Egypt tombs suggest pyramids not built by slaves

[Savwafair2012 Profile]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453026.stm
CAIRO (Reuters) – New tombs found in Giza support the view that the Great Pyramids were built by free workers and not slaves, as widely believed, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Sunday.

Films and media have long depicted slaves toiling away in the desert to build the mammoth pyramids only to meet a miserable death at the end of their efforts.

"These tombs were built beside the king's pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves," Zahi Hawass, the chief archaeologist heading the Egyptian excavation team, said in a statement.

"If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king's."

He said the collection of workers' tombs, some of which were found in the 1990s, were among the most significant finds in the 20th and 21st centuries. They belonged to workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.

Hawass had earlier found graffiti on the walls from workers calling themselves "friends of Khufu" -- another sign that they were not slaves.

The tombs, on the Giza plateau on the western edge of Cairo, are 4,510 years old and lie at the entrance of a one-km (half mile)-long necropolis.

Hawass said evidence had been found showing that farmers in the Delta and Upper Egypt had sent 21 buffalo and 23 sheep to the plateau every day to feed the builders, believed to number around 10,000 -- or about a tenth of Greek historian Herodotus's estimate of 100,000.

These farmers were exempted from paying taxes to the government of ancient Egypt -- evidence that he said underscored the fact they were participating in a national project.

The first discovery of workers' tombs in 1990 came about accidentally when a horse stumbled on a brick structure 10 meters (yards) away from the burial area.

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[Songhai Profile]

When I was a kid I wanted to become an archeologyst. And to me THAT IS HUGE NEWS and it also proves that the Egyptians were much more socially advanced than we think !

[-Marduk- Profile]

“Aliens” not even on the list of possibilities.

Egypt displayed on Monday newly discovered tombs more than 4,000 years old and said they belonged to people who worked on the Great Pyramids of Giza, presenting the discovery as more evidence that slaves did not build the ancient monuments.

The series of modest nine-foot-deep shafts held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders, perfectly preserved by dry desert sand along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers’ afterlife.

The mud-brick tombs were uncovered last week in the backyard of the Giza pyramids, stretching beyond a burial site first discovered in the 1990s and dating to the 4th Dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2467 B.C.), when the great pyramids were built on the fringes of present-day Cairo.

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once described the pyramid builders as slaves, creating what Egyptologists say is a myth later propagated by Hollywood films.

Graves of the pyramid builders were first discovered in the area in 1990 when a tourist on horseback stumbled over a wall that later proved to be a tomb. Egypt’s archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said that discovery and the latest finds last week show that the workers were paid laborers, rather than the slaves of popular imagination.

Hawass told reporters at the site that the find, first announced on Sunday, sheds more light on the lifestyle and origins of the pyramid builders. Most importantly, he said the workers were not recruited from slaves commonly found across Egypt during pharaonic times.

One popular myth that Egyptologists say was perpetrated in part by Hollywood movies held that ancient Israelite slaves — ancestors of the Jewish people — built the pyramids.

Amihai Mazar, professor at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that myth stemmed from an erroneous claim by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on a visit to Egypt in 1977, that Jews built the pyramids.

“No Jews built the pyramids because Jews didn’t exist at the period when the pyramids were built,” Mazar said.

Dorothy Resig, an editor of Biblical Archaeology Review in Washington D.C., said the idea probably arose from the Old Testament Book of Exodus, which says: “So the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with backbreaking labor” and the Pharaoh put them to work to build buildings.

“If the Hebrews built anything, then it was the city of Ramses as mentioned in Exodus,” said Mazar.

Dieter Wildung, a former director of Berlin’s Egyptian Museum, said it is “common knowledge in serious Egyptology” that the pyramid builders were not slaves and that the construction of the pyramids and the story of the Israelites in Egypt were separated by hundreds of years.

“The myth of the slaves building pyramids is only the stuff of tabloids and Hollywood,” Wildung told The Associated Press by telephone. “The world simply could not believe the pyramids were build without oppression and forced labor, but out of loyalty to the pharaohs.”

Hawass said the builders came from poor Egyptian families from the north and the south, and were respected for their work — so much so that those who died during construction were bestowed the honor of being buried in the tombs near the sacred pyramids of their pharaohs.

