# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/601 "2015-04-25T03:32:52Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > “‘Skin me, Brer [TOM],’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, ‘snatch out my eyeballs, t’ar out my yeras by de roots, en cut off my legs,’ sezee, ‘but do please, Brer [TOM], don’t fling [THIS THREAD] in dat [BBQ PIT],’ sezee” > > _Apologies to Joel Chandler Harris_ Based on his last post, ah’ recon’ is time to skedaddle there… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/602 "2015-04-25T04:00:21Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > I understand now. > > I’ve run into this before of course. I guess it should have been expected on a site that’s “fighting ignorance”. Egyptologists are the experts and the scholars and nothing I ever say or prove will change this. So far, so good. 😉 > [@cladking](#): > > As experts and scholars they deserve respect if not people kowtowing to their every pronouncement. My perspective isn’t so very much different but after you get beaten about the head enough times with “ramps”, cultural context", “superstitious builders”, and “tombs” enough times and each time loaded with insult and innuendo it changes the way you talk about things. They also laughed at Bozo the clown. > [@cladking](#): > > I don’t really know any Egyptologists very well and don’t read much of their writing but some of their beliefs become very obvious as you get pummeled and study the available literature. So, you admit that you do not know them, you do not read their studies, but you are quite happy to claim that they have said things (that you did not read) to which you cannot actually provide a citation or a link. Why should we not simply dismiss you as someone who, not actually reading the texts of the people you criticize, is simply imagining what they might say? Hancock was lucky that he was badgering Zahi about pyramids instead of badgering Buzz Aldrin with silly claims that the moon landings were faked. You are right that I found the video a “sad display” that would make me “cringe.” What idiot group invited Hancock to throw up his nonsense in front of an audience and try to make Zahi dignify that fraud with a “debate”? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/603 "2015-04-25T04:38:43Z")
Whatever else happens, I’m glad this thread came along, as I’d never before noticed the vertical “seams” visible in the face of the Great Pyramid. That’s nifty, just by itself. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/604 "2015-04-25T04:40:32Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > So far, so good. 😉 > So, you admit that you do not know them, you do not read their studies, but you are quite happy to claim that they have said things (that you did not read) to which you cannot actually provide a citation or a link. [egyptian gods - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=egyptian+gods&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&gws_rd=ssl) Every single one of these links will tell you what Egyptologists believe. Here’s a good site; > **[Goddesses and Gods of the Ancient Egyptians: A Theological Encyclopedia](https://henadology.wordpress.com/theology/netjeru/)** > > © Edward P. Butler and henadology.wordpress.com, 2009-. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly … This is what Egyptologists believe. I am not unfamiliar with Egyptology. I disagree with it. There is a single word on the entire site that I completely agree with. But the authors are competent, good readers, and clear thinkers so some of their insights are of value to me. They are wrong though. > [@](#): > > Why should we not simply dismiss you as someone who, not actually reading the texts of the people you criticize, is simply imagining what they might say? I know as much Egyptology concerning the 3rd and 4th dynasty as a few Egyptologists. I simply dismiss their conclusions. Egyptological beliefs are well known. It is well known they believe pyramids were tombs and they were built in peak growing season. I can’t just cite everything. If anyone wants sources then I can google it if you tell me THE SPECIFIC THING YOU WANT. How ironic that on Egyprtological message boards just providing a biubliography is sufficient to establish facts like superstitious bumpkins dragging tombs. Jeesh. > [@](#): > > Hancock was lucky that he was badgering Zahi about pyramids instead of badgering Buzz Aldrin with silly claims that the moon landings were faked. You are right that I found the video a “sad display” that would make me “cringe.” What idiot group invited Hancock to throw up his nonsense in front of an audience and try to make Zahi dignify that fraud with a “debate”? I realized after I posted it that people could miusunderstand this without a back story. Dr Hawass implicated Bauval in the theft of samples under his own regime. Bauval was apparently completely innocent but Hawass still blames him. Hawass is certain the OCT theory was disproven apparently with the logic that the ancients weren’t capable of observation of the stars. I know no orther way to “disprove” such a vague hypothesis. It’s the old “cultural context argument” that just keeps coming back. It’s even worse with Hawass because he not only knows everything about the people and what’s possible but he has also stated he knows everything there is to know about the Giza Plateau!!! If this weren’t all so sad and disturbing it would be hilarious. Hawass isn’t the only one who knows everything. There’s a whole lot of it going around. Sometimes I wonder if all arguments aren’t circular. