Problems that are difficult for scientists to understand

Chapter 14 Ancient Civilization Tracing (2)
People who went to Babylon for pilgrimage, business or tourism could see the golden roofs on the city towers shining in the sun from afar.Therefore, by the 2nd century AD, Greek scholars listed the "Sky Garden" as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World" when evaluating famous buildings and sculptures around the world.Since then, the "Sky Garden" has become even more famous.

Regrettably, the "Hanging Garden", like other famous buildings of Babylonian civilization, has long been lost in the rolling yellow sand.If we want to understand the "sky garden", we can only go through the historical records of later generations and modern archaeological excavations.

There are still many unsolved mysteries about the "sky garden".The first is its builder.Nebuchadnezzar II was the greatest king in the history of Babylon. Many people think that such a magnificent building should be his creativity.But this is just a historical legend and has no real basis.However, although some historical records mentioned the "Hanging Gardens", they believed that the legendary "Hanging Gardens" were not built by Nebuchadnezzar II, but a lover of a Syrian king to please him. Concubine and specially built.Some records even believe that the legendary "hanging garden" actually refers to the royal garden built by King Sennacherib of Assyria in his capital Nineveh.However, among the various theories, there is still no definite answer.

Another mystery is the whole picture of the "sky garden".Many people only know that there was such a garden in history through imagination and stories, but people have no way of knowing how magnificent and strange its real appearance is.People are eager to see the whole picture of this unprecedented garden.

Until the end of the 19th century, German archaeologists unearthed the ruins of Babylon.When they excavated Nangongyuan, they unearthed an unusual, semi-underground, approximately rectangular building in the northeast corner, with an area of ​​about 1260 square meters.The building consists of two rows of huts, each averaging just 6.6 square meters.

The two rows of huts are separated by a corridor, symmetrically laid out, and surrounded by tall and thick walls.A well with three flutes, one square and two oval, was found in a hut on the west row.According to the analysis of archaeologists, these huts may be the original water houses, and the water tanks were used to install the pressurized water machines.Therefore, archaeologists believe that this place is likely to be the site of the legendary "hanging garden".At that time, the Babylonians used soil to pave the solid vaults of these huts, raised them layer by layer, and planted flowers and trees.As for irrigation water, it depends on the continuous supply of water presses in the underground hut.Archaeologists have proved through research that the principle of the water press at that time is basically the same as the chain pump we use now.It connects several buckets to a chain belt and connects them to a wheel placed on the wall. When the wheel rotates once, the buckets rotate accordingly to complete the whole process of lifting and pouring water, and then the water flows through the sink to the garden for irrigation. .This water press is still widely used in Mesopotamia.Moreover, archaeologists did find traces of planting a large number of flowers and trees in the site.

The most amazing thing about Babylon's "Hanging Gardens" is the water supply system.Because there is not much rain in Babylon, and the site of the "Hanging Garden" is believed to be far away from the Euphrates River, researchers believe that the "Hanging Garden" should have a lot of water delivery equipment.The slaves kept pushing the handles connected to the gears to transport the underground water to the highest storage tank, and then returned to the ground through the artificial river.Another problem is in maintenance.Because it is impossible for ordinary buildings to withstand the erosion of river water for many years without collapsing. Since there are not many stones in the Mesopotamia Plain, researchers believe that the bricks used in the "sky garden" are related to Unlike other places, they were added with reeds, asphalt and tiles, and some documents indicate that the stones were added with a layer of lead to prevent river water from seeping into the foundation.

However, no definite documentation has been found in the clay tablets of Babylonian cuneiform that have been discovered so far.Therefore, whether the archaeologists' interpretation is correct still needs further research.In short, the true face of the legendary "sky garden" is still hidden in the fog of history.

unsolved mysteries of the egyptian pyramids

Pyramids are the symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization.If you want to know the ancient Egyptian civilization, you must start with knowing the pyramids.However, there are mysteries everywhere in the pyramid, and the mathematical problems, mechanics problems and material problems reflected therein are enough to make people troubled.But people can't figure it out - the pyramids were built four to five thousand years ago!

When it comes to ancient Egyptian civilization, the most well-known ones are the pyramids of Egypt.For many years, it seems to have become a symbol of Egyptian civilization, standing proudly on the land of Egypt by the Nile River, integrated with deserts, hills, and quietly flowing rivers, telling the tragedy and vicissitudes of this mysterious ancient country in Egypt, becoming One of the world famous attractions.The reason why the Egyptian pyramids are famous is not only because of their spectacular and peculiar shape, nor is it only because of their ingenious construction techniques, but because of their mystery.The pyramid itself is like a labyrinth with various puzzles, attracting people from all over the world to yearn for and look at it.From its construction materials to its architectural style, every detail can raise many questions, including how it was built and how to choose materials.And these puzzles have not been well explained so far, making it the largest and most well-known civilization mystery in the world.

