Baalbek Megaliths
Andre Willers
24 Jan 2014
Synopsis :
How they did it : by copper and by ice .
Discussion :
1.The Cutting :
The rock was sawed by very big bow-saws , with copper
strands as the sawing edge .
andreswhy.blogspot.com/2008/01/ancient-egyptian-technology.html
See Appendix A
2.First , the top was sawn straight .
3.Then , the sides were excavated and sawn . The striation
marks of the saws can be seen clearly .
4.Then the underside was sawn .
5.The whole mass was supported by tightly packed layers of gravel
(like a Roman Road) . Topped by a layer of hygroscopic clay .
6.The region has sub-zero nights when water freezes .
7.When it was ready to be moved , extra water was injected .
This froze during cold nights .
8.Knocking away the props at dawn pushes the whole weight
down on the ice , forming a thin , slippery water layer (like ice-skating) .
9.And off it goes . Easily towed as well . The friction
coefficient is very low . The large surface area makes it more efficient .
10 .The larger the block , the easier . Like hovercraft .
11. Time : They didn’t worry about how long it took . Or how
many workers .
12. But it would take surprisingly few workers . They let
gravity and ice do the slippery work .
The coefficient of friction of rock over melted ice (moving)
is about 0.01
To move 1 000 tons of rock over ice would require
0.01*1000 = 10 tons of force .
Every fit human weighing about 150 lbs can exert about 200/2000
= 1/10 tons of force just to stand upright .
About 100 humans can then easily tow a 1 000 ton megalith
over a level ice surface .
12.3 Pyramids :
Average mass of a block about 2.5 tons . This would require
2.5*.01 = 0.025 tons of force over ice .
We would then require 0.25 humans to haul a 2.5 ton block
over a level ice surface .
Incline the surface at 30 degrees . Sin(30)= 0.5 . You will
then need a minimum of 0.5 humans to
haul the block .
In reality , this translates into 3 haulers and one overseer
.
13. This was well-known technology . If it got cold at night
, you could move very large masses easily .Used all over .
14. Plants like cucumbers were used to push the freezing
point up.
Look for Cucumber DNA in layers directly below megaliths that
have already been moved .
Or the blocks in the pyramids , for that matter .
15.If you have ice and copper , you have megalithic
buildings .
Neolithics liked their drinks on the rocks .
Andre
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Appendix A
Ancient Egyptian Technology
Andre
Willers
27 Jan 2008
How did they
shape and transport large stone masses using copper and wood ?
Discussion :
Shaping hard
stone :
They sawed
it .
Copper is a
soft metal . Hard silica grit (sand or quartz) gets impregnated and fixed in
the soft copper saw and these hard bits cut the rock .
How they did
it :
From jewelry
we know that they knew how to draw copper wire .
A tensioned
copper wire is sufficient to form a cutting edge . The tension was supplied by
a bow-type saw .
The economic
trick : the copper was recycled . The metal was very expensive , but it is an
element .
They could
recover nearly every particle of copper abraded away .Simple smelting would
suffice .
The cutting
wire is sluiced continuously by a cooling liquid , which is collected and
reprocessed . The sides of cut is also later brushed down . The workers were
washed down as well . Really high efficiencies of recycling can be obtained
(99%) , especially if a slightly sticky liquid is used .
Evidence :
The Narmer
Tablet (google it) . Very old (at least 5 000 yrs before present)
On the front
and back at the top left and right of the tablet are stylized bow-saws .
Figure :
connect BACGH and JEDFI .
C D
- -
A- - G F - -
E
- - H I - -
B---------------------------J
BACGH is one
horn fixed to beam BJ . H is the point of the left horn .
JEDFI is
another horn fixed to beam BJ. I is the point of the right horn .
The horns
are tensioned by sinews wound tight between BAC and CGH for the left , and
likewise between JED and DFI for the right .
(If you
examine the front left top horns of the Narmer Tablet , faint lines can still
be seen showing the sinews .)
The copper
wires strung between the left horn CGH and the right horn DFI are thus placed
under an even elastic tension . Many wires are strung (looking like a harp) .
Faint traces of these can be seen on the top front left bow of the Narmer
Tablet
Note that
the horns are curved much more than is natural because of the tensioning . See
the bottom back of the tablet for a natural depiction of a bull . The horns are
very different .
The length
of the copper wire is not limited by the limitations of how long a wire can be
drawn , as shorter lengths can knot-welded together . Indeed , some photos of
the Narmer saws show thin lumps like splices or welds . This would not affect
the sawing action , as this is dependant on abrasion .
