Djoser Pyramid,Saqqara, Egypt

Sitting high on the Egyptian plain is one of Egypt's earliest pyramids, the pyramid of
Djoser (Zoser) of the 3rd Dynasty. The earliest known Egyptian pyramids were step
pyramids built by the architect Imhotep. This feat was accomplished by building a series
of six smaller mastabas on top of each other.

Approaching the site, I began to feel  like I was entering a portal in time, nothing seemed
real!  Stepping out of our bus, I had re-entered ancient Egypt. Quickly approaching the
pyramid,I had the strangest feeling I had been here before!
Everything seemed familiar and unreal at the same time.

This was at a time when my spiritual searching had just begun, every experience was a
new experience. The whether was extremely cold by Egypt standards, it was the last of
December, winter in the desert. A sharp wind cut through my light jacket as I approached
the back side of the edifice.Then chills ran up my back , however it wasn't from the
weather!

It was then I noticed the small cavity in the pyramid, it contained the mummified head of
Zosar. It was really eerie.
Walking back towards the bus I entered  the pyramid of Unas, another Egyptian Pharaoh.

Unas a Pharoah of the 5th Dynasty, built a small pyramid at Saqqara, originally named
"Beautiful are the places of Unas", close to the  Step Pyramid of Djoser. Entering inside I
couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. Decorated in Egyptian motif, the ceiling,
which represented the sky, was  baby blue with stars and constellations placed in their
proper position. Again a feeling of not quite being totally in the physical body returned. I
would find out more of this sensation when I visited Sedona a couple of years later.

It was then, when I returned to the tour bus, that I discovered my camera had
malfunctioned, no photos had been taken. I would also discover later in Sedona that it
would be impossible for me to photograph anything with an electronic camera. All of my
photos would need to be recorded on a manual camera,one with no electronic functions
whatever.
Much later I discovered the reason, at these sacred sites, energy was transmitted from my
third eye area. By holding a camera up to my eye, the energy was transferred from my
third eye to the camera, thus making them inoperable. I actually had to have some of the
circuits replaced! After finding this out, I sold the camera, for $25,(it cost more to fix
than the camera was worth.)  I began using manual cameras only.
 How were the Pyramids built?

© Copyright Dieter Arnold, Building in Egypt, p. 278

The pyramid blocks were hewn from quarries using stone and copper tools. There are
examples of each stage of block extraction at existing ancient quarries. Granite was
quarried using pounding stones of dolerite, some of which have been found laying about
the quarries. The blocks were transported to the pyramid site from remote quarries using
barges, and from local quarries using wooden sleds. The Egyptians did not use the wheel
during the Pyramid Age, an invention that would have been of limited used on softer
ground under heavy loads. The sleds were dragged manually, sometimes with the help of
beasts of burden, over smoothed roads. Some of the existing pathways were equipped
with transverse wooden beams to lend support to the sled. A lubricant may have been
poured upon the road to reduce friction. (For more information, see Moving Large
Objects.)

Cedar sled from Lisht.

© Copyright Dieter Arnold, Building in Egypt, p. 276

How the massive blocks were raised to the height of the rising pyramid is not understood
for certain. Earthen ramps were used at least in the initial stages of construction. Extant
ramps have been found at the pyramids of Amenemhat I and Senwosret I at Lisht (see
photos below), as well as at several other sites. Traces of disassembled ramps at pyramid
sites are even more common. The ramps were made of brick or earth and rubble dressed
with brick for strength. They were built up as the pyramid progressed upward, and
removed as the pyramid was finished downward.

Inclined brick construction ramps with transverse

timbers at the pyramids of Amenemhat I and Senwosret I.
  
© Copyright Dieter Arnold, Building in Egypt, pp. 87, 88

The ramps likely took the form of an inclined plane at the beginning of work, but the
configuration in later stages has long been a matter of conjecture. Some Egyptologists
propose a straight, gently sloping, linear ramp, some propose a steep staircase ramp, and
others propose a ramp that spiraled up the four sides of the pyramid. In most ramp
scenarios, the volume of the ramp exceeds the volume of the pyramid structure itself,
raising the possibility that the stones of the upper reaches were placed using levers, or
perhaps a modified ramp of some sort. In the case of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the upper
half of the total vertical pyramid height represents only 12.5% of the mass of the entire
pyramid. The mass of the top quarter of the pyramid's height is a mere .0386% of the
whole. Thus the mass of the ramp is in inverse proportion to the mass of building
material it is meant to convey. Extending a ramp to the upper reaches of a pyramid to
service such a small volume of stone would appear to be inexpedient.

But whatever the configuration of the ramps, the fact remains that the Egyptians
successfully completed the most massive building projects in all of history. There is
nothing magical or supernatural in the means by which they achieved their goals. By all
indications, they retained their knowledge of construction throughout their history, but
they were limited after the Fourth Dynasty not by the lack of technology but rather by the
lack of the abundant resources that were previously available. More than two thousand
years later, the Romans would move huge stones, some weighing nearly 1,000 tons, using
similar techniques at Baalbek.

More impressive than the mechanics of moving huge masses of building material are the
logistics involved: choreographing teams of foremen, multitudes of workers, and a
profusion of supplies, all within the rigid constraints of a blueprint for design and a
timetable for completion. It is hard to imagine that such a feat could be possible, but the
pyramids themselves provide mute testimony that it was not only possible but actually
accomplished. There remains no known written record hinting at how the pyramids were
built, nor have any reliefs depicting the procedure been found. Most of what
Egyptologists believe to be true of the methods involved is based on tangible
archaeological evidence. Some is based on theory and is open for debate. What is known
for certain is that the Egyptians used simple but effective tools to quarry the stones, to
move them to the pyramid site, and to place them in the desired location.
For a more detailed and technical treatment of pyramid construction techniques, see
Bonnie Sampsell's articles on the role of accretion layers in pyramid design and on how
the Egyptians managed to control the shape of the pyramid while building it.

And for a more speculative theory of pyramid construction, see Mike Molyneaux's
article, "Real life experiments that reveal the ancient art and techniques of building
Egyptian pyramids."