The Mystery of the Pyramids Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Paper

Why ask why the Great Pyramid was built? Because it is the most massive building on the planet, at least twice the volume and thirty times the mass of the Empire State Building. Because it is aligned to the true cardinal points of the compass even though no compass is known to have existed at its time of construction. Because its masonry which weighs up to seventy tons is joined to the fiftieth of an inch. Because its casing stones were polished to the standard of modern optical work. Why was such an enormous undertaking, combined with such incredible accuracy, deemed necessary for the construction of a mere tomb and funerary ornament to a dead king who never occupied it? It is an enormous undertaking for such a seemingly useless building - a building that is thought of by most to be a house for a dead pharaoh. But there are other reasons to question why the Great Pyramid and indeed why any of the thirty or so pyramids were built than simply because of its immense size, features, and effort that must have been involved in its construction. A large amount of theories exist that speculate about its "true" or other functions. Is the Great Pyramid an astronomical observatory, a huge public works project, the Bible written in solid stone, a prophetic work, or an energy collector? Who designed and built the Great Pyramid? God, Thoth, a past civilization, or space aliens? It is these questions that will be examined so that we can gain a better understanding of why such seemingly enormous undertakings of pyramid construction were ever carried out. Why do some believe that the Great Pyramid (or the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu or Cheops) at Ghiza was designed with clear mathematical links between the Pyramid's dimensions and the Ea... ...ris. The Pyramids. New York : Hippocrene Books , 1988. De Jager, Cornelius. "Adventures in Science and Cyclosophy." Skeptical Inquirer Winter 1992. Hadingham, Evan. "Pyramid Schemes . " The Atlantic November 1992 . Hamblin, Dora Jane. "A Unique Approach to Unraveling the Secrets of the Great Pyramids . " Smithsonian April 1986 . Lemesurier, Peter. The Great Pyramid Decoded. Longmead: Element Books Ltd.: 1989. Mendelssohn, Kurt. The Riddle of the Pyramids. New York: Praeger Publishers: 1974. Stiebing, William H. Jr.. Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions, and other Popular Theories about Man's Past. Buffalo: Prometheus Books: 1984. Tompkins, Peter. Secrets of the Great Pyramid. New York : Harper & Row: 1971. Works Consulted Trachtenberg, Marvin. Architecture From Prehistory to Post-Modern New York: Hary N. Abrams, Inc.: 1986.