# How were the pyramids in Egypt built? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559 "2014-12-07T10:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 106
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2102 "2015-05-20T15:46:41Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > There are visible vertical and horizontal lines on “all” the great pyramids shows that all forces that operated on it occurred in the horizontal and vertical planes. This is only consistent with pulling or pushing the stones straight up the side and “pushing” can be ruled out logically and mostly ruled out evidentially. No, that is not the only explanation for these lines. We know that [in 1303, an earthquake loosened the casing stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_stones), many of which fell to the base of the pyramid, or were removed for construction of mosques in Cairo. The most likely answer is the lines are the result of damage when the casing stones plummeted down the sides, or when they were lowered for use in buildings in Cairo. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2103 "2015-05-20T17:06:58Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > All the great pyramids appear to be stepped pyramids. Steps must play some integral role in how they were constructed since it required extra effort to build the steps and these steps weaken the structure. What? What? And What? The pyramid of Giza is stepped? This required extra effort? (Compared to what?) And it weakens the structure? Do you even language? ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2104 "2015-05-20T18:37:48Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > No, that is not the only explanation for these lines. We know that [in 1303, an earthquake loosened the casing stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_stones), many of which fell to the base of the pyramid, or were removed for construction of mosques in Cairo. The most likely answer is the lines are the result of damage when the casing stones plummeted down the sides, or when they were lowered for use in buildings in Cairo. I said all the forces operating on the pyramid were in the horizontal or vertical planes. If you were right that it was caused by an earthquake making things FALL this would be the VERTICAL plane. However, it is almost impossible any of these lines are the result of any such damage because this isn’t the type of damage that would result. There could be extensive damage from the slippage of the cladding but instead the damage appears to be nominal. Any pattern to the damage would be perpendicular to the movement (think washboard). No such pattern is apparent. My best guess based on the evidence is that most of these stones were physically removed by working up the corners and sending them down the relatively smooth side to land unbroken in the sand. Then at the top they worked down still sending stones down the smooth sides. This meant little damage except in those areas hardest hit by the p-wave. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2105 "2015-05-20T18:44:02Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The most likely answer is the lines are the result of damage when the casing stones plummeted down the sides, or when they were lowered for use in buildings in Cairo. Just out of curiosity, are there any stones in any Cairo buildings known to have come off the Great Pyramid? **cladking** , so you know, earthquake movement is generally mostly lateral in amplitude. Tall, loose stacks of blocks are not well-suited to withstand that. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2106 "2015-05-20T18:46:54Z")
> [@naita](#): > > What? What? And What? The pyramid of Giza is stepped? This required extra effort? (Compared to what?) And it weakens the structure? Do you even language? Intermediate steps in construction of machines or structures are always inefficient and require extra effort. Trucks are built on frames because it would be difficult or impossible not too. Building are constructed from the bottom up even though it would be easier to build it differently. It’s just the way of nature; you don’t start with a tree, you start with an acorn. If they built steps then it’s a virtual certainty that these steps were needed for construction. And they must have started at the bottom. There are no alternatives to the simple fact that they could only lift the building material in increments of 81’ 3". Perhaps their ray guns had a range of only 81’ 3" or perhaps their ropes were limited to this. But the best bet is they pulled the stones up 81’ 3" one step at a time. This is simple fact. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2107 "2015-05-20T18:50:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Just out of curiosity, are there any stones in any Cairo buildings known to have come off the Great Pyramid? No such stones are known but no concerted effort has ever been made to find them to my knowledge. The biggest problem is identification. > [@](#): > > **cladking** , so you know, earthquake movement is generally mostly lateral in amplitude. Tall, loose stacks of blocks are not well-suited to withstand that. I believe this is called the p-wave. Some soils can get a pretty good up and down movement too and this is likely what moved the stones on the top of G2. It appears these stones were too risky to move soi they just left them. [![](https://i.imgur.com/aJLPFMs.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/aJLPFMs.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2108 "2015-05-20T19:24:00Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > However, it is almost impossible any of these lines are the result of any such damage because this isn’t the type of damage that would result. There could be extensive damage from the slippage of the cladding but instead the damage appears to be nominal. Any pattern to the damage would be perpendicular to the movement (think washboard). No such pattern is apparent. I disagree. Stones weighing several tons sliding down the face of the pyramid would definitely make VERTICAL lines. It’s simple logic. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2109 "2015-05-20T19:33:56Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > No such stones are known but no concerted effort has ever been made to find them to my knowledge. The biggest problem is identification. I was asking **Fear Itself** , who seems to \*know \*something about the subject. > [@](#): > > It appears these stones were too risky to move soi they just left them. This from the guy claiming vertical lines down the sides were _not_ caused by blocks of rock sliding down to the ground. Large, heavy things falling to the ground tend to take the most directly vertical path available to them. This wisdom was known to the ancients as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2110 "2015-05-20T19:35:59Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I was asking **Fear Itself** , who seems to \*know \*something about the subject. [Casing stone from the Great Pyramid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KhufuPyramidCasingStone-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg), in the British Museum. