The Inscriptions in the Red Pyramid: 17 years to build

The greatest builder of the Pyramid Age was King Snefru, the first king of the Fourth Dynasty, during whose reign the biennial tax levy may have become a more frequent event. As a result, it is difficult to assess the true intensity of Snefru's creative power. He is accorded a reign of 24 or 29 years in the ancient king-lists, yet the recent discovery of an inscription mentioning the twenty-fourth occasion of the census suggests he may have reigned as long as 48 years, if the taxes were still collected every other year. But regardless of his total years, his reign is distinguished by the number and sheer magnitude of the works he carried out. The owner of three full-sized pyramids and probably two smaller ones, he shifted one-third more stone--some 3,600,000 cubic metres (4,708,800 cubic yards) of it than his son and successor Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.

The link

Sneferu started a third pyramid, now called the Red pyramid which is the fourth largest of the 100 or so that were built.

When we started excavating here we found part of the outer casing still preserved, but a lot of blocks had fallen or were displaced. On the reverse of these loose stones we found inscriptions in red paint naming the working gangs who constructed the pyramid, for examples, the "Green Gang" or the "Western Gang". We also found the name of Snefru in a cartouche. I would say about every twentieth stone was inscribed, but the most exciting thing was that dates were also written on the backs of these blocks.

This is interesting as it supports the concept of the work gangs marking stones - like the marked stones found in the relieving chambers of the great pyramid.

When [the inscriptions are] studied together, the inscriptions show that it took about 17 years to construct the entire pyramid.

Wow,
if this is true, that will be shocking!
how the hell did they manage to do that?
a thousand years already sounded short

and if the reign of Snefru was shorter, this would shift the complete time-line of Egypt.

nice find

reply to post by GondelleX


As any experienced NCO can tell you, well motivated and led men can accomplish astounding feats-especially if they are doing it for some higher purpose and you keep them well fed.

Probably by breaking the work up and using assembly line types of construction - something they'd have had experience with in rebuilding the irrigation systems after each Nile flood.

Interesting stuff indeed. it also means when the next strong earthquake hits Cairo and the loose outer layer of the pyramid comes down we might find some similar markings.

Oh I found this information by reading a thread over at the Hall of Ma'at, an Egyptologist there by the name of Anthony mentioned it in relation to another item....which is even more interesting but I don't have enough information about that to post it yet.

[edit on 2/1/09 by Hanslune]

Originally posted by GondelleX
Wow,

if this is true, that will be shocking!
how the hell did they manage to do that?
a thousand years already sounded short

and if the reign of Snefru was shorter, this would shift the complete time-line of Egypt.

They still argue over timelines, although it's more along the lines of some minor quibbles.

As to 'how did they do it', remember that the ancient Egyptians of that day were used to this kind of labor. Each pharaoh wanted to outdo the others with monuments and temples and so forth, and the quarries probably worked year around to cut and rough-hew stones to have them ready for the building season. There's a part of the year when the people can't work their fields (and Egypt was largely a farming country and supplied grain to most of the Mediterranean) and rather than have them idle, the kings gave them work projects. So it wasn't a case of untrained labor showing up but rather people who'd done this kind of work for generations. Each village probably had its own stone-hauling teams and they undoubtedly worked in competition with each other.

I agree with Byrd on the timelines. Here is another example of the same story, in which they discuss more of the dating and Snefru's ageline. The dating is always going to be off by just a bit.

The inscriptions found on the back of the casing stones gave us clues to how long the pyramid took to build and also revealed the sequence of work that took place. An inscription found at the base of this pyramid has shown that work had started during the year of the 15th cattle count of Snofru's reign. Since the cattle counts were held at irregular intervals during this reign, this refers to somewhere between Snofru's 15th and 30th year. It is very likely that the pyramid construction was started at the time when structural problems encountered when building the Bent Pyramid forced the builders to temporarily abandon this project.

Interestingly, a second inscription found 30 courses of stones higher is dated 2 to 4 years later than the inscription found at the base. This gives an idea about the speed at which the Egyptians were able to build a monument like this pyramid.

Within four years, 30 percent of the pyramid had been completed, and the entire pyramid was finished in about seventeen years.

There is little doubt that Snofru was finally buried in this pyramid, although the fragments of human remains found inside the burial chamber are not certain to have been his.


Interestingly, during the reign of Pepi I of the 6th Dynasty, this pyramid along with its southern neighbor, the Bent Pyramid, was considered as one estate.

Link

Still, there is some really interesting new information here. The amount of time it took them to complete this alone changes the perspective on how things were done then. I would never have believed only 17 years, but we are also talking about a highly resourceful and organized people, using methods that we may not even really know everything about to this day. I can't wait to see what else is discovered with this pyramid as time progresses and more is unearthed. Good find. Thanks for the info.

