Journal articles on the topic 'Great Pyramid (Egypt)'

The pyramids of Egypt, and especially the Great Pyramid at Giza, have long been the subject of speculation. Notably from the mid-nineteenth century to today Western writers have proselytized numerous interpretations at odds with those of specialist scholars, and such alternative ideas have attracted wide if disparate followings. In surveys of Egypt written for a general audience from a traditional Egyptological framework these ideas are often ignored, or are lumped together as ‘pyramidiocy’. Here we emphasize the great diversity of models in pyramidologies and suggest two typological frameworks to help understand them. One applies a matrix of their ideological origins and their use of metrical applications. An alternate typology classifies pyramidologies by supposed creators and intended users of the pyramid(s). Most such theories are created by male outsiders to Egypt; they set the subject outside of the broader context of pharaonic architecture and society; they often cite scholarly sources selectively; and can incorporate mutually contradictory arguments. The internet has broadened access to alternative archaeologies, and has served to democratize fantasy.

The topic of this paper is an analysis of the survey of Cheops pyramid (also known as the Great pyramid), the most significant of the three pyramids of the Giza complex, the archeological site on the plateau of Giza, situated on the periphery of Cairo. It is assumed that Cheops as well as Khafre and Menkaure pyramids were built around 2686 -- 2181 BC, known in the history as the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Our goal was to collect data about geodetic survey of Cheops pyramid and analyze it. Along with that, several hypotheses related to the construction method of the pyramid and possible purposes of the construction itself are described. When analyzing the survey, two numbers, also called ``two treasures of geometry'', are constantly appearing, these are the number Pi ($\pi$) and the Golden ratio or golden number Fi ($\varphi$). One of the chapters is dedicated to these numbers.

Many constructions built by ancient civilization hold many mysteries and attract the attention of historians, archaeologists and tourists from all over the world. The most famous and enigmatical among them is the Great (Khufu’s-Cheops’) Pyramid on the Giza plateau in Egypt. The assignment, construction methods and especially the inside structure of the Pyramid have been the cause of heated debate among historians and researchers since ancient times. Unfortunately, not only researchers are interested in ancient structures and excavation sites of archaeological values, but also robbers and illegal seekers of archaeological values. This led to the partial destruction of the Pyramid by the order of the Arab caliph Al-Ma’mun in the 9th century AD. From the middle of the last century, the point of view has prevailed that only non-destructive testing methods are acceptable when examining ancient structures. In the 1960s, a technology was proposed for transilluminating the pyramids of Giza by muons, which are generated by cosmic rays in the Earth’s atmosphere. This method gave promising results. Other means were also proposed, which include radar, as well as gravitational and vibration technologies. However, despite numerous attempts to use them, no significant success or discovery has been achieved. A discussion of these methods, their applications and partial successes is the subject of this article.

The Egypt of the Pharaohs has been the subject of a huge deal of research by historians, archaeologists, and engineering specialists over the past decades. The construction of immense pyramids is largely the focus of attention insofar as it bears witness to the human genius capable of erecting monuments that have survived the millennia. The question of the logistics management involved in these majestic constructions is still little known, or at least rarely addressed. It is however undeniable that without a perfect organization of transport chains, the construction of the pyramids could not have been achieved. This article uses the example of the Great Pyramid of Giza to illustrate this point, the importance of which must be recognized by researchers specializing in management science.

After detecting a primary triangulation through the crossing of two 18-mile (diameter) identical circles around a shared 14-mile baseline in ancient Egypt, the author hypothesizes that, in the 26th century before the Common Era, Pharaoh Khufu replaced with hope the general fear for the catlike goddess that preceded Giza’s Sphinx. Khufu changed the monstrous head of a monumental lioness on Giza’s plateau into the coarse head of the respected Horus-Pharaoh that guarded the southern lily plant and the northern papyrus. The Sphinx’s new symbolic head, or classical conservation in the finite first attention, joined flexible quantum computing in the ambiguous creativity of its body and the infinite second attention. The changed Sphinx and the Great Pyramid that followed its transfiguration point silently at the union of classical and quantum computing in the Third Attention that recreates natural systems, dreams, and social progress.

Abstract. Charles Hutton suggested in 1821 that the pyramids of Egypt be used to site an experiment to measure the deflection of the vertical by a large mass. The suggestion arose as he had estimated the attraction of a Scottish mountain as part of Nevil Maskelyne's (1774) “Schiehallion Experiment”, a demonstration of Isaac Newton's law of gravitational attraction and the earliest reasonable quantitative estimate of Earth's mean density. I present a virtual realization of an experiment at the Giza pyramids to investigate how Hutton's concept might have emerged had it been undertaken as he suggested. The attraction of the Great Pyramid would have led to inward north–south deflections of the vertical totalling 1.8 arcsec (0.0005∘), and east–west deflections totalling 2.0 arcsec (0.0006∘), which although small, would have been within the contemporaneous detectable range, and potentially given, as Hutton wished, a more accurate Earth density measurement than he reported from the Schiehallion experiment.

