<HTML>Hi all,
(This post is on GHMB and on Ma'at.)
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about Coral Castle.
One of the main questions that kept comming back was: could Ed L. have done all the stonelifting with ordinary hoist and chain techniques?
I took the liberty to ask the experts on weightlifting.
On Ma'at I found this link to a firm who trades in all sorts of hoists and cranes. (Thank you Derrek Barnett)
<a href="[
harringtonhoists.com];
Through their website I contacted them, here is my mail to them:
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(Excuse my English, it's not my native language.)
Dear Sirs,
Please forgive me to take the liberty to ask you a question.
The reason for adressing you, is because I consider you to be experts with respect to weightlifting.
On the internet there are a lot of discussions about all sorts of topics.
I'm involved in some of the discussions about ancient history and related topics.
Maybe you've heard about the debate that is going on about the way in which the ancient Egyptians build their pyramids?
The questions I would like to ask are these:
1. Is it possible to lift blocks of stone up to 30 tons, using a manual hoist?
2. Do you believe this is possible in a way shown on the photograph, which is viewable at
<a href="[
www.coralcastle.com];
3. If your answer to question 2 is positive, do you also believe this could be done in the 1930's?
You probably have much better things to do than answering such questions and I will fully understand if you will ignore them.
On the other hand I would be very greatfull if you could spare a moment to give me a reply.
Sincerely,
Jeff van Hout
jvhout@home.nl
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Within an hour I recieved an answer, signed by Dawn Hess.
The answer is short but says it all:
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The answer to all of your questions is Yes! The photo was a bit blurry, but
with some type of sling or lifting device attached to the bottom hook of the
hoist it can be done.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
So for now we probably can state that Ed L. had no need for a Herodotus machine.
(But that does not mean he did not use one.)
Jeff</HTML>
