Dozens of scholars have tried to figure out just how the ancient Egyptians constructed their pyramids. A number of ideas have been tossed around, none of them very convincing.
The mystery may be over thanks to Michel Barsoum, a professor of materials engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He believes the Egyptians used concrete to construct the outer and inner casings and much of the upper levels where stone would have been just too difficult to hoist.
Dr. Barsoum's team analyzed samples from the Khufu pyramid and found mineral ratios that simply don't exist in limestone. The geochemical mix of lime, sand and clay leads the scientists to conclude the ancients invented a form of concrete, 2,500 years earlier than the discovery of concrete by the ancient Romans.
1 comment:
That's very interesting. So I wonder what else they may have built out of the concrete.
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