The UNFINISHED OBELISK of Ancient Egypt

[@ernststravoblofeld]

I think the super advanced technology that the ancient Egyptians had that we have lost is mostly patience.

[@Great_Olaf5]

Apologies in advance for what turned from a quick refutation into a philosophical and history laden rant. I don't think it's so much that they had a greater capacity for patience than we do. The desire to do things more quickly or easily has aforesaid existed, and that pressure has pushed forward innovations that allow it. What's changed is the threshold for patience. As technology has improved, and the rate we can accomplish an identical project increases, our tolerance for taking time decreases, but the scale of projects we can accomplish increases as well. All told, a lot of the most impressive Egyptian monuments, impressive as they are, are relatively simple. Pyramids are piled stone, once they'd figured out the right angle that could support itself, the basic design didn't need to change much. Their temples are often more complex structures, but in earlier times were made from more forgiving materials than stone, so the more technically impressive (that is to say, requiring more skill) monuments made in later periods of Egyptian history actually took similar or lesser amounts of time. Also compare Medieval cathedrals, which could sometimes take centuries to complete from foundation to opening, I don't think anyone could argue a lack of patience there (aside from the, "isn't that thing _done_ yet?!" variety). The reason we don't undertake decades or centuries long projects today isn't purely a lack of patience (though that's absolutely a factor), it's that there are very few projects we would want to do that would take that long, and most of them aren't building projects. If we really wanted to do so, we have the capacity to build something close to an exact replica of the Great Pyramid, and we could almost certainly do it in less than a decade, possibly more like half of one (a decade that is), if building permissions weren't a factor. We do engage in decades long projects, various aspects of the space program are planned at least a decade in advance, things like aircraft carriers often take time on the order of 5-7 years from laying down the keel to fully commissioning them into active service. If we want to talk hypotheticals, a source elevator would certainly take a couple decades to build, but we don't really have a pressing need for one yet, and we hope that by the time we might conceivably have a use for one, we'll be able to build it faster than we can now. Terraforming projects would take centuries minimum with our current understanding, more like millenia of effort. We don't really lack dia patience, or at least, that lack isn't alone, we also lack the need or desire to do any of these kinds of megaprojects.

[@rockysexton8720]

Skilled craftsmen in the present tend to think of a work project in terms of hours, days, or weeks. Ancient craftsmen were often involved in things that took months, years, or decades. That's why I am skeptical of those claiming to be engineers, masons, etc. Who pop up claiming it couldn't be done. It's more like they simply can't conceive of that level of patience and attention to detail.

[@MrDOB1000]

@@Great_Olaf5 you don't really have a clue what you're talking about.

[@error4159]

The other advanced technology they used was the manpower of thousands of unpaid slave laborer to do all the backbreaking pulling, pounding, craving and lifting. Americans amazing growth after it's founding shows what can be achieved with a large unpaid slave labor workforce.

[@MrDOB1000]

@@error4159 was America even founded when they say it was?

[@AncientArchitects]

Superb video, David. The fire is the key then! 6mm to 200mm is a HUGE difference. Fire is the key to cutting/pounding out the stone. And the pounders start as angular, sharp rocks but end up rounded BECAUSE they have been used. Wonderful interview.

[@sergpie]

Yooooo! Love your channel AA

[@AncientArchitects]

@@sergpie thank you

[@Eyes_Open]

I hope you and Dr M can do a live stream soon.

[@andygodfrey76]

200mm in half an hour?

[@freemorox5896]

Hey 2 of my favourite channels.... although both could do with a few more aliens.

[@spankflaps1365]

I started tiling my bathroom 5 years ago but got sick of it, and quit. Hopefully in 3500 years time, archaeologists will discover it and finish the job.

[@mikebaker2436]

...and then a few pretending to be archeologicalists will claim that there is no way you could have had a bathroom and credit your remodel to your alien overlords. 🤣

[@contrarian8870]

Don't forget to scratch some poorly drawn animals in the tiles, this way the future archeologists will determine your bathroom was a "cult site"

[@greghansen38]

You must have taken over an ancient bathroom that was built by the Atlanteans. Clearly the later work is inferior to the original.

[@darcyrosewilson]

You can do it!!! You should totally finish the job! You are going to thank me 😂

[@doug8515]

With a granite pounding stone? hahahaha

[@James00037]

I waited 11,000 years for you to cover this topic

[@withnail-and-i]

You had to turn in your space ship at light speed to see if he'd get it right

[@jjw56]

Yes yes yes ….

[@Rogier182]

Yes it should be commonly accepted that this unfinished obelisk is pre dynastic! No way old kingdom Egyptians could have done it with the tools they had! Its simply impossible 🤷

[@PreciselyOneMyfi]

Literally the entire video is about how and when the Ancient Egyptians built it. Try watching it.

[@jamisojo]

@@Rogier182 they just explained exactly how it was done. It all made perfect sense.

[@Hans-jc1ju]

You have probably been told before but you are an amazing Interviewer. You ask interesting question that don’t presuppose a specific answer (although you most likely already know it), so it does not create an awkward moment when they don’t answer exactly what you expect them to. And you are able to move on to a different question when the interviewee sees a question as answered. You also switch between topics fluently; creating an interview in the progress that is interesting to watch all the way through.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Thanks, I appreciate hearing that!

[@User-435ggrest]

I agree! Amazing content🙏

[@walterulasinksi7031]

The NOVA program on “Erecting the Pharaoh’s Obelisk” give the greatest insight as to part of the transportation if such heavy objects. Even to the loading and unloading of them on the barges. As well as the easiest and safest way to erect into final position. It shows that when people who work with stone get together, they can figure out how to accomplish the task without overthinking the project. Even to the learning curve.

[@dr.banoub9233]

😂😂😂Erecting the Pharaoh’s Obelisk? And that’s what the producers agreed as the title , with no pun intended? That’s what I call a double entendre.

