Stone courses of the Pyramid of Khufu (table)

Characteristics of the stone courses - In tabular form - Additional information - Print version - Sources

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Illustration: The levels of the stone courses of Khufu's Pyramid are correct to 1/4 meters - Print version

The levels for the stone courses of the pyramid of Khufu on the following table have been transcribed from Petrie [2], and have been measured at the northeast corner (above the foundation). Since there are no outer stones left except at the bottom, the height of the inner stone layers were measured. According to Petrie the outer beveled stones were of the same height as the inner stones. The height of the upper 10 (or more) stone courses are not known, the height of the pyramid is computed to be 146.59m.
Photo of Khufu's Pyramid with all the stone courses / original illustration of the Levels of the Courses of the Great Pyramid / illustration of the first 85 levels [2]

Characteristics of the stone courses

1. Accumulation of thicker stone courses
The illustration and the table show, that there are accumulations of thicker stone courses at 17m / 30m (+13m) / 37m (+7m) / 54m (+17m) / 69m (+15m) / 75m (+6m) / 89m (+14m) / 105m (+16m) / 125m (+20m) and shortly before the top of the pyramid. These thicker stone courses follow others which are considerably lower. According to the methods that Franz Löhner is suggesting such more massive stone layers are necessary to build fixed rope roll stations. The archeologist Goyon and Petrie also noticed these numbers of thicker courses and Goyon [1] divided the pyramid in a total of 19 sections.
Transport up the pyramid flank with Löhner's rope roll

2. Possible location of the rope-roll stations
A look at the table and the illustration shows, that all larger blocks for the Grand Gallery, the King's and Queen's chamber and the relieving chambers were used between the proposed rope-roll-stations at 17 and at 75 meters. To anchor the rope-roll-stations several thicker stone layers would be used, where several rope rolls are placed side by side to transport the granite slaps which are weighting up to 50 tons. Smaller stations are used throughout the whole building to transport the regular stones up to the appropriate heights.
Transporting the large granite blocks up the pyramid

3. Thicker layers also in the upper regions of the pyramid
Egyptologists propose ramps for building the pyramids - but all ramps get smaller when they reach the upper portion of the pyramid. So it is of great importance, that when you get higher up you only use smaller and lighter stones. With a ramp you would expect, that the size of the stones would decrease steadily as you get higher. It is interesting, that this is not the case in the pyramid of Khufu! On the contrary you find thicker stone layers even very high up - on 69m, 75m and on 89m. Goyon [1] also remarked, that there is a stone which is 1.12m high lying on the platform of Khufu's Pyramid and this proves, that the Egyptians were able to transport large and heavy stones (this one weights about 3 tons) up to this height. This fact is inconsistent with the proposed ramps but corroborates the use of Franz Löhner's rope rolls and the installation of rope-roll stations also high up on the pyramid flank.
Theories of pyramid ramp systems disproved

4. Stone layers oft the same thickness
Again and again there are stone layers where the thickness vary only about 1-2cm. According to Franz Löhner the stones were quarried from the same stone layer or sheet (bed). In the table below layers of the same height are highlighted with a brown color. The thickness of the layers on the northeast and the southwest corner vary mostly only a few centimeters. The largest differences are found in the first 15 layers where the pyramid is built around a rock outcropping and then again at the height of the ceiling of the King's chamber (course 58-59). The maximal difference is 10.9 cm in the 12th course [7]. These differences are evened to 1cm in the following stone courses.
Quarrying stones for the pyramid
The outer casing stones of the pyramid with arguments against an inner core and mantle

In tabular form

The levels of the stone courses of Khufu's Pyramid on the northeast corner (according to Goyon [1] und Petrie [2]):
Up to 60cm / 60-69cm / 70-79cm / 80-89cm / 90-99cm / over 100cm / average height ca. 0.69m

Print version table (Word-Document)

Additional information

The last 10 stone layers:
Petrie found only remains of the last stone layers which were between 54.4 and 57.2cm high. On the platform which today consists the top of the pyramid lie stones that are between 48.5cm and 112cm thick. To give as much stability as possible to the apex (tip) of the pyramid with its pyramidion it is assumed that the last 2 or 3 stone layers were specially thick.
Transporting the pyramidion to the top of the pyramid

Stone layers on the top of the pyramid of Khufu - from an Italian aerial photography [3] - Photo - Video

Number of stones per stone layer:
Oskar M. Riedl [6] calculated the number of stones per stone layer if you take an average stone of 127 x 127 x 69cm (median height of 0.69m and median weight). He calculated in the fist layer 32'000 stones (not including that there are less stones because of the rock outcropping), with 25'000 stone blocks in the 26th course, 20'000 stone blocks in the 46th course, 15'000 stone blocks in the 68th course, 10'000 stone blocks in the 95th course, 5'000 stone blocks in the 128th course, 1'000 stone blocks in the 174th course and 500 stone blocks in the 184th course.

Stone bond patterns:
W. Petrie [6] thought, that the stones lying in the very middle and at the extreme corner of each course of blocks of the pyramid were layed down specially carefully and then those stones would provide a guide to ensure the geometrical accuracy of the four right angled corners and the outer stones between. Specially large and long stone blocks, so called headers were layed in the middle, so they were well interlocked with the other stones. Because these stones are missing nowadays, removed for buildings in Cairo, there is a slight indentation and the pyramid sides seem to be slightly concave.
The outer casing stones of the pyramid

Stone courses of the Pyramid of Khafre:
It would be interesting to compare the structure of the pyramid of Khafre with the structure of Khufu's pyramid. But unfortunately there is no information available about the number or height of the stone layers of the pyramid of Khafre. A look at the pyramid (photo 1 / photo 2 / photo 3) shows some larger stone layers near the top just underneath the casing. The pyramid of Khafre has a more simple inner structure where the chambers lie on the bedrock, so thicker stone layers would only be needed for the smaller rope roll stations for the regular stone blocks.
It is interesting, that the Bent Pyramid also shows an irregular pattern of thicker stone courses [8].
Transport up the pyramid flank with Löhner's rope roll

Sources

[1] G. Goyon Les ranges d'assises de la Grande Pyramide / Die Cheops-Pyramide (Anhang II)
[2] W. Petrie The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh (Levels of the Courses of the Great Pyramid)
[3] V. Maragioglio und C. Rinaldi Architettura delle Piramidi Menfite. Le grande piramide di Cheope
[4] Höhe des Pyramidions von 2 Ellen = 1.08m / 3 Ellen = 1.57m
Wie wurde das Pyramidion bis zur Pyramidenspitze transportiert?
[5] R. Stadelmann Die grossen Pyramiden von Giza
[6] Oskar M. Riedl Die Maschinen des Herodots
[7] Corrected Great Pyramid Course Elevations (nach Angaben von W. Petrie) - Webseite
[8] D. Arnold Building in Egypt

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Credits:	Copyright 2006:	Franz Löhner www.cheops-pyramide.ch
	Concept and Design, English Texts:	Teresa (Zubi) Zuberbühler www.starfish.ch