HUM 111 Week 4 Assignment 1, The Pyramids at Giza

1 Running Head: HUM111 Week 4 Assignment HUM111 Week 4 Assignment . AMINATA DIALLO HUM111 There have been many theories regarding how the pyramids at Giza were constructed. Most experts agree that they were constructed as burial monuments for pharaohs, but 2 Running Head: HUM111 Week 4 Assignment “how” these ancient people constructed monuments of such great size without modern machinery is a mystery which is still being debated. Pyramids are among the greatest wonders of earth. The Aztecs, The Mayans and the Egyptians all built their own pyramids. But it was the Egyptians who set up the standard of pyramids. A pyramid is a huge monument with square base along with four triangular meeting towards a point. It wasn’t a very easy thing to build such a huge monument without the modern instruments of construction which we use today. That’s why it is still a mystery how the Egyptians built those huge things in Giza. Quite a few theories were given. None of those theories were totally perfect. It was quite obvious that the Egyptians used their sandstones and lime stones for construction of the pyramids. But there are evidences of using granite as well. According to the theory of Redford, the main thing which was used for pyramid construction was manpower. Many other theories agreed to this. The first challenge was to cut the stones according to shapes and sizes. In those days there were not sharp and strong instruments which could cut the stones easily. Shaping the lime stones or the sandstones was easier. But when it comes to very hard granite stones, it wasn’t that easy. Redford says that Dolerite, a very hard and black colored rock was used to remove and shape granite. Huge dolerite pounders were used for gathering the stones around granite block edges which were needed to be broken. For dragging the stones, teams of manpower along with oxen were used for dragging the stones on lubricated slipway. Mud bricks and plaster chips were used for making the ramps. The ramp was raised continuously course by course and the blocks were dragged up. This theory was quite a logical one. Donald B. Redford, professor of Penn State University believes that no other theory can explain it so elaborately. (LiveS, 2014)