MJ wrote

> “But, as explained by Lobo, we have to take into account that lubricant
> would have been necessary to facilitate the blocks travel, and without
> sufficient clearance around the blocks this lubricant (which would have
> been animal fat or thinned mortar) would have impeded the movement of the > blocks, possibly to the extent that they would jam tight
> before they reached their intended destination.”

Actually if you consider the elasticity of any known lubricant the blocks would have forced their way through. Lets take the argument to an extreme, an entire wall of animal fat blocking the passage impacted by a block estimated weight in tons would have resulted in a mess but not in a plugged passage. If there was nowhere ahead of the block the lubricant, being elastic, would have squirted around and behind it.

The argument this may make the slope treacherous for the guider makes a lot of sense though, unless it could be counted on to evaporate.

Jammer