People have been speculating for centuries about how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramids. Few people have paid attention to Herodotus and his writings about Egypt's intricate canal system, but historian James V. Barr believes these played a critical role in pyramid construction. Relying on years of research, he presents the lock and canal system of construction. Barr also examines other theories of pyramid construction such as the levitation theory and the ramp theory. He explains why explanations of pyramid construction that do not focus on the canal system are wrong and why the canal and lock system makes the most sense. Barr hopes to show Egypt both as it once was and as it is today, sharing entirely new photographs, drawings, and maps. This is concise, informative primer for anyone who wants to learn more about the methods employed in pyramid construction. Discover the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians and dig deeper into some of their greatest feats of engineering as you take a trip back in time on The Floating Stones of Egypt.
THE FLOATING STONES OF EGYPT
By James V. BarriUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 James V. Barr
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-8749-4Contents
Chapter I The "AURA" of Egypt...................................................1Chapter II The Dawn of Egypt.....................................................21Chapter III The Conveyance of Ancient Egypt.......................................39Chapter IV The Stone Reminders...................................................47Chapter V The Floating Stones...................................................57Chapter VI The Canal and Lock Method of Pyramid Construction.....................61Chapter VII Archimedes............................................................81Chapter VIII The Sumps.............................................................85Chapter IX The Stone Harvest.....................................................99
Chapter One
THE "AURA" OF EGYPT
The Egypt, Old Egypt, Ancient Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt and the treasures of Egypt in all the pieces of literature written about Egypt there seems to be one common denominator or opinion expressed an immense admiration of the true Egyptian's ingenuity and accomplishment portrayed during the time of the Pharaohs.
There is not on facet of the ancient Egyptian life style that eludes respect and wonder. The pyramids, the massive canal systems, and the art works are just a few areas of endeavor that are synonymous with the "used" intelligence. There are many more, early surgery, astronomy unbelievable architecture. The list goes on and on.
Every time an exhibit, such as "King Tutankhamen's Treasure", is shown outside of Egypt, the admiration of the Ancient Egyptian era is shaped by more people of our present world. When viewing the treasure of the king a strange feeling of enjoyment surrounds its viewers. Thousands of people walked through the rooms filled with the golden art work. No loud noises can be heard. Just the sound of whispering voices praising the beautiful and varied examples of art and sculptures. At the very end of the tour was the exhibit of King Tutankhamen's death mask. Viewing it seemed anticlimactic. A strange aura of respect emitted by the mask was reflected in each viewer's eyes. This aura is felt when any wonder of Egypt is seen. It creates an air of mysticism, secrecy and respect, all at once. This feeling also spurs more and more research projects to explore Egypt's mysteries each year. It is unfortunate; however, that greed, avarice, and discontent have also been created. It is certain that more complete research could be accomplished in Egypt if some explorers and archaeologists had not plundered Egypt's ancient treasures for the past decades only for personal greed. Many artifacts created by the ancient Egyptians such as obelisks tomb treasures, and sculptures have been taken from Egypt without any compensation or gratitude shown. The British and the French were probably the worst abusers of Egyptian hospitality in the past century as evidenced whenever a person visits either countries museum of archaeological collections. These museums are filled to capacity with treasures plundered and smuggled from Egypt. A stark example of disregard for Egypt was when Napoleon of France used the Great Sphinx for cannon practice, thus obliterating the face of the Sphinx. I found this a sad situation when it came to light. This is prevalent with many monument of Egyptian histories. (Plate 1a & 1b) The Great Sphinx lower section still remains buried under vast amounts of sand in the lower 1700's.
The lion-like poses, the Sphinx guard the pyramid of Gizeh.
During the last research visit to Egypt to complete the photography of Egypt's oldest structures, such as the Pyramids of Gizeh, are slowly being reduced to piles of rubble. (Plate2)
Despite the efforts of several countries to help pre-serve the monuments of Egypt, there seems to be very little cooperation from the Egyptian government itself to help these countries. Many areas of Egypt that desperately need reconstruction or renovation are sealed off to out-siders for one reason or another. One example is closed because a dynamite factory is located nearby the pyramids. Another tragic example is the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. This massive stone structure is a stark reminder of what neglect and abuse affects such monuments. The pyramids outer layer of protective limestone was supposedly stripped off by the plundering Arabs soon after the decline of ancient Egypt. The ruin caused by time and neglect is noted when looking at various pyramids of Egypt. The interior blocks of stone, which are not as durable lime stone have begun to separate and decompose considerably, leaving mounds of rubble on each tier of the pyramids. Some efforts to protect the stones has been started, the work is quite slow. The mounds of rubble have made climbing the Great Pyramid quite difficult and dangerous. While completing the photographs at Cairo for the pyramid chapter of this book, two people fell to their deaths when they attempted to climb the 400 hundred foot high structure. There are tourist police that patrol around the pyramid to stop visitors from climbing the pyramid, but the enforcement is poor. A slight money bribe to the police allows visitors to seemingly go un-noticed in their climbing endeavors. (Plates 3a, b, c, e, f, g, & 4a, b & 5 photos taken in December 1978) While discussing the decadence of the Great Pyramid, a short report on the condition of the boat resurrected in the 1950's from a boat pit near the Great Pyramid, should be dwelled upon. When the boat was discovered, it was assembled. A large shelter was constructed and the boat was reassembled and studied. . Being constructed of cedar, the boat is rapidly deteriorating in the harsh environment of Egypt. No funds seem to be available to hermetically seal the closed exhibit to the public. This is just prevent further ruin of this valuable artifact of the past. Even though the boat shelter is quite large and could accommodate sightseeing tourists, it is closed to the public. This is just another example of the disregard for preservation of Egyptian antiquities.
