Man Lifts 20 Ton Block By Hand

a reply to: Harte

Facts, of course you're right (be skeptic, be proud and we know at this point in time all there ever is to know don't we ?
But then again 20tons , 1000tons still pretty big gap to bridge to prove that it al can done by hand with 'sticks and stones'. Cool vid ,cool guy but it doesn't explain much..

a reply to: TinfoilTP

Haha , mystery solved... I'm bored so let's collect a lot of ATS'ers and built a big pyramid.

originally posted by: frenchfries
a reply to: Harte

Facts, of course you're right (be skeptic, be proud

and we know at this point in time all there ever is to know don't we ?
But then again 20tons , 1000tons still pretty big gap to bridge to prove that it al can done by hand with 'sticks and stones'.

Not as big a gap as 1,000 - 3,000 tons.
Similar sized stones can be found in other known constructions, such as the Temple in Jerusalem.

The temple at Baalbek was built by the Romans.

Harte

Harte, no, the Romans built their temple upon Cyclopedian Stones in Baalbek's foundation. "Lost technology"?? a reply to: Harte

originally posted by: carpooler
Harte, no, the Romans built their temple upon Cyclopedian Stones in Baalbek's foundation. "Lost technology"?? a reply to: Harte

If you mean Cyclopean, there's nothing there like that.
cyclopean masonry wall

But the Romans did incorporate a slightly older existing foundation into about third of the overall plaza. That earlier foundation was built in the Herodian style, and is attributed to Herod (or later) for that reason.

The temple and plaza the Romans built completely encompassed the former foundation. In other words, the outer retaining wall with the trilithon everyone gets so excited about is NOT part of the earlier foundation.

Harte

The classic remark is that a man standing on one looks like a fly on block of ice! This is when large ice blocks were sawn from frozen rivers, and shipped in sAwdust! a reply to: Harte

originally posted by: carpooler
The classic remark is that a man standing on one looks like a fly on block of ice! This is when large ice blocks were sawn from frozen rivers, and shipped in sAwdust! a reply to: Harte

There is at least one (that I know of) surviving Roman text that concerns itself (in part) with construction using stones like these.

Harte

IIRC, there's one orphaned in the Arabian desert. They are foundation stones for something really heavy! The Great Pyramid is built into the bedrock! It's lArgest granite blocks were shipped down the Nile on immense flat bottomed galleys! a reply to: Harte

I'm surprised I've never come across this before, and the footage looks somewhat 'old'.
I know it doesnt show every step, but I'm pretty sure theres plenty of info there for anyone clever enough to do the same.
Impressive indeed!

You do this with ramps and sand in a desert. Using levers work for Stone circles, near the 49th Parallel! a reply to: billytron

I would think that, if the pharoahs had a guy like that, they would have built a whole lot of other stuff also. Not just tombs.


The problem with the pyramids is they are a technological isolate. Only religious stuff got built that way. Nothing practical. No aqueducts. No rich persons' houses. No protective walls. Why not?


You'll notice first that his system is so very practical, you could probably build some really big stuff using a fairly small work force. ...... but they didn't. And then soon afterward they somehow forgot everything about how they built it so that later generations would go on to make up silly fictions like Solon's account.

I don't believe it. Just seems probabalistically more likely they didn't know. But some very ancient group must have known. Maybe Stone Henge wasn't even a big deal to them. Just another market place?

originally posted by: Blaine91555
I've always found it odd that people think even huge heavy things can't be moved.

In the 1970's there was a video of a group moving and standing up one of the Easter Island statues. I've never been able to find it again, but I watched it in a class and again on PBS if I recall correctly.

They moved one from the quarry on rollers a few inches at a time to a location to stand it up. Then they used a simple lever to raise one end a little at a time while piling stones under it, until it was upright, removed the mound and it was moved and stood up in one day. No aliens, nothing weird, just simple tools people have likely been using since long before anyone credited with inventing them thought of it.

I remember that too. And, they demonstrated how they were moved over irregular terrain too. THe ancient stories claimed the Moai (that is the name of the statues) "walked" to their locations. Well, this group demonstrated that if your have ropes around the statue, wooden struts tied across the "waist" parallel to the ground, and people on each side, you can "walk" it forward. You alternate (in rhythm with each other, where a song helps set the tempo):

1. Tip it slightly off the vertical to the right side with the ropes
2. Rotate the horizontal struts clockwise 1/8 turn, pivoting on the edge still in contact with the ground
3. Lower it back to vertical
4. Repeat step 1 to the left side
5. Repeat step 2 counter-clockwise 1/4 turn (in order to go past the facing forward direction
6 Repeat step 3.

Repeat this sequence, with everyone working timed properly to a work song, you can "walk" any heavy object in any direction. I've used this technique since I was a kid with large boxes, furniture, etc... all by myself.

Not magic, just ingenuity. Our ancestors were not stupid. In the contrary, they were highly intelligent since they had to make due and work with minimal tools and resources. I believe it is that trait that allowed the homo-sapiens sapiens to conquer their surroundings. Knowledge, at that time, was power and "magical" to the untrained.

For some that hasn't changed I guess.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

Yes..saw that before. Respect for his initiative and achievements but building the pyramids with this technique is a different story. This way installing 20 milllon blocks will take 20 million years.. But then again, that was of course not the situation he wanted to proof.

originally posted by: zatara
a reply to: Gargoyle91

Yes..saw that before. Respect for his initiative and achievements but building the pyramids with this technique is a different story. This way installing 20 milllon blocks will take 20 million years.. But then again, that was of course not the situation he wanted to proof.

Do you think it took him a year to raise that block?
What if there were 1500 gangs doing what he did?

Harte

If whole gangs of 1500 were participating in, and personally witnessing this construction technique , how would the knowledge not spread far and wide?

Why would they not return home, and start cutting and positioning their own blocks? Why wouldn't that building style spread far out, further than Egypt? Would nearby emperors who saw traveled to Egypt or heard tales, not want to build their own cool monuments?

You can't really keep it secret if you're showing it off to thousands of people every day.

Hint: maybe it did spread far and wide?

That is to say.... back when it was actually used. Not during the Dynastic Kingdom of Egypt, but back when all the huge block construction was happening.

At some time in the distant past, maybe everyone knew how to do it? And consequently they all did?