It’s certainly true some people might not know who built the pyramids, that they have no idea how they were built, or roughly when. These people tend to be unaware of the facts or, in some cases, afflicted by crackpotism – an hour in the company of a good book is sufficient to cure the former. The latter will probably require a lot more work.
A pyramid is a simple structure that has the advantage of very high stability – obviously, since it has a broad, well-anchored four-sided base, and since the sides of the structure taper in with height, thus distributing the stress of its mass towards the foundations. A pyramid, even a small one, won’t blow over or fall under the onslaught of the strongest wind, and is much less likely to collapse under its own weight than other buildings of comparable mass and technology. A pyramid, if it’s well built, is almost forever. The builders of pyramids all over the world probably understood this quite well – the ancient Egyptians certainly did, since they were building monuments that were meant to last even in the afterlife (an Arabic proverb developed: “Man fears Time, yet Time fears the Pyramids”).
We know that pyramid construction in Egypt was an evolution of architectural skill. Things more or less started with the Mastaba model, which was a cap-like structure that was built on top of an underground tomb excavated from the desert rock (“mastaba” means bench). This concept was later expanded into the step pyramid (the classic example being the famous Saqqara one) by building on top of the original structure, expanding and upgrading as it were. Eventually came the so-called Bent Pyramid, a more advanced structure that is curiously (almost pregnantly) bent probably because its builders realized halfway that it was going to be far too tall to complete with straight sides. Then, finally, after other attempts, came the “real” pyramids (like the ones at Giza) that are most famous today. It took a fair amount of trial and error as well as architectural experimentation to develop a winning design.
The Mastaba was 60m x 60m x 8m – as you can imagine a broad, short, squat structure without the elegant stress distribution of architecture that was to follow (see the links provided above for pictures of early pyramids and precursors). If you remember the Brendan Fraser film “The Mummy”, the name of the bad guy (the mummy) is Imhotep. Imhotep in real life was the man responsible for turning the Mastaba into the first pseudo-pyramid in the world, measuring 120 x 108 x 60m, for king Djoser (or Zhozer). The difference in proportions between the Mastaba and its successor at Saqqara (Djoser’s pyramid was almost eight times higher than the Mastaba) indicates this was a significant architectural achievement, and one that paved the way for the construction of what would remain the tallest building in the world for about 4,500 years (the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the pyramid of Khufu, or Cheops).
No aliens are required in the picture, and, indeed, there is NO evidence of any, contrary to the vomit-inducing ignorance propagated by Erick von Daniken and similar idiots. Epimetheus provided a good link above, and on that same site you can also find this information: Who built the pyramids, and how?.
A note on Von Daniken and his band of crackpots: their alien architects theories are usually pulled out whenever an example of non-white primitive achievement is examined. So it was fine for the Greeks and Romans to build all them fine buildings, but if you’re talking about Africans or Injuns suddenly there must be aliens involved to help out. Reminds me of one of Ambrose Bierce’s definitions, though I do not recall the one at present.
Atlantis couldn’t have had anything to do with the Egyptians, since Atlantis is an entirely fictional place mentioned once (or at most twice) by Plato to illustrate a philosophical point in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Please, for goodness’ sake, stop it with the Atlantis new age silliness. Atlantis is not even a legend, or at least it was not: it was a didactic and, as far as we know, entirely fictitious tale. There is not a single item of historical or literary evidence about Atlantis apart from the mention provided by Plato. Nothing. Yet a large number of charlatans have written thousands of books on this completely fictitious place, and in so doing have turned it into a modern legend and big business for several bad writers.
Among the primary differences between Egyptian pyramids and those found in the rest of the world is that Egyptian pyramid building evolved towards structures that had smooth outside casings – mostly gone today. The pyramids of South America, on the other hand, tended to be step-pyramids of sorts. The dimensions also varied, with Egyptian pyramids tending towards greater heights, while American pyramids had a broader base. American pyramids were used for a variety of purposes and included stairs, paths, etc., so the focus of the building was very much its exterior. Egyptian pyramids appeared to have only a single purpose and included internal feats of architecture such as ventilation shafts, corridors, rooms, multi-levels, etc. But the fact remains that the pyramid is one of the most efficient large constructions available to primitive man: therefore they occurred (and let’s not forget the Mesopotamian Ziggurat) because they could occur, and not much else could of that size and with limited technology. It’s understandable that each pyramid-building culture would enjoy its own particular developments and techniques.
The idea that the pyramids are made of a concrete-like material is patently ridiculous – this Dr. Joseph Davidovits should be flogged for stupidity and fraud. We know perfectly well that the bulk of stone for Giza was quarried at Aswan. We also know that it’s limestone, and not any kind of fantastical concrete the Egyptians would have magically created. Some mortar was used in the construction of the pyramids, but certainly no syntehtic stone or concrete of any kind. Additionally, I very much doubt he translated anything of any kind suggesting the secret of this magical building substance, more than likely he is simply yet another crank.
