Who built the Egyptian pyramids. Egyptian pyramids - who really built them? Alien civilization Who really built the Egyptian pyramids

Could the ancient Egyptians have built their giant pyramids and palaces on their own? People who have only read about these structures in history books believe: yes. But many of those who have been to this country and wandered, for example, through the Giza Valley, doubt it. These structures are too impressive, even if tens of thousands of slaves are supposed to have worked on their construction.

Conan Doyle version

The theory that the pyramids are material traces of some more ancient technologically advanced civilization has not been put forward today. For example, in 1929, the “father of Sherlock Holmes” Arthur Conan Doyle published the fantasy novel “The Abyss of Marakot”, the heroes of which end up in a certain city - an island that sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean thousands of years ago. When one of them examines the underwater buildings, he notices that: “The columns, platforms and stairs of this building surpassed anything I had ever seen on earth. Most of all, the building resembled the remains of the temple of Karnak in Luxor, in Egypt, and, amazingly, the decorations and half-erased inscriptions in small details resembled the same decorations and inscriptions of the great ruins near the Nile.”

According to Conan Doyle, who, by the way, visited Egypt before writing this novel, all local ancient structures were built by Atlanteans. And Doyle, according to his contemporaries, like his famous detective hero, had brilliant analytical skills.

The Sphinx is 5000 years older?

It is not clear on what Conan Doyle based his conclusions. But he now has many followers. For example, the head of the Laboratory of Alternative History () Andrey SKLYAROV, who has visited Egypt several times, claims that most local historical monuments were actually created by representatives of an ancient civilization:

You can call them Atlanteans, you can call them aliens, you can call them something else, but there are an incredible number of their traces in Egypt. It’s even strange that Egyptologists did not pay attention to this before. Although now I have the impression that the Egyptians themselves are guessing about something, but are carefully hiding the secret.

If possible, specific examples...

Please let's start with the Great Sphinx. Classical Egyptology claims that it was built during the time of Pharaoh Cheops or his son - approximately 2.5 thousand years BC - based only on the fact that, according to its “artistic features,” it can be attributed to that era. But a century and a half ago, the so-called “Inventory Stele” was found in Giza, which indicated that Cheops only ordered the damaged statue to be repaired. Repair, not build!

And in the early 90s, American geologist Robert Schoch proved that the grooves on the body of the Sphinx and on the wall of the trench around it are traces of erosion not by wind, but by rain: vertical stripes instead of horizontal ones. But there has been no serious rain in Egypt for at least 8 thousand years.

Immediately after Schoch's publication, the Egyptian authorities began an urgent restoration of the Sphinx. Now the lower two-thirds of the monument are covered with new masonry, and the top of the sculpture has been cleaned - almost no traces of erosion remain. By the way, around the same time, the “Inventory Stele” was also hidden in the storerooms of the Cairo Museum - before that it was put on public display, but now another one was put in its place. In response to questions about this stele, the museum's caretakers only shrug their shoulders in bewilderment. But it has been repeatedly described in scientific and so-called alternative literature.

When the gods ruled...

According to Andrei Sklyarov, the ancient Egyptians themselves built something. But they built their buildings on the basis of ancient structures.

This is clearly visible on the pyramids - which are made by hand, and which with the help of high-precision tools, says Andrey. - Moreover, many ancient buildings resemble bunkers - semi-underground structures over which the pharaohs built their pyramids, trying to copy the ancients. And there were only 6 - 7 original pyramids built by pre-civilization: three in Giza, two in Dashshur and one in Medun. Perhaps there was another one in Abu Roash, but it is not clear whether it was a pyramid or a bunker. And other pyramids are ancient structures completed by the pharaohs, which were originally typical bunkers. Moreover, with such powerful ceilings that they cannot be called anything other than a refuge in the event of a nuclear war. True, it is not clear why and who could threaten them. But the war explains the disappearance of pre-civilization.

Why, besides the buildings, were there no other material traces left?

Why isn't there any left? For example, in the Giza Desert we came across something that resembled iron dust. They took samples and brought them to Moscow. It turned out that it was iron oxide with a high content of manganese. The percentage corresponds to high-alloy manganese steels, which are now used in tank tracks and as a material for stone crushing machines. In how many years could this extremely strong steel turn into dust in the desert, where there had been no decent rain for 8 thousand years?

