Great Pyramid was built inside out

[Cynthetiq]

Great Pyramid was built inside out, Frenchman says
By Tim Hepher
Reuters
PARIS - A French architect said on Friday he had cracked a 4,500-year-old mystery surrounding Egypt's Great Pyramid, saying it was built from the inside out.

Previous theories have suggested Pharaoh Khufu's tomb, the last surviving example of the seven great wonders of antiquity, was built using either a vast frontal ramp or a ramp in a corkscrew shape around the exterior to haul up the stonework.


But flouting previous wisdom, Jean-Pierre Houdin said advanced 3D technology had shown the main ramp which was used to haul the massive stones to the apex was contained 10-15 meters beneath the outer skin, tracing a pyramid within a pyramid.


"This is better than the other theories, because it is the only theory that works," Houdin told Reuters after unveiling his hypothesis in a lavish ceremony using 3D computer simulation.


To prove his case, Houdin teamed up with a French company that builds 3D models for auto and airplane design, Dassault Systemes, which put 14 engineers for 2 years on the project.


Now, an international team is being assembled to probe the pyramid using radars and heat detecting cameras supplied by a French defense firm, as long as Egyptian authorities agree.


"This goes against both main existing theories. I've been teaching them myself for 20 years but deep down I know they're wrong," Egyptologist Bob Brier told Reuters at the unveiling.


"Houdin's vision is credible, but right now this is just a theory. Everybody thinks it has got to be taken seriously," said Brier, a senior research fellow at Long Island University.


Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities was not immediately available for comment. Dassault said Brier and other Egyptologists attending the ceremony were supporters of Houdin's theory but had no financial links to him or the firm.


INTUITION


Houdin began working full-time on the riddle eight years ago after a flash of intuition passed to him by his engineer father, and five years before actually visiting the site.


He found that a frontal, mile-long ramp would have used up as much stone as the pyramid, while being too steep near the top. He believes an external ramp was used only to supply the base.


An external corkscrew ramp would have blocked the sight lines needed to build an accurate pyramid and been difficult to fix to the surface, while leaving little room to work.


"What characterized the Egyptians was their sense of perfection and economy. We talk of durable development now, but it was the Egyptians who invented it. They didn't waste a single stone. They relied purely on intelligence," Houdin said.


Houdin also claimed to have shed light on a second enigma surrounding the purpose of a Grand Gallery inside the pyramid.


The Frenchman believes its tall, narrow shape suggests it accommodated a giant counter-weight to help haul five 60-ton granite beams to their position above the King's Chamber.


He thinks that no more than 4,000 people could have built the pyramid using these techniques rather than the 100,000 or so assigned by past historians to the task of burying the pharaoh.


Houdin, 56, brushed aside concerns about the popular curse which is supposed to punish those who penetrate the secrets of the pyramids, dating back to the opening of Tutankhamun tomb.


"Why should I be worried? I'm just explaining that the people of the time were architects of genius and that Khufu was a genius to order the pyramid's construction. What could happen to me, except that Khufu would thank me?," he told Reuters.

This is one of the most interesting and promising pryamid theories I've read to date. What pryamid theories do you believe?

I'm not subscribed to any, but I think that we need to give more credit to the ancients because they had a better understanding of things than we care to give them credit for. People are ingenious, and given time to think will concieve of incredible things no matter what time period of history.

[ARTelevision]

Yes. I like this theory a lot.

I don't subscribe to any theories but it is strange that descriptions of the building techniques have never been found and that knowledge such as this has been lost somewhere along the line.

[DaveOrion]

I was just reading about this on a news site. Heres a link to a virtual 3-D simulation of these technigues. You'll have to install the 3D Life Player but its only 1837 kb. I ran a few quick spyware scans and didnt find anything, but I will do a more in depth scan later.

http://www.3ds.com/introduction/

This theory does seem to make more sense, the only one I completely dismiss is the notion that aliens built the pymramids with advanced technology. Give the ancient egyptians some credit, they built the pyramids.

[Jetée]

I tend not to discredit nor firmly believe in such theories. An interesting read nonetheless, and gives me an incentive to investigate further.

Kinda reminds of a story about underwater pyramids; maybe I'll find something about those and post later on.

[fresnelly]

Thanks for the link Dave! The article was woefully short on actual details so the presentation really helped.

I like the reasoning that the internal ramps provided a much better working environment than outside under the hot sun.

The theory of how to elevate the very top piece, balanced on such a small working area is ingenious.

[jorgelito]

Or more to the point, thousands of slaves built the pyramids.

[stevie667]

Originally Posted by jorgelito

Or more to the point, thousands of slaves built the pyramids.

Thats a common misconception, the workforce employed to build the monuments throughout Egypt was just that, employed. Thousands upon thousands of people had nothing to do whilst the nile was in flood, so they were used by the pharoh to build stuff. Loads of skilled craftsmen were needed to build ancient stonework, and whilst it is likely they had slaves employed somewhere along the line, it wasn't the predominant labour source.

[blahblah454]

For those of you interested in works like this check out the coral castle, just google it. Here is a video of a man who is able to move 10,000 pound blocks by himself, using no advanced machinery or technology.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=9hgkd7em50

[jorgelito]

Originally Posted by stevie667

Thats a common misconception, the workforce employed to build the monuments throughout Egypt was just that, employed. Thousands upon thousands of people had nothing to do whilst the nile was in flood, so they were used by the pharoh to build stuff. Loads of skilled craftsmen were needed to build ancient stonework, and whilst it is likely they had slaves employed somewhere along the line, it wasn't the predominant labour source.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Someone needs to update the history books.

[stevie667]

Originally Posted by jorgelito

Interesting, I didn't know that. Someone needs to update the history books.

Yeh, definatly. They've been victim to the 'ZOMG, 5734024 Kerjillion slavzorz built the pyramidz' hype.

[SSJTWIZTA]

jeez, i like the alien theory better. at least it was somewhat exciting.

[cyrnel]

Nonsense. It's a ruse.

In fact, all scientific advances are elaborate hoaxes designed to increase sales of new textbook editions.

[DaveOrion]

All scientific advances are based on alien technology, designed to increase sales of advanced alien technology.

[The_Jazz]

Originally Posted by DaveMatrix

All scientific advances are based on alien technology, designed to increase sales of advanced alien technology.

If that's the case, then why did God bother to invent the parachute? My dad always told me that if man was meant to fly, God would've invented the parachute.

Hmm, in retrospect, maybe my former-paratroop father wasn't as funny as I thought he was....

[Crack]

Aliens... had to be.

[Ourcrazymodern?]

From the inside out: Bill Gates has been our most beneficial alien so far.

The pyramids must have been beautiful centuries ago.

[fightnight]

Interesting story, thanks!