7. The Myth of the Slave-Built Pyramids
The ancient Egyptians’ construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza was a massive undertaking, that involved moving and piling up six and a half million tons of stone, in blocks weighing as much as nine tons. All of that was done with manual labor, using little more than ropes and wood. Was it slave labor?
The Old Testament’s portrayal of the Hebrews’ forced labor for Pharaoh popularized the notion that slave labor was widespread in ancient Egypt. Ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus and subsequent historians, plus fiction and film in the modern era, further cemented the perception that ancient Egyptians used slave labor for their great building projects. Despite graffiti inside the Great Pyramids suggesting paid laborers, made by the workers who built the monuments, the notion that slaves built the pyramids became entrenched in the popular imagination. That notion is wrong.
