realistic is this?
The history of how Egyptian pyramids lost their casing stones is a tale of physics and greed, with only the Bent Pyramid of Dahshur escaping the fate of being entirely plundered.
But were the tips of the pyramids really covered in gold? How big could the capstones (pyramidions) really have been?
We examine the history of these pyramidions and what the evidence suggests about how they might have looked on top of the 4th dynasty megaliths.
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0:00 Intro
1:16 Tura limestone casing
2:06 Thermal expansion
3:23 Quarrying stones
4:13 Khafre casing stones
5:00 Pyramidions
6:47 Smaller pyramid capstones
7:41 [correction] Khafre's missing top is closer to 3 meters
8:18 Visual impact of contrast
While a golden peak would visually disappear during full daylight, it would look spectacular during sunrise and sunset, and in moonlight.
I don't think so. When the sun is low, beams would be deflected from the polished surface upwards (like radar waves from stealth plane).
@@DalHrusk Points of higher elevation tend to catch the sunlight first as the sun rises because as the sun is coming up, lower parts are still behind the shadow of the planet. Same thing happens in reverse during a sunset. So there was probably a time during dawn and dust when the golden top would have been brightly illuminated while the rest of the pyramid was in umbra
Told in Stone and History for Granite are the real deal, one for Rome, the other for Egypt, short videos filled with information, to the point and well documented. Really appreciate the history lessons!
Absolutely agreed. Both the channels are quite thorough in their research, and presented quite serenely too!!
Both channels? Please enlighten me.
@@pittypatterputzzler5311 Check for yourself.
@@pittypatterputzzler5311 Search up “Told In Stone” if you have any interest in Roman history. You won’t be dissatisfied 😊
It wouldn't surprise me if the two were intimate friends.😄
It's fascinating that the bent pyramid is so often derided by Egyptologists as a "failed" project, when its construction method was so much more resistant to damage-over-time than the later pyramids!
This is a brilliant channel. Excellent narration, and smooth transitions in the editing which I believe is best to use to help get a point across. Well done. Very informative and most certainly makes one think about such amazing structures!
I started watching a video on Egypt and it was some guy in his kitchen, (I stopped watching)even if you're the best Egyptologist I need some level of presentation, I agree with your assessment.
@stclairstclair That's exactly it. There are a lot of chanels that I cannot watch as the editing is all over the place.
I think it would be interesting if someone traveled around Cairo and looked for pieces of the pyramids that are being used in buildings.
I agree. Also evidence of hieroglyphs carved into those casing stones.
Can anybody refer me to a good study containing research of this type? I'm not having any luck in online searching but I'm assuming somebody MUST have gone looking for the robbed stone, so I'm probably just using the wrong search terms? Pyramid casing stones might be harder to identify as reused masonry than Roman stone, I assume (less likely to have inscriptions all over them), but the size, quality and polish of the tura limestone blocks should surely still be identifiable even when incorporated into new structures...?
Been recut.
Good luck with that
I've heard there are mosques but I havent researched
I just found your channel through the KZhead recommendations. Great videos! In both content and quality. I love learning about the pyramids and am looking forward to new videos. Thanks and good luck!
I recommend also Curoius Being channel 🙂 Tina shows there Giza from different perspective 🙂
I agree, great educational videos without all of the padding that many others have.
I just stumbled over this great channel too.😁
When my friend had a huge granite slab installed in his kitchen as a counter top...It took the installers a huge amount of effort to get it plumb. In other words this slab was cut with two flat surfaces. And it took the workers most of the day to get it level so it could support any type of load that may be required in a kitchen. Now the paving stones they used to level the bottom support layer that the Great Pyramid was built on, have the top side flat, and the bottoms are contoured to fit the natural terrain. That is amazing to think about.
@The Great Gazoo exactly. People today to give so little credit to these ancient civilisations. They were amazing at what they did and we haven't got a clue how they did, that's it.
@@matmul4850 thousands of years of working with stones makes them specialists. This was time where only the usfull survived,
@The Great Gazoo I still wonder how they managed to be so precise yet effective with their stonework. I feel like they must have had really advanced tools than what we thought
I had granite installed. They put the flat blocks on my plumb cabinets. I don't understand why anyone would have cabinets with uneven tops. The wall behind was all kinds of uneven. 🤷♂️
Studying ancient Egypt has been a hobby of mine for many years, and your observations and hypotheses of this wonderful culture are the most sensible and insightful I have seen.
Excellent video! It never occurred to me that the blinding glare from the white limestone would completely ruin the effect of a possible golden pyramidion, but it makes perfect sense now that you mention it! Thanks!
Love your channel! I would love to see a video about what happened to the majority of the casing stones. I've heard that there was a major earthquake in the 1300's that caused most of them to loosen or fall down, and the people of Cairo used a lot of them to rebuild. It would be interesting to see some of the buildings that were repaired using the casing stones.
Always thoughtful and well reasoned information on your channel. Thank you.
Really love that you just reason logically. Great job!
Just discovered your channel earlier and I absolutely love it and look forward to much much more. Thanks ! ~ M
Hi, welcome to KZhead Pyramide ;-) Loved your first videos, well documented with photos and videos. Contrarily to some comments I’ve seen (get used to it) I love seeing people using their own brain and common sense to come up with hypothesis ! After all Egyptologists did the same until only recently with more scientific methodologies. So keep up popping vids out. This one on pyramiding was super informative, and made a lot of sense … Cheers
Another excellent production and commentary- your firm grasp on evidence is appreciated. 🌿🌎🌍🌏🌿
Your explanations are neat and clear. An example in the Ockham's Razor application to pyramids... Keep going!
