Hidden Marvel in the 3-in-1 Meidum Pyramid.

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

One more video to round out 2022! Thank you all so much for your supportive comments. It's been an incredible year, and this channel has exceeded my wildest expectations. But we're still just getting started. In 2023 I will be completing videos with evidence written in stone that will truly shake-up the way pyramids are understood.

[@VitalTechnology_]

I look forward to it!

[@mortalclown3812]

You're a great teacher - armed with facts and boundless curiosity. Pleasure to be here.

[@meinkamph5327]

Maybe you see things incorrectly. How else would you put a high ceiling in a man made mountain?

[@Douglassc578]

Your videos are really good mate, keep up the good work. So hard to find good, logical information about the pyramids

[@mikewatson4644]

Good job of taking the facts and interperting them them with a fresh look. It is all too easy to keep making the same assumptions that others have made instead of seeing where the evidence leads you. Interesting series. Keep up the good work

[@RoadTr]

I have been in that pyramid many times. One of the few locations you can go in Egypt with no tourists, and no Giza pests, even though the guards always expected their tips.

[@crunchynuts793]

The Giza pests ruined our visit to the pyramids! 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@hillaryclinton2415]

I don't tip unless I have them take pics of me or let me take pics of them.

[@bujfvjg7222]

Didn't think they allowed that kind of photography in arab Egypt!

[@filmpjesman1]

Giza pests?

[@hansvonmannschaft9062]

@@filmpjesman1 Locals pestering you, harassing you, chasing you, nagging you for half a coin in exchange for a trinket you don't want, a camel ride you were not planning to do, or simple mendicancy.

[@xavierquark4998]

The best pyramid channel on KZbin (that I know of): clearly reasoned, evidence based, yet willing to examine new possibilities. I love it!

[@mickleblade]

Ancient Architects is pretty good too

[@TimPerfetto]

@@mickleblade Ohh god bless you for mentioning Ancient Architects and god bless them for existing and making videos and god bless god for making videos because without them we wouldnt be watching anything and god bless youtube for letting us make videos and view them and god bless computers and the internet

[@choochaithaohoom1375]

@@mickleblade That would be a good channel, if only the guy wouldn't speak like a retard.

[@beethovensg]

Exactly the opposite. This is inaccurate conjecture and pure entertainment.. No evidence ever and myths are favorable to his stories.

[@michaelm1573]

UnchartedX is undisputed pyramid king

[@martinross6416]

The most informative and technically competent look at Meidum I have ever seen. You have continued your exceptional work.

[@Grundlesmith]

A thousand times yes, I look forward to your monthly releases more than any other channel in my youtube watching career. Thanks for the great content

[@svetovidarkonsky1670]

agreed :)

[@conniebenny]

Another brilliant, insightful and entertaining video analysis of one of these wonderful ancient structures. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on the Meidum pyramid. It definitely deserves more attention than it currently receives, and your excellent video helps raise its profile whilst simultaneously providing a fascinating and thought-provoking look at this often overlooked construction.

[@baarni]

Blows me away at the sheer amount of work and effort that went into the building of these enormous stone structures… Thank you History for Granite for providing such detailed and rational analysis of these amazing enigmatic buildings…

[@TheBelrick]

No pyramid was built by any pharoah and i wish people like this channel creator would stop spreading lies.

[@christopher_ecclestone]

And into the making of these videos too. Don't take them for granite.

[@jwenting]

There's a strong case to be made for the theory that the pyramid craze was a major factor in the eventual decline of the Egyptian empire, the cost grew so high it seriously impacted their economy and ability to keep up the armies needed to defend their borders and trade.

[@Za7a7aZ]

@@jwenting That make sense...these kings must have been aware of this too. Makes you think that they must have considered the function of the construction more important than the future of their kingdom.

[@ian_b]

@@jwentingWell it's an insane level of production to expend on something effectively useless.

[@InfamousTog]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Great work on these videos. They're always very detailed, and you do a good job of making all of the information easy to follow/understand. I'm always looking forward to new uploads

[@TheDaggwood]

Old geologist here, thanks for keeping it real with these productions. Only watched a couple now but you give surprisingly accurate assumptions. Well done! I'm sub'd and looking forward to the content!

[@oldoneeye7516]

Yor videos are getting better and better. Really enjoying listening to your arguments and asking myself if I would come to the same conclusions. I am appreciating that your focus lies on all pyramids, not only the "famous" ones. Quite frankly, this is much more exiting, since it is mostly new (at least for me). Have a great Yuletide with your loved ones.

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

Many thanks!

[@sund0dger]

Thank you for this video. I have also been here a few times, the complex around the site is interesting also (as a child, the guide showed me a human skull in the nearby mud brick mastabas). The interior of this pyramid is the most atmospheric of all the ones accessible. The area itself feels much more spiritual that the better known and more tourist ridden sites.

