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bergenslabben's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
jennybellium's review
3.0
Ancient Egypt's pyramids and assorted statuary continue to attract a great deal of attention, from elementary school kids who want to become Egyptologists to cable specials claiming "the aliens did it." The truth is that we can never know for sure how the Great Pyramid was built-- barring time travel-- but it's not as great of mystery as the popular media often claims. This new book by mummy expert Bob Brier and architect Jean-Pierre Houdin details Houdin's new pyramid-building theory.
The fact that huge blocks of limestone can be moved on sleds by teams of workers (no, not slaves, and definitely not Jews) is well documented. A ramp can be used to pull the blocks up a gentle incline to position them on top of previous layers. As the pyramid gets taller, the ramp is extended.
Simple, right? The problem being that the ramp would have to be over a mile long in order to reach the top of the pyramid, which, aside from being impractical, is impossible on the Giza Plateau-- there's just not enough space. A steeper, shorter ramp could be used, but the consensus seems to be that the blocks could not be hauled up anything much steeper than an 8% grade. So how did they do it?
Houdin believes he's come up with an answer using his architect/engineer's logic, after years of extensive computer modeling. Brier, who has little experience with pyramids or excavation, has come to fully support Houdin's theory, and thus co-wrote this book with him. I found the book itself a little frustrating to read-- it is full of short little chapters and seems to be written in the style of "oh my god this is the coolest thing ever in the whole world", which can get a little old. It also emphasizes a knowledge of Hemienu's inner mind (the pyramid's architect) that weakens the presentation of the theory by resorting to an obviously fictional representation of a long-dead Egyptian. However, Houdin's theory was new (and thus interesting) to me, and there seems to be some compelling evidence to support it.
An alternative to the linear ramp theory has been that the ramp was built around the pyramid in a sort of corkscrew, which allows for the ramp to be built up to the top of the pyramid without extending for a mile out on to the plateau. However, it would have interfered with the design of the pyramid by obscuring the pyramid's lines, which need to be measured/viewed in order to preserve the perfect orientation of the pyramid as it is built up, which is a pretty essential aspect of Egyptian engineering.
Houdin's vision puts a ramp on the inside of the pyramid, winding up at a 7-8% grade along the inside. There are some positive indications of such a "hidden ramp", including a gravimetric survey done by Operation Kheops that showed some sort of mass difference in a pattern curiously reminiscent of a winding ramp. The computer renderings and support of an outside software company seemed to have worked out the kinks in the theory-- how air was supplied to the workers, how the blocks were turned at the corners, etc.-- but thus far the evidence is mostly lacking and at best inconclusive. The authors have petitioned the Egyptian government for permission for a non-invasive survey, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
I appreciated the presentation of a new theory (to me, anyway) and look forward to seeing if Brier and Houdin are able to find any evidential support. The book itself was compelling with respect to the story, but I did not find it an especially well-written or valuable text, and I could have done without the Hemienu emphasis. This aspect of it seems to have been written to appeal to a wider audience, as some people were turned off by the slight technical bent in the presentation, and may work well for some readers who like a bit of human drama thrown in with their Egyptology.
2009-01-03
The fact that huge blocks of limestone can be moved on sleds by teams of workers (no, not slaves, and definitely not Jews) is well documented. A ramp can be used to pull the blocks up a gentle incline to position them on top of previous layers. As the pyramid gets taller, the ramp is extended.
Simple, right? The problem being that the ramp would have to be over a mile long in order to reach the top of the pyramid, which, aside from being impractical, is impossible on the Giza Plateau-- there's just not enough space. A steeper, shorter ramp could be used, but the consensus seems to be that the blocks could not be hauled up anything much steeper than an 8% grade. So how did they do it?
Houdin believes he's come up with an answer using his architect/engineer's logic, after years of extensive computer modeling. Brier, who has little experience with pyramids or excavation, has come to fully support Houdin's theory, and thus co-wrote this book with him. I found the book itself a little frustrating to read-- it is full of short little chapters and seems to be written in the style of "oh my god this is the coolest thing ever in the whole world", which can get a little old. It also emphasizes a knowledge of Hemienu's inner mind (the pyramid's architect) that weakens the presentation of the theory by resorting to an obviously fictional representation of a long-dead Egyptian. However, Houdin's theory was new (and thus interesting) to me, and there seems to be some compelling evidence to support it.
An alternative to the linear ramp theory has been that the ramp was built around the pyramid in a sort of corkscrew, which allows for the ramp to be built up to the top of the pyramid without extending for a mile out on to the plateau. However, it would have interfered with the design of the pyramid by obscuring the pyramid's lines, which need to be measured/viewed in order to preserve the perfect orientation of the pyramid as it is built up, which is a pretty essential aspect of Egyptian engineering.
Houdin's vision puts a ramp on the inside of the pyramid, winding up at a 7-8% grade along the inside. There are some positive indications of such a "hidden ramp", including a gravimetric survey done by Operation Kheops that showed some sort of mass difference in a pattern curiously reminiscent of a winding ramp. The computer renderings and support of an outside software company seemed to have worked out the kinks in the theory-- how air was supplied to the workers, how the blocks were turned at the corners, etc.-- but thus far the evidence is mostly lacking and at best inconclusive. The authors have petitioned the Egyptian government for permission for a non-invasive survey, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
I appreciated the presentation of a new theory (to me, anyway) and look forward to seeing if Brier and Houdin are able to find any evidential support. The book itself was compelling with respect to the story, but I did not find it an especially well-written or valuable text, and I could have done without the Hemienu emphasis. This aspect of it seems to have been written to appeal to a wider audience, as some people were turned off by the slight technical bent in the presentation, and may work well for some readers who like a bit of human drama thrown in with their Egyptology.
2009-01-03
stephang18's review
4.0
Bob Brier, author of one the best Teaching Company courses (on Ancient Egypt) writes an entertaining book on a new theory of how the Great Pyramid was built. The book could use some editing as it is a little repetitive and has too many exclamation marks. Pictures are terrible.
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