Ben Carson's Strange Theory About The Egyptian Pyramids

[Searcher44]

The Great pyramid has a total volume of 90,000,000 sq.ft. I haven't found the total volume of the interior chambers yet but they look comparatively miniscule compared to the whole. Nobody's accused the Egyptians of being retarded which they would of have to have been to build such giant structures to store a minor amount of grain.

If you have more patience than I it probably wouldn't take long to get an accurate enough volume of the interior chambers volumes by these measurements to blow Carson's theory out of the water. I might give it a try tomorrow.

Dimensions of Interior Chambers
From measurements taken by Petrie and Rutherford

Ascending Passage
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 97.6 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26°

Descending Passage:
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 344.3 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26° 30’

Subterranean Chamber:
Length: 46.1 ft
Width: 26.9 ft

Dead End Passage Length: 53.8 ft

Grand Gallery
Height: 28.2 ft.
Width: 3.4 ft
Length: 156.9 ft
Slope: 26°

King’s Chamber
Length: 34.38 ft
Width: 17.19 ft
Height (to floor surface): 17.1 ft
Height (to true base): 19.2 ft

Queen’s Chamber
Passage (first portion)
Height: 3.9 ft
Width: 3.4 ft.
Passage (second protion)
Height: 5.6
Width: 3.4 ft
Length (E to W): 18.9 ft
Width (N to S): 17.19 ft
Height: 15.3 ft
Height to Apex: 20.3
Slope of ceiling: 30° 26’

Angle of “Air Shafts”
Queen’s Chamber
North: 39°
South: 39° 30’
King’s Chamber
North: 32° 28’
South: 45°

 

[JimBowie1958]

You have to give kudos of a sort to those loyal enough to Carson to attempt a defence of this nonsensical idea. The shear volume and expense of the pyramids in ratio to the volume available for grain storage makes this one of the craziest pyramid theories I've ever heard,

Another libtard rushes in to pile on Carson.

For Christs sake, let me paint the picture for you on just ONE concept that could work that supports what Carson said.

The builders started out with a limestone foundation that is plausibly dried cement. They framed it like one would do today with granite instead of wood. They had to carry the soggy cement to the place it goes by hand, so each block has to be filled and allowed to cure separately. Once they complete the foundation and begin the climb up the pyramid, to save time the store the tools, weapons, food, and likely more things in large hollow volumes used like rooms. They do this to minimize travel time to the work area and to keep congestion on the ramps to a minimum. When the next floor above them is nearing completion, except for their own voids, the storage areas are then moved up to the next floor in the new voids.

There is no reason or evidence that this could not have happened, and there is some good reason for doing it. But mostly it is not crazy and is not ludicrous.

You libtards are the ludicrous people, slamming a good man for merely thinking and speculating about things that could have been but we do not know about, because you are political hacks attacking Hillary's biggest challenge in the polls. You lie, twist and distort this man's statements all because of politics and your own contemptuous desire to slander good people.

 

[JimBowie1958]

The Great pyramid has a total volume of 90,000,000 sq.ft. I haven't found the total volume of the interior chambers yet but they look comparatively miniscule compared to the whole. Nobody's accused the Egyptians of being retarded which they would of have to have been to build such giant structures to store a minor amount of grain.

If you have more patience than I it probably wouldn't take long to get an accurate enough volume of the interior chambers volumes by these measurements to blow Carson's theory out of the water. I might give it a try tomorrow.

Dimensions of Interior Chambers
From measurements taken by Petrie and Rutherford

Ascending Passage
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 97.6 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26°

Descending Passage:
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 344.3 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26° 30’

Subterranean Chamber:
Length: 46.1 ft
Width: 26.9 ft

Dead End Passage Length: 53.8 ft

Grand Gallery
Height: 28.2 ft.
Width: 3.4 ft
Length: 156.9 ft
Slope: 26°

King’s Chamber
Length: 34.38 ft
Width: 17.19 ft
Height (to floor surface): 17.1 ft
Height (to true base): 19.2 ft

Queen’s Chamber
Passage (first portion)
Height: 3.9 ft
Width: 3.4 ft.
Passage (second protion)
Height: 5.6
Width: 3.4 ft
Length (E to W): 18.9 ft
Width (N to S): 17.19 ft
Height: 15.3 ft
Height to Apex: 20.3
Slope of ceiling: 30° 26’

Angle of “Air Shafts”
Queen’s Chamber
North: 39°
South: 39° 30’
King’s Chamber
North: 32° 28’
South: 45°

All the final state of the structure and does not at all preclude a dual purpose for it as it was built.

