Common ancient Egyptian grave or cist grave. Gary Todd, 2016.
Death in the Pyramid City
Laborers would, occasionally, die during their shift at the Pyramids. There is a cemetery near the Pyramids for workers and the residents of the Pyramid cities. Workers needed their tools to practice their craft in the afterlife; their tombs included tools and equipment. Workers who lived in the permanent homes had nicer graves; unlike the temporary workers, they had a lifetime to prepare their graves. The cemeteries included bodies of women and children, meaning families lived at the worksites, permanently settling the pyramid city. The tombs were decked out in mid-level Egyptian finery; the walls had inscriptions, personal possessions were placed carefully by sarcophagus. These tombs have been key for modern researchers to learn about their lives.
History of Europe Ancient and Medieval by J. H. Breasted and J. H. Robinson (1920). Public Domain
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is complete
Smoothly polished white limestone covered the base stone layer, creating a gleaming, polished coat. The massive tomb stood 481 feet tall, with each of the four sides measuring 755 feet. In the end, around 91 million cubic feet of stone was quarried and used in the pyramid. A pyramidion capstone sat at the peak of the pyramid, connecting it to the sky – and to immortality. The Pyramid’s ancient name was Akhet Khufu, or Horizon of Khufu. Khufu died in 2465 BCE. His body was mummified and laid to rest in the richly decorated tomb. Khufu was ready to take his place among the gods, and the work of his laborers would help the Ancient Egyptian culture achieve its own level of immortality. But pyramids and temple work continued on structures for Khufu’s sons. The work continued for decades.
Pyramids of Khufu, Kahfre, and Menkaure, Giza, Egypt. Moh hakem, (2016).
Pyramids of Giza
The Giza site would include a second pyramid built around 2530 BCE by Pharaoh Khafre, Khufu’s son. Some Egyptologists claim Khafre was also responsible for building the Great Sphinx. Pharaoh Menkaure, Khafre’s son, built a third pyramid at the Giza site around 2490 BCE. The Great Pyramid site of Giza ended up with three pyramids. Additionally, these were accompanied by adjacent funerary temples, smaller tombs and mastabas for queens and high nobility, rock-cut tombs, and boat pits. Cemeteries flank the east and west side of Khufu’s pyramid. But aside from the pyramids, the most notable feature of the pyramid complex is the Great Sphinx, which guards the eastern edge of the complex, near the Valley Temple of Khafre.
Great Sphinx guards the Giza Pyramids. Mavila2, Public Domain.
The Sphinx has more mysteries than answers
The Great Sphinx, a mythological creature with a human head and lion body, stands at the edge of the Great Pyramid complex. The Sphinx is said to resemble Khafre, but there is no concrete evidence as to which Pharaoh had the Sphinx built. Dr. Lehner believes it took about one hundred workers around three years to carve the body of the Sphinx out of a single piece of limestone. However, Sphinx builders made the paws from separate blocks of limestone. The structural limestone was coated with brightly colored paint, reds, yellows, blues to give it some visual appeal. Oddly, there were uncut stones, abandoned tool kits and even lunches left near the Sphinx, as if the project suddenly stopped and the workers left in a hurry. While the Pyramids reveal some of its secrets through the tomb inscriptions, the Sphinx isn’t a tomb, and those lips aren’t talking.
Queen Hatshepsut’s rock-cut tomb. Dennis Jarvis (as archer10), 2004.
Pyramids go out of style
The Giza pyramids were the height of tomb fashion during Egypt’s Old Kingdom. But the nation transitioned into the Middle Kingdom, and pyramids fell out of fashion. Despite its underground chambers, unbelievably complex system of corridors and rooms, they were vulnerable to tomb raiders and thieves. Later, by Ramses and Cleopatra’s time, pyramids were ancient history. Fashionable Pharaohs built mostly hidden, rock-cut tombs. These were less conspicuous and harder (but not impossible) for theives to find. After a while, theives still found many of them. Nevertheless, the age of the Pyramids was over. Therefore, the purpose-built city of Giza Pyramid workers no longer had its purpose. Archaeology on the Pyramid City revels ruins that only stand about ankle to waist deep. The Lehner excavation thinks the city was demolished after the pyramid complex was completed, and the ruins have eroded over time.
The efforts of the laborers and skilled workers of Khufu’s pyramid were vital to creating the Great Pyramids of Giza, designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The builders of the Great Pyramid of Giza used literal blood, sweat, and tears. Even so, they had to go back to their day jobs on farms and other roles in Egyptian society. The skilled craftspeople did top-notch work to ensure the Pharaoh was presentable in the afterlife. The administrators kept everything organized, provided for workers, ensured everyone was fed, housed, paid, and happy. Despite the broken bones and compressed spines, that is. The Pyramids were a long, laborious project that required the construction of a whole city, and literally broke the backs of workers. Their work has endured 4,500 years, with no signs of losing its “World Wonder” status.
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