Casing block joint,
& camera lens
cap,
north side of
Great Pyramid. |
- They had tube drills - drill bits and the machinery to hold
them steady and apply rotational torque.
- They had saws that would cut granite with ease and
precision.
- They had the ability to sculpt the hardest of rocks.
- They were accomplished at finishing granite in situ - after a
block had been placed in a wall or on the surface of a
pyramid.
- They had the ability to cut, level and polish granite to a
sophisticated degree of flatness.
- They had lathes that would turn and polish granite, schist,
basalt, etc (in ways we have not duplicated).
- They had the means to cut extremely accurate parallel
limestone joints with remarkable flatness over large surface areas
- 35 sq.ft.or more, and apparently had mastered the technique
before beginning the casing of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
- They had the knowledge and technology to consistently lift,
exactly maneuver and delicately place enormous weights of
stone.
- They had the means and motivation to quarry and move millions
of stone blocks.
- They had the administrative skill and wealth to organize
enormous multi-generational public works and all that they
require:
- very long term planning and project continuity
- the commitment of many generations of craftsmen: from
youthful apprenticeship through retirement from the workforce.
- the commitment of the entire family related to the craftsmen
- these projects were long term and the workers must have lived
nearby as part of a sizable 'pyramid construction town'
- many generations of capable personnel: from leadership
through executive designers to journeymen masters, craftsmen,
labourers and support staff - tens of thousands of people
training for years, and working together as a cohesive workforce
for many decades. The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt seemed
to have achieved the implementation of the largest, most
ambitious and most long term engineering and construction
program in the history of mankind.
These massive projects would include all facets of civil
engineering, architecture, surveying, multilevel and multifaceted
personnel management, physical infrastructure, materials
management, etc. Initially, they would have to have been preceded
by the appearance of a leadership so effective, that the
undertaking of such immense programs and all the sacrifices they
entailed, would have been possible to initiate.
By what steps did they arrive at such a sophisticated
political, organizational and technical stage of cultural
development?
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