Abstract. Digital documentation of historical sites has always required the use of expensive professional grade sensors capable of collecting large amounts of data to reconstruct cultural sites. These types of projects generally require large budgets and a large team of specialists to successfully generate a digital model. However, with smart devices having sensors capable of mapping on the go, the potential for mapping such historical sites may be more accessible. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive comparison between the iPhone 13 Pro and the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) photogrammetric model of the Great Pyramid of Giza, otherwise known as the Khufu pyramid, located in Giza, Egypt. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of the iPhone 13 Pro's Camera and LiDAR sensor capabilities as a valuable tool for documenting and preserving cultural heritage sites. To accomplish this, data was captured from multiple positions around the pyramid using the Pix4Dcatch app on the iPhone 13 Pro, and the data was processed using Pix4Dmatic to generate a 3D point cloud of the pyramid. This point cloud data is then compared to the reference data obtained through the UAS mapping which generated a 3D photogrammetric model. The comparison aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of using the iPhone 13 Pro for this type of scanning and to assess the accuracy and precision of the generated data.

There is a common point of view in Egyptology that Memphis was a state capital since the earliest times and that its protecting gods were Ptah and his spouse Sekhmet. Arguing this concept, the author tries to find the reason why a pyramid city of Pepi I — Mennefer — became a core of the future capital. The main conclusion is following: Constructing his pyramid complex, Pepi I probably included into it a cult center of Habes where Bastet and Imhotep, a high priest of Ra, were worshiped. Imhotep, a companion of the king Djoser, was known as a priest and charmer who tamed the fiery forces of Sirius associated with Bastet, after which the great drought was over. To commemorate this, New Year celebration and the first sun calendar were established. Imhotep’s tomb became an important cult place, where ceremonies important for surviving of the Egyptian state were conducted. In the second half of the Old Kingdom period the Nile started to flood much less, which led to the decline of agriculture. Thus, the role of the cult center of Habes and Imhotep grew greatly. By including Habes, Pepi protected the dominion of his pyramid city from negative influence of Bastet and decreased flooding. The fact that Mennefer was a successor of the aforementioned cult center determined its capital functions in future.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the management of the Great Pyramid of Giza project. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses evidence from the literature from many disciplines concerning both the objectives and construction of the pyramid. It relates this to recent discussion concerned with the issues faced in megaproject management, which are core to the discussion of success and failure. Findings The analysis shows the significance of the “break-fix model” of megaproject management and how having a sequence of megaprojects builds management through a learning process. It demonstrates the significance of innovation arising from the experience of previous projects in solving major technical challenges and illustrates the importance of the organisation and ethical management of a substantial workforce. Research limitations/implications There is very limited reliable documentary evidence from the time of the construction of Giza (c.2560 BCE). Many sources concerning ancient Egypt are still widely contested. However, the use of research from a combination of disciplines demonstrates the relevance of the project and the importance of learning from history to contemporary project management. Originality/value The authors believe that this is the first paper to analyse the Giza pyramid project from a project management perspective. This was arguably the most significant construction project of ancient history and the paper explains the lessons, which can be learned, which are very significant to today’s megaprojects.

Saqqara, the necropolis of the first capital city of a unified Egypt, is best known today for the Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser (2667–2648 B.C.). However, the Step Pyramid is only the most visible feature of this great burial site, and the tombs of many thousands of individuals are hidden beneath the sands, some excavated, others not. These human burials are only a part of Saqqara’s funerary history. This paper examines the catacombs of the numerous animals revered by the Egyptians at Saqqara and whose burial places have come to be known collectively as ‘The Sacred Animal Necropolis’ (SAN). First amongst these, both in importance and inception, was the Apis bull, the living image (ba) of Ptah, creator god of Memphis. However, it was the work conducted by Professor W.B. Emery (1903–1971) which brought to light the burial place of the Mother of the Apis as well as those for ibises, falcons, and baboons and which has provided much of what we know of the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. More recent work has built upon the discoveries made by Emery and others and taken a new approach to these subterranean catacombs for sacred animals.

