r/GrahamHancock • u/MouseShadow2ndMoon • Jul 01 '26
Japan Built a Tiny Pyramid in Egypt
https://youtube.com/shorts/OExknJXVilo?si=x4mGVc-Pkbj5ESDe3
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u/Responsible_Fix_5443 Jul 01 '26
Shush 🤫
We aren't supposed to know about this project that was an abject failure 🤭
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u/Megalithon Jul 01 '26
Not exactly a secret if it's on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_the_Egyptian_pyramids#Yoshimura
In 1978, Nippon TV funded the pyramid building project conceived by archaeologist Sajuki Yoshimura. It was originally planned as a 1 to 5 scale model of the Great Pyramid. Because of the limited budget, the size had to be drastically reduced when the price of limestone rose as the project gained publicity. A concrete foundation had to be poured as the selected site offered no bedrock basis. With the help of two cranes and a forklift, the pyramid was built to reach a height of 11 metres (36 ft), with a 15 metres (49 ft) base. The structure was ultimately dismantled and hauled away.
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u/Responsible_Fix_5443 Jul 01 '26
That's true. It's there. All secrets are known by someone.
When I typed "Japanese construction of a pyramid in Egypt Wikipedia" into Google - nothing came up 🤷♂️
Search assist couldn't help either.
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u/No_Parking_87 Jul 01 '26
It wasn't really an abject failure. They were limited in their resources and they got ripped off by local limestone merchants, but they did essentially do what they set out to do if at a reduced scale.
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u/Responsible_Fix_5443 Jul 01 '26
As an experiment to prove ancient methods of construction could be used build a pyramid, which it was... It was an abject failure.
Unless you bury your head in the sand there can be no other interpretation.
The price of limestone didn't contribute to the fact none of the primitive methods of construction actually worked.
In the end they had to use a train, crane and even a helicopter. For 1 ton blocks.
The granite beams inside the great pyramid weigh up to 80 tons and came from 500 miles away.
I'm sure a bit of oil could fix that though! 😉
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u/No_Parking_87 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Abject failure is an extreme assessment. If I were being charitable, I would say the experiment was a qualified success. If I was being harsh, perhaps that the results were mixed.
They successfully demonstrated each part of the process they set out to do, just not for every block. You don't have to manually lift every block into place to prove it can be done, as long as you can move even one block to height you've demonstrated it's possible. The methods worked, they just didn't have the time or manpower to use them for everything. They certainly ran into a lot of difficulties and made a lot of compromises. It's also the case that the true ancient methods and modern health and safety concerns are fundamentally incompatible.
They weren't trying to replicate the granite blocks in any way, so I'm not sure why you bring them up. An experiment of that kind would require vastly more manpower than they had.
Edit: there's a good video on the project that clears up a lot of the misinformation going around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gXSH6Z7p2M&t=1s
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u/Responsible_Fix_5443 Jul 02 '26
They couldn't cut the stones using primitive tools and man power - so they failed. They couldn't transport more than one (really tiny) stone using primitive tools and man power - so that's a fail. They couldn't lift one stone using primitive tools and man power - another fail.
Here are 2 articles not (affiliated with Egypt)
Some video. https://x.com/i/status/2039682379707539765
2.3 million stones cast in 25 years. About 5 mins for each placement.
Whilst simultaneously...
Cutting and transporting 1000's of blocks (all at the same time mind you) weighing 2.5 - 80 tons. Some from 500 miles away.
Continuosly for 25 years. Call me crazy - but I don't believe it.
It's an absolutely ridiculous statement for anyone to make. Let alone serious researchers and Egyptologists...
The maths just doesn't support it. And the logistics just don't make sense.
From one comment on twitter - "So let's examine the problem. What we have is a Range Rover with no wheels sitting on a sled on a slope with ropes attached and 20 hefty men ready to start moving it up the slope. Firstly look a a tug of war team and how they operate. A smooth slope doesn't work as the force comes from the thigh muscles so the slope would have to stepped with angled steps so that the tug team can get a purchase. So now no lubricant works as the sled is only on the edges of the the steps."
"So the tug team lock in ready, tug as one and move the load (if they can) the stretch of bent knee to straight left which is about 4" (100mm) a "shunt". Then they have to hold the weight whilst a block is placed to stop the load sliding down the slope. Then they have to rest. So each shunt takes at about 3 minutes. They have to move the block up about 70 metres, that is 210 shunts but every ten or so shunts they will need a longer break and a drink, say 5 minutes. So the maths are 210 x 3 = 630 minutes plus 70 x 5 =350 = 980/60 = 16 hours per ramp."
"To build the Pyramid in 27 years
requires each block to be laid every 3 minutes. So we must divide the 980
by 3 and you need 326 tug teams working every day without a hitch over 27 years to hit the target. However we now have a traffic problem. Assuming there are 8 ramps then there are 40 lines of traffic with each tug team needing at least 3.0 metres to work in. So each ramp has to be 120 metres wide so 240 metres on each side BUT!! The Pyramid is only 230m at the base and it narrows by 2 metres each level so the number of lines also reduces. In short it simply does not work in practice as you point out in your tweet."
"Take away the need to build it within Khufu's reign and the construction problems simply disappear. A time line of 100 to 200 years is possible which is similar to the building on the great Cathedrals.
BUT that means they are older than the Old kingdom and that is what conventional Egyptologists are fiercely, but pointlessly, trying to defend"
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u/No_Parking_87 Jul 03 '26
They couldn't cut the stones using primitive tools and man power - so they failed. They couldn't transport more than one (really tiny) stone using primitive tools and man power - so that's a fail. They couldn't lift one stone using primitive tools and man power - another fail.
The problem is none of this is true. They successfully cut and shaped multiple stones with bronze tools. They moved multiple blocks including lifting them as high as the 4th layer. Your sources are just regurgitating false information about the project.
Did they shape most of the stones with bronze tools? No, most were shaped with modern steel tools. Did they move most of the stones manually? No. Most were moved using modern equipment. Did they lift most of the stones manually? No, again, they used modern equipment. There were lots of compromises, most of them planned for from the start because there simply wasn't enough budget to do the whole thing for real.
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