There seem to be two prominent theories found on the Internet, as to how the Pyramids were built. I find Löhner filled with facts, and refer to it often. I suspect others do as well. Though like all of us, including myself, there are problems with their proposals. Every proposal should be scrutinized, otherwise we don't advance the understanding.
Löhner: [www.cheops-pyramide.ch]
1. Löhner uses a rope roll and places great emphasis on it's usage. It only changes the direction of the ropes and provides no mechanical advantage, ie. 1:1. They had sailing boats, and understood what changing a ropes direction involved. A log of Ebony will accomplish the same, and is less likely to fail, as it contains no moving parts. Ebony is naturally lubricious, and very resistant to abrasion, and would be capable of higher loads. I suspect they knew about spinning cylinders, as there are drawing on the walls of men drilling. He failed to understand that a Pulley "effect" of a 2:1 mechanical advantage is just as simple. If he understood that, he would have reduced his work force in half. Additionally, you do not need a wood housing and bushing for the cylinder to spin. Greased rope will do the same, and with less material. In the last example, you could gain a 2:1 mechanical advantage, by greasing the two ropes on the ends. On the other ends, one end would need to be stationary, and the other passing over another circular cylinder, as per the video.
[www.youtube.com]
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2. He understands that a direct line is the shortest distance to the top, though as others do, employs men to perform the lift. He does employ them utilizing gravity. That's a plus. Walking down the casing stones would be dangerous. One slip, and you are likely dead. Additionally, you have to climb back up each time. A very time consuming enterprise. I do give him credit, as to the best of my knowledge, he is the only one to do a time, friction and force computations.
3. Uses rollers/logs. Logs as rollers under the weight of 2.5 tons, will splinter and deteriorate rapidly. In all the examples I have viewed, keeping a heavy stone on a straight path, is cumbersome. A grooved skid, as he mentions is much better, though at a 52 degree angle, it effectiveness is reduced. Your dealing with two round objects. The circular notch is not a good configuration. Better if it was square. Then it is held in place from side to side. You are less likely to lip out. Additionally, in a square configuration, you can create less surface contact, and therefor less friction.
[www.cheops-pyramide.ch]
4. Shadufs: Shadufs are used for transferring water, not 2.5 ton stones. Though he recognized that fact, he completely missed that the water can be used in a counter balance system. Additionally, he touches on, though down plays, the use of the Capstan and/or Winch. Actually, they are basically one in the same. The Capstan winds rope in a vertical manner, and the winch is horizontally. Watch this video, and see if you agree the axle would fail, and if they likely needed to have the wheel. [www.youtube.com] Video supplied by Dr. Troglodyte. It would take very little effort to turn this operation into a movable pulley, and struggle 1/2 as much. [www.youtube.com] The reason he does not cut his labor in half, is because it is not common knowledge, and we have been told for years it requires a grooved wheel and axel, when in fact, it doesn't.
Houlden:
There are a host of issues with the Spiral System. [www.fsteiger.com] Rather than cover old ground, I will address a few problems I see.
1. The internal spiral would weaken the outer section of the Pyramid, and potentially lead to catastrophic failure. Having an empty area, is not as good as a solid one. Being a successful Architect, he should know better.
2. Dark filled chambers with touches would suffocate you. No where is it shown on G1, that open areas exist to the outside, providing light and oxygen. Since any windows, would require a header, they also should be visible.
3. Pouring oil on the spiral path, in effort to reduce friction. Doing so, would just create a slippery surface, for the team after yours. They would be losing their footing, and be unable to pull.
4. The spiral makes for a long distance. How many times does it wrap around? How long is it? Has Houlden ever published any time studies, and math? Or, just pictures?
5. According to Houlden, his internal ramp starts at the bottom, is approx. 6 feet wide, with a grade of 7%. OK, so the average size of a G1 stone is 127cm x 127cm x 71 cm tall. 127cm = 4.2 feet. As the block would run up in the center of the tunnel, and there is only 6 ft of space, that leaves you a little over 9" to walk past. Ask yourself, is that enough room to walk past. It's also 4 feet long. Plan on hoping on one foot for 4 feet. Jumping on top would stop the process, and slow down delivery. 100 men doing this would add up, plus it is difficult to get the stone moving each time, especially without any lubrication. How do all the men get back down? Zip line?
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6. I have the prof, and here it is in green, red and purple colors. What was the methods used to create this map. They claim to have taken nearly a thousand microgravimetrial measurements. The Pyramid is not even square at the base. I have been in Computer Graphics, since AT PC and Macintosh SE, and use CAD/CAM almost daily. Before that, you had to use (.) dot commands, and later memorize DOS, working only from the command line. CAD/CAM is used to produce G-code. A machine language. On the CAD side, you can not enter data, and expect it to create misshaped free style images. It is not a Freehand, or Photoshop program. What program was available back in 1986/87 capable of generating this image? Dbase and Excell are out. What database program, had a 1000 separate fields, to enter data in.