Thanks for these great videos about the pyramids. They are way better than most in every way. Hope you will keep making them. Are you in Egypt now? I was out at Menkaure for a few hours yesterday admiring the granite casing stones, inspired by your video about them. I didn't see you around! I sat on the bottom coarse and leaned my head back against the stone and closed my eyes and placed my palms against the granite on either side of me and I felt like a battery on a charger. It's like the pyramids have a charge or something. It's electric. I find the energy on the necropolis very palpable. Thanks again for these superb videos. Newest subscriber. Salam.
You’re making me jealous with this comment!
The energy you describe is amazing. Here’s aspect no one seems to mention because of all the attention on what the pyramids looked like during the day: Imagine the reflection coming off white granite on brilliant nights or various moon stages. Would that energy have flowed differently? I would love to see a video of whether it reflected light into the surrounding area & how bright that light was at different times.
thank you.
I'm addicted to this channel, feels like it's making me smarter and more of a critical thinker
Thank you for this wonderful comment.
This is the 2nd or 3rd video I've watched, I subbed right away. Going to go and watch more. Keep up the good work.
I too, was just introduced to ur channel today and have of course subscribed to this channel because well the only reason I need and that being you sir actually bring ALL questions, statements, most egyptologist bullshit answers and real life conclusions into the video and leave the viewer to gain their own understanding all the while telling ur reasons for y or y not. Definite subscriber till the end, keep up the great work
Great episode! Will you do the Aztec or Mayan pyramids?
Great videos. Keep up the good job! Much appreciated.
Thanks for new footage and close-up views. It is amazing how many stones are skewed out of position. I believe the Giza pyramids are pre-Dynastic, as they are devoid of hieroglyphics, and are probably thousands of years older than they are currently dated. No point in having hieroglyphics carved in a capstone, when it could never be seen from ground level!
No they are not older 🤦♂️
Possibly it couldn't be usefully seen from any level? (Not unless you were a god, and could fly.)
Actually according to eyewitness accounts the pyramids were covered with hieroglyphics. That is why sometimes when a building in Cairo gets renovated they find hieroglyphics on the inside the wall side of the stones.
They cant date the Sphinx but they can date the pyramids because the mortar used in the construction contains biological material that can be carbon dated...They are not older but the Sphinx must be.
@@guydevilrook2303 Why do you say the sphinx "must" be?
Watched them all. Lovely. Calm, rational, logical, common sense, open to valid differing interpretations... and.. a human voice, unless your AI voice replicator has gotten so real. I hope it's you. Thanks so much. ANy other vids in the same vein will be watched by me. THANKS .
Much appreciated!
Excellent viewing - thank you for sharing 👍
So fascinating! Makes so much sense. Once again , thank you! I love your work!
The builders of Stonehenge - knew as long as the stones remained the information would be carried. What is now a ruin - was once a magnificent building! Your channel is groundbreaking genius - keep up the amazing work!
Lol you literally have no way of knowing that. At all
I would love to hear your take on all the sacred geometry including so many astronomical and global measurements built into the Great Pyramid. Randall Carlsons 2 hr After Skool video explains it in much detail. Great channel, continued success.
This channel takes a serious look at pyramids without the denial of science or reality. There are plenty of other channels out there to feed people baloney. Lets not trash the few intelligent ones with foil hat requirements.
@@danpaulson927 stick with the Mad Scientists Club....its your mental level.
@@jeffwinkler1137 Thanks for checking out my channel. You have nothing by the way. Is that your mental level or do you even think your comments through before making them?
@@danpaulson927 no i dont bother using reasoning with smartasses, just call them out on their stupidity, good luck with your childrens stories, is that how u lure them into the van? Try candy.
@@jeffwinkler1137 That's a boat load of weird things to bring to the table. Weird to me anyway. Enjoy your anger, jeffsprinkler. It's impressive as all get out. Foil hat off. Peace
I love your approach to these questions :) Very nice job !
This is a great new channel!!! Love it!
Do you plan on making a dedicated video on the Black Pyramid? I think it looks really fascinating, and I hear the substructure is pretty complex despite the mostly ruined superstructure
Yeah the black pyramid is very interesting and there’s a huge lack of information available on it
They must have looked amazing when first built ! 😳
Like a glass skyscraper. The sun reflected may melt your car. Something else went on the dazzling sunlight white stone could be seen for miles and yet somehow desert glass shows up
@@brendawilliams8062 you mean 'melt your chariot !' 😊
@@gerry5134 about as much funny as melted cars. Maybe they knew something. 😂
@@gerry5134 After that sun tan i believe I would be looking for the cryogenics lab
Just binging all videos at this moment haha. Great content my dude keep it up!
And subbed now because you liked
top channel and quality work. you're gonna go far dude. 100k, 500k then beyond in no time. watch this space.
Excellent. I love granite. ...... My family owned tin mines, and the biggest tin smelter, in Cornwall, England, and West Cornwall is granite. ...... My great-grandfather built 2 granite country houses, one in Cornwall, one in Devon, around 1905 - all cut granite. ...... I really appreciate the craftsmanship it takes to cut stone, having occasionally wielded a chisel on granite myself.