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/605 "2015-04-25T04:45:33Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Whatever else happens, I’m glad this thread came along, as I’d never before noticed the vertical “seams” visible in the face of the Great Pyramid. That’s nifty, just by itself. Did I post this picture? [http://0.tqn.com/d/archaeology/1/S/t/f/great\_pyramid.jpg](http://0.tqn.com/d/archaeology/1/S/t/f/great_pyramid.jpg) Napolean’s artists recorded these lines but even the artists didn’t make note of them. I’ve never seen any discussion about any of the lines till I brought it up. There is significant damage to most of these surfaces and this damage and patterns of damage are sometimes mentioned but not the subtle lines only visiuble from afar. There are many dozens of vertical lines on the great pyramids and hundreds of horizontal lines. What missing is the sloped liknes as might be left by ramps. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/606 "2015-04-25T05:21:22Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > I know as much Egyptology concerning the 3rd and 4th dynasty as a few Egyptologists. I simply dismiss their conclusions. Egyptological beliefs are well known. It is well known they believe pyramids were tombs and they were built in peak growing season. > > I can’t just cite everything. If anyone wants sources then I can google it if you tell me THE SPECIFIC THING YOU WANT. How ironic that on Egyprtological message boards just providing a biubliography is sufficient to establish facts like superstitious bumpkins dragging tombs. Jeesh. Lets check a simple one then, do you have a cite of when the peak growing season and harvest took place in ancient Egypt? And then when egyptologists and historians **do** think was the season when the building of pyramids took place? I did, and I really do think that you need a big source for your idea that egyptologists believe that the pyramids were built in the peak growing season. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/607 "2015-04-25T05:42:54Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Did I post this picture? > > [http://0.tqn.com/d/archaeology/1/S/t/f/great\_pyramid.jpg](http://0.tqn.com/d/archaeology/1/S/t/f/great_pyramid.jpg) > > Napolean’s artists recorded these lines but even the artists didn’t make note of them. I’ve never seen any discussion about any of the lines till I brought it up. > > There is significant damage to most of these surfaces and this damage and patterns of damage are sometimes mentioned but not the subtle lines only visiuble from afar. > > There are many dozens of vertical lines on the great pyramids and hundreds of horizontal lines. What missing is the sloped liknes as might be left by ramps. Now I’m depressed again, as these look to be nothing more than erosion scars. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/608 "2015-04-25T10:28:13Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > [egyptian gods - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=egyptian+gods&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&gws_rd=ssl) > > Every single one of these links will tell you what Egyptologists believe. Which, of course, lets you hide, because there might be some nutcase in that collectuion that said something odd, but there is no evidence that some accusation you have made is true of the general body of Egyptologists. :rolleyes: > [@cladking](#): > > I am not unfamiliar with Egyptology. You keep dancing back and forth on that, as well: > [@cladking](#): > > I don’t really know any Egyptologists very well and don’t read much of their writing. . . > [@cladking](#): > > I know as much Egyptology concerning the 3rd and 4th dynasty as a few Egyptologists. I simply dismiss their conclusions. Egyptological beliefs are well known. It is well known they believe pyramids were tombs and they were built in peak growing season. This is silly. You claim to “know” what “they” believe, then you post the exact opposite of what “they” believe regarding the growing season. > [@cladking](#): > > Hawass isn’t the only one who knows everything. There’s a whole lot of it going around. It certainly exemplified your posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/609 "2015-04-25T14:19:33Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Lets check a simple one then, do you have a cite of when the peak growing season and harvest took place in ancient Egypt? And then when egyptologists and historians **do** think was