Pyramids Not the Largest Ancient Construction?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the claim that the Jethawanaramaya in Sri Lanka is larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, challenging the common belief that the pyramids are the largest ancient constructions. Participants explore various aspects of ancient structures, including height, volume, and definitions of what constitutes 'ancient' constructions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that the Jethawanaramaya is larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, citing its dimensions and historical context.
  • Others challenge this claim by comparing the height and volume of the pyramids, emphasizing that the Great Pyramid was the tallest construction for a significant period.
  • There are discussions about the visibility of the Great Wall of China from space, with some participants asserting it is not the only man-made structure visible from orbit.
  • One participant questions the criteria for defining 'ancient' constructions, suggesting that the Great Wall qualifies as ancient.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the claims regarding the Jethawanaramaya, suggesting that its current state may not reflect its original size due to ongoing repairs and natural overgrowth.
  • There is mention of the Aztec pyramids, with some participants debating whether they are the largest in volume or height compared to Egyptian pyramids.
  • Several participants engage in a light-hearted exchange about the relative sizes of various pyramids, including humorous references to hypothetical constructions on Mars and the Sun.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether the Jethawanaramaya is indeed larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza. Multiple competing views remain regarding the definitions of size and the criteria for ancient constructions.

Contextual Notes

Some claims are based on incomplete measurements or assumptions about the state of the Jethawanaramaya. The discussion also highlights the ambiguity in defining 'largest' in terms of height versus volume, as well as the historical context of the constructions.

kusal
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I'm really amazed to see so many people thinking that Pyramids are the largest constructions of the ancient world.

Jhethawanaramaya in Sri Lanka is bigger than the largest pyrmig in Geesa and was built about 1600(or more I'm not sure) ago. Why don't you people check that out.
 
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. . . . . . . . . .Height. . . .Diameter. . . . Age
Jethawanaramaya:. .232ft. . . . .310ft. . . . .1700y
Giza:. . . . . . . 481ft. . . . .751ft. . . . .4500y

You could store your family Jethawanaramaya inside Cheops and still have room for your Sundays-only ragtop Jethawanaramaya, PLUS one for the wife, and TWO extras with bent axles that you keep for spare parts. AND Cheops is genuine vintage, not just nouveau retro.



Q: Why don't you people check that out?

A: Because everybody knows that worshippers at the Jethawanaramaya don't check their facts.

The Jethawanaramaya have been trying to get an entry in the Guiness Book of Wonders of the World for 20 years, but every time they are invited to fly to GBWW headquarters, they forget to check their tickets and their flight takes off from Sri Lankan Int'l Airport while they are waiting at the subway station.
 
Does anyone have any pictures of the pyramid(?) in Sri Lanka? I'd be interested in seeing what it looks like.
 
That is a pretty large temple.
 
I thought the great wall of China was the largest man-made construction, and the only one visible from space. What qualifies as the 'ancient' world?
 
The Wall is notable for it's length, but I think we're talking height and maybe volume here.

Besides it's not true, anyway.
 
Huckleberry said:
I thought the great wall of China was the largest man-made construction, and the only one visible from space. What qualifies as the 'ancient' world?
Here's the scoop on the great wall. "But lots of manmade structures are visible from Earth orbit, including cities, highways and even some of the vehicles that traverse them. The Great Wall of China is visible from Earth orbit, too."

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/great_wall_031017.html
 
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It's a tie, Evo. :smile:
 
  • #10
infidel said:
The Wall is notable for it's length, but I think we're talking height and maybe volume here.

Besides it's not true, anyway.
You'll find that Snopes says it's not visible from the moon, but says it is visible from space, it's just not the only object visible. :smile:
 
  • #11
Hey, so did yours! Visible, but hard to see. :smile:

"You can see the Great Wall," says astronaut Ed Lu, the science officer of Expedition Seven aboard the International Space Station, which circles the Earth higher than Yang's path. But the Wall is hard to find compared to other objects. Long stretches of its thousands of miles have been covered by sand over the eons.
 
  • #12
infidel said:
Hey, so did yours! Visible, but hard to see. :smile:

"You can see the Great Wall," says astronaut Ed Lu, the science officer of Expedition Seven aboard the International Space Station, which circles the Earth higher than Yang's path. But the Wall is hard to find compared to other objects. Long stretches of its thousands of miles have been covered by sand over the eons.
Yeah, and I had previously thought it wasn't even visible at all. :redface:
 
  • #13
Huck, the great wall would count as being ancient. Other artifacts from the same time period are.
 
  • #14
I've seen photographs from space with the Great Wall in them. They are pretty amazing.
 
