Great Pyramids Research Project!

Introduction
The Great Pyramids of Giza, Inspiring, Remarkable, Are one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and have been around for over 4500 years

Purpose
The purpose of this project is to help solve the mystery shrouded around these Great Pyramids,

The Great Pyramids Research Project

Goals

• To determine, why the pyramids were built,
• What purposes they served for the Egyptians
• Techniques used to Build the Pyramids
• Who they were Built for

Members

-neXus
-mblahnikluver
-Rising Against

This Research Project is serious and carried out on a neutral basis. It is based on accurate information from different sources. Goals will be researched open minded in order to inform about the real results.

Anyone wanting to participate in this research project should U2U ADVISOR to receive a status as - scholar - .
Once you have the status, please U2U me and let me know
im open for any help with this one




[edit on 2/17/2010 by l neXus l]

[edit for member list]

[edit on 19-2-2010 by ADVISOR]

Yeah! I have always wanted to a project on Egypt and the Pyramids. Thanks nexus for letting me join. I will be doing the purpose the pyramids served for the Egyptians.

S&F!!

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Great MBLAH i will be taking
techniques used to build the pyramids, and we have a few others who are interested as well

ADVISOR just sent me a u2u, I am officially apart of this research project

It's a subject i admit i know very little about but it's a subject i am so looking forward to researching and i'm so looking forward to learning as much as i possibley can.

I will be doing the "Who they were Built for " Section of this project.

Ok as I have stated in a previous post I am covering the “who the great pyramids were build for” part of this research project.

Something which I am very excited about as this is a subject that i find extremely interesting.
Now the great pyramids of Egypt are some of the most mysterious and astounding pieces of human achievement ever to be discovered.

It is believed they was built over a 20 year period which seriously begs the question, who put in the time to build them, and who exactly was they built for…

So firstly I’m just going to establish some key figures around the time of the building of the great pyramid’s and a small biography about those people and what they have done, aswell as family, and achievement's to try and gain a better understanding of them.

Key Figures

Pharaoh Huni:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/14406bc601e4.png[/atsimg]

Successor - Son Sneferu, out of Meresankh I

Associated People - Wife, Queen Meresankh I

Son - Sneferu

Burial Place - unknown, possibly Maidum

Monuments - Pyramid at Maidum, (finished by Sneferu) Elephantine Island Fort

Pharaoh Sneferu:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e15402b1da60.jpg[/atsimg]

Successor - Father Huni out of Meresankh I

Predecessor - Son Khufu out of Hetepheres I

Associated People - Father Huni

Mother - Meresankh I

Wife/half-sister - Hetepheres

Son - Khufu out of Hetepheres, Nefer-maat, a vizier, mother unknown, Kanefer, a vizier, mother unknown

Children - from his first queen (unknown): Nefermaat, Rahotep, Ranofer, unknown child
from Queen Hetepheres: son Khufu
from third queen: Kanefer, Ankh-haf

Burial Place - Dashur. It is assumed that he was buried in the Red Pyramid, as the mummy of a middle-aged man was found in the burial chamber.

Monuments - Red Pyramid, Dashur, Bent Pyramid, Dashur, Pyramid of Maidum, Seila Step Pyramid

Pharaoh Khufu:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5d225b6a87ff.jpg[/atsimg]

Predecessor - Father Sneferu, out of Hetepheres I

Successor - Son, Djedefre
possibly succeed by an older son, Kauab, who was usurped by Djedefre, a younger son by a lesser wife

Associated People - Father, Sneferu

Queen - Meritates

Queen - Henutsen

Mother - Hetepheres I

Son - Kauab, out of a Meritates

Son/grandson - Khafre, out of Queen Henutsen

Children - from Queen Meritates: Kauab, Hor-Djedef, Hetepheres II, Meres-ankh II, from Henutsen: Rekhaf (later Khephren) Khufu-khaf from unknown mother: Re-Djedef (who would succeed as Djedefre) Hor-baf (possibly the unattested king Bakare) and Khamernebti I

Burial Place - The Great Pyramid at Giza

Monuments - Great Pyramid at Giza, Mortuary Temple at Giza, Queen's Pyramids at Giza, Solar Boat (near Pyramid of Giza)

Pharaoh Djedefre:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c94a23cc18d3.jpg[/atsimg]

Predecessor - Father Khufu, out of a libyan consort, May also have usurped the throne by killing his older half-brother Kauab.

