There was a time when giant cranes did not dot the city skyline and when bulldozers, backhoes, and excavators did not yet exist. But even before these pieces of seemingly critical technology were invented, we had palatial estates, temples, churches, pyramids, and the like, all of which were built with none other than human ingenuity.
But how were these mega-structures of yesteryear built? Let’s take a closer look.
(Credit: gumbao/Shutterstock)
gumbao/Shutterstock
The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most iconic statues in the world. It likely dates back to the reign of Khafre between 2558 and 2532 B.C.E., and it was constructed from a large block of limestone on site, meaning no equipment was needed to hull in from somewhere else.
It’s a protruding piece of limestone bedrock that used the basic technology of the time, says Josef Wegner, an Egyptologist, archaeologist, and professor in Egyptology at the ...