You people are either stupid fools or lying political hacks, take your pick.

 

[IsaacNewton]

The Pyramids were for burial, it's clear to anyone who has been inside one, and clear to anyone with half a brain and uses it, that this is the case.

No one is talking about the final purpose of the Pyramids, which is obviously burial.

What Carson was speculating about and that I dont see any reason to dismiss much less declare him an idiot for is the idea that there may have been multiple purposes for the structure as it was being built.

The Pyramids took a long time to build, and typically were started as soon as the pharaoh in question was born. What evidence is there that no dual uses could have been made of them while they were being built? Why couldnt grain storage, weapon storage, tool storage and maintenance, record keeping, housing and other things not also have been done within the Pyramids as they were built? What is so difficult about coming back and filling in with limestone cement as the Pyramid got higher and followed close behind the work?

Good grief, you libtards are so afraid to think for your own damned selves that you reflexively attack anyone that comes up with an original idea that isnt from some duly degreed 'expert'.

Fuck, you people are stupid.

Jimmy you are a special aren't you. You have experience riding short yellow buses, getting a gold star on your test, at age 18.

Conservatism attracts the low IQ sector of the population precisely because they believe in 'magic' and 'conspiracy theories'. Unreality.

Run along now, you are embarrassing yourself.

 

[August West]

The Pyramids were for burial, it's clear to anyone who has been inside one, and clear to anyone with half a brain and uses it, that this is the case.

No one is talking about the final purpose of the Pyramids, which is obviously burial.

What Carson was speculating about and that I dont see any reason to dismiss much less declare him an idiot for is the idea that there may have been multiple purposes for the structure as it was being built.

The Pyramids took a long time to build, and typically were started as soon as the pharaoh in question was born. What evidence is there that no dual uses could have been made of them while they were being built? Why couldnt grain storage, weapon storage, tool storage and maintenance, record keeping, housing and other things not also have been done within the Pyramids as they were built? What is so difficult about coming back and filling in with limestone cement as the Pyramid got higher and followed close behind the work?

Good grief, you libtards are so afraid to think for your own damned selves that you reflexively attack anyone that comes up with an original idea that isnt from some duly degreed 'expert'.

Fuck, you people are stupid.

Jimmy you are a special aren't you. You have experience riding short yellow buses, getting a gold star on your test, at age 18.

Conservatism attracts the low IQ sector of the population precisely because they believe in 'magic' and 'conspiracy theories'. Unreality.

Run along now, you are embarrassing yourself.

Are you saying that calling people smarter than himself "libtards" is a sign of stupidity? But he spells it real good.

 

[pwjohn]

agreed.

You really do not see the absurdity of some twit like you calling Dr Carson an idiot, do you?

roflmao

The only absurdity here Is you

 

[Skylar]

You have to give kudos of a sort to those loyal enough to Carson to attempt a defence of this nonsensical idea. The shear volume and expense of the pyramids in ratio to the volume available for grain storage makes this one of the craziest pyramid theories I've ever heard,

Another libtard rushes in to pile on Carson.

For Christs sake, let me paint the picture for you on just ONE concept that could work that supports what Carson said.

The builders started out with a limestone foundation that is plausibly dried cement. They framed it like one would do today with granite instead of wood. They had to carry the soggy cement to the place it goes by hand, so each block has to be filled and allowed to cure separately. Once they complete the foundation and begin the climb up the pyramid, to save time the store the tools, weapons, food, and likely more things in large hollow volumes used like rooms. They do this to minimize travel time to the work area and to keep congestion on the ramps to a minimum. When the next floor above them is nearing completion, except for their own voids, the storage areas are then moved up to the next floor in the new voids.