[@Duo_Fish]

Always a pleasure to see another video from you. I know you've got plenty of constructions from the Old Kingdom left to examine, however, I can't help but wonder if you might happen to take a look at how pyramids came to be starting with the earliest royal tombs and chronologically expanding from there at some point in the future? My absolute favorite parts of your videos are how methods of construction were tested and later better implemented as time passed such as lentels and corbel vaults. Seeing the evolution from subterranean mudbrick royal tombs and what are believed to be their related funerary enclosures, palace-facade mastabas, and rock-cut galleries in the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period to the monumental architecture made of quarried rock beginning with Djoser's stepped pyramid would be brilliant. In particular, the way you engage the material with a more practical way of thinking that doesn't fall into the "oh how magically mysterious" followed by repeating misleading or downright falsified theories leads me to want to know what you might observed when picking through the pile of partly-explained and sometimes hair-brained theories related to the construction of Early Dynastic tombs and funerary monuments. Umm el-Qa'ab was already known well-enough by Egyptologists by the time Petrie took over excavation of the site just before the turn of the century, but it was thanks to his more careful method that we gained a greater understanding of the First Dynasty and its royal burial practices. David O'Connor, Gunter Dreyer and Werner Kaiser, and most recently Matthew Adams and Laurel Bestock have quite a few articles available on academia if you wanted to know more as many new discoveries about the First Dynasty have been made in just the last two decades. Your videos heavily focus on architecture and engineering and Angela Sophia La Loggia's 2012 paper on the construction of many Early Dynastic constructions is a thoroughly detailed and eye-opening work I can recommend. The evolution in the methods of construction of First Dynastic tombs are rapid in terms of the changes made to the king's tomb complexes, yet some patterns are maintained which seem to provide evidence to the religious beliefs of the early Egyptian state. For example, subsidiary burials (likely sacrificial) surround almost every First Dynastic tomb excluding that of Narmer and Aha, whose subsidiary burials seem to have been placed in a military formation. A conspicuous gap in the southern corner of the subsidiary burials of every tomb from Djer onward along with the direction of Aha's subsidiary burial formation seem to indicate that the kings believed that their spirits along with those of their subsidiary burials would rise and walk to the large wadi to the south which would turns into the western desert where later Egyptian texts name as the location of the land of the dead. Magli (2011) goes so far as to theorize that _dw_ , the Egyptian hieroglyph that resembles a wadi and carries the meaning of a symbolic horizon, likely arose from the sacrosanct nature of the wadi at Abydos and its significance to the state. Considering the mount near to the wadi was later known as the "Mountain of Anubis" during the Middle Kingdom, this seems very plausible. The most intriguing part to me is actually how this may tie into Khufu and the desire to have the sun fall between a "wadi" made up of two pyramids. In the early 5th dynasty a new hieroglyph for the horizon known as _akhet_ - a symbol which includes the sun set inside the previous _dw_ wadi - is a representation of the sun falling between Khufu and Khafre's pyramids during the summer solstice. Don't get me wrong, the Egyptian religion saw many changes over the course of the roughly 3,000 years that the Ancient Egyptian state existed which is to be expected, but the examples that saw consistency over the course of ancient Egypt's entire existence are truly incredible to behold. The smiting motif, as an example, seems to have first appeared at least a century before the advent of the Egyptian state in the painted tomb at Hierakonpolis (and likely before, though earlier examples are of a more uncertain context) and maintained its meaning and visual representation throughout the entirety of the lifetime of Ancient Egypt's empire. Dreyer and O'Connor have both also theorized that large tumuli may have been present over the tombs of each First Dynasty king along with a small temple dedicated to worshiping the deceased king also located between the gap in subsidiary burials. Large limestone stelae inscribed with the names of several of the First Dynasty kings and discovered near their tombs are a good example of a practice that would continue on into future Dynasties. Technological advancements also appeared in the middle of the First Dynasty that would change how tombs were constructed with the advent of stairs, use of rock slabs such as granite and limestone, and portcullises for tomb security being the most notable to occur. Personally, I've always been blown away by how frequently and freely the royal tombs of Egypt have been robbed by looters. Even the elite mastabas on the cliffs of Saqqara which were constantly visible to the ancient capital of Memphis were robbed during the First Dynasty. We're certain of this because the burial chamber of one of the later constructed mastabas was burned after having been robbed and then later remodeled for reuse during the reign of Qa'a, the last king of the First Dynasty. The bricks inside became hot enough to actually fire the bricks within (this same situation occurred in a few other tombs as well), meaning that ancient Egyptians would have been exposed to this technology, but decided instead to make the leap from unfired mudbricks to stone. As a matter of fact, it seems almost all of the royal tombs of the First Dynasty were at some point put to the torch by looters before the Middle Kingdom considering Djer's tomb was at that point believed to be the tomb of Osiris himself and was cleaned up and remodeled to reflect as much. It's almost as if tomb robbing was a national pastime compared to other areas of the world where grave robbing wasn't quite as prevalent. Why the location and method of constructing the royal tombs changed so dramatically at the start of the Second Dynasty is an enormous mystery, and indeed, I don't think it would be controversial to state the less is known about the Second Dynasty in comparison to any other dynasty. Why go from subterranean mudbrick tombs with subsidiary burials at Abydos to rock-cut galleries at Saqqara? Why did these galleries stand up to the test of time so poorly compared to previous and later constructions? Why did the last two kings of the Second Dynasty decide to have their tombs constructed at Abydos once again in a manner very similar to that of the First Dynastic kings that preceded them by around a century by that point? At this point I'm barely able to keep myself from excitedly rambling about what else I've learned through my own studies, so I'll quickly conclude. It's all very exciting to attempt to puzzle Egypt's history together, and I think your perspective on all of it would be amazing to hear assuming you don't have a lifetime of pyramid examination left to pour through!

