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00:00You have come tonight to the most fabulous and celebrated place in the world.
00:11No traveler, emperor, merchant or poet has trodden on these sands and not gasped in awe.
00:24They're much bigger than I thought they were.
00:27It's absolutely breathtaking.
00:29And that it stands for so long.
00:31Yes.
00:32Ever since they were built, four and a half thousand years ago, on the desert beside present-day Cairo,
00:39the pyramids of Giza have stirred the emotions.
00:43There you go.
00:44Hey, man.
00:46And the spectacle continues to amaze the thousands of tourists herded to the site each day.
00:52All the 5,000 years of history is here.
00:55It's...I don't know. It just creeps over you.
01:01The most impressive pyramid, and the largest, was built by the pharaoh Khufu in 2600 B.C.
01:07Known as the Great Pyramid, it was, until the early part of this century, the world's largest building, covering an area of seven city blocks and weighing six and a half million tons.
01:20The construction of Khufu's pyramid was one of the most extraordinary feats ever of engineering, craftsmanship, and cooperative effort.
01:33In less than 30 years, the workers had to raise over two million blocks to a height of 40 stories at the rate of one block every three minutes.
01:43An amazing achievement, given that the ancient Egyptians possessed only the simplest technology.
01:49Without modern surveying equipment, pulleys, or even the wheel, how did they lift stone blocks weighing two and a half tons, position them correctly, and control the shape of the rising pyramid?
02:04Despite a batch of new construction theories, the question of how the ancient Egyptians solved these engineering problems has not been convincingly answered.
02:21So NOVA asked University of Chicago archaeologist Mark Lehner to come to Egypt and take a fresh look at the evidence.
02:32There's something about the pyramids here at Giza that inspires people to be very passionate about all kinds of different theories about what they hide, how they were built, what they mean.
02:44I have maps showing whole subway systems underneath the Giza Plateau, hidden chambers and tunnels.
02:49Great charts of circles and intersecting lines showing the mathematical relationships of these pyramids to each other, to the Sphinx, to the stars, to Bethlehem, to Manhattan.
03:01There are just files and files and files of these ideas.
03:05But the bottom line on all these ideas, including those of Egyptologists, is that they have to stand the test of bedrock reality.
03:15And what better test than to build one's own pyramid?
03:19To help him do this, Mark invited Roger Hopkins, a stonemason from Sudbury, Massachusetts.
03:26Oh, God!
03:30Take it easy there, pal.
03:32Whoa!
03:34The plan is for Roger and Mark to test out some of the more likely construction theories by actually building a small pyramid, right here in the shadow of the Great Pyramid.
03:44Aiding Roger are 14 skilled stonemasons from Cairo.
03:54They work for Mr. Ahmed, who is an overall charge of the workforce.
03:58As none of the men speak English, and Roger's Arabic is non-existent, everything is a bit of a mystery at first.
04:09To understand how the ancient pyramid builders might have gone about their colossal tasks, Mr. Ahmed's men will confine themselves to the materials and tools available in ancient times as much as possible.
04:37The ancient builders constructed the pyramids with great care, as they were the sacred tombs of the pharaohs, designed to help ensure their immortality.
04:49To the ancient Egyptians, death was seen as just the beginning of a journey to another life, an afterlife that would last forever if things were properly organized before departure.
05:03First, the corpse had to be preserved by mummification, and then the body had to be protected from the elements and intruders by a burial chamber.
05:15Called mastabas, these tombs surrounding the pyramid were literally houses for the dead.
05:21They contained images of their owners, servants, and everything else needed for the afterlife.
05:31And there are whole subdivisions of them on the Giza Plateau.
05:35The Egyptians believed that their kings became gods at death, who could then ensure an afterlife for everybody.
05:42So the pharaohs got the biggest tombs of all, stone mountains built to last an eternity.
05:56One of the most popular ideas about the pyramids fostered by Hollywood is that they were built by slaves.
06:02But Egyptologists have found no evidence to support this myth.
06:14Instead, the early pharaohs probably constricted farm laborers during the annual flood of the Nile.
06:21Workers who in ancient graffiti proudly described themselves as the craftsman gang or the friends of Khufu.
06:32The very first pyramid was built here, at Saqqara, just to the south of Giza, in 2700 B.C.
06:41Up till then, mud brick was the principal construction material for tombs and other important buildings.
06:48But in the reign of the pharaoh Zoser, his chief architect, a visionary called Imhotep,
06:54discovered a more versatile building material, stone.
06:57Stone gave them the confidence to put one tomb on top of another,
07:03creating the first pyramid in the form of a series of giant steps.
07:08So here at Saqqara, you can really see the beginning of this period of gigantism and pyramid building.
07:17It begins with the Pyramid of Zoser, which is really the world's first skyscraper in stone,
07:22and the first pyramid in Egypt.
07:23It's a step pyramid some think is a kind of symbolic ladder for the king's soul to ascend to heaven.