The Cheops Boat is the most complete, largest, and one of the oldest boats ever excavated, but it has received surprisingly little study by Naval Architects. The 43-m boat was constructed around 2500 BC and placed, disassembled, in a pit next to the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. Since its discovery in 1954, there has been speculation about its original design, means of propulsion, and purpose. This article presents previously unpublished results of the first tank testing of a model of the Cheops Boat and some preliminary conclusions about the design, propulsion, and function of the original. It is shown that the stability characteristics of the boat make it suited for carrying lightweight cargo and people in the protected waters of the Nile. Towing tests have shown that the boat can be safely rowed in a variety of wind and current conditions. Windward sailing calculations have shown that, if fitted with sail, then boats such as the Cheops Boat perform well downwind, but sail no closer than a beam reach. During the 1954 clearing of debris from the Giza Plateau, it was noticed that the Great Pyramid's north and west enclosure walls were 23.6m from the base of pyramid, but the south wall was 5mcloser to the base. Careful inspection revealed that the south wall had been built in an asymmetrical location to conceal two boat pits beneath it. The two pits were end to end, one covered by 41 massive limestone blocks and the other by 40. When the eastern pit was opened, the remains of the disassembled boat were revealed. Figure 1 shows photographs of some of the pieces as they were removed from the pit. Remarkably, the 4500-year-old cedar had been so well preserved that it was possible to reassemble this boat like a kit. Even the rope was preserved, and looked like what could be bought today.

By the eighteenth dynasty in the Egyptian Old History, funerary architecture was oriented towards a new direction in perceiving space and form, meaning and symbolizing, and pride and festivity. As being a great city by that time, Luxor (Thebes) looked for a site that offered a similar dignified place as it was with the pyramid plateau in Giza, in the north, close to the previous Capital ”IUNU”. As much as the Giza plateau was worked out to receive the edifices on, the place in Thebes was chosen of highly qualified natural properties. The place was on the sacred western side of the capital of the kingdom, in a huge valley formed through millions of years where its morphology could offer the dignity that we still feel, the geological formation was much easier to work through, tombs architecture within it offered the possibilities to preserve the traditions and the bodies of the great kings safe. The paper aims at declaring the environmental capabilities of the architecture form of tombs of the Kings Valley of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties of the Old Egypt History.

“From the Heats by Nile to the Fire of Revolution by Vistula”. Izydor Kajetan Wysłouch (1869–1973) and His Social Activity The paper reminds the profile of a respected religious reformer and social activist whose life was also connected to Egypt. From 1902 to 1904, due to ill-health, he visited Egypt twice as he required climatotherapy. At that time he stayed in Helwan, a popular resort near Cairo. During his treatment, he was probably residing in Wanda Bilińska’s guesthouse, where residents from the territories of former-day Poland met. The stay in Egypt made a huge impression on Wysłouch. An ample evidence of his fascination with heritage and monuments of ancient Egypt is the neatly published volume, issued soon after the author’s return to Poland, titled From the Land of Ruins (Warsaw 1906); what is also interesting is its graphic design, using Egyptian motives, created by Franciszek Siedlecki (1867–1934). The volume, containing the author’s reflections on existence and prose poetry, signals the state of his soul, which was filled with loneliness and bitter sadness. Its content also suggests that the author had visited most of the country, from the Giza Pyramid Complex to the city of Aswan. Egypt influenced him to such a great degree that he called the country his second homeland. He also took his pen-name “Szech” (ar. Sheikh) at that time. Having returned to his motherland, Wysłouch became a keen supporter of working-class protests (1905). He also strongly backed the reforms in the Ethical and Social Teachings of the Church; he published numerous brochures in which he described an utopian programme that would connect Christianity with Communism and Polish patriotism; he decided to leave Church in 1908. After Poland regained its independence in 1918, Wysłouch, as a public servant, played a vital role in organising and introducing the system of public disability pensions and retirement insurance in the reborn Poland.

One of the most important myths of the Ancient Egypt civilization is Osiris’ cyclical myth. Even though not enough attention has been given to it, one of the most important mythemes is the sexual act between the god and Isis. This sexual act establishes two pillars of the monarchy in Ancient Egypt: the conception and the subsequent birth of Horus (the archetype of the earthly Egyptian king) and Osiris’ (re)birth (king of the Underworld and archetype of the dead). Regardless of the great importance of this sexual act, the sources that relate to it are scarce. On a textual level, the intercourse between both divinities has been documented since the Pyramid Texts until the end of the Pharaonic Period. However, it appears narrated on very few occasions with verbs carrying explicit sexual meaning. Only the context allows one to see that the protagonists are having sexual relations. Since Osiris is dead, Isis is the obvious agent of the action, an exception that makes the goddess different from the rest of her peers. Regarding iconography, only three images have been documented in the Dynastic Period: one in the Middle Kingdom and two in the New Kingdom. In all of them the image is the same, the anthropomorphic Osiris, lies in his funerary bed while Isis, in the shape of a bird of prey, copulates with him.

