What a shock!
Check out this recent post from Archaeology Daily News (you may have to scroll down to see the actual story). Pretty sweet explanation for how correct stone orientation and placement was achieved — very simple and very clever. The architect’s theory featured at the above link argues and demonstrates that the Egyptians invented the building grid. My only question is why this is considered a “new” discovery. I’ve actually been reading through a book I’ll recommend early to all of you interested in Egyptian building that covers the basics of this — with pictures of grid systems and grid marks on the monuments (sorry, no pictures of aliens building or supervising). The book is Building in Ancient Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry, by Dieter Arnold. It’s fascinating. Below are some pictures from the Google Books location for this book (selective, but representative – the pages with photos were not included in the Google Books preview).
