5 ms·

iirc in relatively recent history locals would climb up and slide down the pyramids for fun, when they were still smooth

dpark 7y ago
> relatively recent history What does that mean? I don’t think the pyramids have been smooth for a very long time. Also I am doubtful that sliding down one of the great pyramids would be particularly fun. Aside from the abrasion even a “smooth” pyramid would cause, I’d expect you’d pick enough speed up that the impact would kill you. To put it another way, citation?
- ben7799 7y ago
  It's only a 32 degree angle. You could certainly walk up it fine. Citation needed for sure and the authorities must have never encouraged it and I'm not sure why it'd be super fun to slide down but given the popularity of hiking, rock climbing, sledding, skiing, and snowboard it's totally logical people would want to go up and down it it.
  - asynchronous13 7y ago
    32 degrees seems really really shallow compared to what I see in pictures. This source https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/angle.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/angle.html says it's 51.5 degrees.
    - jimmux 7y ago
      I was going to say it might depend whether the angle is measured along the middle of a face or along an edge, but with a face angle of 51.5 degrees I calculate an edge angle of 41.6 degrees. That's assuming I still know how to trig, and it's entirely possible I don't.
      - stan_rogers 7y ago
        Middle of the face, and probably more like 51.8° originally. That corresponds to base faces measured in turns of a measuring wheel and a height of the same number of wheel diameters, which would be an incredibly sensible way of laying it out (letting the tools do the calculation for you).
SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
According to Wikipedia the casing stones were disturbed in a massive earthquake in 1303, many of which were carted away in 1356 to build mosques. That stretches the definition of "recent" by a bit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_stones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_s...
- nerfhammer 7y ago
  given that they're 3500 years old, 700 years ago is relatively recent
pault 7y ago
Are you sure you're not thinking of Assassin's Creed?

dpark 7y ago

> relatively recent history What does that mean? I don’t think the pyramids have been smooth for a very long time. Also I am doubtful that sliding down one of the great pyramids would be particularly fun. Aside from the abrasion even a “smooth” pyramid would cause, I’d expect you’d pick enough speed up that the impact would kill you. To put it another way, citation?

ben7799 7y ago
It's only a 32 degree angle. You could certainly walk up it fine. Citation needed for sure and the authorities must have never encouraged it and I'm not sure why it'd be super fun to slide down but given the popularity of hiking, rock climbing, sledding, skiing, and snowboard it's totally logical people would want to go up and down it it.
- asynchronous13 7y ago
  32 degrees seems really really shallow compared to what I see in pictures. This source https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/angle.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/angle.html says it's 51.5 degrees.
  - jimmux 7y ago
    I was going to say it might depend whether the angle is measured along the middle of a face or along an edge, but with a face angle of 51.5 degrees I calculate an edge angle of 41.6 degrees. That's assuming I still know how to trig, and it's entirely possible I don't.
    - stan_rogers 7y ago
      Middle of the face, and probably more like 51.8° originally. That corresponds to base faces measured in turns of a measuring wheel and a height of the same number of wheel diameters, which would be an incredibly sensible way of laying it out (letting the tools do the calculation for you).

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago

According to Wikipedia the casing stones were disturbed in a massive earthquake in 1303, many of which were carted away in 1356 to build mosques. That stretches the definition of "recent" by a bit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_stones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Casing_s...

nerfhammer 7y ago
given that they're 3500 years old, 700 years ago is relatively recent

pault 7y ago

Are you sure you're not thinking of Assassin's Creed?