But what kind of mysterious civilization left us these artifacts?

There are different versions. Some people adhere to the theory that they were Atlanteans, others talk about colonists from other worlds. It is difficult to say when they came to Earth, but the period of the heyday of their power can be determined. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC. e. Egyptian historian Manetho published his History of Egypt. It has not been completely preserved to this day, but fragments are mentioned in the works of other historians of the first millennium AD. Manetho compiled a chronological list of the rulers of the country. Classical Egyptology recognizes only the "dynastic part", which deals with famous human pharaohs. But Manetho also talks about the first kingdom, when Egypt was supposedly ruled by gods. It existed approximately 10 - 12 thousand years ago, long before the first known pharaohs.

They worked with granite like styrofoam

Now Egyptologists spend time arguing about how the workers moved these multi-ton stone blocks from which they built pyramids and temples, they are building versions, conducting experiments, says Andrei Sklyarov. - We took a different path: if there are millions of tons of stones, then we need to understand how they were processed. We analyzed many parameters. For example, if they were sawed out, then we look at the width and depth of the cut, and the thickness of the cutting edge. Sometimes the results are surprising.

Slabs of black basalt located around the perimeter of the temple, standing near the Great Pyramid (they used to be the floor of an ancient Egyptian temple). The trace of a circular saw is visible, which is known to operate on a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric drive, but the Egyptians had neither the first, nor the second, nor the third.

It is also noticeable that during sawing there is grinding. If, as they believe, the builders worked with hand-held copper saws, then there would be scratches, but similar grinding is left by modern diamond-coated saws, and they must move very quickly.

Fragment of the obelisk at Karnak. It lies 10 meters from the hiking trail. There are strange holes on it with a diameter of 1 cm and a depth of about 10 cm. They were obviously made to attach some kind of decorative plates: gold or copper. But some of them go deep into the granite not perpendicularly, but at an angle of 10 - 20 degrees: this is impossible to do manually. It turns out that they were drilled into granite, just as we turn holes with a drill in soft wood. What kind of drill did the ancient Egyptians have that could go into granite like it would into butter?

This is an obelisk lying near the famous scarab beetle on the shore of the sacred lake at Karnak. A decorative strip 3 mm wide and 1 cm deep is visible. It is believed that it was scratched with a nail. Jewelers, perhaps, could repeat, carefully cutting, with modern tools.

An artifact from southern Saqqara, where tourists are not allowed. A very revealing block of black basalt. The far part of it has been sawed off: the mark of a circular saw is visible. And they tried to process the other part manually. The difference is immediately visible.

A gate in the still closed part of the Karnak Temple. At the very top, a hole was made in the granite, believed to be about the size of a good barrel for a gate post. In our world, machines capable of cutting such holes appeared only 10 - 15 years ago.

Aswan quarries. Pits going several meters deep. The diameter is slightly larger than the width of the human body. How to dig holes like this? Unless you stand with your head down. There are many such pits. According to Egyptologists, they are designed to watch how cracks appear in the main massif. And this is a completely pointless exercise, because the direction of the cracks can be determined from the surface. And why was it necessary to align the walls so carefully? It looks like they were working here with a milling cutter. There is a hypothesis that the builders simply took granite samples. But with such a tool that made it possible not to spend a lot of time on these tests. This proto-civilization demonstrates to us that it worked with granite as with foam plastic.

Listen to the full audio interview with Andrey Sklyarov

Experts suspect that these are traces of the activities of an ancient forgotten civilization

Could the ancient Egyptians have built their giant pyramids and palaces on their own? People who have only read about these structures in history books believe: yes. But many of those who have been to this country and wandered, for example, through the Giza Valley, doubt it. These structures are too impressive, even if tens of thousands of slaves are supposed to have worked on their construction.

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV The exact age of this stone sculpture is unknown to anyone

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV The famous “Inventory Stele” with the inscription about the “restoration” of the Sphinx.

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV Plates of black basalt located along the perimeter of the temple

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV Fragment of the obelisk in Karnak

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV This is an obelisk lying near the famous scarab beetle on the shore of the sacred lake in Karnak.

