How Did They Do That?

The Great Pyramid of Giza – Built in Flow?

I was once asked to work out a build-tempo for the great pyramid of Khufu at Giza – I include it here to stimulate your thoughts for further discussions.

It is now agreed by experts that the great Pyramid of Giza was built over a twenty-year period between 2560 and 2540 BCE. It was the world’s tallest building for more than three thousand years until the completion of Lincoln Cathedral (UK) in 1311 CE. Unlike today the great pyramid was originally clothed in brightly polished limestone with a gold covered cap at the top so would have reflected the sunlight spectacularly. Archaeological analysis shows that the site preparation to clear and level lasted approximately 10 years. This was likely done by using plumb line squares or by building an enclosure which was flooded with water from the Nile and then drained slowly in a controlled manner so that the natural undulations could be slowly worked and removed to create a perfectly flat plateau.

Note: it is level within +/- 2cms, and exactly square within +/- 5cm corner to corner.

Modern accurate dating studies have shown the main build of the great Pyramid to be a 10-year feat. Analysis by the firm Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendehall in association with American Archaeologist Mark Lehner showed that, the long-suggested average of 2.4 million stone blocks believed to have been used, were likely a more accurate 2 million blocks when accounting for the internal chambers of the construction. The inner blocks themselves are not as uniform as one would imagine and the most recent work of Yukinori Kawae who is studying the pyramids with a multi-disciplinary team and the latest 3D imaging has found a core of less accurate blocks with sand as an infill for the inevitable gaps. We now also know that the build itself was not an evenly spread workload over the 10 years period of construction. Modern archaeology suggests the bulk of the work only took place during the 6 months of the year when the Nile flooded. The majority of the 30,000 strong workforce were also farmers who worked the pyramid project during the months they could not work the land. So, with only 1825 days to work over the decade, even if the work could be done around the clock, that is 43,800 potential working hours available. With 2 million blocks it would mean an average of 46 major stones quarried, moved into position and worked to the fit of their final position in every hour of each 24-hour period. 

So, the Takt Time for each of the average 2,000KG stones of the great pyramid? 

Every 31mins

No wonder we have found that the Pyramids builders were not slaves, as was the theory for many years. They are now believed to have been highly skilled, well-paid and highly valued workers. Given the workload and the layout of the site, I think it is unthinkable that the work was not done without some kind of flow-based division of labour where the materials were quarried, transported and moved through a progressive work flow arrangement. With stations of workers likely doing a small portion of the work and other crews taking care of the movement. The central hypothesis in my forthcoming book - Work 5.0 - is that humans have the ability to achieve level of collective productivity that far exceeds the way most people work today. I discuss this and other examples in the book.