Some Perspectives on Pyramid Chronology

Ernest Moyer examines pyramid construction chronology, logistics, and challenges traditional assumptions about stone counts, quarrying methods, and construction timeframes for the Great Pyramid and other major Egyptian pyramids.

•Ernest Moyer•
Great PyramidConstructionChronologyLogisticsQuarryingEngineeringAncient Egypt

Copyright Ernest P. Moyer, author

Sections

  • Major Pyramids
  • Great Pyramid Stone Myths
  • The Rock Knoll
  • Rate of Movement
  • Logistics
  • Lift
  • Course Levels
  • Sequence of Construction
  • Radio-Carbon Dates
  • Weather
  • The Khufu Cartouche
  • Our Lack of Knowledge

To properly understand the phenomenon of the Egyptian Pyramids we should briefly examine their chronology and construction parameters.

They extend some 60 to 70 miles south along the west bank of the Nile from Cairo. Over that distance forty notable structures are grouped in four major sites and several minor ones. These include Giza, with two large and seven small pyramids, eleven pyramids at Saqqara, five at Abu Sir, five at Dashur, one at Meydum, one at Abu Roash, two at Lisht, and others.

According to archeological estimates the pyramids were built over a period of about one thousand years, from approximately 2800 BC to about 1800 BC.

Major Pyramids of the Old and Middle Kingdoms

[Note: A comprehensive table listing all significant pyramid structures with dynasty dates, locations, base lengths, and volumes would appear here. The table includes structures from Zoser's Step Pyramid through the Middle Kingdom pyramids, showing the evolution from early stepped structures to true pyramids, with the four great pyramids (Giza 1, Giza 2, Bent, and Flat at Dashur) representing more than 70% of total pyramid volume.]

The progression from early stepped pyramids to the perfection achieved at Giza represents an extraordinary development in architectural and engineering capability. The designer was growing in design finesse and developing a culture that could provide social resources equal to the Grand Design.

Great Pyramid Stone Myths

We all know that the Great Pyramid at Giza contains 2.5 million stones. This number has been passed around, by the most elementary investigator, to the most sophisticated and expert researcher. One reads such remarks as, "Let us accept the reliably estimated figure of the pyramid containing 2.3 million blocks"

Mark Lehner, who works with both the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and the Harvard Semitic Museum, in an interview with a PBS NOVA program, tried to demonstrate the amount of work involved in construction of the Great Pyramid. He said:

Well, working in such ways, and I challenge anybody to join in the challenge, it comes out that you can actually get the delivery that you need. You need 340 stones delivered you see, every day, and that's 34 stones every hour in a ten hour day, right. Thirty-four stones can get delivered by X number of gangs of 20 men, and it comes out to something like 2,000, somewhere in that area.

If you multiply Lehner's numbers you will obtain 2.5 million stones over twenty years, the supposed construction period of the Great Pyramid.

Unfortunately, Dr. Lehner glosses over quite a lot. Not only does he not want to deal with the accuracy of the joints; he also does not want to deal with the highly sophisticated stone drilling, lathing, and cutting equipment used by the ancient Egyptians to produce domestic artifacts, so refined and expert, that we today cannot duplicate those extraordinary feats.

The Real Number of Stones

I didn't trust these wave-your-hand-at-it methodologies. Was 2.5 million a "well established" number? Or was it a mythical number?

If we compute the total volume of the pyramid, using Petrie's measurement of 755.73 feet per side, and 481.33 feet high, with the pyramid volume formula of 1/3 × base squared × height, we obtain more than 91,600,000 cubic feet. (2.6 × 10⁶ cubic meters.)

Dividing the volume by the 2.5 million stones we obtain 36.64 cubic foot average per stone. This stone would measure 3.32 feet, 39.84 inches, or just about one meter on each side.

Simple observation shows that most of the stones are smaller than this. Only near the bottom of the pyramid are they such sizes.

As a first estimate of the actual number of stones, I took Petrie's scrupulous measurements up the four corners of the Great Pyramid. He measured 203 courses at 5451.8 inches height. While the course heights are irregular, with larger stones near the bottom of the pyramid, the average course height is 26.86 inches. This makes an average stone cube of 11.2 cubic feet, not 36.64. Then the total number of stones in the Great Pyramid would be more than 8 million!

This is quite a jump over 2.5 million.

Of course, most of the stones are not cubes. They are oblong objects. If we base our estimate on stones twice this size the number is still more than 4 million.

Following this trail of evidence I believe the number of stones in Giza 1 is more on the order of 4.0 million, not 2.5 million.

Clearly the rate of quarry, movement to site, placing and setting, is a more difficult task with a larger number of smaller stones.

The Rock Knoll

Another factor is the use of a rocky knoll around which the pyramid was built. The height of this knoll is uncertain but it would not impact significantly on estimates of the work involved in the construction.

Petrie gave the height of the entrance door at 668 inches, about 56 feet above the base. He then measured the distances down the passage slope to the lower chamber. He hit bed rock at 1340 inches. With a slope of 26.5° this would have been at a level about 70 inches above the outside base level, or about six feet. Therefore the knoll would have protruded into the structure only slightly above the first course.

Therefore the rocky knoll would have subtracted from the total work of stone quarry and placement by less than perhaps 5%.

