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Article: Hard evidence: did the ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid of Giza from concrete?(PHYSICAL)(Cover story)
- Article from:
- Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- October 17, 2008
- Author:
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The Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, continues to be a source of wonder. More than 4,500 years after its construction, historians and scientists are still trying to figure out how the Egyptians managed to erect the colossal monument.
About 2 million limestone blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons each went into the creation of the 50-story structure. In one of his writings, Greek historian Herodotus (484-420 B.C.E.) says the Egyptians used "machines"--that is, cranes--to lift the blocks. But the Egyptians didn't have access to enough timber to build the hundreds of cranes necessary for such a ...