At this point in time, something must be done. It is hoped that this book will help the world realize some of the problems that exist in protecting the legacies of Ancient Egypt. A certain amount of funds generated by this book's profits will be set aside for hopeful restoration of some of these legacies of Ancient Egypt. These goals are: 1. to portray Ancient Egypt as it was by using new theories and opinions. 2. to show Egypt as it is now to generate and procreate the "AURA" of Egypt.
Many of the photographs, drawings, and maps used to substantiate this book are entirely new, as are some of the deductions and writings theories that are expressed within. It is hoped that the book's purpose is understood as a meaningful project, and not as a vain. Endeavor. At the base of one of the pyramids of Gizeh stands a recently constructed building that houses the reconstructed boat. Pyramids made of clay brick and sand struggle to hold their distinct shape compared to the stone predecessors in the background.
Chapter Two
THE DAWN OF EGYPT
The fertile basins that spread for miles on each side of the Nile in Lower Egypt still supply bountiful crops. Silt left from the Nile flooding annually restores the land with fresh top soil. Most of the farming and cultivation techniques used are the same they were thousands of years ago. Water is still pumped by ancient waster wheels and the land is still tilled by oxen and wooden plows. By comparing Egypt's farming methods of today with hieroglyphs that predate the pyramids, little changes can be noticed.
The need for water to irrigate and supply the fields prompted Egypt to create a vast network of canals and reservoirs. Several canal networks that existed prior to 1000 B.C. and they are still in use today. The canals were so numerous that not all of them can be described or illustrated. For this reason only a select few will be described. One of the first people to visit Egypt and become aware of the canals was a Greek historian and traveler named Herodotus.
Between 465 and 450 B.C. he traveled about Egypt extensively. What he saw and herd was recorded in long letters and journals which he sent to his father who lived in Greece. Throughout his research of Egypt, Herodotus wrote vivid descriptions of the canals of Egypt. Some of the canals are described about in great length and detail, while others are only given slight mention. While studying the works of Herodotus, one must take into consideration that he was somewhat amateurish as an historian. He would exaggerate on some figures and facts that he reported. This statement is documented by comparing some of his calculations with modern day measurements and research. In some cases the actual canal structures measured were not as large as he re- ported. This may be explained by the possibility that Herodotus was either inaccurate or that his writings and statistics were incorrectly translated. This should not cast a shadow of doubt on all of Herodotus efforts. Many of his descriptions of early Egypt are well documented and proven.
When describing Egypt's waterways, Herodotus first mentions canals when writing about the tyranny of King Sesostris (circa 1500 B.C.) of lower Egypt. The following transcript was in all probability related to Herodotus by Egyptian priests of Lake Moeris area in Lower Egypt.
"The King then returned to his own land and took vengeance upon his brother, after which he proceeded to make use of the multitudes whom he had brought with him from the conquered countries, partly to drag the huge masses of stone which were moved in the course of his reign to temple of Hephaestus partly to dig the numerous canals with which the whole of Egypt is intersected. By these forced labors the entire face of the country was changed, for whereas Egypt had formerly been a region suited both for horses and carriages, henceforth it became entirely unfit for either. Though a flat country throughout its extent, it is now unfit for either horse or carriage, being cut up by the canals, which are extremely numerous and run in all directions. The Kings objective was to supply Nile water to the inhabitants of the towns situated in the mid-country and not lying upon the river: for previously they had been obliged, after the subsidence of the floods, to drink a brackish water which the obtained from wells."
It would appear that, if so many canals were created, likely the main mode of travel during King Sesostris's rule must have been the boat. It is interesting to note Herodotus claims the entire face of the country was changed. The canal was now used for more than just irrigation.
