I read somewhere that they didn't use slaves to build the pyramids, but my History Major roommate told me that they did indeed use slaves, and that they were Jewish. I was actually under the impression that we didn't have evidence of the Jewish story as told in the Bible.
Could anyone clarify for me? What class of people were used to build the pyramids? Were they Jews? Were the Jews ever in Egypt as slaves? Does the Exodus story have basis in reality?
Found this in the FAQ, http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/antiquity#wiki_building_the_egyptian_pyramids.
Many historians do doubt the veracity of the biblical exodus story. If it did happen, it would have taken place during the New Kingdom, which is about a thousand years after the Pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom. The Bible doesn't contradict this, by the way. Although every movie about the exodus shows the Jews building the Pyramids, the actual Bible makes no mention of Pyramids.
But we do know the Pyramids were not built by slaves, Jewish or otherwise.
I haven't watched it myself, but /r/AcademicBiblical had a link to a video about the Exodus recently that might be of interest.