Successor - Younger half-brother Khafre (who may have murdered him)

Associated People - Father Khufu

Mother - an unknown Libyan consort

Wife/Sister - Hetepheres II, also married to Kauab

Half-brother - Kauab

Wife - Khentetenka

Sons - Setka, Baka, Hernet out of Khentetenka

Daughter - Neferhetepes out of Khentetenka

Burial Place - Abu Roach pyramid

Monuments - Pyramid at Abu Rowash, Sphinx at Abu Rowash

Pharaoh Khafra:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/95ea5e6fca41.jpg[/atsimg]

Predecessor - Half-brother Djedefre (as a younger son, he was required to wait out the reign of Djedefre)

Successor - son, Menkaure

Associated People - Father, Khufu

Mother - Henutsen

Wife - Meres-ankh III (daughter of Kauab and Hetepheres II)

Chief Wife - Khameremebty I , possibly his half-sister

Sons - Nebemakhet, Misuerre, Khenterka, Duaenre out of Meresankh III, Menkaure out of Khameremebty, Nikawre, Sekhemkare

Daughter - Khameremebty II out of Khamerenebty

Daughter - Shepsestkau, outo f Meresankh III

Brother - Djedefre

Burial Place - Pyramid at Giza

Monuments - Pyramid at Giza, The Great Sphinx, Valley Temple at Giza

Ok so after establishing some of the key figures around the time of the great pyramids and there family life’s, burial places etc. I will be digging deeper in my future posts to try and show the exact motives for the building of the great pyramids.


Some helpful link's I used to learn more about the key figures I highlighted above.

Helpful Link 1
Helpful Link 2
Helpful Link 3
Helpful Link 4
Helpful Link 5

i have chosen to discuss the techniques used to build the pyramids,
it is so amazing that even 3500 years ago humans had the brains and the technology to build such awesome structures, here are some ideas, and techniques on how they may have been built
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pyramid Construction Theories - Introduction

The task of building a pyramid consists of four distinct stages:

* leveling the base (foundation)
* alignment
* cutting the stones
* transport of the stones to the construction site
* moving and placing the stones in place (construction method)





Cutting the Pyramid Blocks

An average stone block used to build the GP weighs 2.5 ton.
There are few theories how these stone blocks were made:

* Cut in the quarries
* Casted like a modern concrete
Moving Big Stone Blocks

Moving big stone blocks requires energy to conquer:

* friction (horizontal movement)
* gravity (lifting)
* both (e.g. when using ramps)

To make this process efficient this energy should be as small as possible.

Transport of huge stone blocks in the ancient times was very likely accomplished by using basic laws of physics.




Long distance transport was made possible by use of boats and/or floating rafts.




source: www.world-mysteries.com...

working on more

Hullo, checking in a bit late here however...

Got one more major player to add to Rising Against's list:

Hemiunu, the vizier of Khufu, and likely the architect of the Grand Pyramid.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/062dda0364923607.jpg[/atsimg]
He was related to Khufu, and was the son of Nefermaat.
He would have been in charge of getting the supplies, the people, and probably had something to do with getting the plan set up.

Unfortunately, most of my sources for him come from Lehner's The Complete Pyramids, and Craig Smith's How the Great Pyramid was Built.

He's a little lighter presence on the internet than the Pharaoh he served.
Hemiunu Son of Nefermaat
Hemiunu on Ancient Egypt.org
Uses the Greek name for Khufu, Cheops.
Wikipedia Entry for Hemiunu
It's Wikipedia, but still fairly accurate.
I'll be going by my local Library to try to get the Oxford History of Egypt.

Probably the best I can contribute, at least initially, is my research on the Giza Pyramids/Egypt that I've already posted on ATS so far...For quite a few years, I've piped into various topics on this & I've been researching Egypt for at least a couple of decades. It's always been a fascinating subject for me & I think this thread may do well with some links to preserve the research I've already posted. Over the past couple of years, the time I can devote to new research is somewhat curtailed, but I can still access a nearby library fairly easily.

Here's some links that, while some (or many) of the posts may be sideline or tangental to this thread & some of the threads are very lengthy already, perhaps the research I've posted can also lead to newer lines of research for other people here.

Some of the best research into Egypt's ancient history I've collected (so far) & how it relates to the Pyramid construction is on page 21 here. I've injected bits & pieces throuout the whole thread, but my single most-cohesive post is on that page. The major post on page 21 describes the historical development of the skills & the power to organize people it takes to undertake such a project.

A more recent thread that deals with the Pyramids is here, but it's a much shorter thread so far.

There's already a lot of threads about Egypt & the Giza Pyramids here on ATS...from the sublime to the ridiculous. Even though there's a lot of info that may not pertain directly to this thread, I would at least suggest using the Search function & see what's in ATS already. If nothing else, some of these other threads may invoke a new line of research for this thread.

To directly reply to at least one of the research goals stated in the OP (why they built the pyramids), I've had some thoughts on that, based upon my research of Egypt's society. Everything they did, everything they thought...Was based on some form or precept of their religion. They were very pious & made sure to consider their religion before taking nearly any action whatsoever. Consider these points: The Pharoah was not only the king over secular & administrative matters, but he was also the High Priest over all others in Egypt. Numerous stelas & other texts indicate that Pharoah had numerous religous ceremonies that he had to perform; if he did not actually perform them personally, he either sent a lesser priest (well, "lesser" to himself, anyway) to do so or had stelas carved to say that he did. To the Egyptians, he represented the ultimate advocate between the gods & the rest of Egypt. It was Pharoah that spoke with the gods & abitrated between them & the mortals.

To the Egyptians, their religion was less of a matter of "Good or Evil" than it was a matter of "Order or Chaos." The distinction is somewhat subtle, but it was there; It was Pharoah that performed the ceremonies that kept the gods doing their jobs to stave off chaos...to them, Egypt was a land of Order & any failure on Pharoah's part meant that chaos would grip the land. Everything outside of Egypt was chaos to them...Everything from the other nations to the very people were all living in chaos. An Egyptian diplomat in foreign nations was considered as hazardous duty, as he left the ordered safety of home to live & work in the midst of chaos, all out of his loyalty & respect for Pharoah.

The pyramids they built were as a celebration & a confirmation of Order, as they saw it through their religion. Take regard in the precision in the stonework & the layout of the locations they used to build them. Let's take regard into the sustained effort it took to keep up with the logistics in supporting the construction. Let's not forget the references that the pyramids were built to "awaken the god that sleeps in the soul" & how deeply they revered their religion & gods. I believe that they built the pyramids for one major purpose...to affirm their religion & maintain the concept of Order over Chaos. I don't think I need to remind anyone at ATS how far a religious fanatic will go in pursuit of his/her beliefs...

C'mon now, it's been 10 days since I posted! I really didn't mean to kill this thread simply by noting other pyramids research elsewhere in ATS! I only wanted to see if people would actually pursue additional research!

So what happened to the researchers? Most of what I've seen in this thread already is either new stuff that hasn't been posted elsewhere or it's covered more precise details on small peices & "short mentions" in other posts...ie: a more detailed lineage of Pharoahs during the Pyramids time-frame, rather than the previously-posted mention of a single Pharoah.

This thread started off good, but I hate to think I killed it, simply because I tried to link to other, related research already posted! that was never my intention...C'mon back & start posting!

reply to post by l neXus l

• Techniques used to Build the Pyramids

In Gizmag there's an article describing a research project conducted by Dassault Systèmes’ in conjunction with researcher Jean-Pierre Houdin, attempting to establish that the Giza pyramid was built from the inside out.

To give a quote from the article, ...

... [using] cutting edge 3D technology to solve a 4500 year old riddle – [shows] how the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed within 20 years and without wheels, pulleys or iron tools. The pyramid is the oldest and last remaining wonder of the ancient world, and is as much famous for the alternative, often supernatural explanations offered for its construction as it is for its historical significance. Houdin used CATIA 3D software to digitally create his hypothesis, which theorized an “inside out” construction process. The highly advanced software was able to take into account the strength and resistance of the materials used, the ability of workers using primitive tools to move the blocks into place, the effect of aging, and even the effect of the weight of the pyramid on the pyramid itself. You can see the work in three dimensions
www.gizmag.com...

The most convincing aspect of the work is microgravimetral measurments taken by the EDF foundation between 1986 & 1987 showing anomalous aspects of the pyramid's density, that appear to follow a spiral pathway.

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