the season when the building of pyramids took place? > > I did, and I really do think that you need a big source for your idea that egyptologists believe that the pyramids were built in the peak growing season. Maybe a simple explanatrion will clear this up. The Nile rises when the seasonal rains fall to the south beginning in late spring. Almost all crops and all plants grow fastest when the sun is directly highest in the sky which takes place on the summer solstice everywhere in the northern hemisphere. This is the kind of basic botany and astronomy you needed to live in ancient Egypt but now days many people are blissfully unaware or it’s tucked their memory. Of course this is when all else is equal. It can be too hot or too dry and some plants don’t like direct sunlight. But peak growing season is the solstice and always has been. But in Egypt this marks the beginning of flood season that the ancients called “high nile” and much of the valley was under water. Egyptologists have long pronounced this a blessing. They say it gave them plenty of help for stone dragging. It is a key tenet to their belief that ramps were used. In reality it would have been foolhardy in the extreme to consume vast resources building a tomb when they didn’t even have a crop in the ground. They were always a couple bad harvests away from starvation and pyramid building would exascerbate and compound the problem. There are other fundamental problems with the view that flood made the job easy. Of course high river water made most river transportation easier in the backwaters like Giza and the temperature did tend to cool a little at this time as the wind shifted to out of the north but this was still a desert and the wind could come from the south and temperatures soar. Most days were clear so men would bake in the sun and high temperatures. They (those who survived) would need a couple gallons of water per day just to stay hydrated necessitating an army of men to haul water up from the river. Most of these muscle based schemes invented for how the pyramids were built require the white cladding stones to go on as the structure grew so the highly reflective surfaces would at least get most men done on both sides at the same time. Egyptoilogists are correct that building season began on the five epagomenal days according to my understanding of the PT but they can not be correct about how the work was done. Let me put this to you. If the stones were pulled up one step at a time by bumpkins working on the step top their efforts would be far more efficient. They could move location to location to stay out of the sun or build canopies. If a man got tired another could take his place as he rested and work wouldn’t cease. They could have all their supplies at hand on the work site. It completely revolutionizes and eases the burden on them. But more importantly this is the way the evidence says it was done. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/610 "2015-04-25T14:26:34Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Now I’m depressed again, as these look to be nothing more than erosion scars. There are some erosion scars but most of them are on the south and west sides that are exposed to sand storms. There are better angles to capture the lines on the east side of G1. This area was directly above the mason shop so probably had the lion’s share of the finishing stones being pulled up. Since there were men working in the masons shop a collapse of the adjacent step would killl large numbers. If tyou look at the scan you’ll see this is the best defined of all the half steps which was used to buttress this wall. The whole area above is more strongly and finely built. Remenmber that most of the stones were not lifted on the exterior which we see today. Only the stones used to fill the steps and the cladding stones made these lines. Modst of the stones went straight up the five step pyramid one step at a time. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/611 "2015-04-25T14:39:49Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Maybe a simple explanatrion will clear this up. No it won’t because he asked for a cite, then you go ahead and throw out all your own stuff. He wanted a link posted that shows an expert opinion on growing seasons and a link showing Egyptology’s concensus on growing seasons. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/612 "2015-04-25T14:50:51Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Which, of course, lets you hide, because there might be some nutcase in that collectuion that said something odd, but there is no evidence that some accusation you have made is true of the general body of Egyptologists. :rolleyes: Even composing a random sampling of Egyptologists opinion would take weeks of work. One couldn’t say that no scientist believes in God but it’s very safe to say that all physicists understand how a wheel works and what it does (even though 3% apparently don’t). Go ahead, ask. I think it’s also safe to say that all priests believe in a higher power all police believe in upoholdiong the law. Obviously there is indiovidual variation in all areas. A priest might lose his faith yet desire to keep his job. There are corrupt coips who got in it for reasons other than upholding law and order. A cosmologist doesn’t think about wheels much. > [@](#): > > You keep dancing back and forth on that, as well: I suppose it’s a little embarrassing and extremely misleading to admit how much of this opinion I’ve read. I don’t want peoplre rto think any of my opinion is derived from Egyptology because it is not. I didn’t read their work at all until I had solved almost 95% of the PT. Of course mnmy work is still whoilly dependent on Egyptologists because it was they who did all the hard work to translate the PT wrong and get the necessary information available that I could do the work. Most of my work is only possible because of Egyptology and google. I couldn’t even function without language. Much of my knowledge of Egyptological opinion is second hand on message boards. I make a statement and an Egyptologist or someone familiar with their opinion states their opinion. Thie difference is I’m making statements of fact and they are challenging it with opinion. I read their links to great Egyptologists usually. Their opiniuons are wrong. They have their facts straight and that’s where most of my facts come from but trhey have misinterpreted everything because they assumed the conclusion. It was a very easy mistake to make in most cases they did it. The human race has been confused about our ancestors for a very long time and especially since the advent of modern science. We have forgotten our history and confused our past. > [@](#): > > This is silly. You claim to “know” what “they” believe, then you post the exact opposite of what “they” believe regarding the growing season. Yes. Egyptologists have the concept of when they built correct. But the ancients weren’t wasting vast resources to build tombs. There were no vast resources and there were no tombs. The pyramids built themselves just as the primeval mound built itself. Every morning men and gods went to heaven to work to lift the stones. 1101a. Further, to say: Men and gods, your arms under me, 1101b. while you raise me and lift me up to heaven, 1101c. as the arms of Shu (were) under the sky as he lifted her up– 1101d. to heaven, to heaven, to the great seat, among the gods! It was upward that defined the sky and allowed men and gods to get to heaven. > [@](#): > > It certainly exemplified your posts. 😉 Well, it seems to me I know nothing. I simply believe I may have found the means to have built pyramids and why people don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/613 "2015-04-25T14:53:18Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > No it won’t because he asked for a cite, then you go ahead and throw out all your own stuff. He wanted a link posted that shows an expert opinion on growing seasons and a link showing Egyptology’s concensus on growing seasons. dude - his post IS his cite - he’s got nothing else, as that would require actual work on his part. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/614 "2015-04-25T15:14:17Z")
> [@simster](#): > > dude - his post IS his cite - he’s got nothing else, as that would require actual work on his part. The search engines don’t work any more. Google is such a mess I couldn’t have solved this today. Try this; [http://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;\_ylt=A0LEVviwrjtVoUEA7kQPxQt.;\_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcwMDU1OQRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1hdHQtYXR0XzAwMQRncHJpZAMyRFJuU1BzX1MuS1pkUjJPbGdNV0JBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMxMARvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMzOQRxdWVyeQN3aGF0ICtzZWFzb24gd2VyZSBlZ3lwdCBweXJhbWlkcyBidWlsdC8EdF9zdG1wAzE0Mjk5NzQ3MTI-?p=what+%2Bseason+were+egypt+pyramids+built%2F&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att\_001&type=sbc\_dial](http://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVviwrjtVoUEA7kQPxQt.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcwMDU1OQRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1hdHQtYXR0XzAwMQRncHJpZAMyRFJuU1BzX1MuS1pkUjJPbGdNV0JBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMxMARvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMzOQRxdWVyeQN3aGF0ICtzZWFzb24gd2VyZSBlZ3lwdCBweXJhbWlkcyBidWlsdC8EdF9zdG1wAzE0Mjk5NzQ3MTI-?p=what+%2Bseason+were+egypt+pyramids+built%2F&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&type=sbc_dial) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/615 "2015-04-25T16:02:39Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > The search engines don’t work any more. Google is such a mess I couldn’t have solved this today. > > Try this; > > [http://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;\_ylt=A0LEVviwrjtVoUEA7kQPxQt.;\_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcwMDU1OQRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1hdHQtYXR0XzAwMQRncHJpZAMyRFJuU1BzX1MuS1pkUjJPbGdNV0JBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMxMARvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMzOQRxdWVyeQN3aGF0ICtzZWFzb24gd2VyZSBlZ3lwdCBweXJhbWlkcyBidWlsdC8EdF9zdG1wAzE0Mjk5NzQ3MTI-?p=what+%2Bseason+were+egypt+pyramids+built%2F&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att\_001&type=sbc\_dial](http://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVviwrjtVoUEA7kQPxQt.