07:29This started with a short interlude following Zoser.
07:33It began the period of really colossal giant pyramids.
07:38The pharaoh Senefru built the next three giant pyramids.
07:48A century of pyramid building had taught the ancient stonemasons many useful lessons.
07:54So when the pharaoh Khufu presented the builders with the epic task of constructing the Great Pyramid of Giza,
08:00they were ready.
08:01Unfortunately, Mark and Roger have rather less time to perfect their own building techniques.
08:09So basically, you have three weeks to move 189 stones into a pyramid?
08:14Right.
08:14It doesn't look like they'll fit all in this small square we're in.
08:17A pyramid of how big, how tall is it supposed to be?
08:20Well, it's a little less than six meters high, and probably about nine meters at the base.
08:26And you think this is doable in three weeks?
08:27You're going to do this by ancient Egyptian methods?
08:32Are you going to be faithful to the way the ancient Egyptians do it,
08:35or are you going to come in here with a backhoe and a loader and a forklift?
08:39Well, let's put it this way.
08:41I'll be as probably as faithful as I can be, given that I only have three weeks here.
08:48Yeah, Mohammed Ibrahim Barakat.
08:50This one I've already squared off.
08:53Before moving in the first level of blocks,
08:56Roger and Mark want to double check that the base of their pyramid is exactly square.
09:00I think maybe we're going to have to check to see if this is running square to our north line.
09:08If this line is off, then all our measurements are going to be off.
09:13A universal characteristic of ancient Egyptian pyramids was the precision with which the base
09:18base was laid out, and the four sides were oriented to face true north, south, east, and west.
09:28The sun, or the stars, were used to establish the north-south line.
09:34The next step was to lay out a square with precise right angles.
09:40The Egyptians could have done this in different ways.
09:42One method is to intersect two arcs.
09:47A line connecting the points of intersection will be at a right angle to the original line.
09:54Or they could have used a triangle with sides of three, four, and five units,
09:59which always produces a right angle.
10:02Either way, the builders would have a virtually perfect square for the base of the pyramid.
10:07We're moving our first stone into the pyramid.
10:16This is our going into the inner works of the support of our pyramid.
10:22It's what we call a core block.
10:24It's not finely dressed.
10:26It's very rough.
10:27We'll do that after it's in place.
10:31Although the men were able to roll the blocks end over end,
10:34it was a slow and laborious process.
10:37There's evidence that wooden rollers were used by the ancient Egyptians,
10:43so Roger tries some out on a nearby concrete driveway.
10:46This is a piece of cake, Mark.
10:49We could do it with about a couple of...
10:50This is ten men?
10:52Yeah.
10:52Ten men, easy.
10:54We're actually going up an incline right now
10:57that wouldn't be unlike coming out of the quarry.
11:00Rollers work well, but only on a smooth, hard surface,
11:08so they're of no use on Roger's sandy site.
11:11At neighboring pyramid complexes,
11:13the remains of clay roadbeds have been found
11:15into which the ancient Egyptians embedded wood,
11:18like railway ties.
11:21Perhaps a sled loaded with one of Roger's two-ton blocks
11:24will slide over the surface.
11:27Mark thinks it might.
11:41We're going to try to, within all the confusion,
11:44wet the ties and make it slippery
11:48and see if it goes on the ties
11:49without a layer of slick clay.
11:51If just the ties, the wooden ties themselves.
11:54Sleepers, if the sleepers will carry the sled.
11:56Nobody thinks it'll work.
11:58They think we're crazy.
11:58They're irritated, massively irritated,
12:00at even making the attempt.
12:02They think we're wasting our time.
12:04Roger doesn't.
12:10Hey!
12:10The only drawback I see
12:27is that we're getting into a situation where, um, uh...
12:32We want to do it all this way.
12:33Yeah, get rid of the machines, Roger.
12:36You do, pal, but I don't.
12:38Uh, we've got, uh, too much of a deadline here
12:41to, to do it all that way.
12:43We're going to do plenty of it that way
12:45when we get up in the upper levels.
12:47Well, I think it's good just to see that it works
12:48because this is another case
12:50where hands-on trial archaeology,
12:53I think, really proves some points
12:55because even the men,
12:57even the experienced masons here
12:58were saying vehemently
13:00that this isn't going to work.
13:01And they were almost angry and irritated about it.
13:04And lo and behold, they got off the rollers.
13:06Yeah, but we're still not up
13:08on a ramp.
13:08It was a bar of soap.
13:09Yeah, we're not on a...
13:11Although the sledding experiment is a success,
13:17Roger is opposed to building a network of clay roads
13:20because it would delay work on the pyramid itself.
13:24Roger has also decided not to lay down
13:25a hard foundation underneath the pyramid.
13:28Instead, he'll build directly on the desert floor,
13:32a decision he'll come to regret.
13:34Protected by the surrounding desert,
13:40the Egyptian nation grew up
13:42along the fertile Nile Valley.