  • #15
Learn something new every day. This is another one for the myth thread I suppose. I would still claim that the great wall has the most volume and length of any man-made structure if you consider its entire length.
 
  • #16
Feel free to do the math. :smile:
 
  • #17
DaveC426913 said:

You could store your family Jethawanaramaya inside Cheops and still have room for your Sundays-only ragtop Jethawanaramaya, PLUS one for the wife, and TWO extras with bent axles that you keep for spare parts. AND Cheops is genuine vintage, not just nouveau retro.

I'm sorry if I had made a mistake but there is still something you missed Jhethawanaramaya you see today is not the complete on it is still been repaired for about last twenty or so years.Figures you presented were not the measurements of the complete Jhethawanaramaya. They were the figures of a pretty big ruin which has had a growing forest upon it for hundreds of years.
 
  • #18
It still doesn't mean it's larger.How about the fact that the egyptians built the Pyramids ~2700 years before the ones in Sri Lanka ?

Fact.Till 1310,the Great Pyramid of Gizeh was the tallest construction man had ever made [1].


Daniel.


----------------------------------------------
[1]http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=103184
 
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  • #19
kusal said:
I'm really amazed to see so many people thinking that Pyramids are the largest constructions of the ancient world.

Jhethawanaramaya in Sri Lanka is bigger than the largest pyrmig in Geesa and was built about 1600(or more I'm not sure) ago. Why don't you people check that out.


this thing looks like one huge tit.
 
  • #20
I was under the impression that the largest antiquity pyramid was Aztec. Maybe that was tallest, not largest in volume.

Goofy sort of pissing contest here going on here. My beautiful and ancient Wonder of the World is bigger that your beautiful and ancient Wonder of the World.
 
  • #21
nothing beats in size pyramids on Mars :wink:
 
  • #22
Really,i always thought the ones on the sun were the greatest...:eek:

Daniel.
 
  • #23
kusal said:
DaveC426913 said:

You could store your family Jethawanaramaya inside Cheops and still have room for your Sundays-only ragtop Jethawanaramaya, PLUS one for the wife, and TWO extras with bent axles that you keep for spare parts. AND Cheops is genuine vintage, not just nouveau retro.

I'm sorry if I had made a mistake but there is still something you missed Jhethawanaramaya you see today is not the complete on it is still been repaired for about last twenty or so years.Figures you presented were not the measurements of the complete Jhethawanaramaya. They were the figures of a pretty big ruin which has had a growing forest upon it for hundreds of years.


But that's not a single structure. Now you're talking about what? A compound? I don't know what it is, but it really can't really be counted as a single, contiguous, solid and standalone edifice.
 
  • #24
TRCSF said:
I was under the impression that the largest antiquity pyramid was Aztec. Maybe that was tallest, not largest in volume.
QUOTE]

That would be strange for it to be taller but not larger in volume. It would require a steeper slope.

The height/slope of ancient structure both Aztec and Egyptian were ultimately limited by the same thing: construction materials. The pyramids are pyramid-shaped and have slopes as they do because it's the maximum slope achievable before the structure collapses.

Thus, for one to be taller, it pretty much has to be wider, thus having more volume.
 
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  • #25
DaveC426913 said:
TRCSF said:
I was under the impression that the largest antiquity pyramid was Aztec. Maybe that was tallest, not largest in volume.
QUOTE]

That would be strange for it to be taller but not larger in volume. It would require a steeper slope.

The height/slope of ancient structure both Aztec and Egyptian were ultimately limited by the same thing: construction materials. The pyramids are pyramid-shaped and have slopes as they do because it's the maximum slope achievable before the structure collapses.

Thus, for one to be taller, it pretty much has to be wider, thus having more volume.

I looked it up, I was essentially right the first time, it's the Quetzalcoatl pyramid in Mexico that's the largest in volume in the world. It's actually rather squat. Many of the more photogenic Aztec (or Mayan, I get them horribly confused, Incan too on a bad day) pyramids, such as at Chichen Icha, are indeed very, very steep, which was the source of my confusion.

I'm no engineer, but I believe the building materials were a major component of how steep you could build the things. The Egyptian pyramids were mostly low grade limestone, so they couldn't get very steep. The Mayans used mostly granite, if I'm not mistaken, which is why they could build those steep ones at Chichen Itza.

The big pyramid in question looked to be mostly dirt, like the Mississippian pyramids, which would explain the squatness.
 
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  • #26
aztec,mayan and possibly that one from sri lanka are not bulid completelly from stone, while egyptian pyramids are.what i mean is that, they first build Earth mound and then covered it with stone, egyptian pyramids on the other hand are solid stone from bottom up.
 

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