Egyptians, Space Aliens and Water

That's a hell of a title, isn't it? What prompted this post? I'll elaborate:

I was driving along, when I started thinking about an article I read years ago. The article, which promoted the idea of space aliens helping the Egyptians with the pyramids, used the fact the base of the Great Pyramid is flat within a tolerance of less than an inch. I thought to myself: "That's crap."

Water, when contained, will reach a point where the surface is level, so any enterprising person, with good observational abilities, would know this and use water for control of an elevation.

If I was building a huge pyramid, I'd first seek an area that would hold the weight. What could be a good place? How about a level surface in bedrock? The softer the better. Soft rock is easier to carve.

Then, I'd use water to determine how level it actually is. Placing a berm around the area, I could determine if the surface is level with something as simple as a stick. I could find the deepest spot, and use that as control. Everything higher than that would need removing.

But what could they use to remove the stone? I don't know, but if the rock was soft, most metals would work. Even without metals, harder rock could be used to remove the softer rock. It's time consuming, but I don't think they had any real binding schedule, except to finish before someone died.

So, I figured out how to start a great pyramid without the help of any space aliens. Using that as a basis for the rest of the pyramid, I'm thinking someone smarter than me probably existed back then and figured it out. If they were really smart, they'd figure out a way to amaze those around them, manipulate them into believing they had some type of divine intervention, live a life of luxury, and laugh all the way to the bank....or the tent....whatever.