Pyramid Ramps and Putting the Stones in Place | Middle East And North Africa

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LIFTING THE STONES TO BUILD THE PYRAMIDS

Was this devise used to lift the stones?

Perhaps the biggest problem facing the builders of the pyramids was getting the large stone blocks to their proper place. This could have been done using ramps, cranes, winches, toggle lifts, hoists, pivots, or a combination of these methods.

Although many methods have been theorized, the use of ramps is the only one proven to have been used. The ramps were built on inclined planes of mud brick and rubble. The blocks were dragged on sledges to the location of their placement. As the pyramid grew taller, the ramp had to be extended in length, and to do this the base had to be widened to prevent it from collapsing. Several ramps were probably used in the construction of a single pyramid. [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

On how the ancient Egyptians lifted materials used in the pyramids, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote in 430 B.C.: "At first, it (the pyramid) was built with steps, like a staircase....The stones intended for use in constructing the pyramids were lifted by means of a short wooden scaffold. In this way they were raised from the earth to the first step of the staircase; there they were laid on another scaffold, by means of which they were raised to the second step. Lifting devices were provided for each step, in case these devices were not light enough to be easily moved upward from step to step once the stone had been removed from them. I have been told that both methods were used, and so I mention them both here. The finishing-off was begun at the top, and continued downward to the lowest level."

In his Bibliotheca, the ancient scholar, Diodorus Siculus, provides another view: “"It is said that the stone was brought over a great distance, from Arabia, and that the construction was undertaken with the help of ramps, since at that time cranes had not yet been invented."

Jimmy Dunn wrote in touregypt.net: “Today, much of the scholarly work regarding material placement in pyramids revolves around the use of ramps... with perhaps some of the smaller masonry also being lifted into place with other ancient lifting devices such as those of Herodotus....“Ramps are generally considered to have been the main lifting devices for heavy material. While lifting devices such as pseudo pulleys and wooden levers were likely known in ancient Egypt, it has not been demonstrated that these tools could lift the massive stones of the great pyramids, which sometimes weighed as much as fifty or more tons. Yet there are many different theories regarding what shape ramps may have taken, and there sometimes appears to be flaws in most any such design. However, today we know that ramps were definitely used at least in some pyramids, because we have discovered a number of ramps at various pyramid sites, along with some documentation that would suggest the use of ramps. =

Ramps Used in the Building the Pyramids

one ramp scheme

Egyptologists generally agree the stones were hauled up ramps using ropes of papyrus twine. The popular belief is that the gradually sloping ramps, built out of mud, stone, and wood were used as transportation causeways for moving the large stones to their positions up and around the four sides of the pyramids. [Source: PBS]

Dr Ian Shaw of the University of Liverpool wrote for the BBC: “Most archaeologists agree that a system of ramps must have been used to drag the millions of blocks into their positions in the various pyramids. No such ramps have actually survived at the Great Pyramid itself, but enough traces can be seen around some of the other Old Kingdom pyramids to suggest that at least five different systems of ramp might have been used. [Source: Dr Ian Shaw, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“Traces of 'interior ramps' have survived inside the remains of the pyramids of Sahura, Nyuserra and Neferirkara, at Abusir, and of Pepi II, at Saqqara, but some kind of exterior ramp would still have been needed after the interior was filled in. The terraced nature of the pyramid core would often have made it more convenient to use a series of much smaller ramps built along the sides of the pyramid from step to step. The remains of these would no doubt have been lost when the outer casing was applied. It is also possible that the causeways stretching from pyramid to valley temple might originally have served as builders' ramps from quay to construction site (the quay being connected with the Nile by canal). |::|

Jimmy Dunn wrote in touregypt.net:“Remains of ramps have been discovered at Meidum, Dahshur, Abu Ghurab and Abusir, thus supporting the claims of Siculus. Notable also are the Sinki pyramid at South Abydos and the Sekhemkhet pyramid where ramp remains, and even complete ramps have been discovered. Other ramp remains may have also been discovered at Giza, where excavators from the Cairo University excavated two parallel walls that may have formed the retaining framework of a ramp. [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

