from the West 3: Egypt Part One

Egypt: Pyramids, Pharoahs, Priests and Papyri 1

From the Outside

There is no doubt that the scholars have done a great job on the civilisation of ancient Egypt. According to the generally accepted wisdom, Egypt originated about 3000 BCE. This time is labelled the First Dynastic Period. The first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara was constructed at the end of this phase.

About 2500 BCE the Old Kingdom flourished. This saw the construction of unbelievable artefacts: the pyramids of Giza. There are three major pyramids in this grouping. The pyramid of Khufu - also known as the Great Pyramid, and two  smaller pyramids: the pyramid of Khafre and the pyramid of Menkaure. They are accompanied by a complex of other structures that include a temple, a mortuary temple and causeways linking to the other pyramids.

Archaeologists have also dated the Sphinx to this period.

The scholarly opinion is that the pyramids were developed to house the bodies of deceased Pharoahs.

This was recounted first by the Greek traveller Herodotus, who wrote that the Egyptian priests had told him the pyramids of Giza were royal tombs. Herodotus, we must remember was visiting in Egypt on the 5th century BC, about 2000 years after the construction of the pyramids. One might question whether the real facts about the pyramids were still known to the priests at the time of Herodotus.

There are plenty of mysteries about the three great pyramids of the Giza plateau. They fall into two main categories:

1. How were they built?

2. Why were they built?

Herodotus was told by the Egyptian priests that the pyramids were built using a series of ramps and an extensive labour force. If you ever saw the old movie, “The Ten Commandments” you might get the impression of tens of thousands of slaves being worked by brutish overseers with whips in their hands. Actually, modern research shows that the labour force was voluntary, and composed of teams of skilled workers who loved to compete for the glory of accomplishment. 

Herodotus also told us that special machines for lifting stones into place were used. Archaeologists have found no evidence for this, so they have their own theories on the matter. The basic theory is the “ramp” theory. Perhaps one or massive ramps were constructed to bring all the material needed. Alas - it turns out that such a ramp would require as much material as the pyramid itself - and there is no evidence of all this surplus material in the vicinity of the pyramids. Perhaps the builders used a zig-zag ramp. The problem with this is that such a ramp would not support the enormous weights of some of the granite beams - up to 60 tons in some cases. Recently, a series of internal ramps haas been proposed. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be supporting evidence for this either. At the moment, the most honest answer from the realm-1 perspective is “We don’t actually know how the great pyramids were constructed.”

We’ll look at the second question, “Why were they built” next week. In the mean time I leave you with AI’s contribution to the situation. Responding to a prompt to show the Pyramid of Khufu shortly after the completion of construction with work crews and people celebrating, it cam up with the image below. AI is ignoring the ramps theory, but has added its own unique suggestion. I shall leave it to you to discover how AI thought the pyramid was built.

JR ☺️