Quote:
Originally Posted by Woogieman
People seem to dismiss that the higher the structure, the further from the base edge you are.
Fact: 25 ton blocks (forget the larger ones, which are nearly 80 tons) can't be moved rollers/sleds at greater angles than 10 degrees. You could build a perimeter ramp for a few levels, but the materials required to build a ramp system from ground entry to the top of the structure, all at 10 degrees or less, would be a creation several times that of the pyramid. You would start your uphill journey more than a mile away...can you imagine building a mountain (of mostly sand?) strong enough to hold thousands of workers and hundreds of tons of equipment and granite blocks just to build another mountain made of block?
How could the pharoah afford that? Quarrrying, transporting, loading/offloading, ramp duty, sled construction, pulley-level-crane maintenance staff, rope-making team...and most importantly, the staff to feed and water several thousands. Who would be left to work the fields and staff the world's greatest military of its time? Egypt was already susceptible to famines and plagues, would the pharaoh and a "willing" work force spend decades building a vanity project knowing that leaving the fields could result in starvation?
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You've obviously never been to central Europe. It's littered with castles of lesser lords that couldn't afford them. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Read up on the Sabeans (Sheba). They built structures unbelievable at the time including massive dams.