# How were the pyramids in Egypt built? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559 "2014-12-07T10:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 89
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1762 "2015-05-14T19:21:56Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > It required 100,000 men twenbty years to slave away dragging stones up ramps in a primitive economy that couldn’t support such waste of resources. On what do you base that these stinky footed bumpkins could not afford the resources? > [@](#): > > The cathedrals rarely had more than a few hundred workers and most required less than twenty years . Lol. Twenty years… Do you google _anything_ before you spout unsubstantiated off your head stuff? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1763 "2015-05-14T19:23:19Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > **Latro** , can you answer this point? I’ve read that many inscriptions did in fact begin with a pair of symbols meaning “for recitation” or “to be spoken aloud.” I’ve been looking for a cite but can’t find one. > > If that’s correct, why would it be put inside a sealed tomb? I think it’s because the pyramids were basically resurrection machines for the pharaohs…and the instruction was for him during his trials leading to the afterlife. Like the other funerary gifts, they were meant for his use. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1764 "2015-05-14T19:28:58Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Oh, and if the utterances were meant to be read aloud to the assembled public, why were they written on the inside of the pyramids, and on the sarcophagi within? For all, this statement reminded me of some documentary where they said the outside of the Great Pyramid was plastered with mortar and would have been covered in writing. Was this pure speculation of the cladking sort or is there some evidence of the writing? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1765 "2015-05-14T19:36:45Z")
Herodotus actually saw writing on the pyramid. _On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen, and if I rightly remember that which the interpreter said in reading to me this inscription, a sum of one thousand six hundred talents of silver was spent; and if this is so, how much besides is likely to have been expended upon the iron with which they worked, and upon bread and clothing for the workmen, seeing that they were building the works for the time which has been mentioned and were occupied for no small time besides, as I suppose, in the cutting and bringing of the stones and in working at the excavation under the ground?_ Whether the translation he was given was accurate is speculation. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1766 "2015-05-14T19:39:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > For all, this statement reminded me of some documentary where they said the outside of the Great Pyramid was plastered with mortar and would have been covered in writing. Was this pure speculation of the cladking sort or is there some evidence of the writing? I don’t know about the writing, but the Great Pyramid would have been covered in white limestone cladding (which I figure is where claddy got his name from) from the Tura quarry and would have shown in the sun. The capstone would have been gleaming gold in color…though no one knows for sure, since it’s been missing pretty much for all of recorded history as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1767 "2015-05-14T19:40:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > **Latro** , can you answer this point? I’ve read that many inscriptions did in fact begin with a pair of symbols meaning “for recitation” or “to be spoken aloud.” I’ve been looking for a cite but can’t find one. > > If that’s correct, why would it be put inside a sealed tomb? Yes, that is correct. Snake and rod(?) ‘to speak’. The word for ‘by’ _in_ could be incorporated. Reedplume, water. So you would get ‘to be said by’. Gods and forefathers could be called upon to do some of the incantations. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1768 "2015-05-14T19:40:36Z")
Also, the topstone (pyramidion) would probably have been inscribed. The surviving ones often are. [![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1388/984685427_ae442bfe37_z.jpg?zz=1) ](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1388/984685427_ae442bfe37_z.jpg?zz=1) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1769 "2015-05-14T19:43:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Herodotus actually saw writing on the pyramid. > > _On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen, and if I rightly remember that which the interpreter said in reading to me this inscription, a sum of one thousand six hundred talents of silver was spent; and if this is so, how much besides is likely to have been expended upon the iron with which they worked, and upon bread and clothing for the workmen, seeing that they were building the works for the time which has been mentioned and were occupied for no small time besides, as I suppose, in the cutting and bringing of the stones and in working at the excavation under the ground?_ > > Whether the translation he was given was accurate is speculation. There were several restorations though, so I’m not sure if whatever writings Herodotus may or may not have seen were original. It’s hard to believe that any writings on the outside of the pyramid would have survived the passage of so much time, especially the fall of the Old Kingdom and several successor states where the pyramids and most other things were allowed to fall into complete disrepair, only to be restored later on and re purposed by successor states and kings for their own purposes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1770 "2015-05-14T19:46:25Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I don’t know about the writing, but the Great Pyramid would have been covered in white limestone cladding (which I figure is where claddy got his name from) from the Tura quarry and would have shown in the sun. The capstone would have been gleaming gold in color…though no one knows for sure, since it’s been missing pretty much for all of recorded history as far as I know. Yes I know about the cladding or casing stones. I recall mention of the mortar somewhere but it was the writing I thought would be significant. I recall the documentary said the writing would be something about the Pharoah’s philosophy writ large to be seen as one approached the pyramid from a distance but Peter Morris’ cite contradicts that, assuming Herodotus was correct, and of course my recollection may be incorrect as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1771 "2015-05-14T19:46:46Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > My visceral knowledge tells me that the word for “brown” was also the word for “stinky” (that makes sense, right?), and the word for “stick” was also “bumpkin.” Start a thread, see if you can get it to 20 pages. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1772 "2015-05-14T19:51:14Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > It evolved virtually overnight. > > We canb’t see it because we can’t understand the ancient language. It wasn’t the vocabulary that changed. Every word survived the collapse of the language. It was the way words were ordered to make sense that changed. Do you have any objective evidence whatsoever of this remarkable assertion? Your gut doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1773 "2015-05-14T19:55:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes I know about the cladding or casing stones. I recall mention of the mortar somewhere but it was the writing I thought would be significant. I recall the documentary said the writing would be something about the Pharoah’s philosophy writ large to be seen as one approached the pyramid from a distance but Peter Morris’ cite contradicts that, assuming Herodotus was correct, and of course my recollection may be incorrect as well. From my own memories, the earliest writings on the Great Pyramid that survive were from the Middle Kingdom period (2 successor states after the Old Kingdom), but I don’t recall any mention of writing. Herodotus would have been, of course, from the Late Period, which was almost 2000 years after the Old Kingdom fell. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1774 "2015-05-14T20:10:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Have you ever considered taking your humungous piles of wrong and making a pyramid out of them? 595 posts. What do you think this thread is? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1775 "2015-05-14T22:39:54Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > One individual told me recently that his primary hangup has been use of the term “metaphysical”. Apparently this word has been usurped in recent times by the pitchers of woo and it has no real concrete meaning and is more like a buzzword. But this is an important word that refers to the basis of science. Piffle. If this is a reference to my statements, I would note that it is not even close to the primary objection I have to your nonsense. However, I will note that your use of the word metaphysical is much closer to woo than its use for the last 2,300 years, or so. It means nothing like what you claim that it does. Since the original author of metaphysics referred to it as “the knowledge of immaterial being,” your attempt to pretend that it was actually science is a complete distortion. Natural Philosophy laid a groundwork for science, but metaphysics was a study of something else, entirely–something that you would deny even existed at the time of your imaginary Ancient Egypt. = = = Still no direct quotes from the people you are claiming are wrong-headed “Egyptologists,” of course. More libelous claims against unnamed people. (This is closer to my primary objection to your silliness.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1776 "2015-05-15T00:17:03Z")
> [@cladking](#): > > The pyramid is on a hill. There was water at the base of the pyramid. > > Therefore there was water on a hill. I refer you to Utterance 1980: 200a: Letting the days go by 200b: Let the water hold me down 201a: Letting the days go by 201b: Water flowing underground 202a: Into the blue again 202b: After the money’s gone 203a: Once in a lifetime 203b: Water flowing underground ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1777 "2015-05-15T00:22:26Z")
And you may ask yourself What is that beautiful pyramid? And you may ask yourself Where does that geyser go? And you may ask yourself Am I right?..Am I wrong? And you may tell yourself MY HORUS!..WHAT HAVE I DONE? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1778 "2015-05-15T00:52:02Z")
Bizarro-land ranting, hundreds of posts of challenge and mockery, snark, some really awesome and very kewl new knowledge, all wrapped up in a goddamn song parody. The SDMB: Same as it ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1779 "2015-05-15T01:34:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > MY HORUS!..WHAT HAVE I DONE? Letting the ramps go by Let the water raise the stones Letting the ramps go by Water flowing up and down ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1780 "2015-05-15T02:34:00Z")
> [@XT](#): > > So, to summarize, they knew what ramps were, they used them, but because you haven’t found an ‘attested’ word for it that means they didn’t use them. Q.E.D. 😛 Because the word is unattested it means either they didn’t use ramps or nothing is known of the culture or both. Heads I win tails Egyptology loses. > [@](#): > > How, EXACTLY, did the water get up to that height from your theoretical underground geyser? It sprayed. This is what geysers do. Is it your contention that geysers don’t spray or that you can show there were no geysers? They can’t be talked out of existence. They are real and so far as anyone here knows they might have existed. ---
**Author:** ![cladking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@cladking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cladking)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559/1781 "2015-05-15T02:38:20Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Ever try considering both pieces of information simultaneously? (Assuming you are correct about the date of oldest example of the “ramp” glyph). If the only writing that survives from the “great pyramid building age” is the Pyramid Texts, and “ramp” isn’t in there…that just means that “ramp” isn’t in the Pyramid Texts, not that the word didn’t exist at the time. Just like “lever” isn’t in the Bible, there’s no reason to expect construction minutia to appear in a religious text. “Wheel” doesn’t appear in the Pyramid Texts, does that prove the Egyptians didn’t have wheels, let alone pulleys? Both ramps and “wheels” (pulleys) appear in the PT. “Ramp” is used once in the coloquial form in reference to a walkway and “pulley” is used numerous times from the scientific perspective. The lack of attestation from the pyramiod building age shows ramps were of no importance to the culture or it shows Egyptology doesn’t understand the culture, or both. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=88) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-the-pyramids-in-egypt-built/706559.md?page=90)