From msn.com/en-us
By Jason Dookeran
Egypt's pyramids hide some strange facts and mysteries, and the biggest among them is who built the pyramids. While aliens and supernatural forces have been suggested by fringe theorists, archaeological evidence has always pointed to ancient Egyptians themselves as the masterminds and laborers behind these colossal monuments.
Now, a remarkable 4,500-year-old document is providing unprecedented first-hand insight into the actual construction process of the Great Pyramid of Giza. These pyramids are among the oldest in the world, and visitors can still see them today.
Discovered in 2013 at a remote harbour site on Egypt's Red Sea coast, the "Diary of Merer" (sometimes called the "Red Sea Scrolls") is the oldest known papyrus with text ever found. Written by a middle-ranking inspector named Merer, this ancient logbook chronicles several months of work transporting limestone from quarries to the Great Pyramid of Khufu during the final years of the pharaoh's reign.
What does this remarkable document tell us about the people and the culture of the time? Let's examine it closer.
The Remarkable Discovery At Wadi Al-Jarf
Hidden for thousands of years, sealed in artificial caves that once served as boat storage, they uncovered entire rolls of papyrus – some several feet long and still remarkably intact. These weren't just any ancient documents; they were the oldest known papyri with written text, dating back approximately 4,500 years to the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt.
The "diary" is actually an incomplete record of loose papyrus sheets. However, the information in the diary is still relevant.
The Papyrus Is A Record Of Egyptian Pyramid Workers' Experiences
Not an official recorded history vetted by the Pharaoh
What makes this discovery especially significant in determining who built the pyramids is that these documents were written by men who directly participated in the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The information inside could support some of the theories on how the Great Pyramid was built.
The Great Pyramid is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops. It's the only pyramid built by ancient Egyptians to demonstrate air shafts in its construction.
The most complete and informative of these papyri contains the logbook of an official named Merer, who led a crew of approximately 200 men tasked with transporting limestone blocks from the quarries of Tura to the construction site at Giza.
Pyramid Of Giza Construction Facts
Stone Block Size | |
|---|---|
Quarry Location | |
Monthly Quota |
.
The Man Who Oversaw The Great Pyramid
Ankhhaf: The royal overseer was revealed by ancient papyri
Does the papyrus help us with any of the Ancient Egyptian mysteries that are still unsolved? Well, it just might. Perhaps the most significant revelation from the Diary of Merer is the identification of a key figure who supervised the construction of the Great Pyramid.
The papyri mention that Merer reported to "the noble Ankh-haf," who is described as overseeing operations at "Ro-She Khufu" (likely meaning "the entrance to the pool of Khufu"). This area served as headquarters for the pyramid's construction, sort of like a gathering area where they would have their instructions handed out.
This reference to Ankh-haf in the old papyrus is ground-breaking because it provides the first definitive evidence of who was managing aspects of the pyramid construction. Moreover, Ankh-haf was not just any old overseer; he carried a lot of weight in the royal family.
Ankh-haf was Khufu's half-brother and a high-ranking vizier, and his involvement suggests that the pharaoh entrusted the supervision of his monumental tomb to someone within his inner circle, demonstrating the project's extreme importance to the royal family. After all, with something as important as one's eternal soul, who better to oversee the construction than a close family member?
Pyramid of Giza Construction Timeline & Size
Completion | |
|---|---|
Time to Build | |
Tallest Pyramid at that Time |
Was Ankh-Haf A Real Person?
There's more evidence than just the papyrus
Archaeological evidence beyond the papyri supports Ankh-haf's significance. A limestone bust of Ankhhaf, discovered in his tomb at Giza and now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, is considered one of the finest portraits from Ancient Egypt. The exceptional quality of this sculpture further indicates his elevated status within Khufu's court.
The bust's realistic style, departing from the more idealized royal portraits of the period, suggests a powerful individual confident in his authority and legacy. The diary doesn't just answer questions about who built the pyramids at the labour level—it provides crucial insight into the organizational hierarchy that made such monumental construction possible.
Ancient Egyptians believed that artistic representation could capture someone's soul or "ka," so they had to be done a certain way or risk stealing too much of the person's soul.
What Does The Diary Of Merer Do For History?
How ancient papyri changed our understanding of an ancient wonder
The discovery of Merer's diary represents one of the most significant breakthroughs in Egyptology this century, providing concrete answers to age-old questions about who built the pyramids. For the first time, we have contemporaneous written records from the actual period of pyramid construction, offering a window into the organizational systems, engineering methods, and daily operations that made these monumental structures possible.
Perhaps most importantly, the Diary of Merer helps dispel popular misconceptions about pyramid construction. Rather than the product of slave labour or otherworldly intervention, the Great Pyramid emerges as the achievement of skilled Egyptian workers using ingenious but entirely human methods. So no, it wasn't, and still isn't, aliens.
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