Thats correct..... Tin is 12 times stronger than granite ,,,,,, my family invented the USB protocol
@@TimPerfetto I should have written 'West Penwith is granite' as not all of west Cornwall is granite. / You wrote 'Tin is 12 times stronger than granite'. To crush? / You wrote 'My family invented the USB protocol'. Cool. My father never told me - probably did not know - that my great-grandfather invented the Wilmot Automatic Transmitter, which was effectively the computer router of the telegraph cables, when he was Superintendent of Waterville Cable Station in Ireland. Amazing what one can find out on Google!
I have long wondered about the casing stones----if they were removed in the last several centuries, are there any records of that happening? And any known reuse for these stones? I think you said in a recent video that this type of limestone is soft, relatively speaking, when first cut, so why go to the bother of recovering the casing stones and recutting them vs just digging out new blocks? Great channel.
the Mosque Madrasa in Cairo is made from the pyramid case stones
@@Daniel-po8eb There are some remaining casing stones. Why would you say the casing is a guess?
Enjoying this material and this channel - looking forward to more videos - well done
Michel Rabbat/Florida...At 81+ I learned a lot from you today...Ma-allam (teacher).
I believe there was also a major earthquake that really loosened all the casing stones, while at the same time leveling Cairo.
Something more catastrophic, they their is glass near by everywhere in the sand, and the stone statues and structures are literally melted/burnt, earthquakes don’t do that, solar flares do.
@Roman Pontian I was multitasking and didn’t use the correct terminology, but since you wanna get all smart ass like I won’t bother, go look up bright insight on the lost capital of Egypt and other of his videos, and go look up brien forester , they both have concrete evidence on something major happened with extreme heat.
@@ZaidrianSpiders relax, and share ideas. For solar flare activity lookup, suspicious 0bserver, the o on Observer is a zero. There's also several dendrochronologist that are showing a major CME impact around every Thousand Years. Major solar flare activity might also solve the heat Paradox of the ice caps melting can bring us out of the last ice age.
@@kalrandom7387the casing stone was so bright lit by the sun that the structure could be seen miles away. Sounds like heating to me
Awesome content, thank you! I've loosely followed most of the discoveries about the pyramids over a few decades and i think this content has generated my first solid question. if the pyramids were covered in gleaming white stone, would the sun-side even be safely approachable (heat, light and glare) and are there any other structures in the path of this reflection? it would seem that there wouldnt be any structures as it would be too uncomfortable to occupy anything too close to this heat source.
I think the heat would be relatively equal on all sides, but you do make a good point that most pyramid related structures were built on the eastern and northern sides, where the glare would be the least bothersome.
@@HistoryforGRANITE Thank you for answering this... because i really didnt know... Appreciated!
Yes,,,,never thought of that aspect..like in the city,next to glass covered buildings the glare is also heat reflection...burning anything in its path..!...wow....even more mystery.....this vid is great content...tnx,
Would't the angle of the pyramid reflect the light upward? a 6ft tall man can walk right up to it without getting hit.
One of the issues we see in dome building is thermal expansion along a single line closest to the sun as it arcs across the sky. I believe you'd see the same effect on the solar sides, but spread more evenly across the entire stone surface. I like where you're going, I had similar ideas about where the shadows would fall.
Love you presentations, many thanks.
Another excellent video. Thank you.
Wow this the first time I see such an excellent narration about the pyramids from a historic objective view (none of that UFO crap). I really enjoy it. 👍
The "UFO crap" doesnt depict Alien spacecraft lifting objects, it depicts a higher intelligenct civilisation from this world or another, that shared technological advances we have not yet found evidence of, to help them build things like these. Have a look at these stones carvings and all around the world, not just Egypt. Imagine yourself carving or moving these stones without machinery. Its very difficult for the intelligent mind to fathom how such perfection can be created, without some form of more advanced engineering compared to the "mainstream" thinking that civilisations back then were much dumber than us. Its hard to trust any Egyptoligist because they seem to all be biased to the culture rather than willing to believe a variation from their own "true" belief, exactly like religions such as Christianity who roned the world saying their religion is correct and will kill anyone who stands in the way. Open minds are what bring truth to the real situations. If we all have closed minds about things we do not understand, there is no way of advancing ourselves. An exmaple would be how everyone centuries ago believed the world was flat, then when some said its curved and we wont fall off the earth, those people were shunned and ridiculed, only because they didnt travel as far and so could not imagine it. The same goes for religions around the world. Although religions are all different, there has to be a reason why so many civilisations have a religion in the first place. A BASE course of these thinkings and beliefs would have began somewhere in history which we cannot know of yet. Its not about are aliens real or not, its about being able to have an open mind to things we could not think of or believe.
@@Lemon83166 Ancient civilizations had a lot of technological advances none of had anything to do with extraterrestrial from other worlds,' by the way nobody in antiquity ever said that the Earth was flat they knew better than that. The Romans connected an entire continent with a network of aqueducts and highways, It's the ufologist that say these people were too stupid to achieve what they did unless they were helped by somebody.
kzhead.info/sun/o89tqMVui6ytqaM/bejne.html
At last, a channel that deals with ancient architecture with a scientific approach: observations, recontextualizations, references to published studies, far from fantasies ! Regarding the implementation of the Kephren pyramid, it may be surprising to see that a layer of less cohesive material is inserted between the structural core and the white limestone coating, weakening the facades. But that would be explained by the order of construction of these three works : the structural core is first built with well-adjusted blocks, then the facing blocks are placed on the periphery of each course, and before moving on to the next layer, the interstice with the core is filled with blocks adjusted as best as possible, but probably never perfectly (work in constrained space, no possibility of removing a failed block) and perhaps a little smaller. This protocol would work as well in the case of a core built first, then dressed from below, as in the case of a progressive construction layer by layer.
