Diana, I have a great admiration for mr. Houdin, but his system is very sophisticated. There is another and more simple investigation, very interesting to know. See next link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/101327184/The-Great-Pyramid-built-with-Rolling-Stones Kind regards, Henk Koens

So weren't the workers provided by the households slaves of the households? Just because the wealthy families were forced by the pharaohs to contribute with slaves for the building of their pyramids, doesn't mean they weren't constructed by slaves.

interesting, take. should be totally provable or disprovable, with ground (pyramid) piercing radar :-) the math behind being spiraling around an almost square ramp, should be way beyond a civilization that didn't even have curved arches. it would show that the egyptians were far more advanced in their mathematics of the time, then we thought.

Anyone interested in the subject at hand would do themselves a great favor by examination of the books "Secrets of the Great Pyramid" , "The Magic of Obelisks" , and "Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids" by Peter Tompkins. I mention two ideas of note: 1) whatever was originally intended, a project needing years or generations to complete can have its purposes and goals augmented or even revised, possibly just to keep everyone working, and 2) that historian, Herodotus, who first named the object was a Greek. Translation from Greek for "pyre" "amid" is "fire" "in the center of" .

I believe that Ezekiel's "wheels within wheels" and his vision refers to the real event circa 2500 BC of Giza Pyramid building using ancient Egyptian four-lobed pinion-pulleys to raise the Pyramid blocks.
Fully explained at www.haitheory.com
or Google four-lobed pinion-pulley.

The great pyramids could not have been built 4500years back. It must have been built 12500 years back , to pass on message to future humans by the then existing advanced civilisation. That was when temperature rose by 16degrees in 50 years and all technical civilisations were wiped out by the repeated tsunamic inundashons. As it is due to lingering ice age developed settlements were near the sea shores. The tunnel in the north face was exactly pointing at Vega , which was the pole star at that time. The egyptians only repaired the pyramids. Even that would be a herculian task for them.

How about this as a solution. Construction of the pyramid started on the peak of a hill. The first block was put in place first. Then, earth or rock underneath the first block was dug out to make a cavity underneath each end of the block but with enough earth/rock left in the middle underneath the block to suppport it. Two further blocks were then inserted in these cavities and the earth/rock that had been left in the middle to support the first block was removed as the first block was now supported by the two blocks inserted under each end of it. The principle was then continued until the pyramid was completed. Hence the VALLEY of the kings; "valley" because they built the pyramids downwards and not upwards. Any good?

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.

A Google search for "Egyptian pyramid construction" and "Egyptian pyramid ramps" displays my web page as number one on page one. It is the only web page that describes the use of movable wooden ramps. My web page also points out the absurdity of the mud rubble ramp theory postulated in almost all the other web pages. Perhaps you can tell my why it is totally ignored by your page and all the others when it is so widely viewed.

The Cheops pyramid was designed by skilled architects, and the construction was supervised by very skilled Engineers. The very moment that the Cheops pyramid was completed, with all its fittings and precision surfaces in place, was the only time that this Instrument was ready for use, for the purpose to which it was designed. The outer casings were precision ground to optical tolerances. The so called “ventilation shafts” measured 8.2 inches square, the same dimensions as the wave length Of galactic Hydrogen ( 1,420 MHz), There was no metal used in their construction because a more efficient method was used ,. Namely a UHF plasma beam. Using one side of the pyramid, fitted with a small hyperbolic reflector, would convert this paraboloid surface Into a very high gain UHF antenna. Few people are interested in the original purpose of this instrument. The outer casings are seldom referred to. Of course the shafts ( wave guides) were closed up, which is the most intelligent thing one can do, when not using the shafts, particularly if you want to avoid filling the interior of the pyramid with water from the rain . All we have left now is a huge pile of stones, it is no longer a purpose built pyramid. B .Sallur

Canto's Pyramid Sides As Ramps Theory of Construction... Henry Houdin was partially correct. The internal ramp was used to haul up sand and small stones as well as equipment by workers. My theory contends that the Egyptians used the SIDES OF THE PYRAMID AS RAMPS from launch points on a base ramp. The building stones were placed on sleds that were pulled straight up the side of the pyramid using vessels as counter weights on the opposite that were filled with sand and small stone. Winches were used at the top to guide ropes and tracks in core stones guided the sleds. Once the building stones reached the top, the sand and stone were emptied out the bottom of the vessels. This method was duplicated all along the side of the pyramid which accounts for the speed of construction. The outer casing stones were cut and polished in the quarry and put in place first and then the core stones were put into place as needed and cut to size on the spot to fit. My theory does not require massive construction of external ramps, complicated pulleys/lever mechanisms, nor extra terrestrials. It uses simplicity and the resources of the time. I can email a pdf diagram for further illustration. canto_lee@hotmail.com

The Pyramids were made by Telekinesis by the Sirians from Sirius, you will find the answers you seek in The Pleiadian Agenda. Peace. Love and Light. B

May I request that the Smithsonian update their websites concerning ancient Egyptian Pyramid construction theories by including the new discovery and Australian rampless theory of 27 August 2006. The new work is carried within a 121 page book. http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an41968130 The National Libraries Australia link.

Thank you for allowing me to comment on the new theory of internal ramps. I was very surprised when Archaeology magazine seemed to come out in favor of Houdin's theory lot stock and barrel. How do the experts at the Smithsonian feel about it. To me, it is the most fascinating thing I've heard about in years. I've e-mailed Houdin, but is there anyone else who has an opinion on the matter who I might contact? Fascinated but still skeptical James Webster Auburn, Ala.