13:44Together, the Nile and the pyramids
13:46played a central role
13:47in creating this unique civilization
13:50that was to last 3,000 years.
13:54The Nile was extremely important
13:56for pyramid building
13:57because it was the main artery
13:58by which all non-local materials
14:00were transported to the pyramid site.
14:02The granite, for example,
14:0470 ton, 50 to 70 ton blocks of granite
14:06came from as far away as Aswan,
14:08500 miles to the south.
14:10This could only have been brought by boat.
14:12The fine limestone for the outer casing
14:14was brought from the quarries at Tura,
14:16which is directly across the river.
14:18And this, again,
14:18could only have been brought by boat.
14:20So the water of the Nile
14:22was the principal means of transport
14:24for moving these materials
14:25to the pyramid site for building.
14:26Today, Roger invites Mark
14:34and his friend Nick Fairplane,
14:35a stone carver from England,
14:37to go with him
14:38to the Tura limestone formation
14:40where the blocks for his pyramid are quarried.
14:45But this is pretty much
14:46the traditional way,
14:47the way they've been doing it
14:48probably for the last, what,
14:494,000 or 5,000 years.
14:51This is about as deep as you can go,
14:53one man from picking away
14:54at the surface and that narrow.
14:56It's just wide enough
14:57for them to get their leg down in there
14:59and they really can't go much deeper than that.
15:02If they're going to get a bigger block,
15:04they'd have to widen a channel here.
15:08So the way they separate the block
15:09is by channeling these deep channels
15:11on three sides,
15:12but then how do they pull it up?
15:14And then they're spinning it
15:15on two sides with wedges.
15:18So they just stick wedges underneath
15:19and like pry it up?
15:20Yeah, they cut holes basically
15:21and then put the wedges in
15:22and hammer them in.
15:23And then that produces
15:24a horizontal crack
15:25that separates it
15:26from the bed underneath.
15:29In ancient times,
15:30this fine limestone
15:31was used only
15:32for the outer blocks
15:33of the pyramid.
15:38Back on the Giza side of the Nile,
15:40Mark takes Nick Fairplay
15:41to the place
15:42where he believes
15:43the bulk of the pyramid stone
15:45was quarried.
15:48Early archaeologists
15:49didn't recognize this area
15:51as a quarry
15:51because the ancient workers
15:53had filled it
15:54with building debris.
15:59When later investigators
16:00cleaned it out,
16:01they concentrated
16:02on the tombs
16:03of the pharaoh's
16:04high officials
16:04which honeycomb the rock face.
16:08So until recently,
16:09archaeologists
16:10didn't fully appreciate
16:11this quarry's role
16:13in the building
16:13of the Great Pyramid.
16:14And this,
16:16they're just extracting
16:18a block.
16:19They're just defining
16:20the block.
16:21And that represents
16:22about a standard
16:23pyramid-sized block.
16:25You know,
16:25it's amazing
16:25that with evidence
16:26like this,
16:27people have still
16:28wondered if the stone
16:29wasn't brought
16:30from somewhere else,
16:31like across the river.
16:33And it's clear to me,
16:34it's clear as a bell,
16:34that almost,
16:35you know,
16:35the bulk of the pyramid
16:36was quarried right here
16:37on the plateau
16:38and simply transported
16:39up the plateau
16:40for piling it up
16:41in the form of the pyramids.
16:46Mark's survey
16:47of the Giza plateau
16:48has produced
16:49the first accurate
16:50computer reconstructions
16:51of how the pyramids
16:53appeared
16:53four and a half
16:54thousand years ago.
16:57The Giza complex
16:59consisted of the pyramids
17:00of the pharaoh's Khufu,
17:02his son, Khafre,
17:03and grandson, Menkauri.
17:07Each pyramid
17:08has a long covered causeway
17:09running down to the Nile,
17:11with a temple
17:12at either end.
17:20But there were also
17:22satellite pyramids
17:23for the pharaoh's queens
17:24and hundreds of smaller tombs
17:26for the overseers
17:27and officials.
17:28The Khafre pyramid
17:44shows all the standard elements
17:45of a pyramid complex.
17:48Sitting right at the base
17:50of the pyramid itself
17:51is the mortuary temple
17:52where the daily rituals
17:54took place.
17:54From its entrance,
17:56a causeway,
17:57once with walls
17:58and a roof,
17:59runs a quarter of a mile
18:00down the plateau
18:01to end at the valley temple.
18:06The unique thing
18:07that Khafre added
18:07was the great sphinx,
18:09carved right out
18:10of the natural rock,
18:11with the body of a lion
18:12and the head of a pharaoh.
18:14The face is probably
18:15that of Khafre himself,
18:17making the sphinx
18:18a kind of guardian
18:19for the whole pyramid plateau.
