Engineering the Pyramids [Paperback]

Perry offers probably the clearest, most concise, and most cogent explanation for the building of the pyramids that I've come across. Everything from aliens using levitation to Israelite slaves using sledges has been suggested, even tested, but the method Perry proposes is probably the most likely. I'm surprised no one has put it forth long before, although he gives credit to other authors who may have done so.

The title of the book captures the entire issue of the pyramids. Unlike houses and other simpler architectural creations, the pyramids have more in common with bridges, dams, and skyscrapers. They are not so much building as they are engineering projects, and many of the problems faced by their designers required engineering solutions.

Others before Parry have pointed out that the collapse of the Meidum Pyramid probably lead to the attenuation of Snoferu's so-called "bent" pyramid at Dashur and to further experiments with pyramid angles later in the IVth Dynasty. In fact all sorts of knowledge have been credited to what may have been the first major industrial accident. So far as I am aware, however, no one has given the discussion of the physics of pyramid building such a thorough examination.

Unlike some of the TV programs dealing with this problem-and others, like the movement of the Saracens and Blue Stones of Stonehenge in England and the movement of the stones blocks of Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo in Peru-which attempted to test suppositions based upon modern concepts of building, Parry looked at the problem from the point of view of an historian.

Apparently well grounded in archaeology and ancient history as he is in engineering, Dr. Parry examined what was written by ancient authors, like Herodotus and Vitruvius, who had informants and probably documents regarding the construction much closer in time than we do. While he was not entirely inclined to believe everything he found in these authors, Parry was also not willing to entirely discount them as others have. He also looked at examples and models of tools and equipment from early Egypt, and at what their 19th Century discoverers had suggested about them. Putting it all together led him to a conclusion that only a person with his background could have made and made with such authority.

Probably the most amazing thing I learned about the process was that, given the time frame and the amount of mass to be moved and placed, the ancient engineers had to have moved at least one block every minute for the first third to half of the building and at least one every two until finished. To accomplish the goal, they had to quarry and move at least 300 stones a day! Those statistics are breath taking! What Parry suggests was done to solve the problem was simple, logical, and effective. Not to mention ingenious. If we haven't figured it out before, maybe it's because we're not as clever as we think we are despite our level of technology!

Perhaps this should be engineers of "olden times". What Parry does that impresses me is that he combines the factual knowledge of basic modern civil engineering with thorough historical/archealogical research. His explanation of the mechanics of moving heavy objects with manpower is clear and conceptually correct. He backs up simple calculations with equally simple mechancial tests to make a convincing case that the pyramid stone blocks were moved by attaching wooden semi-circular cradles to each of the four sides and pulling them with circumferentially wound ropes. The comments of the previous reviewer are all appropriate as well. The book may assume a more complete knowledge of the historical/cultural background than a general or casual reader might have but that should not present a major problem to anyone interested enough in the subject to be a likely buyer. As often the case, I wish the book were wider in scope and perspective than it is but Dick Parry wrote the book he wanted to write and if I want a different one, I should write it!