The pyramids of Egypt have stood for over 4,000 years, defying time, weather, and even modern understanding.
These incredible feats of ancient engineering continue to baffle historians who constantly refine their theories on how they may have been built.
So, how did these ancient engineers complete such wondrous structures without modern machinery?
If you ask the ancient Greeks, they would claim the pyramids were built through brutal slavery, controlled by whips and chains.
Modern conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, have spun elaborate tales of extraterrestrial involvement, speculating on what use aliens may have had for such structures.
The truth is far more straightforward, and indeed more fascinating. Read along to find out just how the pyramids of Egypt were built, and why.
Who built the pyramids?
For a long time, most people believed that forced labor had been used to build the pyramids. A select few even thought it may have been aliens who built them!
However, papyrus ledgers and stone tablets have shed light on the fact that the people who built them were highly skilled laborers who weren’t forced at all.
According to experts, around 26,000 people would be needed to construct just the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Some of the people who built these gigantic monuments were also adept sailors who had conducted trade missions up the Nile to gather supplies, although most were employed from the surrounding areas.
Small cities were built near the pyramids to house the many people who worked on them, complete with bakeries, breweries, and plenty of space to live comfortably.
How did they transport the stones to build the pyramids?
The limestone blocks used to build these massive monuments weighed an average of 2.5 to 15 tons (2.26 to 13.6 metric tons).
The heaviest stones, which sat above Pharaoh Khufu’s tomb in Giza, Egypt, were made of granite and weighed between 25 and 80 tons (22.6 and 72.5 tonnes).
These heavy granite stones come from 500 miles (800 km) away in Aswan.
They were transported along the Nile most of the way, but moving these stones between the river and the construction site was very difficult.
There is also evidence to suggest that the workers would wait for the Nile to flood, as it does every year, so that the boats could get even closer to the building site.
This way, they wouldn’t have to pull the huge stone blocks so far.
But then the aliens/slaves/Atlantians came and put them together, yeah?
Yeah, nah. Once at the building site, without cranes and trucks, these stones had to be pulled along the sand on sleds, and this was truly a monumental task.
Archaeologists now believe the sand was made wet to reduce friction and make it a little easier to pull the sleds.
Getting them up to the higher levels of the pyramid was an even more challenging task, though.
Based on the available evidence, the most plausible theory is that a series of ramps and pulleys was used to position the stones, although some archaeologists believe a counterweight pulley system may have been employed instead.
Other archaeologists have suggested the stones were placed onto rounded logs and rolled up the scaffolding and into place.
Either way, Egypt’s pyramids took decades and involved thousands of skilled laborers working with incredible coordination and precision.
How long did it take to build the pyramids?
The Great Pyramid of Giza took around 26 years of careful planning and precise engineering to build.
Each block had to be quarried, transported, cut to an incredible degree of accuracy, and finally set into its correct position.
Because of the time taken to be precise and careful, the results were incredibly long-lasting and durable.
For more than 3,800 years, this was humanity’s tallest structure, measuring an impressive 481 ft (146.6 m) at completion.
Even now, after thousands of years of erosion, it’s still around 450 ft (137 m).
Why were the pyramids built?
“Make your grave well furnished and prepare thy place in the west.
Look, death counts little for us. Look, life is valued highly by us.
The house of the dead (the tomb) is for life.”
This is a Sebayt, an ancient Egyptian writing that translates to “teaching” or “instruction.” It is one of the oldest known Sebayts and was part of the Instruction of Hordjedef, the son of Pharaoh Khufu.
Due to their religious beliefs, the Ancient Egyptians valued their place in the afterlife above all else, surrounding the pyramids with buried ships and filling their tombs with all of their riches and even people they loved.
All of this is to make sure their life after death would be comfortable and to show the people they left behind how important they were in life.
The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids through innovative engineering, human strength, and careful organization.
They used sleds, ramps, and a vast workforce to move and place the massive stones with fantastic precision.
While we may never find evidence of the intricacies of their construction, we have a pretty good idea of their history and making.
Whether we get to the truth or not, we know that long after we are all gone, they will still stand as a testament to ancient ingenuity.
