How Did the Egyptians Build the Pyramids?

Of all of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the only one which remains standing today is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It and other Egyptian pyramids have astonished historians and visitors for thousands of years. How could a people create such massive structures without the use of modern technology? While some believe that it would have been impossible (implying that aliens visited and aided the Egyptians), Egyptologists are beginning to understand how the ancient Egyptians were able to build such awe-inspiring structures.

The first problem that engineers would have had to overcome was the questions of where to procure materials and how to transport them to the worksite. This was an impressive feat in itself. Using only the most primitive of tools, workers quarried large stone blocks and cut it to extremely precise measurements. They then loaded those blocks onto wooden sleds pulled by oxen. Obviously, the stone was extremely heavy, so engineers made the paths muddy to make it easier for the oxen to pull the sleds.

The next problem that engineers would have faced would have been to put those heavy blocks of stone into position. We do not know for certain how this was done, but it seems very likely that they used a series of ramps to put the blocks into position. These ramps were probably made out of mud brick, sand, and rubble. Workers put the blocks into position one level at a time until they had made a step pyramid, the kind of pyramids that Mexico is famous for. As they completed each level, they would built a new level that would allow them to make the next one. Perhaps the most difficult task was to finish the pyramid. Using the step pyramid as a core and a support for the ramps, workers added the outside blocks and filled some of the empty space with sand.