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

I appreciate the encouragement to check out early dynastic construction more. I may very well get there, but the channel is going to be Old Kingdom pyramids for a while. Egyptology is such a broad field that many tenuous connections are made across it owing to a lack of in-depth study. It's crazy to me how under-studied the pyramids are. There's a lot of work to be done here.

[@Duo_Fish]

@@HistoryforGRANITE Considering just how many poorly studied features and building techniques that remain pertaining to Old Kingdom pyramids, I completely understand that you have an absolute mountain of material to still pick through. The same issues you've made note of many times concerning the mistakes of Egyptologists also apply to Early Dynastic works. What's worse, many Early Dynastic constructions were constructed of unfired mudbrick which - aside from simple water and wind causing it to wear down quickly when exposed - the Egyptian government allowed _sebekh_ farmers to petition them to use for fertilizer, resulting in the complete destruction of many mastaba, including the earliest-known royal mastaba likely belonging to Narmer's wife and _Horus_ Aha's mother Neith-hotep. Couple this with the poor excavation habits of those before Petrie at Umm el-Qa'ab and one can notice a conspicuous lack of pieces belonging to the greater puzzle that makes up our understanding of the Early Dynastic Period that are missing specifically due to the actions of haphazard scholars. Even so, its Egypt's longevity as a kingdom and their breath-taking constructions that have drawn explorers and scholars to the area for centuries, I suppose mistakes of many varieties were inevitable. Once again, thank you for the content you produce, I've thoroughly enjoyed it for months now. If you do ever manage to make a leap further back to the Early Dynastic Period, I'll be here for that as well!

[@bobwilson7684]

@@HistoryforGRANITE no pharaoh ever claimed having built any pyramid.

[@scottschultz6573]

Thank you, @Duo-Fish, for taking time to write this incredibly informative comment.

[@StephiSensei26]

Brilliant presentation and analysis. This video is so fully packed with concentrated info, that I will need to go through it at least once more to glean some of the most important (it's all important) and interesting facts. This lonely Pyramid of Meidum has always been a giant intriguing question mark for me. Thank you so much for the vital background info and staggeringly beautiful photos to learn from. Nice "rounding off" of the year, or perhaps it's a new beginning in disguise?

[@disgruntledwookie369]

Please continue making these incredible videos. I've been waiting half a life time for someone to tackle the mysteries of ancient Egyptian monumental architecture from a serious, scientific point of view. Way too much pseudo science in this field, even amongst the professionals sadly.

[@PhilJonesIII]

I know what you mean. So many videos with "They couldn't possibly do that" and "We couldn't even do it today" along with overloud, dramatic music. They did and we certainly can.

[@Peachu_n_Goma_Home]

The so call documentaries nv answer anything unlike this channel, the latter educated me tremendously. 👍🏻

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Oh Dude, I'm so happy to be watching this right now! Had kidney surgery this month and wasn't sure if I'd make it but I bounced back like a rubber ball!!! so THANKS for another fantastic video, I'm appreciative for everything this holiday season :) Have a great Xmas and New Years, see ya in 2023!!!!!

[@dravidakumar1697]

All the best for your future and hope you can actually visit the pyramids to see them in their genuine glory.

[@ancientsitesgirl]

My favorite pyramid! I was a year ago, I'll be back soon. Mastaba 17 one of a kind!😱

[@lukepearce6174]

Please keep the videos up, they’re my main source of knowledge for the pyramids, and your analysis is unmatched.

[@ashleyking6743]

This channel is amazing. I love ancient Egypt stuff but I have never seen any other videos that go so in depth into the construction and architecture of the pyramids and the way that looters dug their way in. So many unique topics. Keep up the great work mate. From Australia 🇦🇺

[@jaffasholva7738]

What a gem of a channel. Great information, visuals and presentation. No talk of aliens. Subbed!

[@karlmccreight8172]

One of my main cryteria for a good documentry is, that I can watch it over and over again and always find something that I missed the previous time. Good work.

[@kevinholloway3495]

Love the way you present the material . I always look forward to your videos. They have given me a new appreciation for and a better understanding of the archeology.

[@Szabby999]

I very rarely happen to find a KZbin channel of this QUALITY. My deepest compliments! You have a new subscriber, greetings from Hungary.

[@-AT-WALKER]

You're a legend and your work speaks for itself. There's so many good channels that cover the topics yet yours feels fresh and informative to the point I check back weekly incase YT does me dirty with the sub feed. Haven't watched this yet, grabbing a drink and going to watch it on a huge screen in VR. Merry Christmas, thanks for your efforts 👍👍

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

yes yt drops our ball sometimes. maybe an occasional donation ?

[@AncientPuzzles]

You really work hard man, so difficult to put this together. Very well made and researched. Thank you👍🏻

[@bswins9648]

I was hoping you’d post at least one more video in 2022, and you didn’t disappoint with this early Christmas present. Thank you! Best wishes for a safe and happy holidays and new year.

[@ChamferedCorner]

Another wonderful application of Occam’s Razor which one might think of being- keep it simple. I’m an Archaeologist and your shows are amazing!!!😁

[@Planet_Neptune]

One of the best channels on this subject. Grats on the quality you're achieving

[@cypher8855]

Always great to see another video. Merry Christmas partner. This has slowly become one of my favorite channels and I always love to see a new video

[@jacobfroggett880]

Great video, as always. The mind boggles with why the layouts of these pyramids are as they are, the more you look into them, the more you scratch your head. Be interesting to date the original wood for the Sneferu link conclusively or not - has this been done?

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

(muzz "in charge")

[@johnsteele4795]

Definitely enjoy your videos, having such a distinct and exacting narration. Much easier to listen to than most, with their garbled fast-speak.

[@mortalclown3812]

Yo. Thanks to finding your channel I've been wrapped up in Pyramids... and thanks to your genuine appreciation of not just the famous ones, I'm all in. 💫🌍🇪🇬 Wishing you a peaceful season of Light and joy.

[@jasonfraser701]

This channel should have a million subs! It will one day, keep up the great work

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[@dennisk5818]

It would be awesome to see the construction of the chambers, prior to the superstructure. One thing I've begun to question is how these passages and chambers were built in order to take on the incredible loads that would be assembled later (or during). I think many take for granted that these spaces exist inside of the superstructure, because that's all we've known. But they fail to realize that they weren't 'dug out' and built after it was all assembled. This series has recently captured my attention. Thank you for your research.

[@PhilJonesIII]

I would love to be able to see how they planned these constructions. I don't doubt there were many individual drawings and plans for each part of the project but, I can't rid my mind of an image of groups of 'engineers' with thousands of small wood/stone blocks and using them to construct small scale models. Who knows? Perhaps one day we will unearth such a model made from Ancient Egyptian Lego or its equivalent. (I jest)

[@adrianmillard6598]

Thanks for making your video to such high standards. I also want to say what your narration is perfect. All things considered, a fantastic video - as per usual.

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@baze3SC]

Excellent points regarding the accessibility of lower chambers. If indeed these structures were meant to serve as resting places we need to consider what often happens in societies built on personality cults. Dead leaders are not simply put into tombs but whole mausoleums are built around them with guards, memorabilia etc. It's not difficult to imagine that select visitors, guides and maintenance staff had access to these chambers. Also, why would someone seal the corridor in that case, that would be like having Taj Mahal without entrance :)

[@johnmatthews723]

I love all your content and can’t wait for more!. You are creating one of the best channels on KZbin, please, keep it up!

[@TheGreatest1974]

Your research and sheer amount of work on these videos is commendable. Well done!👍🇬🇧

[@crom666doom]

Enjoyed your opening description and footage. The lighting did indeed make it resemble a Bekskinski painting. Miserable, ominous, corpse like. 👍

[@VitalTechnology_]

Thank you for another wonderful video!

[@konstantinavalentina3850]

I think I learned something from this. It's been my long-time impression, and thought that this pyramid was Sneferu's first attempt at relearning what was forgotten from Imhotep's construction of Djosur's pyramid when pyramid building skipped a generation. I'm now compelled refresh my understanding of who's related to who and what was built when and by whom as it relates to the early pyramids. It's important stuff to know, especially when confronted by the woo woo magic energy grain silo alien landing pad people that only ever seem to look at Giza, and always always conveniently ignore that every pyramid complex is a pyramid COMPLEX with an associated mortuary temple. :) Question about the problem of a plugging stone and narrow corridors; could the plugging stone have been cut from the bedrock on site, in near-situ so that it wouldn't need to fit through narrow corridors and only require getting moved and lowered from that upper chamber where it possibly could have been cut from during construction of upper chamber?

[@johannahidalgo7738]

This was great!!! It’s remarkable how little we really know about the engineering, machining and ultimately the creation of these buildings that to this date, we can’t understand much less reproduce😮

[@antonellocossu4319]

Bravo! Merry Christmas to you and all those following this channel!

