Quote:A trend away from the pyramid is seen in the reduced effort being put into pyramids, not in a stop to pyramid construction all together. They might have tossed out the style of highly refined pyramid building found on Giza simply because they no longer have the same faith in the utility of truly monumental pyramids for serving whatever purpose previous pharohs might have deemed them to be indispensible to serving. But tradition, even not as respected as it once was, can linger in diluted form for a long time.
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, Chuck. Busy weekend.
Anyway, let's assume for the moment that what the Egyptologists say is correct. These pyramids were the egotistical expression of reverence for the pharaoh and meant to be his tomb for eternity. We already see, in the Pyramid of Menkaure, a smaller version of a pyramid. It's about half the size of the two large Giza Pyramids but every bit as technically proficient in execution. The last two rulers of the 4th Dynasty ( Shepseskaf and Khentykawes) built mastabas not pyramids. Then comes Userkapf founding the 5th Dynasty and we are back to pyramids and by the end of the 5th Dynasty we see the growth of the cult in the form of the pyramid texts being written on the walls and ceilings. Put yourself in Userkapf's position. He's the KING. He's got legions of priests telling him that he's a god. Perhaps they lacked the resources to build a pyramid as big as the earlier ones but why would they build a pile of junk? Could the knowledge have dissipated that quickly? The presumption is that there were masters teaching apprentices and in such a way maintaining the knowledge of the craft. It could have been written down but we have no example of such a document but it was a literate society so it is not impossible. I don't see the "trend away" from pyramids. They became more closely identified with the cult of the pharaoh in the 5th ad 6th dynasty and cultures usually waste lots of time and treasure on 'holy buildings' that could be better spent on other tasks. The apparent rise in the religiosity of the pyramids is in contrast to the poor quality of the buildings themselves and that is a mystery.
Quote:For me, the engineering aspects of the pyramid, while impressive, is not demanding of extraordinary assumptions. I see no difficulties with pyramid that a copper age civilization blessed with good agricultural conditions and food surpluses could not ovecome.
I agree completely...especially since we have the marks of copper chisels on the stones themselves. The only problem I have is the time constraint. There is no way in hell that the GP and the Khafre pyramids could have been constructed in 20 years unless they had a fleet of helicopters ferrying the stones in. As Brier says, there are significant impediments to every ramp idea, even though he was pushing for an internal ramp which has some pretty serious problems, too.
We don't need aliens to explain the GP. We just need a lot more time to do the job.