18:27Five days into his
18:2821-day building schedule,
18:30Roger is only now
18:31moving in the first
18:32of the angled blocks
18:34that will form
18:34the sloping outer surface
18:36of the pyramid.
18:37This is our most important stone
18:39of the whole project.
18:40This is our first corner stone
18:42and it's our casing stone,
18:45so it's the linchpin
18:47of the whole pyramid.
18:51When chiseled
18:52to the required slope,
18:54the casing blocks
18:55will give Roger's pyramid
18:56a smooth appearance.
18:59But on the ancient pyramids,
19:01most of the casing
19:02has long since been looted,
19:05exposing the rough blocks
19:06underneath.
19:06Up here at the top
19:13of the Khafre pyramid,
19:14some of the original
19:15limestone casing,
19:16the smooth outer shell
19:18of the pyramid yet remains.
19:20Looking out across it,
19:21you get a sense
19:23of how sensational
19:24the pyramids must have been
19:25when they were brand new,
19:26encased with this
19:27polished white stone.
19:29Now the casing
19:30has this brown patina
19:31and it's been slightly
19:32roughed by the ages.
19:33But when it was new,
19:34it was as white
19:35as newly fallen stone.
19:36snow and the effect
19:37must have been
19:38truly blinding.
19:50Because the casing stones
19:52need to be placed
19:53very precisely,
19:54Roger wants to lower
19:55these blocks into position
19:57with his front-end loader.
19:58But Mark is insisting
20:00on ancient methods.
20:06As the cornerstone
20:12is dragged in,
20:13it dislodges
20:14the baseline string.
20:18I didn't want to set it
20:19this way, remember that.
20:20You know, it was much easier
20:21just to come in
20:22and set it down
20:23where it's supposed to be.
20:24I've got to reestablish
20:26that line all the way
20:27from my north-south line
20:29again in order
20:30to get the finest line.
20:31Right now,
20:31we don't know
20:32where the corner is.
20:32It could be anywhere
20:33in this whole area,
20:35right around in here
20:35because this thing
20:36has bent all...
20:37Okay, next.
20:39Up on the plateau,
20:41the ancient pyramid builders
20:42didn't have this problem.
20:44They engraved
20:45permanent reference lines
20:47in the stone foundation.
20:49That's good.
20:51And working on a hard surface
20:53also enabled
20:54the giant blocks
20:55to be positioned
20:55with amazing precision.
20:57Roger, how much do you
21:06estimate this casing block
21:07to be on the Khufu pyramid?
21:09It looks to me
21:09like about 15 to 17 tons.
21:12Roger, the old
21:1415 to 17 tons.
21:19He says it's more
21:21than 17 tons,
21:22but I want to know
21:23how they got this joint
21:25between two 15-ton stones.
21:27So, how they did it so well.
21:36I can't even put...
21:38I can't put the blade
21:40of my Swiss army knife
21:42and as it's often said
21:43it'd be hard
21:44to get a razor blade
21:45in that seam.
21:47As Roger tries
21:49to emulate
21:49the ancient's precise joints,
21:51he is once again
21:53stymied by the soft surface
21:54on which he is building.
21:57What's that, Mark?
21:58Is that as good
21:58as you're going to get it?
22:00No, that's...
22:01Oh.
22:02Pretty close.
22:03They're doing this
22:04by jamming stones
22:05in under this side.
22:07The problem we've got here, Mark,
22:09is that we're not doing
22:10our bottom casement stones on.
22:12You're not on stone service.
22:13We're not on stone service.
22:14So they're jamming
22:16these pieces in.
22:18Right.
22:18We can't really get
22:20a very tight joint
22:21like what they did
22:21up on the big pyramids.
22:23You know,
22:24with a little practice
22:25we could get
22:26those fine joints, too.
22:28But you've got it now
22:29as fine as you're going to get it.
22:30You're not going to get it.
22:31Well, you know, I mean...
22:32We've got other fish to fry here.
22:35Towards me.
22:36Pass, pass, pass, pass.
22:37Pass!
22:41Come on.
22:41That's it.
22:43When Khufu's pyramid
22:53was at this early stage
22:55in construction,
22:56work had already begun
22:57on the passageway
22:58leading to his tomb,
23:00deep in the bedrock below.
23:13We are right underneath
23:30the very center of the pyramid,
23:32about a hundred feet
23:34under the original surface
23:35of the plateau,
23:36with the whole pyramid
23:37rising above us.
23:41We've come down here
23:42by a narrow passage
23:43about three feet in height.
23:45It descends
23:45for more than 345 feet
23:48until we get down
23:49into what's called
23:50the subterranean chamber.
23:57Well, the subterranean chamber
23:59here underneath the pyramid
24:00gives us one of the clearest looks
24:02of how they proceeded
24:03carving out these chambers.
24:05Just like in their gallery
24:07cliffside quarries,
24:08they proceeded
24:09in great channels like this.
24:11Not that great,
24:12about the size for one man to sit.