Garlic (Allium sativum) is an old cultivated plant that has been used by man for millennia for its extraordinary taste and great healing power [1]. The earliest records of the use of garlic come from Egypt. The ancient Egyptians were well aware of its healing properties and ate garlic in large quantities. A Papyrus from 1600 BC depicts a strike by workers working on the construction of the pyramid, protesting that they were not given garlic. The well-known Ebers papyrus, a collection of medical prescriptions 3500 years old, mentions the use of garlic in many diagnoses such as heart weakness, headache, intestinal parasites, eczema, gynecological problems, etc. [2]. The ancient Greeks and Romans also highly valued garlic as a medicinal vegetable. They were convinced that garlic cures coughs and clears the lungs of phlegm and pus. Doctors in China and India consider garlic to be a versatile medicine, treating everything with it: from colds to "aging" [3]. Garlic was first subjected to scientific investigation by Louis Pasteur in the mid-19th century when he studied its bactericidal effects [4]. Since then, garlic has been the subject of constant interest for many researchers.

Egypt is located on the north-eastern side of Africa. Egypt has many archaeological sites classified in the World Heritage List. Tourism development of the Cultural Heritage, historical locations and archeological sites supporting the National Economy and Local Society. Egypt also has a massive number of cultural-historical landmarks and unique architectural constructions such as the great pyramids of Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur and Abusir; the temples of Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel; the valley of the kings, and other extraordinary monumental attractions that worth studying. The study throws light on the tourism development of the Cultural Heritage, historical landmarks, and archeological sites that consider one of the essential resources supporting the National Economy and Local Society. Egypt has always relied on tourism and its historical sights to raise its Economy by developing archaeological sites and historical locations.

Abstract. The near-surface groundwater aquifer that threatened the Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, was investigated using integrated geophysical surveys. A total of 10 electrical resistivity imaging, 26 shallow seismic refraction, and 19 ground-penetrating radar surveys were conducted in the Giza Plateau. Collected data for each method were evaluated by state-of-the art processing and modeling techniques. A three-layer model depicts the subsurface layers and better delineates the groundwater aquifer and water table elevation. The resistivity of the aquifer layer and seismic velocity vary between 40 and 80 Ωm and between 1500 and 2500 m s−1, respectively. The average water table elevation is about +15 m, which is safe for the Great Sphinx, but it is still subjected to potential hazards from the Nazlet El-Samman suburb where the water table elevation reaches 17 m. A shallower water table at the Valley Temple and the tomb of Queen Khentkawes, with a low topographic relief, represents severe hazards. It can be concluded that a perched groundwater table is detected in the elevated topography to the west and southwest that might be due to runoff and capillary seepage.

The tug of war is a sport known for strength, however a weaker team can also win the game by a suitable team co-operation. A mathematical model is established, showing that the team co-operation or rhythmical frequency plays an important role in victory. A team can win even the rope is pulled to the opposite direction depending upon the rhythmical frequency. A criterion for rhythmical frequency is obtain to guarantee victory when the strength is almost same for both teams. Additionally the rope pulling can be also used for moving a heavy weight object, the principle might be used for building the great pyramids in ancient Egypt. Finally magic ramie ropes with special thermoplastic properties and controllable frequency are discussed.

In his different analyses of ancient Egypt, Hegel underscores the marked absence of writings by the Egyptians. Unlike the Chinese with the I Ching or the Shoo king, the Indians with the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Persians with the Avesta, the Jews with the Old Testament, and the Greeks with the poems of Homer and Hesiod, the Egyptians, despite their developed system of hieroglyphic writing, left behind no great canonical text. Instead, he claims, they left their mark by means of the architecture and art. This paper explores Hegel’s analysis of the Egyptians’ obelisks, pyramids, sphinxes, etc. in order to understand why he believes that these are so important for understanding the Egyptian spirit. This analysis illustrates Hegel’s use of history and culture in the service of philosophical anthropology.

One of the favorite Arab cities for this author is the great and inexhaustible city of Cairo. Visiting it in November 2023 the Author of this paper managed to glance at the antiquities and the contemporary life of the capital of the Nile Country through the eyes of the professional Egyptian guide Mr. Ashraf, a descendant of the Mamluk warriors (Egyptian rulers of the 13th–16th centuries) and the Bedouins, who reside at the foots of the Great Pyramids since the 10-the century. Mr. Ashraf was relating the history of his family, showed the author the Pyramids and the Sphynx, a part of the treasures of the Egyptian Museum, the Coptic Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Sarga) and the famous market of Khan al-Khalili. The Russian Arabist was listening and making mental notes of what was said. Besides that, he visited some book stalls, where he purchased a rear book, and observed what was happening at the evening streets of Cairo. Meanwhile the delegation, a part of which was the Author, met with the Russian Ambassador, participated in the opening ceremony of “The Russian Education in Egypt” exhibition, carried out the academic and practical conference “Human Being and the Values of the Contemporary World”, where Dr. Mikulsky had the honor of carrying out Arabic-Russian simultaneous interpretation. Thus, in this paper modern Cairo meets its Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the traditional Egyptian lifestyle, and the most acute contemporaneity.