[@kragary]

"Its present appearance is unsettling, as if one is looking at a corpse and attempting an autopsy to determine exactly what went wrong." Wow, that's exactly what teachers always said about my projects!

[@Razehell42]

I actually get a jolt of excitement when I see a new video by you.

[@IDPhotoMan]

I like how you employ logic to these things, especially those rooms that were supposed to be "public showstoppers" back in the day. I've always thought that the actual tombs, that would Never be seen, would be kind of like a big... closet. Thanks for the videos

[@reds1325]

I'm so glad I found this channel... Keep it up!

[@nixxxon18]

Another brilliant video of you guys. Thanks! I wonder why they don't properly excavate all the rubble, sand and everything. Looks like they should do a lot more of further work here.

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

(muzz "in charge")

[@jeremyd1869]

I agree. Can't help but think there's a lot of discoveries to be made in that huge base.

[@mpetersen6]

Money

[@awildroappears9830]

just gotta say i really love your videos. They make me feel like i'm 15 again, reading all day about ancient egypt and egyptology haha. Thank you!

[@owenwilson25]

Wow, what a pyramid. So much structural evidence, thank you so much; awesome.

[@AnderParis]

Beautiful analysis and presentation joined with interesting hypothesis : Once more a great video at the service of true archeology. Bravo Monsieur ! Et bonne année.

[@Kariakas]

Very well done as always. Fascinating and well edited.

[@PhilJonesIII]

Your videos never fail to impress. Always thought provoking, sticking to a realistic and pragmatic narrative.

[@susancottman9686]

Great video. I consider Meidum a gem hidden in plain sight. It's my favorite pyramid and I loved visiting it.

[@timcase2494]

So interesting. I love how this is a fact based video based on real evidence and rational theory, rather than the wild conjecture and fantasies put forward by many other KZbin channels dealing with Ancient Egypt/the Ancient world. You know, the types who label their "work" as "alternative theories", and themselves as "independent researchers". While there should be place for that kind of stuff, as it can inspire others to be interested in archeology and history, it needs to be backed up by evidence.

[@chagildoi]

Those wood beams are over 4,600 years old. Think of how little wood exists that was hewn that long ago that hasn’t since deteriorated or become petrified. Those beams are exceedingly rare artifacts in and of themselves.

[@lmonk9517]

it would be great to to get some core samples tested. Not just for dating but you can learn a lot from Dendrochronology

[@jeremyd1869]

Wouldn't it be great to know where the wood came from? Nearby, or maybe...Lebanon?

[@allangibson8494]

@@jeremyd1869 Drift wood out of the Nile (that would cover half of Africa).

[@Connor-dc2ju]

Came down looking for a comment like this. Those beams undoubtedly hold secrets.

[@kevinkestler4375]

Absolutely fantastic and scholarly analysis of Meidum. Love the excellent side by side comparisons of Red, Bent and Medidum. So helpful to see all diagram drawings and discoveries of hidden Corbel vaults also. Not sure about tombs and visitors, but nice in-depth technical info.Thank you for another great video.!

[@mikemunro2905]

Has any one tried tree ring dating those logs? 19:22

[@contrarian8870]

Tree rings tell you after how many years a tree was cut, which isn't much. You need carbon dating to tell how old the wood is.

[@mikemunro2905]

@@contrarian8870 it also tells you when in time the log grew and when it was cut.

[@Phil_Vaughan]

You beat me to it, that's the one question I'd like answered. 👍

[@contrarian8870]

@@mikemunro2905 No it doesn't tell you when it time the tree grew. It only tells you for how many years it grew.

[@mikemunro2905]

@@contrarian8870 I believe you are mistaken proof is in Oak Islands research of Dendrocronology. Tells when tree grew and when it was cut down. Research my friend.

[@lostpony4885]

Ive been curious about the non-great pyramid chambers forever, thanks for showing me a bunch about them. So great, you rock

[@Bill-xx2yh]

Geez, didn’t those HUGE GIANTS and AILENS have problems with those tiny hallways? Lol I fully believe "PEOPLE" built all the pyramids! People are capable of doing every bit of this mystery and it’s beauty. Thank you so much for all your work. I watch these over and over along my years.

[@fake_7106]

Wood is not capable of holding some of the blocks without being crushed by the weight. That’s an actual fact, there has so be some other answer if people actually did it. How would you counter that?

[@Bill-xx2yh]

@@fake_7106 I’m deeply serious here…GIANTS we’re and are real. THEY ARE REAL. But I think people are capable. Look at the videos on Utube of the one guy, moving TONS OF CONCRETE EASLY. We have forgotten.

[@geoffreydonutstick1491]

Those wooden beams embedded into walls of the chambers, surely they have been carbon dated? And what of the results? Why hasn't this been talked about, here or anywhere?

[@toddbaker9245]

Thank you for your unbiased intellectual coverage of stuff made out of stone. I look forward to your new videos next year. Happy Holidays!

