{"id":844,"date":"2021-11-11T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oconnorsofdrumleck.ie\/?p=844"},"modified":"2022-03-22T15:54:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T15:54:27","slug":"set-in-stone-ancient-craft-of-stonework-in-home-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oconnorsofdrumleck.ie\/inspirations\/set-in-stone-ancient-craft-of-stonework-in-home-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Set in stone: how the ancient craft of stonework can transform your home design project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For stonemasons, or anyone seriously interested in stonecraft \u2013 one of the oldest professions in human history \u2013 visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza is not so much a tourist activity as a rite of passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built for the Pharaoh Khufu during the third century BC, the Great Pyramid is the only one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that is still standing today. Little wonder, really \u2013 the pyramid was built with an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks, each one weighing between 2 and 15 tonnes. It\u2019s the epitome of \u2018built to last\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a distance, the Great Pyramid is a tawny, golden yellow, but it was not always thus. In its heyday, the entire structure was encased in massive slabs of polished white limestone that sparkled and shimmered in the blazing Egyptian sun. (The limestone facades were stripped away long ago, used to construct mosques, fortresses and other buildings.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s when you get up close, however, when you lay your hands on stonework that has remained resolutely in place for more than two millennia, that the real miracle of the Great Pyramid becomes evident. The giant blocks fit together with such precision that many of the joints are virtually invisible; around and around, millions of mighty stones locked together year after year, towering into the sky. How on earth did they do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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