Can you show us any other granary in that era or any other with such a low volume of actual storage areas?

I mean, as turds to polish go, this one is border line retarded.

There's no record of it being a granary. There was no grain found stored in it. And the Egyptians already had granaries....that looked nothing like the pyramids. And actually had grain in them. And, of course, the overwhelming majority of their volume was dedicated to storage.

The 'the pyramids were granaries' narrative is just stupid. Regardless of who says it.

 

[Skylar]

The Great pyramid has a total volume of 90,000,000 sq.ft. I haven't found the total volume of the interior chambers yet but they look comparatively miniscule compared to the whole. Nobody's accused the Egyptians of being retarded which they would of have to have been to build such giant structures to store a minor amount of grain.

If you have more patience than I it probably wouldn't take long to get an accurate enough volume of the interior chambers volumes by these measurements to blow Carson's theory out of the water. I might give it a try tomorrow.

Dimensions of Interior Chambers
From measurements taken by Petrie and Rutherford

Ascending Passage
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 97.6 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26°

Descending Passage:
Height: 3.94 ft
Length: 344.3 ft
Width: 3.4 ft
Slope: 26° 30’

Subterranean Chamber:
Length: 46.1 ft
Width: 26.9 ft

Dead End Passage Length: 53.8 ft

Grand Gallery
Height: 28.2 ft.
Width: 3.4 ft
Length: 156.9 ft
Slope: 26°

King’s Chamber
Length: 34.38 ft
Width: 17.19 ft
Height (to floor surface): 17.1 ft
Height (to true base): 19.2 ft

Queen’s Chamber
Passage (first portion)
Height: 3.9 ft
Width: 3.4 ft.
Passage (second protion)
Height: 5.6
Width: 3.4 ft
Length (E to W): 18.9 ft
Width (N to S): 17.19 ft
Height: 15.3 ft
Height to Apex: 20.3
Slope of ceiling: 30° 26’

Angle of “Air Shafts”
Queen’s Chamber
North: 39°
South: 39° 30’
King’s Chamber
North: 32° 28’
South: 45°

Lets figure it out.

The ascending passage is approximately 1400 cubic feet.
The descending passage is about 6300 cubic feet.
The subterranean chamber is 16100 cubic feet (*)
Dead end pasasge is about 750 cubic feet (**)
Grand Gallery is about 15,000 cubic feet.
Kings Chamber is about 11,500 cubic feet
The Relieving chambers are 32,000 cubic feet (***)
Queens Chamber (passages) 2400 cubic feet (****)
Queens chamber: about 5000 cubic feet
Airshafts (x4): about 2700 cubic feet *****

Total: 93, 150 cubic feet. And for any odds and ends we might have missed, lets round up to 100,000 cubic feet for all interior passageways, chambers, airshafts, etc.

With the total volume of the Great Giza pyramid being 90,000,000 cubic feet that means that the interior chambers, passageways, airshafts, galleries, deadends, everything....

....accounted for 0.11% of the internal volume.

What granary in history allocated only 1/10th of 1% of its volume to storage?









* (Measurements of the Great Pyramid puts the maximum height of the subterranean chamber at 3.94 meters or 13 feet.)

** using the width and height of other passages at 4' by 3.5'

*** Reveiling chambers above kings chamber are mostly filled with a series of nested stone rooves.

**** Using gizapyramid.com/measurements length of 125 feet with maximum height for full passage.

***** using longest length of 59 meters (194 ft), and dimensions of 0.7' x 0.7 feet. Four in total, northern and southern for king, another set for queen.

 

[Skylar]

Anyone? What granary in history allocated only 1/10th of 1% of its volume to storage?

 

[Skylar]

The Pyramids were for burial, it's clear to anyone who has been inside one, and clear to anyone with half a brain and uses it, that this is the case.

No one is talking about the final purpose of the Pyramids, which is obviously burial.

What Carson was speculating about and that I dont see any reason to dismiss much less declare him an idiot for is the idea that there may have been multiple purposes for the structure as it was being built.

Carson didn't say a thing about 'multi-purpose'. He said that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain.