As we all know, the pyramids are the square cone-shaped tombs of emperors in the ancient slave society of Egypt, which are numerous and widely distributed.It is most concentrated in the area around the ancient city of Memphis, west of the Nile River, southwest of Cairo.The three in the Libyan desert 8 kilometers south of Giza are particularly famous, called the Giza Pyramids.Among them, the mausoleum of Pharaoh Khufu of the fourth dynasty is the largest. It was built in the 3th century BC and is 20 meters high. It is equivalent to a 146.5-story skyscraper. Stacked, covering an area of ​​40 square meters.There are corridors, stairs, halls and various precious decorations in the tower.The whole project lasted more than 230 years.There is a huge Sphinx in the southeast of the tower.

The ancient Egyptians believed that after a person died, the body would be made into a mummified body, which would be resurrected after a few years.In order to have a safe and closed place to store mummies, people built pyramids.The shape of the pyramid covers the concept of wishing the corpse of the dead to ascend to heaven.Therefore, the pyramids are all trapezoidal structures, with a square bottom and a narrow top, which symbolizes the whole process of the human soul ascending from the ground to the sky.

There are still many unsolved mysteries about the pyramid.

First of all, it is the delivery problem of pyramid materials.We all know that the Pyramid of Khufu was built with more than 200 million huge stones, each weighing more than 2000 kilograms on average, and the largest one weighs more than 100 tons.Then the entire Pyramid of Khufu needs millions of tons of stone.Many scientists believe that these boulders were mined from the east bank of the Nile, thousands of kilometers away from the pyramids.So, in Egypt, where there are no lifting tools and cranes, how did so many stones be transported?It's been a mystery so far.

Herodotus, known as the "father of Western historiography", once recorded that the stones for the construction of the Pyramid of Khufu were mined from the "Arabian Mountains" (probably the Sinai Peninsula).However, we now know that the stone was mostly mined locally, and the limestone that decorated its surface was quarried and transported from Tula on the east side of the river.It was not easy to mine stones at that time, because people did not have dynamite or steel brazing at that time.The Egyptians used copper or bronze chisels to drill holes in the rocks, then inserted wooden wedges and filled them with water. When the wooden wedges were swelled by water, the rocks were swelled and cracked.Such a method may seem clumsy today, but it was a remarkable technology more than 6000 years ago.It is also extremely difficult to transport from the quarry to the pyramid site.The ancient Egyptians loaded stones on sleds and pulled them with people and animals.For this you need wide and smooth roads.It took 10 years to build the roads for transporting the stone and the catacombs of the pyramids.

When building the Pyramid of Khufu, Khufu forced all the Egyptians to work for him. They were divided into groups of 10 people to work, and each group had to work for 3 months.Among these laborers were slaves, but there were also many ordinary farmers and craftsmen.Ancient Egyptian slaves transported boulders to construction sites by means of animal power and rolling logs.They piled the natural sand around the site into a slope, and pulled the boulder up the pyramid along the slope.In this way, a layer of slopes is piled up, a layer of stones is built, and the pyramid is gradually increased.It took 20 years to build the Pyramid of Khufu.

For Herodotus' statement, later generations have raised many questions.But it is still a difficult problem that no one can give a satisfactory answer to this day.How can people not admire the great strength and wisdom of the ancient Egyptians!
Next is the mystery of the construction of the pyramid.Pyramids are made of huge monolithic stones added layer by layer from low to high.The construction of this cone required sophisticated calculations and geometric studies to complete.Even if modern people want to build such a huge building, it is impossible to guarantee 6000% accuracy.But the strange thing is that the ancient Egyptians more than [-] years ago did it.Not only did they leave each boulder intact, but without any cutting tools, they perfectly cut the huge block to make sure it was the shape and length the pyramid needed.What is even more incredible is that without any adhesive at that time, they were able to ensure that the threaded sutures between the stones not only did not have a large gap, but even a needle could not go in. ——Like a naturally formed whole!
It's amazing how amazing its architecture is!How did the ancient Egyptians count and cut stones, and how did they stack them with such precision?This remains a mystery to this day.

Finally, there is the puzzle of the numbers of the pyramids.After measuring and researching the largest pyramid, the Pyramid of Khufu, some people put forward many mysteries of numbers contained in the Great Pyramid.For example: extending the bisector of the square at the bottom of the Great Pyramid of Khufu to infinity is the meridian of the earth, passing through the meridian of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, just divides the land and sea on the earth into two even halves, and the center of gravity of the tower is exactly located At the center of gravity of the continents.

Prolonging the diagonal of the square at the bottom of the Great Pyramid can just include the Nile Estuary Delta, and extending the vertical bisector of the square can just bisect the Nile Estuary Delta.The circumference of the base of the Great Pyramid is 230.36 meters, which is 362.31 Kubit (a measurement unit in ancient Egypt), which is similar to the number of days in a year.

The original height of the Great Pyramid was 146.7 meters (now collapsed to 137.3 meters) multiplied by 10 billion, which is approximately equal to the distance between the earth and the sun.The sum of the lengths of the four bases of the Great Pyramid, divided by twice the height, is 3.14 - pi.

The weight of the Great Pyramid itself multiplied by 7×1015 is exactly the weight of the earth.

The square of the height of the Great Pyramid is about 21520 meters, while its side area is 21481 square meters, these two figures are almost equal.

