The Herodotus Machine was a machine described by
Herodotus, a
Greek historian born in
Halicarnassus,
Caria (modern-day
Bodrum,
Turkey). Herodotus claims this invention enabled the
ancient Egyptians to construct the
pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
. The contraption supposedly allowed workers to lift heavy building materials. Herodotus is believed to have encountered the device while traveling through Egypt. With limited reference and no true schematics, this machine has stimulated many historians' theories of how the ancient Egyptians were able to create pyramids.
Herodotus in Egypt
Herodotus is suspected of having
embellished – or made up entirely – some of his historical accounts, but scholars generally accept this particular account as Herodotus provides otherwise reasonable accounts of Egypt and it would have been quite possible for someone living in
Halicarnassus to safely and easily travel to Egypt during Herodotus' lifetime. Trade existed between the Greek City States and the kingdom of Egypt.
In Egypt Herodotus is thought to have conversed with locals on the matter.
[Herodotus, Robin Waterfield, and Carolyn Dewald. ''The Histories''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.]
Herodotus' description
Herodotus provides a description of the process in
Histories
Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to:
* the plural of history
* ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus
* ''The Histories'', by Timaeus
* ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius
* ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
.
Leonardo da Vinci is believed to have sketched a machine based on Herodotus' description. Later depictions are premised upon da Vinci's sketches in the
Codex Madrid. Visual depictions cannot authoritatively claim to represent Herodotus' machine.
Since Herodotus provides more of a description of the components of the design rather than detailed form or usage, many ideas have been put forward and scale models built.
See also
*
Egyptian pyramid construction techniques
Egyptian pyramid construction techniques are the controversial subject of many hypotheses. These techniques seem to have developed over time; later pyramids were not constructed in the same way as earlier ones. Most of the construction hypotheses ...
References
Further reading
* See the main page on
Herodotus.
* Herodotus' writings, more specifically his ''
Histories
Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to:
* the plural of history
* ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus
* ''The Histories'', by Timaeus
* ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius
* ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
''.
External links
*
* Animation and blog describing a pyramid-construction machine built inside Khufu (Cheops)
www.impacttectonics.org{{DEFAULTSORT:Herodotus machine
Ancient Egyptian architecture
Ancient Egyptian science
Ancient Egyptian technology
Egyptian inventions
History of construction