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV Artifact from southern Saqqara, where tourists are not allowed

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV Gate in the still closed part of the Karnak Temple

Photo by Andrey SKLYAROV Aswan quarries. Pits going several meters deep

Conan Doyle version

The theory that the pyramids are material traces of some more ancient technologically advanced civilization has not been put forward today. For example, in 1929, the “father of Sherlock Holmes” Arthur Conan Doyle published the fantasy novel “The Abyss of Maracot”, the heroes of which find themselves in a certain city - an island that sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean thousands of years ago. When one of them examines the underwater structures, he notices that: “The columns, platforms and stairs of this building surpassed anything I had ever seen on earth. Most of all, the building resembled the remains of the temple of Karnak in Luxor, in Egypt, and, amazingly, the work, decorations and half-erased inscriptions in small details were reminiscent of the same decorations and inscriptions of the great ruins near the Nile.”

According to Conan Doyle, who, by the way, visited Egypt before writing this novel, all local ancient structures were built by Atlanteans. And Doyle, according to his contemporaries, like his famous detective hero, had brilliant analytical skills.

The Sphinx is 5000 years older?

It is not clear on what Conan Doyle based his conclusions. But he now has many followers. For example, the head of the Laboratory of Alternative History, Andrei SKLYAROV, who has visited Egypt several times, claims that most of the local historical monuments were actually created by representatives of an ancient civilization:

You can call them Atlanteans, you can call them aliens, you can call them something else, but there are an incredible number of their traces in Egypt. It’s even strange that Egyptologists did not pay attention to this before. Although now I have the impression that the Egyptians themselves are guessing about something, but are carefully hiding the secret.

If possible, specific examples...

Please let's start with the Great Sphinx. Classical Egyptology claims that it was built during the time of Pharaoh Cheops or his son - approximately 2.5 thousand years BC - based only on the fact that, according to its “artistic features,” it can be attributed to that era. But a century and a half ago, the so-called “Inventory Stele” was found in Giza, which indicated that Cheops only ordered the damaged statue to be repaired. Repair, not build!

And in the early 90s, American geologist Robert Schoch proved that the grooves on the body of the Sphinx and on the wall of the trench around it are traces of erosion not by wind, but by rain: vertical stripes instead of horizontal ones. But there has been no serious rain in Egypt for at least 8 thousand years.

Immediately after Schoch’s publication, the Egyptian authorities began an urgent restoration of the Sphinx. Now the lower two-thirds of the monument are covered with new masonry, and the top of the sculpture has been cleaned - almost no traces of erosion remain. By the way, around the same time, the “Inventory Stele” was also hidden in the storerooms of the Cairo Museum - before that it was put on public display, but now another one was put in its place. In response to questions about this stele, the museum's caretakers only shrug their shoulders in bewilderment. But it has been repeatedly described in scientific and so-called alternative literature.

When the gods ruled...

According to Andrei Sklyarov, the ancient Egyptians themselves built something. But they built their buildings on the basis of ancient structures.

This is clearly visible on the pyramids - which are made by hand, and which with the help of high-precision tools, says Andrey. - Moreover, many ancient buildings resemble bunkers - semi-underground structures over which the pharaohs built their pyramids, trying to copy the ancients. And there were only 6 - 7 original pyramids built by pre-civilization: three in Giza, two in Dashshur and one in Medun. Perhaps there was another one in Abu Roash, but it is not clear whether it was a pyramid or a bunker. And other pyramids are ancient structures completed by the pharaohs, which were originally typical bunkers. Moreover, with such powerful ceilings that they cannot be called anything other than a refuge in the event of a nuclear war. True, it is not clear why and who could threaten them. But the war explains the disappearance of pre-civilization.

Why, besides the buildings, were there no other material traces left?

Why isn't there any left? For example, in the Giza Desert we came across something that resembled iron dust. They took samples and brought them to Moscow. It turned out that it was iron oxide with a high content of manganese. The percentage corresponds to high-alloy manganese steels, which are now used in tank tracks and as a material for stone crushing machines. In how many years could this extremely strong steel turn into dust in the desert, where there had been no decent rain for 8 thousand years?

But what kind of mysterious civilization left us these artifacts?

There are different versions. Some people adhere to the theory that they were Atlanteans, others talk about colonists from other worlds. It is difficult to say when they came to Earth, but the period of the heyday of their power can be determined. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC. e. Egyptian historian Manetho published his History of Egypt. It has not been completely preserved to this day, but fragments are mentioned in the works of other historians of the first millennium AD. Manetho compiled a chronological list of the rulers of the country. Classical Egyptology recognizes only the "dynastic part", which deals with famous human pharaohs. But Manetho also talks about the first kingdom, when Egypt was supposedly ruled by gods. It existed approximately 10 - 12 thousand years ago, long before the first known pharaohs.

They worked with granite like styrofoam

Now Egyptologists spend time arguing about how the workers moved these multi-ton stone blocks from which they built pyramids and temples, they are building versions, conducting experiments, says Andrei Sklyarov. - We took a different path: if there are millions of tons of stones, then we need to understand how they were processed. We analyzed many parameters. For example, if they were sawed out, then we look at the width and depth of the cut, and the thickness of the cutting edge. Sometimes the results are surprising.

Slabs of black basalt located around the perimeter of the temple, standing near the Great Pyramid (they used to be the floor of an ancient Egyptian temple). The trace of a circular saw is visible, which is known to operate on a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric drive, but the Egyptians had neither the first, nor the second, nor the third.

It is also noticeable that during sawing there is grinding. If, as they believe, the builders worked with hand-held copper saws, then there would be scratches, but similar grinding is left by modern diamond-coated saws, and they must move very quickly.

Fragment of the obelisk at Karnak. It lies 10 meters from the hiking trail. There are strange holes on it with a diameter of 1 cm and a depth of about 10 cm. They were obviously made to attach some kind of decorative plates: gold or copper. But some of them go deep into the granite not perpendicularly, but at an angle of 10 - 20 degrees: this is impossible to do manually. It turns out that they were drilled into granite, just as we turn holes with a drill in soft wood. What kind of drill did the ancient Egyptians have that could go into granite like it would into butter?

This is an obelisk lying near the famous scarab beetle on the shore of the sacred lake at Karnak. A decorative strip 3 mm wide and 1 cm deep is visible. It is believed that it was scratched with a nail. Jewelers, perhaps, could repeat, carefully cutting, with modern tools.

An artifact from southern Saqqara, where tourists are not allowed. A very revealing block of black basalt. The far part of it has been sawed off: the mark of a circular saw is visible. And they tried to process the other part manually. The difference is immediately visible.

A gate in the still closed part of the Karnak Temple. At the very top, a hole was made in the granite, believed to be about the size of a good barrel for a gate post. In our world, machines capable of cutting such holes appeared only 10 - 15 years ago.

Aswan quarries. Pits going several meters deep. The diameter is slightly larger than the width of the human body. How to dig holes like this? Unless you stand with your head down. There are many such pits. According to Egyptologists, they are designed to watch how cracks appear in the main massif. And this is a completely pointless exercise, because the direction of the cracks can be determined from the surface. And why was it necessary to align the walls so carefully? It looks like they were working here with a milling cutter. There is a hypothesis that the builders simply took granite samples. But with such a tool that made it possible not to spend a lot of time on these tests. This proto-civilization demonstrates to us that it worked with granite as with foam plastic.

Andrey MOISEENKO
TVNZ

Time is afraid of pyramids. They never shared their secrets. The scale of this construction is amazing. According to supporters of the Alternative History Laboratory, the Egyptians could not have built it. In their opinion, the pyramids could have been built by anyone: Atlanteans, representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, representatives of other peoples, but not the Egyptians themselves. This very strange thesis is largely based on the fact that the Egyptians did not have advanced technologies that would have allowed them to begin processing highly hard stones, lifting heavy weights, and the like.

Many of the early pyramids were quite crudely built. They are made of small stone blocks and are imperfect in terms of installation. These pyramids are incomparable in their beauty to those that stand, say, in the Necropolis of Giza. And here many supporters of the Alternative History Laboratory resort to deception: they convince us that the more advanced pyramids are the very first ones. And less perfect ones were built by the Egyptians. That is, it turns out that the facts are adjusted.

Today it is very difficult for us to imagine an era that is several thousand years ago. And therefore, many people who grew up in the age of modern technology cannot imagine life without iron, without machines, cannot understand how people who did not have all this could build such impressive structures.

What is the main argument that the Egyptians built their pyramids? The fact is that they did not come to this right away. First there was the thousand-year era of the Stone Age, during which the Egyptians learned to simply process stone. But as for the methods of delivering stone to the construction site, another question arises.