“The ramp theory is further supported, at least circumstantially, by documents featuring mathematical problems connected with construction projects, and ramps in particular. In general, it is assumed that ramps used to lift the giant blocks had an outside wall and framework made of mudbricks, with an interior filled with sand and other rubble, and perhaps covered with clay. However, beyond these basic specifications, Egyptologists differ considerably on their views of what such a ramp might have looked like. Complicating this matter further, it also seems that at different pyramid locations, different types of ramps might have been used. For example, in some places more room was available to construct such ramps than at other locations, so it is likely that the general design of these ramp systems may have varied simply due to necessity. =

Another ramp scheme

“For example, Uvo Holscher, a German architect and archaeologist who conducted excavations on the pyramid of Khafre at Giza, assumed that a ramp was constructed on each of the four sides of the pyramid, zigzagging upward from one corner to the other as the construction process continued. The complaint with this system, voiced specifically by Miroslav Verner, is that the ramp would not have been large enough to deliver the quantities of stone required during the construction of the lower and middle parts of the pyramid. Lehner may also have problems with model (see below). Dows Dunham and W. Vose, both American researchers, modified Uvo Holscher's ideas, theorizing a ramp that spiraled around the whole structure, but this system faces the same problems as that of Holscher's theory. The ramp would most probably not have been large enough to to move massive amounts of material, and would have also decreased in size considerably before reaching the top of the pyramid. Another Researcher, Goyon, does provide a somewhat more viable ramp theory. He pictures a single ramp that does not go around the whole structure. His model is wide enough to support several ox teams going and coming from the construction, and at the same time, leaves all four corners of the pyramid visible for ongoing measurements. However, even his ramp would have grown narrower towards the top of the pyramid, and would have been extremely long. Such a ramp would have been much more useful to build smaller rather than larger pyramids. =

Types of Pyramid-Building Ramps

The arrangement and types of ramps used for building the pyramids has been hotly debated. Many scholars believed that — - assuming that the core of a pyramid was a step pyramid and that it was built before the outer structure, and then the packing blocks were laid on top — the ramps could have run from one step to another rather than approaching the pyramid face at right angles. [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

Dr Ian Shaw of the University of Liverpool wrote for the BBC: “The most straightforward method would have been the so-called linear ramp, probably used in the Third-Dynasty pyramid of Sekhemkhet, at Saqqara. Such ramps, however, were probably rarely used, because they would have had to be very wide. An alternative would have been the 'staircase ramp', a steep and narrow set of steps leading up one face of the pyramid, traces of which have been found at the Sinki, Meidum, Giza, Abu Ghurob and Lisht pyramids. [Source: Dr Ian Shaw, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“In the case of the 'spiral ramp' (perhaps described in the Nineteenth-Dynasty Papyrus Anastasi I), the question arises of what it would have rested on, and how corrective calculations and checks could have been made from the corners if most of the pyramid was continually covered up. The 'reversing ramp', a zigzag course up one face of a pyramid, would probably have been most effective for the construction of step pyramids, although, frustratingly, there are no signs of its use on the step pyramids at Saqqara, Sinki and Meidum”. |::|

Problems with Linear Pyramid Ramp

other possible ramps

In Petrie’s view a single, vertical ramp with bricks, sand and round wooden beams was built, on only one side of the pyramid. Jimmy Dunn wrote in touregypt.net:“It would have been extended as the structure grew, and its mass would have been as great if not greater then that of the pyramid itself. With Petrie's model, the ramp would have been extremely long, as it reached the top of the pyramid. Furthermore, such a ramp would have required an enormous amount of material, and would have required considerable resources to build, not to mention dismantle. [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

Archaeologists don't believe a straight ramp could have been used to build the Great Pyramids of Giza. . "The greater length and breadth of a straight on ramp," Dora Jane Hamblin wrote in Smithsonian magazine, "eventually would have covered the quarry itself. No ramp could have existed on the north, where there is a 120-foot drop in the terrain. On the east, Khufu was building the three smaller Queens' pyramids and to the west, a field of mastabas...Only a wrap around ramp set against the sides of the pyramid could have been between it and the adjacent cemetery complexes. The Great Pyramid, at two thirds of its height, contained 96 percent of its total bulk, and so the higher it grew, the shorter were the reaches of the ramp itself and the less material that had to be carried up.” [Source: Smithsonian, April 1986]

"To be practical," says Lehner, "a straight slope ramp for the Great Pyramid would have to be nearly a mile long. Also, a mud-brick ramp would have left tons of debris. It just isn't here. What is there, and we find it in subsidiary ramps and embankments is a combination of limestone chips, gypsum and local calcareous clay called tafla . There are tons of this debris now filing the quarries. This must be the remains of the ramp from the main quarry to the pyramid." Variety of Ramps and Devices Used to Build the Pyramids