I highly recommand this lecture from a searcher from Harvard about the top part of Kufu's pyramid : kzhead.info/sun/mM-uadOXqGuFdGw/bejne.html&ab_channel=HarvardMuseumoftheAncientNearEast (from 48'10'')
lol
Really great channel. Appreciate the fresh perspective of the Egyptian pyramids. What are your views of them being predynastic constructions?
The pyramids have been extensively carbon-dated - the mortar that binds blocks was made in wood-burning fires that left residue. Also numerous pyramids have original wood within them, including Djoser, Meidum, Bent and the Great Pyramid (in the shafts). There's a margin of error to push the dates back a few hundred years, but not much more unless all the carbon dating is wrong.
@@glennmorris25 I heard this recently. The pyramids were actually smaller and some think all they did was expand on it. Prob is the relieving chambers were not entered till the 1800s. Yes some people think the graffiti is fake. It is a interesting theory but it crumbles if the graffiti is proved to be authentic. My question is why are they taking so long to see behind the doors in the 2 shafts? They entered on but refuse to continue. Why? Not enough room for a hidden chamber. Seems odd they found doors and stopped.
@@HistoryforGRANITE But surely the wood that was found in the shafts could have been put there at any time in the past, that doesn’t prove the age of the structure, it just proves the age of the wood found and that goes for the mortar, like the repairs done to the Sphinx etc.
@@MURD3RWAVE yes why haven't they? Further, my questions are, how did the builders construct the most sophisticated pyramids without seemingly any real precursor to the design and then subsequent pyramids were of smaller simpler design? For such momentous constructions as the Giza pyramids, why is there no real written evidence of there construction or celebration? After all, the Egyptians were prolifict hieroglyph writers in stone, yielding valuable information relied on and used by modern historians to build a picture of Egyptian history. Why, (as I understand it) were the Egyptians repairing the Sphinx around the time it was supposed to be being built? For my money, these magnificent constructions were created in a much earlier time and recommissioned by a later civilisation.
@@mrmanch204 From what I read it was noted a few times in the past records the Great Pyramid did a hieroglyphics on it. In fact a lot. The first few courses apparently had lots of hieroglyphics on the casing stones. One of the historians wrote he did not know what it said but the locals said it was how much food and payment it cost the king to build. Lost to history. I'm sure it gave all the info on how it was built. For who. The cost and time. People say they never wrote anything about it. Well chances are they absolutely did. The casing stones crumbled or were stolen. Same with claims the queens chamber had a granite floor, hieroglyphs on the ceiling and a sarcophagus like the Kings chamber. All lost through time with looters and old religious nutters. One of those things that people in the Alt history crowd ignore. The pyramid did have info on it. I imagine they wrote how proud they were and who it was for on it. No need to write on papyrus. They thought the pyramid would be eternal. They probably wrote everything about it on the actual pyramid. I believe 2 or 3 old historians wrote about it. In fact one the missing journals of a historian supposedly copied what was written on it. People are actually searching for the lost journal. I came to the conclusion that we will never ever all totally agree how it was done. You can look this stuff up. I have a hard time with remembering the Muslim and Greek names.
Very nicely done!
Such in depth analyses, love it. Pyramids for the thinking person.
Astonishing. The Great Pyramid was clad in limestone but the Pyramid of Khafre was actually clad in granite if I’m not mistaken. Thanks for uploading!
Only the first bottom course was granite for Khafre. Menkaure had 16 courses, which may have been the record. Later pyramids in the 5th/6th dynasty would often have 1 course of granite as well.
@@HistoryforGRANITE Using precisely cut granite would have been a status point of considerable effect since the granite would be significantly harder to work than limestone or marble. Even so, granite is easier to shape than most "theorists" imagine.
@Mark Tyler The "pounding stones" "method" can easily shape granite. Only an idiot would try to use copper to do so. The Egyptians were not idiots.
@Mark Tyler It isn't easy. And in fact experimental archaeology _has_ done some experimentation with for instance pyramid construction. But the real trouble is that archaeology and prehistory are all limited to what IS preserved. Stone was worked and shaped 2 million years before we started using metal at all. To employ metal requires controlled heat, which generally comes along with pottery. Even most archaeologists tend to dismiss the idea that our ancestors always were ad hoc experimentalists. But we tend to shy away from pointing out things like the fact that many foods, tapioca for instance, are seriously toxic until they have been processed. Or consider maize, which has its one species designation. There are three wild species that belong to the genus, "Zea", but none would be readily associated with maize simply by looking at them. It is understandable to say "wow" when you look at a structure like one of the pyramids. What's inexcusable is failing to ask "how did they do that?" and instead jumping right to claiming to "know" they couldn't. That's just poppycock. We no more no they could not than we know how they may have. Look up the dome of the Florence cathedral, the Brunelleschi dome. We have only experimental archaeology to indicate how it may have been constructed, and it was built in the 15th century beginning in AD 1420. Another example of "lost" technology, modern, is a decision by NASA to request a new series of Saturn rockets in the '80s IIRC. They hauled out the blue prints and built some engines and were shocked when they could not achieve anywhere near the thrust of the originals. They had to bring the _surviving_ engineers out of retirement and conduct oral histories to find out why. It was simple enough. During construction various engineers had applied tweaks to improve perforrmance, and none of those tweaks had been documented on any survivng plans. What you see in the hypotheses of ancient space vistiors and civilizations lost without a trace is the Dunning-Kreuger Effect in action, actively wasting time. Most "theorists" look at something like a pyramid or an obelisk or Stonehenge and think, correctly, "I could not build that/shape that/ . . ." But because they imagine that they are as smart many and smarter than most, that our ancestors could not be any smarter than they are, and they are super geniuses. If they can't do it, . . . They don't ask how they _could_ do it. Instead they point to self evident facts like working granite with copper is difficult (it isn't impossible). Or they babble about "pounding rocks" like they knew what they were talking about. Not one asks how the Romans surveyed aqueduct routes for perfect falls, or why the construction techniques from the Brunelleschi Dome were lost in far less than 500 years, or forgot how to properly build a Saturn Rocket engine in less than 30 years.
@Mark Tyler You are quite mistaken about both rock finishing firms, and about how unfair I am. My point is that there are absolutely unfounded assumptions made by these "theorists" including the notion they know what a "theory" actually is. The "theorists" for instance assume that _they_ have complete knowledge of what the "Ancient Egyptians" could do, and what tools they had. They then argue that, because they (the "theorists") have this complete knowledge of Egyptian technology, that the artifacts they can't imagine making themselves, _with limits they have imposed on the Egyptians, AND modern technology_, there must be an "unknown collection of mystery engineers" that built or carved these things. Since they "know" that these mystery engineers were not contemporary with the Egyptians or us, then they must be from before the Egyptians were a going concern. That pattern of "reasoning" firstly reflects utter ignorance of both what Egyptians knew, and what modern craftsmen are capable of, let alone modern industrial technology. Secondly, they over estimate their own under standing in a classical Dunning-Keuger pattern. Thirdly, they blithely violate Occam's Razor, bad practice in science, philosophy, and historical analysis. They demand that archaeologists prove that the pyramids were NOT, NOT made by the Egyptians indicating a clear problem in their basic reasoning skills. The Egyptians were contemporaries of the civilizations of the Middle East, and were undoubtedly in correspondence and probably social and commercial contact. We know that Sumeria, Akkad, and Babylon had more than adequate mathematical and geometric knowledge to design and build structures as imposing as the pyramids. There is _no_ reason to think that the Egyptians knew any less. The Egyptians also understood stone, which is vastly more than can be said about our modern "ancient astronut theorists", who are profoundly ignorant of "crafting" knowledge, AND early modern history. By "crafting" I mean the process of imagining a creation, designing it, determining the materials. methods, and time needed to make it. Unless you can actually do that, then you can't really imagine what it actually requires to build a pyramid, or shape a piece of stone. Not one of them has never attempted to get off their backsides and actually build a pyramid at any scale. Their attitude is contemptuous of a past people, apparently because these theorists have a sense of inferiority when they look at those structures and stones. You should note well that they insist that "not even modern technology" could create those ancient monuments. But, that is not true. We do not as a rule employ massive blocks of stone, primarily because it is expensive, time and labour consuming, and there are less expensive, easier methods to build imposing structures. However, as an example, the Georgia Guide Stones were very massive stones before they were demolished. Each of those primary vertical granite slabs weighed more than 10 times the estimated weights of the individual stone used to build the main mass of the pyramids. The Guide stones were also of granite, which was used only for special purposes in the pyramids. The primary construction material in the pyramids is actually limestone, and can - as a matter of fact - easily be worked with bronze picks or "chisels." They have more or less the same hardness, which BTW is partially immaterial. The bronze dulls, but does not wear way on limestone. There is plenty of evidence of the use of saws and cylindrical drills, which has been common throughout prehistory, and history. There's no justification to be "fair" to such poor reasoning and unfounded assumptions. If you want to be fair, go test these "theories" and actually, empirically determine what is and is not possible.
I agree with everything you've said but you should also take into account that in case of golden piramidion, during sunrise, when sun rays would hit the piramidion first, it would create a spectacular show. The same goes for sunset and last rays of the day.
Love your video.. Different perspectives presentation....💖
New subscriber. Really enjoy your videos. I was in Egypt in 1985 and took a tour inside the Great Pyramid. Would love to return, especially after watching your videos. I missed so much the first time. Now I know what to look for.
Wow,you were so lucky,,isn't that the way,,we would now know what we are looking at,no matter what it is,and with knowledge,understand it way better than when we were teenagers!....so it is,,,,my parents good friends,in the 60s,visited giza, and in the poloride picture they are at the base on camels....so cool.you have the time of your life,tnx,pat land o' lakes,wi.usa.
@@patmayer7222 Hi Pat! Greetings from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I was lucky. I happened to be in Egypt due to a military training exercise and we lower ranking soldiers were allowed to go on tour. We were set loose in Giza, then taken to the pyramids. It was wierd because we were told to dress up for the tour, women were required to wear a dress and panty hose, so I climbed up inside the Great Pyramid wearing white heeled shoes and nylon stockings in 127 degree heat. One of the best times of my life.
What about the first and last rays of sun in the morning and evening? The gold pyramidians would look marvellous!
Good point!
The angle of the pyramid faces would reflect the sunlight upwards, not towards a viewer on the ground - especially for a metallic surface like gold.