[@walterulasinksi7031]

@@dr.banoub9233, double entendre , it may be but it is the name of the NOVA episode. It has Rodger Hopkins using the sand pit method against a British engineer trying to use the possibly most advanced technology available. Guess who was able to erect the Obelisk.

[@dr.banoub9233]

@@walterulasinksi7031 So how large was this erected Obelisk? Was that rock hard to work ? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

[@walterulasinksi7031]

@@dr.banoub9233 the engineer had a 15 ton and Rodger was relegated to a dealing with a seven ton one. Be that as it may, Rodger showed how even a gang of humans could transport one on a sledge with. The proper motivation. Still humorous, true but you can watch the episode on You Tube. It is in a playlist of over 400 episodes. While NOVA is documentary entertainment, the various interdisciplinary approach that is used for experimental archeology brings the human viewpoints that wind up the making of history, as opposed to the older style of documentary presentation where everything was pronouncements without the relevant reasoning for the conclusions. Much like the teachers that wanted students to learn by rote. Even Dr. Hawass has seen the usefulness in experimental archeology., to show how things were done by humans with the available technology and methods. In most cases what seems the simplest is also the safest and and permitted things to happen quicker than would be anticipated. So to figure out how to build the pyramids, you get an architect/ project manager, to figure out the easiest building method and have the archeologists uncover the middens of those that built it to get the human aspect. Similarly you can get an engineer and a wainwright together and recreate a Pharaoh’s Chariot with both contributing to the understanding of the final aspects of design, then recreating the bridal and harness for the horses and a military expert, to show how a Pharaohs army would have used them in battle.

[@dr.banoub9233]

@@walterulasinksi7031 Thank you. I will watch some of these episodes. Being a Copt, I never tire of ancient Egypt, humanity’s richest culture.

[@SubtleSalmon]

It's so cool how the ancient Egyptians would use fire to make carving out the stone go quicker. I love learning about these ancient building techniques, just like the other World of Antiquity video on SACSAYHUAMAN. This video also goes well with Scientists Against Myths video Mystery of the Great Megaliths: Baalbek without Aliens. They talk about the unfinished giant stones in Lebanon that also had to be given up on because of cracks

[@JMM33RanMA]

I believe that I've seen and read about other similar techniques, building a fire next to a rock wall to heat it, then dousing the hot rock with water to induce cracks, or pouring water into cracks in winter so that freezing would widen the cracks. In fact an early idea for quarrying stone was to create linear cracks, pound in wooden wedges and then wet the wedges causing pressure to widen the crack.

[@MrDOB1000]

Yeah they were all built by stone age humans with hand tools. Keep reading the "history books"

[@richardearnshaw2719]

@@JMM33RanMA Yes. Because nature has shown peoples around the world that the roots of a tree will widen the smallest of cracks in the hardest of stone.

[@greghansen38]

The fire thing was totally new to me. Clever!

[@BSIII]

I also recommend SGD Sacred Geometry Decoded.

[@nakoma5]

The alternatives always say the experts don't know how such objects were really made and transported but here we are. Usually the experts do know, it's just the alternatives ignoring proper research and evidence or hoping their audience is ignorant.

[@jamisojo]

Some people just love to believe in conspiracies. They don't try very hard to find the facts.

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

Library BURNT

[@rodelking3466]

@@jamisojo Some people are also lacking in intellectual insight, insisting that they are always the bright ones, there simply is no room for a different opinion. You, J Jamberson belong to that group of people. You're a legion. Your kind started the Roman Inquisition, remember Galileo? Have you ever heared of Giordano Bruno? Well, he proposed that the stars are also distant suns surrounded by their own planets. Your kind wouldn't have it, so in 1600 they tortured him and burned him at stake. I think it's no longer debatable that our sun is a star, and over 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered revolving different stars, and still counting. It's your kind that stifle the progress of science. Science is a process for producing knowledge. The process depends both on making careful observations of phenomena and on inventing theories for making sense out of those observations. Change in knowledge is inevitable because new observations may challenge prevailing theories. No matter how well one theory explains a set of observations, it is possible that another theory may fit just as well or better, or may fit a still wider range of observations. In science, the testing and improving and occasional discarding of theories, whether new or old, go on all the time. Scientists assume that even if there is no way to secure complete and absolute truth, increasingly accurate approximations can be made to account for the world and how it works. I leave it at that. Obviously, you do not possess the education or intellectual capacity to digest that.

[@russelledwards001]

@@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491 it was probably full of mills and boon stories and porn engravings

[@Olds79Starfire]

@@rodelking3466 Aliens

[@63phillip]

The sand and Obelisk demo at the end was great, looks like it would work .

[@Leeside999]

Yes, very clever. I'd like to see the documentary it came from. Anyone got a link?

[@Eyes_Open]

​@@Leeside999 Haven't found it yet but this one is also interesting showing how to raise an obelisk kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJjInH2kgsqBn7s

[@Leeside999]

@@Eyes_Open thanks man

[@davidclark573]

Makes you immediately ask how they cut under the large stone to free it from the quarry.

[@User-435ggrest]

Only thing I can imagine is by scraping as deep as possible under the obelisk, then heating it up with fire, praying that it doesn't crack the whole thing and letting the cold night air crack it loose. Is my layman's theory anyway. How they lifted the thing and put it on a barge is another mystery🤔

[@davidclark573]

@@User-435ggrest No one knows how they were moved and this U-Tube show does not want you to learn how because it might pucnch a hole in the christian myth. This show is desperately trying to discredit Graham Hancock and all he is saying is there was an advanced civilization long ago that was wiped out by a disaster. The christian bible does not want any contrary findings. For instance, the discovery of cave paintings done 30,000 years ago blows out the ancestral linage of Adam and Eve to Noah that was written in the bible as about 7 generations. The church cannot explain that.

[@JonnoPlays]

It's sad how this information is readily available, but people prefer to believe the mystery is totally unsolved and impossible to achieve by the ancient Egyptians.