YOU babble about multi-purpose as you try to polish Carson's turd of an argument. And you've got jack shit to back any of it up. There is nothing about the pyramids that indicate they were ever used to store grain.

Nor is there any evidence of your 'multi-purpose' nonsense. Nor is it an argument that Carson made.

The Pyramids took a long time to build, and typically were started as soon as the pharaoh in question was born. What evidence is there that no dual uses could have been made of them while they were being built? Why couldnt grain storage, weapon storage, tool storage and maintenance, record keeping, housing and other things not also have been done within the Pyramids as they were built? What is so difficult about coming back and filling in with limestone cement as the Pyramid got higher and followed close behind the work?

Why would anyone use a construction site to store weapons? Even your baseless speculation makes no sense.

 

[Searcher44]

You have to give kudos of a sort to those loyal enough to Carson to attempt a defence of this nonsensical idea. The shear volume and expense of the pyramids in ratio to the volume available for grain storage makes this one of the craziest pyramid theories I've ever heard,

Another libtard rushes in to pile on Carson.

For Christs sake, let me paint the picture for you on just ONE concept that could work that supports what Carson said.

The builders started out with a limestone foundation that is plausibly dried cement. They framed it like one would do today with granite instead of wood. They had to carry the soggy cement to the place it goes by hand, so each block has to be filled and allowed to cure separately. Once they complete the foundation and begin the climb up the pyramid, to save time the store the tools, weapons, food, and likely more things in large hollow volumes used like rooms. They do this to minimize travel time to the work area and to keep congestion on the ramps to a minimum. When the next floor above them is nearing completion, except for their own voids, the storage areas are then moved up to the next floor in the new voids.

There is no reason or evidence that this could not have happened, and there is some good reason for doing it. But mostly it is not crazy and is not ludicrous.

You libtards are the ludicrous people, slamming a good man for merely thinking and speculating about things that could have been but we do not know about, because you are political hacks attacking Hillary's biggest challenge in the polls. You lie, twist and distort this man's statements all because of politics and your own contemptuous desire to slander good people.

Of course you're probably right about the workers using available space to store goods that they didn't want or need to pack up and down the structure they were building every day. Same thing goes on in buildings under construction today. However that system has nothing to do with Carson's hypothesis. Weaving the Biblical story of Joseph into archeology and Egyptology his statement is clear - “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain.” He's saying the pyramids were purpose-built and he thinks they were built to store grain. The Egyptians were very good agriculturists and they definitely did store grain, not just for the non-growing season but for lean years as well. As Wikipedia put's it "The ancient Egyptians made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. The climate of Egypt being very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality. The silo pit, as it has been termed, has been a favorite way of storing grain from time immemorial in all oriental lands."
The Egyptians used various methods of storing grain besides these pits.

This type of structure was commonly used for grain storage.

Large arched "sheds" were also popular for storing larger quantities.

Anyway as I said it is pure nonsense to speculate the Pyramids were specifically designed and built to store grain. Another poster did the calculation on the ratio of space in the internal chambers vs. total volume of the Cheops pyramid as an example. He came up with .11% available storage area. My back of the envelope number was less than his - about .05%. Archeologists are in agreement that huge workforces were employed in these enterprises.

This site's analysis of the necessary workforce seems reasonable;

"Archaeologists have carefully studied the worker's villages, the craft shops, the bakeries and other related structures, which of course give us some idea of the workforce. So how many people did it take to build the Great Pyramid at Giza? Verner tells us that the current consensus among Egyptologists sets the figure at a little more than 30,000. Lehner, who has worked at Giza for many years and conducted experiments on building pyramids, is considered one of the leading authorities on these structures. He claims a somewhat lower estimate, including carpenters to make tools and sledges, metal workers to make and sharpen cutting tools, potters to make pots for food preparation and hauling water for mortar and other purposes, bakers, brewers and others, consisting of between 20,000 and 25,000 workers at any one time. In fact, as the pyramid grew, fewer and fewer men were probably required, for work at the top required much less stone and the construction space became more limited. This number of men, which was probably drastically reduced during the agricultural seasons, probably finished the Great Pyramid of Khufu in less than 23 years".