I love this channel ... congratulations for the absolutely insane quality of the videos published here !! keep up the googd work !!
So, how did they get down if, when they put the casing stone on, they went from the ground up? Did they slide down, or have a secret door up top?
Hanube prolly
They still had ramps around the pyramid. Next step after capstone placement would be to dismantle the ramp as you go down.
Great Channel.. really enjoy your content..
This channel is taking up too much of my time! I am hooked.
Sorry I've come to this late, but can I ask: do you think it would have been possible to climb a large pyramid clad in limestone with razor-thin gaps?
Which begs the follow-up question: if it was AT ALL difficult, how did they construct the casing at all?
@@MoAndAye OMFG begging the question is a logical fallacy STOP PLEASE STOP RUINING LANGUAGE NOW STOTTSTPTTPTSOETJPU{WEGP(} q
@@MoAndAye Do you think it would have been possible to climb a large pyramid clad in limestone with razor-thin gaps?
@@TimPerfetto Possible for the experienced individual, but highly improbable for large numbers of workers carrying tools and super heavy materials and all working closely together. So, yeah, that's part of my dilemma. I have been assuming that they worked from the top down while applying the outer limestone skin.
@@MoAndAye WTF are you talking about? To "beg the question" is to attempt to support a claim with a premise that itself restates or presupposes the claim. It is an attempt to prove a proposition while simultaneously taking the proposition for granted. Jesus Christ stop using this incorrectly for the love of god
Great content, I like your fact based view. This channel is going to be huge. I liked ancient architects but he speculates way too much and he claims to have solved every pyramid mystery himself, his latest view is that the pyramids where tombs for the kings, dead set theory that's been around for 100s of years but he solved it on his own 🤣
Oh he hoo? who? idk how who he? His voice drives me nuts honesty who talks like thaaaat Great Pyramiaaaaiddddd
Thanks...information I always wanted in your shows
Good video. Learning about stones, granite, and masonry .thank You
Very interesting. There are many ancient megalithic structures that have specific orientations such that the light of the sun (or the moon, or a star) illuminates a specific feature of the structure to mark a specific day and time of the year - usually solstices and equinoxes. IF such an arrangement was in use in Egypt, people would not have had to look at it every day, just on those days of importance. On those occasions, the first instant of light flashing off of a pyramidion would be important for marking the event. Of course, any highly polished surface, such as black granite, might produce the same effect, leaving open the possibility that if they were gilded it was probably intended as a statement of wealth and power. 'Gilding the lily', so to speak.(LOL) Do you suppose this dark basalt pyramidion concept is related to the existence of the 'stained' stone on top of the Great Pyramid?
It's difficult to connect the dark pyramidions of the Middle Kingdom to the 4th dynasty because it's a huge gap in time, but it's certainly possible. What we really need is a proper forensic examination of the stained stone as a starting point for what to think of it.
@@HistoryforGRANITE While I read this I heard exactly your voice as narrator in my head LoL
The gilded pyramidion is in emulation of the sun and solar rays. It is meant to be visible from far away, not looking up from the base. I think your theory is not considering this effect
Hello, I really enjoy your channel, you have unique perspectives and eye opening insights. Rather than thinking about the perspective of those on the ground, consider the Ariel view. The missing portion of the great pyramid is about 9 meters, approximately 30 feet. If it was gold, the sun would have shined onto it, and the white walls of the pyramid would have created a 750 foot square back drop, which the golden peak would be reflected. Now consider the sides of the pyramid are split and slightly concaved, each half of each face would reflect light towards its opposite half, creating a crossed over double enhanced reflection of light. I have done a reflective analysis on how it would have reflected the sun, and have concluded that each of the four corners would have blasted out quadruped beams of reflection, while the centers of the four split lines would have emitted double rays of reflected sunlight. And if you draw this out as I have, you will end up with the same image we get from stars, a bright center with eight points of light. Also, with having the whole structure ontop of the white desert sand, the reflections from the great pyramid would have shot out for many miles, making it totally visible from space. Now when you consider that Gold reflects the color Red, from outer space the great pyramid would have shined like a blazing red star in the night sky, precisely like Betelgeuse, which in my opinion, is a planet with its pyramids still intact.
"IF", there was enough reflectivity on the surfaces to reflect in that mirrored manner, the sun would still have to be directly overhead to shape the rays. That debunks your first half. The second part I need a foil hat for.
Thank you ,very clear and interesting talk
Has anyone ever done a video of all the differences inside & out between the two largest pyramids on the Giza Plateau, we know the great pyramid has a horizontal line & slight indentation down each face but other than that & what do we currently know about each one internally, what I’m trying to suggest is could it be possible that the Great Pyramid is much older, it has sea fossils at its base etc does the 2nd ? maybe the 2nd was built to copy the Great & they tried to make the 2nd appear better/grander than the Great due to it being built higher ground? That’s why they are the most fascinating structures on earth because there are so many unanswered questions.
