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Available
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Collection
Publication
Smithsonian Institution Press (2004), 272 pages
Description
Going beyond even the expertise of archaeologists and historians, world-class engineer Craig B. Smith explores the planning and engineering behind the incredible Great Pyramid of Giza. How would the ancient Egyptians have developed their building plans, devised work schedules, managed laborers, solved specific design and engineering problems, or even improvised on the job? The answers are here, along with dazzling, one-of-a-kind color photographs and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations of tools, materials, and building techniques the ancient masters used. In his foreword to the book, Egypt's Undersecretary of State for the Giza Monuments Zahi Hawass explains the importance of understanding the Great Pyramid as a straightforward construction project.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member EdKupfer
Pyramid building as an exercise in civil engineering.
I approach all books dealing with ancient Egyptians with trepidation, owing to the nutters the topic seems to attract. Smith has no time for these reality-challenged theorists, and dismisses all notions of weird numerology and ancient astronauts
Smith uses his experience in civil engineering and construction management to lay out plausible scenarios, along the way making a forceful case that copper blades and a motivated workforce -- not slaves! -- was all that was really needed. That, and some planning and dedication.
If you're the kind of person who finds themselves fascinated by the details of construction projects, this is the book for you.
I approach all books dealing with ancient Egyptians with trepidation, owing to the nutters the topic seems to attract. Smith has no time for these reality-challenged theorists, and dismisses all notions of weird numerology and ancient astronauts
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in a few short sentences, before he gets to the good stuff: just how did these people build these things?Smith uses his experience in civil engineering and construction management to lay out plausible scenarios, along the way making a forceful case that copper blades and a motivated workforce -- not slaves! -- was all that was really needed. That, and some planning and dedication.
If you're the kind of person who finds themselves fascinated by the details of construction projects, this is the book for you.
Show Less
LibraryThing member setnahkt
Mr. Smith takes an interesting approach to pyramid construction; the Great Pyramid (and, to a lesser extent, the other pyramids) are analyzed from a project management point of view. Smith does provide answers to some of the usual questions about pyramid construction - how many men does it take to
This is a pretty impressive piece of work. A lot of pyramids theorists have speculated about “how the Great Pyramid was built” but what they were actually doing is speculating on how the masonry blocks were moved, without considering any of the other factors. One salient fact Smith points out is that there’s a lot of variation, by masonry course, in the average size of blocks; the blocks in the lowest course average about 14500 kg each, but as you progress up the pyramid, blocks get smaller; higher courses are about 1500 kg. (Smith notes that there are anomalous larger courses - for example, the blocks in course 19 are about twice the size as those in 18 and 20 - and suggests that these are associated with interior features; course 19 is right at the base of the entrance passage and other “oversize” courses also appear to match up with things going on inside). This block size distribution causes a lot of other pyramid theorists to overestimate the amount of labor required; they usually use an average block size for work calculations. It also poses a logical objection to a lot of the wilder theories; why would the aliens cut so many different sizes with their laser saws and why would the Egyptcrete block makers build different molds for every layer?
There are a few problems, of course. Although Smith acknowledges help from Mark Lehner and Zawi Hawass, his basic Egyptology is weak; except for some specialized texts on (for example) Egyptian stone working, his bibliography is mostly “coffee table” works. This causes some unsupported statements - for example, that “Egyptian craftsmen were organized in guilds”. Although he’s devoted an amazing amount of effort to supporting his calculations (he consulted books on home brewing to see if his estimates of beer ration production rates were reasonable) a lot of his numbers are pretty soft. There’s a tacit assumption that’s made in almost all pyramid theory books, despite the example of Snefrw - that the Great Pyramid wasn’t started until the beginning of Khufu’s reign and that it was finished before its end; there’s been a recent suggestion that this wasn’t the case (pharaohs may have started multiple simultaneous pyramids, with their successors finishing the one that was farthest along and taking the next one for themselves). Finally, Smith falls prey to what might be called the “Intelligent Design” view of pyramid construction - the belief that every single feature in a pyramid must have deliberate design intent behind it; I suppose this is natural for a engineer.
Nevertheless, this is a very interesting and useful work. Even if all his numbers are wrong, Smith’s done very good work just by taking the Great Pyramid from a mystic artifact to a construction project. In fact, some of the Amazon reviewers suggest this would make a pretty good text for project managers.
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drag a two-metric-ton block up a ramp - but also answers, or at least reasonably informed speculation - about a great many questions that pyramid theorists usually don’t consider. For example, how many men would be required to prepare the ropes needed? How many bakers would be necessary to bake the daily bread ration, and is this a reasonable number given the assumed population and agricultural productivity of Old Kingdom Egypt? How often would copper tools have to be sharpened? The highlight of the book are series of tables, showing things like labor estimates (2 labor-days per core limestone block, 2.5 labor-days per cubic meter of rock moved during site leveling); workforce estimates (4000 stonemasons, 40 ropemakers, 4 doctors, and 22 site security); payment estimates (one beer jug and two bread loaves a day for a foundry worker, two and four for a scribe); and, as the masterpiece, a two page critical path chart for the entire operation. The net result is a workforce of between 26000 and 43000 (depending on when the project was started) and a construction time of ten years.This is a pretty impressive piece of work. A lot of pyramids theorists have speculated about “how the Great Pyramid was built” but what they were actually doing is speculating on how the masonry blocks were moved, without considering any of the other factors. One salient fact Smith points out is that there’s a lot of variation, by masonry course, in the average size of blocks; the blocks in the lowest course average about 14500 kg each, but as you progress up the pyramid, blocks get smaller; higher courses are about 1500 kg. (Smith notes that there are anomalous larger courses - for example, the blocks in course 19 are about twice the size as those in 18 and 20 - and suggests that these are associated with interior features; course 19 is right at the base of the entrance passage and other “oversize” courses also appear to match up with things going on inside). This block size distribution causes a lot of other pyramid theorists to overestimate the amount of labor required; they usually use an average block size for work calculations. It also poses a logical objection to a lot of the wilder theories; why would the aliens cut so many different sizes with their laser saws and why would the Egyptcrete block makers build different molds for every layer?
There are a few problems, of course. Although Smith acknowledges help from Mark Lehner and Zawi Hawass, his basic Egyptology is weak; except for some specialized texts on (for example) Egyptian stone working, his bibliography is mostly “coffee table” works. This causes some unsupported statements - for example, that “Egyptian craftsmen were organized in guilds”. Although he’s devoted an amazing amount of effort to supporting his calculations (he consulted books on home brewing to see if his estimates of beer ration production rates were reasonable) a lot of his numbers are pretty soft. There’s a tacit assumption that’s made in almost all pyramid theory books, despite the example of Snefrw - that the Great Pyramid wasn’t started until the beginning of Khufu’s reign and that it was finished before its end; there’s been a recent suggestion that this wasn’t the case (pharaohs may have started multiple simultaneous pyramids, with their successors finishing the one that was farthest along and taking the next one for themselves). Finally, Smith falls prey to what might be called the “Intelligent Design” view of pyramid construction - the belief that every single feature in a pyramid must have deliberate design intent behind it; I suppose this is natural for a engineer.
Nevertheless, this is a very interesting and useful work. Even if all his numbers are wrong, Smith’s done very good work just by taking the Great Pyramid from a mystic artifact to a construction project. In fact, some of the Amazon reviewers suggest this would make a pretty good text for project managers.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
158834200X / 9781588342003