Construction ramp

Ancient Egyptian building ramps were usually bordered on both sides by retaining walls made of quarry stone or bricks. They are proven in numerous examples in the pyramids of the 3rd and 4th dynasties , the pyramids of the Middle Kingdom and temples of the New Kingdom and are shown in the tomb of Rechmire . The inside of the ramp was often reinforced with heavy beams (often old ship beams). These did not form the covering of the ramps, but were covered by a cement-hard layer of mortar and gravel, the actual work surface.

The ramps averaged 10  cubits wide (5.25 m) and sloped between 10 ° and 17 °. In the Anastasi I papyrus , a theoretical brick building ramp 400 m long and 30 m high was described.

In the quarry areas there were numerous examples of transport roads and loading ramps , of which mostly only side retaining walls made of quarry stone packings have survived. The longest known road measured 10 km and led from the basalt quarries of the Gebel Qatrani to Lake Faijum . A 77 m long ship loop from the Middle Kingdom was found near the Nubian town of Mirgissa . It was a road made of wood and clay, on which ships up to 3 m wide were pulled across the country to avoid the second cataract .

literature

• Dieter Arnold : Lexicon of Egyptian architecture . Albatros, 2000, ISBN 3491960010 , pp. 37–38 (→ building ramp ).