24:14And it seems from the stone
24:17that was left,
24:17which presents us in effect
24:19with a frozen moment
24:21in the construction quarrying process,
24:23it seems that individual men
24:24were allotted cubes of stone,
24:27which they had to work away,
24:29probably with a pick
24:30much like this,
24:31although of copper.
24:32And we can see very clearly
24:34how they were picking away
24:35the stone in these channels.
24:38In fact, some of the very chips
24:39of the last workmen to work
24:41in this little cubicle remain.
24:43And then they would lob off
24:44the hump of stone left
24:46in the middle of these channels.
24:49This is easy enough for us
24:50to imagine now
24:51when we see all these traces.
24:52But can you imagine
24:53what it must have been like
24:54when the men were working here?
24:57There must have been dust
24:58and debris everywhere.
25:00It must have been
25:01absolutely choking.
25:02And can you imagine
25:03what it must have been like
25:05for the workman
25:06who created this lead channel,
25:08a kind of shelf,
25:09to widen the room.
25:11He must have had to work
25:13practically, if not on all fours,
25:16then on his belly,
25:18swinging the pick away
25:20ahead of him
25:21to move the work
25:23farther into the solid rock.
25:26And again, the chips
25:27of these workmen yet remained
25:29as they did when somebody came,
25:31probably on orders for the king,
25:33and told them,
25:34put down your tools.
25:36We have a different plan.
25:37We want to make a chamber
25:39higher in the pyramid.
25:41So after months
25:42of exhausting labor,
25:43the subterranean tomb
25:45was abandoned
25:46for reasons we may
25:46never understand.
25:49Then the pharaoh Khufu
25:50ordered the construction
25:51of a second chamber,
25:52but ultimately chose
25:54yet another burial chamber
25:55high in the pyramid.
26:03As Roger's pyramid begins to grow,
26:13he faces one of the most
26:14fundamental problems
26:16of pyramid engineering,
26:18how to lift the blocks.
26:21The traditional
26:22and widely accepted method
26:24has been a straight-on ramp
26:25made of mud brick
26:26that grew with the rising pyramid.
26:29But pulling blocks
26:30up a ramp this steep
26:31would be virtually impossible.
26:33If the ramp had
26:34a more gradual slope,
26:35a gradient of one in ten,
26:37for example,
26:38it would be over a mile long,
26:40run past the quarry,
26:41and would be a bigger
26:42construction project
26:43than the pyramid itself.
26:45Well, some pyramid theorists
26:47say that there were
26:48no ramps whatsoever,
26:49that all the blocks
26:51were levered up
26:52from the very base
26:53of the pyramid
26:54all the way to the top
26:55on the steps.
26:57What they're thinking of
26:58are very regular steps,
26:59like a household stairway.
27:01But when you come up here
27:02to the top of the pyramids,
27:03it seems inconceivable
27:05that these multi-ton blocks
27:06could have been levered up
27:08on steps such as they exist.
27:11When we lever this thing up,
27:12it's got to clear these things.
27:13Otherwise, you're going
27:14to get hung up here.
27:15Martin Eisler is one
27:16of the major advocates
27:17of levering.
27:19His work as a sculptor,
27:20which involved moving
27:21large pieces of marble,
27:22convinced him that levering
27:24is the most efficient method
27:26for raising up the heavy blocks.
27:29I love stone.
27:31All kinds of stone.
27:32Pyramids, statues, anything.
27:34Anything built of stone.
27:35It's just one of my passions.
27:37Also a professional draftsman,
27:39Martin, on paper,
27:40makes levering look like
27:41a very plausible idea.
27:43But today, for the first time,
27:45he is putting his theory
27:47to the test.
27:48He has to lever a one-ton block
27:50up one step of the pyramid.
27:53No rotor.
27:54He says it's too heavy,
27:56you should bring the loader.
27:57But I told him we had
27:58to try it this way.
27:59We have to try it.
28:00The little guy will, like,
28:01direct the operation.
28:02And Adel is his name.
28:03Adel.
28:04Adel.
28:05Adel.
28:06Adel.
28:07Adel.
28:08Adel.
28:09Adel.
28:10Adel.
28:11He's a specialist in the use
28:12of the crowbar and the lever.
28:13Wonderful.
28:14Adel.
28:15Yeah, buddy.
28:16Anything.
28:17Anything.
28:18Anything.
28:19You see?
28:20No more.
28:21You see?
28:22This is good.
28:24That was no good.
28:25It has to be flat.
28:27Okay?
28:28Like that.
28:29Flat.
28:30Yes?
28:31Yes, yes.
28:32A bit nervous.
28:33No, no.
28:34If it tumbles over,
28:35you're going to get hurt.
28:36No need to get excited.
28:37Am I excited?
28:38Yeah.
28:39I don't mean to.
28:40No more.
28:41No more.
28:42No more.
28:43No more.
28:44No more.
28:45One side.
28:46Down.
28:47Down.
28:48Good.