Abstract A recently discovered inscription on an ancient Egyptian ointment jar mentions the heliacal rising of Sirius. In the time of the early Pharaohs, this specific astronomical event marked the beginning of the Egyptian New Year and originally the annual return of the Nile flood, making it of great ritual importance. Since the Egyptian civil calendar of 365 days permanently shifted one day in four years in comparison to the stars due to the lack of intercalation, the connection of a date from the Egyptian civil calendar with the heliacal rising of Sothis is vitally important for the reconstruction of chronology. The new Sothis date from the Old Kingdom (3rd–6th Dynasties) in combination with other astronomical data and radiocarbon dating re-calibrates the chronology of ancient Egypt and consequently the dating of the Pyramids. A chronological model for Dynasties 3 to 6 constructed on the basis of calculated astronomical data and contemporaneously documented year dates of Pharaohs is presented.

Architecture is a frozen music, a visual art, and a visual object whose existence is witnessed by history. Some classic ancient architectures including the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the Parthenon of ancient Greece, the Pantheon of ancient Rome, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Hanging Temple of China and other world-famous traditional Chinese and Western architectures reflect ancient philosophical thoughts of the times. Architecture has formed a unique culture with the passage of time, and in turn culture plays an influential role to the formation of architecture. Geographical differences cause diversity to architectural cultures all round the world. In terms of Chines and western ancient architecture, the two differ each other on appearance, connotation, space and structure, which indicate not only the culture characteristics but also the aesthetic changes behind the architectures between China and the West.The West's passion for stone architecture and the East's passion for wood architecture are determined by national culture and geographical environment. It is difficult to judge which one is superior, sine such designs are developed to adapt to the environment and living habits. Ancient people built their characteristic architecture to meet the needs of the local people and living conditions.

Ancient Egyptian civilization is very often talked about. This is not surprising given the great legacy of the ancient Egyptian leaders. What is taken for discussion is the belief system of the ancient Egyptian people. There are so many things related to Egypt in terms of their civilization which can be said to be very large and extraordinary at that time. The relics that are considered the most historic are the Pyramids which were built using very heavy stone. Then, another thing that was discussed was about the belief of the Egyptian people in the existence of many gods and recognizing and respecting the sanctity of certain animals. In this paper, using a qualitative approach to the method of literature study, through exploration of various data such as books, journals and others. The result of this study is to find that ancient Egyptian folk beliefs were more focused on the number of gods and considered that Pharaoh was the representative of the gods and as a means of intermediary between the people and the gods. Pharaohs who are believed to have sacred powers to intercede for their people with the goddess in the field of knowledge, the ancient Egyptians focused on mathematics and astronomy, they also used the calendar to calculate planting time, the language used comes from the ancient Greek language contained in the covenant called stone. the ancient rosetta hunting system, still uses the hunting system, still uses weapons such as spears and arrows and farms on the banks of the nile because apart from that the area is dry because of the desert, social life is divided into 3 castes, namely upper caste, middle caste and lower caste. Keywords: Ancient Egypt, civilization, religion, history.

Although there is no textual evidence known from the Bronze Age, written sources describing migrations of later (i.e. Early Medieval) periods effecting the Carpathian Basin were interpreted as instances of cultural and population change which could be comparable with processes that took place during the Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin. In the past two decades, Eurasian archaeological research received a new impetus to investigate the traces of migrations during prehistory, in collaboration with other disciplines such as isotope geochemistry or archaeogenetics. The current project which commenced in 2015, funded by the ‛Momentum Programme’ of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was set out to investigate the societal changes that had taken place within the boundaries of modern-day Hungary – contemporaneous with the builders of the great pyramids of Egypt and the Greek heroes of the Mycenaean shaft graves – by analysing the settlements, cemeteries and the artefacts recovered from these archaeological sites. The project, for the first time in Hungarian Bronze Age research, employs a range of multidisciplinary methodologies in order to examine the social changes of the period. The present paper is to provide an overview of a particular aspect of this research: the outcomes of the bioarchaeological enquiries with special regards to the general health, mobility and the lifestyle of studied populations.

