Downen 1
Amanda Downen
Drake 207 – 02
2 April 2010
Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?
The documentary, “Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?” can be found through multiple internet sourcesincluding YouTube and Encyclopedia.com. It discusses the theory that extraterrestrials, not the Egyptians, built the pyramids. The main reasons which are argued by supporters of this theory are: 1) There is not enough evidence to support the idea that the Egyptians built the pyramids. 2) The Egyptians had neither the necessary technology nor the knowledge to have successfully built the pyramids. 3) The pyramid complex at Giza has too many similarities with the Cydoniacomplex on Mars to be coincidental. With all of these facts supporting the theory, the documentary attempts to prove that aliens built the pyramids, or at least provided the knowledge to do so. However, after some research and consideration of opposing arguments from experts in the field, this theory quickly breaks down and becomes less viable.
Throughout the documentary, the largest form of persuasion that is employed is an appeal to ethos. There are many people who are interviewed and who give their reasons for believing that aliens made the pyramids. These people are comprised of archaeologists, science lecturers, authors, civil engineers and architects – all titles with varying prestige and signs of accomplishment. For example, Dr Barbara Mertz has her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago and, although many of her books are mystery novels, she has written two books on ancient Egypt which have been continuously in publication (“Barbara Mertz”). Margaret Maitland is a D.Phil. candidate in Egyptology at the University of Oxford where she also received her M.Phil (Maitland). She has participated in excavations in both Jordan and Egypt and is respected by many renowned scholars and Egyptologists (Maitland). Lastly, Dr Mark Lehner is “perhaps one of the most famous living experts on the study of the pyramids” (Iffert). He is also the director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates with over 30 years of experience excavating in Egypt and is a very qualified informant (Iffert).
Nonetheless, these appeals to ethos are accompanied by the fallacy of appeals to authority. Many of the interviewees possess their given titles, but are not experts in the field and are not reliable sources. Anthony Hilder, for example, is introduced as an author and pyramid theorist. Not only does he theorize about pyramids, but 9/11 conspiracies, the Illuminati, the New World Order and the Oklahoma City bombing. ZechariaSitchin, author of Stairway to Heaven, has a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics (“ZechariaSitchin”). His anthropological speculations, however, are entirely discounted by professional scientists, historians and archaeologists who“have many problems with his translations of ancient texts and with his understanding of physics, categorizing his work as pseudoscience” (Carroll). A third example is the author, E. Randall Floyd. Floyd is a motion picture screenwriter and bestselling author of multiple books (E Randall Floyd). Although Floyd lectures on many topics from Civil War history to paranormal activities, he is in no way an expert in ancient Egyptian research and is therefore not a reliable source for this topic. Finally, David Teuling is introduced as author to A Sign and a Witness. One would think that since Teuling is seen lecturing on the case of aliens building the pyramids, his book would cover the same topic. Interestingly enough, the book is “a case for design in the universe” and discusses the possibility of a “Designer God” and the field of Sacred Geometry (A Sign and a Witness). His quotations in the source have nothing to do with the idea of aliens creating the pyramids, though they are made to appear to do soin the documentary in order to further the argument.
Also, small and almost unnoticeable pathological appeals are used throughout the documentary. The interviewees and host often use words such as “inconceivable,” “obviously,” “allegedly,” and “defies imagination.” This occurs each time somebody asserts that the pyramids could not be replicated today, even with modern technology. This says to the viewer that, if they believe that the Egyptians built the pyramids, then they believe that a “quasi-stone-age” civilization was capable of feats that today’s technologically advanced world cannot achieve. Accepting this fact says that our generation is less intelligent in comparison–a hit to the ego which is never easily admitted.
One of the source’s main points is that there isproof which suggests that the historical belief of the Egyptians building the pyramids is false. According to Todd Alexander, author of Ancient Wonder Modern Mystery, “not one of the traditional concepts of the builders or the pyramids has been proven.” He also asserts that no dead king or other corpse has ever been found in the Great Pyramid and Dr Ron Charles, a civil engineer, states that there is “no hard evidence anywhere” that the pyramids were even intended to be burial tombs for pharaohs. Dr Mark Lehner, a professor of Egyptian Archaeology, says that there is graffiti on the ceiling of Khufu’s tomb which provides evidence of their purpose but which was not recorded until 1837. ZechariaSitchin takes this a step further with his assertion that the graffiti was a forgery done in May of 1837 and that he received a letter from a man whose grandfather witnessed another man painting hieroglyphics on the walls. Also, he claims that he found a typo after close investigation. The hieroglyphics call the pharaoh “RaKhufu,” which would be like “taking the name of God in vain” and would never have happened. Therefore, they are most certainly forged. However, as stated above, Sitchin’s translations have been discredited by many professionals.