[@andyb9675]

Oh hell yeah.. been waiting for you to cover this pyramid for TIME!!! Looking forward to this!!!

[@richardlincoln886]

Plugging stone - wouldn't you leave it at the top - when building and lower it in? Why leave it at the bottom of the shaft - or even be concerned with moving it along a corridor? when the pyramid is being built there is easy access to the chamber floor for any size material - what am I missing? :)

[@wyverncoch4430]

Was thinking the same thing, the groves on the north wall could be just as easily be used to pull the plug into position. Its hard to see in the drawings @22:23 but there seems to be plenty of possible over hanging beams (eg. [b]), that could have pulled it into position. The lower beams could hold the plug in position and the slope on the main entrance would stop the block if this failed. The plug starting at the top would also explain why it wouldn’t fit down the tunnel,

[@JMM33RanMA]

The thought occurred to me as well. Impossible as it may be to lug a stone sarcophagus through a tunnel and up a well, putting the sarcophagus in during building and then only having smaller and lighter internal coffins to put in afterwards would answer a number of problems associated with the structure.

[@lmonk9517]

@@wyverncoch4430 In the drawing, the shaft seems to narrow towards the top.

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

It's a reasonable idea, but I think lifting the stone would be logistically simpler. The difference in required force to raise the stone vs lower it slowly/carefully is negligible. Also if you were lowering the stone you could simply build out the masonry below it instead of needing the very quick method of inserting the logs into the sockets from below. Lastly, there is a 'bench' in the northern wall of the upper chamber from which the 'pulley log' could be wedged - this isn't discussed in the video but Keith Hamilton's paper analyzes it.

[@richardlincoln886]

@@HistoryforGRANITE who knows - personally (and I'm not an Egyptian builder :) ) I would put the logs in first and remove them slowly until the stone was in place from the top avoiding any need for anything above it be it people or ropes etc to install it.

[@MrAchile13]

The quality of the information presented in these videos is astonishing, which makes me wonder, what is your background? How did you got introduced to this subject? Was it university or was it different?

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

I'm what you call a 'generalist' - I synthesize information from a wide variety of disciplines. Egypt remains simply a passion-project for the time being.

[@JMM33RanMA]

Another excellent video featuring illustrative views and and rational hypotheses. This channel is one of the three most interesting and science grounded channels that I regularly view. The others are Ancient Architects and World of Antiquity. None of these sites are close minded, dogmatic or unwilling to think outside the box, but all three insist on solid evidence, critical thinking and avoidance of fantasist wishful thinking. This video explains factually and does raise interesting questions, as appropriate.

[@FishBaitBlue]

Subscribed after, for some reason, your videos showing up in my feed. Excellent content - so incredibly interesting! Very well done, Sir!

[@FishBaitBlue]

I really wasn’t that into this topic prior to this. Always found it interesting but never sought it out. Glad this happened!

[@JonnoPlays]

The wooden beams embedded in the masonry are very interesting. The documentary "K 2019" cites these as evidence of blocks being poured like concrete. Not saying I agree with this theory but it is interesting that some of the wood seems to be firmly embedded into the masonry. Is there evidence they carved out the hole then embedded the wood using a binder of some sort? I only saw a few things in the K 2019 Doc that were even remotely interesting and that was one of them.

[@handbags4948]

If concrete was used - why make individual blocks? Why not pour the whole lot in one go?

[@VooDooTube...]

The detail of your analysis and visualisation is brilliant and appreciated THANK YOU.

[@keeroy]

though granite in the name, this channel is a diamond amidst others. it teaches me that the pyramids are wondrous and magnificent beyond any imagination and that i knew closely to nothing about them despite my lifelong fascination.

[@libertyauto]

Thank you for your videos. I learn something interesting on every one of them.

[@jonasbruce]

I just discovered you channel and must say that your videos are brilliant, thanks for sharing your knowledge of acient egypt. Greetings from Sweden!

[@tkiiiiiivii3742]

Ancient architects sent me. No regrets, great channel and ideas. Subbed. Have a great new year.

[@Martinit0]

I find it amazing how the efforts of thousands years ago continue to benefit Egyptians via tourism and nearby villagers by serving as source of stone.

[@azking420]

Just found your channel the other day. Haven’t been able to stop watching! Great videos!!!

[@vyogh]

Excellent video, very informative. Have you been inside of these pyramids or do you base your videos and analysis based on photos and studies by other explorers?

[@terryhughes7349]

Great way to end 2022. Good job on this. Have a great 2023!

[@Ryne918]

One video per month inevitably leads to me binge watching the entire channel between releases.

[@HistoryforGRANITE]

The videos have been longer lately, and thus slower to make. I think if you average it to minute of content per week I'm improving!