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcwMDU1OQRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1hdHQtYXR0XzAwMQRncHJpZAMyRFJuU1BzX1MuS1pkUjJPbGdNV0JBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMxMARvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMzOQRxdWVyeQN3aGF0ICtzZWFzb24gd2VyZSBlZ3lwdCBweXJhbWlkcyBidWlsdC8EdF9zdG1wAzE0Mjk5NzQ3MTI-?p=what+%2Bseason+were+egypt+pyramids+built%2F&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&type=sbc_dial) A search engine link does not a cite make. Pick and quote the sources. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/616 "2015-04-25T16:06:28Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > Maybe a simple explanatrion will clear this up. > > The Nile rises when the seasonal rains fall to the south beginning in late spring. Almost all crops and all plants grow fastest when the sun is directly highest in the sky which takes place on the summer solstice everywhere in the northern hemisphere. This is the kind of basic botany and astronomy you needed to live in ancient Egypt but now days many people are blissfully unaware or it’s tucked their memory. Of course this is when all else is equal. It can be too hot or too dry and some plants don’t like direct sunlight. But peak growing season is the solstice and always has been. > > But in Egypt this marks the beginning of flood season that the ancients called “high nile” and much of the valley was under water. Egyptologists have long pronounced this a blessing. They say it gave them plenty of help for stone dragging. It is a key tenet to their belief that ramps were used. In reality it would have been foolhardy in the extreme to consume vast resources building a tomb when they didn’t even have a crop in the ground. They were always a couple bad harvests away from starvation and pyramid building would exascerbate and compound the problem. > > There are other fundamental problems with the view that flood made the job easy. Of course high river water made most river transportation easier in the backwaters like Giza and the temperature did tend to cool a little at this time as the wind shifted to out of the north but this was still a desert and the wind could come from the south and temperatures soar. Most days were clear so men would bake in the sun and high temperatures. They (those who survived) would need a couple gallons of water per day just to stay hydrated necessitating an army of men to haul water up from the river. Most of these muscle based schemes invented for how the pyramids were built require the white cladding stones to go on as the structure grew so the highly reflective surfaces would at least get most men done on both sides at the same time. > > Egyptoilogists are correct that building season began on the five epagomenal days according to my understanding of the PT but they can not be correct about how the work was done. > > Let me put this to you. If the stones were pulled up one step at a time by bumpkins working on the step top their efforts would be far more efficient. They could move location to location to stay out of the sun or build canopies. If a man got tired another could take his place as he rested and work wouldn’t cease. They could have all their supplies at hand on the work site. It completely revolutionizes and eases the burden on them. But more importantly this is the way the evidence says it was done. Lots of rhetoric only to report that you have no clue. Here is a hint to show how far are you from what the seasons were in Egypt (and Egyptologists do agree) and to make it simple lets look at what even kids know: [http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/egypt/farming.htm](http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/egypt/farming.htm) > [@](#): > > Akhet - the inundation (June-September): The Flooding Season. No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were flooded. Instead, many farmers worked for the pharaoh (king), building pyramids or temples. Some of the time was spent mending their tools and looking after animals. > > ``` > Peret (October-February): The Growing Season. > In October the floodwaters receded, leaving behind a layer of rich, black soil. This fertile soil was then ploughed and seeded. > > Shemu (March-May): The Harvesting Season. > The fully grown crops had to be cut down (harvested) and removed before the Nile flooded again. It was also the time to repair the canals ready for the next flood. > > ``` So the thing is that to show that you are correct you need indeed a link to demonstrate that egyptologists do think what you claimed, in reality that bit from you that “egyptologists believe that the pyramids were built in the peak growing season” was indeed yet another big straw man from you. They and historians are not saying that. You also did say that you would produce a cite by the egyptologists claiming things like that, you failed 100% on that too. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/617 "2015-04-25T19:47:21Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Lots of rhetoric only to report that you have no clue. > > Here is a hint to show how far are you from what the seasons were in Egypt (and Egyptologists do agree) and to make it simple lets look at what even kids know: > > [http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/egypt/farming.htm](http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/egypt/farming.htm) > So the thing is that to show that you are correct you need indeed a link to demonstrate that egyptologists do think what you claimed, in reality that bit from you that “egyptologists believe that the pyramids were built in the peak growing season” was indeed yet another big straw man from you. They and historians are not saying that. > > You also did say that you would produce a cite by the egyptologists claiming things like that, you failed 100% on that too. You are repeating exactly what I said. You are simply repeating the same thing from another perspective. The biggest difference (and it’s minor) is that the ancients referred to the flood as “high nile”. That they called it the “inundation” is Egyptological misinterpretation of what they actually said. They actually literally said that the inundation was on high ground and was called “osiris” who came at the same time as the flood (during the w3g-festival); 1944a. + 2 (Nt. 777). The time of inundation comes, the wȝg-festival comes, to the uplands, it comes as Osiris. It was during this w3g-festival that the mks-sceptre was unpacked so the men would know to report to work; 558a. To say: Bdš.t comes; the fire-pan burns. 558b. Those with (ready) hands stand to give an offering to N. 1961a. To say: A prince ascends — a great burnt-offering on the interior of the horizon; 1961b. he has seen the preparation of the feast, and the preparation of the fire-pan, 1961c. at the birth of the gods, on the five epagomenal days, who are before thee, The w3g-festival is held on the uplands of the Giza Plateau at the start of the year during the five epagomenal days. This is simple reading comprehension but Egyptologists missed it. “Fire-pan” is simply the colloquial term for the mks-sceptre. This stuff should be supremely easy after I went to the trouble of solving it. They didn’t wait for the new year to bumpkin about and waste resources with no crop in the ground. They started building pyramids when the inundatiuon that tosses came to Giza; 1553b. They tremble who see the inundation (when) it tosses; 1554a. (but) the marshes laugh; the shores are become green; I can’t comprehend why people aren’t following this. But even if no one is why is no trying to get Egyptology to do science!!! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/618 "2015-04-25T19:52:40Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > You are repeating exactly what I said. You are simply repeating the same thing from another perspective. The biggest difference (and it’s minor) is that the ancients referred to the flood as “high nile”. That they called it the “inundation” is Egyptological misinterpretation of what they actually said. Still 100% fail, where is the quote for the egiptologists claiming that the Pyramids were build during the growing season? What it is clear is that the historians and eguiptologists too report that the pyramids were built during the flooding season, not the growing season. No, your post is not a good cite. You told us that eguiptologists claim something, and that you would produce the cite when demanded, produce the evidence of that or admit that you were wrong on this. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/619 "2015-04-25T19:57:28Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Still 100% fail, where is the quote for the egiptologists claiming that the Pyramids were build during the growing season? What it is clear is that the historians and eguiptologists too report that the pyramids were built during the flooding season, not the growing season. > > No, your post is not a good cite. You told us that eguiptologists claim something, produce the evidence of that or admit that you were wrong on this. [sigh] In Egypt the flood begins in the middle of peak growing season. Of course there are no crops in the ground during the middle of peak growing season because they would flood. But it’s still peak growing season and not being able to plant is still a bad thing and not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/620 "2015-04-25T19:59:39Z")
> [@simster](#): > > A search engine link does not a cite make. > > Pick and quote the sources. I don’t know why the link failed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=32)