Model machine shows how Egyptians built the Pyramids as told by Herodotus
The construction techniques of the ancient Egyptians are now a little less mysterious. Through a simulation with a model machine built by the Politecnico di Torino, the first of its kind in the world, experts in construction techniques have shown that is possible with the use of rope wound around a drum and twisting of the cables to haul huge blocks of granite, heavy up to ten tons, up through a long tunnel. Not only that, just the strength of one man is enough to carry any huge block along the tunnel. For the construction of the pyramid of Khufu, heavy blocks up to 45 tons could be maneuvered with the strength of just three or four men.
The machine that Herodotus mentions truly existed, according to this experiment, and was rebuilt in scale and used for the first time in a simulation in the department of structural and geotechnical engineering, in collaboration with Iveco, which has funded part of the experiment.
Ten meters long, the modern model of the machine is capable of moving up to five tons. This version was submitted to the Scientific Committee of the Foundation of the Egyptian Museum and experts in recent days, during the national conference of “Egyptology and Papyrology”.
Translated from La Repubblica Torino
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In 2006 I was doing research for a university study in Australia concerning the construction of the Pyramids at Giza.
Working with real excavated artifacts and ancient documents I was able to discover an ancient type of pulley that is unknown in the modern world until now.
This ancient pulley walks up (or down) steps in a similar way to a three wheel step-trolley and I firmly believe that this is how the ancient Egyptians built their Pyramids.
The Giza Pyramids have steps which I have termed “racks” and there are four “racks” in a square based Pyramid.
The wooden ancient Egyptian Pinion-Pulleys made positive engagements with the Pyramid’s stone “racks” carrying a stone block each, rotating as they were being hoisted with ropes.
NO RAMPS were required as the four sides of the Pyramid under construction were progressively used to complete the Pyramid !.
This ancient pulley has a mechanical advantage of 2.8, thus is a simple machine and proves the Greek historian, Herodotus to be absolutely correct as he recorded wooden machines made of short wooden planks were used to raise Pyramid blocks of stone.
These planks only needed to be the side length of a Pyramid block which is about one metre and easily carried as Herodotus records.
Well, Herodotus was only writing what Egyptian Priests told him and Egyptian Priests recorded history as part of their duties.
A working model has been made and a book has been published and I wish the World’s people to be aware of this work.
The book is dedicated to the Egyptian people to promote “new awareness of their intelligent and innovative glorious historical past”.
RAISING STONE 1 – Paul Hai’s racks & pinions theory.
ISBN 9780646476797
Rampless Egyptian Pyramid construction has a definite AUSTRALIAN connection.
Captain Matthew Flinders navigated and mapped Australia’s coastline. His grandson became Professor Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie who excavated ancient Egyptian artifacts. In 1895 as an employee of the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society) of London he was excavating artifacts at Deir el-Bahari and found a cache of ancient building equipment buried for preservation in a hewn out rock pit during Pharaonic times.
One of the wooden items is stated as being of “unidentified use” and has been named the “Petrie rocker” by Egyptologists.
Petrie considered the “rocker” was used to raise Pyramid blocks with a “rocking” motion and in 2006 he has been proven partly correct on the matter of raising Pyramid blocks using “rockers”.
The “rocker” is a component of an ancient Egyptian pulley which operates with a mechanical advantage of 2.8 and with CLASS 2 lever principle as a wheelbarrow does. (CLASS 2 lever: Pivot – Load – Effort).
The technical term for the “Petrie rocker” is “pinion-pulley lobe quadrant”. Four of these surround a Pyramid block and then the pulley is hoisted causing rotation and positive engagements of pulley lobes with Pyramid steps.
Consider the Pyramid as four RACKS of stone teeth on to which the PINION pulley lobes engage and here is the earliest form of RACK & PINION mechanics that we know of.
This is the ancient method of Pyramid construction as used on at least four large Pyramids: Sneferu’s RED Pyramid and those at Giza of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure.
This ancient method of construction DOES NOT REQUIRE RAMPS and uses the Pyramid under construction (using all four sides simultaneously) to complete the Pyramid, thus using a Pyramid to build a Pyramid.
Petrie died in Jerusalem in 1942 unknowing that “Petrie rockers” are components of an ancient pulley, unlike any pulley in the modern world, and his most important excavation.