Archaeology Magazine - September 1956 - 7

BUILDING AN EGYPTIAN

PYRAMID continued

All these points were fairly clear and undisputed.
What was not known was just how construction ramps
were disposed in order to deliver materials to the working faces in sufficient quantities and at sufficient speed
to make possible the completion of the monument within
the reign of the king- in the case of Mycerinus, not
more than twenty-eight years. (Cheops, who built the
Great Pyramid, which is much larger, reigned only
twenty-three years.) The reconstructions hitherto generally favored have proposed ramps running perpendicularly to the face of the pyramid, but these have serious
drawbacks and I believe them to be out of the question
as means of bringing the great mass of blocks for the
main bulk of the structure, for every time the building
rose by only a few courses the entire length of such a
ramp would have to be extended and raised in order that
the slope might remain reasonably easy. During such
extension the ramp would be out of use and the waste of
time represented, not to mention the labor and materials
required, would render such ramps quite impracticable.
It is true that traces of such vertically placed ramps have
been preserved in a few places, notably at Medum, but I
venture to suggest that they are most likely to have been
constructions erected for the removal of casing blocks
from these ancient buildings which were so extensively
used as convenient quarries in later centuries.
The main bulk of the pyramid was constructed of
blocks of limestone taken from various quarries in the
immediate vicinity. One of these lay close at hand to the
south of the pyramid and was excavated by the Harvard Boston Expedition. It is represented in Figure 2, where
the terracing of the rock face and the roadways for removal of the blocks may be seen, the latter laid with
timbers on which the transport sledges could slide without cutting into the surface of the roadway. Since this
particular quarry lay at a level considerably below that of
the base of the pyramid, the blocks from it had to be
dragged by a circuitous route to thç east and north in
order to reach the main construction causewaywhich rose
in a gentle slope from the Nile valley westward to the
site of the monument. Figure 3 shows the upper end of
this causewayand the area immediately east of the pyramid itself : an area artificially leveled and destined to be
the site of the pyramid's funerary temple. This temple site
served as an assemblyand distribution area for the blocks,
and probably for dressing of the joint faces of those
destined for the casing. The casing blocks were of two
kinds : the fifteen, or possibly sixteen, lowest courses were
cased with blocks of red Assuan granite, quarried at the

First Cataract and brought down the Nile on barges ; the
upper courses were made of fine white limestone from
the great quarries at Tura, and were brought across the
valley during the annual inundation when barges could
deliver them by water to the base of the main causeway.
Figure 4 is a general view of the model and shows the
arrangement of the ramps for reaching the working area,
in this case when the pyramid was about half finished.
There are four ramps, one starting at each corner and
rising at a slope of one in eight (see drawing, Figure 8).
Since the casing-blocks were left rough they formed a
step-like surface which gave adequate footing for the
rubble and mud ramps, which had a considerable batter
on the outer face for greater stability. Given the known
angle of the pyramid slope, this allowed of a roadway on
each ramp about ten feet wide, sufficient for the accommodation of the sledges and a double file of men hauling
them up the incline. This arrangement of ramps seems
both practical and economical of labor and materials.
Each of the four remained in use throughout the construction and only had to be extended at the upper end
as the building rose. We envisage the use of three for the
delivery of blocks to the working area, while the fourth
would be reserved for the men descending with empty
sledges to get more blocks from the assembly area. This
organization of a circulation system agrees with present
practice in large-scale excavations where the workers returning from the dump with empty baskets follow a different route from those going out with their loads.
In Figure 5 a detail of the south face of the pyramid
shows the scale of the model compared with a man's
hand. It also shows blocks being hauled up the ramps
with eighteen to twenty men pulling on the ropes and
others with long levers giving added power when needed,
and holding the sledge from sliding back when the men
on the ropes had to stop for a rest, which they must have
done several times during the long haul to the top. Other
men may be seen carrying jars of water for the men to
drink or for wetting down timbers to reduce friction,
some carrying spare timbers for the roadway, and others
with baskets of materials for the extension of the ramps.
On one ramp we may also see workmen descending with
empty sledges after delivering their loads.
One of the problems involved in negotiating such relatively narrow ramps with lines of men hauling on ropes
was how to get them around the corners. As the loaded
sledge approached a corner it would become impossible
for the men at the front to continue pulling in a straight
line. We attempted to solve this problem by placing
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Archaeology Magazine - September 1956

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