Watch Graham Hancock and Brian Forester
@@staffyforme I do 😊
They are scam artisits who have made millions selling books and will do anything to keep their lies going, thats why they will ne asking the questions they have been for 20 years for another 20 years because answering anything will not benefit them. "We have taken samples for testing" - three years later you hear nothing from their samples, they dont follow science. Brian forester said he discovered magnetite, lol
@@taylorgall9516 everyone is entitled to their opinion obviously, some make more sense than the official explanation and that's interesting
@@taylorgall9516 do lies really sell that many books? The truth is literally set in stone all over the world
I can't count the number of times I have been the one to first tell someone about how the limestone would have glistened in the sunlight. Often the look on their faces as they imagine it is simply great. I really don't understand why this isn't one of the basic facts that everyone knows. Sure, I am a history nerd who has listened to more hours of lecture on various bits of history than I can count but Egypt is more of a peripheral interest of mine so its not as if I have tons of detailed knowledge on the subject of pre-Ptolemaic Egypt. (2 guesses where I focus my attention for the ancient world)
People think castles were dark and dingy and everyone was dressing rags historically too..........movies are to blame.
@@MrBottlecapBill Yeah, but there are plenty of bright gleaming white that should NOT be there. Think all of those older depictions of the Greco-Roman world due to all the paint that was once covering things, weathering into oblivion. One could go a step further and cry foul at Kurosawa and his color coded armies in Ran. Or hell the green/chain grey/plate aesthetic of Rohan and Gondor. Point being: sometimes it works, other times it is the opposite of reality but still works, other times it causes your brain to leak out of your ear but is a known trope so gl dealing with that mess.
@@whyjnot420 It's easy to deal with. It's just nobody in hollywood cares to. A minor bit of research from writers and on set experts is all it takes. That's always been too much to ask it seems.
@@MrBottlecapBill That only tells a portion of the story, a big portion, but still only a portion. Another big part of it is audience expectation. If a certain trope is what people expect, regardless of its historical authenticity, changing it to something the audience does not expect in order to bring in something that is historically authentic, actually relies on suspension of disbelief to some extent and thus it is easier to _not_ change the trope.
Someone has probably said this many times before but, to really think that they knew, one way or another, exactly what they were trying to accomplish structurally which was eventually lost to time, and took many hundreds of years to re-figure out in such a complicated way really is mind blowing.
You taught me something new today. ❤
I would run a simulation to check the appearance of each pyramid at sunrise/sunset/night. We just don't know what the ancient deemed pleasing to the eye, we don't even know if the pyramidions had anything to do with a visual experience at all. For example, in medieval Italian churches there are countless examples of small paintings hung very high, making it impossible to notice any detail in them: experiencing the art was not as important as feeling its presence.
Exactly, you don't paint a car just because it looks nice, the paint serves a function, and this guy is basing his whole theory on looks.
Great Pyramid was covered in white dolomite, not lime stone. It did have a gold top. When viewed from the top, you notice it has 8 sides, as a slight indentation at the center for the 4 sides. It had wiring inside & flowed a river beneath, as a sort of conduit. Giant charging stations!
Annoyingly, searching for Dolomite will bring up shoes. But interesting input. I didn't know that.
@@Aracne80 Here is Wikipedia link for dolomite. I hope it makes things easier. 🙂 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomite_(rock)
There is no evidence that any pyramid had a gold on the top that’s just an urban myth, so is the one about the pyramids being covered with hieroglyphs, they are just not true.
@@thorncraft3235 That's an opinion, not a fact. You can't really prove nor disprove it. Of course there are pyramids below Giza as well that were found & really ancient ones underground in what you would call middle-earth.
@@adriennemarierozario6591 you stated it as fact, you said “It did have a gold top”. Yet there has never been any evidence of a gold top & that is a fact. Or wiring inside, I don’t believe what I’m told in videos I prefer evidence & there is none the ‘power station theory’ is just that a Theory & nothing else, believe what you like but science tells you to follow the evidence. I do believe there are things on the Giza Plateau that can not be explained by mainstream academics like drill holes and precision carvings of extremely hard stone that could not have been done with copper chisels so there must of been either tools they had then that have not been found due to the metal being taken & repurposed or them objects are from a previous civilisation that predates all Egyptian history and it originally came from what the Egyptians themselves call Zep Tepe, but no one knows for sure, more evidence is needed.
Finally someone who knows which pyramid is the Great Pyramid. So many get it wrong, and I am not just talking KZheadrs, but PBS, the Discovery Channel conglomerate, even news channels or programs. I am so glad I did not have to yell at my computer "THAT IS NOT THE GREAT PYRAMID!!!"
A video on the possible use of the pyramids for electricity production would be awsome.
Except that there is no reason to think that they used any electricity. I think they'd have used something more effective than swords, spears, and horse drawn chariots eventually if they had knowk dge of electricity. And their rival nations would have used electricity also.
There is no way this pyramid was built in one Pharaoh's lifetime. The length of time to place the stones and the amount of time it would take to cut the stones out of the quarry using even today's fastest methods
Very informative, thanks. 👍👍😊
Interesting theory, and a very plausible one.
Considering the high degree of precise engineering and execution, there were no mistakes made in this project. The white casing could have also been expected to reflect away the sun's radiation and so preserve the monument from heating and thermal cycling. If there had been a gilded cap, it could have served as a mirror for signaling from a ground based emitter.
Ground based emitter..... what the he'll are you talking about
@@matmul4850 You would think that anyone who builds a very high structure (at considerable expense) would use it as a lookout (to see if friends, enemies or storms are coming) and then would use this expensive creation for a practical purpose such as to signal by light (maybe at night) in a system for communication of disaster protocols (what to do if an attack or a storm occurs or maybe other news).
@@robertsmyk4102no need for such a high and expensive look out. Looking that far sounds useless anyhow. Nobody can see anything that far away. Also, no evidence that it could have been used as a look out.