That's over 20,000 workers, many of them skilled non slave labor, working for over 20 years to build one small capacity granary? Come on, you have to admit that is ludicrous. How could an accomplished surgeon, you could class him as a scientist, he has done a lot of valuable research, hold on to such a nutty idea? And he has held on to it. Although the original statement comes from a speech in 1998 he has confirmed he still believes the pyramids were built as granaries as recently as Nov. 4/2015 in a discussion with CBS.

I'll throw in one more tidbit. One of the lines of evidence he uses is that the chambers were "hermetically sealed" which would be necessary for storing grain. Well in looking at hundreds of photos of ancient granaries I didn't fin one that was sealed. As a matter of fact;

As far as possible, grain must be kept away from moisture to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth. Newly harvested grain brought into a granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins.
One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to a granary for storage.
In modern silos, grain is typically force-aerated in situ or circulated through external grain drying equipment.

Don't be guilty in this case of what us lefties like to accuse the far right of being, anti-science, just to preserve Carson's persona of being right in all things science related. He's still a great gifted surgeon and researcher but he is a lousy archeologist.

 

[Skylar]

You have to give kudos of a sort to those loyal enough to Carson to attempt a defence of this nonsensical idea. The shear volume and expense of the pyramids in ratio to the volume available for grain storage makes this one of the craziest pyramid theories I've ever heard,

Another libtard rushes in to pile on Carson.

For Christs sake, let me paint the picture for you on just ONE concept that could work that supports what Carson said.

The builders started out with a limestone foundation that is plausibly dried cement. They framed it like one would do today with granite instead of wood. They had to carry the soggy cement to the place it goes by hand, so each block has to be filled and allowed to cure separately. Once they complete the foundation and begin the climb up the pyramid, to save time the store the tools, weapons, food, and likely more things in large hollow volumes used like rooms. They do this to minimize travel time to the work area and to keep congestion on the ramps to a minimum. When the next floor above them is nearing completion, except for their own voids, the storage areas are then moved up to the next floor in the new voids.

There is no reason or evidence that this could not have happened, and there is some good reason for doing it. But mostly it is not crazy and is not ludicrous.

You libtards are the ludicrous people, slamming a good man for merely thinking and speculating about things that could have been but we do not know about, because you are political hacks attacking Hillary's biggest challenge in the polls. You lie, twist and distort this man's statements all because of politics and your own contemptuous desire to slander good people.

Of course you're probably right about the workers using available space to store goods that they didn't want or need to pack up and down the structure they were building every day. Same thing goes on in buildings under construction today. However that system has nothing to do with Carson's hypothesis. Weaving the Biblical story of Joseph into archeology and Egyptology his statement is clear - “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain.” He's saying the pyramids were purpose-built and he thinks they were built to store grain. The Egyptians were very good agriculturists and they definitely did store grain, not just for the non-growing season but for lean years as well. As Wikipedia put's it "The ancient Egyptians made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. The climate of Egypt being very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality. The silo pit, as it has been termed, has been a favorite way of storing grain from time immemorial in all oriental lands."
The Egyptians used various methods of storing grain besides these pits.

This type of structure was commonly used for grain storage.

Large arched "sheds" were also popular for storing larger quantities.

Anyway as I said it is pure nonsense to speculate the Pyramids were specifically designed and built to store grain. Another poster did the calculation on the ratio of space in the internal chambers vs. total volume of the Cheops pyramid as an example. He came up with .11% available storage area. My back of the envelope number was less than his - about .05%. Archeologists are in agreement that huge workforces were employed in these enterprises.

This site's analysis of the necessary workforce seems reasonable;

"Archaeologists have carefully studied the worker's villages, the craft shops, the bakeries and other related structures, which of course give us some idea of the workforce. So how many people did it take to build the Great Pyramid at Giza? Verner tells us that the current consensus among Egyptologists sets the figure at a little more than 30,000. Lehner, who has worked at Giza for many years and conducted experiments on building pyramids, is considered one of the leading authorities on these structures. He claims a somewhat lower estimate, including carpenters to make tools and sledges, metal workers to make and sharpen cutting tools, potters to make pots for food preparation and hauling water for mortar and other purposes, bakers, brewers and others, consisting of between 20,000 and 25,000 workers at any one time. In fact, as the pyramid grew, fewer and fewer men were probably required, for work at the top required much less stone and the construction space became more limited. This number of men, which was probably drastically reduced during the agricultural seasons, probably finished the Great Pyramid of Khufu in less than 23 years".

