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How The Pyramids Were Built: The Diamond Matrix and the Number 7

How The Pyramids Were Built: The Diamond Matrix and the Number 7One of the first questions that is asked when the topic of pyramids arises is “How did the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids?” We’ve explored a few of these theories in the six-part series here at Talking Pyramids – from the traditional theories to the more innovative ideas such as Jean-Pierre Houdin’s Internal Ramp thory.

Just when you thought you’d heard them all, up pops another new theory explaining how the pyramids were built. This new theory was developed by Ole Jørgen Bryn, Associate professor from the Faculty of Architecture and fine Arts at the Norwegian University of Sciense and Technology (NTNU) and was published earlier this year in a scientific article in the Nordic Journal of Architectural Research.

In the paper Bryn explains how the construction of most of the Egyptian pyramids could have been carried out using a simple grid and the number seven.

Here’s an exert from the NTNU’s website:

What Bryn discovered was quite simple. He believes that the Egyptians invented the modern building grid, by separating the structure’s measuring system from the physical building itself, thus introducing tolerance, as it is called in today’s engineering and architectural professions…

…Bryn has studied the plans from the thirty oldest Egyptian pyramids, and discovered a precision system that made it possible for the Egyptians to reach the pyramid’s last and highest point, the apex point, with an impressive degree of accuracy. By exploring and making a plan of the pyramid it is possible to prepare modern project documentation of not just one, but all pyramids from any given period.

As long as the architect knows the main dimensions of a pyramid, he can project the building as he would have done it with a modern building, but with building methods and measurements known from the ancient Egypt, Bryn says.

In a scientific article published in May 2010 (Retracing Khufu’s Great Pyramid in the Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, vol 22, no. 1/2, 2010) Bryn discusses aspects that can explain the construction of a multitude of the Egyptian pyramids by taking the building grid, and not the physical building itself, as the starting point for the analysis.

Could Ole Jørgen Bryn be right?

Download his paper to read more about the theory: Retracing Khufu’s Great Pyramid. The “diamond matrix” and the number 7 (right-click and ‘save as’).

Tags: Khufu