Rate of Movement

If we take the traditional assumption of twenty years for construction, we can calculate the rate of stone movement. The total mass would be on the order of eight million tons in 20 years. That is approximately 400,000 tons per year = 1100 tons per day, and in 12 daylight hours = 90 tons per hour. Or, if we grant only ten hours per day, as Lehner did in his assumptions, the rate would be 110 tons per hour.

Calculating from the number of stones at 4 × 10⁶ divided by 20 years we obtain approximately 200,000 stones per year. This is equal to about 550 stones per day, 55 stones per hour, or 1.0 stone per minute. This rate was maintained for more than eighty years, from the structure at Meydum through the Mycerinus pyramid!

Logistics

If the stones were quarried at the average rate of 1.0 per minute, and if it took one half hour to quarry one stone, about 25 quarry crews were required. If it took a full hour to quarry one stone 50 quarry crews were required. If we assume open-face quarry, and that twenty feet of space were required for each crew, the distance required across the quarry open-face would be 1000 feet.

Lehner performed a thorough topological and historical survey of the Giza area. Unfortunately, Lehner then proceeded to engage in highly speculative and questionable reconstruction of history. One of his most glaring analytical faults was total neglect of Giza 2, nearly the same mass as Giza 1.

He suggested that virtually all of the mass of Giza 1 originated in a quarry 300 to 600 meters directly south of the pyramid. He calculated that the total mass removed from the quarry would be about 2.7 million cubic meters of stone. This mass would meet the mass of stone required for Giza 1. But he admits these numbers are too neat. One cannot neglect quarry losses in cutting.

The Movement Problem

The rate of movement up the quarry ramp to the pyramid would be determined by the need for supply, at one stone per minute. If the sleds were spaced thirty feet apart they would need to move at the rate of 30 feet per minute. This is about 1/3 miles per hour.

A three-ton stone would have a vertical component of 680 lbs, plus 1800 lb horizontal if the drag coefficient were 0.3. If one man could pull 60 lbs, 40 men would be required on one sled. Thus the distance between sleds would be at least 80 feet plus sled length.

This immediately creates a problem of sled rates. Now the speed to deliver one stone per minute becomes more than twice as fast, about one mile per hour, 90 feet per minute.

Remember, this estimate is based on only one pyramid. Since Giza 2 is about 80% of the volume of Giza 1 this rate of production would be necessary every daylight hour, every day for 40 years! And we have not yet added the work at Dashur or Meydum.

Petrie noted that the limestone of Giza 2 was different from that of Giza 1: "The upper part of the Pyramid was encased with Mokattam limestone, of a rather different quality to that of the Great Pyramid; it is grayer, harder, more splintery, and of not such a regular and certain fracture."

Clearly the two pyramids did not share the same quarry source.

Lift

After the stones arrived on site they had to be staged for lifting into place. Many different methods have been proposed, with no consensus. Lehner preferred a traditional ramp surrounding the pyramid. But he admitted difficulties with such proposal.

A ramp had two major problems:

  1. The amount of material required for a ramp is roughly the size of the pyramid, almost doubling the manpower required
  2. How could the builders maintain alignment of the structure when it was buried under a mound of rubble?

One cannot bury the pyramid inside a ramp and maintain a constant square, a constant slope, and the finesse of the slight indentation Petrie discovered at the center of the four sides of the core structure.

Course Levels

The course levels are remarkably constant in height around the perimeter of the pyramid at any given level. This suggests careful control during construction. The builders maintained level courses with extraordinary precision, despite the massive scale of the project.

Sequence of Construction

The sequence of pyramid construction from Meydum through the Great Pyramid shows a clear progression in sophistication. The Bent Pyramid represents an interesting transition, with its change in angle suggesting possible structural concerns or design modifications mid-construction.

The four great pyramids (Giza 1, Giza 2, Bent, and Flat) represent a unified design project, as demonstrated by their mathematical relationships in both exterior dimensions and passage angles.

Radio-Carbon Dates

Radio-carbon dates taken from organic materials found in the pyramids have produced varying results, some supporting traditional chronology and others suggesting different timeframes. The interpretation of these dates remains controversial.

Weather

Weather patterns would have significantly affected construction schedules. The annual Nile flood would have facilitated transport of stones from distant quarries but would have halted work for several months each year. Construction could proceed only during the dry season when the plateau was accessible.

The Khufu Cartouche

The Khufu cartouche found in the relieving chambers above the King's Chamber has been the subject of considerable debate. Some question its authenticity, noting irregularities in its execution and placement. However, it remains the primary evidence linking the Great Pyramid to Khufu's reign.

Our Lack of Knowledge

Despite centuries of study, fundamental questions about pyramid construction remain unanswered:

  • How did the ancient Egyptians cut and shape granite with such precision using only copper tools?
  • What methods were used to lift massive stones to great heights?
  • How was such extraordinary accuracy achieved in alignment and measurement?
  • What was the true purpose and meaning of these massive structures?

The mathematical sophistication demonstrated in the pyramids' dimensions, angles, and relationships suggests a level of knowledge far exceeding what is traditionally attributed to the Old Kingdom period.

The designer clearly possessed advanced understanding of:

  • Geometry and trigonometry
  • Pi and natural logarithms
  • Pythagorean relationships
  • Precise angular measurement
  • Structural engineering principles

We must acknowledge that much about pyramid construction remains mysterious, and traditional assumptions should be questioned in light of mathematical and engineering evidence.

Ernest Moyer is author of "Our Celestial Visitors," in which he thoroughly examines the UFO and abduction phenomenon, with much new material never before published.