Pyramids of the World
 

I've always found them interesting.

What do you know?
Got any cool stories or pictures?


I'd like to visit the ones in Egypt someday when world conditions improve.
I don't really feel safe traveling over there.

http://www.belovedegypt.com/28_-_Sphinx_and_Pyramid.jpg


KT

BTDT..as well as the ones in Copan, Honduras..
courtesy Uncle Sam..
have some pics on the other Comp..
well get to those tonight...
meantime..http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299603838.jpg

Rika

My grandfather had a first edition anthropological/paleantological/Egyptological textbook about the Great Pyramid at Gizeh with VERY early photos, diagrams, cut-away drawings and unbelievable text. Apparently, there are openings that run from deep within the center of the primary tomb straight (and I mean straight like a laser) out the face of the Great Pyramid that point directly at certain stars at certain times of the calendar year which were believed to be communication conduits to the gods. These portals are precise square tubes only inches in width that do not vary or waver from perfectly straight. One theory is that the blocks that the pyramids are made from are not stone but rather some kind of poured, concrete-like substance that mirrors actual stone. The facets of the pyramids were originally covered with a veneer of impeccably white stone such that they glowed at night with the least bit of light and could be seen for miles on even the darkest of nights. The pyramids relate to each other in some mysterious geometric formation that is clearly not random but, IIRC, their meaning has not yet been deciphered. The slope of the facets of the pyramids is precisley equal to the slope generated by grains of sand through the hourglass, thus adding to their stability...

"According to science" mankind has been around for 200,000 years, but i can't help but wonder why they waitied until just 5000 years ago to start building stuff and why they started building the same giant stuff all over the world?
Curious ....... very curious

Before the First Pyramids

The mysterious era preceding the ancient pyramids
(4th edition - February 2008) by A.O. Kime

The centuries immediately preceding the building of the ancient pyramids in Egypt and China is a time of great curiosity… 10,000 BC until 5,000 BC. It was a time when the human race was undergoing its most radical transformation since the beginning. People began to leave behind isolationism, their world of small independent clans and tribes, and headed down a path towards a world of networking associations… later to be known as ‘kingdoms’ and ‘countries’ and this transformation led to the building of massive structures never before seen. It was the beginnings of civilization.

Claims to a territory would have occurred much earlier however… perhaps tens of thousands of years earlier. Just as bears or mountain lions inherently believe they have the exclusive right to an expanse of territory, so did man have this inherent belief. Except that long ago man wasn’t preparing to build monumental structures.

While it would be interesting to know when man first began to defend an expanse of territory which he considered his, nameless expanses, the boundaries of which he only visualized, this could have occurred even 200,000-300,000 years ago... but that time period is actually less a mystery. The most profound and mystifying time period were those centuries immediately preceding man’s building aspirations. The mighty questions are… what in the world caused man to want to build? And… how was it possible his first projects were such engineering marvels? Or were the stone pyramids really his first?

While there are older surviving structures, the oldest (8,000 BC) being the stone tower in Jericho, they weren't nearly as massive as the later pyramids. Yet, this 25 foot high tower deserves mention since it demonstrates, as Amihai Mazar puts it: "the existence of social organization and central authority which could recruit, for the first time in human history, the necessary means and manpower for such building operations." (quote from the book Archaeology of the Land of the Bible by Amihai Mazar)

The ancient pyramids of Egypt, China, Mexico and... Greece?
Since the Egyptians were the first to devise a calendar in 4,236 BC enabling them to date events, we know the oldest Egyptian pyramid was built during the reign of Netjenkhet Djoser, the 2nd King of Egypt's 3rd Dynasty (2687-2668 BC). However, some believe the oldest pyramids exist in China... alleging the oldest of the approximately 100 pyramids were built around 4,500-5,000 BC. Then there are the pyramids in Mexico… but its pyramid-building era didn’t debut until thousands of years later; construction on the largest pyramid in Mexico (Teotihuacán) didn’t begin until about 200 AD.

There are also 16 small stone pyramids in Greece and mentionable because they were built about a century before the first Egyptian pyramid. While much smaller, about the size of a house, archaeologists have determined the Hellenikon pyramid in Greece predates the Djoser pyramid by about 100 years. Perhaps the Egyptians got the idea of pyramid-building from the Greeks? There are also claims of another, perhaps older, Greek pyramid... a so-called a ‘sculptured pyramid’ said to exist at Taygetus mountain. It remains scientifically unknown whether it is manmade or a natural formation however.

