Anthony Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "So... how many pounds will the rope hold?"
>
> She's right. There could be far too much stress
> on this single line that needs to wrap around a
> pulley to let it pull the sledge up the ramp. Make
> the rope thicker, and the pulley becomes more
> cumbersome.
>
> Just more problems with another theory that looks
> great in a GIF file, or with a 20 pound weight,
> but falls apart when you move the model up to the
> massive blocks that actually make up the pyramid
> of Khufu at Giza.

Earlier in this thread I posted:
"I've just watched the video and the technique is stunningly simple, so-much-so I could almost see the AEs doing it.
However, the videoed practical demonstration uses rather light weights and a gradual slope.
It would be most interesting to see the experiment repeated using, say, a two ton block and a steeper gradient."

Now, unless and until this experiment has been carried out I fail to see how anybody can assert that: "Just more problems with another theory that looks great in a GIF file, or with a 20 pound weight, but falls apart when you move the model up to the massive blocks that actually make up the pyramid of Khufu at Giza."

The lack of textual evidence for the use of the windlass in the 4th Dyn. suggests to me that the AEs did not use such a device.
However, it only suggests this.
If we add in the existence of the circular holes seen in the ground at Gize - which I understand are unique to Giza and the 4th Dyn. - then we just may be looking at evidence for the employment of a device that was in principal not very distant from the windlass.

I do think that we would do well to examine Steven Tasker's general idea a lot closer than we have so far.

When asked by Ronald how the pyramids were built, Anthony posted: "With the tools and methods that are clearly evidenced. To find the evidence, though, requires a lot of digging."

Leaving aside the problem with evidence being clear and at the same time requiring a lot of digging (I accept I may have misunderstood Anthony's meaning), perhaps we need to do a bit more 'digging' before rejecting entirely Steven's interesting idea.

MJ