it would take the crane nearly one day to position itself and drop the block in place. The pyramid Khufu has about two million three hundred thousand stone blocks; its dimensions are four hundred eighty one feet in height, seven hundred fifty six feet in length and its base covering a little over thirteen acres. The pyramid is a geometrical wonder it is absolutely level, and perfectly square, the mathematical skills of the people are not at all contested, but there are many theories on how they were able to carry out this magnificent feat without a crane. It is not known how the Egyptians got the stones from the quarry to the work site. They must have been dragged, for there was not enough surface area for even a team of reasonably strong men to pick up the two and a half-ton slab. The most likely method of getting the blocks to the top of the structure was through massive construction ramps. Exactly how the ramps were laid out is unknown, but they may have been straight or in a spiral pattern around the pyramid. The ramps may have been topped with a surface of clay called tafla. Tafla, when wet, becomes very slippery and may have allowed the Egyptian builders to use shorter, steeper ramps than might have otherwise been possible. By wetting the ground in front of the block a slick path would be created allowing the stone to be dragged by rope as it sat on sledges. It is also possible the stones could have been moved on rollers. By placing rounded logs under the stone, crude wheels would have made the load easy to pull. Pictures inscribed on ancient monument walls, though, suggest the blocks were dragged without the aid of rollers. Rollers would have made it much more possible for the Egyptians to get the stones from the quarry to the work sit and much easier to get them up the ramps. Once a stone was at the top of the pyramid, it was probably moved into its final position and dropped into place with the use of primi...