[@olorin4317]

Wow! Fire makes so much sense I can't believe I hadn't thought about it before. They are using it to basically "soften" the granite in an area. The heat makes the natural small cracks between the grains of the stone expand. Then they can pound away where the grains have been loosened. It's blowing my mind. We try to avoid it in modern granite working. Wow, wow, wow.

[@AncientArchitects]

Simple but so effective 👌

[@olorin4317]

The word I was looking for was Brittle. The fire damage makes the stone brittle and easier to smash up. The fire, in no way, makes the stone softer.

[@alienrenders]

Ummm lol what? Fire? Do you undrstand how much lumber would be required? The scoop marks go all the way down in a straight line and are evenly distributed. This was not done hy hand or by fire. Fire would not cause even distribution. Also, your fire isn't gonna do anything underneath the obelisk which is partially carved out and the scoop marks continue.

[@olorin4317]

@@alienrenders Do you understand that fire doesn't require wood? Also, they don't necessarily need the fire at every stage, it just helps speed up the removal of stone by creating microcracks along the fire damaged area. I can't claim to understand all their methods, but if you've worked stone as much as I have, you would know that heat can definitely make stone brittle.

[@aztharz5637]

@olorin4317 I agree, but what doesn't add up is that the pattern is very uniform. I've watched in-depth videos of the trenches, and it shows stone removal that undercuts in places where it would be impossible to reach by hand, and those locations have the same sequence of uniform drag markings. Would fire work? Sure, I wouldn't doubt it, but it seems like there is something major missing.

[@jollyandwaylo]

I make 4 foot tall obelisks from old window glass using my glass fusing kiln. They look like ancient objects during the day but at night I can light them up from inside with LED lights. I've always been fascinated with obelisks and I love hearing more about how they were made and moved.

[@maidende8280]

Now I want glass obelisks lining my estate entrance filled with candles or torches.

[@sergpie]

@@maidende8280 Dear god I hope you don’t have cats

[@maidende8280]

@@sergpie I have 2 😂 Why is that a problem? Btw just bc I want something doesn’t mean I’ll get it, ofc. :)

[@sergpie]

@@maidende8280 I hade a beautiful malachite obelisk that my fat little monster-cat knocked over and broke 😭

[@maidende8280]

@@sergpie Oh no, I’m sorry! I do have fat little monster cat that thinks she’s a puppy. But amazingly she rarely breaks stuff.

[@walterulasinksi7031]

What most advance technology people forget, is that there is a reason we cll everything from the Paleolithic through the neolithic, the”Stone Age”. It was during those times ghat humans discovered and refined the use and technical characteristics of all types of stone. And how to combine the natural forces such as fire and water to exploit them for human purposes. Some of these came from accidental means, such ad seeing how stone can crack when a fire is quickly extinguished by water and remembering this to use it for human purposes. Even to how such technology can decompose granite, which while a hard stone, consists of softer materials that react differently to hot and cold. Once a stone slab such as the Obelisk was fashioned the under cutting of the attached spine, would be hollowed through and discarded pounding stones filled into the hollows to support the stone while adjacent hollows were being cut. This prevents the stone from falling and acts like a Jack stand under a car. Then as you show in the video, the possibility of using sand to raise it from the pit and get it on sledges can easily be accomplished with the use of draft cattle teams to move the slab and human laborers to fill in the sand. Such project management was shown as far back as the building of the pyramids and although there are the given indications as to why these obelisks were being created, there was also the political acumen to have people employed so as to not have rebellions. Such employment generated prosperity across the entire population, since it created spendable income apart from the trades of everyday life. Especially for the farmers who had a growing period for crops which apart from irrigation required little work and was, a difficult annual period of no income.

[@sonups8483]

Can u pls make video on vedic civilization What was happening during those period Pls mention sinauli excavations Also what is ur opinion on proto sanskrit language is it from hurrian language spoken by mittani people(scroll website talks on that topic pls search sanskrit not from india ) I wonder why there are not much evidence or archaeological findings like we have in Mesopotamia or egypt a perfect written history and evidence of stuffs so we can tell the history like a continuous story

[@eliotanderson6554]

We have some kingdoms like gandara puru etc.. but not much is known

[@anonymousoff5420]

We found 4200 years old iron in southern India recently that's huge jump in historical discovery in india We should extend our iron age I'm sure it's way ahead in north india

[@sergpie]

@@anonymousoff5420 What’s with Indian iron artifacts that don’t rust? Isn’t there an iron column in India that still hasn’t oxidized?

[@eliotanderson6554]

@@sergpie yes as per IIT researchers they said its because of mixing with sulphur or phosphorous something which make it stay protected but I guess we don't know the reason behind 🤷‍♂️

[@rahulmenon4357]

@@eliotanderson6554 It is against the law to take samples AFAIK, it falls under UNESCO heritage due to it's location (it's in the compound of the Red Fort or Qutub Minar). Also Sanskrit cannot be from India because India happened much later, there were many kingdoms prior to the formation of India. We may share racial characteristics, but that's like saying the Incas were from Peru, it was not called Peru at the time.

[@ManuSeyfzadeh]

Great Interview with Adel Kelany. I just wanted to correct an important item: The use of red granite floor plates was reported by W. M. Flinders Petrie in 1900 (in passing), and again in 1901 in more detail. This is on page 9 in Part II of The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties. The tomb where this was discovered was that of Horus-Den, the fifth king of the First Dynasty, not the Second Dynasty as it appears in this video, and this is a key discovery because it times the quarrying of granite to the very beginning of Egyptian civilization and forms a bridge between the use of granite at Nekhen in prehistoric times, and Saqqara in the Third Dynasty, i.e., Djoser's granite burial chambers. Petrie's chief evidence that this granite floor was original to Den's tomb rather than a later improvement were imprints left on these granite plates by stone vases that could be dated to the First Dynasty.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Hi Manu. That would have been my mistake. I put the title on the image. You are certainly correct that Den ruled in the first dynasty (a few decades before the second).