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All examples of how the Pyramids were built, need to be scrutinized by many different people.
Löhner: [www.cheops-pyramide.ch]
1. Löhner uses a rope roll and places great emphasis on it's usage. It only changes the direction of the ropes and provides no mechanical advantage, ie. 1:1. They had sailing boats, and understood what changing a ropes direction involved. A log of Ebony will accomplish the same, and is less likely to fail, as it contains no moving parts. Ebony is naturally lubricious, and very resistant to abrasion, and would be capable of higher loads. I suspect they knew about spinning cylinders, as there are drawing on the walls of men drilling. He failed to understand that a Pulley "effect" of a 2:1 mechanical advantage is just as simple. If he understood that, he would have reduced his work force in half. Additionally, you do not need a wood housing and bushing for the cylinder to spin. Greased rope will do the same, and with less material. In the last example, you could gain a 2:1 mechanical advantage, by greasing the two ropes on the ends. On the other ends, one end would need to be stationary, and the other passing over another circular cylinder, as per the video.
[www.youtube.com]
2. He understands that a direct line is the shortest distance to the top, though as others do, employs men to perform the lift. He does employ them utilizing gravity. That's a plus. Walking down the casing stones would be dangerous. One slip, and you are likely dead. Additionally, you have to climb back up each time. A very time consuming enterprise. I do give him credit, as to the best of my knowledge, he is the only one to do a time, friction and force computations.
3. Uses rollers/logs. Logs as rollers under the weight of 2.5 tons, will splinter and deteriorate rapidly. In all the examples I have viewed, keeping a heavy stone on a straight path, is cumbersome. A grooved skid, as he mentions is much better, though at a 52 degree angle, it effectiveness is reduced. Your dealing with two round objects. The circular notch is not a good configuration. Better if it was square. Then it is held in place from side to side. You are less likely to lip out. Additionally, in a square configuration, you can create less surface contact, and therefor less friction.
[www.cheops-pyramide.ch]
4. Shadufs: Shadufs are used for transferring water, not 2.5 ton stones. Though he recognized that fact, he completely missed that the water can be used in a counter balance system. Additionally, he touches on, though down plays, the use of the Capstan and/or Winch. Actually, they are basically one in the same. The Capstan winds rope in a vertical manner, and the winch is horizontally. Watch this video, and see if you agree the axle would fail, and if they likely needed to have the wheel. [www.youtube.com] Video supplied by Dr. Troglodyte. It would take very little effort to turn this operation into a movable pulley, and struggle 1/2 as much. [www.youtube.com] The reason he does not cut his labor in half, is because it is not common knowledge, and we have been told for years it requires a grooved wheel and axel, when in fact, it doesn't.
Houlden:
There are a host of issues with the Spiral System. [www.fsteiger.com] Rather than cover old ground, I will address a few problems I see.
1. The internal spiral would weaken the outer section of the Pyramid, and potentially lead to catastrophic failure. Having an empty area, is not as good as a solid one. Being a successful Architect, he should know better.
2. Dark filled chambers with touches would suffocate you. No where is it shown on G1, that open areas exist to the outside, providing light and oxygen. Since any windows, would require a header, they also should be visible.
3. Pouring oil on the spiral path, in effort to reduce friction. Doing so, would just create a slippery surface, for the team after yours. They would be losing their footing, and be unable to pull.
4. The spiral makes for a long distance. How many times does it wrap around? How long is it? Has Houlden ever published any time studies, and math? Or, just pictures?
5. According to Houlden, his internal ramp starts at the bottom, is approx. 6 feet wide, with a grade of 7%. OK, so the average size of a G1 stone is 127cm x 127cm x 71 cm tall. 127cm = 4.2 feet. As the block would run up in the center of the tunnel, and there is only 6 ft of space, that leaves you a little over 9" to walk past. Ask yourself, is that enough room to walk past. It's also 4 feet long. Plan on hoping on one foot for 4 feet. Jumping on top would stop the process, and slow down delivery. 100 men doing this would add up, plus it is difficult to get the stone moving each time, especially without any lubrication. How do all the men get back down? Zip line?
6. I have the prof, and here it is in green, red and purple colors. What was the methods used to create this map. They claim to have taken nearly a thousand microgravimetrial measurements. The Pyramid is not even square at the base. I have been in Computer Graphics, since AT PC and Macintosh SE, and use CAD/CAM almost daily. Before that, you had to use (.) dot commands, and later memorize DOS, working only from the command line. CAD/CAM is used to produce G-code. A machine language. On the CAD side, you can not enter data, and expect it to create misshaped free style images. It is not a Freehand, or Photoshop program. What program was available back in 1986/87 capable of generating this image? Dbase and Excell are out. What database program, had a 1000 separate fields, to enter data in.
All examples of how the Pyramids were built, need to be scrutinized by many different people.
