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Subject: The Great Pyramid

Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 12:23:21 -0700

From: stsmith@ucla.edu(Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith)

To: scotty@nut-n-but.net

Dear Doug,

The short answer is no,no probably (but no space aliens, atlanteans, etc.!!), no and yes, golly I'm not really sure.

The long answer it that Numerological studies trying to relate the pyramid to biblical prophecy, or suggesting that it has 'encoded' information about life, the universe or whatever are so much hooey! These have been refuted over and over again, and their proponents often falseify data or rely on coincidence (if you look hard enough and play with the numbers - multiply by x millions or divide/multiply by Y - and you can come up with all sorts of things that have nothing to do with anything the ancient Egyptians intended!!). As to the relationship between the ancient Egyptian and the British system of measurements, I reaally don't know the specifics. The British system does go way back, although any relationship to ancient Egypt would have come through the Romans, NOT directly from Egypt.

As for Pi - the Egyptians certainly did have a practical conception of it - and no big suprise! Anyone who needs to calculate areas - and the Egyptians were masters at it since taxation depended on calculating the area under cultivation each year, which varied according to the height of the innundation. The innundation probably also erased some field boundaries each year as well which had to be restored. And of ocurse building also required calculating areas of stone, ramps, etc/., and also the calculation of man-hours/days needed for construction. In many ways the building of the pyramids was as much a feat of administration and managment of manpower and resources as engineering. For more on Egyptian math you might take a look at Gay Robins and Charles Shute, The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (Dover, New York, 1987).

We pretty much know the technology used to raise the pyramids from historical, artistic (tomb scenes) and archaiological evidence (tools [including sledges], ramps and roadways still in place/in evedence aroundboth finished and unfinished pyramids, quarry marks indicating technique,

etc.). A good summary of these can be found in a nicely writtenSmithsonian Magazine article based on the research of Mark Lehner: DoraHamolin, "A unique approach to unraveling the secrets of the GreatPyramids" - I'm afraid I don't know the date off hand, but I think it cameout in the late 80's-early 90's. Also with Mark Lehner is an excellentdocumentary made for NOVA called "This Old Pyramid", where he and a atonemason explore possible construction techniques, and debunk a fewfringe' ideas. Another good recent summary of construction of pyramids and the like is in a recent book by Eugen Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1992) talks a lot about Egyptian learning and technology, including Astronomy. It is still in print so you should be able to order it if your library doesn't have a copy.

If you wonder at how folks could move a two-ton block you can see them doing it there. Some of my workmen on digs in Egypt have moved large blocks without any great difficulty - it just takes some elbow grease and a few simple techniques. In these high tech days, we tend to think that anything big couldn't be done without technology - after all, we can hardly concieve of life without it, but my dad remembered horse teams using sledges carrying several tons in West Virginia in the 1920's-30's - cars or trucks couldn't haul heavy loads up those daunting (and often slippery) mountain roads. Remember, the Egyptians had plenty of time and a basically infinite supply of labor. Given a work-force of about 50,000, all of the blocks needed for the Great Pyramid could have been cut and moved to the construction site (remember most came from within a couple hundred yards of the pyramid). The real trick was getting them up to the top as the pyramid rose with some sort of ramp configuration.

So - to summarize, the numerology/observatory (including the Orion thing) theories are totally off the wall, out there in left field. Work continues at Giza and no doubt many new things will come to light. Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass' work are good examples of how an innovative (but not loony!) approach to the pyramids can give us new insights into their construction, use and symbolism.

Hope this is helpful. Sorry for taking so long to reply.

Cheers,

Stuart Tyson Smith, Ph.D.

Institute of Archaeology, UCLA

405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024 USA

stsmith@ucla.edu