The Great Pyramid reveals how it was built!

History for GRANITE9:41

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Inside the Great Pyramid, a gravity survey found changing density, the presenter explains.

Four survey campaigns—in May and August 1986, then February and November 1987—produced 754 gravity measurements using a Lacoste & Romberg meter. The team used readings from inside and on the pyramid to model how mass was distributed through the monument.

The fitted average density was 2.05 g/cm³. Above the highest relieving chamber, it fell to about 1.8–1.9 g/cm³. Lower down, the report describes alternating lighter and heavier regions. The authors consider spiral and semi-vertical arrangements to explain those differences. Pages 7–9 of the original 1987 report provide the instrument, survey dates and numerical results behind later debates about the pyramid’s internal structure.

Original survey · pages 7–9

Full transcript

[Music]

welcome

to history for granite

join me to explore ancient egypt

together we'll uncover secrets that only

stones from antiquity can reveal

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for thousands of years people have gazed

upward to marvel at the size and

grandeur of the great pyramid pondering

how such an enormous stone structure

could have been made by human hands the

ravages of time and greed have stripped

the pyramid of its valuable white casing

stones

laying bare the outer core backing

stones which give the structure its

rigidity and strength

the weathering of these blocks and their

somewhat irregular horizontal spacing

make it difficult to infer much about

the pyramid's construction at a glance

fortunately the past decades have

brought a renaissance of technology that

allows everyone around the world to get

an up-close look at the pyramids we are

no longer limited to the low resolution

and wide-angle photographs that populate

egyptology textbooks

anyone can search online for beautiful

and detailed images of the pyramids to

satisfy their own curiosity

a key innovation has been aerial drones

which can photograph the structures from

above up close at any conceivable angle

no longer confined to the desert floor

we can gaze down at the pyramids from up

high and appreciate their beauty from

this unique perspective

there was a time not so long ago when

intrepid tourists were allowed to climb

the great pyramid

but this practice is now forbidden so

drone photography is the only way the

general public can inspect its summit

for themselves

a favorite exercise of mine is finding

an exceptional image of a pyramid

complex and to just sit back and search

for patterns or details that might

easily be overlooked

these subtle clues can sometimes be

profoundly revealing and i want to share

that experience with all of you in this

channel's premiere video

here we see a series of photographs

taken directly above the apex of the

great pyramid

this allows us to easily inspect the

design for symmetry

because anomalous blocks will stand out

much better

as the images get closer various details

come into focus and you can appreciate

all of the history written into the

limestone the graffiti of travelers from

thousands of years

the beveled surfaces which give the

stones lateral stability and bore holes

which may anchor modern climbing

equipment or perhaps assisted with

original scaffolding these particular

photos have been digitally modified to

increase contrast which allows us to

make out each individual block at the

peak quite clearly also the metal frame

which marks the pyramid's original apex

has been removed so as not to distract

the eye

there is a single block at the summit

which appears quite dark but i'm fairly

confident this is not because the stone

is a different composition

other pictures suggest it is simply

stained perhaps by fire or some other

man-made cause i've never read any

account of a rogue granite block on top

of the great pyramid but if anyone has

details about this please leave a

comment below let's pull back a bit and

get all of the summit blocks into frame

from here we can inspect the entire top

level and it is from this view that i

want to give you an opportunity to make

the discovery for yourself

there is a secret embedded in these

stones which reveals much about how the

top of the pyramid was constructed and

perhaps even the entire monument

don't cheat yourself out of the chance

to figure it out on your own

pause the video here

make it full frame and give it some

thought

if you're still with me and not yet

convinced you can do it on your own i'll

give you a clue

pay close attention to the direction

every stone is facing

are they simply a jumble of roughly

squared blocks or is there a pattern to

how they are laid out relative to one

another

see anything yet

i'll give one final hint before i reveal

the answer

and that is to notice if there's

anything different between the outermost

stones and the ones in the middle

okay now it's time for the reveal

here at the flattened summit of the

great pyramid you will notice that the

perimeter stones are all perfectly

aligned to the superstructure with their

faces closely matching the cardinal

directions laid out by the monument

but all of the inner stones are not

quite so perfectly aligned they all

share a common clockwise turn by 5 to 10

degrees

it's very easy to see here with the

stones highlighted in different shades

and their joints emphasized by the lines

in yellow

did you see the pattern before the

reveal leave a comment below and tell me

if you got it right or what else might

have drawn your eye

so what does this alignment pattern tell

us about the great pyramid what reason

could there be for having all of the

inner stones turned slightly clockwise

well it suggests that when laying down

the center the perimeter blocks were

obscured by a spiraling ramp and that

these middle stones were instead aligned

to the ramp rather than the faces of the

pyramid notice how each of the perfectly

straight perimeter stones get deeper as

they approach a corner all in the same

clockwise direction

the easiest way to line up roughly

squared blocks is from an edge and the

inner stones are straight relative to

the edge of a spiraling ramp

not the outer pyramid faces

this is very strong evidence that a

spiral ramp structure was used at the

top of the gray pyramid and any theory

about the pyramid's construction should

reflect the masonry design we see here

there have been many pyramid

construction ideas put forth but few of

them align with evidence we can see in

this photo it cannot yet be determined

how many courses of the pyramid were

made in this way but once a building

technique is observed the likelihood of

seeing it elsewhere is dramatically

higher

here is a famous microgravimetry study

of the great pyramid made in 1986 which

suggests that there is a terrorist-like

density that is fairly symmetrical

leading to the summit professor of

mechanics h.d

wrote an in-depth analysis of the

density data in his 2011 book imaging

the cheop's pyramid his conclusion was

that there wasn't enough data to be

certain if the density suggested an

internal ramp such as the one proposed

by jean-pierre hudan or an external ramp

system that many theorists propose with

various iterations

i'm particularly intrigued by the idea

that all the pyramids of the fourth

dynasty were constructed in distinct

stages similar to the consensus about

how the first true pyramid in my doom

was built

the idea is that a core stepped pyramid

is built first and then afterwards a

true angular pyramid is finished over

the top

you can see evidence for this method of

construction in the menkare pyramid

which is the last large pyramid built at

giza

with an enormous excavated trench in the

center of its northern side you can get

a clear look at the inner structure of

the monument

within this great breach there are

finely squared blocks behind the outer

core that are only slightly offset from

a vertical alignment

this precision work behind a rough fill

layer is indicative of multiple stages

of construction

many queen's pyramids at giza have a

visibly stepped structure but it remains

unresolved if two of mankari's minor

pyramids were clad in white tour

limestone to form true pyramids

no evidence of casing stones for them

has ever been found

the usual explanation of unfinished work

is given for this absence of masonry

and this convenient excuse is provided

for just about every anomaly in

mankari's pyramid complex

amusingly some historical authors

writing about the great pyramid also

assumed it was unfinished due to the

missing top 8 meters of stone at the

summit

i doubt many researchers today would

agree with that analysis it's a great

reminder that those who follow in your

footsteps may find clues that for you

were entirely elusive

in closing my key takeaway from

examining the summit blocks of the great

pyramid is that if a construction theory

doesn't account for the change in

alignment between the inner core blocks

and the outer core backing stones

well it probably shouldn't be taken

seriously

there is still much to learn about the

construction of the great pyramid

and this piece of evidence is an

essential clue to unravel the mystery

thanks to everyone who watched this

video to the end

please subscribe to the channel to see

more of this content give a like or

comment as you see fit and above all

remember to ask your friends if they

take their history for granted

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