28:49Down.
28:50Oh, yeah.
28:51See, we've got a rhythm here.
28:52This is going to be vicious.
28:53Wait, no.
28:54Down?
28:55Wait a minute.
28:56No, no.
28:57You've got it.
28:58No, no.
28:59You've got it.
29:00No, no.
29:01Okay.
29:02Good.
29:03Now the other side.
29:04One at a time.
29:05One at a time.
29:06Wait until he gets here,
29:07because it's a waste of time.
29:08Oh, look, guys.
29:09One at a time.
29:10Okay.
29:11Down.
29:12Down.
29:13Down.
29:14Down.
29:15The cribbage is getting a little bit.
29:16Yeah.
29:17Down.
29:18Down.
29:19Down.
29:20Down.
29:21Down.
29:22Down.
29:24Down.
29:25Down.
29:26Down.
29:27Down.
29:28Down.
29:29Down.
29:30Down.
29:31You know, I've been waiting for that block to get up there for the last couple of hours.
29:42I don't think it's going to be a very practical way of bringing blocks up expect in cases where
30:00cases where we're absolutely walled off and that's the only method we can get them in
30:06but you could have a piece of wood that is four feet long and you can have a piece of
30:10wood that is three feet long and you can have a source of wood so that you could select wood
30:14according to the plan so you have standardized standardized lengths like carpenters do all the
30:20time they have stacks of wood i use this piece or i use that piece this is an awful lot of wood
30:25isn't it it's a tremendous quantity of wood isn't it it's all recyclable all of it is recycled what
30:32kind of wood do you think it was i have no idea i have no idea it's a kind of wood it's a country
30:38where wood is very scarce i understand but they've also imported wood from lebanon you've heard that
30:43at great cost at great cost but the pyramid was an important monument wasn't it all right
30:48it's possible that having done this one trial we have learned something and the next trial
30:56would be performed even more quickly is that possible and the third one even better yet
31:02that's the fourth one and the father the son the father will teach the son and the son will teach his
31:07son and it gets better as he goes along martin however they did it i'm sure that's they did it
31:12look at the monument yeah however they did it that's true okay okay good that's it
31:26after two intense hours success hachmed's levering team has inched the block to the top of the next
31:32step all that remains is a tricky maneuver to get the block off the precarious piles of wood
31:42now you see the purpose of the block you see where it landed okay thank you thank you guys thank you
31:51all thank you thank you very good number one with only two weeks before his completion deadline roger
32:03is not enthusiastic about using martin's levering idea for raising any more blocks instead he's pushing
32:09ahead with building a ramp to slide blocks to the second layer of the pyramid the ramp is made of
32:15locally available materials tafla the desert clay is combined with gypsum forming an all-purpose mortar
32:23that binds everything together
32:33once the ramp is filled with stone debris the roadway on top is formed
32:41by embedding timbers in a layer of clay
32:54on top of the pyramid ready today will be the first time roger has attempted to pull a block
33:13up an incline on this surface once we were on the wood we got that lubricant
33:35the friction we took right off are you still a lever a man when necessary ramps
33:42when necessary levers when necessary I mean there's no there's no such thing as one one way
33:47only I think sledding is a lot faster once you got the rhythm the team's trained and the proper
33:54roadbed I think you can move right along on the lower part of the pyramid which is basically
34:0087% of the volume of the pyramid why not usually ramps but above that you can use levers take
34:09advantage of anything you can make Roger's ramp is similar in construction to one that Mark has
34:15noticed leaning against the tomb it was probably built about the same time as the great pyramid that
34:20stands behind it they must have been using it for the construction in some way and all these books
34:26are written about pyramid building and they say they made mud brick ramps other people say they
34:30didn't use any ramps they say there are no ancient ramps and we're standing on a ramp that's probably
34:34from the time of the building of this mastaba whether they use it for debris or for these stones
34:39and it's about 5,000 years old now you can see the debris down here where right it's very similar to
34:46the way that we're laying our our stone and tough line and this isn't the only ramp that still exists out
34:51here at Giza I mean there are others for hauling stone from the quarries up to the cemeteries there
34:56are construction embankments this has got to be how they constructed the pyramid ramps it has to be this
35:01material with the ramp appearing to resolve the question of how to raise blocks the other major
35:08challenge facing the ancient builders was controlling the shape of the pyramid that's
35:13the next problem facing Roger and Mark a pyramid is essentially a square and a center point the trick
35:21in constructing a pyramid accurately is to raise that center point above the square without developing
35:29twist in the four faces in order to do this you essentially have to achieve a series of squares
35:35one above the other as the pyramid is rising each new square has to be properly lined up with the one
35:43below in order to form a true pyramid if the squares are not correctly aligned the resulting pyramid will be
35:51less than perfect so to avoid twist in his pyramid Roger built a series of squares in the form of steps called
36:01a step pyramid in addition to keeping the pyramid square the inner step pyramid may also help control
36:11the slope of the outer face of the pyramid
36:21what's important was the relationships of parts the relationship of parts and Mark and Nick Fairplay
36:25believe that there is a close relationship between the step pyramid and the outer slope and they assume
