Tombs of the Pyramid Builders Discovered in Giza, Egypt
There is exciting news breaking right now in Egypt. An archaeological team led by Dr. Zahi Hawass has discovered several new tombs that belong to the workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.
“This is the first time to uncover tombs like the ones that were found during the 1990’s, which belong to the late 4th and 5th Dynasties (2649-2374 BC),” said Dr. Hawass in the press release.
When we think of Giza we tend to think of the Giza Pyramids. However, while the pyramids were under construction, there was an extensive city to the south that supported the workers. It included houses, bakeries, magazines and a hypostyle hall (See the video below, in which Mark Lehner descibes his work researching this area).
This system of support for the workers also included burials for those who died at Giza. “These tombs were built beside the king’s pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves. If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king’s,” said Dr. Hawass.
The idea of the Giza Pyramids being built by slaves is a myth – it has never had any basis in archaeological fact.
One of tombs uncovered belongs to a man named Idu. The release says that it is a rectangular structure with a mud brick outside casing that is covered with plaster. It has several burial shafts, each cased with white limestone – there are niches in front of each shaft.
The press release paraphrases Adel Okasha, the supervisor of the excavation, as saying that the upper part of the tomb had a “vaulted shape” which symbolizes, “the eternal hill from which the human creation began, according to the Memphis religious tradition.” This is “strong evidence” that the tomb dates to the early 4th dynasty. “This shape is also similar to those of tombs located beside Snefru’s pyramid in Dahshur.”
More tombs, containing coffins, were found to the west of Idu’s resting place. Another tomb has been found to the south that is built of mud brick and has several burial shafts – each of which contains a skeleton and pottery sherds.
21 Buffalo and 23 Sheep a Day
One statement in the release that really caught my eye, is that “evidence uncovered also revealed that the families in the Delta and Upper Egypt sent 21 buffalo and 23 sheep to the plateau every day to feed the workers.”
It is obviously no surprise that people would send food on a regular basis. It's also no surprise that the food would be rich in protein -since that's something that you need if you’re going to be doing heavy manual labour.
What does surprise me is the detail provided in the release. I’m curious to know how Egyptologists were able to work this out so exactly.
Have there been written records found that provide such precise detail? Do we also have detailed info on the rations for grain and vegetables? If so can we tell if this diet ever changed?
This is very fascinating stuff as the diet of the workers would be important for a project like this. After all, you can’t build the pyramids with a severely malnourished workforce!
I’m going to finish up with another quote from the release. “Hawass pointed out that the families who sent these were not paying their taxes to the Egyptian government, but rather they were sharing in one of Egypt’s national projects.”
Video: Mark Lehner's Search for the Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt
Read 6 comments, or leave your own
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hello this is a real interesting article on forgeries
excellent article !
Museum looks really great.
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There are really lots of secrets in Egypt. I'm sure this is going to cost millions in auction.
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That's one scary mummy. Thanks for letting us know this. I find it really informational.
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Comments
Hi Owen, if you look at Dr Hawass' Video in the Valley of the Kings (the very exciting one with the 18th Dynasty Pinup Girl), he also briefly talks about a rock/stone/... painted with the 'number of food' they consumed every day. So assuming they were doing a double-entry bookkeeping system (be it FIFO or LIFO) they should also keep track of the amount of food to consume that comes in?
Today some more information on Dr. Zahi Hawass' blog. He mentions again that the people who built the pyramids were indeed Egyptian, which they deduct from the style of their tombs and forensic research on the skeletons found there. Further on the balance and consumption of food, he writes:
We also know from the excavations in the area east of my work, that the workmen slaughtered about 11 cows and 33 goats every day, which could feed around 10,000 workmen a day. Herodotus recorded that there were 100,000 workmen who built the pyramids, but from estimates of how many people it would take to move the amount of stone needed to build the pyramids, and the amount of food available, 10,000 workmen is the best estimate.
I wonder what the beer rations where for construction workers in that era! And how their 'safety on the job' posters must have looked. ;)
lol! :) It sounds as if that number is based off of some combination of animal bones/textual evidence. Dr. Hawass is coming to Toronto in March. If the opportunity arises to interview him this question will be on my list.
Personally I doubt that these are the tombs of pyramid "workers". Hawass & Lehner keep pushing on with the theory that the Giza Pyramid was a tomb built by workers. I am yet to see compelling evidence to prove this was so. How did the workers move such massive blocks into place so precisely? It would be a technical challenge today let alone thousands of years ago. It is also interesting how the pyramids & the Sphinx enclosure are unlike any other Egyptian building or tomb. There are no hieroglyphics & the style is more spartan. Any alternate theories put forward which are backed, in my opinion, by some compelling evidence are arrogantly rebuked by Hawass & Lehner.
So you'd argue slaves? (If not workers, its the only option, as I doubt the 'Egyptian Nobility' was very likely to drag around huge lumps of stone.) As seen in the middle ages in Europe, there's a thin line between all different forms of slavery, socage, ...
BA from the University of Toronto in History, Geography and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations.