How/who Built the pyramids. Fun facts.

Hello blutters, yesterday I talked about the Pyramids of Giza, the reason and when it was built. I hope it was an interesting read. I promised to write about how the pyramids were built considering the fact that during 2550 to 2490 B.C. there was no advanced technology that could erect such structure.

It is estimated that the Great Pyramid consists of 2.3million blocks transported from nearby quarries. Ancient Egyptians cut stone into rough blocks by hammering grooves into natural stone faces, inserting wooden wedges, then soaking these with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, breaking off workable chunks. Once the blocks were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid. It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.

Construction methods.

Although there are contradicting theories to how the pyramids were built, many have postulated the blocks were dragged while some says it was lifted. Others might think it was rolled but no one has come up with a convincing theory of how the construction was actually done.
The Greeks believed that slaves did the job but modern discoveries suggests it was built by skilled workers.

Looting of pyramids.

Pyramids building continued till the end of the middle kingdom. However, as authors Brier and Hobbs claim, "all the pyramids were robbed" by the New Kingdom,
when the construction of royal tombs in a desert valley, now known as the Valley of the Kings, began. Joyce Tyldesley states that the Great Pyramid itself "is known to have been opened and emptied by the Middle Kingdom", before the Arab caliph Al-Ma'mun entered the pyramid around 820 AD

Wikipedia source

Scale of the workforce

The Greek historian Herodotus tells us that the Great Pyramid was built by 100,000 slaves who 'laboured constantly and were relieved every three months by a fresh gang'. He is, however, wrong. King Khufu - 4th Dynasty ruler of Egypt - the royal responsible for the commissioning of the Great Pyramid, did not have a vast body of slaves at his disposal, and even if he had, there was no way that 100,000 could work simultaneously on one pyramid.

All archaeologists have their own methods of calculating the number of workers employed at Giza, but most agree that the Great Pyramid was built by approximately 4,000 primary labourers (quarry workers, hauliers and masons). They would have been supported by 16-20,000 secondary workers (ramp builders, tool-makers, mortar mixers and those providing back-up services such as supplying food, clothing and fuel). This gives a total of 20-25,000, labouring for 20 years or more.
Source

Interesting Facts About the Pyramids.

1.THE EARLIEST PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT WERE BUILT A CENTURY PRIOR.

Tombs for the kings of Egypt had been constructed underground for many years before the pharaoh Djoser built a step pyramid in Saqqara, south of Giza, around 2630 BCE. Djoser’s tomb predates that of Sneferu, whose Red Pyramid was the first completed true pyramid, built sometime between 2613 and 2589 BCE.

2.THE GREAT PYRAMID WAS BUILT FOR THE PHARAOH KHUFU.

The second pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, Khufu, Hellenized as Cheops, was the son of Sneferu and Hetepheres I and likely ascended to the throne in his 20s. Very little information about Khufu has been preserved, and the conflicting accounts of his reign were written centuries after his death, most notably in Herodotus’ Histories. The only acknowledged statue of him stands a mere three inches.

3.IT WAS THE TALLEST MAN-MADE STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS...

At 481 feet tall, the Great Pyramid eclipsed every structure ever built until the completion of the Lincoln Cathedral in 1311 CE. The Cathedral topped out around 525 feet before the collapse of its central spire in 1548.

4.BUT IT HAS SHRUNK BY ABOUT 25 FEET.
Today, the Great Pyramid stands only about 455 feet tall, as four millennia of erosion has sliced 25 feet of stone from the structure. An iron triangle currently sits atop the pyramid and represents the pyramidion, or capstone, that once marked the apex of the structure.

5.THE INTERIOR CONTAINS THREE CHAMBERS.

Designed as a tomb, the Great Pyramid contains three burial chambers that were intended to house Khufu and the litany of goods and treasures he would take with him in the afterlife.

6.IT IS BOTH THE OLDEST AND THE ONLY REMAINING ANCIENT WONDER.

Named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid is the only work that has survived into modernity.
Mentalfloss Source

images source

My Daily Affirmation Inspired by Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hills

By August next year, I'm hoping to accumulate a net worth of $50,000 and monthly income in excess of $3,000.

I'll apply my thoughts in doing what gives me pleasure and growing rich from doing what gives me pleasure. Adventure gives me much pleasure then I'll device ways of growing rich through adventure.

To make this a reality, I'm willing to work for blurt blockchain if given the opportunity to showcase my skills. I Have talked to friends to join blurt even in the largest forum in Africa, Nairaland, and we have started having them here.

To know more about the zapata project, you can read it here and join the zapata community.

Gozapata!!!!