Another point of missing evidence is the lack of hieroglyphics depicting the pyramids’ construction. Giza Pyramid Researcher, August Tornquist, argues that there “is not one picture, drawing, artifact, inventory or tally sheet which tells of the Great Pyramid’s construction.” He questions that when there is 3000 years worth of historycovering everything from babies being born to plowing and harvesting, building, weaving, sacrificing, praying and embalming, “why is there absolutely nothing recorded about the construction of the pyramids”?
The implicit reason behind this aspect of the argument is that if there is not enough proof for a hypothesis, then the hypothesis must be false. As Todd Alexander states, “Everything else about this ancient wonder remains a mystery to traditional thinkers, which leads us to believe that a higher power was involved, whose purpose was much more significant than entombing a pharaoh”. Also, it is said that there are hieroglyphics which are forged and therefore cannot be believed; yet there is no mention of the rest of the hieroglyphics covering the remainder of the tomb and other pyramids. It seems to be assumed that since there are some forgeries, all of them must be forgeries and are not viable evidence. This assumption is a hasty generalization. Another fallacy of the documentary is misquotations, or semantics. The quote from Todd Alexander is made to seem as if he is referring to aliens as the “higher power,” when in fact, Mr. Alexander’s bookdiscusses the idea that the pyramids are a message from God, not aliens (Alexander). Basically, the entire implicit reason is an argument from ignorance – we can’t prove that aliens didn’t build the pyramids, so they must have. However, simply because something has not been proven true, does not mean that it cannot eventually be proven true or that it is false.
Many disagree with the claim that there is not enough evidence to support the Egyptians being the builders of the pyramids and there being too much evidence to refute it.. Margaret Maitland believes that there is more than enough evidence which strongly indicates that the Egyptians themselves were responsible for building the pyramids: remains of the quarries, roads, tools, records of the workers and the towns in which the workers lived. We know why they built them and “we can even observe their lengthy and imperfect evolution before they reached their architectural peak with the Great Pyramid” (Maitland). Maitland agrees that the pyramids were much more than just a grave for ancient Egyptian kings. They were “iconic symbols of the supreme power of the ruler” (Maitland). Above all, they were “monuments to divine Egyptian kingship,” the place where the king would be transformed into a god (Maitland).
There are also those who refute the assumptions made regarding the hieroglyphics. Jason Colavito, an anthropologist and journalist who works to debunk archaeological myths, refutes the claim that all of the hieroglyphics were faked and that even if they were, “that alone does not disprove Khufu's ownership” (Colavito). As for the typos, Martin Stower, a British Researcher, showed that the hieroglyphs' "misspellings" and errors were actually imperfections in 19th century knowledge of hieroglyphs which were “projected” onto the correctlyspelled hieroglyphs themselves (Colavito). In an interview with renowned Egyptologist Mark Lehner, he tells of ancient graffiti in places which were never meant to be seen and which depict workers and organizations of crews (Pyramids).
It seems that there is a counter argument made by reliable and credentialed people to every point which is raised by the not-so-reliable or credentialed theorists. The argument of evidence is refuted by anthropologists and Egyptologists which have participated in many firsthand excavations. The idea of all of the hieroglyphics being faked is countered by people who have the proper training to perform research on the writings and who have found that not all of the writings are forged. Without a doubt, the fact that the implicit reason itself is a fallacy makes the argument less valid and believable.
The second argument behind aliens having been the builders of the pyramids is the claim that the construction of a monument such as the Great Pyramid is something that is, according to Dr Ron Charles, “totally impossible to duplicate in today’s modern construction field” and was therefore never possible by human hands. Many scientists have long agreed that the Great Pyramid of Khufu “could not have been build with the quasi-stone-age technology of 2900 B.C.” This is partially due to the colossol dimensions of the Great Pyramid – it is 42 stories high, 100 football fields in length and made of stones weighing 2.5-10 tons each. Basically, there is enough material in the Great Pyramid to build 35 Empire State Buildings. The Greek Historian, Herodotus, was told by Egyptians when he first visited the country that the pyramids were built by a continuous crew of 100,000 people, replaced every 3 months, worked 20 years to build the Great Pyramid. Ron Charles argues that in order to have built the Great Pyramid according to Herodotus, it would have meant setting one huge stone every 3.5 minutes, 24 hours a day; a schedule that is “totally impossible to duplicate in today’s modern construction field”.
