Building the Great Pyramid - Hardcover

Jackson, Kevin; Stamp, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1552977218 ISBN 13: 9781552977217

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2003

Synopsis

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest and sole-surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and has inspired more speculation than any other building on Earth. Using state-of-the-art computer graphics, Building the Great Pyramid brings the world of Fourth Dynasty Egypt to life and shows how and why this most extraordinary of all human monuments was built.

Equipped only with the most basic tools, how were ancient Egyptians able to achieve such an extraordinary degree of accuracy in its construction? How were stones, some weighing as much as 40 tons, hauled into position so precisely? What was life like for the conscripted laborers who built it, and how long did it take them to complete their task? Only now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is it possible to provide answers.

The authors trace the history of the exploration of the Giza site, from the earliest Greek and Roman travelers, through to Jean-François Champollion's cracking of the hieroglyphic code; and the work of scholars such as Auguste Mariette and Sir William Flinders Petrie in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The final chapter covers less orthodox theories and looks at how the Great Pyramid has become a magnet for all manner of charlatans, heretics, and cranks.

About this title

About the Author

Kevin Jackson is a freelance journalist and film-maker. He has written, directed and narrated documentaries on Anthony Burgess, Dennis Potter and William Morris for BBC television. His books include The Language of Cinema and A Ruskin Alphabet.

Jonathan Stamp is the producer of the BBC television program Pyramid.

Reviews

This companion to the BBC/Discovery Channel special to be aired this spring uses the latest technology (including computer-generated artwork) to support its theses. The authors argue that the base of the Great Pyramid is almost perfectly flat because builders were able to adjust the level of the pyramid's foundation rather than using water to move the bedrock; that a conscripted army built the pyramid, not slaves; and that the Egyptians built the pyramid because, in their worldview, it kept creation from coming to an end. Interspersed with the more speculative writing is a solid history of life in early Egypt, an analysis of the lure of Egyptology for travelers throughout the ages, and profiles of the various "cranks" who have placed the pyramid at the center of their theories (e.g., those who claim that it was built by extraterrestrials). The easy-to-digest text and the many illustrations give the book appeal to a wide range of readers. Unfortunately, the "photos" of men in loincloths hard at work are both laughably phony-looking and very fuzzy. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552977218
• ISBN 13: 9781552977217
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192