Who Built It and When?


There have been many theories regarding who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. Let us look at what evidence we have to identify the builder or builders of the Great Pyramid.


Most academic Egyptologist’s accept that the Great Pyramid was built during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu during the 4th dynasty, around 2550 BC. What evidence do they have to support this theory?


The only real evidence has been the discovery of red ochre markings in some of the relieving chambers above the King’s Chamber. These markings have been in question ever since the famous explorer, Colonel Howard Vyse in the 19th century, first discovered them. He visited and explored the Great Pyramid in 1836 and was the first to discover the additional four relieving chambers above Davison’s chamber. In the upper two chambers, Vyse discovered inscriptions in a red pigment painted on the walls of both these chambers.

 

He identified them as quarry marks so the stones used in building the Great Pyramid would reach their proper destination, and the workers would know where they had to be placed in the pyramid. (Some similar marks were also found on the first 6 courses on the pyramid and may also be quarry marks.) There were also cartouches (names of Pharaohs) and one of them had the actual name of Khufu. If true, these cartouches could date the pyramid to the time of Khufu, as the academic Egyptologists believe. It is interesting to note that no other quarry marks were found elsewhere in the pyramid and these appear to be the only inscriptions ever found in the Great Pyramid.


But on close examination of the Khufu cartouche discovered by Vyse, it appears that these hieroglyphics were a type not used until hundreds of years later in Egypt. It also appears that there is a misspelling in Khufu’s name. An interesting coincidence is that the same misspelling appeared in a hieroglyphic textbook at that time which Colonel Vyse would have access to.

 

So we have an inscription that is at least 200 years ahead of its time and has a misspelling that was found in hieroglyphic textbooks contemporaneous with Vyse. This evidence leads many to conclude that Vyse forged those marks in order to make a name for himself or possibly some other motive which we do not know. This is a very controversial area, and the discussion goes on. It would be interesting to see if dating could be done on the pigment comprising those marks.

 

So, the debate goes on.


Is there anything we can do scientifically to try to date the building of the Great Pyramid? One of the first individuals to question the dating of structures on the Giza complex was Symbolist and Egyptologist R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz. Both an Egyptologist and a philosopher, he had observed that the Sphinx had not been eroded by sand, as most academic Egyptologists believe, but by water, i.e. rainfall.


John Anthony West and geologist Dr. Robert Schock have recently followed up on this and have challenged the traditional Egyptologists dating of the Sphinx. They also have observed that the weathering on the body of the Sphinx and the Sphinx enclosure had not been eroded by wind blown sand, but by water. Other geologists that Dr. Schock had consulted agreed with him.


So when were the last major rainfalls in Egypt that could account for this rainfall erosion of the Sphinx?

 

Paleoclimatoligical studies show that heavy rains in Egypt had stopped by 10,000 B.C. Egypt had then become a desert and has been a desert ever since. So, if the erosion on the Sphinx was caused by rainfall, it would date the sphinx to this time and thus make it at least 7000 years older than accepted. This erosion pattern was also seen on the Sphinx wall enclosure and other nearby structures. Thus, this may be one way to date the Giza complex. 


This has been a very hotly debated area among researchers. More geological studies need to be done, and additional dating methods used to try to determine the date of the Giza complex.

 

 

In 1986 a study was conducted on the Great Pyramid in which 64 mortar samples were removed carbon14 dated. Two samples were tested at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas and thirteen samples were tested in Zurich.

 

The C14 dates indicate a range of 3809 B.C. to 2869 B.C. This figure is about 500 years older than the academic Egyptology accepts as the building date of the Great Pyramid. Experts have questioned the validity of this test for several reasons. C14 is not always reliable and certain archeological samples do not lend themselves to C14 dating. Also, it is possible that mortar could be from later repairs in the pyramid. So, the C14 dating is questionable and needs to be pursued with further studies.


So if the ancient Egyptians did not build the Great Pyramid since the geological evidence indicates that the Great Pyramid is thousands of years older than traditionally thought, who were its ancient builders?

 

There has been much speculation about this. Some authors have speculated that people from the legendary Atlantis built them with the incredible technology assumed to be at their disposal. Others have speculated aliens may have visited the earth long ago and constructed the Great Pyramid with alien technology. Other possibilities suggested are biblical figures such as Seth, Enoch, Shem, Noah, or Melchizedek. Without concrete data, all we can do is speculate.