You need to understand that the largest pyramids are built surprisingly harmoniously and correctly. The largest blocks were laid at the base, meaning they did not need to be raised to a significant height. And closer to the top there are smaller blocks. Thus, builders saved their time and resources. They understood perfectly well that large blocks cannot be lifted to great heights; this requires very significant efforts of many thousands of people. According to the drawings found in the tombs, large weights were usually dragged by people or bulls; the Egyptians had no other force. Therefore, we can conclude: it was very important for the Egyptians that the spirit of the nation was embodied in these pyramids, so that they could thus declare themselves in history, that in this grandiose construction they could accumulate all their knowledge.

The Pyramid of Khafre (more precisely, Khafre) is the second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid

The Egyptians did not immediately come to the idea of ​​​​creating rooms inside the pyramid itself. Initially, all the rooms were underground, that is, under the base line, and the pyramid itself was empty. And only as construction principles improved, when the so-called idea of ​​a stepped vault arose, did they begin to design rooms inside the pyramid itself. What was the impetus for this revolution in architecture, we do not know. There is a hypothesis according to which the underground premises were flooded with groundwater, so new solutions had to be found. To protect the sarcophagus with the mummy, they tried to raise it as high as possible. And for this, they first came up with the idea of ​​a stepped vault - what we see in the pyramids of Sneferu, and subsequently in the pyramid of Khafra, where unloading chambers were used. Thus, with each new pyramid, the sarcophagus with the king’s mummy rises higher and higher. Subsequently, all the pyramids were built with a burial chamber at the base line, which shortened and made the construction process cheaper and became more economically feasible. And gradually the Egyptians completely abandoned the construction of pyramids.

When talking about pyramids in general, they use a term such as “polygonal masonry.” True, it is typical for Latin America, in particular, the Inca culture. But nevertheless, there are several examples of polygonal masonry, which was used in the construction of granite blocks in the valley temple of King Khafre. The fact is that polygonal masonry is not the art of stone processing, but the use of natural stones and a specific situation. That is, the Egyptians did not adjust the stones; instead, they used their natural irregularities to create a surface.

There is a very common thesis among conspiracy theorists that the limestone stones are chosen perfectly, that it is impossible to insert a knife blade, a sheet of paper, etc. between them. However, it is necessary to mention one of the most important properties of limestone - its plasticity. This stone begins to compress under great pressure. And if favorable air humidity is maintained, then the process of diffusion - interpenetration - occurs. Over the millennia, as the blocks lay on top of each other, they partially fused together. And today it seems to us that this is just a perfect seam. Although initially the seams could not be flawlessly perfect.

In addition, the limestone from which the Egyptian pyramids are built is very easy not only to process, but also to environmental influences. Therefore, modern pyramids for the most part do not have cladding - over many centuries the limestone has weathered. And even if we just press hard on it with our hand, it begins to crumble under our fingers. And although they say that time is afraid of the pyramids, in reality this is not so. The pyramids are destroyed, and the older they are, the more fragile the limestone from which they are made becomes. Gradually, the stones crumble, and many even fall out of their places.

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) - the largest of the Egyptian pyramids

Any pyramid today requires conservation measures, and therefore many of the stones in Khufu's pyramid are coated with a special polymer-containing composition to prevent air and water erosion. The pyramid is a remarkable structure, but it is also a monument to the great genius of the Egyptian people. It was the Egyptians who first learned to process limestone. The Egyptian civilization is a civilization of limestone, which is what most Egyptian temples are made of.

To build the pyramid, significant knowledge of mathematics was required. And today scientists are convinced that the Egyptians performed mathematical calculations before starting construction. But there is no evidence of their mathematical thinking. We do not know how they planned, conceived and tried to calculate the strength of this or that pyramid. But we know for sure that the model was originally built. It could be wooden or stone. But on this model all possible solutions were calculated. If during construction it turned out that the calculation was not correct, the Egyptians made adjustments. The famous Pyramid of Sneferu, the broken pyramid at Dahshur, was originally designed with perfectly regular edges. But gradually the mass of the pyramid levels being built began to put pressure on the interior. As a result, the builders realized that if they continued construction at the same pace and with the same dimensions, the interior would collapse. As a result, they had to reduce the height of the pyramid as quickly as possible. That's why it turned out broken.

