A question about the Pyramids.

[Atlantean Relic]

I was thinking but have there been any studies into the apperance of the Pyramids. They are usually pictured as solid white but could they have been painted on the outside?

[Keith]

I was thinking but have there been any studies into the apperance of the Pyramids. They are usually pictured as solid white but could they have been painted on the outside?That's a thought. They certainly had the room to paint on some spectacular inscriptions.

Most theories seeem to present them as pure white polished limestone. In some cases the cap stone, or pyramidion, did have inscriptions on each of the four sides.

The Pyramid of Amenemhet III (http://www.crystalinks.com/dynasty12.html)- The White Pyramid

The pyramid core was built of mudbrick, just as earlier 12th Dynasty pyramids. However, it liked the stone wings and framework of the earlier pyramids. The builders attempted to strengthen the structure by building the core in step form. The outer mantle was made of five meter this blocks of fine white limestone held together with a system of wooden dovetail joining pegs. Near the top of the pyramid, the wall's angle of inclination decreased. The pyramid was capped off with a beautiful dark gray granite pyramidion, discovered in the rubble in 1990, that was originally 1.3 meters tall. All four sides of the pyramidion bore inscriptions and religious symbols. The underside was beveled to fit into the casing block below.




http://www.crystalinks.com/pyramenwhite3.jpg
One side of the Pyramidion


The Pyramid of Amenemhet II at Dahshure


We call Amenemhet II's structure the White Pyramid, though it is certainly no longer white. It derived this name many years before when stone thieves stole the casing, leaving behind many limestone chips that made the pyramid at that time to appear white.



The Various Possible Methods of Pyramid Construction

http://www.touregypt.net/construction/cutaway.gifThe internal construction of most true pyramids consists of a series of buttress walls surrounding a central core. The walls decrease in height from the center outwards. In other words, the core of the true pyramid is essentially a step pyramid. The internal arrangement added stability to the structure. Packing blocks filled the "steps" formed by the faces of the outermost buttress walls and casting blocks (often Limestone) completed the structure of the true pyramid.



http://www.touregypt.net/construction/meth5.jpg Architects and builders used a different form of construction in the pyramids of the 12th and 13th Dynasties. Mainly because of economy, for it was suitable for relatively modest structures in inferior materials. Solid walls of stone ran from the center, and shorter cross walls formed a series of chambers filled with stone blocks, ruble or mud bricks. An outer casing was usually added, and although quite effective in the short term, it did not even come close to the earlier construction methods. Pyramids which were built with this structural design are quite dilapidated and worn.
Pyramid Construction
New Evidence Discovered at Giza

During the recent excavation and cleaning the following was discovered:

I. 1 The pyramid casing.
The clearance of sand on the North side of the subsidiary pyramid G/A revealed remains of part of the casing, lying in situ, West of the pyramid entrance. The length of the artifact is about 30 centimeters. A depression lies on the side of the artifact outlining the area that once supported the casing thereby revealing it's original dimensions.8 (fig. 5) It was made of Tura limestone. Comparisons can be made between the stones in the pyramid core and the casing stones, as well as between the stones of the plateau (Mokatam formation), and the white fine limestone from Tura. The thickness of the casing, and the construction method of same can also be studied.

No mention of external painting, but if it had been done it probably would have worn off long before the limestone casings had vanished from most pyramids in any case.
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Keith Heitmann
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[Ken Parker]

This is the point where someone needs to insert a pic of the Great Pyramid with vestiges of the Coca-cola logo still faintly visible on one side. :)

[Keith]

This is the point where someone needs to insert a pic of the Great Pyramid with vestiges of the Coca-cola logo still faintly visible on one side. :)
http://community.vugames.com/Images/emoticons/rotfl.gif Ah, commercialism! Don't you just love it?! :D

You'd think that since the Egyptians did decorate the outsides of their buildings to a high degree that they'd carry that over to the pyramids as well. It'a a question you don't see discussed anywhere, everyone just seems to accept the fact that they were just plain white polished limestone.
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Keith Heitmann
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Pharaoh Music Jukebox (http://members.aol.com/dheitm8612/java/pharaoh.htm)

[Elvenwarrior2001]

:lol: Now I know why they hired this guy...lol. Morale at TM must never be kow. lol.

Elven

[Miut]

Well, the pyramids are much older than a lot of the architecture we know so well . ;)

[vovan]

This is the point where someone needs to insert a pic of the Great Pyramid with vestiges of the Coca-cola logo still faintly visible on one side.

At the risk of being unoriginal, I figured I'd dust off the ol' Photoshop and give it a run. ;)

http://vovansim.homestead.com/files/images/tm/Coke-Pyramid-thumb.jpg (http://vovansim.homestead.com/files/images/tm/Coke-Pyramid-big.jpg)
Click for bigger version

[Celebithil Dae]

:D

I want one!

[Reed]

At the risk of being unoriginal, I figured I'd dust off the ol' Photoshop and give it a run. ;)Hehe, nice.