Life of Guangzhou - Architect Claims to Solve Pyramid Enigma

Great Pyramid(File Photo)

A French architect claims to have cracked a 4,500 year old mystery surrounding Egypt's Great Pyramid, saying it was built from the inside out, media reported on Monday.

The construction of the Great Pyramid by Khufu, a ruler also known as Cheops, has long befuddled scientists as to how its three million stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each were lifted into place.

According to architect Jean-Pierre Houdin's theory shown in a computer model, the builders put up an outer ramp for the first 140 feet (43m), then constructed an inner ramp in a corkscrew shape to complete the 450-foot (137m) structure.

Previous theories have suggested Pharaoh Khufu's tomb, the last surviving example of the seven great wonders of antiquity, was built using either a vast frontal ramp or a ramp in a corkscrew shape around the exterior to haul up the stonework.

Houdin also claimed to have shed light on a second enigma surrounding the purpose of a Grand Gallery inside the pyramid.

Houdin believed its tall, narrow shape suggests it accommodated a giant counter-weight to help haul five 60-ton granite beams to their position above the King's Chamber.

He thought that no more than 4,000 people could have built the pyramid using these techniques rather than the 100,000 or so assigned by past historians to the task of burying the pharaoh.

Architect Jean-Pierre Houdin's theory shown in a computer model(File Photo)