Hi CK

cladking wrote:

> Chris Jordan wrote:
>
> > ... still
> > don't like the guys standing on the side passing buckets of
> > sand up.
>
> I agree it would be a very highly "inelegant" solution to
> building pyramids after the water no longer fell far enough to
> do any lifting. Because of G3 I sometimes toy with the idea
> that the causeways were used both to transport water to the
> valley temple but also to use as a counterweight run. Perhaps
> the partial G3 causeway was used for this purpose but there
> wasn't enough water to do much lifting.
>
> While passing sand up the side is so inelegant it's far more
> elegant than Egyptological theory that supposes the people only
> loved Menkare one 45th as much as Khufu or that his ego was
> only one 45Th the size of Khufu's. While it's inelegant I
> believe that building involved water water being passed up the
> side of all the great pyramids after S1 (except G1 where it was
> passed up internally), so they had lots of experience with
> passing weight up the side. This is hardly a certainty but
> there would be times when water was scarce and lots of stones
> were needed. They had a oryx head on the counterweight
> suggesting water could be scarce.
>
As you say way too inelegant, its why I turn to Herodotus and his dam levers for the final stage. Even my Babylonian water lifters would be less hassle and they could use what water pressure they did have and save a lot of labor.

> This is something that can be estimated if they ever do the
> science and might be measured in G1. Of course, I might be
> wrong that they ever lifted water mechanically but there seems
> to be evidence. There even seems to be a job title for these
> people.
>
What was the name?

> > At least they could do something about increasing those
> > concentrations of CO2. Dropping Natron in upstream would
> help.
> > It would also help dissolve the limestone since this would
> add
> > to the acidity of the water. The water table level is in the
> > hands of the gods. Just quenching the thirst of all those
> sand
> > lifters would be a huge challenge. At least with the
> > construction of G1 they had a lake of perrier to drink at the
> > summit (well according to Steven Myers).
>
> I believe all of the CO2 in geysers can only be dissolved into
> the water at great depth where the only source is CO2 being
> released by volcanic activity. Water simply doesn't hold
> enough CO2 near ground level to spray up. It's possible, I
> suppose, that there were far lower concentrations of CO2 in
> these than most such geysers and only the addition of a
> chemical (or sweets as mentioned in the PT) would cause an
> eruption.
>
Weak acid dissolves limestone and carries the CO2 away in the water. I think along the lines of alka seltzer, tho what the old combo was I have no idea better than dry acid and powdered limestone. Probably wrong.

> It's a shame everyone has to speculate when everything would
> easily be determined with nominal effort.
>
> There was a lake in heaven (81' 3") and prossibly more at
> 140'. There's also a strange density anomaly at 360' on the NE
> corner that might be a little lake. It would sure come in
> handy to lift some water up here as they were finishing up the
> upper reaches.
>
Wouldn't that be just under the height I have for stages 2 and 3?

Regards

Chris