Egyptian Pyramids: not cut stone but made of "concrete"?

[Scott]

http://www.materials.drexel.edu/Pyramids/

Professor Michel Barsoum and colleagues have found scientific evidence that parts of the Great Pyramids of Giza were built using an early form of concrete, debunking an age old myth that they were built using only cut limestone blocks... (click here to read more)

http://www.materials.drexel.edu/News/Item/?i=948

Although this discovery does not solve all of the construction mysteries of the pyramids, the impact of these findings has great potential for developing countries and for the construction industry. The basic raw materials used for constructing these “geopolymers,” as this early form of concrete has been dubbed, can be found virtually any where in the world. Replicating this method of construction would not only be cost effective and long lasting, but would also produce less carbon dioxide than the process used for creating Portland Cement, the current building material of choice.

That's some pretty radical ideas right there.

[Alientank]

You can do anything you put your mind to...when you have an endless supply of slave labour.

[ZaP911]

The more I read about the Giza Pyramids, the more I'm left amazed. It's just hard to believe that those ancient people built such an incredible structure, without some extra-terrestrial help.

Here is an interesting documentary I watched a couple of days ago about the mysteries of the pyramids.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

[Deaderinred]

why is it so hard to believe that aliens built them.

no only that theres other pyramids around the world, ones underwater near cuba, that one near japan/china (cant remember which of the two it was) and even that one in Bosnia they just found, heh don't get me started on the ones on mars.

[phial]

mars linkies? that sounds interesting

[Bob Bobbles]

Originally Posted by Alientank

You can do anything you put your mind to...when you have an endless supply of slave labour.

The people that built the pyramids were not slaves.

[Deaderinred]

Originally Posted by phial

mars linkies? that sounds interesting

Google "mars pyramids" should get the standard first 3 images of them and alot of interesting links.

to be honest i was expecting to be flamed for this

[Alientank]

Originally Posted by Bob Bobbles

The people that built the pyramids were not slaves.

What were they then?

[DaJMasta]

Originally Posted by Bob Bobbles

The people that built the pyramids were not slaves.

Not if they were aliens





I think it's cool that they can replicate it like this though, and it was kind of funny to see all those people dressed in their weird garb working on building a big stone block.

[Bob Bobbles]

Originally Posted by Alientank

What were they then?

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/py.../pyramids.html

Who Built the Pyramids?
Contrary to some popular depictions, the pyramid builders were not slaves or foreigners. Excavated skeletons show that they were Egyptians who lived in villages developed and overseen by the pharaoh's supervisors.
The builders' villages boasted bakers, butchers, brewers, granaries, houses, cemeteries, and probably even some sorts of health-care facilities—there is evidence of laborers surviving crushed or amputated limbs. Bakeries excavated near the Great Pyramids could have produced thousands of loaves of bread every week.
Some of the builders were permanent employees of the pharaoh. Others were conscripted for a limited time from local villages. Some may have been women: Although no depictions of women builders have been found, some female skeletons show wear that suggests they labored with heavy stone for long periods of time.
Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams "Friends of Khufu," "Drunkards of Menkaure," and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs.
An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded.
Huge limestone blocks could be floated from quarries right to the base of the Pyramids. The stones would likely then be polished by hand and pushed up ramps to their intended positions.
It took more than manual labor, though. Architects achieved an accurate pyramid shape by running ropes from the outer corners up to the planned summit, to make sure the stones were positioned correctly. And priests-astronomers helped choose the pyramids' sites and orientations, so that they would be on the appropriate axis in relation to sacred constellations.
From stone pusher to priest, every worker would likely have recognized his or her role in continuing the life-and-death cycle of the pharaohs, and thereby in perpetuating the glory of Egypt.

Of course no one can be perfectly sure, but that's probably as good of a source as any

[Soulkrusha]

that's damn enteresting.

[brian911]

I'll second that notion that the people who built the pyramids were not slaves. From what I was taught, these people were proud to work on the pyramids because they thought it was for god. Also, work is mostly done during the time the Nile flooded when farmers had nothing else to do.

[_TiTaNiuM]

Yeah, only in cartoons or movies and such they were portrayed as slaves, however schooling taught otherwise. I guess we'll never know for sure.

I do remember reading or being taught that they were conscripts from nereby villages, something about a 6 month cycles they'd farm, the other 6 months they'd build the pyramid.

[Himself]

My guess would be that they transported the ingredients for the concrete by boat, and the whole pyramid was made of that concrete. Everything done in place as you go up, no cranes required, just bags of dirt being pulled up the slope. As a refinement of that, just do every other block, put boards to form a box with already hardened blocks and you get these perfect seams.