<p>Tourism is not just the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places. Tourism includes many geographic, economic, environmental, social, cultural and political dimensions. A tourism industry has a strong relationship with those dimensions because of its dependency and impact on it, and the interests of its stakeholders (Kauffmann 2008).</p><p>As stated by Sinha (2007) the study of tourism is the study of people away from their usual habitat of the establishments which responds to the requirement of travelers and the impact of that they have on the economic physical and social well-being of their hosts. Tourism is an attractive tool for economic development, specifically in the developing world. Viewed as an export industry of three Gs -- "get them in, get their Money, and get them out" – tourism has assisted many developing countries to move away from a dependency on agriculture and manufacturing (Tooman, 1997. </p><p>Chosen forits ability to bring in needed foreign exchange earnings, income and employment, tourism has become a popular addition to economic development policies in many African, Asian, South and Central American countries. Although tourism seems to beading substantially to the economic growth of many of these regions, many developing countries are not reaping full benefits from tourism (Vaugeois, 1990).</p><p>Tourism in Ethiopia dates back to the pre-Axumite period when the first illustrated travel guides to Ethiopia can be found in the friezes of the pyramids and ancient sites of Egypt. These depicted travels to the land of Punt, which the Egyptians knew was the source of the Nile, and where they traded for gold, incense, ivory and slaves. The fourth century Persian historian Mani described the Kingdom of Axum as being one of the four great empires of the world, ranking it alongside China, Persia and Rome (World Bank, 2006). Modern tourism in Ethiopia can be said to have started with the formation of a government body to develop and control it in 1961: The Ethiopian Tourist Organization (Y.Mulualem, 2010).</p>

The history of the engineering profession includes many events and achievements that raise doubts about their reality in modern people. These are the pyramids of Mexico and Egypt, megalithic structures in Peru, the Baalbek temple, etc. Aqueducts and viaducts, highways and bridges, fortifications and ships, the Greek fire and the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople — all this gives an idea of the capabilities and skills of ancient engineers. The questions of who and how built these objects and why modern technologies cannot repeat it will always excite the inquisitive mind of the researcher. The admiration of many architectural structures of the 18th-19th centuries raises the question of how this was possible to be done at that time, in the absence of knowledge about the power of steam and electricity. The objects built after the middle of the 19th century do not cause such questions — there were already many lifting mechanisms, photography documented the construction process, and the dug Suez Canal testified to the increased capabilities of mankind and strengthened engineering skills. No one doubts that the Eiffel Tower was built without the use of helicopters and the achievements of an antediluvian civilization. However, in relation to the unique creation of O. Montferrand — the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg, there is a clear distrust in the reality of the achieved result: the column that is more than 27 meters high, more than 3 meters in diameter and weighs more than 600 tons stands vertically on the end surface without additional supporting structures. This article, presented in three reports, is devoted to the attempt to mathematically justify the possibility of what was achieved at the level of knowledge, skills, mechanisms and technologies of the beginning of the 19th century. The first report is devoted to the formulation of the initial data for each stage of production, transportation and installation of the Alexander Column from the standpoint of the possibility of performing rigging work. The basis for the answers is an album of illustrations of the rise of the Alexander Column, made by the great architect O. Montferrand, who is also reproached for the lack of engineering training.

AbstractThe CO2 splitting reaction has been investigated in a plate-to-plate micro DBD reactor with a high voltage electrode having pyramid charge injection points. The presence of sharp points (pyramids) creates zones with enhanced electric field around them. The minimum discharge voltage in the pyramid micro DBD reactor reduced from 6.5 to 5.2 kV (peak-to-peak). At the same time, the CO2 conversion increased 1.5 times as compared to that in the reactor with a flat electrode. Lowering the discharge gap from 0.50 to 0.25 mm resulted in more intense microdischarges, further increasing CO2 conversion by 1.3 times. At the same time, the energy efficiency increased further by 1.3 times. There exists an optimum residence time of 0.5 ms as a result of an interplay between plasma contact time and flow non-uniformity. The highest energy efficiency of 20% was obtained at a 3 W power, achieving a CO2 conversion of 16%.

Within the context of cultural heritage conservation, the biological study of tangible archeological sites is an important task to extend their existence and strengthen the transmission of their cultural value to future generations. In Egypt, a hyper-arid region, a microcolonial fungus with inky black growth was observed on a stone surface in the royal corridor of the Great Pyramid of Giza (King Khufu’s pyramid). The isolate was studied and characterized by microscopic morphometric measurements, evaluation of enzymatic activities, and genotyping techniques. The isolate was identified as Hortaea werneckii, a pleomorphic black yeast that naturally inhabits hypersaline environments and infects human skin. It has been reported from humid temperate, subtropical, and tropical zones, mainly from marine habitats and adjacent areas, and is associated with marine life. Since it was observed in an unusual habitat, it raises the question of its type and origin, whether environmental or clinical. The Egyptian Hortaea werneckii GPS5 isolate was profiled and characterized by adaptive extremophilic tolerance to arid salt stress, low portability to infect human skin, and the capability of solubilizing calcite; besides it was phylogenetically clustered with previous recorded environmental accessions. A profile that matches the biodeterioration fungal agents known as rock-inhabiting fungi, a potential threat to cultural heritage sites that requires attention and prevention plans.

