Ancient Technology & the Great Pyramid Basalt Pavement | Ancient Architects

This year I was lucky enough to visit the Giza Plateau and explore the pyramids and their associated structures and stonework, and on the eastern side of the Great Pyramid, you can’t help but take note of the magnificent basalt pavement.

These paving stones are in fact all that remains of Khufu’s mortuary temple, which was likely destroyed at the same time the pyramid’s casing stones were removed, if not long before.

This basalt pavement is a favourite talking point for those that believe in a lost ancient high technology in Ancient Egypt. It’s a hard igneous rock and we can see specific cut marks on some of the rock faces. So how were they made? How was this rock cut and shaped? Was it possible with Ancient Egyptian materials and technology? Is this basalt pavement still hiding ancient secrets? Just how difficult was it to work?

In this video, I take a close look at the geology of the basalt and offer some suggestion on just how this ancient igneous rock could have been cut. What was the ancient technology used?

All images and video are my own, have been used with permission or have been taken from the below sources for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video and please leave a comment below. Thank you.

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#ancientarchitects #greatpyramid #ancientegypt

[jhonsmith]

I remember when you were on 2k subs been here since the beginning proud of the direction you have taken the channel it has got me through some ruff times when I was in hospital

[OleHippy]

Every episode is a learning experience. Between this channel, History For Granite, and Lines in Sand it feels like we’re receiving a college level quality of education from pros who know how to make it fun! Thanks !

[jackelewish]

I found you through _History For Granite_ so glad theres people who genuinely want to know what happened and doesn't have a certain agenda they look for things to fit according to.

[Akimos]

Mr. Rockman this is, to me, your best video this year. TY much.

[gora-ji]

All of Matt’s videos are excellent, but this one was absolutely outstanding. I learned so much, and I so grateful you take the time to research and produce these videos with such high quality. Thank you so much!

[JonnoPlays]

I think this was one of your best episodes yet. Very factual with solid evidence presented and a narrative with a beginning and an end. I really enjoyed it and I think I learned a lot too. The point about smashing a diamond was really interesting. Could you do a thorough dive like this into the so-called scoop marks on the great obelisk. The documentation on how the scoop marks were made using super hot fires and chisel stones is all there ready to be turned into a video format. They are very well explained but they continue to be used as a smoking gun example of high technology.

[StephiSensei]

Great Job Matt! You get a 10 on my hardness scale! You're a diamond in the rough!

[Leeside]

Delighted you mentioned SGD and Scientists against myths channels. They don't get enough recognition.

[calvinritchot]

Matt I'm a stone mason in Canada and have multiple masonry saws, with assorted blades, masonry drills with the proper bits, grinders pull saws etc and I would like to use my old leftover stone to film test cuts on with every combination I can possibly try and send you the pieces to help you with your research. I have dozens of types of granite, limestone, marble, quartz as well as the locations they were quarried. I'm not sure if much effort has been done to recreate and cross examine the techniques the ancients used to shape their stones and am in a very unique position to help further the investigation into it. If this is something your interested in just let me know and I'd be glad to Help. Ancient Egypt was probably the main reason i became a stone mason. Anyways big fan and always look forward to your videos. Keep up the good work

[JMMRanMA]

Thanks, Matt, for another amazing, detailed, fact-filled, thought-provoking analysis of the ancient basalt paving. The data and analysis thereof made the matter understandable, even to geology and science challenged viewers. I was not a stellar student in Earth Science class, but your explanation cut through the mental fog better than emery. If only the X-ites and Hancockatoos would take their thumbs out of their ears and the hands from in front of their eyes they might gain more from your videos. I look forward to every one of your outstanding posts.

[andrewkircher]

Always so excited when Matt has a new video!

[SacredGeometryDecoded]

Thanks for the shout out, cutting basalt with copper hand saw and corundum I replicated the striations and the cutting profiles as shown by Petrie. 12mm an hour though that's with no pressure on the saw. Even then that's 40% the speed of modern gang saws using diamond blades. A properly weighted pendulum/swing saw that cutting rate would be even faster.

[araguilera]

Amazing job done, thank you very much for your long research.

[thesonofdormammu]

Thousands of years of construction/evolution of technology and also thousands of years of contamination/looting of sites. I don't know if we will ever solve these mysteries. I can't even imagine what has been lost to time over the years. Good video.

[TonyLeith]

Excellent video as always. Thank you for all of your hard work.

[russellmillar]

Great job of covering the practical knowledge that helps to dispel some of the "mystery" about how the ancients were able to accomplish so much.

[WorldHistory_CE]

I have a request, since your background is Geology, is it possible to make an entire video on just geology of Giza? Like exdplaining the diffrent type of stones in construction and they geological formation where they are found, kinda like you did with the rock in this video, but all the rock types on giza. I think it could be a great resource for people in the furute and i have a slight intrest in it. this video's geological stuff was so facenating..

[mikelee]

I wish we could actually test some of your theories. The non-load bearing block in the King's Chamber that aligns with the box, for example. That could be the most important discovery in the Great Pyramid in a hundred years, but there's no way for us to test it (short of smuggling in heavy equipment and trying to pull it out of the wall). If that block is hiding a passage, it could actually lead to the other mysterious discovery, the opening in the side of the wall of passages leading out of the Queen's Chamber, or to the void above the Grand Gallery. It's so frustrating knowing that there is something so obvious that could lead to such a huge discovery... yet it's just not being looked into at all, and won't be.

[vancegilmore]

I didn't know about the basalt paving stones until your videos.

[JonnoPlays]

Do the so-called "scoop marks" on the great obelisk next please! Great work!