Pyramids and the Ziggurats
Pyramids and the Ziggurats October 10th 2012
Pyramids and Ziggurats have many similarities and many differences.
Pyramids were found in South America and ancient Egypt. At first, many believed that pyramids were built as final resting places for the pharaohs buried, but as of late, the general assumption is that they were a mere tool to get the pharaohs to the heavens where they could be with their gods. Evidence of this is all the perfectly designed shafts that run throughout the pyramids, one in specific leading from a pharaoh’s tomb, all the way to the top, almost like a clear-cut path to the heavens. One of the most interesting things about the pyramids is of the 90 or so built in ancient Egypt, none were built near the supplies needed to build them. This raises many questions, including, how they transported over a million stones. First of all, to transport the massive limestone blocks they had to cover three different legs: first, they needed to move from the quarry to the Nile. The theories of how they did this vary; one states that they used wooden rollers almost as a cart, another says they pulled the blocks using a sled, and finally one states that sheer manpower was used to pull the blocks using ropes. The second leg of the journey was going down the Nile to the bank near the construction and to the worksite itself. This, thought to be the simplest of the legs, was done by boat. Lastly, the final leg was to get the blocks onto the higher parts of the pyramids. Probably the most daunting task of the three, there are three main ideas of how they got them up there. The first is that they built a large ramp against one of the faces of the pyramid, and as they worked, gradually built it up. The second theory is they built a ramp on the pyramid that spiralled around to the top. The final theory is a combination of the first two, a large ramp, leading up to a spiral located on the pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, located in Giza, was the world’s
Pyramids and Ziggurats have many similarities and many differences.
Pyramids were found in South America and ancient Egypt. At first, many believed that pyramids were built as final resting places for the pharaohs buried, but as of late, the general assumption is that they were a mere tool to get the pharaohs to the heavens where they could be with their gods. Evidence of this is all the perfectly designed shafts that run throughout the pyramids, one in specific leading from a pharaoh’s tomb, all the way to the top, almost like a clear-cut path to the heavens. One of the most interesting things about the pyramids is of the 90 or so built in ancient Egypt, none were built near the supplies needed to build them. This raises many questions, including, how they transported over a million stones. First of all, to transport the massive limestone blocks they had to cover three different legs: first, they needed to move from the quarry to the Nile. The theories of how they did this vary; one states that they used wooden rollers almost as a cart, another says they pulled the blocks using a sled, and finally one states that sheer manpower was used to pull the blocks using ropes. The second leg of the journey was going down the Nile to the bank near the construction and to the worksite itself. This, thought to be the simplest of the legs, was done by boat. Lastly, the final leg was to get the blocks onto the higher parts of the pyramids. Probably the most daunting task of the three, there are three main ideas of how they got them up there. The first is that they built a large ramp against one of the faces of the pyramid, and as they worked, gradually built it up. The second theory is they built a ramp on the pyramid that spiralled around to the top. The final theory is a combination of the first two, a large ramp, leading up to a spiral located on the pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, located in Giza, was the world’s
References: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Pyramids-Ziggurats-62222.html http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-ziggurats-and-pyramids/ http://www.mentalfloss.com/difference/pyramid-vs-ziggurat/ http://www.quora.com/How-did-ancient-Egyptians-transport-the-massive-amounts-of-heavy-stones-that-were-used-to-build-the-Pyramids