ABSTRACTThe history of cemenütious materials goes back to ancient times. The Greeks and Romans used calcined limestone and later developed pozzolanic cement by grinding together lime and volcanic ash called “pozzolan” which was first found near Port Pozzuoli, Italy. The ancient Chinese used lime-pozzolanic mixes to build the Great Wall. The ancient Egyptians used calcined impure gypsum to build the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The extraordinary stability and durability of these materials has impressed us, when so much dramatically damaged infrastructure restored by using modern portland cement now requires rebuilding. Stability and durability of cementitious materials have attracted intensive research interest and contractors’ concerns, as does immobilization of radioactive and hazardous industrial waste in cementitious materials. Nuclear waste pollution of the environment and an acceptable solution for waste management and disposal constitute among the most important public concerns. The analogy of ancient cementitious materials to modern Portland cement could give us some clues to study their stability and durability. This present study examines selected results of studies of ancient building materials from France, Italy, China, and Egypt, combined with knowledge obtained from the behavior of modern portland cement to evaluate the potential for stability and durability of such materials in nuclear waste forms.

Memory depends on void, as void depends on memory, to think. -- Anne Carson Sunday, 26th December, 1999 It was a peculiar ritual to perform to bring a personal end to the twentieth century. A journey through the snow to visit Egypt, at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan. I took two books, the latest New Yorker and the New York Times to keep me company. Ancient Egyptian funeral art fascinates me. How unreadable it is. Perhaps it isn't meant to be read. If it is addressed to anyone, or anything, it isn't human. It addresses otherness itself, eternity. Serenity masks, and faces, nothingness. A reminder of how little a decade, or a century matters, even a millennium, compared to these fragments of monuments that could stare down handfuls of years in their thousands -- and still not blink. As Paul Valery wrote: "we later civilisations ... we too now know we are mortal. We had long heard tell of whole worlds that had vanished, of empires sunk without a trace, gone down with all their men and all their machines into the unexplorable depths of the centuries..." (23). Our ancestors may have conquered space, spread ourselves thin across the bread of the earth, but Egypt conquered time. Their empires of the dead will probably still be living when the last of ours are rat food. As Paul Valery wrote: "we later civilisations ... we too now know we are mortal. We had long heard tell of whole worlds that had vanished, of empires sunk without a trace, gone down with all their men and all their machines into the unexplorable depths of the centuries..." (23). Our ancestors may have conquered space, spread ourselves thin across the bread of the earth, but Egypt conquered time. Their empires of the dead will probably still be living when the last of ours are rat food. Thanks to universal standard time, everyone could know where they stood in relation to the planet's movement. Thanks to geopositioning, everyone could know the coordinates upon the map that corresponded to the patch of earth under foot. As the world turned, an arc of humans from one latitude to another could experience the arbitrary yet somehow convincing sensation of leaving the twentieth century. As the New Yorker reported: "in a daring act of multiculturalism, the good people of Tonga rose at midnight to sing the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah" (Lane 24). Meanwhile, in New York, the Caligula of capital George Soros offered his 250-odd guests bronze medallions featuring etched profiles of himself, and the inscription: "Enlightened by the Past. Embraced by the present. Empowered by the future" (Cassidy 26). Y2K kept bothering me. It was all a little too much data hitting the sensoria. I tried to ignore it, to think about Egypt. I thought that if I closed my eyes to the world's turning, it would go away. It won't go away. Not any more. There is nowhere left to hide. At twilight, in the desert, your satellite phone rings. It's a telemarketer. Egypt is exhausting, even at the Met. There's so many objects, so much information. I'd brought a book or two, so I could pause for coffee and make some notes. The books were by Harold Innis, that quirky old communication theorist. He's a detour, like Egypt, but he'll get us to where I want to go, to thinking media. Egypt is exhausting, even at the Met. There's so many objects, so much information. I'd brought a book or two, so I could pause for coffee and make some notes. The books were by Harold Innis, that quirky old communication theorist. He's a detour, like Egypt, but he'll get us to where I want to go, to thinking media. A simple observation. Consider what it makes it possible to think: "empires must be considered from the standpoint of two dimensions, those of space and time, and persist by overcoming the bias of media, which over-emphasise either dimension. They have tended to flourish under conditions in which civilisation reflects the influence of more than one medium and in which the bias of one medium toward decentralisation is offset by the bias of another toward centralisation" (Empire 7). Consider, for instance, Egypt, where: "a concern with problems of space and time appears to have marked the beginnings of civilisation... A change from a pre-dynastic to dynastic society, or a precise recognition of time... appears to have coincided with writing, monumental architecture and sculpture" (Bias 92). Kings and priests colonised time. "The permanence of death became a basis of continuity through the development of the idea of immortality, preservation of the body, and development of writing in the tombs by which the magical power of the spoken word was perpetuated in pictorial representation of the funeral ritual" (Bias 93). On the one hand, "the pyramids were an index to power over time" (Bias 135). On the other, "by escaping from the heavy