It is believed these small Greek pyramids served either as memorials or observation-communication towers but only a few have been studied. Even though they are much smaller, the Greek pyramids seemed to have served a practical purpose whereas the larger Egyptian and Chinese pyramids didn’t. The building of a monstrous structure for burial purposes doesn't seem a practical undertaking. Those in Mexico, on the other hand, were multipurpose.

Aside from having the same architectural design (pyramidal), there exists another similarity between the pyramids in Egypt, Mexico and China… their monumental size. In Egypt the Great Pyramid of Giza is 481 feet high, Mexico's Teotihuacán is 187 feet and most of those in China are about 300 feet high. China’s largest is the 1,000' Great White Pyramid which is the tomb of Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty except it isn't a 'real' pyramid, instead it was once a small mountain re-shaped into a pyramid (sculptured pyramid). It is not especially old however, constructed around 700 AD.

Since hugeness was obviously important in all three regions, perhaps there was some religious significance. If so, then it was curiously universal. While a pyramid is the sturdiest of structures, a monstrosity goes beyond reason... but in defying logic so boldly it must have been a powerful reason. Of course, incorporating religious concepts into architecture invariably the results appear illogical.

I climbed halfway up Chichen Itza and the freaked out and climbed back down. Those stairs are scary steep. :eek:

I understand your curiosity, but look at what man has accomplished in the last 100 years or so compared to the amount of time of since the pyramids were built. Some guy will be standing around 2000 years from now and say, "Why didn't they put men on the moon sooner?"... ;)

Is it true that man still does not fully understand how they were built, nor can he reproduce them with the same precision?



KT

Why is there a pyramid on the back of the US dollar?



KT

The Egyptian Pyramids are aligned like Orions belt..and that is where the tubes in the Great Pyrmid are aimed. The white stone covering on the pyramids was later stripped off and used in I believe in Muslim construction. Also the Egyptian Pyramids were at the top covered in Gold. There seems to have been a fourth pyramid that was leveled for its stones to be used in other construction in Roman times.

Napoleon in his invasion of Egypt in 1799 toured the Great Pyramid and spent some time alone in the Burial Chamber. When coming out he was shaken and pale, and said never to mention that again. Towards the end of his life he almost revealed what happened but changed his mind and said it wouldn't be believable.

Free Masons

I made it all the way up the Temple (Castillo-Castle) at Chicken Itches. Spectacular view. Supposedly, the Yucatan Penninsula is naturally flat and chances are every mound (which you can see for miles and miles in every direction if you climb to the summit of the Temple of the Magician at Uxmal) is a buried structure of some sort. Uxmal is in the jungle. Tulum is spectacular: observatories built waaay up on promontories overlooking the gulf.

why Pyramid..
symbol for 'strength and duration..
unfinished..'our work is not done yet'..

Rika

Man fears time, time fears the pyramids (Egyptian)

Chicken Itza rocks, but the large pyramid at Coba is actually steeper.

angela

Climate change drove people out of the once lush Sahara into the Nile Valley which made building the Egyptian pyramids possible. Or so I've seen on certain TV specials.

Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated | LiveScience

Did they drive SUVs back then too?:D

i sprinted up that......then chilled up top for about an hour LOL

Our guide would run up and down it several time while we were there. I was really fit then (road bike racing) and decided to have a go with him. Nothing like getting your dinner handed to you at someone's home court. Beautiful up there.

Any links to pyramid stuff that are worth looking at.

Virtual tours, pics, facts, theories, etc?


KT

This was an interesting read, if perhaps a bit far fetched:
http://www.amazon.com/Giza-Power-Plant-Technologies-Ancient/dp/1879181509

On a related note, has anyone here visited the Coral Castle in Florida?

The wildest thing about Tulum (for me) was standing on that big stone slab where guys used to get their beating hearts cut out. Crazy looking at the same scenery/sky as a lot of people did right before they became part of the hereafter. Kinda' surreal.

I bet we could have construction tolerances similar to those witnessed in ancient Egypt if they (1) made the architect second only to the Pharoah (they got that one correct) and (2) used whatever labor necessary at whatever cost necessary rather than constantly using the low bidder!