[@ZSCCCarter]

Hello Manu, Very good remark and observation. only question I have is how did the Egyptians actually " quarry" the granite in this time period? Can you or David expand on your theory on this ?

[@ManuSeyfzadeh]

There is no logical connection between my post and your question. What is the gist of my post? Please recite.

[@rosetownstumpcity]

great video... such an interesting topic, knowledgeable guest, and in depth information that is still accessible to a lay man. i do wish that the doctor's microphone was better, the audio quality and his accent made it somewhat difficult to understand, but this was so fascinating that i just kept rewatching until i figured out what he was saying, lol.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

There are captions available.

[@Stevos-oo2vd]

Thank you David. Excellent Presentation as usual .

[@m_t_burton]

Haha nice work I see what you’ve done.. why talk about small ones when you can just talk about the most gigantic!! Absolute legend

[@jonnywatts2970]

Great interview! You are very good at asking the key questions that answer all the questions raised by the doubters. You've made a believer out of me. A critical thinker even.

[@a_lucientes]

2:29 I was waiting for you to say your expert contact was Ben from Unchartedx. The guy who spends his life complaining scholars ignore his claims, and then when a historian takes some on, one at a time, we hear crickets back from Ben. Sad.

[@Eyes_Open]

Ben has been carefully rewording his claims since Dr M and Scientists Against Myths and Sacred Geometry Decoded channels keep debunking many of his statements.

[@anitapollard1627]

Thank you, Dr. David, i learned some new info! I love hearing directly from the person who has "on the ground" spent his lifes work on the subject at hand.

[@unwatchabletrash]

This is the one I've been waiting for.

[@davidmurphy563]

Ohhh. Love the Egyptian civil engineering vids. Wonder if it's debunking or educational. Right, I'm saving this one for the exercise bike at the gym this evening. 38 mins? I can do that.

[@CleverMonster101]

Great motivation!

[@larryniv]

Bike or listen to what a highly trained scientist has to say. I can't do two things at once.

[@sergpie]

I find that adding strenuous bursts of activity to informative videos, allows for better retention and remembering of the contents; I guess the association of the physical effort to the information allows it to be remembered more readily .

[@mnomadvfx]

Education is the foundation of debunking - so both.

[@mattking993]

Thank you for doing this video. I had seen a video on youtube before claiming the Egyptians had used fire and showed that it improved the rate of quarrying but getting actual archeological confirmation was very satisfying. I do wish you had covered more about how they would move them over land. I have an idea that they built the sleds directly underneath the stones when they were still connected to their base. They would then use the wood/water method to detach the stone from its base and the stone would then be sitting right on the sled ready for transport. They would dig out a ramp at 1 end of the stone and haul it out on the sleds using the same method that they believe was used at the alabaster quarry of Hatnub. Maybe even digging a niche that ran the length of the stone an filling it with sand then wetting the sand. A method that has been proven to reduce the friction an make moving these huge stones less difficult and with the "capstan"/ramp (not sure what you would call it) method found at Hatnub they could get them moved. I believe this would probably be easier than lifting it with sand or wood chips, lol.

[@Chris.Davies]

Lifting megaliths is easy. You rock them back and forth by shifting weights about a centered shoring box, and slide in boards at the open end, then tip the stone the other direction. Literally not a problem, and quite a quick process.

[@mattking993]

@@Chris.Davies Man lifts 20 ton stone by himself? I saw that video too. Maybe, but this stone is much larger than that 1. The potential for this 1 to break in half from its own weight and size is a possibility using that method.

[@TWOCOWS1]

EXCELLENT explanation. totally fabulous. Thanks for making and posting. I wish those "Martian origin" theorists would learn from this

[@vanderteufel]

To wet sand, knotted rope, pounding stones, copper tools and furious sledding for Pharaoh the Egyptologists add fire. If only we had fire today.

[@PlomoorPlata]

Gold mirrors since melted by plunderers to focus the sun instead of fire perhaps?

[@surfk9836]

Before the Egyptians there was a culture sooo advanced in engineering that they didn't know the the advantage of engineering an arch for their buildings.

[@DavidfromMichigan]

Seems like the tool has a pendulum that the "cutter" was tied to. Each scoop you can see how the ridges are slightly higher that the middle. Same angle every cut.

[@henrymahon]

Yay new content ! Jumping in now

[@laurawilliams7782]

This was a lot of new and interesting info :)

[@erimk235]

The model at the end was very convincing that they could move that obelisk…further than that there is explanation on how they would do that on statues with round shapes, or stones that come from the other side of a mountain. Would be nice if further explanation on the precision and symetry of the various statues and how that was achived…

[@varyolla435]

Ever watch say a carpenter or a mason work using a chalk line?? Today they will use a square/level first to find plumb and mark a line using a chalk line = whereas in the past they might use a weighted plumbline and draw the corresponding line/grid. Moral of the story: the Tomb of Horemheb (KV57) as one example is incomplete. On its' partially finished walls you can see where lines/grids were laid to ascertain correct sizing of designs to be painted along with those designs in various stages. In other words a person would draw the design -------> someone would come after to make corrections = and the finished design would then be painted. The Theban Mapping Project as an example has photos you can access online of the tomb walls. So obviously they would first draw a design onto a wall - or perhaps a block to be carved or even the side of a mountain. Grids might be created to facilitate correct sizing/symmetry after which a design could be painted or stone removed to achieve the final result which might then be polished. As an aside you should familiarize yourself with a concept: pareidolia. Our eyes sometimes play tricks on us as our brains seek to "even things out" if you will. Look at photos of the pyramids taken at a distance = their sides appear "sharp". Now look at the same taken closer up = and their imperfections stand out. So statues may "appear" to be precise visually from a certain vantage as our eyes tend to make things appear much crisper and even than they might actually be. Upon closer examination however - especially using modern technology - "symmetry" is sometimes illusory. 🤔

[@JMM33RanMA]

Thanks for another fascinating explanation of how our ancestors did amazing things without our advanced tech. I noticed, near the tip of the unfinished obelisk, a set of indentations ▃ ▃ that would separate the top from the rest of the obelisk if connected and deepened. I can't help wondering if anyone has commented on this. Thanks for another thought-provoking video Professor Miano.