Other theorists disagree with the long accepted parameters of the build. David Teuling, argues that there were not enough potential slaves within a 5000 mile radius to have supplied the necessary workforce. He also states that the theory of using rollers to move the stone blocks is not correct, because the only trees that are available in Egypt are date plums. These would not have been cut down because they were a food source and importing logs would have required more shipping power than Egypt has ever possessed. Even if they had used logs, he claims that it would be virtually impossible to roll a log on stone chipped roads, as the weight of the massive stone would grind the log into pieces in a short amount of time. Due to this suggestion, Alexander believes that there must have been another method of lifting and moving the stones, though “we know of no capable device that was available in ancient Egypt.” Finally, the fitting of the outer limestone casings, weighing about 10 tons each, were all fitted to about 1/2000 of an inch – so tight that a razor blade can’t even fit between them. With all of these technological points to consider, how can one believe that a stone age people could have built what cannot be duplicated today?
This argument is based on the idea that if we cannot replicate something which was done thousands of years ago, it must have been done by aliens or that the human race of today’s modern world is smarter and more evolved. Even present day technology cannot duplicate the feat that the ancient Egyptiansaccomplished. Therefore there is no man made technology that could have built them and the only explanation is aliens. This reasoning is a non sequiterfounded entirely on an affirming the consequent fallacy. Also, the basic idea is an argument from ignorance. Just because there is no known technology that was present in ancient Egypt which would have made building the pyramids possible, doesn’t mean that it didn’t exist. There are other places in the world where unexplainable monuments stand. Take for example the Mayan and Aztecpyramids and Stonehenge. Even the origin of human beings is a controversial subject whose answer nobody knows for sure. There are many things which are unknown, but we don’t attribute every one of them to aliens. This brings to light a fallacy of exclusion in the willingness to accept aliens for one instance and not others.
The other side of the debate disavows the claimthat people 4000 years ago weretoo unskilled to have built the pyramids. The fact is, after centuries of honing the art, ancient Egyptians had a certain expertise in stone working that today’s people lack. Also, it’s not just the building of the pyramids that couldn’t be replicated today; it’s hard to imagine ever being able to “pull together the resources, power, money, skilled craftsmen, and architects needed to build one of the great gothic cathedrals in this day and age” (Maitland). The pyramids were possible because the entire Egyptian economy, resources, and population were under the control of a single ruler who was capable of mobilizingthem all into a monumental building project (Maitland). These mobilized workers were not slaves or foreigners as has been promoted by Hollywood. In actuality, “excavated skeletons show that they were Egyptians who lived in villages developed and overseen by the pharaoh's supervisors” (“Introduction to Pyramids”). These people gathered at Giza, usually while the Nile was flooded and other work was put on hold, to work for their “god kings…[ensuring] their own afterlife and [benefiting] the future and prosperity of Egypt as a whole” (Pyramids: Who Built the Pyramids?).
Again, after consideration of both the argument and the rebuttal of professionals, the original argument falls apart. Although there are some interesting points made by theorists, they do not fully support the hypothesis that, since we are unable to build a pyramid today, the Egyptians couldn’t have been capable of the feat decades ago. There is simply too much scientific evidence which is overlooked in order to further the theory.
The third argument is the fact that much of the knowledge required to build the pyramids was not discovered until many centuries after their construction. Without that knowledge, the ancient Egyptians could not have built the pyramids. Gregory Pyros believes that it is “obvious that they didn’t have the knowledge of modern geology which would prevent destruction through lack of foundation”. Therefore, the construction by humans is “inconceivable.” This is based partially on the fact that normally, a building sinks slowly. For example, the US capital has sunk five inches in 200 years, “but in 5000 years, the Great Pyramid, weighing 14 billion pounds, has settled less than one half of an inch”. Also, According to Dr Charles, if modern builders can keep a wall within six inches of being a straight line, it is a tremendous accomplishment. However, “the Great Pyramid is only off of straight alignment by approximately one quarter of an inch”. Also, Anthony Hilderpoints out that the Great Pyramid’s sides run almost exactly from north to south and east to west. It’s deviation from true north is within three arc minutes, or ten degrees. He questions, “how could an ancient, quasi-stone-age culture have been able to determine true north” without the technology that we deem necessary to do so?
The reasoning behind this argument is that it is not possible that the Egyptians had the mathematical and geological knowledge which was required for the construction of the pyramids, because they could not have had some knowledge that we, as a more evolved and technological race, do not have. Therefore, they must have received insight from an otherworldly source – aliens. The argument is based along the following lines: The ancient Egyptians had unknown knowledge. Aliens have unknown knowledge. Therefore, aliens visited Earth and shared their knowledge with the ancient Egyptians. Not only is this is an affirming the consequent fallacy, but this hypothesis fails Occam ’s razor as well. The simpler and more likely hypothesis is that the Egyptians did have the necessary knowledge; it was just lost in the centuries between then and now.