No engineering documents or architectural plans have been found that give technical explanations demonstrating how the ancient Egyptians aligned any of their temples or pyramids," Dash wrote in the article. This typology is found in many cultures from the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia to the El Castillo pyramid built by the Maya in Chichen Itza. Experiments conducted over the past few decades suggest that several methods that make use of the sun or stars could also have been used to align the pyramids, Dash said. Of course, being the Great Pyramid, it couldn’t be just any old sundial. Technical prowess mixed with mythology and superstition led the pharaohs to construct these formidable structures, which have proven to be some of the most indestructible pieces of architecture ever created. "The builders of the Great Pyramid of Khufu aligned the great monument to the cardinal points with an accuracy of better than four minutes of arc, or one-fifteenth of one degree," Glen Dash, an engineer who studies the Giza pyramids, wrote in a paper published recently in The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. The Egyptians could have determined the day of the fall equinox by counting forward 91 days after the summer solstice, Dash said. Visit My Modern Met Media. All pyramids aren’t created equal. According to a British Egyptologist, the stars were a guiding force in how the pyramids were aligned. You will receive a verification email shortly. Its level of sophistication meant that it not only told time, but was able to signal solstices and equinoxes and therefore helped the Egyptians define the solar year. "On the equinox, the surveyor will find that the tip of the shadow runs in a straight line and nearly perfectly east-west," Dash wrote. The pyramid of Khafre (also located at Giza) and the Red Pyramid (located at the site of Dahshur) are also aligned with a high degree of accuracy, Dash noted. The structure actually acts as an enormous sundial, with its shadow telling the hour by falling on marks made in the stone. Here's the Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19, Woman sheds coronavirus for 70 days without symptoms. About 4,500 years ago, Egyptian pharaoh Khufu had the Great Pyramid of Giza constructed; it is the largest of the three pyramids — now standing about 455 feet (138 meters) tall — on the Giza Plateau and was considered a "wonder of the world" by ancient writers. but the quest is not showing up, even though it says its added. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, In his experiment — which he conducted in Pomfret, Connecticut, on Sept. 22, 2016 (the day of the fall equinox) — Dash placed a rod (sometimes called a "gnomon" by modern-day surveyors) on a wooden platform and marked the location of the rod's shadow throughout the day. Still shrouded in mystery, the pyramids don’t reveal their secrets easily. "All three pyramids …