How did the Egyptians shift solid blocks of stone weighing 80 tons to build the pyramids?
Even though short, this is a very complicated question. Egyptians had used many different technologies, albeit simple, to move massive stone blocks. To get a better grasp of how they did it, first understand the basic machines aka simple machines. These are: Lever, Wheel and axle, Pulley, Inclined Plane (ramp), Wedge and Screw. They are the elementary ‘building blocks’ of which all complicated machines are composed. Take a Pulley and attach it to the end of a Lever and you basically have a crane. With a system of pulleys alone one man can move thousands of pounds. Although systems of simple machines may have been used, there is another theory that is gaining momentum in scientific communities. This theory that has been partially proven is that the Pyraminds of Egypt were constructed using limestone cement that cast huge blocks. Two decades ago, Joseph Davidovits, Director of the Geopolymer Institute in St. Quentin, France, said that the pyramid blocks were made of a type of concrete ma