36:31that Roger had built the step pyramid with this in mind but on later investigation it quickly becomes
36:37clear that Roger's step pyramid has not been built to mark specifications and so does not have the
36:43necessary dimensions to control the slope of the outer pyramid 91 out here 91.5 so if this is 91.5 this
36:55measurement out was 50 something and that's 50.5 centimeters what's the relationship of these steps to this slope
37:02other than just keeping it square well i'm only using it to keep it square you're only using the step
37:12pyramid to keep it square right we're not using the step pyramid to actually control the rise and run of
37:17the outer casing slope as did the ancient egyptians according to some evidence at medum for example
37:25and in the queen's pyramids you can't prove that for a fact for one minute
37:34pal
37:39it's like it's only on record like three pyramids that they use the 51 degree angle and the rest of
37:44them show a 53 degree angle which shows you a vertical rise that's the three four five triangle well
37:51this may be actually a really good point you don't think there is any one rule by which they controlled
37:57the slope of the outer casing you think they might have done it one way for one or two or three pyramids
38:02another way for a different pyramid i think that's a pretty good statement and a good possibility because
38:08i don't think there was a manual for pyramid building no that you know all they had to work
38:13with from generation to generation are sustained standard masonry practices which are the same today as they
38:19were 6 000 years ago and in fact when you look at the the mathematics used by the ancient masons was
38:25probably very simple through trial and error the builders of the great pyramid learned that the
38:30proportions of 11 and 14 would give them about a 52 degree angle if these were incorporated into every
38:37casing stone before being put in place
38:42by using these proportions and by periodically sighting at the corners to check if the slope is true
38:48roger expects to end up with a perfectly shaped pyramid despite his disagreement with mark
38:54so you're using basically common sense practical experience and a hands-on approach right exactly
39:00you know roger i'm just beginning to realize maybe we should get off your case a little bit
39:05yeah get out of my anchor with all these with all this theorizing about the ancient stuff
39:10yeah be nice to get on with just building this pyramid yeah with only a week to finish the project
39:18roger has extended the ramp so it wraps around the back of the pyramid but now we're going to try to
39:25pull a sled and we're going to try to turn a corner with the sled for the first time
39:33we're starting out with a fairly small block pulling it up the incline of the ramp and around the
39:37first corner that the ramp makes around the pyramid we might need more men to actually make the pull
39:43around the corner well then we'll add them on as we need them
39:53critics of the ramp method question whether a heavily laden sled can make a 90 degree turn
39:58but roger has a plan are you optimistic we're going to get it around the corner we'll get it around the
40:05corner hell or high water
40:16watch out for the rope
40:20okay hold it hold it okay now we've rearranged the ropes
40:28we're all set well it worked like i figured it would i mean i knew i was going to have a little
40:44problem on the corner there but you know if that had been a five ton block we could have done it the
40:49same way this is twice the grade we had before easily and i like the way you distributed the men
40:56going back down the ramp and the pole as well so that you're using the ramp in both directions
41:02well there's no place else for them to go it was a little bit complicated changing the ropes and so on
41:07this is the first time we did it it's the first time we did it
41:14roger only had enough time to build the ramp around three sides of his pyramid
41:19but he was confident that he could have continued wrapping it around to the top
41:22okay the success with the ramp convinced him that a similar ramp was used by the builders of the
41:29great pyramid
41:33mark and roger's project is focused on figuring out how to build the main structure of the pyramid
41:41but the ancient builders had to deal with engineering problems in the complex inner chambers as well
41:52so deep in the heart of khufu's pyramid is his tomb
42:08it was supposed to protect the pharaoh's mummified body for an eternity
42:12but all that now remains is his empty granite sarcophagus
42:22at first glance this is a deceptively simple room it's a box lined with granite on the floor
42:28and the walls and roofed with great beams of granite but in fact this is the first time that the
42:33ancient egyptians attempted to span a distance this wide in their stone architecture and you can see
42:39in the cracks in these great granite beams that weigh up to 50 to 70 tons that they developed problems
42:45there were too many stresses on the ceiling beams and had these broken and fallen down into the chamber
42:50the engineers and stonemasons would have been in deep deep trouble
42:56in an effort to build a tomb that would last forever the pharaoh's builders reinforced the defective
43:01beams by adding four more granite ceilings topped off by a pitched roof of limestone
43:07to relieve further stress on the chambers below
43:13in the uppermost chamber workers graffiti include the name khufu the pharaoh whose mummified body
43:20required such elaborate protection
43:27when the burial rites of the king were finished and the priests had left the workmen whose job it was
43:33to seal off the pyramid presumably for eternity first had to slide great granite portcullis slabs like
43:40these down these notches to seal off the actual entrance into the king's chamber