In later writings, Herodotus gives a graphic account of King Necos efforts in canal constructions. "Psammetichus left a son called Necos, who succeeded him upon the throne. This prince was the first to attempt the construction of the canal to the Red Sea a work completed afterward by Darius the Persian the length of which is a four day journey and the width such as to admit of two triremes being rowed along it abreast. The water is derived from the Nile, which the canal leaves a little above the city of Bubastis, near Patumus, the Arabian town, being continued there until it joins the Red Sea. At first it is carried along the Arabian side of the Egyptian plain, as far as the chain of hills opposite Memphis, where the plain is bounded, and in which lie the great stone quarries, here it skits the base of the hills running in a direction from West to East, after which it turns and enters a narrow pass tending to the Southwest from this point until it enters the Red Sea. From the Northern Sea to that this is called the Southern inlet of Indian, the shortest and quickest passage, which is from Mount Casius the boundary between Egypt and Syria, to the Red Sea. It's a distance of exactly one hundred and fifteen miles. But the way by the canal is very much longer, on the account of the crookedness of its course. Plate 8 A. Early drawings by Norden show the lock system and water wheels were used to bring water up to higher different levels. A hundred and twenty thousand of the Egyptians were employed upon the work in the region of Necos, lost their lives in making the excavation. He at length desisted from his undertaking in consequence of an oracle which warned him "That he was laboring for the Barbarian". "Egyptians called the name of "Barbarian" all such as speak a language different from their own."
"Necos, when he gave up the construction of the canal, turned all his thoughts to war, and set to work to build a fleet of triremes, some intended for service in the Northern Sea, and some for navigation of the Indian Ocean." Plate 9: Point A of this early (circa 1800) map of Ancient Egypt shows the location of King Neco's Canal. Point to B makes mention of the labyrinths of Herodus. Point C reports that a Nilemeter was located at Memphis. Nilemeter's were used to measure the depth of the Nile before and after the flood seasons. Nile-meters were also used in both the upper and lower Egypt during the time pyramids were constructed. Plate 10 map drawn by F. Cope Whitehouse shows Lake Moeris basin and he course of the Nile River in 1880's.
The large canal of King Necos as one of the first Herodotus described recording measurements. Canal construction had emerged from its beginnings stages to become one of Egypt's early engineering marvels.
As canal designing and building progressed so did the ingenuity and engineering efforts used to build water locks and pumping stations. A geographic area that Herodotus devotes much praise to is the fertile basin of Lake Moeris. He concluded that Lake Moeris was man made and that what supplied it with water was an elaborate canal and lock system.
Lake Moeris and its canal system has been a controversial subject ever since modern day historians have researched it. Plate, 11&12 Aerial infrared photography outline agriculture areas along the Nile. The Black lines indicate water. Plate 12. The large body of water in black located in the left center of the photograph is the present day Lake Moeris. The large zone below the lake is a well-populated agricultural area. Trying to pinpoint the lake's exact location brings forth today some interesting questions and observations. And while attempting to find the original canal or canals that feed Lake Moeris, several conflicting opinions were discovered. The most important question that arose during the research was "Where was Lake Moeris's original location?"
Modern day atlases refer to the area known today by the name of Birket-Qurun as Lake Moeris. The name Birket means lake or sea in Arabic language. In an old atlas written by William Smith, there is a reference to the canal's that fed supposedly Lake Moeris. Plate 13a and 13 b. The wide expanse of the present day Lake Moeris looks like a mirage in the Egyptian desert. The boats seen in the lake is similar to the ones used in ancient Egypt. They have shallow drafts and are propelled with long shafted oars. Smith's reference places the lake southwest of Birket-Qurun. Maps drawn later by the cartographers of Nepoleon lend credence to Smith's evaluation of Lake Moeris. Herodotus described Lake Moeris in different manner. He said (loosely translated) that Moeris was fed by a canal that was monitored by a "lock system that required fifty talents of gold to open." A talent of gold was worth approximately $56.00 in American money at that time. Herodotus also wrote of a labyrinth of immense size and pyramids under construction in the "middle" of Lake Moreis, and on the top of the pyramids were statues. If this were true it could mean the Egyptians had possibly found a different use for a canal construction of buildings by raising water around the structure. This possibility could only be considered conjecture until the pyramids that Herodotus mentioned could be found. More research and opinions of later archeologists such as Petrie, Ball Caton, Thompson and Gardner tend to bear out a different interpretation of what Herodotus saw. Plate 14. Shows two pedestals that may have been "pyramids" Herodotus saw. Finders Petrie describes these rock structures as stands for large statues. The statues no longer exist to substantiate his opinion of the pedestals. There does appear to be many signs of any excavation to perhaps revel any manmade structures buried below the pedestals. The two stone pedestals are reportedly the ones that supported the statues Herodotus saw. This illustration was drawn by Limant DeBellefonds about 1870 A.D. (lower of this photograph). Unfortunately, time did not allow this area of research to be completed in order to help substantiate Herodotus's observation. The geographic locations of the pedestals do however; place them in the "middle" of Lake Moeris. Or rather in the middle of the plain that seems to separate "old" (the Plate original) and the present are known as Briket-Quarm (the new Lake Moeris). Plates 15 a,b,c, The pedestals that Bellefond illustrate in 1870 do not seem to have changed in the last century. Their size is well illustrated by comparing height of pedestals to people standing next to them. The size, weight, and placement of the stone blocks are similar to the Great Pyramids.
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