[@maidende8280]

Apparently those in the Roman period were responsible for that. It’s discussed around 21:15. They tried to take just the tip because the rest kept cracking, basically, but the tip also cracked.

[@JMM33RanMA]

@@maidende8280 Thanks, I got that much, though it wasn't as explicit. What I was really interested in was what method seemed to have been used to make ▃ ▃ indentations and what method would then be used to continue to separation. The Greeks and Romans may or may not have had more advanced techniques than the ancient Egyptians.

[@maidende8280]

@@JMM33RanMA Ahh yes that would be interesting to know.

[@mr.knightthedetective7435]

Fun fact: Unfinished Obelisk is 365 nautical miles away from Giza Pyramids, I checked

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Did you know they were only going to Thebes?

[@mr.knightthedetective7435]

@@WorldofAntiquity To Thebes? Well they missed the mark by 100 miles lol Side note: a whole while back I discovered on Google Earth that major megalithic structures are about 4.44 kilometers/miles/nautical miles away from each other, it made my heart skip a beat discovering this but unfortunately I lost the document where I wrote down each one

[@lameesahmad9166]

At the site of the Zimbabwe ruins I have seen a documentary which showed the local religious guardians of the site using fire to heat up local granite and then throwing water on the hot granite to break off pieces which they have used to restore areas which are crumbling. They believe that the same method was used by the ancient people to build it in the first place. Of course the original lava flow which covered the area was not very thick which makes it easy for these people to work with it. I am curious about the depth of the granite before it reaches the natural soil level at Aswan. Is it thicker in some places than others? This would surely aid the masons working in the quarry to lift pieces quicker in some areas.

[@cliffrover]

Thanks, answers many questions that are the subject of much wild speculation. I have a wonderfully detailed image of how Egyptians move very large statues I'd love to share with you, but can't post here. Is there an email?

[@WorldofAntiquity]

My email address is in the Channel About section.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@michael4250]

No scoop marks in trench on opposite side of obelisk. Different technique?

[@claudemaggard7162]

That answered alot of my questions. They were quite smart. It was hard work in sure.

[@kariannecrysler640]

I never knew wooden obelisks were used! Nor did I know about the recycling of the pounders once they were dull and rounded. I wonder if they utilized air filled bladders/skins to make a pontoon like raft? It would be a great way to disburse the weight of the stone.

[@AnyoneCanSee]

Excellent video. I visited this site in 1990 and have a picture of me standing on it which was allowed at that time. I assume by the picture you show with ropes that this is no longer allowed.

[@carlosdiaz2688]

This Show is Great

[@oubliette862]

i bet they drove timbers along their lengths to free them, like a wedge and feathers. have the areas where other large obelisks come out of been found?

[@Ultraramage]

We must protect this man at all costs

[@4ur3n]

David or the egyptian?

[@nomanulhaqkhan8135]

@@4ur3n obviously the egyption, Like mummify him etc etc. i hope thats what he trying to say

[@phlix1]

I really love your channel and the topics. I have also seen your 3 hour video response to ancient high technology. It is really a problem, that when I type "egypt" oder "egyptians" into the youtube searchbar, already on the first page there are conspiracy theory videos. In germany we are discussing about teaching a new subject called "media literacy / media competence" (don't know how to translate) in school. A big part of it would be how to distinguish between good information sources and bad ones. I think many people just type something into youtube and go for it. We need to be more critical. And also we need people who know their subjects to translate that into the digital world, just as you do!

[@johnquintana7276]

I'll bet you the workers when the boss wasn't looking put those cracks because none of them were looking forward to picking that thing up

[@RY-kd8vi]

Hannibal used a similar technique to reopen a road when he crossed the Alps.

[@ivokolarik8290]

I wish you asked how was the exploratory pits made

[@jamisojo]

What is an exploratory pit? I'm pretty sure this material was found at existing quarries.

[@auntteefa4911]

Cue the "It Wuz ALiEnz!" comments, lol. Another awesome video, Professor David!

[@ehguy3628]

Seems a reasonable explanation of how to move the Granite. Location, Location, Location relative to the water way. Earlier on in this video the mention of granite floors,Tomb of Den w/granite flooring (2nd Dynasty) has me wondering how granite would be removed and shaped to be fitted as flooring without iron tools?

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Granite can be shaped with stone tools.

[@donlawler9510]

36:55 you bet! Where there's a will, there's a way! edit - no mystery here - spot on!

[@isaacwhite7411]

I think it was sand blasting technique when cutting the ob , it really wouldnt be hard to do

[@2lefThumbs]

Wtf? He's claiming that Ancient Egyptians had access to fire? Who'd have expected that🤷‍♂️ ? My big problem with moving obelisks is how come the Victorians managed to grab the Cleopatra Needles then get them to London and New York and erect them, when alien tech handn't even been thought of, let alone forgotten?🤔 Excellent and informative dialog btw, nice to get an archeologist's view👍👍

[@andrewvoros4037]

You have an awesome channel, much needed to counter the many crazies, like the uncharterouscous and their despicable ilk; it pains me to see how many innocent followers they have. Reluctantly, I'll also submit that, in this interview, you might have been somewhat better prepared with questions, and better prepared with responses other than "wow," which I'll guess you're well aware of. Far be it from a viewer pleab like me to comment, but I thought I'd reinforce your better preparedness for future interviews. A suggestion: Lee Burger of the Homo Naledi finds in South Africa. Also, I think you'd make an awesome audio-books reader; you have that voice-over talent. Keep it up.

