One of the biggest mysteries about ancient Egypt is the type of tools used to build the massive structures in the Giza Plateau. There is no proper explanation of how the ancient Egyptians cut the large stone slabs and fitted them together with such an inexplicable precision. According to the available explanations, the complex design of these ancient structures was built using ordinary, primitive tools combined with extraordinary feats of human exertion.
Additionally, while looking at other ancient structures in other parts of the world one can find similar building techniques and designs. Around the globe, T-shaped or hourglass-shaped keystone cutouts are found in massive ancient megalithic structures. Metal alloys were poured into the keystones to reinforce walls, using that shared knowledge worldwide.
Scientists and historians have been trying for years to understand the mysterious construction of these immense ancient structures, but there is another mystery that baffles experts: why is there no record of the construction methods and what happened to the tools? Why have not we found any evidence of tools or what if we misunderstood them?
For many people, the ancient era was full of primitive (old-fashioned) technology. Whatever humans achieved in the field of technology has come only in the past few centuries. But looking at the remains of past civilizations it is hard to believe that our ancestors were not aware of advanced technology.
An account of an ancient Arab historian and geographer Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Mas’udi (also known as Herodotus of the Arabs) suggests that the process of levitation was used to move the huge blocks of stones. From his text, written in 947 AD, it gets clear that in very early Arabic legends, there was an intriguing story suggesting that the creation of the pyramids of Egypt had absolutely nothing to do with the conventional technologies of the era.
Nick Redfern, the British best-selling author, writes:
“When building the pyramids, their creators carefully positioned what was described as magical papyrus underneath the edges of the mighty stones that were to be used in the construction process. Then, one by one, the stones were struck by what was curiously, and rather enigmatically, described only as a rod of metal. Lo and behold, the stones then slowly began to rise into the air, and – like dutiful soldiers unquestioningly following orders – proceeded in slow, methodical, single-file fashion a number of feet above a paved pathway surrounded on both sides by similar, mysterious metal rods. For around 150 feet, Al-Mas’udi noted, the gigantic stones moved forward, usually with nothing more than the very gentlest of prods – from the keeper of the mysterious rod – to ensure they stayed on-track, before finally, and very softly, settling back to the ground. At that point, the process was duly repeated. The stones were struck once more, rose up from the surface, and again traveled in the desired direction, for yet another 150 feet or so. And so the strange, repetitive task continued, time and time again, until all of the stones finally reached their ultimate destination.”
Many people argue that the mysterious rod held by the Egyptian deities like Anubis in many ancient paintings and wall art could be a form of some tool. This rod, known as “Was-sceptre” is a symbol of power carried by many of the gods, who in numerous representations pass it on to the king, often with other emblems such as the ankh-sign and the Djed-pillar. In a funerary context, the Was-sceptre was responsible for the well-being of the deceased and was thus sometimes included in the tomb equipment or in the decoration of the tomb or coffin. The sceptre is also known as an amulet. The Egyptians perceived the sky as being supported on four pillars, which could have the shape of Was-sceptres. The Was-sceptre is also a symbol of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome, the nome of Thebes (called ‘Waset’ in Egyptian).
In some depictions, Was-sceptres are seen upholding the roof of a shrine as Horus looks on. Similarly, the Djed is seen on temple lintels appearing to hold up the sky in the complex at Djoser in Saqqara. A video from Ancient Architects shows the use of tuning forks by Egyptians. In the video, the narrator explains that the Egyptians might have used objects like the Was-sceptre and tuning forks to cut through the hardest stones using the power of sound and vibrations.
A depiction of tuning forks is seen on the statue of Isis and Anubis, each holding a rod. Between the deities, a carving shows two tuning forks that seem to be connected by wires. Beneath the forks, a rounded object with four prongs is centered, and it almost appears like an arrow pointing upward.
Interestingly, in the video, there is some mentioning of an unverified email dated 10 December 1997, suggesting Egyptians found ancient tuning forks but they could not identify their true purpose.
“Some years ago an American friend picked the lock of a door leading to an Egyptian museum store-room measuring approx 8 feet x ten feet. Inside she found ‘hundreds’ of what she described as ‘tuning forks. These ranged in size from approx 8 inches to approx 8 or 9 feet overall length and resembled catapults, but with a taut wire stretched between the tines of the ‘fork.’ She insists, incidentally, that these were definitely not non-ferrous, but ‘steel. These objects resembled a letter ‘U’ with a handle (a bit like a pitchfork) and, when the wire was plucked, they vibrated for a prolonged period. It occurs to me to wonder if these devices might have had hardened tool bits attached to the bottom of their handles and if they might have been used for cutting or engraving stone, once they had been set vibrating.”
According to the acoustician named John Stuart Reid, the King’s chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza was designed to reverberate in order to increase the sound energy from ritualistic chants. He claimed that his chronic pain in the lower back was healed while conducting cymatic experiments in the pyramid. Fascinated with the sound of vowels, the ancient Egyptians knew about their acoustic power. They believed that these sounds could generate vibrations with healing abilities. Using a method called “toning,” they manipulated the vowel sound using breath and voice to render therapeutic sounds. Musicologist Laurel Elizabeth Keys writes in her book titled “Toning: The creative power of voice”: “Toning is an ancient method of healing. The idea is to simply restore people to their harmonic patterns.”
According to Ancient Origins, the ancient Egyptians benefited from the “sound” in the construction of the Great Pyramid in Giza, and relied on the discovery of a dead end in the rock inside the pyramid room as a tube of acoustic resonance that generates ultrasonic waves at a base frequency within 5 Hz. Were the builders of the pyramid in ancient Egypt aware of some very expressive forms of sound technology?
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