medium of stone, thought gained lightness" (Empire 16). The papyrus document became the means for scribes and soldiers to colonise space. These different media, with their different properties, were the basis of a flexible continuity and integrity for the empire, but also a source of conflict within it. "The profound disturbances in Egyptian civilisation involved in the shift from absolute monarchy to a more democratic organisation coincides with a shift in emphasis on stone as a medium of communicating or as a basis of prestige, as shown in the pyramids, to an emphasis on papyrus" (Empire 15). But it was not to last. Egypt "failed to establish a stable compromise between a bias dependent on stone in the pyramids and a bias dependent on papyrus and hieroglyphics" (Bias 96). Failed, and yet succeeded, in replicating itself by virtue of the fascination those of us who, like Valery, see something strikingly different in the shape of this ancient space and time. There's some irony in monuments to eternity being themselves preserved at the Met. "The emphasis of a civilisation on means of extending its duration as in Egypt accompanied by reliance on permanence gives that civilisation a prominent position in periods such as the present when time is of little significance" (Bias 66). What can you say about a civilisation that gives itself an early mark and toddles into its second millennium a year early? One in which global empires grow and merge and collapse each week on the lone and level sands of the market. Or where Danny Hillis, Silicon Valley magus, is making a monument to last out the centuries -- and it's a clock. What is to become of it all? Consider this observation, by Innis, of what became of Egypt: "we can perhaps assume that the use of a medium of communication over a long period will to some extent determine the character of knowledge to be communicated and suggest that its pervasive influence will eventually create a civilisation in which life and flexibility will become exceedingly difficult to maintain and that the advantages of a new medium will become such as to lead to the emergence of a new civilisation" (Bias 34). The scribes and the priests, between them, ran things, and for centuries kept control of the skills to do so. This very facility became a limit, making the empire vulnerable to stagnation and conquest from without. Consider how this might work out in more recent times, when monopolies guard their source code and battle against open source technologies. Innis writes that "a simple flexible system of writing admits of adaptation to the vernacular but slowness of adaptation facilitates monopoly of knowledge and hierarchies" (Bias 4). Microsoft write twentieth century hieroglyphics. It is an empire with an Egyptian approach to source code intended to perpetuate itself through time, even at the risk of arresting flexible and adaptive approaches to creating communication tools anywhere else. Or take the lead story that greeted me over coffee in the Met's cafe: AMERICA ONLINE AGREES TO BUY TIME WARNER FOR $165 BILLION; MEDIA DEAL IS RICHEST MERGER (New York Times 11 Jan 2000). This is the way of things now. Vigorous new empires annex old Egypts in a burst of press release fireworks. Empires that straddle continents but are not built to last much longer than London's Millennium Dome, structures held aloft by tensed steel cables, built to be seen on television by distant cousins by not by any descendants. We may have left the twentieth century, but has it left us? Its ruins lie about us, persisting, insisting. Its miniature monuments lie in the landfill of memory. So many new ways that were discovered, during the century, for impressing the century on memory. Perhaps that's why so little of its architecture is built to last. The great pyramid of Las Vegas is an image preserved in a million snapshots. The monument has become something miniature, even molecular. Exotic pesticide residues now shop up in Antarctic penguins. As Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari write: "a monument does not commemorate or celebrate something that happened but confides to the ear of the future the persistent sensations that embody the event" (176). Perhaps Innis is wrong about this civilisation. It looks like its bias is towards the colonising of space, but in its own way it has colonised time, too. It communicates its chaos, its blind will to creative destruction, through the pulverising of every last particle of the earth. The twentieth century's answer to the pyramids, it's ongoing contributions to civilisation, are the death factories of the Holocaust and the negative architecture of the bombing of Hiroshima. And yet, those memories aside, it was also the century in which for the first time one glimpses a possible life outside the monopoly of knowledge by priests and scribes, where no matter how hard they try, empires can no longer control for millennia the flows of information that allow them to colonise space and time. I'm tempted to say that if Egypt lives on in the Book of the Dead, our time will live on as a Book of the Undead. It left its mark by mummifying nothing except change itself. But the book is one of the things the twentieth century changed too. As Friedrich Kittler writes, "as long as the book was responsible for all serial data flows, words quivered with sensuality and memory" (10). But the book has lost its sovereignty. The scribes and priests and scholars who monopolised knowledge and prestige through mastery of textual codes are going the way of their Egyptian precursors, into the museums. References Cassidy, John. "The Well-Heeled and the Wonky Toast the Millennium." New Yorker 17 Jan. 2000: Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. What Is Philosophy? London: Verso, 1994. Innis, Harold A. The Bias of Communication. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1964. ---. Empire and Communications. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972. Friedrich A. Kittler. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1999. Anthony Lane. "The New Year Stumbles In." New Yorker 17 Jan. 2000: 24. Paul Valery. The Outlook for Intelligence. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1989. 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