[@RasmusDyhrFrederiksen]

Great discussion and presentation.

[@joearnold6881]

That rocks so big, since it’s never been cut out it’s the size of the planet, and therefore it was aliums

[@maidende8280]

Fascinating & may you break 60k subs soon!

[@ibmibm691]

Did Ramases II drown at the 1st cataract of the Nile in Aswan?

[@michanowak929]

but how would they have had an obelisk on a raft - and then from the raft to the right place?

[@Raidz-448]

Unexplainable as far as i can tell

[@georged7627]

The Egyptians heated the rock to extreme heat to sculpture it the used dinosaurs to lift and carry 💪👍🏾🙏🏽

[@stage1greg]

this is great information, thank you david. be well.

[@antonellocossu4319]

Like given after 6"...

[@HasanAhmad-ji8qb]

I see contemporary craftsmen and I am fascinated by what they do. I am not surprised the biggest civilization of its time built pyramids.

[@varyolla435]

Some argue - compellingly - that it was the creation of the pyramids that made Egypt great. Think the US in the late-19th Century. The government sponsored the creation of the transcontinental railroads. That opened up the nation + facilitated improved communication between the coasts + allowed what were originally regional industries to expand their reach to become national and later international ones = and all because of a government sponsored project. So when the Egyptians transitioned from simple mastabas able to be created by a small workforce on a local level to creating ever larger stone pyramids = corresponding infrastructure had to also be developed. So resources needed to be sourced from across Egypt and beyond. Shipping and harbors/canals had to be created to supply the larger, more skilled workforce with the necessary resources. There is historical accounting to indicate Sneferu warred upon the Nubians/Libyans to acquire men and cattle to support a larger workforce for his pyramids. What were "State farms" controlled by the government were expanded to supply the additional agriculture to feed his workers and so on. Moral of the story: thus by creating the pyramids the Pharaohs in essence = created what went on to make Egypt prosperous and strong. It united the nation under a central effort which further expanded the movement of resources both internally and externally. As with all things however - eventually the good times ended. While adding to Egypt's overall capacity - the need to build bigger and more was detrimental in the end. Some Egyptologists believe that towards the end of the Old Kingdom the Pharaohs basically bankrupted Egypt via these massive projects. When a prolonged drought afflicted Egypt and the regions lasting as some have stated upwards of a century - Egypt lacking the resources to weather the storm = saw the collapse of the Old Kingdom. Yet later Egyptians adapted as always and following that collapse one sees their creating hybrid grains and even crossbreeding cattle with Asian species to generate ones better suited to arid environments. So by the New Kingdom when a drought again hit the region - even the Egyptians enemies the Hittites petitioned Ramses II for grain as Egypt had when others did not. So as with all things one must view the totality of what we see and why. 🤔

[@aribantala]

Knowing the Fire Pit enhances the cutting process to almost 35x of it's effiency without using fire astounds me. Either I missed it or it wasn't discussed, but do we know how much work done for the Dolerite hammers to chip up to 6mm? I reckon about an hour or so because it's the same rate I hear for cutting granite using abrasive cutting technique... Which is 3-4mm per hour 20cm on an hour or so work would immensely cut the quarrying process.. that means you can cut the stone 80cm deep just by working in 4 hours

[@newman653]

Mind boggling proportions .

[@nomanulhaqkhan8135]

i am Watching many of your videos every day.At first, i was sad cz your facts were Ruining those alien theories and feelings of wonder that who could have done that etc but this is the only video that made me Go back on words that egyptians techniques were awesome too. out of all ur guests he told the most awesome info,like for normal people. i have one request though,if you have subtitles plz tell at the start of the video cz i found it through comment section and 2ndly plz Add more pictures and animation to help us grasp the idea firmly conveyed by you guys. and is there a video of you telling how pyramids were actually built like movments of rocks etc?? thank you thank you.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

I actually did say I had subtitles at the beginning of the interview. I put it on screen.

[@claudemaggard7162]

Thank you for this video

[@ibmibm691]

Talking about Hutshepsut. Was she married after hrr husband Tutmose II passed away. She had children after her husband passed away. Who was their dad?

[@Iammrspickley]

Even if you are doubtful about the ancient Egyptians being capable doing these things (and the emphasis lies on the "ancient" part....and is not a crazy eugenicist Überjodler attempt to say Egyptians couldn't do it)...the undeniable fact that somewhere around year what? Zero? Well...the basic technological standard was more or less the same, the Roman army shipped the Obelisks to Rome easy as cake....(sort of).....so.....not high technological advanced societies where pretty capable of doing it.

[@JonnoPlays]

To the channel owner, UnchartedX did a recent upload and it's his usual nonsense of saying things are too precise and too smooth and the ancients simply couldn't have done the work. This time he brought in a modern CNC expert and they both take turns saying "I just can't believe it, we couldn't do it today, nobody knows how they did it, look at this spiral it means they had high technology" its honestly pathetic and compared to his usual work I think he's starting to lose his edge. Maybe the fame of Joe Rogan finally got to his head. Anyway I hope you'll do another rebuttal video because this one will be an easy slam dunk. The people he has on the interview are famous in their own rite (son of somebody famous I guess) so they are really just celebrity guest and offer zero relevant expertise.

[@MrSilas2012]

I think there are a lot of people including Ben who want to see both theories tested. It would be an easy way to shut a lot of people up.

[@chiznowtch]

Ben doesn't want to see either sides tested. He wants mystery, it sells better.

[@properlynumb7092]

My thanks to Adel Kelay and Dr Miano. These scoops, perhaps they are a clue of the placement bricks. A mini furnace. I imagine dry reeds. They would produce a lot of heat and quick. A rocket stove comes to mind.

[@bryanandflorensglynn9048]

¿Why was it not used for something else? Like a smaller obelisk , or cut into smaller stones for a building or other monument?

[@WorldofAntiquity]

They did try to use it for a smaller obelisk, but it cracked again.