That's over 20,000 workers, many of them skilled non slave labor, working for over 20 years to build one small capacity granary? Come on, you have to admit that is ludicrous. How could an accomplished surgeon, you could class him as a scientist, he has done a lot of valuable research, hold on to such a nutty idea? And he has held on to it. Although the original statement comes from a speech in 1998 he has confirmed he still believes the pyramids were built as granaries as recently as Nov. 4/2015 in a discussion with CBS.

I'll throw in one more tidbit. One of the lines of evidence he uses is that the chambers were "hermetically sealed" which would be necessary for storing grain. Well in looking at hundreds of photos of ancient granaries I didn't fin one that was sealed. As a matter of fact;

As far as possible, grain must be kept away from moisture to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth. Newly harvested grain brought into a granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins.
One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to a granary for storage.
In modern silos, grain is typically force-aerated in situ or circulated through external grain drying equipment.

Don't be guilty in this case of what us lefties like to accuse the far right of being, anti-science, just to preserve Carson's persona of being right in all things science related. He's still a great gifted surgeon and researcher but he is a lousy archeologist.

Impossible. They make more than 1/10th of 1% of their volume for storage. And as the Pyramids make ludicrously clear, that's all you need.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Jimmy you are a special aren't you. You have experience riding short yellow buses, getting a gold star on your test, at age 18.

Conservatism attracts the low IQ sector of the population precisely because they believe in 'magic' and 'conspiracy theories'. Unreality.

Run along now, you are embarrassing yourself.

Lol, so you can prove that the pyramids were never dual use structures? Then prove it or shut the hell up, fagot.

 

[JimBowie1958]

The only absurdity here Is you

You insult a man who is ten times smarter than you and you think I am being absurd?

If you have evidence that the Pyramids could not have been dual use then prove it or shut the hell up, fucking hack.

 

[Skylar]

Jimmy you are a special aren't you. You have experience riding short yellow buses, getting a gold star on your test, at age 18.

Conservatism attracts the low IQ sector of the population precisely because they believe in 'magic' and 'conspiracy theories'. Unreality.

Run along now, you are embarrassing yourself.

Lol, so you can prove that the pyramids were never dual use structures? Then prove it or shut the hell up, fagot.

Carson never claims they were dual use. He says that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain.

Um....who builds a granary that only has 1/10th of 1/% of its total volume available for storage?

Again, conservative's willingness to polish this brain dead turd of an argument is stunning. There's nothing backing Carson's narrative. But if he says it.....you'll back it!

No questions. No thought. And certainly no evidence.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Of course you're probably right about the workers using available space to store goods that they didn't want or need to pack up and down the structure they were building every day. Same thing goes on in buildings under construction today. However that system has nothing to do with Carson's hypothesis. Weaving the Biblical story of Joseph into archeology and Egyptology his statement is clear - “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain.” He's saying the pyramids were purpose-built and he thinks they were built to store grain. The Egyptians were very good agriculturists and they definitely did store grain, not just for the non-growing season but for lean years as well. As Wikipedia put's it "The ancient Egyptians made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. The climate of Egypt being very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality. The silo pit, as it has been termed, has been a favorite way of storing grain from time immemorial in all oriental lands."
The Egyptians used various methods of storing grain besides these pits.

This type of structure was commonly used for grain storage.

Large arched "sheds" were also popular for storing larger quantities.

Anyway as I said it is pure nonsense to speculate the Pyramids were specifically designed and built to store grain. Another poster did the calculation on the ratio of space in the internal chambers vs. total volume of the Cheops pyramid as an example. He came up with .11% available storage area. My back of the envelope number was less than his - about .05%. Archeologists are in agreement that huge workforces were employed in these enterprises.

