The mystery of the Cheops Pyramid solved

By Hans Folkvardt. May 28th 2016

Summary

It has always been a source of admiration that the Egyptians so many years ago – app. 4.5 thousand years – were able to build pyramids. At that time our country was in the transition from the hunter to the agricultural society, and the thought that the most ingenious and colossal monument was built to be preserved until now – the highest building man has created for thousands of years - is staggering. In 1876, however, this altered when the Cathedral of Rouen had its spire, and later, in 1880, when Emperor Wilhelm finished building the spire of the Cathedral of Cologne. Later still, to be the highest building for a short while, the Eifel Tower was constructed.

The Pyramid of Cheops differs from other pyramids: As the youngest pyramid, it has two upper chambers. Here the upper chamber, called the King’s Chamber, has two small canals leading upwards and to the exterior. The two lower chambers of the Queen’s Chamber are blind and furthermore hidden in the walls of the chamber. Extraordinary; what is the purpose? According to my analysis, they needed them for filling in water during the erection of the pyramid. In contrast to the rest of the pyramid, that explains why the joints of the chambers and of the canals are filled up with gypsum plaster - apart from the outside that has been removed for reuse in Cairo.

The huge building mass consists of limestone cut near to and in layers around the pyramid, in raw shapes, put on top of each other after having been dragged up the pyramid along the exterior. These traces wind up the exterior of the pyramid like a helix to the right, forming a notch in the exterior of the pyramid, which is not filled until approx. 30 years after the other layers having been put into place. Working your way backward from the top along the exterior coating you will see the freshly walled up notch. The drawing made by Frederik Ludvig Norden in 1737-38 proves this procedure. Here you may see the exterior shortly after that the coating has been removed for other purposes.

The walls and the ceilings of the chambers are composed of granite, whereas the construction mass of the pyramid is lime sandstone. These granite blocks are huge, which rules out the possibility of the building team being able to drag them up by means of cords, which could not round the corners of the pyramid. The granite blocks were carved and polished 800 kilometres away in Aswan, and from there they were transported by ship to Giza. Here the blocks were lifted into place in the pyramid by means of water in a lever shaft – a principle known from today’s lock chambers. So, the above-mentioned canals were meant for water to be filled into the lever shaft.

Existing theories concerning the mysterious canals as e.g. meant for stargazing or transmigration of souls are improbable. That the canals should have been meant for airing is also unlikely, as they had lots of air during their work in open air. Moreover, the chambers are above the ground, and the floor, the ceiling and the walls have been completed along with the placing of the blocks. Besides, thousands of Egyptian graves are cut deep underground without airing.

Regarding the function of the canals for stargazing: It is striking that, when a canal is pointed out as pointing to Orion, another star or the centre of the sky, there is no indication as to what the canal of the opposite side is for or pointing to; not to mention the lower ones that do not go as far as to the exterior. Unless you are able to see round corners, stargazing is not possible: I have stretched on the floor myself with my right arm into the canal, and it seems to be horizontal all the way from side to side of the block. The canal leading to the large gallery winds past, more like a pipeline, which in fact it is.

The function as transmigration of souls sounds captivating. It is, however, not found in the Egyptian grave culture, and that would, of course, be to reveal the placing of the grave to grave robbers. Therefore, transmigration of souls’ canals do not exist in any of the thousands of Mastaba graves nor in other Pharaoh graves in the Kings’ Valley. Merely in the Pyramid of Cheops and, as mentioned, more as the proof of the hitherto lack of understanding of the purpose of the canals. It is to be hoped that my analysis will correct the mistake. To analyse and assess the traces left by the old Egyptians it is important to look at them without prejudice and not to invent an idea or plan, and then adjust. It will only lead to wild hypotheses like the above stargazing or transmigration of souls’ theories.

Below, a creative and technical souls’ assessment of the purpose of the ‘mysterious canals’, which is not very mysterious. They served a certain purpose during the construction of the pyramid: to contain water.

Recent German research into the lower canals show that just before a barrage block ends, the canals widen. Behind the barrage blocks, there is a continuous widening, and yet another larger barrage block. What is seen here is a water funnel, into which the building team emptied their pots or skin bags; the funnel is situated with access from the mentioned transporting haul up way along the exterior. It winds upwards like a spiral with a notch in the wall, allowing at least two rows of sledges, two rows of building teams, and two rows of water carriers. This is why the canals stop at this point, as there was an access from the exterior notch. They were not - like the canals of the King’s Chamber - meant to reach the exterior of the pyramid.

The physical law of communicating vessels means that the upper chamber could not be built according to the lock chamber principle until the lower water leading canals had been blocked, to the effect that the water would not leave this filling funnel. This is, in fact, the proof that this technique was the one they applied.

According to my examination of the traces left by the old Egyptians, a creative and trained person like myself – a bricklayer and construction engineer from ‘Horsens Teknikum’ (engineering college) arrives at the staggering result that parts of the pyramid have been ‘shipped’ into place.

The filling out of the notches in the canals and the walls with waterproof gypsum plaster, the placement of the lower layers of the canals as waterproof pipelines, their funnel-shape and their placement and conclusion just before the exterior with their blocking at each end, prove all together that this must be the technique they applied.

Their source of inspiration was a boat loaded with stone blocks from Giza, in the harbour at the foot of the pyramid, which was lifted up several metres during flood. This is, indeed, the cradle of engineering.

Left is the unsolved problem: Raising the placement of the shaft is the most likely solution – it measures 5 times 7 metres, placed at one end of the chambers – so that the elements for the ceilings could be sailed into place. A number of French ‘micro weight measurements’ indicate that it has been filled up with loose material like other parts of the building mass. A Japanese ‘prospective measurement’ indicates that a tunnel could lead into the southern side of the pyramid. This corresponds to the need of a feeding tunnel for lifting the shaft, so that they were able to transfer the cargo of the ships to the floating pontoon of the shaft.

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Contact:

Hans Folkvardt. Krumsøvej 18 Øllebølle. DK 4894 Øster Ulslev, Denmark. Email: hanspfolkvardt@mail.dk
Telephone +45 54 86 55 90.