Thesis+Based+Research+Assignment

This research path was inspired by my future career goals. While I do not plan on becoming an architect, I would still like to build and design, and understanding architecture can help me in my future. My research will be guided by the driving question What did the Egyptian pyramids represent? I will have to answer other questions about how the pyramids were built, when they were built, and for whom they were built.
 * Introduction**

A. De Camp, L. Sprague. //Ancient Engineers//. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1960. Print. 1. Pyramids had sloping walls because mud brick crumbled slower if it were sloped; step pyramids were built and then the steps were filled in; corbel arches 2. Imhotep, the engineer who built the first step pyramid, became a god-like figure 3. The Great Pyramid: base is 7" from a perfect square, 6" from perfect north-south and east-west orientation 4. Kushites copied the Egyptians, also buried their kings and queens in pyramids 5. "First, the intensive and careful use of such simple instruments and devices as they had; second, unlimited manpower...and lastly, no need for haste" (40)
 * Research**

B. Klein, H. Arthur and Mina C. Klein. //Great Structures of the World//. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1968. Print. 1. The Egyptians built tombs to last; they were fascinated by death 2. Pyramids started as larger covers for mastaba tombs, built for Zoser, Joser, Djoser 3. First sloping, "true" pyramid at Medum, 2600 b.c.e.

C. Pratt, Paula Bryant. //Architecture//. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1995. Print. 1. Large limestone blocks may have been transported on ramps or floated down the Nile 2. "A pyramid is stable, grounded on earth, yet pointing heaven-ward...a pyramid's stark, clean outline is beautiful" (14-15) 3. Great Pyramid at Giza has many passage ways and chambers within, some small, some large

D. //Inventions & Inventors: Buildings, Homes, and Structures//. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Educational, 2000. Print. 1. Stone lasts forever 2. Egyptians used pickaxes, drills, wooden wedges, straight edges, set squares, and plummets 3. A ramp spiraled around the Great Pyramid, and humans and animals pushed stones up the 10 degree incline

E. Asimov, Isaac. //The Egyptians//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1967. Print. 1. "The reverence for a divine family is not always an easy thing to replace, and the monarch of the new dynasty might feel it important to demonstrate to the people his own divinity by some startling display of power that outdid all that had gone before" (32) 2. Pyramids are the trademark of the Old Kingdom and of Egypt 3. First sloping pyramid was also covered in white limestone to shine 4. The Great Pyramid is the only wonder of the ancient world to survive till now, nothing has been built that is grander than it 5. People say that the Great Pyramid is an observatory, or evidence of the Egyptians scientific knowledge beyond their time, but it is not. It is a glorified tomb.

F. McNeese, Tim. //The Pyramids of Giza//. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1997. Print. 1. Mastabas-first built 2686, Aha; underground and above ground chambers 2. Step Pyramid at Sakkara, for Djoser, six mastabas on top of each other, largest Egyptian structure at its time, built completely out of stone, built over 20-25 years 3. First sloping Pyramid at Medum, less slope, inner passageway reaching heavenward 4. "Wishing to ensure his numerous progeny and friends a good life in the next world, he laid out a real City of the Dead, close to his pyramid so that his relatives might profit from his superior presence" (Barbara Mertz in 37) 5. Building a pyramid Preparation: Level the site, using trenches, filling with water (Great Pyramid is almost perfectly level); orient the pyramid with a man-made horizon; lay out the base (no side is more than 8" different); quarry and cut (mostly) limestone and granite; move the stone on boats and sleds 6. Building a pyramid Starting construction: rooms dug underground first, stones sized to make rooms in the pyramid; inner stones were called core stones or packing stones, best quality limestone used on the outside 7. Tools: cut stone with copper or dolerite tools, copper tools were recycled as the broke, tools mostly used for cutting stone 8. Workers: unskilled and skilled laborers; thousands of people needed to build a pyramid

G. Williams, Barry. "The Point of Pyramids." //Australasian Science//. May 2003: 46-48. //eLibrary//. Web. 9 Oct. 2009. [] 1. "For example, in the 19th century the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth, became a devotee of the proposition that all the history and wisdom of the ages were coded within the dimensions of the Great Pyramid " 2. "Everything from visiting aliens through lost civilisations to divine fiat have been conscripted to the cause of sensationalist, pseudohistorical bestsellerdom, usually relying on rhetorical mysticism and "geewhizzery" rather than anything approaching evidence" 3. Many different civilizations build pyramids, but they did not get the idea from each other, pyramids are the easiest large building to build 4. Egyptian pyramid building made the nation what it was in the later kingdoms

H. Radwan, Amany and Marlowe, Lara. "The Secrets of Snefru." //Time//. 22 Jul. 1996 Web. 8 Oct. 2009. [] 1. Three pyramids for Snefru, Red, Bent, and other, also many mastabas 2. Pyramids were broken into during the Middle Kingdom when the pharaohs had less power 3. Senfru was Khufu's father, called himself Son of the Sun God 4. "Designed and built the first true pyramids"

I. Marston, Elsa. "Puzzle of the Pyramids." //Ask//. Mar. 2006: 6. //eLibrary//. Web. 9 Oct. 2009. [] 1. Good understanding of physics, mathematics, and astronomy 2. May have used wheel-like cradles to move stone, but little evidence of this has been found 3. Pyramids were built during the flood so the farmers had something to do; they were treated well 4. Pyramids were either a symbolic stairway to the heavens, or a symbol of the rays of the sun 5. Sloping structure lasts longer than a tall skinny building 6. Single ramp, spiral ramp, sleds or stairs, are all possibilities on how they moved the stones up the pyramids 7. Workers enjoyed working on the pyramids, brought the country together

I believe that the Egyptian pyramids were an amazing feat, seemingly impossible to complete for the time. However, they were built, and we have to accept that the Ancient Egyptians were quite skilled, though they did not have knowledge beyond their time. Egyptian pyramids were displays of power that represent both the unlimited power of kings as well as the unlimited power of mankind.
 * Thesis**

1. Pharaohs wanted to go to their death in something grander than a mastaba. Support: A2, B1, B2, F4, H1, H3, I5, F2 2. The Egyptians performed amazing feats of construction with simple tools. Support: A5, C1, D2, D3, F5, F6, F7, I1, I2, I6 3. The pyramids were displays of art and grandeur. Support: C2, D1, E1, F3, H3, I4 4. The pyramids have held people's interest since they were built, over 4000 years ago. Support: A2, A4, E2, E3, E5, G1, G2, G3, H2 5. Building the Great Pyramid at Giza was a great achievement for humankind Support: A3, C3, E4, F8, G4, I7
 * Findings and Support**

I learned that it is important to find a variety of sources, not just many sources that say the same thing. When reading over the different books I found The research skill I need to work on is finding better sources online, as opposed to just book sources. When I started this research I did not know much about pyramids. I thought that there was not a lot of evidence of how the Egyptians built them, but there is in fact a lot. I knew about the burial practices, but did not know
 * Process Reflection**

Learning all about pyramids helped me figure out what I will write about in my paper. This research told me a lot about how the pyramids were built, which will help me when I build my own pyramid. It is also important to understand how someone does something when you want to know why they did it. Knowing that the Egyptians put so much effort into their pyramids and used very simple tools shows how important these great structures were.
 * Connections**