I believe that the vast majority of the work done at the Pyramids was done at night and in total silence. The moon provided the necessary light.
Each night, as the sun set, a vast transportation network was custom built for that night’s model mix of blocks to be moved from the harbor, quarries or storage areas. 40 ton granite monoliths moved in parallel with 15 ton casing stones moving in parallel with 1 – 3 ton core blocks. Construction of this transportation network took place in the first hour as the sun was setting by the same workers who then moved the blocks on that network.
Each artery is highly optimized for the blocks that moved on them that night. 5,000 pound stone blocks started to move towards the pyramid, each powered by just one worker. 3 workers move 15 ton casing stones and 15 workers move 40 ton granite monoliths each on their own highly optimized artery. All blocks moved along at 1 mile in 15 minutes; a fast walking pace.
In the morning, as sunlight started to appear, this very complex transportation system was dismantled and hidden in the sand and ready for a new configuration the next night. During the day, the transportation network did not exist and no one could figure out how the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid; hence the reason no paintings or writings exist on how the Egyptians built the pyramids.
Using this portable transportation system, one worker could move a 5,000 pound block one mile, in 15 minutes blindfolded, and not a sound was made. During an 8 hour shift one worker moved 8 blocks to the base of the pyramid 2 and 1/2 miles away. Moving 1,000 blocks each night, in total silence, required just 125 men. I estimate that 3 parallel arteries worked simultaneously so any mechanical breakage would not bring the transpiration system to a halt and a robust model mix of blocks moved at a fast pace.
No sound was made in the movement of the blocks. No trace was left, on the Giza foot paths, the next day that 5 million pounds of stone blocks were moved the night before. The foot path surface could be bedrock, crushed stone, dirt, sand, mud, it didn’t matter a bit. A moon calendar dictated the transportation and lifting schedule.
This also means that the lifting of the blocks from the base up to the active work zone was done at night and in total silence too. There were 1,000 2-man lift teams each lifting a 5,000 pound block up one row in just 1 minute. Working at night affords secrecy and a much cooler work environment. The same transportation system that moved the blocks miles from the quarries or harbor was used to move the blocks up the pyramid.
Each 2-man lift team moved one block up one row, handed it off to the next 2-man team, and returned to their station, one row lower – in just 5 minutes; that means each 2-man lift team could move about 100 blocks each night. 10 teams were needed for each level and at an average of 100 levels that means 2,000 lift workers were busy each night. They were provided with warm food and cold water during their shift.
That means 2,125 workers were needed to move and lift the 1,000 5,000 pound blocks each night. With 2,500,000 blocks to be moved this took 2,500 days or 8 years each with 300 work days per year. Our worker worked 6 days with 1 day for rest per week. Food, water, firewood, mortar cement, and tools would also be moved up the pyramid at night for the next day’s craftsmen usage.
The stone masons laying and cementing the blocks in place would work during the day but under tents to protect them from the broiling African sun and prying eyes. The portable transportation system allowed each mason to move the 5,000 pound block by himself and accurately move and align each block into it’s final resting spot. Each mason could move and place 4 blocks per hour so less than 50 masons were needed to set 1,000 blocks each day.
To outsiders, the pyramids were magically growing from the hands of gods. Nothing of the construction could be recorded and painted on walls – no one outside the construction site had any idea how this was being done.
From a job site management point of view two shifts of workers means that the pyramid could be constructed much faster. It also means that the work site would not be as busy at any one instant and that means a safer work site. The workers were paid craftsmen with skills and protecting them means a safer, healthier, and happier work force.
My guess is that there were just 2,300 skilled craftsmen were working at the Giza site for 8 years to build the pyramid. Throw in an equal amount for support personnel then about 5,000 workers worked at Giza to build the Great Pyramid in 10 years.
The skilled craftsmen were fed 3 hot meals a day, provided housing for their families, and even may have taken a week vacation per year. They were paid a wage and lived a comfortable middle-class Egyptian life. Schools were built to teach the crafts to new workers. No slaves were required nor wanted.
Stone masons and some of the lift crews lived for a week, at a time, at the top construction zone when construction of tier 50 and beyond occurred. Climbing up 50 tiers of blocks took almost one hour and was exhausting; crew gangs spent one week on and one week off the top level construction zone. The Great Pyramid had 220 tiers of blocks – climbing up or down would take half a day at the higher elevations.
In the time it took you to read this article, 5,000 years ago one Egyptian worker at Giza would have moved a 5,000 pound limestone block one football field away; and you think you are the advanced civilization! Yeah, right.
and no, the Egyptians didn’t use anything as crude as the wheel, and they didn’t use one ramp anywhere in the project, same with levers – only the final placement of each block had a lever to nudge it into place; they used their brains and not brawn to build the pyramids.
I will show you how this was all done……
Hi and welcome to How They Built The Pyramids.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tomb of King Khufu.
Sometimes we humans can’t figure out things and our brains are hard-wired to find some solution – any solution no matter how crazy.
As an engineer, I am only as good as the mathematics I have at my disposal – the same went for Hemiunu.