Build the Pyramid

[Asmodean]

[Right-wing The Asmo]Damn right! Them illegals from Egyptland, they was. [/RWTA]

[Old Seer]

The devise is referred to as a "djed pillar", which seems to me to be a wine press of some type rather than a force multiplier. The lower part would make a very poor bearing as perpendicular force would tend to move the pillar up out of the base. The pillar would make a better axial means if it were same as top bearing.

[billy rubin]

could be. but lots of things that we see as common sense engineering werent thought of thousands of years ago.look at chariot wheels. took thousands of years for those to develop the obvious optimal dedign we see today.

or think about the various seige engines that were cocked by wonding a rope or string around a drum. the  interface was always a set of handspikes for the operator to pull on, because the crank wasnt invented until modern times.

or early versions of sprocketed drive chains consisting of simple long links articulating around a pentangular drum.

seems obvious now how to do it better, but we have an advantage