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Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

bbc.com

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Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#31

Post by nightspirit »

ars wrote: post #22
nightspirit wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was he being serious or just trying to score some sympathy of Jews and Christians? Nobody has ever found any evidence of Exodus and it isn't like people aren't trying. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus

> Was he being serious or just trying to score some sympathy of Jews and Christians? He's just ignorant. Jews would not vote for someone who knows so little about their history. Christians may not be as familiar with the history. According to Jewish history Josef stored grain in the year 1532BCE, but the pyramids were mostly finished by 1759BCE, more than 200 years earlier. The pyramids having anything whatsoever to…

> The pyramids having anything whatsoever to do with the Exodus is a myth created by Hollywood, it is not a Jewish belief at all.

Any source? Google only returns articles about Carson, so it looks like it may be his idea.

edit: It seems to be an old story, easily predating both Carson and Hollywood.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/secret-chambers-grain-s...

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#32

Post by jinst8gmi »

corin_ wrote: post #20

It could be a coincidence, but I wonder if this piece (published 3 days ago) was inpsired by this 6-day old Reddit thread: "ELI5: Why don't we already know everything that's inside the pyramids?" https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7ljo/e...

I doubt it was inspired by a random Reddit thread, but rather by the news which the reddit thread refers to, which has been all over the media for days: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151111-egypt-pyra...

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#34

Post by motoboi »

givan wrote: post #33

Why do we still think that they were built with chisel and hammer when we know is impossible with these tools to cut the stones from king chamber to laser precision or cut stones to make a perfectly symmetric pharaoh statue?

Didn't Rafaello and Michelangelo use those tools to work with rock?

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#35

Post by green7ea »

motoboi wrote: post #34
givan wrote: post #33

Why do we still think that they were built with chisel and hammer when we know is impossible with these tools to cut the stones from king chamber to laser precision or cut stones to make a perfectly symmetric pharaoh statue?

Didn't Rafaello and Michelangelo use those tools to work with rock?

There are two things to keep in mind. Rafaello and Michelangelo worked with stone that wasn't nearly as hard as granite (granite being one of the hardest stones). Secondly, we don't believe metals were nearly as developed during the period of dynastic Egypt and some Egyptologists theorise (but I think this is crazy) that stone tools were used to carve the blocks.

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#37

Post by mariuolo »

givan wrote: post #33

Why do we still think that they were built with chisel and hammer when we know is impossible with these tools to cut the stones from king chamber to laser precision or cut stones to make a perfectly symmetric pharaoh statue?

What's the alternate theory?

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#38

Post by tillinghast »

JacobAldridge wrote: post #28
corin_ wrote: post #20

It could be a coincidence, but I wonder if this piece (published 3 days ago) was inpsired by this 6-day old Reddit thread: "ELI5: Why don't we already know everything that's inside the pyramids?" https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7ljo/e...

I suspect both were inspired by US Presidential candidate Ben Carson's recent claims that (he believes) they were built by Joseph to store grain (as per the Book of Genesis).

For clarity, Genesis recounts grain stores being built, but makes no claim that the Great Pyramids were those stores. The BBC article does reference grain storage directly:

> But Stevenson also says that counter-theories about the pyramids actually being huge grain stores are not helpful. “Archaeologists have in fact found grain silos in Egypt, they’re well known to us and they look nothing like pyramids,” she says.

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#39

Post by givan »

mariuolo wrote: post #37
givan wrote: post #33

Why do we still think that they were built with chisel and hammer when we know is impossible with these tools to cut the stones from king chamber to laser precision or cut stones to make a perfectly symmetric pharaoh statue?

What's the alternate theory?

Ancients could build complex mechanical devices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism maybe the technology was even older.

Re: Why do we still not know what's inside the pyramids?

#40

Post by Nicholas_C »

corin_ wrote: post #20

It could be a coincidence, but I wonder if this piece (published 3 days ago) was inpsired by this 6-day old Reddit thread: "ELI5: Why don't we already know everything that's inside the pyramids?" https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7ljo/e...

I wouldn't be surprised. Often I will see an interesting reddit thread and a few days later a Buzzfeed or Wired article will show up discussing the same thing. Maybe it's just coincidence.
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