[@lcmlcm2460]

I really appreciate the in-depth presentation. I enjoy ancient architecture and ancient history. Thanks ❤

[@joevd8718]

I don't understand how any of us can study any of these structures without conclusively turning to engineering applications for the structures. I can't analyze any of the data out there by the likes of Petrie and Chris Dunn for 5 minutes without immediately switching to the lens of advanced engineering principles towards every aspect of these megaliths. These impressive mechanisms and technologies (i mean even just the precision and stonework techniques), let alone perhaps the acoustic, electromagnetic or pressure pulsation behavior of these geometries, give me the sense that anyone seriously considering cultural and ceremonial purposes to the ORIGINS of these structures (disregarding the later Dynasties and subsequent local societies throughout time living near these things), it seems one must be either naive, as these perspectives seem so trivial as to be cynical. I still absolutely love the in depth expose of these structures that you put together. Keep it up!

[@jackelewish1568]

This is the greatest video ive ever seen on the construction of the Meidum Pyramid, possibly on any pyramid! This video really got my gears turning. Ive worked construction and masonry and yet the more research i do the more questions I have. How did they do certain tasks? Why did they do some of the bizarre, seemingly illogical choices during its construction? It drives me crazy!

[@kawasakikev8905]

great video but i've made some observations , the protruding wooden shaft that stops the plugging stone from being pushed upwards into the chamber isn't needed because the wooden beam the ropes presumably went round does this job adequately , and really if this was a solution it wasn't very well thought out as a simply overlapping step at the top of the shaft would have stopped the plugging stone from being pushed upwards . I'm also wondering about the wooden beams used to support the blocking stone ,why would you construct an elaborate mechanism to raise the blocking stone and then hold it up with some easily removed pieces of wood . The lower chambers and shaft have a hidden corbelled ceiling to account for the weight above , did the original design account for the subsequent enargement of the pyramid in two further stages or were they just very lucky that it didn't collapse , the poor condition of the lower part of the interior would suggest it is much older than the upper section and may have been open to the elements for a long period of time , yes rising damp and salt could have attacked the lower chambers but i would expect the hidden corbelling to have suffered the same fate but it seems to be unaffected so that seems to rule out the water table being the cause , and finally if i was constructing a portcullis mechanism for lifting a blocking stone i would put the grooves for the ropes into the blocking stone and leave the sides of the shaft smooth , much easier to carve the blocking stone than carve the slots in the wall . thanks for the vid , it shows a lot of detail i wasn't previously aware of , now i'm even more confused about it's construction

[@scottzema3103]

Whew, there is so much to comment on here. To start: the pyramids of Egypt in the fourth dynasty show a large amount of experimentation in pyramid design, perhaps, for all anybody knows, by the same designers! I think that a prime example of a concealed entrance is the so-called 'abandoned entry' on the Great Pyramid. The engineering clearly, CLEARLY shows that the engineers sought to cover this entry to smooth out the face of the pyramid and was frankly used and designed as the MAIN entry to the pyramid, with a landing in front of it, again set within the the line of the eventual fascia of the structure, like a right triangle with the hypotenuse fitting into the eventual finished angle of the façade. This was all accessed by a single ramp descending to the desert floor to service the monument's construction and funerary requirements. This 'abandoned entry' was the ONLY practical way to accommodate utility and construction of the interior of this monument and led with a freeway-like corridor into the depths of the pyramid which was blocked where it intersected the Grand Gallery when the priests and workmen backed out of the structure in closing it after the final interment of Khufu. Petrie in fact shows this corridor in an early reconstruction. In fact, the muons show a corridor leading from the 'abandoned' entry inwards from the facade. So acceptance of this entry is key to solving the mystery of THAT pyramid's construction, and doesn't require an entry up the pyramid's elevator counterweight shaft, as people crawl up now. So the object of 'concealing' entries is as much an aesthetic decision as a security issue. 'Concealing' the Great Pyramid entry didn't fool the searchers under the Kalif, who worked I'm sure very hard to uncover what they knew would be a north entry to the structure. I believe that they were motivated to do this by the appearance of a blocked shaft in the ceiling of the descending corridor. They found the chevroned entry, but also found it securely blocked. I also think the spiral ramp design also is a ridiculous idea in considering the efficient construction of these monuments , because that would require elaborate construction and engineering on its own and would from a practical architectural standpoint be considered frankly unnecessary to build the structures. Back to Meidum. I do think that the construction of this pyramid was a failed experiment and that the façade of the structure could not sustain its own weight because there wasn't sufficient support for the masonry courses on the exterior. The tower like interior core of the pyramid worked fine initially, but in the end the fascia of this pyramid was supported by nothing but itself and hence it eventually sloughed off. Also, I wouldn't discount the idea that sand foundations can support anything for too long. The Romans for example built an artificial harbor in the Levant which has sunk into the Mediterranean sea because the engineers neglected to cast their concrete breakwaters on a solid, sand cleared foundation. The Giza pyramid was for example built on a natural stone foundation, avoiding the issue of general foundational collapse. Talking about the interior of the pyramid: If one examines the interiors of all of these pyramids one can trace a central problem confronting the engineers, eventually tackled successfully in erecting the Great Pyramid. And that is to securely design rooms up into the piles that would not as you say be crushed by the weight of the stones. The pyramid at Saqqara avoided this issue by putting everything underground, but later engineers sought to make practical use of the artificial structure by extending rooms up into it. Corbelling is one solution to the problem, but even those spaces were subject to deadweight forces that made this an unsatisfactory solution because the structurally stressed corbelled spaces proved difficult to finish and secure. This was a problem for these fourth dynasty pyramids generally until the engineers of Khufu's pyramid resolved to install granite beams to secure the interior spaces and BTW probably the Grand Gallery above the current ceiling. In fact as you say this allowed for the installation of more sightly rooms with flat ceilings or finished ceilings, all brought in the so-called abandoned entry! AFTER Khufu's pyramid, the interior spaces once again retreat to the bottom of the pyramids, perhaps because of the expense of building such an elaborate interior such as the Great pyramid possesses. Scott Zema BA MA Architecture and Art History, UW Seattle.

