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The Greeks, many years after the event, believed that the pyramids were built by slave labour. Archaeologists now believe that the Great Pyramid of Giza (at least) was built by tens of thousands of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of tax payment (levy) until the construction was completed ...
There is a consensus among Egyptologists that the Great Pyramids were not built by slaves. [19] [20] [21] According to noted archeologists Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass, the pyramids were not built by slaves; Hawass's archeological discoveries in the 1990s in Cairo show the workers were paid laborers rather than slaves.
The southern Pyramid of Sneferu, commonly known as the Bent Pyramid, is believed to be the first Egyptian pyramid intended by its builders to be a "true" smooth-sided pyramid from the outset; the earlier pyramid at Meidum had smooth sides in its finished state, but it was conceived and built as a step pyramid, before having its steps filled in ...
The Great Pyramid of Giza [a] is the largest Egyptian pyramid.It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.Built c. 2600 BC, [3] over a period of about 26 years, [4] the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only wonder that has remained largely intact.
The oldest monumental stone structure of Egypt is the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara (c. 2650 BC), while the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx were all built roughly from 2600 to 2500 BC. [13] [3] Decorated chamber in the Tomb of Ramses V and Ramses VI (c. 1145 BC) in the Valley of Kings, New Kingdom period [14]
The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are the largest pyramids built in ancient Egypt, and they have historically been common as emblems of Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination. [2] They were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World .
The pyramids, which were built in the Fourth Dynasty, testify to the power of the pharaonic religion and state. They were built to serve both as grave sites and also as a way to make their names last forever. [27] The size and simple design show the high skill level of Egyptian design and engineering on a large scale. [27]
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700 –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynasty, such as King Sneferu, under whom the art of pyramid-building was perfected, and the kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, who commissioned the ...