Secrets of a lost world

Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one still standing. Built around 4,500 years ago to house the body of the fourth-dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (or Cheops), it stands testament to a lost world’s technical expertise.

The 146m-high prism of about two million giant limestone slabs, many of them weighing up to 70 tonnes, has been the subject of almost unequalled analysis throughout the ages but the great structure is yet to yield up its biggest secret: how it was built.

Numerous theories have been put forward. Some believe it was constructed using either a straight or spiral external ramp that was raised as the construction proceeded. Others have suggested the blocks were hauled into place using long levers. Some have even claimed extra-terrestrials had a hand in the design. All agree that most theories pose more questions than they answer.

Last month, however, in an announcement that has divided the academic community, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin revealed a compelling new hypothesis that the Great Pyramid was built from the inside out. In an unusual departure from the archaeological techniques usually deployed by Egyptologists, he arrived at his theory with the help of engineering software typically used to design cars and aircraft.

Houdin believes that a smaller, long, straight ramp consisting of two carriageways was used to build up to the 43m mark of the pyramid (about 73 per cent of its volume). Then the frontal ramp was systematically dismantled and the blocks that formed it used to complete the upper part of the pyramid through a ramp that spirals around the inside of the structure. According to Houdin’s calculations, the volume of rock used in the external ramp would have been exactly the volume of rock required to construct the pyramid above the 43m mark.

To put his theory to the test, Houdin teamed up with industrial software giant Dassault Systemes, developer of a suite of software tools that are claimed to be behind the design of almost 70 per cent of the cars on the road.

Houdin began by building a 3D model of the pyramid, using CATIA CAD software. Until now, he said, everyone who has tried to explain the construction of the pyramids has worked in 2D. ‘I was able to see the pyramid from the inside, turn it up, down, left, right — and to see the connections between the work inside the pyramid, between the grand gallery and the King’s chamber, the corridors and the chambers.’