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For some reason (monuments coming down? discussion of slavery?) there are a TON of bad tweets circulating right now about how "slaves built the pyramids of Giza in Egypt." IT IS UTTER MALARKEY. Thread:
TW: Facts, evidence, science, Egyptology, 20 years+ of excavation experience
TW: Facts, evidence, science, Egyptology, 20 years+ of excavation experience
Before we start, let me warn you: this is not for discussion or debate. We have 120+ years of excavation data, tons of scientific evidence (dating), experimental archaeology, and ACTUAL TEXTS like live tweeting equivalent not joking, it's the best thing ever
But to answer your first question: Yes, ancient Egypt *did* have slaves, especially in the New Kingdom (from their numerous foreign conquests)...their role was...complicated http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C29410%2Cegyptologist-life-slaves-egypt-was-not-hard-we-think.html
...complicated in the sense of, yes they were prisoners of war, but they seemed to be treated well as per archaeological data (read the linked article), and within a generation, became "Egyptian" (many great articles on ethnicity)...but that's for another thread back to pyramids
So who DID build the pyramids? And how do we know? Well I'll be linking lots of great videos and articles... the expert here is Dr Mark Lehner, who has excavated the *actual village where the workmen lived who built the pyramids* OMG it's AMAZING
http://www.aeraweb.org/videos/mark-lehner-pyramid-builders/
http://www.aeraweb.org/videos/mark-lehner-pyramid-builders/
Proper excavations started at Giza 120+ years ago under Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie (he hated being bothered when he dug and he work pink long underwear to scare away tourists, seriously Egyptologists are cray cray) https://books.google.com/books?id=N9gSkrNuezEC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=petrie+pink+long+underwear+egypt&source=bl&ots=k2sTImTr_j&sig=ACfU3U249gN-rRmuTvxbfKbZMcBotZdVRA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivjtLOsofqAhXCWc0KHaVyAbAQ6AEwCnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=petrie%20pink%20long%20underwear%20egypt&f=false
The pyramid of Khufu was finished ca 2650 BC, and took about 20 years to complete. Work was done by a combination of a team of expert managers, architects, craftsmen, cooks (who was feeding the workforce?), bakers, and the main stone moving workforce
Dr Lehner calculated that it took a workforce of 14,500 men, divided into gangs of men, and they would have probably competed against each other for # of stones moved (nothing changes). One was even called "The Drunkards of Menkaure" (my team obvi) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/who-built-the-pyramids/
These men lived in a settlement area just south of the main pyramid complex, very well planned and organized, and contained major bakeries to feed the workforce! Enjoy the AERA website, it is super awesome with interactive maps.
http://www.aeraweb.org/projects/lost-city/
http://www.aeraweb.org/projects/lost-city/
Here is a link to a free online paper by Dr Lehner with many high res site plans, the occupation was extensive! https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apaa.12111
I am an Old Kingdom stan, I seem to be using numerous ! and excited comments. I've worked on multiple Old Kingdom sites in Egypt INCLUDING the fort site where the Egyptians camped on their way to Sinai to mine copper to make tools to shape pyramid blocks
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/article/view/18545
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/article/view/18545
Back to "OK lots of info but how do you know they were not slaves?" First, you need to get out of your head ANY modern preconceived notions of what we think an "economy" should be. Ancient Egypt had an economy, but not currency in our modern terms. People were paid in goods.
Most of the main workforce was paid labor, and we know this *because their actual tombs were excavated and we have tons of archaeological data*. They would have been paid in bread, meat+ other goods
ttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/11/great-pyramid-tombs-slaves-egypt
ttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/11/great-pyramid-tombs-slaves-egypt
Some of the labor would have been temporary- i.e., when Egypt was flooded for ca 3 months a year from July onwards, the workforce would have likely swelled. Great food, especially meat from estates in the Delta (beef was not for commoners), and good afterlife mojo
"Help the King, Good Mojo it will bring" is a phrase I am sure we just haven't found yet to translate. The men shaping blocks, quarrying them, and organizing the workforce would have worked full time. We know these craftsmen positions passed from father to son, much like today.
OK I mentioned "live tweets." Some AMAZING papyri were discovered at an archaeological site in Sinai a few years ago at a site called Wadi el Jarf. One of them is a journal by an official named Merer who tells the tale of going down the Nile to GIZA https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/
Like, we have a detailed account by Merer discussing daily life 4650 years ago and he mentioned reporting to a "noble Ankh-haf,” the half-brother of the Pharaoh Khufu, and we know he oversaw construction at Giza. HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT. I mean this is the coolest.
OK not quite live tweeting but close. Hence, all this to say, NO SLAVES. Thousands of experienced craftsmen, working side by side for nearly 20 years, towards the common purpose of making a permanent tomb for a living God. Now...some points to wrap up...
It was not all filet Mignon and drunkenness. We have a lot of evidence from the skeletons of the workforce that it was dangerous, lots of injuries and probable deaths over time. It was intense work under the hot sun, and years of inhaling sand/dust= illness.
Were some of the laborers "encouraged" to help from villages across Egypt? I am sure they were, and I am sure there were quotas to fill. This is the best documentary (BBC) about the entire process (6 separate clips), we show this in our classes.
TL;DR: Giza Pyramids were built by a professional+ paid workforce 4650 years ago, to prove it we have texts, tons of archaeological evidence, and hundreds of peer reviewed papers/books that discuss it in detail. NOT SLAVES NOT UP FOR DEBATE. May Re bless you. FIN
PS I've excavated Old Kingdom sites in the Delta (x2), worked in Sinai since 2002 on an Old Kingdom fort site, have drawn more Old Kingdom pot sherds than I ever anticipated, and have surveyed dozens of Old Kingdom sites. Like, since 1999. Please don't @ me.