Their proximity to the pyramids and the manner of burial in preparation for the afterlife backs this theory, Hawass said.

“No way would they have been buried so honorably if they were slaves,” he said. …

“Their bones tell us the story of how hard they worked,” Okasha said.

Wildung said the find reinforces the notion that the pyramid builders were free men, ordinary citizens

“But let’s not exaggerate here, they lived a short life and tomography skeletal studies show they suffered from bad health, very much likely because of how hard their work was.”

[Naranja Profile]

When I was a kid I wanted to become an archeologyst. And to me THAT IS HUGE NEWS and it also proves that the Egyptians were much more socially advanced than we think !

That dont prove nothing, its just a theory based on them finding smaller graves nearby.

I think this whole article is probably a lie, whats next? They where freemasons! stay tuned.
Socially advanced yes. Pyramid builders, not very likely. Not even the most skilled stonecutters of today could achieve this.
How did they do it? I have never heard a good explanation for how they built them.

I think it definitely is alien technology involved, probably not even that advanced either,
just basic alien technology. Mixing up DNA to create us, now THATS advanced!

[Songhai Profile]

Not Slaves but "friends" of The pharaoh ? I think it proves they were more socially advanced than what we assume. However it doesn't prove aliens weren't involve,on theother hand i think it's stupid to assume that something is impossible because we can't do it nowadays.

Personnally i think that aliens have been involved at some point and if you have solid hints backing this theory up, feel free to enlight me

[lainn Profile]

Civilizations of the past were more in tune to naure....we've sold out to technology and have effectivelely added it to our evelution....mistake......all that we have need for is granted and the what has distracted us from attaining such harmony is the very thing that enslaves us......surely some human manuale labour was needed...but it was not at the root of the concept and manifastation of things constructed to last throughout the ages....as a reminder.....do you believe this is your first time around in this reality....we've all been here before...we all have been...shall be...are now and forever will be.

[Harshreality Profile]

When I was a kid I wanted to become an archeologyst. And to me THAT IS HUGE NEWS and it also proves that the Egyptians were much more socially advanced than we think !

That dont prove nothing, its just a theory based on them finding smaller graves nearby.

I think this whole article is probably a lie, whats next? They where freemasons! stay tuned.
Socially advanced yes. Pyramid builders, not very likely. Not even the most skilled stonecutters of today could achieve this.
How did they do it? I have never heard a good explanation for how they built them.

I think it definitely is alien technology involved, probably not even that advanced either,
just basic alien technology. Mixing up DNA to create us, now THATS advanced!

Couldn't have said it better

[Hesop Profile]

One solid fact is again conveniently looked over time and time again.
That, at one point in time, the polished white limestone was removed from the pyramid for use in other projects.
But see, that would screw up their timeline. They want to believe that the pyramid is younger than it actually may be, and place it in this particular timeline. These being the most recent evidence of builders, or craftsmen at the site, would more prove that they were the ones removing the outer polished white stones! Thus proving in fact the pyramid is much older. That would explain their numbers, and their treatment. They were the pharaohs builders/craftsmen, not the pyramid builders.

[Hesop Profile]

They want to believe that the pyramid is younger than it actually may be, and place it in this particular timeline.

Actually, I was there last summer, it is well documented that most of the alabaster slabs were removed in the early 19th century for use in construction of the Mosque of Muhammad ali.

However, I'm sure some was removed prior to that as well.

My memory could be off, but I thought it was much earlier. Found this:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/greatpyramid1.htm

excerpt:

In the end, the deterioration of this pyramid, like its conception, can be attributed at least partially to religion. It was created to bury the king in a complex that would conform to the ancient Egyptian religion. It probably survived in relatively good shape until that religion was replaced by another, and then another. By the time the Arabs invaded Egypt during the seventh century, there was little or no religious reverence afforded the structure, so casing stones and other building material from the complex were reused for new building projects in the area of Cairo. This process was not exclusive to Khufu's pyramid and in fact, the reuse of material from older structures was not even uncommon during the age of the pharaohs. However, even this did not happen to the Great Pyramids until, in the Middle Ages, a series of earthquakes loosened the casing stones and allowed them to be harvested for other projects.

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