This site's analysis of the necessary workforce seems reasonable;

"Archaeologists have carefully studied the worker's villages, the craft shops, the bakeries and other related structures, which of course give us some idea of the workforce. So how many people did it take to build the Great Pyramid at Giza? Verner tells us that the current consensus among Egyptologists sets the figure at a little more than 30,000. Lehner, who has worked at Giza for many years and conducted experiments on building pyramids, is considered one of the leading authorities on these structures. He claims a somewhat lower estimate, including carpenters to make tools and sledges, metal workers to make and sharpen cutting tools, potters to make pots for food preparation and hauling water for mortar and other purposes, bakers, brewers and others, consisting of between 20,000 and 25,000 workers at any one time. In fact, as the pyramid grew, fewer and fewer men were probably required, for work at the top required much less stone and the construction space became more limited. This number of men, which was probably drastically reduced during the agricultural seasons, probably finished the Great Pyramid of Khufu in less than 23 years".

That's over 20,000 workers, many of them skilled non slave labor, working for over 20 years to build one small capacity granary? Come on, you have to admit that is ludicrous. How could an accomplished surgeon, you could class him as a scientist, he has done a lot of valuable research, hold on to such a nutty idea? And he has held on to it. Although the original statement comes from a speech in 1998 he has confirmed he still believes the pyramids were built as granaries as recently as Nov. 4/2015 in a discussion with CBS.

I'll throw in one more tidbit. One of the lines of evidence he uses is that the chambers were "hermetically sealed" which would be necessary for storing grain. Well in looking at hundreds of photos of ancient granaries I didn't fin one that was sealed. As a matter of fact;

As far as possible, grain must be kept away from moisture to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth. Newly harvested grain brought into a granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins.
One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to a granary for storage.
In modern silos, grain is typically force-aerated in situ or circulated through external grain drying equipment.

Don't be guilty in this case of what us lefties like to accuse the far right of being, anti-science, just to preserve Carson's persona of being right in all things science related. He's still a great gifted surgeon and researcher but he is a lousy archeologist.

Thank you for the reasonable post.

Let me re-iterate. I do not think Carsonis right about what he said. I just do not think we have enough evidence to categorically deny it and to insult a very intelligent man with a very successful reputation. I also do not agree with him on evolution or the age of the Earth.

That is not my point. My point is that when libtards grab comments that are based on a faith perspective and jump around like feral apes and throw shit, they dont do themselves any service.

Were it not for the fact that Carson is ahead of HR Clinton in national polls this would never have amounted to a big deal at all.

The ridicule is not about some serious assessment of the feasibility of Carsons idea; it is simply an ideological partisan hack attack, nothing more.

 

[Skylar]

Of course you're probably right about the workers using available space to store goods that they didn't want or need to pack up and down the structure they were building every day. Same thing goes on in buildings under construction today. However that system has nothing to do with Carson's hypothesis. Weaving the Biblical story of Joseph into archeology and Egyptology his statement is clear - “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain.” He's saying the pyramids were purpose-built and he thinks they were built to store grain. The Egyptians were very good agriculturists and they definitely did store grain, not just for the non-growing season but for lean years as well. As Wikipedia put's it "The ancient Egyptians made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. The climate of Egypt being very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality. The silo pit, as it has been termed, has been a favorite way of storing grain from time immemorial in all oriental lands."
The Egyptians used various methods of storing grain besides these pits.

This type of structure was commonly used for grain storage.

Large arched "sheds" were also popular for storing larger quantities.

Anyway as I said it is pure nonsense to speculate the Pyramids were specifically designed and built to store grain. Another poster did the calculation on the ratio of space in the internal chambers vs. total volume of the Cheops pyramid as an example. He came up with .11% available storage area. My back of the envelope number was less than his - about .05%. Archeologists are in agreement that huge workforces were employed in these enterprises.