Judging from the orientation of the Great Pyramid, the four sides face due east, due south, due west, and due north respectively, with an error of no more than 0.5 degrees.On the extension line of the front entrance passage of the tower facing due north, put a basin of water instead of a mirror, so that Polaris can be reflected on the water.

Are these numerical relationships an accidental coincidence, or was the builder's intentional design?

Many scientists point out that the relationship between these numbers is not so mysterious, except that some are coincidences, and some numbers do not completely correspond to the truth.According to the records of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, when the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the area of ​​each side of the pyramid was equal to the square of the height of the pyramid. This numerical relationship can indeed be obtained by designing according to this scheme.

In addition, some numbers reflect the outstanding achievements of the ancient Egyptians in mathematics and astronomy.

For example, the ancient Egyptians already knew the method of positioning on the water surface (watering first, using the horizontal plane to level the foundation) to obtain an accurate horizon; the ancient Egyptians selected one (or several) stars, carefully observed them with the help of simple instruments, and recorded the stars The sunken position on the horizon, and then bisects the angle formed from the observation point to the sunken point to measure the meridian.

Of course, some scientists have different views.They think that things are not that simple, why can't other buildings provide so many numbers representing a considerable level of technology except the Great Pyramid?Can the miraculous pyramid full of mysteries be built with the level of scientific and technological knowledge of the ancient Egyptians?

It seems that things are indeed not simple, and scientists with different views are still arguing... In addition, it is said that the pyramid still has many astronomical mysteries. It's the Big Dipper!And how did the ancient Egyptians calculate that they could see the Big Dipper at this position?This is actually a puzzle.

The murals inside the pyramid also show many achievements of Egyptian civilization, such as arithmetic, medicine, astronomy, etc., all of which are amazing.Many achievements cannot be believed to be mastered by people more than 6000 years ago, such as craniotomy and planetary positions.

In short, the pyramid is like a riddle book placed in front of people by heaven, full of secrets everywhere.And these secrets can only be deciphered one by one after the wisdom and technology of human beings reach a higher level.

How the Egyptians Made Mummies×
The ancients believed in the immortality of the soul, so they couldn't do more work on the corpse.In connection with the culmination of the tomb, it seems that people came to this world to prepare for death.

It's really not easy for some people to accept this kind of yin and yang reverse thinking and behavior, but it was the fact at that time.

When it comes to Egypt, in addition to the pyramids, people will also think of the mummy ×—a burial method in which the ancient pharaohs tried to revive the soul. So how is the intact mummy × made through time and space?This has always been a mystery that modern people want to unravel.

The ancient Egyptians attached great importance to the body, which can be clearly seen from their burial customs, especially the custom of making mummies.The inspiration for making Mummies comes from the popular totem worship in ancient times and the idea of ​​transforming into gods after death.In addition, the "Book of the Dead" specifically discusses the different stages of human deification, as well as the differences in the deification of each part of the body.

For the ancient Egyptians, their main concern was to infuse divinity into the body of the deceased through the chanting of these prayers, while ensuring the integrity of the body so that all parts can function normally.

According to the investigation of scholars, in the early history, the Egyptians had already begun to preserve their remains for their descendants.

Originally buried in the desert, this is because of the dehydrating effect of the scalding sand, and the body can be preserved for many years.These immortal corpses encourage people to do everything possible to find a kind of eternity for themselves.Later, some wealthy dignitaries began to practice burial again, which promoted the continuous improvement of embalming technology, and the procedure of burying corpses became more and more complicated.

The technology of making mummies reached its peak in the 21st Dynasty, some of which have not yet been achieved by people.

The producers take out the organs that will decay quickly, such as liver, lung, stomach, intestines, etc., process them separately and put them into four jars, which are called "canopy jars".The heart is kept in the body because it is considered the "source of wisdom".The kidneys were also left in the cadavers in post-production.

Craftsmen in ancient Egypt used various materials to make statues for humans and gods, the so-called "another body", and mummification was to process human corpses so that they could be preserved permanently and come alive.It expects to be awakened, resurrected and given a new kind of soul.

This process of resurrection is accomplished through a religious ceremony called "opening the mouth". The object of this ceremony is the mummified body of the deceased or his statue. It also revives the other senses.

After death, through embalming treatment, people can lie in the same place without any changes, and can always maintain their original appearance.This is the specific embodiment of the requirements of the ancient Egyptians for life after death.Throughout the mummy-making process, ancient funeral officials played a god-like role, keeping the pharaoh's body eternal.

A burialist once said with some pain: "The king's body cannot deteriorate, rot, or emit a pungent smell." This is exactly a huge problem they face.Because in Egypt, the hot weather will accelerate the decomposition of the corpse, which is not conducive to their work.In order to maintain the sanctity and solemnity of their profession (they are often regarded as the gods of the dead, they can save the dead from suffering and suffering in the afterlife), they sometimes wear masks to pretend to be gods, This is especially true on ceremonial occasions.

There are many methods of embalming these bodies, but those used during the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC) were the most sophisticated and effective.

(End of this chapter)