Expert: Ralph Salier - 1/13/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I've been reading a few books on the Great Pyramid (or Cheops or ...) and none of them are clear if the dimensions they describe include the missing casings.  Its my understanding that all the fronting limestone was removed over time, so, is the Base (and hence perimeter) measured as is, or as it was with the limestone attached?

Thanks
Martin

ANSWER: Hi Martin,

This is an excellent question! for the most part it is the current dimension since the thickness and size of the blocks that would have been used at the base can only be inferred.  How can  they be inferred you ask, well, based on those remaining blocks at the top of the Pyramid, they can deduce the angle of the slope of the original casing blocks to the base of the structure.  Knowing this, they can then determine how far out these casing blocks would be.  However, these inferred casing blocks would be set onto the foundation of the structure since their weight would be enormous and  that is where the crux of the problem begins. There is no apparent foundation upon which these casing stones would rest.  So, the question then comes up, was it fully cased? or was it only partially cased?  So, not knowing for sure, the measurements are as is.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ralph, thanks for that quick answer.  I was umm afraid of that. Do you know if there are any theories that the Pyramid was NOT in fact covered from top to bottom?  It seems to me that all the different views of "Mathematical Egypt" that use Pyramid dimensions would be dramatically affected.

Thanks again,
Martin

Answer
Hi Martin,

There is only speculation and work on the pyramids is currently at a standstill, Egypt does not have a lot of money to spend on them and although work is being done in the area, work on the pyramids themselves is not ongoing.   As for theories, many abound but their validity or provability is the big question mark.  Personally, I believe that the pyramid was mostly covered, perhaps 2/3rds of the way down and then standard facing blocks were used vs. the nice white limestone ones, since these do not carry weight well.

As for the Math used by the Ancient Egyptians, that is quite sound and quite sophisticated for that time period.  Today, this would be rather straight forward geometry and algebra (remember the people of North Africa are given credit for having invented both).  The dimensions used by the UFOlogists and the others  that view the pyramids with some kind of magical powers are using the implied dimensions of the pyramids vs the current ones.

As for their logic or insistence that they were built by aliens, sorry, not true, all human ingenuity.