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Welcome to My Blog – Let's Talk Thrills, Movies, Music, and The Ignoble Lie (at least)

Who Built the Pyramids of Giza? Debunking the Myths

Since The Ignoble Lie opens at the Giza Plateau, I thought I'd examine the question of who built the incredible pyramids located there. 

 

Few monuments inspire as much awe and as many rival theories as the pyramids of Giza. For thousands of years, they've loomed over the desert, monuments to an ancient civilization's skill and ambition. Popular theories have credited everyone from enslaved Jews to extraterrestrials with their construction.

 

But archaeology paints a clearer, grounded picture. The pyramids at Giza, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the slightly smaller pyramid of Khafre, and the more modest pyramid of Menkaure were built during Egypt's Old Kingdom period (c. 2600–2500 BCE). These large projects required decades of planning and labor. The Great Pyramid alone originally rose 481 feet and was the tallest artificial structure in the world for about 4,000 years.

 

One perpetual myth, reinforced by pop culture, is that the pyramids were built by enslaved Hebrews, as depicted in films like The Ten Commandments. However, historians and scriptural scholars agree this is inaccurate. The story of the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt central to the Exodus narrative has no archeological evidence linking it to pyramid construction. The timeline doesn't fit: the events described in the Bible, if they reflect a historical kernel at all, would have occurred centuries after the pyramids were completed. By the time of any notable Hebrew presence in Egypt, the era of pyramid building was long over.

 

Excavations over the past few decades, especially those led by archaeologist Mark Lehner, have uncovered workers' villages at Giza that tell a different story. Housing, bakeries, breweries, and even medical facilities suggest a large, organized workforce of Egyptian laborers, not slaves in chains. Many workers were bright farmers from across Egypt who participated during the Nile's annual flood season, when their fields were underwater. These men and women were fed, housed, and given medical care, suggesting their work was valued as a general and scrupulous duty. And building the pyramids was much further than construction: it was an act of devotion.

 

Pharaohs were seen as spiritual rulers, and their tombs were meant to ensure eternal life and perpetual balance between the earth and the heavens. The pyramids' fine alignments with the cardinal directions and stars were deliberate, reinforcing the pharaoh's link to the heavens. The logistics were staggering. Millions of limestone blocks, some weighing several tons, were quarried locally or transported from sites like Tura and Aswan. Transport involved sledges over man-made tracks lubricated with water. Ramps, whether straight, zigzagging, or spiraling, remain debatable, but all construction methods highlight human engineering ingenuity.

 

So why do myths persist about Hebrews and aliens? In part, because the pyramids are so amazing that they invite wonder beyond reason. Their scale and precision defy expectations of what ancient societies could achieve. But the evidence tells us the real story: tens of thousands of Egyptians, working with purpose and skill, backed by the big resources of one of the world's earliest centralized states, created these wonders. In the end, the builders were neither enslaved Hebrews nor extraterrestrials. They were ancient Egyptians: farmers, craftsmen, and engineers whose legacy still dominates the desert skyline, reminding us of humanity's capacity for large achievement.

 

Best,

Matthew

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