[@jhake67]

ancient egypt was the greatest civilization... ever!

[@Mark_GL]

Great work!

[@JasonAlexzander1q47]

Great work and truth! Ty

[@eldraque4556]

Have they found any quarried stones in the Nile (materilas lost to the river during transportation)?😶‍🌫

[@faithlesshound5621]

After 4000 years and more of silt deposition from the annual floods, any quarried stones would have sunk down pretty deep under the river bed of the Nile.

[@eldraque4556]

@@faithlesshound5621 ok, thank you

[@BestBud-hr3tu]

How did they cut the underside of the obelisk?

[@varyolla435]

Remove stone while leaving = support columns in place. Then the bottom area can be framed in using a heavy wooden sledge and the support columns removed allowing it to rest upon the platform. There are partially quarried objects in Egyptian quarries which were abandoned in place whereby they created stone columns underneath it to support it up in the air as they worked. Once it was removed and uprighted then the sides could be finished.

[@BestBud-hr3tu]

@@varyolla435 thank you

[@ivokolarik8290]

Great video 👍👍

[@scottherzan9346]

I could be mistaken...but if Egyptians used granite to make monuments/obelisks, why do they all just look tan or light brown like sand?

[@aribantala]

Could you elaborate? Granite is pretty granular... Hence the name. They came in many colors depending on composition... And if the Granite is left outside without maintenance, it can weather and discolor. So depending on the situation and the property of the granite, it can vary a lot...

[@ABandAnd]

If they could carve out the obelisk from the quarry,, then they most certainly could have carved out the granite next to it as the north side already looks quarried. Meaning, it would be easier to slide it out than to lift it out,, not easy but easier... But first they would carve out the obelisk itself to make sure it didn't crack, then if it would come out as a whole piece, then after that they would start to carv out the north side and then decend it to the ground level on the north side. Makes more sence than lifting it out in my mind,, Im not claiming anything, just saying.

[@davecampbell9803]

Very revealing

[@loony2869]

I really like this channel

[@davannaleah]

Never completed however, no doubt, it would have been. Only something of cataclysmic proportions would have just stopped progress so abruptly. War? Unlikely. It is quite obvious that the technology that went into this construction was way beyond what we think existed at the time we thought this work was done. Indeed, it is possible this is a relic of the time that the Younger Dryas 'event' occurred, whatever that was, implying that this artifact is much older than current estimates.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

*Only something of cataclysmic proportions would have just stopped progress so abruptly.* It broke.

[@davannaleah]

Ahh... That is a pity after so much work. I wonder how long it took to get that far...

[@varyolla435]

@@davannaleah Not a pity = a risk...... - which the Egyptians well understood. Despite being knowledgeable - to a point - as far as geology sometimes mistakes can happen. There are as an example tombs in the Valley of the Kings whereby they were tunneling in a direction to suddenly veer off - why?? Answer: they encountered a layer of poor limestone such as they recognized was structurally unstable and accordingly were forced to begin to tunnel in another direction following the layer of sound limestone lest they risk a collapse. Moral: as noted the obelisk cracked and thus it became unusable. Egyptologists who studied the quarry determined that the Egyptians who mined at Aswan over centuries typically looked for sections of the bedrock which represented the easiest areas for extraction. This means if an area proved unusable for some reason they would bypass it to begin in some other area of the quarry. The obelisk quarried under Hatshepsut perhaps was abandoned because by then they determined other things were a priority. Egypt's quarries are littered with partially completed and then abandoned stone objects. As to how long something might take is of course resource dependent. Then as now = you got what you paid for. In other words a wealthy Pharaoh might have the money and time to employ hundreds or even thousands of workers to create something - whereas less wealthy ones sufficed with smaller projects. Pharaohs did not simply say _"build me X........"_ = the workforce had to be supplied and sustained during the life of the project - and time & resources are always finite.

[@zzdoodzz]

Question, is anyone aware of a survey that has been done of the bottom of the Nile river, to see if there are any objects that were sunk in transport. Granted the river in places has changed its course, but around some areas, like Aswan, I'm sure it's close to the original location/shape. I am curious if anyone has ever surveyed the bottom of the river to find objects that may have been lost in transport.

[@TopazBadger6550]

They won't find anything. So they don't dare look.

[@faithlesshound5621]

Such things have been found in English rivers. The British Museum has a video about a bronze head of a Roman Emperor that was presumably looted from Colchester by Germanic invaders and deposited by them as a tribute to the gods in the middle of a river nearby. That river is nothing like the size of the Nile and has much less silt coming down, so metal objects can remain in place. The Nile, before the Aswan Dam was built, would have been scoured by the annual flood and after that covered by a new layer of silt. Celts and Germans made donations of weapons and jewellery to rivers, lakes and marshes which are still being discovered. South and Central America have that too.

[@ABandAnd]

If one would carve a wooden beam with a Dremel then the "scoop marks" wouldn't come out as identical either, meaning that the wooden beam was still carved by a machine and not by hand.

[@ItsMeChillTyme]

Do we know what kind of raft or boat they would be using to transport 900 tons? What comes to mind is they hollowed out logs and somehow sealed them to displace that perhaps but I am not sure. If anyone is aware, do tell.

[@varyolla435]

They were not using "rafts" per se = but barges. Further as the depiction of obelisks being transported found in Hatshepsut's mortuary temple shows they sometimes used multiple large barges connected together which were further being towed my multiple smaller boats. If you look at Egyptian ships they were assembled using planks and ropes. So they could assemble them to the size required. The Palermo Stone relates how Khufu's father Sneferu ordered 40 shiploads of cedar from what is today Lebanon and decreed that boats up to 50 meters in length be built. Shipwrights who study ancient ship designs estimate the barge used by Merer to transport the white Tura stone to Giza could carry loads of stone in the ~70-90 ton range. So wooden ships can actually carry a lot depending upon their size. As an example. Cogs such as used to ply the major rivers and coastal areas of Europe for centuries ranged from 15-30 meters in size with the larger ones being able to carry loads in the hundreds of tons range. During Roman times the precincts of Rome subsisted on Egyptian grain. The ISIS as one grain ship used to transport 1,200 tons of grain at a time as is went back and forth from Alexandria to Rome. It was 55 meters long and about 14 meters wide.