In short no one knows why the Egyptian Pyramids were built. Anything in them was taken out. The theories range from weird or crazy, burial tombs, water pumps, nuclear reactors or space aliens. I read many of the theories the chemical complex chemical reactor seems the most realistic. The most basic question is what it is and why did they build it.
Nothing crazy about the space alien theory Don. The U.S. is now in the process of fessing up over UFO’s. 👽
Excellent!!! Love your videos
Great video keep them coming
When the pyramids were built the Sahara was tropical. The Egyptians didn’t build the pyramids, rather they were custodians of what they found.
Rubbish. We have hieroglyphs and papyrus showing the logistics of building them. Keep up.
@@Alloneword-cp2xw Rubbish........there is no written record of the building of the great pyramids......none.
@@TonyBraun There are papyrus showing the logistics of moving the stone up the nile to locations for building. We even see the quary marks on stone in these pyramids. Time to stop being immature and just get with the facts. Egyptians built them. End of. Keep up.
@@Alloneword-cp2xw Giant opinion of yourself .........but dwarfs brain.......there is absolutely NO evidence about how the Pyramids were built.....NONE
@@TonyBraun lol ok. Have a good day. Stay safe.
You've made me so interested in something I've never been interested in before.
Good video. I saw Khafre up close. The remaining casing stones are weathered. But it sure looks cool.
Excellent video. Give us more :)
Cool. This was very interesting. Thank you
Looking forward to watch this channel grow its following
Love your channel, but on this video... where did you get all the images? I ask because I'm going to Egypt in September and I've heard that you cant bring drones, let alone fly them into the country and some of these shots are obviously from a drone. thanks
Very cool channel- IMO - You have obviously put some serious thought in to your presentations. - Very Cool 😎
Great Job on this 🎸
awesome explanation of the Pyramidion. People don't realize how much gold it would take to create even a small capstone.
Great video, thank you!
I can't express the depth of my gratitude for making it through a third video of yours without hearing "Aliens".
My understanding is that the exteriors of the pyramids at Giza were intact (other than the so-called "robber's tunnel") until around the 12th or 13th centuries or thereabouts, when a massive earthquake loosened them up and made quarrying them feasible. The earthquake apparently also flattened Cairo, thus creating a large demand for stone for rebuilding. If this is true, then the pyramids would have withstood the thermal expansion for millennia with no visible damage. It's possible that the builders had some mechanism that we don't understand for dealing with it.
Expand with sun, contract at night = net zero?
Quality channel!!!!!!!!!
Makes sense... bugger.. 🤷♂️ I liked the gilded golden capstone theory. Good show, thanks mate 👍
I am open to all opinions and angles on casing stones. Could listen to it all day. Enjoyed the video!
nobody can explain how the casing stones were planed with such precision.....would be an amazing feet even today to machine installed stones so evenly over such vast surfaces....... it's fair to say from an engineering point of view.....it would be impossible to cut those surface edges on the ground and then get them to fit so cleanly after installation......they were installed then planed, and there's evidence for this position.... some of these casing stones are granite on some pyramids.....
@@curiousbystander9193 Have you looked into geopolymers for the sand stone? Not the granite, but some researcher found organic traces and homogeneous setup in their structures.
@@hibernative that's because some sandstones are fairly homogeneous, and the organic traces....well, sandstone is a sedimentary rock which has never gone under significant heating, thus the continued presence of organic matter within the sandstone..... maybe there was some casting going on, yet there is little evidence of mold making having gone on...and there is vast evidence of quarrying sandstone.
My new favorite channel! According to the account of Herodotus, there were hieroglyphs carved on the outside. Whatever that account is worth.
Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi also mentions the vast array of inscriptions in 1196: "These stones are covered with writing in this ancient character, the value of which is unknown today. I did not meet in all Egypt anyone who could say to know, even by hearsay, someone who was aware of this character. These inscriptions are in so great a number, that if one wanted to copy on paper only those which one sees on the surface of these two pyramids, one would fill more than ten thousand pages." Their accounts are remarkably similar, but lacking a visual description of the inscriptions it becomes pure speculation at what time they were applied. Original pyramid texts? Later dynastic graffiti? And why don't the preserved casing stones have any? Lots to ponder.
@@HistoryforGRANITE If true, they were likely low enough for people to read them from ground level. They *did* like to brag on their accomplishments, that's for sure. BTW, have you ever heard of the old sphinx headdress theory? I have researched ancient Egypt for decades, and some of the old forgotten hypotheses crack me up. You can see the left side of the sphinx headdress is oddly curved. Supposedly, back in 2550BCE the sun would set along the edge of the sphinx's headdress around the equinox. I made a simulation of it using Google Earth, and it does roughly follow that path, and view the sphinx from the temple directly in front of it. You never hear that story anymore. Not since the 80's.
The context of temperature and climate supposed (vis a vis thermal expansion and sunlight glare) suggests the current desert weather was the dominant atmospheric conditions when perhaps instead more temperate weather conditions might have have been the case, consistent with a paleo-climate of the pre-Younger Dryas which is becoming an increasingly likely environment for the pyramids’ construction.
Your point about the relative brightness values for the limestone and gold, given intense sunlight, are so obvious in retrospect that I literally laughed out of shock that is never thought of it before!🤣
Awesome video! New sub here! Very well done videos!
such amazing content. big love from kentucky