Jimmy Dunn wrote: “Jean-Philippe Lauer, a leading expert on the pyramids, provided a theory that seems to be acceptable, at least in part, to many Egyptologists. He suggests that both ramps and other lifting devices were used to build the Great Pyramid, which his theory specifically addresses. He believes that a whole system of ramps were utilized. These ramps would have been of various sizes and gradients. However, he also believes that additional tools and lifting devices would have been used, including wooden levers, round beams, poles and ropes. [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

“His model assumes four large frontal ramps, one running vertically up each side of the pyramid. A final ramp would have run, in the case of the Great Pyramid, directly to the stone quarries in the area. This last ramp would have at first been fairly short, with an easy gradient, but as the pyramid rose, the ramp would have been extended towards the south to a length of about 300 meters. At this stage, the ramp would have been about 35 meters high on the north end, where it could have been used to construct the great Gallery, the higher King's Chamber, and even the relief chambers built above that. However, to actually move the largest of the stone blocks, weighing up to 60 tons, he believes that smaller ramps were built into the actual core of the pyramid.

“Even here, problems persist. Lauer himself calculated that the rubble and other material used in the ramp would have a mass of some 1.5 million cubic meters. Combined with the mass of the pyramid itself, over four million cubic meters of material would need to have been found, moved and raised. This represents an enormous project even by modern standards. Lehner, another modern scholar and certainly an expert on the Giza Plateau, suggests against Lauer's view, that the ramp was not linear but spiral, and that it began in the local stone quarry for the Great Pyramid just to the southeast. Interestingly, Verner complains that for either Lauer or Lehner's solution, a great deal of material used in the ramp would have to be disposed somewhere, but he fails to mention the millions of cubic meters of limestone chips, gypsum sand and Tafla clay that covered the quarry used for Khufu's pyramid (pointed out by Lehner). In support of his theory on spiral ramps, at least in regard to the Great Pyramid, Mark Lehner suggests that a single, straight-on ramp would have soon extended beyond the quarry, if oriented in that direction, in order to maintain a usable slope as the pyramid grew taller. He also notes that such a ramp would not have been built to the east or west of the pyramid because Khufu built cemeteries in those areas early in his reign. =

“Essentially therefore, we know that ramps were used to lift the stones used to construct many of the pyramids. It is very probable that the ramp designs may have varied from pyramid to pyramid, dependent on the size of the pyramid, the material used to construct the pyramid, and the location of the pyramid, particularly relating to the space available for ramp construction. Whether other lifting devices were used is less clear, but certainly the Egyptians seem to have had such devices, and probably utilized them for lifting lighter building material. Regardless, what is clear is that a set, standard method for building ramps and using other devices to lift the pyramid construction materials did not exist throughout the Old and Middle Kingdoms of Egypt. Future excavations may tell us more about pyramid construction, but as is very often the case, there are simply no simple answers to the complex question.” =

Putting the Pyramid Blocks in Place

wooden butterfly braces

A number of theories have been offered as to how the stones were set in place. The use of cranes seems unlikely but has not be ruled out. The same goes for levers. The owner of a hair-care products company and a Cal Tech engineer have suggested that they were moved by wind powers. So far they have been able to move a 400 pound obelisk with two kites and hope move bigger stones with bigger kites. To back up their theory they point to Egypt's strong spring winds, the mass production of linen for sails and hieroglyphics that say the stones were moved by “invisible gods in the sky."

Dr Ian Shaw of the University of Liverpool wrote for the BBC: “Experts have also talked a lot about the methods by which individual stone blocks were raised into position. Since the Egyptians made no use of block and tackle methods, or cranes, it is usually assumed that wooden and bronze levers were used to manoeuvre the blocks into position. [Source: Dr Ian Shaw, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“The level of structural engineering was incredibly high in the internal chambers of the Great Pyramid. Indeed, the roof of the so-called Grand Gallery was the Egyptians' earliest attempt at corbel-vaulting on a colossal scale. The architects surmounted particularly difficult logistics in the creation of the corridor leading up to the main burial chamber of the Great Pyramid (the so-called King's Chamber). The corridors in other pyramids are all either level or sloping downwards, whereas this one slopes steeply upwards, which would have presented problems when it came to blocking the passage with granite plugs, after the king's body had been placed in the chamber. |::|

