Jon_B Wrote:
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> >The maximum width (east-west) of the Grand
> Gallery is circa. 4 royal cubits/6.9 feet.
> Because the Pyramid's builders were able to span
> the width of the King's Chamber (circa. 10 royal
> cubits/17.2 feet) with a single block, I would
> suggest that your explanation is most
> unlikely.<
>
> Your not comparing like with like. The Grand
> gallery is built of limestone which wouldn't be
> strong enough to span the width. Using granite as
> in the King's Chamber to span the whole width and
> length of the Gallery would have been a massive
> task.
>
> Even when they used granite in the King's Chamber
> they had to use relieving chambers above to spread
> the load which is another technology to do the
> same job as a corbel.
>
> The corbel of the Grand Gallery is just a natural
> extension of previous examples in the Red Pyramid
> and before that in the Bent and at Meidum. If they
> were building in limestone then corbels were the
> way they did it.
Hello Jon,
I see your point about the GG roof being limestone and the KC ceiling being granite.
A difference I had not allowed for.
I am not, as you've probably guessed, at all aquainted with structural engineering.
However, this does not deter me from wondering: wouldn't the suitability of a block of limestone for a span of nearly 7 feet depend on the thickness of the block in relation to its length, i.e., the longer the span the thicker the block needs to be?
The corbelling we see in Khufu's pyramid is indeed far from unique (see Meidum and Dahshur) but this does not, as far as I can see, mean that this corbelling was always done to span a passage more than 2 royal cubits wide (I'm taking the width of the GP's Descending and Ascending passages as my reference).
I see the Grand Gallery's corbelling as a nod by Khufu to his father, Sneferu.
In other words, I see the GG and its corbelling as symbolic of something rather than as a practical solution to a practical problem - such as: how do you span a gap of 4 royal cubits using only limestone blocks?
MJ
