| Egyptian Pyramid Construction Techniques |
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Two major theories surround the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt . The first theory, suggested by the Greeks, posits that Slaves were forced to work until the pyramid was done. A more widely accepted theory in the modern era, however, suggests that the Great Pyramid of Egypt was built by hundreds of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of paying taxes until the construction was completed. Current consensus among Egyptologists also is that the head of the Great Sphinx at Giza is that of Khafre , who is believed to have built the pyramid next to Khufu's in the Three Great Pyramids of Giza. THIRD AND FOURTH DYNASTIES During the earliest period, pyramids were constructed wholly of stone. Locally quarried limestone was the material of choice for the main body of these pyramids, while a higher quality of limestone quarried at Tureh (near modern Cairo) was used as the outer casing. Granite, quarried near Aswan, was used to construct some architectural elements, including the porticulis (a type of gate) and the roofs and walls of the burial chamber. Occasionally, granite was used in the outer casing as well, such as in the pyramid of Menkaure. In the early pyramids, the layers of stone (called ''courses'') forming the pyramid body were laid sloping inwards; however, this configuration was found to be less stable than simply stacking the stones horizontally on top of each other. The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur represents the transition between these two building techniques; its lower section is built of sloping courses, while in its upper section the stones are laid horizontally. MIDDLE KINGDOM AND ONWARD During the Middle Kingdom , pyramid construction techniques changed again. Most pyramids built at this time were little more than mountains of mud brick encased in a veneer of polished limestone. In several cases, later pyramids were built on top of natural hills to further reduce the volume of material needed in their construction. Paradoxically, the materials and methods of construction used in the earliest pyramids have ensured their survival in a generally much better state of preservation than is the case with the pyramid monuments of later pharaohs.
As the stones forming the core of the pyramids were roughly cut, specially in the "Great Pyramid", the material used to fill the gaps was another problem. Huge quantities of gypsum and rubble were needed. The filling has almost no binding properties, but it was necessary to stabilize the construction. To make the gypsum mortar, it had to be dehydrated by heating, and this required a lot of wood. The findings of the David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Project , suggest that Egypt had to strip its forest and scrap every bit of wood it had to build the pyramids of Giza. When the project tried to date several pyramids using the carbon extracted from the filling in the pyramids' core, they found the dates spanned almost 300 years, implying that old wood was used for some parts of the pyramids. This was seen only in the Old Kingdom pyramids, especially from Djoser to Menkaure. This could mean that later pyramids were built smaller out of necessity, due to the severely depleted state of Egypt's forest resources. |
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