Based on the dating and the lack of evidence linking Khufu to the Great Pyramid, many conclude that the dynastic Egyptians did not build them. For the academic viewpoint, see Article I. It also is apparent that they did not possess the technology to construct this magnificent structure. Unfortunately we would have to conclude at this time that we have no clear idea who built the Great Pyramid.

 

Speculations will come and go, but until we have proof, the question of who and when remains a mystery.

 

 


How Was It Built


Even though there have been numerous theories proposed on how the Great Pyramid was built, no one can definitively say this is how it was built. We must keep in mind that the ancient Egyptians did not have knowledge of the wheel and pulley. They did make use of levers, rollers, and ropes and many of the academic theories assume they used these mechanical devices in building the Great Pyramid.


One major theory on how the Great Pyramid was built proposes the use of encircling ramps around the pyramid. The ramps would continually wrap around the pyramid as it was built and stones were hauled up this ramp using sledges and rollers. Other theories propose one very long ramp that stretched out into the desert. As the pyramid grew in height, this ramp was also raised higher and lengthened as needed. Blocks were hauled up this ramp also using sledges with ropes.


If we consider the size and weight of the blocks (average is about 2 ½ tons), the number of blocks, and the size of the completed pyramid itself, it is apparent that neither of these theories can explain the building of the pyramid. This method using ramps has been tested today and it is very difficult to even build a very small pyramid using these proposed mechanical devices that were supposedly available to the Egyptians.


If you wanted to assume that the Great Pyramid was built during the reign of Khufu using the methods above; and it was built during his reign which was a little over 20 years; and you assumed he used all his workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; you can calculate that they would have to dress and lay every block at the rate of one every 90 seconds.


This is an impossible feat for the type of tools the Egyptians had at their disposal at that time. Also how did they construct the interior passageways and magnificent chambers with their incredible precision and orientation, using only primitive hand tools such as copper chisels, adzes and wooden mallets?


Not only does it seem impossible that they could have built the Great Pyramid with these primitive tools, but current research indicates that the Great Pyramid is much much older than academic researchers have thought.

 

So, how it was built still remains a mystery.

 

 


Could Levitation Have Been used in Building the Great Pyramid?


Did the builders of the Great Pyramid, whoever they were, have advanced scientific knowledge unknown to us? Is this how the Great Pyramid was built?

 

Levitation has for many years been suggested as a way that would raise the heavy limestone and granite blocks used to build the pyramid. Is there any evidence that this was used either from historical records or scientific experiments?


Let us first look at some historical records. Masoudi, an Arab historian of the 10th century wrote that the Egyptians used magic spells to move large blocks.

 

His account is the following:

“In carrying on the work, leaves of papyrus, or paper, inscribed with certain characters, were placed under the stones prepared in the quarries; and upon being struck, the blocks were moved at each time the distance of a bowshot (which would be a little over 200 feet), and so by degrees arrived at the pyramids.”

Did Masoudi make up this story, or is there some truth in it?

 

Is it possible that he was reporting on an early legend that the blocks were moved mysteriously and the story of the inscribed papyrus was added to embellish the story? Or were the blocks placed on some unknown apparatus (mistaken by the historian to be a piece of papyrus) that would levitate them? If you strip away all the additions and embellishments to a legend, sometimes you are left with a strand of truth.


There are many other legends of construction of temples, buildings, etc. that used mysterious or magical means to lift blocks. These stories abound in Mayan and Greek legends and even in the Bible. In the opposite sense, marching around the walls, the blowing of trumpets, and shouting brought down the walls of Jericho. Maybe we could call this Anti-Levitation.


In modern times, there have also been many reports by travelers to the east (India, Tibet, China, etc.) that holy men or ascetics have the ability to levitate objects. Again, could this have been produced by slight of hand, imagination, or suggestion?

 

It appears that there are too many of these stories by reliable witnesses to dismiss the possibility that these holy men developed some sort of ability to levitate objects. More recently, followers of Maharish Mahesh Yogi (founder of Transcendental Meditation) have claimed through a specific program of training and discipline to be able to levitate.


Throughout history levitation has been associated with mysterious objects, some type of sonic vibrations, and sometimes electrical effects. It has been demonstrated in the laboratory that the effects of sound vibrations can produce slight levitation. Bell Labs in the 1980’s produced partial levitation by sound.


There are some interesting stories about an individual who lived in the 19th century.

 

John Keely, who lived in Pennsylvania, claimed to have been able to levitate metal balls and other objects. One interesting note is that he also claimed to be able to disintegrate granite. Granite contains quartz, which is a crystal, and by causing the quartz to resonate at an extreme rate, it would cause the granite to break up or disintegrate. This rings a bell with some of the research and speculation that the granite in the King’s Chamber could produce piezoelectric effects.

