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Monday, January 11, 2010

Egypt and the Pyramid Builders

Katarina Kratovic of the Canadian Press (CP) headlines the January 11, 2009 article that
Egypt says newly discovered tombs provide more evidence slaves did not build pyramids.
"[Photo] Egyptian archaeology workers dig tombs in front of the Great Pyramid, in Giza, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010. Egyptian archaeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said. ([photo] THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Amr Nabil)"
The conclusion of "who" built the Giza Pyramids is not answered quite that simply, however, especially since the new tombs revealed skeletons that had suffered from hard labor and had arthritis.

As with any building project, to answer the question of "who" built something, you have to consider:

1) who gave the order to build the pyramids
2) who financed the pyramid buildings
3) who were the design architects of the pyramids
4) who were the overseers of the construction
5) who were the suppliers of the raw materials for building
6) who was in charge of transport and logistics
7) who were the skilled craftsmen required to build the pyramids
8) who were the manual laborers needed to do the heavy work of moving stones, etc.

It is typical for the tunnel-viewed Egyptologists that these questions are all tossed into one pot, rather than being handled in a sensible, differentiated manner.

Thus, as for the actual identity of the pyramid "builders", their origin may well differ according to which of the above building tasks we are talking about.