Scientists decipher a 4,500-year-old papyrus and reveal the secret — who and how the Great Pyramid was built. The Great Pyramid of Giza has always been one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. Scientists tirelessly wondered how they could have built such a huge building in the society of that era without the help of heavy modern construction equipment. Perhaps, the mystery of the Egyptian pyramids will never be solved.
In 2013, archaeological excavations took place in an old port on the Red Sea coast, and under the ancient limestone building that looked more like an artificial cave, archaeologists Pierre Tallet and Gregory Marouard stumbled upon the real treasure. Here are several papyrus scrolls. Some are fragmentary, some are several meters long. All of these contain texts written in hieroglyphs or hieroglyphs, cursive script used by the ancient Egyptians for everyday communication.
Despite such amazing discoveries, it is far from all. The most amazing thing is that these words were written by the people who built the Great Pyramids. After deciphering the banknotes, experts found that one of them was a grocery bill. Others are working on estimates and orders. All actions performed are described. Documents show that more than 20,000 people were involved in the construction of the majestic Egyptian pyramids.
Of all these notes, the notes of a man named Mailer are particularly striking. Judging by the documents, he was a bit like a foreman. Mailer detailed how his two-hundred-man team got from one end in Egypt to the other. They collected all the necessary materials and transported them to the work site. Basically, they transported limestone blocks from the quarry to the site in Giza. The distance between these points is about two dozen kilometers.
Historians already know that the pharaohs used the limestone of Tours to build the pyramids. This is a city on the banks of the Nile river, famous for its limestone quarries. The outer walls of the pyramids were built with these stones. Over time, this layer collapsed, revealing roughly hewn blocks of granite. These documents by Mailer describe the last known year of Khuf's reign. During this period, the ancient Egyptians almost completed the construction of the Great Pyramids.
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Havas called the discovery and deciphering of papyrus the greatest discovery of the 21st century. These documents help to concretize the geography of Lower Egypt. Clarify the network of passages and ports that allowed stones, workers, and products to move to the site where the pyramids were built. The workers working on construction sites are highly skilled. Not only can they extract and transport building materials, but they can also handle management and accounting.
