How the pyramids were built: myth debunking spin-off

We get it. It's easier to claim that some supernatural power did all the great work instead of admitting that we are too stupid to understand it. But you know what this does? demean human endeavour. The wrongful claim of "Aliens built the pyramids" has been around for centuries.  Most recently, American businessman Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted about the matter in what was meant to be a meme, but has probably become the most misinterpreted tweet in the history of Twitter. An equally bizarre claim, very popular among hypocrite Capitalists, is "Slaves built the Pyramids". This claim has also resurfaced, because if we can not attribute human endeavour to the supernatural, we must use some dramatic theme of the very oppression we practise today. These people could not have been better than our chaotic mess of a world, could they? Now, this is the true joke here.

Following the first part in a series of articles on this mystery, we bring you the plain truth in the words of renowned Egyptian archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass. We bring a logical sequence with no window for misinterpretation. 

There is no evidence that the pyramids were built by people who came from space. On the contrary, we have archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence that proves that the Egyptians workers were the builders of the pyramids. It is as simple as that.

Evidence of human endeavour

First: The cemeteries scattered around the pyramid of King Khufu have inscriptions of the employees and priests talking about the pyramid and King Khufu. The people are shown consulting each other in the building process with no mention of extra terrestrial help or any weird pictorial representations. Ancient Egyptians inscribed every small detail they need kept for history, surely a visit from endowed aliens could not have escaped their wall paintings. 

Second: Inside the pyramid itself are inscriptions of the teams and names of workers who participated in building the pyramid. The Pyramid is a huge project and a highest honour for those who participate in it. To inscribe a person's name is equivalent to immortalizing him in Ancient Egypt. This is not exactly a slave-specific treatment.  

Third: The Great Pyramids are parts of the system of pyramids in Egypt, which numbered up to 120 pyramids from the Third Dynasty to the Eighteenth Dynasty. This a long span of about 1200 years or more. An inconsistent alien theory concentrated around the "popular" pyramids, but ignoring the following years of the same pyramid building is nothing but a joke.

Fourth: The workers' graves were revealed. Those were the pyramid builders proving to the whole world that they were Egyptians and workers. Again, to have a specific grave on the outskirts of such huge national projects can only mean that you were a person of stature, respected by your society. These are projects where nearly 3 million people joined together. All of which lived in Egypt at that time and participated in building this grandeur. 

Fifth: What was covered by the oldest papyrus in existence, which is the Wadi al-Jarf papyrus in Sinai and is the most important recent discovery in the 21st century. It talked about building the pyramid of King Khufu. In this papyrus, the foreman, Mirer, mentions that He took 40 workers and went to the Tura region to bring stones to clothe the pyramid of King Khufu. It was also mentioned in the papyrus that he worked in the 27th year of the king’s reign and that Khufu’s pyramid was known by hieroglyphs as what transliterates as “Khufu horizon” project and the pyramid area was known as “Khufu Yaish”. 

Glimpses from the human endeavour

Limestone was quarried near the pyramids being built, where workers cut the limestone and then transported it to the construction site. As for granite and other materials that came from far away, these were transported from quarries on boats in the Nile.

The stones are pulled from place to place on a greased pillar across the sand. Evidence for this, according to Redford, comes from the 19th century BC in a sculpture in an ancient Egyptian cemetery, where the building scene shows 173 men pulling stones on a lubricated pillar. Other theories are also present. Boat transportation was more complex, with no pictorial evidence to show how it was done. Still, good theories exist. 

In order to raise the large stones to their place once in the pyramid site, stairs were built of bricks that were covered with wax chips, which led to the hardening of the surface. That way, the stones could be pulled up until they reached their place. These steps were taken again whenever they rose to the top and so on. Again, other good theories exist. 

We shall discuss plausible theories in more details in the upcoming article in the series. We have made this spin-off only so that you may know how to debunk every ignorant idiot. 

 

Source:
Giza and the Pyramids by Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass