How were Ancient Egyptians Able to Cut and Shape Stone on a Large Scale?
In an older post, I made the point that the “ancient alien astronaut” theory was not necessary to explain the building of large ancient stone structures such as the Giza pyramid complex, Megaliths at Baalbek, Moai on Easter Island, Stonehenge in UK, other Megalithic structures and complexes in Europe, Mesoamerican pyramids, Nan Madol etc. Having said that, it is also clear that some of the structures almost certainly used methods and technology which would seem out of place in the era and milieu in which they were constructed. Nowhere is this clearer than in ancient Egypt. The large number and variety of large structures, tunnels, carvings, objects etc in Egypt which have survived over the millennia suggest that those who built them had tools, methods and logistics far superior to what is usually attributed to them. If you are confused by this assertion, let me start by explaining the outline of this problem.
Ancient Egyptians seem to have cut and shaped rocks on an almost industrial scale- from limestone and sandstone to basalt, granite and gneiss. The problem with this body of evidence is that most of it occurred before the Iron age began in that part of the world (1200-1000 BC). Majority of large-scale stone cutting and shaping in ancient Egypt occurred between 3500-1000 BC. To make matters more interesting, the main form of iron used in the early iron age was either wrought iron or low-carbon steel, both of which are significantly softer and more malleable than high-carbon steel and this less suitable for tools. While it is possible to explain away some parts of the stone quarrying process to tools made out of copper, bronze, stone or even wood, it is just not possible to explain the industrial levels of stone cutting, shaping and tunneling to the use of the use of copper or bronze tools.
To make matters more interesting, experimental archeologists have been unable to replicate the ability of ancient Egyptians to cut and shape rocks with stone, copper or bronze tools. If you search on the internet, you will come across claims by multiple archeologists that they have “finally” uncovered the secret of ancient Egyptian stone cutting and shaping- however in every single case it is handwaving, conjecture and outright fabrication. My many searches over multiple years on this topic have been unable to find a single instance of archeologists replicating results seen in countless stone blocks and carvings, let alone in a timely manner. It is one thing to make claims that some combination of copper tools and sand might cut a single large stone block over periods exceeding a month and something else to to suggest that this was the method used to shape hundreds and thousands of blocks used to build large buildings and monuments within a few years.
This becomes a bigger issue when we start talking about their ability to precisely cut, shape and polish stone types which were significantly harder than copper and bronze. How do you cut and shape basalt using a copper or bronze chisel, let alone harder and stronger rock types such as granite and gneiss? Then there is the issue of work quality. There are many large surviving artifacts made of these hard and difficult to work rock types which display exquisite levels of craftsmanship and finish. Some artifacts also display evidence of tool types (circular saws etc) which are not usually associated with ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians left few paintings, frescoes or sculptures of how they worked on stone of any type and none of them show work on large scale building projects which involve cutting and shaping rocks. There is also a lack of material evidence for tools which could have been used to that end.
This lack of evidence is even more peculiar because we have many surviving frescoes of them doing all sorts of things from farming, hunting, baking bread, making beer, dancing, preparing dead bodies for mummification etc. And yet, there is no shortage of archeological evidence that ancient Egyptians worked stone on an industrial scale since at least 2700-2600 BC as seen in the Pyramid of Djoser, especially the large surrounding mortuary complex including the almost 6 km long labyrinth of tunnels underneath the visible parts of that complex. It is also clear that the ability to work on stone at large scale was a feature of ancient Egyptian culture till at least 700-800 AD. In other words, the know-how for cutting and shaping stone on that scale was both commonplace and conserved for about 2,000 years. Which brings us to the next logical question- why don’t we know about it today, given that people from other cultures who visited Egypt during that era (and there were many) must have seen something.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that “aliens helped them” or there was a real Atlantis. However, it is hard to ignore that ancient Egyptians had tools and technologies beyond what is conventionally ascribed to them. It is just not possible to work so many types of rocks, especially the hard types, with tools made of stone, copper or bronze to build structures on the time scale of a few years. How did they do it? Maybe they discovered higher carbon-steel earlier than we currently believe. Perhaps they did have simple machines that were far more advanced that we want to believe. But one thing is clear, the sheer number and variety of stone structures and carvings in ancient Egypt cannot be explained by our currently agreed understanding about their knowledge, technical abilities and tools.
What do you think? Comments?