[@lindakeesling4071]

I am a friend of Wifred Griggs from BYU. I heard many of these theories 50 years ago. I'm glad the regulations are loosening up.

[@toejamr1]

To be honest I like the pyramids like many others before, but you have created a hunger in me in wanting MORE and MORE information on these. I’m fascinated now.

[@rodinholland]

Excellent video! Very thought-provoking indeed! Your coloured graphics showing the various courses and other features are very helpful!

[@peterdore2572]

Awesome!! Always TOP QUALITY CONTENT! Every video is worth the wait.

[@johanschulmaijer5976]

Great video, amazing where you find the knowledge to produce such an inspiring video. the more explanation you give about the way the builders were making stone constructions, the more enigmatic/ mysterious their true motives to build these brilliant pyramids and their function, seem to me.

[@Gains24-7]

Amazing video. Thank you for such a detailed and informed piece of work!

[@dorkfish6663]

I learn so much from each video! Another great job. Thank you.

[@Agraina]

I love the slightly slowed deliberate delivery of "In modern times we take it for.. granted" @25:20 considering this channel's name. Pretty subtle and gave me a chuckle.

[@gregclancey6972]

I've just happened upon this series. Looks really good!

[@johnmorrison1180]

If I come across a History for Granite video I always make a point of viewing, the narrative is easy to listen to and very comprehensive.

[@Eyes_Open]

Cheers for the holidays. Thanks for the videos.

[@baysideauto]

Man I'm subbed and got notifications on and didn't get this till like 5min ago , weird but still awesome to have this content for my Christmas Eve listening. Merry Christmas everyone.

[@JesseP.Watson]

The idea that that ceiling would impress visitors due to its apparent engineering impossibility is something I find particularly interesting as it describes visitors that had a firm grasp of building challenges in a way that I do not believe exists today... and which is proven perhaps by the lack of earlier explorers noticing that feature. I have wondered myself often about cultural interest in these projects at the time and the crafts behind them and tend to feel it likely that these things were points of general interest and knowledge in a way we perhaps overlook. For example, todays young men knowing about cars or computers as a matter of course... I wonder if similar focus was placed on the "megalithic arts" then as a subject many were passionately interested in. ... I at least find it hard to believe the enslaved worker image wherein the fact that an astonishing thing is being built that many might be very passionate about [and proud to be involved in too] is obscured.

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

So fascinating that this project was rebuilt & rebuilt - must have been an enormous job, esp. with the prior completed construction stages making the stepped-to-flat pyramid conversion more unstable! I find it so mind-boggling to think of the resources repeatedly poured into remodelling this one structure... Really highlights the riches of Egypt at the time, and the level of engineering & work organisation they'd achieved.

[@ColeYounger16]

One of my top 5 channels, and, I watch until the end.

[@beachbum4691]

Subscribed long ago thank heaven; so much more information presented in a way I can understand that I can't get from any other source including wiki., Great stuff, looking forward to more :)

[@w.colonialboy9144]

Just came across your channel, and I've been binging 😅 sense.. I had no idea I was even really overly interested in the pyramids, or Egyptology in general - not anymore, thanks! Cheers

[@xpgx1]

*Awesome video study!* I really enjoy these in-depth, specific videos from you =) In general, I had more than one "IKR!?!" moment, finally all those features make sense in a more coherent, wholistic way. It's really weird, I never felt satisfied with full scale, mainstream documentaries about this and similar topics. They seem to (often, not always) focus on mythical, wildly vague theories and not what has **actually** been discovered. Whenever I fact checked those, I often times found ONE source, which in the end boiled down to very, very old hearsay. It has been a long time, but that doesn't mean a weak source becomes magically stronger. Thank you for highlighting "semi-professional" archeologists. It's absolutely like you say: Anyone who provides scientific observation and data deserves to be recognized and therefore talked about - we all want to learn about these ancient monuments, **right?!?** What conclusions one might draw from this _should_ be an entirely _different_ subject. So yeah, thank you!