 

To continue, it is reported that he would produce the effect by making his objects with a combination of copper, gold, platinum, and silver. To produce the levitation, he would blow on his trumpet a sustained note.


Another story involves Edward Leedskalnin, who at his home in Florida built a castle entirely from large blocks of coral weighing between 20 to 30 tons each. The total castle was composed of blocks totaling some 1,100 tons and took him 28 years to complete. He claims to have done it all by himself. He never has revealed his secret and took it to the grave.

 

Chris Dunn has investigated this and it is known as the “Coral Castle Mystery”.

 

 

Chris suggests that Leedskalnin had discovered some means of locally reversing the effects of gravity.

 

He speculates that he generated a radio signal that caused the coral to vibrate at its resonant frequency, and then used an electromagnetic field to flip the magnetic poles of the atoms so they were in opposition to the earth’s magnetic field.


More recently, Tom Danley, an acoustics engineer, has developed an acoustic levitation device, that can levitate small objects. The 1991 Patent of the device reads:

“An acoustic levitator includes a pair of opposed sound sources which have interfering sound waves producing acoustic energy wells in which an object may be levitated. The phase of one sound source may be changed relative to the other in order to move the object along an axis between the sound sources.”

Tom Danley also became interested in the Great Pyramid. Here is an extract from his interview in FATE magazine in 1998.

“In the Great Cheops Pyramid in the King’s Chamber an F-sharp chord is resident, sometimes below the range of human hearing. Former NASA consultant Tom Danley feels the sound may be caused by wind blowing cross the ends of the air shafts and causing a pop-bottle effect. These vibrations, some ranging as low a 9-hertz down to 0.5 hertz, are enhanced by the dimensions of the Pyramid, as well as the King’s Chamber and the sarcophagus case inside. According to Danley, even the type of stone was selected to enhance these vibrations.”

In a 1997 video, JJ Hurtak said,

“this chord (F-sharp) is the harmonic of planet Earth to which native Americans still tune their instruments, and is in perfect harmony with the human body.”

In the Great Pyramid these sounds are infrasonic vibrations, meaning they are below the level of human hearing.


Chris Dunn proposes that the source of these infrasonic vibrations come from the earth itself, magnified by the acoustic properties of the Great Pyramid.


Boris Said on the Art Bell Show said the following: that the granite blocks forming the floor of the King’s Chamber were sitting on corrugated support blocks, which would cause minimal distortion to their ability to resonate.


Paul Horn, using a Korg tuner, found that when he struck the coffer it registered the note A with a frequency of 440 cps. Dunn also discovered that when he struck the coffer it registered with a frequency of 438 cps and that the entire chamber was designed to amplify and resonate that frequency and octaves thereof. Dunn’s matrix tuner was inferior to Horn’s Korg tuner, yet his 438 approximated Horn’s 440. Other researchers have confirmed this as well.


Another researcher, John Reid, an acoustic engineer stated that while he was lying in the coffer and vocalizing various tones he was staggered by the intensity of the reflected energy. He said “the effect of lying in the sarcophagus while toning its prime resonant frequency is almost like taking a bath. Waves of sonic energy wash over your body almost like water”.


It does not appear that all this was accidental or incorporated for a ritual. It must have had a more specific purpose. Dunn feels that these acoustic properties were deliberately built into the Great Pyramid in order to create a resonant chamber.


Does this mean that the Ancient Egyptians knew how to do sonic levitation? At this time, all we can say is that from basic principles of sonic levitation, the structural design of the pyramid (especially the King’s Chamber), and recent research in levitation - the possibility is there.

 

Much more research needs to be done, but this is an area that needs to be pursued.

 

 

 


Why Was It Built?

 

Tomb

Christopher Dunn in my opinion has made the strongest argument against the tomb theory when he was on the Art Bell Show with me several years ago. He stated that not one pyramid in Egypt contained an original burial. Over 80 pyramids have been discovered and explored and a not a single original burial was ever found. Granite boxes found in pyramids do not prove there were actually people buried there. Chris has said this identifies only geometry and craftsmanship and does not prove an actual burial. Many people do still cling to the tomb theory but there is little evidence to support it.


The Great Pyramid, with its incredible construction and accuracy of the inner chambers and passageways must have served some purpose. This structure is so unique and the engineering that went into it an incredible feat. All this information together does not seem to support that the Great Pyramid was only built as a tomb for a Pharaoh.

