ARCHAEOLOGISTS have finally put to bed the bonkers conspiracy theory that aliens built the pyramids.
Recently uncovered papyri detail the mammoth effort it took to construct the Great Pyramid of Giza over 4,600 years ago.
The artefacts discovered in Egypt’s Eastern Desert detail the workings of one of those in charge of the operation.
They were found in 2013 and are the subject of a new book penned by Egyptologists Pierre Tallet and Mark Lehner, The Spectator reports.
There are an estimated 138 surviving Egyptian pyramids, the most famous being the Great Pyramid of Giza, near Cairo.
The 455ft Great Pyramid – the tallest man-made structure for 3,800 years – is the only surviving landmark of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Many have questioned how it would have been possible for the ancient Egyptians to build such incredible constructions using 4,000-year old technology.
While some conspiracy theorists have suggested aliens may be involved, scientists and archaeologists have a more down-to-earth explanation.
They believe thousands of slaves used sledges to pull huge stone blocks and a pulley system to haul them up the pyramid’s slopes.
The 2013 papyri – said to be the oldest papyri in the world – tell the story of middle-ranking inspector Merer and his 40-man naval gang.
Merer was captain of an elite outfit that ferried workers and limestone blocks up and down the Nile.
They also travelled to Sinai and Punt to gather materials such as copper, which covered the final structures.
“The builders of the gigantic pyramids of the 4th Dynasty must have amassed more copper… than was being accumulated anywhere else in the world,” Tallet and Lehner write.
Merer and his crew were not slaves put paid labour who were rewarded for their efforts with luxury cloth.
It is thought that it would have taken 20 years for four teams like Merer’s to transport just the facing stone for the Great Pyramid.
Scientists have spent years figuring out exactly how the Great Pyramid was constructed.
It is thought that it took an army of at least 4,000 workers 20 years to build the enormous structure.
Water was used to lubricate the huge stone blocks as they were lugged along the sand, before being winched into place.
While many of the earlier “step” pyramids didn’t have smooth sides, later pyramids all did, reflecting how much the Egyptians’ techniques improved over time.
However, we still don’t know exactly how the extremely sophisticated buildings were constructed, and historians still disagree on many of the details.
SOURCE: thesun.co.u
