Pyramids of Giza

by [deleted]

Is there a consensus among historians as to whether or not were slaves used in the Egyptian construction of the Pyramids of Giza?

idiotsonfire

There is no solid evidence that I've ever come across while studying history that shows that any slaves were responsible for any large egyptian project, including the pyramids. Slaves were mostly kept in Egypt for more servantile tasks; building great constructs was mostly seen as an honor and done by precisely skilled engineers and artisans.

Not only that, there's the simple fact that the pyramids were the tombs of Khufu's bloodline, and the pharaoh's greatest accomplishment was the pyramids. I'm not sure if its the case for all the pharaohs, but in general, slaves weren't given the honor of helping to construct the tombs, especially something as monumentally precise as the great pyramids.

That said, there has been a great deal of speculation that the pyramids were built by slaves, but the general opinion of the archaeological community is that it was done by skilled workers employed and paid by the pharaohs, so there's no reason to assume a slave ever even touched a stone to move it.

Searocksandtrees

hi! not discouraging other responses, but fyi, you can get started in this section of the FAQ