“It is clear from the fact that the plugs in this 'ascending corridor' are an inch wider than the entrance that the plugs must have been lowered into position not from the outside, as was usually the case, but from a storage position within the pyramid itself (perhaps in the Grand Gallery). It is also clear that the design had to allow the workmen who pushed the plugs into position to be able to escape down a shaft leading from the Grand Gallery to the 'descending corridor', through which they could exit. |::|

Jimmy Dunn wrote in touregypt.net: “Once the huge blocks were moved to the top of the ramp, Lauer believes that a system of counterweights made of sacks of sand were used to position the stone blocks. Finally, the upper part of the pyramid would have been finished off using the long ramp. Its gradient would have been gradually increased while its width was decreased. However, with a slope of about 14 degrees, the ramp would have still allowed blocks weighing as much as a ton to be raised to a height of about 112 meters. As the angle increased further to about 18 degrees, blocks weighing around kilograms could have been raised to about 136 meters. He further assumes that the pyramidion, which weighed between five and six tons, would have been set in place using a system of wooden trestles, heavy greased beams, thick ropes and counterweights.” [Source: Jimmy Dunn, touregypt.net/construction =]

Was a the Step Pyramid of Djoser Built with a Hydraulic Lift

Step Pyramid of Djoser was built in 2700 B.C., making it the oldest pyramid in Egypt and perhaps "the world's first construction project." The Step Pyramid is 62 meters (204 feet) high and is roughly the same size as the smallest of the three main pyramid at Giza. The largest stones in the Step Pyramid weigh about 300 kilograms (about 661 pounds)

A study published in PLOS ONE in July 2024 suggests that the Step Pyramid of Djoser was built using a hydraulic lift, making such hydraulic systems much older than previously. The author of the study say the landscape, waterways, and interior architecture of the pyramid all point to the hydraulic system. Tim Newcomb wrote in Popular Mechanics: The hydraulic-powered mechanism could have maneuvered the oversized stone blocks forming the pyramid, starting from the ground up. The research team says the Step Pyramid’s internal architecture is consistent with a hydraulic elevation mechanism. By lifting the stones from the interior of the pyramid in what the authors call a “volcano fashion,” the water pressure from the hydraulic system could have pushed the blocks into place. [Source Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, July 26, 2024]

The team believes that based on the mapping of nearby watersheds, one of the massive—and yet unexplained—Saqqara structures, known as the Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, has the features of a check dam with the intent to trap sediment and water. The scientists say the topography beyond the dam suggests a possible temporary lake west of the Djoser complex, with water flow surrounding it in a moat-like design. As a Nile tributary fed the area, a dam could have created a temporary lake, potentially linking the river to a “Dry Moat” around the Djoser site, helping move materials and serving the hydraulic needs. “The ancient architects likely raised the stones from the pyramid center in a volcano fashion using the sediment-free water from the Dry Moat’s south section,” the authors write.

In one section of the moat, the team found that a monumental linear rock-cut structure consisting of successive, deep-trench compartments combines the technical requirement of a water treatment facility—and a design still often seen in modern-day water treatment plants—by including a settling basin, retention basin, and purification system. “Together, the Gisr el-Mudir and the Dry Moat’s inner south section work as a unified hydraulics system that improves water quality and regulates flow for practical purposes and human needs,” the authors write. The team believes the water available in the area was sufficient to meet the needs of the project.

Taylor Nicioli of CNN wrote: A hydraulic lift device would have floated the heavy stones up through the middle of the step pyramid using stored water. The water also would have flowed into the Gisr el-Mudir — a rectangular limestone structure that is a massive 650 by 350 meters (2,133 feet by 1,148 feet) — which would have acted as a check dam. A complex water treatment system drawing upon local resources would have allowed for a water-powered elevator within the pyramid’s internal vertical shaft. Water from ancient streams flowed into a system of trenches and tunnels that surrounded the Step Pyramid and some type of float would have raised the heavy stones up the middle of the pyramid, according to the study. Critics of the theory such as Jeffreys say that there was probably not enough water to support such a system and it is more plausible that ramps were used to lift the stones. [Source Taylor Nicioli, CNN, August 6, 2024]

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last Updated August 2024