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2111 "2015-05-20T19:44:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s like Seventies art-rock. What kind of recreational medications did the Egyptians have? Well, they _did_ invent beer… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2112 "2015-05-20T19:52:21Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Well, they _did_ invent beer… I apologize-They _were_ god-like beings! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2113 "2015-05-20T19:57:40Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > No, that is not the only explanation for these lines. We know that [in 1303, an earthquake loosened the casing stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_stones), many of which fell to the base of the pyramid, or were removed for construction of mosques in Cairo. The most likely answer is the lines are the result of damage when the casing stones plummeted down the sides, or when they were lowered for use in buildings in Cairo. Thank you! I’ve been curious about those doggone vertical lines from the very outset of this thread! ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2114 "2015-05-20T19:59:44Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I disagree. Stones weighing several tons sliding down the face of the pyramid would definitely make VERTICAL lines. It’s simple logic. No. Stones won’t “slide down” the uncladded pyramid side. They would bounce down leaving points of damage. Given enough points and they would begin forming a washboard pattern. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2115 "2015-05-20T20:02:41Z")
Obviously people are forgetting the reality here. These grooves and lines can not possibly be made by stones falling: [![](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) ](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) [![](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) ](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2116 "2015-05-20T20:13:23Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Obviously people are forgetting the reality here. > > These grooves and lines can not possibly be made by stones falling: > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) They look just like falling stone lines to me. And the most pronounced line is under the point of the pyramid, where the greatest number of stones slide the furthest. Of course it would make a line there! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2117 "2015-05-20T20:13:51Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Obviously people are forgetting the reality here. > > These grooves and lines can not possibly be made by stones falling: > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) Makes as much sense as your assertion that the lines were from them dragging stone via your magic geyser machine. Personally, I’d say that it could be a combination of something like what Fear says and maybe erosion grooves on a pre-existing scar. Your ASSERTION that it ‘can not possibly be made by stones falling’ is hardly definitive except, as previously noted, in your own mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2118 "2015-05-20T20:29:08Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > I’ve read just about everything there is to read from Shakespeare to computer code and never once found anything at all from the hand of man that didn’t make sense. Sure, I’ve seen word soup but you can usually pick a few ideas out of it. Are you suggesrting that each of the authors of the PT were loopy enough to compose word soup and that each of them wrote the same kind of word soup? This sounds like another language to me. I’m not talking about word soup. I’m talking about mythologies and religious writings. They’re chock full of nonsense. > [@](#): > > I was once tasked with designing a computer controlled operating system for a small manufacturing plant. It was a simple enough system but there were numerous processes being controlled so the programming itself was a little more complex. My boss insisted that I have the programmers write up the instructions for the operators rather than doing it myself. They sent this document to me and I didn’t recognize it. I saw that the subject concerned the operating system because there were numerous key words related to the system but the entire thing appeared to be some form of word soup. It required twelve readings before I suddenly understood the whole thing at once. The only way to describe it was a computer program set to English. This is exactly what the PT looks like. A bunch of key words and a “computer program” set to English. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The statement you have made here sounds like it’s exactly the same thing that mechanical engineers and architects do when they become creationists - applying their own discipline to a foreign domain and arriving very neatly at the wrong conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2119 "2015-05-20T20:30:53Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Obviously people are forgetting the reality here. > > These grooves and lines can not possibly be made by stones falling: > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) > > [http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif](http://www.catchpenny.org/images/ikonos.gif) It would only be possible to wear those grooves in the pyramid if the pyramid _ **was already there** _. If the pyramid is already there, why would you drag more stones up it? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2120 "2015-05-20T20:33:07Z")
There wouldn’t be a lot of room for more stones at the apex anyway. Unless the point was to get the stone up there, pop a few beers, say “Hey, watch this!”, give them a shove down the other side, and say “Shit, that was a blast, let’s do it again!” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/2121 "2015-05-20T20:51:37Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There wouldn’t be a lot of room for more stones at the apex anyway. Unless the point was to get the stone up there, pop a few beers, say “Hey, watch this!”, give them a shove down the other side, and say “Shit, that was a blast, let’s do it again!” Bowling for pharaohs!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=105) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=107)