Path: typhoon.sonic.net!feed.news.sonic.net!sfo2-feed1.news.digex.net!jfk3-feed1.news.digex.net!intermedia!news.maxwell.syr.edu!diablo.theplanet.net!news.indigo.ie!not-for-mail From: "Colum" Newsgroups: alt.archaeology,sci.anthropology,soc.history.ancient,alt.history.ancient-egypt References: Subject: Re: Kites used to build the pyramids? Lines: 59 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6700 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6700 Message-ID: <7p897.20790$Fk7.200416@news.indigo.ie> Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 08:54:06 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 159.134.243.116 X-Complaints-To: abuse@eircom.net X-Trace: news.indigo.ie 996479683 159.134.243.116 (Mon, 30 Jul 2001 08:54:43 BST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 08:54:43 BST Organization: Eircom.Net http://www.eircom.net Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.archaeology:59072 sci.anthropology:80188 soc.history.ancient:77114 alt.history.ancient-egypt:7052 Read on a little and.. "Theory dismissed Most scholars consider the idea laughable and cite archaeological evidence showing that thousands of workers constructed earthen ramps to haul the 5,000-pound blocks for the pyramids, built as tombs for the ancient Pharaohs. ``Just because something can be done that way, doesn't mean it was. We'd know if they were built like that,'' said Lisa Schwappach, curator of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. Although Schwappach acknowledges that one known Egyptian artifact resembles a kite, she says evidence for the theory doesn't mesh with the technologies surrounding the 4,000-year-old monuments. Egyptians were expert sailors, but they never developed the wheel and used only looped ropes as pulleys. " -- Regards, Colum. [Replace .nospam with .ie to send me mail] "Jenn" wrote in message news:At797.20518$LP2.1207610@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net... > BY MICHAEL COREN > Mercury News > > The heavy lifting needed to build the Egyptian pyramids may not have been on > the backs of slaves, but from the lightest of sources -- the wind. This > controversial theory gained new support last month with an experiment by the > California Institute of Technology. > > On June 23, a team of undergraduates and faculty members erected a 3.5-ton > obelisk harnessing the power of a kite through a simple system of pulleys, > nylon rope and steel scaffolding that created an estimated 400 pounds of > force. On the team's second try, a nylon parasail tugged both the 15-foot > monument and the person holding the ropes off the ground in gusty 16-mph > winds blowing off the Mojave Desert. > > The team believes the experiment has major implications for reevaluating > Egyptian history and the technological potential ........... > > http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/scitech/docs/obelisk24.htm > > > -- > Jenn > > Brian (not wanting to be a messiah): "You are all individuals..." > Crowd (in unison): "We are all individuals..." > Monty Python's "Life Of Brian" > > >