Killer Thrillers Box Set: 3 Techno-Thriller, Action/Adventure Science Fiction Thrillers by Nick Thacker Page B
Authors: Nick Thacker
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were building a tomb for their ruler, the Pharaoh, that would serve as both a final resting place as well as an embarkation point from which the Pharaoh would rise to the heavens and take over as the god Osiris.
While the pyramids certainly did serve as graves for the highest Egyptian rulers and leaders, Pharaohs included, how an ancient civilization designed and constructed them is still a mystery. Modern research and archeological evidence suggests that humans alone — unaided — would have an absolutely terrible time trying to lift and fit each block into place.
The Great Pyramid, while considered finished, looks rather unfinished . This is due to the lack of an apex — the top of the pyramid seems to be cut off about thirty feet below the natural pinnacle. Scholars and Egyptologists have speculated that this capstone, the last piece of the pyramid to be placed, would have been about thirty feet across and an exact scale replica of its mother pyramid below it. No one has heard or read any account of a capstone ever being completed, placed on top, or even seen, for that matter. We are left to speculation as to the original builders’ intent — was it meant to go without a capstone? Or was it simply scavenged and looted during one of the many raids of the Giza pyramid complex over the millennia?
Finished during the Fourth Dynasty in 2560 B.C., the Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Cheops, was built in a 20-year period of pharaoh Khufu’s reign, and consists of about 2.3 million blocks, the largest weighing in at over 80 tons (160,000 pounds). These blocks were carried or dragged from Aswan, about 500 miles away, over the sand. To put the building of the structure into perspective, based on renowned Egyptologist Sir Flanders Petrie’s measurements, there would need to have been about 5 blocks put into place every minute of every hour of every day for 20 years.
Further, the foundation of the entire complex is set on a 13-acre square bedrock that is almost perfectly level — varying in height no more than half of an inch throughout. This is a feat of engineering that we still cannot accomplish today, even aided with advanced surveying technology.
Most of the outer “casing” — a white protective shell — was cracked and broken during a devastating earthquake, and subsequently taken away. Remaining is the interior, or core, of the pyramid. The original entrance to the building is almost 60 feet up from ground level, and marks the beginning of the Descending Passage. It is said that this original entrance was blocked by a huge rock that was so delicately and perfectly balanced it could be moved with the touch of a single finger.
The main chambers are the King’s and Queen’s Chambers, located toward the center of the pyramid. These two chambers are reached via the Ascending Passage, which branches off of the Descending Passage and continues upward for 129 feet. A Grand Gallery marks the upper section of the Ascending Passage with a 28-foot tall ceiling leading to the King’s Chamber. Numerous shafts and what are thought to be circulation vents pockmark the internal walls, and to this day there are passageways yet unexplored and undiscovered.
The builders showed impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail with the pyramid’s construction, aligning the entire building to true north and the stars, with an exceptionally small margin of error. Historians have compared the accuracy to that of a modern-day optometrist. Measuring precisely the same distance on all four of its bases, the pyramid is thought to only be slightly off due to the erosion and earth’s movement over thousands of years.
About 350 feet diagonally down, below the base of the pyramid, lies the Lower Chamber, or Subterranean Chamber, at the lower end of the Descending Passage. This is believed to have been another burial chamber, but was left unfinished. A pathway branches off horizontally from this chamber, heads
While the pyramids certainly did serve as graves for the highest Egyptian rulers and leaders, Pharaohs included, how an ancient civilization designed and constructed them is still a mystery. Modern research and archeological evidence suggests that humans alone — unaided — would have an absolutely terrible time trying to lift and fit each block into place.
The Great Pyramid, while considered finished, looks rather unfinished . This is due to the lack of an apex — the top of the pyramid seems to be cut off about thirty feet below the natural pinnacle. Scholars and Egyptologists have speculated that this capstone, the last piece of the pyramid to be placed, would have been about thirty feet across and an exact scale replica of its mother pyramid below it. No one has heard or read any account of a capstone ever being completed, placed on top, or even seen, for that matter. We are left to speculation as to the original builders’ intent — was it meant to go without a capstone? Or was it simply scavenged and looted during one of the many raids of the Giza pyramid complex over the millennia?
Finished during the Fourth Dynasty in 2560 B.C., the Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Cheops, was built in a 20-year period of pharaoh Khufu’s reign, and consists of about 2.3 million blocks, the largest weighing in at over 80 tons (160,000 pounds). These blocks were carried or dragged from Aswan, about 500 miles away, over the sand. To put the building of the structure into perspective, based on renowned Egyptologist Sir Flanders Petrie’s measurements, there would need to have been about 5 blocks put into place every minute of every hour of every day for 20 years.
Further, the foundation of the entire complex is set on a 13-acre square bedrock that is almost perfectly level — varying in height no more than half of an inch throughout. This is a feat of engineering that we still cannot accomplish today, even aided with advanced surveying technology.
Most of the outer “casing” — a white protective shell — was cracked and broken during a devastating earthquake, and subsequently taken away. Remaining is the interior, or core, of the pyramid. The original entrance to the building is almost 60 feet up from ground level, and marks the beginning of the Descending Passage. It is said that this original entrance was blocked by a huge rock that was so delicately and perfectly balanced it could be moved with the touch of a single finger.
The main chambers are the King’s and Queen’s Chambers, located toward the center of the pyramid. These two chambers are reached via the Ascending Passage, which branches off of the Descending Passage and continues upward for 129 feet. A Grand Gallery marks the upper section of the Ascending Passage with a 28-foot tall ceiling leading to the King’s Chamber. Numerous shafts and what are thought to be circulation vents pockmark the internal walls, and to this day there are passageways yet unexplored and undiscovered.
The builders showed impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail with the pyramid’s construction, aligning the entire building to true north and the stars, with an exceptionally small margin of error. Historians have compared the accuracy to that of a modern-day optometrist. Measuring precisely the same distance on all four of its bases, the pyramid is thought to only be slightly off due to the erosion and earth’s movement over thousands of years.
About 350 feet diagonally down, below the base of the pyramid, lies the Lower Chamber, or Subterranean Chamber, at the lower end of the Descending Passage. This is believed to have been another burial chamber, but was left unfinished. A pathway branches off horizontally from this chamber, heads
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