Pyramid at Medum

The pyramid at Medum was also designed to be correct. But in its design, the so-called false vault masonry was used for the first time. The builders incorrectly calculated the height of the walls of the internal burial chamber, and the pyramid simply crumbled. Its upper part still lies in ruins, although on the outside it has retained some of its original shape.

It is important to understand that the Egyptians built their pyramids by trial and error. Naturally, they did not have a modern, developed mathematical apparatus, but they possessed secrets that allowed them to build majestic structures. They never shared these secrets or wrote textbooks. They passed on their skills from father to son, and therefore we cannot fully understand them. For example, they erected embankments, thanks to which stone blocks were moved to considerable heights. How were these embankments then eliminated? But at least we know that these mounds existed; their remains have been preserved. But most importantly, the Egyptians also used the energy of water, the energy of the Nile. So the ancient Egyptian civilization is the Nile River civilization. Not only did they navigate the great river, but they also used it to move large masses of stone directly to the base of the pyramids. The Egyptians created an amazing civilization that was able to harness the Nile. They not only built the famous dams, but also built cities on the dams, and also rationalized labor in the construction of the pyramids.

From a historical perspective, the Romans even surpassed the Egyptians in some ways. For example, when they built their famous aqueducts to deliver large volumes of water to places where water was scarce. Although the idea of ​​aqueducts itself belongs, most likely, to the same Egyptians. Yes, they would envy the scale of construction of the Romans, but each civilization made its own contribution to the treasury of historical architectural thought. If the Romans became famous for building aqueducts, then the Egyptians became famous for building pyramids. And no one else tried to repeat their experience.

Time is afraid of pyramids. They never shared their secrets. The scale of this construction is amazing. According to supporters of the Alternative History Laboratory, the Egyptians could not have built it. In their opinion, the pyramids could have been built by anyone: Atlanteans, representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, representatives of other peoples, but not the Egyptians themselves. This very strange thesis is largely based on the fact that the Egyptians did not have advanced technologies that would have allowed them to begin processing highly hard stones, lifting heavy weights, and the like.

Many of the early pyramids were quite crudely built. They are made of small stone blocks and are imperfect in terms of installation. These pyramids are incomparable in their beauty to those that stand, say, in the Necropolis of Giza. And here many supporters of the Alternative History Laboratory resort to deception: they convince us that the more advanced pyramids are the very first ones. And less perfect ones were built by the Egyptians. That is, it turns out that the facts are adjusted.

Today it is very difficult for us to imagine an era that is several thousand years ago. And therefore, many people who grew up in the age of modern technology cannot imagine life without iron, without machines, cannot understand how people who did not have all this could build such impressive structures.

What is the main argument that the Egyptians built their pyramids? The fact is that they did not come to this right away. First there was the thousand-year era of the Stone Age, during which the Egyptians learned to simply process stone. But as for the methods of delivering stone to the construction site, another question arises.

You need to understand that the largest pyramids are built surprisingly harmoniously and correctly. The largest blocks were laid at the base, meaning they did not need to be raised to a significant height. And closer to the top there are smaller blocks. Thus, builders saved their time and resources. They understood perfectly well that large blocks cannot be lifted to great heights; this requires very significant efforts of many thousands of people. According to the drawings found in the tombs, large weights were usually dragged by people or bulls; the Egyptians had no other force. Therefore, we can conclude: it was very important for the Egyptians that the spirit of the nation was embodied in these pyramids, so that they could thus declare themselves in history, that in this grandiose construction they could accumulate all their knowledge.

The Pyramid of Khafre (more precisely, Khafre) is the second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid

The Egyptians did not immediately come to the idea of ​​​​creating rooms inside the pyramid itself. Initially, all the rooms were underground, that is, under the base line, and the pyramid itself was empty. And only as construction principles improved, when the so-called idea of ​​a stepped vault arose, did they begin to design rooms inside the pyramid itself. What was the impetus for this revolution in architecture, we do not know. There is a hypothesis according to which the underground premises were flooded with groundwater, so new solutions had to be found. To protect the sarcophagus with the mummy, they tried to raise it as high as possible. And for this, they first came up with the idea of ​​a stepped vault - what we see in the pyramids of Sneferu, and subsequently in the pyramid of Khafra, where unloading chambers were used. Thus, with each new pyramid, the sarcophagus with the king’s mummy rises higher and higher. Subsequently, all the pyramids were built with a burial chamber at the base line, which shortened and made the construction process cheaper and became more economically feasible. And gradually the Egyptians completely abandoned the construction of pyramids.