 

 


Water Pump

One group that is researching the Great Pyramid from the perspective that it was constructed to be a gigantic pump is “The Pharaoh’s Pump Foundation” run by Steven Myers. It is an Oregon based nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding the technology used by the original builders of the Great Pyramid. Their research is based on the book called Pharaoh’s Pump, by Edward Kunkel and it is their contention that the Great Pyramid was designed and built as planned to be a monumental water pump.

 

 


Orion Theory

Robert Bauval, a Belgian engineer made a very interesting observation in 1983. During a camping trip in Saudi Arabia, while watching the stars, he noticed that the Milky Way looked like a river. He also noticed that the three stars in the belt of Orion (constellation of winter), resembled the orientation and relative size of the three Giza pyramids. In fact, the stars are not perfectly aligned just as the Giza pyramids are not directly aligned. They seemed to resemble each other very closely. He thought the Milky Way resembled the Nile, so he drew a correspondence between these stars and the Giza plateau pyramids.

 

He also pointed out that one of the airshafts in the King’s Chamber pointed to the constellation Orion, which the Egyptians associated with Osiris. The airshaft in the Queen’s chamber pointed to Sirius, the star of Isis. Thus he concluded the Great Pyramid was constructed for ritual purposes. Its job was to send the Pharaoh to Orion where he would be transformed into Osiris and live-forever.

 

 

 

The Great Pyramid as a Weapon

Was the Great Pyramid a weapon, a weapon of mass destruction of extraordinary sophistication and power?


That, essentially, is the hypothesis advanced by Joseph Farrell in his book, The Giza Death Star. He attempted to look for indications in the ancient texts that the Egyptians were aware of such physics to allow them to use the Great Pyramid as a weapon.


In many instances, he discovered that the ancient texts give a strong impression that the ancients were aware of “zero point energy” or “quantum foam” that recurs in modern mathematical models. He also concluded that the basis of the ancient physics was harmonic in nature, and that they must have known about the fundamental constants of quantum mechanics that would allow them to weaponize the Great Pyramid.

 

Although there is much speculation here, his theory is one of the more interesting ones regarding the purpose of the Great Pyramid.

 

 


Landmarks for visitors from Outer Space

This has to be the most unique theory regarding the purpose of the Great Pyramid. Zecharia Sitchin believes that the Giza pyramids were built as beacons for visiting spacecraft.

 

 


Symbolism

The British author and researcher, Alan F. Alford argues that the Pyramid was in its subterranean part a tomb for a king, but in its upper parts a sealed repository or time capsule. In his view, the King’s Chamber sarcophagus contained meteoritic iron (the seed of the creator-god) whilst the chamber itself generated low frequency sound that was broadcast to the Giza plateau via its “airshafts”.

 

The basis for his theory was that the Pyramid symbolized and commemorated the creation of the Universe.
 

 

 

Power Plant

See “The Mighty Crystal"  (The Giza Power Plant: Technologies of Ancient Egypt) by Christopher Dunn


One of the most popular theories today is that of our association’s research director, Christopher Dunn. Mr. Dunn is an engineer and master craftsman. He has measured and analyzed limestone and granite blocks of the Giza plateau and other Egyptian monuments. He argues that he can only explain the great precision of the blocks with some type of advanced machining.

 

The known primitive tools and devices that Egyptologists claim the ancient Egyptians would use cannot produce this type of precision and exactness in the way that these limestone and granite blocks were cut and polished. In fact, Dunn finds evidence for ultrasonic drilling in some of the blocks. If the blocks were worked on using power drilling, than some electrical source must have been available to power the tools. His comprehensive theory explains that the Great Pyramid was a resonator and coupled vibrations to produce electricity. Thus the Great Pyramid was built to be an electric power generating plant.


Part 3 of this book contains research articles and book excerpts regarding the purpose of the Great Pyramid. Each major pyramid researcher explains their theories in their own words.
 

 

 

REFERENCES

  • Giza, The Truth, Ian Lawton and Chris Ogilvie-Herald, 1999

  • Secrets of the Great Pyramid, Peter Thompkins, 1972

  • The Giza Power Plant, Christopher Dunn, 1998

  • The Orion Mystery, Robert bauval and Adrian Gilbert, 1994

  • The Secret History of Ancient Egypt, Herbie Brennan, 2000

  • The Giza Death Star, Joseph Farrell 2002

  • The Traveler’s Key to Ancient Egypt, John Anthony West, 1995

  • The Eyes of the Sphinx, Erich von Daniken, 1996

  • From Atlantis to the Sphinx, Colin Wilson, 1999