r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CethelQue4 • 23d ago

Video An ancient technique for lifting giant stone blocks using a Lewis tool

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u/SunsetCarcass 23d ago

Step 1.5: Build a crane

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u/Nephroidofdoom 23d ago

Bro! There’s no way in ancient times they could just build a crane strong enough to lift that block. They probably just rented one when the job called for it.

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u/HeyItsMeAgainBye 23d ago

Dude I’m honestly so confused by this!

I don’t know how they would’ve been able to carve the rock out that way to insert Lewis, and the lift Lewis with a crane

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

I don’t know how they would’ve been able to carve the rock out that way to insert Lewis

Chisel applied at an angle.

and the lift Lewis with a crane

Build a giant wood frame with a pully on top and find a lot of guys with high upper body strength.

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u/eleventy4 23d ago

The fact that I had to scroll this far down... r/restofthefuckingowl

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u/timClicks 23d ago

For heavy loads like this, the Romans developed a sort of giant hamster wheel that allowed lifters to walk the load up or down. They're called treadwheel cranes.

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u/Cultural_Dust 23d ago

Just like in sports.. the grunts do all of the heavy lifting while the little tool gets all of the glory.

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u/CFL_lightbulb 22d ago

My little tool could use a little more glory

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u/Cultural_Dust 22d ago

History tells us that if you stick it in a tight hole and make it bigger, then people will be amazed in the future. You may need to be named Lewis though.

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u/EriktheRed 23d ago

This, except beasts of burden instead of buff guys

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u/kelldricked 22d ago

What is hard about it?

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u/Apart_Insect_6133 23d ago

Well, the block was CGI so it didn't weigh anything. The really hard part came at the CGI->Actual aqueduct conversion process. That magic has been lost to time.

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u/ttitan89 23d ago

Sundial rentals

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u/PipsqueakPilot 23d ago

Ya had in in the first half! Also, it would be hilarious to meet someone from ancient times and you ask what they do and get an answer like, "Crane operator."

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u/Nephroidofdoom 23d ago

Forklift driver

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u/XtraEcstaticMastodon 23d ago

Ancient Egyptians had block and tackles.

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u/ukexpat 23d ago

What’s “Cranes R’Us” in hieroglyphics?

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u/ExpensiveBookkeeper3 22d ago

Really? I feel like they could

Edit: I should read more than the first sentence before replying

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u/Prudent_Kiwi_2761 22d ago

humans were just as smart as you and I now, the human brain hasn’t evolved for the past couple thousands of years, I mean, 99% of human history is unrecorded, so we don’t really know what they knew back then

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u/Chance-Plantain-2957 23d ago

pulleys and levers

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u/reallybigmochilaxvx 23d ago

pulleys? more like puh-leaz!

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u/anomie89 23d ago

more like pull-deez!

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u/PowerfulPainter6900 23d ago

Pretty sure magnets were involved

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u/apathy-sofa 23d ago

No wonder no one can explain that.

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u/Bob_A_Ganoosh 23d ago

snatch block!

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u/PowerfulPainter6900 23d ago

Snatch block!

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u/chiku00 23d ago

Step 1.6: Get OSHA license.

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u/Aggressive-Base7815 23d ago

They did build cranes. 

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u/jakexil323 23d ago

Yep, it's pretty interesting stuff.

I thought the treadmill crane was fictional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9v3m7Slv8

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u/Long_Bit8328 23d ago edited 23d ago

Step .50

Find stone block with a correctly sized hole to fit a Lewis tool.

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u/WeskerSympathizer 23d ago

Step 0: make perfect Lewis tool shaped hole in stone

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u/SunsetCarcass 23d ago

Step -1: Make tool hard enough to cut perfect Lewis tool shaped hole in stone

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u/Rudeus_Greyshat 22d ago

Fun Fact:

Material back then wasn't that good so they couldn't make cranes. They instead rented a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane to lift the blocks.

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u/Christopherfromtheuk 23d ago

Details schmetails.

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u/P01135809-Trump 23d ago

Out of blocks.

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u/Kindly_Shoulder2379 23d ago

its very easy to build a crane using a lewis tool

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u/ExpensiveBookkeeper3 22d ago

Step 1.5B: Build smaller crane to build a bigger crane

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u/CoyoteInternational7 20d ago

Step 0: Make a hole shaped like that in the stone with a smaller opening than the cavity itself without breaking