[@ItsMeChillTyme]

@@varyolla435 Wow, thanks for the information, much appreciated. How similar is that technique of using small boats to steer or boost a big boat to just exactly what we do now with aircraft carriers and even cruise ships.

[@varyolla435]

@@ItsMeChillTyme Among the murals found in Hatshepsut's mortuary temple as noted is a panel which depicts a large 3 decked barge with an obelisk on top. In front is a row of smaller barges towing it with all being moved via oarsmen. So just as you might see say several small tugs towing a large ocean liner from port out into the sea lanes = so the Egyptians used very large boats which were assisted by smaller ones to move heavy objects like an obelisk down the Nile to their destination. As an aside. At Giza on the eastern side of Khafre's valley temple adjacent the Sphinx if you go to maps and use satellite view you will see 3 lines running eastwards to the now suburbs of Cairo = sloping stone jetties which go beneath the ground. So that area was once a harbor area with connecting canals to allow laden ships to move to/from the Nile. As the diary of Merer relates they during the months of the year when the Nile rose to flood its banks would transport stone to Giza as the higher water allowed for heavily laden ships to access the harbor. Similarly as the video speaks to they would move obelisks from the quarry downhill to "wadis" along the banks of the Nile = low areas which seasonally flooded as the river spilled its banks. So the obelisk could be placed upon its platform/barge when the area was dry and upon the flood season it rose to be moved out into the Nile channel. So not a "harbor" as much as an area subject to periodic flooding which allowed ships to access it/leave via dikes and canals.

[@dazuk1969]

Big shout to Dr Kelany for talking about this. However, I do have questions about the fire thing. Heat always rises right ?. So if you set a fire on granite, all you are heating is the air above. Some residual heat will go down, but certainly not enough to heat granite to a point whereby it is easier to remove....especially in the confines/context at Aswan. I do believe dolerite stones were used to one degree or another Moving it: there are two possibilities. #1 they got to a point where they realised "oh crap, we are never going to move this thing"....or....#"2 the Nile deluge failed for a few years so they didn't have the opportunity to try. To those who think water could not move it, I say this, never underestimate the power of fast flowing water. It could pick your house up and move it under the right conditions. Disclaimer: No 👽 or lost cavillations were harmed in writing this post 😙. Great stuff WOA.

[@catman8965]

WELL, this can only mean one thing!!! You, me, and Irena are going to have to meet at this quarry and solve it ourselves. LOL 😉 Melting copper was no problem for the ancient Egyptians and copper melts at 1900° F. So they knew how to generate high temperatures. See you in Egypt 😁

[@dazuk1969]

@@catman8965 Maybe we could ask David to tag along with us....he might learn something from us Cat Man (don't tell him I said that...I don't want him to tell me off 😉)...Egypt !....here we come.

[@catman8965]

@@dazuk1969 I've been trying to get Ancient Sites to film an underwater site, but I think that's too far out of her comfort zone. 😆. Your secret is safe with me.

[@iqweaver]

If heat only rises we would never have invented the fireplace, heater or campfire. And in the video they mention mudbrick walls. Heat will escape where it can, if you built a mudbrick enclosure beside your granite surface with the only outlet facing the surface the heat will go out that way.

[@catman8965]

In general the three most common ways heat is transferred is by conduction, convection, and radiation. I remember listening to a report about spacecraft going off course with no explanation as to why. After years of investigating it was determined that the heat radiating off the spacecraft was the cause. The heat was literally pushing the spacecraft a little bit off course.🚀👩‍🚀👨‍🚀

[@TheLionFarm]

very interesting son Egypt & Rome used these interesting indeed

[@happyg.444]

They ground the stone away with stone cylinders, not "pound".

[@jamisojo]

I think you're going to have to be more specific or descriptive. Pounding sounds like it would work just fine.

[@nicolasjuandecardenas7921]

Fantastic.

[@raedgaj3878]

The time scale on these projects must have been massive, but just look what can be achieved when your not staring at a mobile phone all day.

[@zakzeus.shuufHunaak]

Strange😮

[@ibmibm691]

Could the obelisk be a sun dial

[@varyolla435]

A lot of effort to create something which could just as easily be accomplished with = a stick...... - think about it. If the Egyptians understood the concept of "time" as broken down into increments as we do today then using the same Sun's shadow to mark the passage of said time it could just as easily be accomplished by a short stick/post in the ground - as opposed to creating a large obelisk.

[@ibmibm691]

The Big Ben is a sun dial too. It tells time.

[@Cat_Woods]

It's so sad to me that you need to say, "Not knowing exactly how it was done is not evidence that it couldn't be done." The creators and producers of Ancient Aliens are terrible people who have deliberately done great harm to human knowledge just to make a buck.

[@klubstompers]

"It would have been the largest single stone monument the Egyptians ever created", that we know about.

[@marcmarc172]

29:12 this was asked in the worst way possible. I was so excited for this question and you stumbled, failed, and didn't even say the idea.... 'you know what i mean'

[@Eyes_Open]

Why were you excited? What did you hope to learn?

[@avery_smartcat48]

Looove your channel. Dunno if your planning any 'debunking' videos lately, but there's a channel called 'funny olde world' with some outlandish claims and ideas. They need sorting out, and only you can do it, only you can save us Dr David. Yours hopefully, A. Smartcat

[@panosvrionis8548]

Welcome back 😙😙

[@aellipsis]

Your intelligence sometimes comes across as arrogance, but it puts me in my place when I drunk comment every time. I appreciate your voice in the void of KZbin.