This site's analysis of the necessary workforce seems reasonable;

"Archaeologists have carefully studied the worker's villages, the craft shops, the bakeries and other related structures, which of course give us some idea of the workforce. So how many people did it take to build the Great Pyramid at Giza? Verner tells us that the current consensus among Egyptologists sets the figure at a little more than 30,000. Lehner, who has worked at Giza for many years and conducted experiments on building pyramids, is considered one of the leading authorities on these structures. He claims a somewhat lower estimate, including carpenters to make tools and sledges, metal workers to make and sharpen cutting tools, potters to make pots for food preparation and hauling water for mortar and other purposes, bakers, brewers and others, consisting of between 20,000 and 25,000 workers at any one time. In fact, as the pyramid grew, fewer and fewer men were probably required, for work at the top required much less stone and the construction space became more limited. This number of men, which was probably drastically reduced during the agricultural seasons, probably finished the Great Pyramid of Khufu in less than 23 years".

That's over 20,000 workers, many of them skilled non slave labor, working for over 20 years to build one small capacity granary? Come on, you have to admit that is ludicrous. How could an accomplished surgeon, you could class him as a scientist, he has done a lot of valuable research, hold on to such a nutty idea? And he has held on to it. Although the original statement comes from a speech in 1998 he has confirmed he still believes the pyramids were built as granaries as recently as Nov. 4/2015 in a discussion with CBS.

I'll throw in one more tidbit. One of the lines of evidence he uses is that the chambers were "hermetically sealed" which would be necessary for storing grain. Well in looking at hundreds of photos of ancient granaries I didn't fin one that was sealed. As a matter of fact;

As far as possible, grain must be kept away from moisture to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth. Newly harvested grain brought into a granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins.
One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to a granary for storage.
In modern silos, grain is typically force-aerated in situ or circulated through external grain drying equipment.

Don't be guilty in this case of what us lefties like to accuse the far right of being, anti-science, just to preserve Carson's persona of being right in all things science related. He's still a great gifted surgeon and researcher but he is a lousy archeologist.

Thank you for the reasonable post.

Let me re-iterate. I do not think Carsonis right about what he said. I just do not think we have enough evidence to categorically deny it and to insult a very intelligent man with a very successful reputation for his career focus. I also do not agree with him on evolution or the age of the Earth.

There's no evidence supporting it. There's no record of the Egyptians ever using the pyramids to store grain. There's no grain in the Pyramids. And they only have 1/10 of 1% of its total volume avaiable to store....anything.

The entire narrative is just dumb. Yet you've been polishing this turd for about a day.....demanding that we prove it wasn't 'dual use' and other nonsense that Carson never argued.

That is not my point. My point is that when libtards grab comments that are based on a faith perspective, they dont do themselves any service.

A faith perspective backed by nothing and contradicted by overwhelming evidence. Like the pyramids being 99.9% solid rock for one.

 

[pwjohn]

The only absurdity here Is you

You insult a man who is ten times smarter than you and you think I am being absurd?

If you have evidence that the Pyramids could not have been dual use then prove it or shut the hell up, fucking hack.

Why you be blowing all that shit outa your pie hole you nasty little fuck. The answer is; that's all you got.

First off; I never mentioned anything about pyramids.

I merely agreed with another poster that Carson is no doubt brilliant in his field of expertise.
Beyond his field of expertise, the man "Carson" is just another layperson with an opinion.

End of story;

 

[JimBowie1958]

Why you be blowing all that shit outa your pie hole you nasty little fuck. The answer is, that's all you got.

First off; I never mentioned anything about pyramids.

I merely agreed with another poster that Carson is no doubt brilliant in his field of expertise.
Beyond his field of expertise, the man is just another layperson with an opinion.

End of story;

Now you walk back your slams on Carsons speculation? That is the OP, stupid shit, so dont try to separate your idiotic comments from the general topic; which is what nasty little shits libtards are when anyone challenges their Great Leader.

 

[pwjohn]

Why you be blowing all that shit outa your pie hole you nasty little fuck. The answer is, that's all you got.

First off; I never mentioned anything about pyramids.

I merely agreed with another poster that Carson is no doubt brilliant in his field of expertise.
Beyond his field of expertise, the man is just another layperson with an opinion.

End of story;

Now you walk back your slams on Carsons speculation? That is the OP, stupid shit, so dont try to separate your idiotic comments from the general topic; which is what nasty little shits libtards are when anyone challenges their Great Leader.

The only one making bs claims here is you