(I imagine having it wrong being punishable by death is a pretty good incentive to get it correct too...) ;)

Spent a lot of time in the ME and enjoyed Cairo. Several friends of mine are still based there.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299732288.jpg

Acoustic vibrations
 

April 2010 I was lucky enough to get into the Kings chamber of the great pyramid alone. My dream come true. I laid down in the sarcophagus and hummed a low hum. The entire room vibrated and resonated. Very freaky! This acoustic vibration was probably by design and not by accident.

On another note:
The sphinx upper body exhibits a high degree of water erosion. When in the last 5000 years has it rained in the desert? It is likely older than we surmise.

The head of the sphinx is disproportionate from the rest of the sphinx. The sculptors did not make mistakes like that. The head was obviously carved out later in the image of an egyptian ruler out of a larger but eroded head.

My entire time in Egypt(a week) I only met one honest man. This is the home of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, only the thieve ratio is much higher. You have heard of stories of the tomb robbers, and of the limestone facing that used to be on the pyramids but was stolen to build the mosques of Cairo. Khufu (Cheops) probably stole the credit for the great pyramid but it may have been standing there far earlier. The lack of heiroglyphics in the great pyramid is a testament to an earlier build date.

Food for thought.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299816206.jpg

man hadn't discovered how to make BEER yet. until then we didn't need to advance past hunter/gatherer.

A good friend of mine went to Egypt and did a 2 week tour with Dr. Zahi Hawass, the famed Egyptian archeologist. He was able to go "behind the ropes" and see a lot of stuff most of us would never be able to see. He said the paintings and colors of the heiroglyphics were vivid amazing, as if painted yesterday. This is a guy who takes some very wild and odd trips and said this was "hands down" the most amazing trip of his lifetime.
http://www.drhawass.com/

Hawasss resigned last week
 

Why Dr Hawass Resigned
Q: Dr. Hawass, for many years you have been the image of modern Egyptology. Why are you leaving now?

A: “I am leaving because of a variety of important reasons. The first reason is that, during the Revolution of January 25th, the Egyptian Army protected our heritage sites and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. However, in the last 10 days the army has left these posts because it has other tasks to do. The group now in charge of the protection of these sites is the Tourist Police, but there are no Tourist Police to do this either. Therefore, what happens? Egyptian criminals, thieves (you know, in every revolution bad people always appear…), have begun to destroy tombs. They damaged the tomb of Hetep-ka at Saqqara, the tomb of Petah-Shepses at Abu Sir and the tomb of a person called Em-pi at Giza. They attacked a storage magazine at Saqqara and we do not yet know how many artifacts are missing; they opened two storage magazines at Giza; one tomb dated to the 19th Dynasty, the only one in the Delta in fact, was damaged at Ismaïlia; and a store at El-Qantara East has been broken into and looted for antiquities. People have begun to build houses and to excavate at night, everywhere, putting heritage sites all over the country at risk. I had to write a report and I sent it to the Director of UNESCO. That is why at the meeting of the Egyptian cabinet yesterday I had my speech prepared already and I said: “I cannot stay in Egypt and see antiquities being stolen when I cannot do anything to stop it!” This situation is not for me! I have always fought to return stolen artifacts to Egypt. I did fight Ahmed Ezz as well, the man in the Parliament, who was the most powerful man, because he wanted to allow antiquities to be sold in Egypt again.
The second reason is that there are two crooks in the Antiquities Department, who have accused me of stealing antiquities and doing other illegal things all of the time. Their files talk about this. A third person started saying similar things, a university professor who was the Antiquities Director for almost 6 years before me, who never accomplished anything in that time. As a corrupt man, he even gave his signed permission to a rich lady from another Arabic country to take manuscripts out of Egypt! These three people encouraged young Egyptians to protest against me personally, to shout outside my office that they needed jobs. Sadly, I cannot give a job to everyone, but I did find funds to provide nearly 2000 training positions. In response to the horrible rumors that I am stealing antiquities. How could this be?! How could a man who has given his life to protecting and promoting antiquities, be accused later of stealing them?! Because of all of these things, I believe that if I stay in my position for another six months, I will never be able to protect the antiquities I love and I will never be able to work during this mess. All my life, I have been excavating, discovering, writing books and giving lectures all over the world. My work is responsible for bringing many tourists to Egypt, which helps our economy. But now I cannot do this! Therefore, I decided to resign”.

(I added the bold -KB)