Similarities Between Wilson And Sears

Based on their clear evidence and thorough research, Wilson and Sears’ theory on how the pyramids were built is the most convincing of the three. They provide proof that the Egyptians built the pyramids themselves with a variety of materials, such as wood, and how their religious beliefs likely sped up the construction process. While other explanations, such as von Däniken’s, focus on his own opinions and conspiracy theories (like his claim that extraterrestrials built the pyramids), Wilson and Sears are realistic and back up their arguments with facts. Wilson provides a picture from the tomb of Djehutihotep that legibly shows 152 Egyptian men moving a massive statue of the pharaoh on a wooden sled. In the photo, a liquid is being poured
along the workers’ route. A French architect by the name of Henri Chevier discovered that one person harnessed to a rope can move a one tonne block on a route of Nile mud, allowing the blocks that make up most of the pyramid to be moved fairly easily into place. This, combined with the fact that Khufu (the pharaoh ruling at the time of the Great Pyramid’s construction) had a wood funerary boat and rope buried beside the pyramid, can only mean that wood and rope were readily available materials at the time, and were likely significant in the building of the pyramids. According to Wilson and Sears, the pyramids were built by Ancient Egyptians themselves, along with the help of several materials.
They used copper chisels, dolerite hammers, and wooden wedges to cut stone. To move the stones, they used wooden rollers, rafts, and sleds. It was simple to cut these stones, as most of them had a natural cleavage that split easily in a straight line when struck with the aforementioned tools. The blocks were trimmed before they were put into place by teams of workers. Stonemasons smoothed and neatened the outer limestone surfaces once the structure was complete and the earthen ramp was removed. Bore holes, discovered by Egyptologist Mark Lehner, helped builders keep the lines of the pyramid straight. Most of the limestone ancient Egyptians used to build the pyramids came from a quarry on the Gizeh plateau, just south of the Great Pyramid. White limestone, however, came from Tura across the Nile. Granite that was used in the king’s burial chamber was ferried from Aswan by boat, a distance of about seven hundred kilometres. Ramps from the quarry could rise around the perimeter of the pyramid with each level of blocks
placed. Mark Lehner and Zahi Sawass preformed a series of excavations to try to uncover where exactly the workers who built the Great Pyramid were settled.
Near the Gizeh pyramids, they found flint blade, copper, sandstone rubbers (used to polish stone), and grinding pigments. These materials date back to the Old Kingdom, which means that it’s entirely possible—and likely—that they were used to build the pyramids scattered throughout ancient Egypt. Along with this, Lehner and Sawass also found non-local stones such as granite, quartzite, and basalt. The fact that they were non-local may mean that a large variety of goods used for toolmaking and building were imported to Egypt, specifically for the construction of pyramids or otherwise. It has seemed to be confirmed that the galleries in which these materials were found were, in fact, storage rooms. The speculated date of the galleries and their isolated location indicates that they could have been used by Egyptians who were constructing the pyramids. Religious conviction was the main drive for workers to complete the pyramids, as they were optimistic and determined—they even chose the pyramids’ location (the west bank of the Nile) because they believed the setting sun in the west was the place where the dead
dwelled. In short, I believe that Wilson and Sears’ explanation on how the Egyptian pyramids were built is the strongest argument provided. They attempt to answer difficult questions and provide adequate proof, and they don’t base their entire theory on debunking other ones, unlike von Däniken who poses more questions than he answers. Wilson and Sears give ancient Egyptians the credit they deserve for their hard work in the construction of their pyramids, claiming that their evidence leads them to believe that the Great Pyramid very likely could’ve been built in less than a decade, still within the lifetime of Khufu.