43:45the next line of defense against robbers was to plug the ascending passage with the row of granite blocks
43:59that were slid in place from the grand gallery
44:01the only problem with this is once the ascending passage was plugged tightly
44:10what were the workmen left with as an escape route
44:17right here at the bottom of the grand gallery there's a crude tunnel forced through the already
44:22laid masonry of the pyramid all the way down to the descending passage from whence they could go back up
44:28out the original entrance despite the complex anti-theft devices neither khufu's pyramid nor the hundred or so
44:38others that were built could resist the tomb robbers the mummified pharaohs would not be left in peace
44:45all the pyramids were broken into and the bodies violated
44:49all the way down to the ground roger has his own problems his assignment was to build just two sides
44:58of an 18-foot pyramid in 21 days but with only three days to go it looks unlikely that he'll achieve this goal
45:19rather than build the ramp any higher roger reluctantly tries to lever the last blocks into place
45:28the attempt ultimately succeeds but barely
45:40okay all right we got to get this sucker back up on
45:44i told you to use the little rollers
46:00you know i've been trying to emphasize that these fulcrums have got to be
46:04just the right height and they got to be steady and everything else
46:07all right well this levering operation started out very methodically and worked very well
46:16and which you know roger organized it extremely well and in spite of that it uh the closer he gets to
46:22the top the more problems he's having running out of room for levers running out of room for men to pull
46:27on ropes and uh running out of room for the tall fulcrums that are necessary and this bears out what
46:33everybody really had imagined that the closer you get to the apex of the pyramid the more problems are
46:38engineering the stones by now everyone was an expert on moving blocks and there was much debate on the
46:47best method for putting the final pyramid stone in place
47:03so
47:14once ahmed's men got the block in motion it quickly became clear that there could be no turning back
47:33prince
47:37let's get some rope on that so they can pull off my hair's going to get crushed
47:53it was kind of terrifying i've got to admit it was uh you know if i don't think if we had uh
48:13enough able-bodied people there we probably could have lost it very easily but uh i think
48:20of that final halo hope pulled us through i had no doubts that we could get it up there
48:36i just prayed that no one got hurt
48:38with fewer than 200 blocks compared to khufu's more than two million roger's pyramid would have
48:51no difficulty sitting on the missing top of the great pyramid and although the great pyramid is 27
48:57times taller the achievement of roger and his crew has strengthened mark's understanding of the ancient
49:03techniques that permitted khufu's builders to raise his great monument in less than 30 years
49:09but that does not mean that all the mysteries have been solved
49:15well i don't think there are any huge mysteries about the nuts and bolts of how they made a pyramid
49:21i think more the mystery is the motivation behind the people what caused them to do this all of a
49:26sudden for the first time in history they gathered not hundreds or even thousands but probably tens of
49:32thousands of people in one place at one time to do this project what motivated them to do that that's the real mystery
50:02i've learned uh a lot of respect for the ancient Egyptians yeah i think they were they were pioneering
50:19in uh in an area which uh no one else had been in and i got to give them a lot of credit for the what
50:26they've done you think they could build the real thing in 20 years i think they could have you know it's
50:32just uh what i've seen here is just absolutely amazing
50:40i found that my masons my quarrymen and my stone setters were all fairly accomplished very good craftsmen
50:50it shouldn't have come as surprised they had such a long history of thousands of years doing this
51:05when i look at the great pyramid the marvel there for me is not the stonework as much as the level of
51:15organization that these ancient egyptians had getting their society to pull together
51:22in such a way that they not only had blocks of stone but bread on the table
51:31well the real gigantic pyramids were built within the space of about three maybe four generations
51:38this was a unique moment in egyptian history and these pharaohs were seizing that moment
51:44to create pyramids that would stand forever
51:59time honored monuments wonders of the ancient world these giant structures reveal the beliefs
52:08the lifestyle the spirit of cultures long past
52:13what they don't reveal is the mystery of how they came to be
52:21now nova and a cast of hundreds use brute strength and sheer determination to rediscover the
52:27technical know-how of the ancient builders you got that obelisk where you want it roger yeah
52:34an egyptian obelisk england's stonehenge inca masonry in peru a roof for rome's coliseum
52:46nova embarks on a four-part building spree to unlock the secrets of lost empires
52:54next time on nova
53:03now you can tour the pyramids at giza your way using the latest online technology
53:08at nova's website navigate the tunnels tombs and temples of the pharaohs and follow a real-time
53:14excavation log on for pyramids the inside story a nova pbs online adventure
53:29to order this show for 1995 plus shipping and handling call 1-800-255-9424
53:42and to learn more about how science can solve the mysteries of our world ask about our many
53:48other nova videos
53:52this is never tiki kilobata sphankis three pyramids and play and
53:57over and give me the time in new year what
53:5950. no sir no sir
54:05hello
54:17nova is a production of wgbh boston
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