Rick Baudé Wrote:
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> However on behalf of those who are somewhat
> interested in the shaft may I present an alternate
> view?
No.
I speak for the collective. You know that.
> What I do
> find interesting is the fact that the shafts give
> us the only insight into the structure of the
> pyramid itself. Up until now we only now how the
> exterior the rooms and a burial shaft are
> constructed.
Not so.
Mamun's tunnel is what gives us the only sneak-peak into the construction of the core masonry of the pyramid from the inside. From the exterior, Vyse's blasted scar on the south side lets us have another peak into the interior.
The interior of these shafts, on the other hand, are as finished as any passageway (more or less) and thus only show us what they wanted the inside of the shafts to look like. That is very different from a view into the core masonry, though.
> The shafts give us a cross section
> of the pyramid itself. In addition to that the
> robots represent a new generation in robot
> technology that will undoubtedly be folded into
> the next generation or robots.
That's kind of like saying the geomancers and numerologists should be allowed to continue espousing their hooey just because it gives people practice with a calculator.
I think it's a bit misplaced myself.
> There will be a
> ripple effect as all of this knowledge will be
> incorporated into the respective fields of
> Egyptology and industrial robotics. All in all I
> think it's a good investment of time and money.
I have a problem. If, as most people claim, we do not understand what function these shafts serve, then it is very disrespectful to the culture that built them to run robots up into them drilling holes into blocks they put into place for a reason. It's destructive, even if it is just a tiny hole. And to me, it represents a lack of respect. I guess I've just grown very attached to the people and culture that built this monument, and to the reasons they did so.
It'd be like taking a chunk of stone off Big Ben's tower, just to see if it is from this quarry or that quarry. Would it be okay to scrape the finish of the statue of Churchill outside Parliament in a quest to find out how rapidly it was being affected by acid rain? Should we drill a hole in the head of Lincoln's big statue in Washington to see if it really is solid?
Why does Khufu deserve any less respect?
Send robots, fine. X-ray? Okay. Sonar? Fine.
Drill?
Please don't. By all archaeological and Egyptological theory, there's nothing back there to find. It's damage for the sake of morbid curiosity.
But, I respect your position, and your right to voice it. We can disagree. No problems.
Anthony
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.