When talking about pyramids in general, they use a term such as “polygonal masonry.” True, it is typical for Latin America, in particular, the Inca culture. But nevertheless, there are several examples of polygonal masonry, which was used in the construction of granite blocks in the valley temple of King Khafre. The fact is that polygonal masonry is not the art of stone processing, but the use of natural stones and a specific situation. That is, the Egyptians did not adjust the stones; instead, they used their natural irregularities to create a surface.

There is a very common thesis among conspiracy theorists that the limestone stones are chosen perfectly, that it is impossible to insert a knife blade, a sheet of paper, etc. between them. However, it is necessary to mention one of the most important properties of limestone - its plasticity. This stone begins to compress under great pressure. And if favorable air humidity is maintained, then the process of diffusion - interpenetration - occurs. Over the millennia, as the blocks lay on top of each other, they partially fused together. And today it seems to us that this is just a perfect seam. Although initially the seams could not be flawlessly perfect.

In addition, the limestone from which the Egyptian pyramids are built is very easy not only to process, but also to environmental influences. Therefore, modern pyramids for the most part do not have cladding - over many centuries the limestone has weathered. And even if we just press hard on it with our hand, it begins to crumble under our fingers. And although they say that time is afraid of the pyramids, in reality this is not so. The pyramids are destroyed, and the older they are, the more fragile the limestone from which they are made becomes. Gradually, the stones crumble, and many even fall out of their places.

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) - the largest of the Egyptian pyramids

Any pyramid today requires conservation measures, and therefore many of the stones in Khufu's pyramid are coated with a special polymer-containing composition to prevent air and water erosion. The pyramid is a remarkable structure, but it is also a monument to the great genius of the Egyptian people. It was the Egyptians who first learned to process limestone. The Egyptian civilization is a civilization of limestone, which is what most Egyptian temples are made of.

To build the pyramid, significant knowledge of mathematics was required. And today scientists are convinced that the Egyptians performed mathematical calculations before starting construction. But there is no evidence of their mathematical thinking. We do not know how they planned, conceived and tried to calculate the strength of this or that pyramid. But we know for sure that the model was originally built. It could be wooden or stone. But on this model all possible solutions were calculated. If during construction it turned out that the calculation was not correct, the Egyptians made adjustments. The famous Pyramid of Sneferu, the broken pyramid at Dahshur, was originally designed with perfectly regular edges. But gradually the mass of the pyramid levels being built began to put pressure on the interior. As a result, the builders realized that if they continued construction at the same pace and with the same dimensions, the interior would collapse. As a result, they had to reduce the height of the pyramid as quickly as possible. That's why it turned out broken.

Pyramid at Medum

The pyramid at Medum was also designed to be correct. But in its design, the so-called false vault masonry was used for the first time. The builders incorrectly calculated the height of the walls of the internal burial chamber, and the pyramid simply crumbled. Its upper part still lies in ruins, although on the outside it has retained some of its original shape.

It is important to understand that the Egyptians built their pyramids by trial and error. Naturally, they did not have a modern, developed mathematical apparatus, but they possessed secrets that allowed them to build majestic structures. They never shared these secrets or wrote textbooks. They passed on their skills from father to son, and therefore we cannot fully understand them. For example, they erected embankments, thanks to which stone blocks were moved to considerable heights. How were these embankments then eliminated? But at least we know that these mounds existed; their remains have been preserved. But most importantly, the Egyptians also used the energy of water, the energy of the Nile. So the ancient Egyptian civilization is the Nile River civilization. Not only did they navigate the great river, but they also used it to move large masses of stone directly to the base of the pyramids. The Egyptians created an amazing civilization that was able to harness the Nile. They not only built the famous dams, but also built cities on the dams, and also rationalized labor in the construction of the pyramids.

From a historical perspective, the Romans even surpassed the Egyptians in some ways. For example, when they built their famous aqueducts to deliver large volumes of water to places where water was scarce. Although the idea of ​​aqueducts itself belongs, most likely, to the same Egyptians. Yes, they would envy the scale of construction of the Romans, but each civilization made its own contribution to the treasury of historical architectural thought. If the Romans became famous for building aqueducts, then the Egyptians became famous for building pyramids. And no one else tried to repeat their experience.