So quite big
blocks of stone can be sawed .
The user
starts with a full harp of wires . As one wears away and breaks , they simply
continue with the next wire . When all wires are used up , the bow is restrung
.The shavings recycles continuously into copper wire .
A sawayer
team can saw all day if they have the necessary backup team .
These would
all be skilled professionals .
An
intriguing note are the “ears” on the tablet bows . Close examination shows
that they look more like leaves . The actual bull on the reverse does not show
the same ears . One speculates that this might be the plant that is the source
of the stickiness in the lubricating fluid .
Wire-drawing
, chisels , drills and lathes .
The middle
figure on top of both sides of the tablet schematically shows these .
The
“catfish” represents the wire-drawing apparatus . It seem like a plate-type
wire drawing process . The “whiskers” are the wires . Google wire-drawing .
The chisel
is the Y shaped squiggle in the centre . Usually bronze or copper edged . This
is a generally agreed interpretation .
Next to it
on both sides are what looks like two cricket-wickets . One “cricket-wicket” is
a drill . The center is drill-stave , tipped by an abrasive soft-copper bit
(the same principle as the stone-saw) .
The two
staves on the sides are guides to keep the drill in place and to guide the
bowstring that powers the drill . (Drill-bows are a stone-age technology .)
With this ,
long straight holes can be drilled through rock .
Or gemstones
. This is still the technology used in jewelry manufacture . A sticky drillbit
coated with an abrasive is drilled into the target .
Two drills
rotating around an axis while drilling is a primitive lathe . Good for making
columns , pillars ,etc . Hence the two “cricket-wicket” drills on the tablet .
Moving large
stones .
This problem
has been solved by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities during their
excavations of the workers’ quarters near the Pyramids . They found toy
quarter-circles in childrens’ graves . They were mimicking in play what their
parents did .
Strap four
wooden quarter-circles to square and you have a circle . The stone blocks were
not dragged , they were rolled . (This has been done in actual reconstruction
with pyramid blocks) . Really large blocks (thousands of tonnes) can be moved
by this method . The only limitation is the strength of wood and the strength
of the surface over which it must roll . It can easily be calculated , but even
cursory examination shows that it must be very large (cf mass capacity of
wooden , wheeled cart)
Ancient
Egyptian Wheelbarrow .
Since a
large percentage of the pyramids is large fill-in rubble , they must have had
an efficient way of transporting smaller , irregularly shaped rocks . It is
speculated that nets filled with packed rubble were fitted with circle-segment
strap-ons and rolled . Like our wheelbarrow , except that the wheel goes around
the load .
Some
Speculations :
Compound
Bows :
The
Egyptians probably invented compound-bow technology in their efforts to
increase the efficiency of the bow-saw as described above . It then percolated
back north via the mercenaries (like the alphabet) .
Nomads
cannot even make a good compound bow . The reason is that the layers of glue
between the strips of horn must be kept absolutely still for months to set
properly. A really good bow around 1200 AD (Mongols) took about a year to make
. The factories were around the edges of the steppes and were not nomadic .
Places for artificers , pregnant woman , children , wounded convalescents and
old people . About a third of the Mongol population resided here .
No nomad
population could develop a compound bow . The development process would have
involved long trial-and-error with different glues , thicknesses and types of
horn , curing pressures and rates , temperatures , record keeping and lots of
time in a stable environment . Only the Egyptians qualify .
But once the
recipe was known , duplication was fairly easy .
Both the
Egyptians and Middle Easterners like Assyrians used compound bows , but it came
into its own with the horse . The Parthian shot is proverbial .
What amuses
me is that the single weapon that killed more people than any other was
developed as a better saw .
Incas
Resin coated
strings impregnated with obsidian or quartz flakes will slice through stone .
Cheap and easy to make . But not as easily guided . Look at the wavering joins
at Sacsahuamen .
How did they
join them ?
First ,
bring two rough blocks together using the strap-on roller technique . Then use
parallel sawing strings repeatedly till the edges fit tightly . Then roll them
into place .
What about
the wheel ? Note that they were aware of the wheel . We know that from their
childrens’ toys . Note that the evidence for the Egyptian technique was also
found in childrens’ toys .
Sigh .
No
anti-gravity . No advanced Ancient Civilizations with Mysterious Knowledge .
Just a bunch
of priest-kings out for number one , a large number of suckers and lots of
elbow-grease .
And so it
goes .
Andre
