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How One Man's Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt's Greatest Mystery
Collins
October 2008
On Sale: October 14, 2008
304 pages
ISBN: 006165552X
EAN: 9780061655524
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Nine years ago, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin became
obsessed by the centuries-old mystery of how the Great
Pyramid was built. For ten hours a day, he labored at his
computer to create exquisitely detailed 3-D models of the
interior of the Great Pyramid. After five years of effort,
the images rotating on his computer screen provided
evidence of an astonishing secret. Corkscrewing up the
inside of the Great Pyramid is a mile-long ramp, unseen for
4,500 years. The pyramid was built from the inside. This
revelation casts a fresh light on the minds that conceived
one of the wonders of the ancient world. The Secret of the Great Pyramid moves between the ancient
and the modern. The ancient story chronicles, step-by-step,
how a nation of farmers only recently emerged from the
Stone Age could construct one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World. To execute something as complex and massive
as the Great Pyramid, Egypt needed architects,
mathematicians, boat builders, stone masons, and
metallurgists. It took twenty years to build the Great
Pyramid. By the time its capstone was laid in 2560 B.C.,
the innovations born of the building quest had transformed
agrarian Egypt into the world's most modern, most powerful
nation. As we follow the progress of Hemienu, the innovative
architect who planned, organized, and oversaw construction
of the Great Pyramid, we also follow Houdin working to
discover how and why the ancient architect designed the
Pyramid as he did. Houdin works as a forensic architect,
aiming to reconstruct the lessons Hemienu had learned from
construction of three previous pyramids and to visualize
his blueprint for the massive stone building. In the
process, Houdin also discovers the answers to other
questions that have bedeviled Egyptologists for centuries:
such as what was the purpose of the mysterious Grand
Gallery and when did the Pyramid crack? Along the way,
Houdin receives the support of a pathbreaking French
software company, which helps him validate his theory
virtually—a first in archaeology! The story of genius and obsession in the ancient and modern
world, this archaeological mystery will appeal to anyone
who has ever been captivated by this magnificent edifice.
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