Isn't it strange that the ancient egyptians decorated the walls and ceilings of their pyramids with thousands of hieroglyphs and pictograms showing how they lived, from farming to making love but not even ONE of these shows how they built the pyramids.
If i was a pharaoh who'd had a pyramid built, i would want people to know how and who built it.

reply to post by the worn bootheel

Isn't it strange that the ancient egyptians decorated the walls and ceilings of their pyramids with thousands of hieroglyphs and pictograms showing how they lived, from farming to making love but not even ONE of these shows how they built the pyramids.

I believe Byrd is better versed in this but I'll give a few points. It may have been considered poor form, bad luck or rude to show the building of a tomb - perhaps taunting the gods to do in the Pharoah. They may have even considered it "secret" and not to be depicted. On the other hand such scenes may have existed in the mortuary temples that were built around the pyramids. In the Great pyramids there are indications that wooden panels lined the inner chambers and such information may have been there. However that is not known.

We may find such scenes in the more common burials, only a small fraction of the tombs of Egypt have been found, a lot of middle class ones still haven't been found or open, perhaps in one of those we'll strike pay dirt - scene wise.

[edit on 2/1/09 by Hanslune]

Great thread, hans.

Starred and flagged.

Harte

Originally posted by the worn bootheel
Isn't it strange that the ancient egyptians decorated the walls and ceilings of their pyramids with thousands of hieroglyphs and pictograms showing how they lived, from farming to making love but not even ONE of these shows how they built the pyramids.
If i was a pharaoh who'd had a pyramid built, i would want people to know how and who built it.

They assumed everyone would know, because back then, everyone knew. It was still common knowledge in Herodotus' time about 1800 years after the Giza complex was built.

The inscriptions in the royal tombs and temples (including those associated with pyramids) were inscribed with spells and prayers to guide the deceased through the underworld and into the afterlife. They include details of how faithful they were and how in the afterlife they would participate in the major festivals. Hunting and fishing scenes are given -- things they enjoyed.

It is in the tombs of the builders and overseers that we find paintings and inscriptions about the work THEY did.

For example, my former boss would not have listed in his accomplishments the programs that I wrote because he told me to. In the same way, the pharaoh might mention that temples were erected but they didn't write "I spent 20 years building this really great tomb for myself."

reply to post by Byrd


I once asked a zealous believer what their reaction would be if Egyptologists found a tomb or temple wall that had scenes of pyramid construction on it.

They said, "it would have to be faked".

originally posted by: Hanslune
reply to post by Byrd

 

I once asked a zealous believer what their reaction would be if Egyptologists found a tomb or temple wall that had scenes of pyramid construction on it.

They said, "it would have to be faked".

That's because quite a lot of the history of Egypt was faked. The oldest story of Pyramid construction was the one we got from Herodotus.

He goes into quite a lot of detail in explaining how it was done by slaves, and Cheops supposedly prostituting his own daughter to pay for the stones.

....which he has to have gotten from somewhere. Someone somewhere invented a whole story of construction that didn't add up with the evidence.


www.cheops-pyramide.ch...

One third of the pyramid's height equals two thirds of it's mass.
..built within 4 years.

hans, the link is dead?

and, I really would like to see some fotos of some reused tura limestone blocks from khufus pyramid
around in cairo that have been reused for mosques in the midde ages..I couldnt find any..

cheers

originally posted by: anti72
One third of the pyramid's height equals two thirds of it's mass.
..built within 4 years.

hans, the link is dead?

Maybe because the thread is 8 years old.

Harte

a reply to: Harte

And Hans sadly hasn't been on in almost three years.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Harte

And Hans sadly hasn't been on in almost three years.

He checks in though. I see him all the time on other boards.

Harte

a reply to: Harte


His profile here says he hasn't logged in since January of 2015.

originally posted by: bloodymarvelous

originally posted by: Hanslune
reply to post by Byrd

 

I once asked a zealous believer what their reaction would be if Egyptologists found a tomb or temple wall that had scenes of pyramid construction on it.

They said, "it would have to be faked".

That's because quite a lot of the history of Egypt was faked. The oldest story of Pyramid construction was the one we got from Herodotus.

He goes into quite a lot of detail in explaining how it was done by slaves, and Cheops supposedly prostituting his own daughter to pay for the stones.

....which he has to have gotten from somewhere. Someone somewhere invented a whole story of construction that didn't add up with the evidence.


www.cheops-pyramide.ch...

not exactly faked, slaves were used, kings did give daughters away to other tribes or whoring them out as you alluded to.
ancient egyptian hieroglyphs were only translated after napoleon found the rosetta stone so until then recycled stories like chinese whispers were all we had to go on.

the stories of alien or outside help building the pyramids only started in the mid to late seventies around the same time people made money out of the bermuda triangle and philadelphia experiment and, was largely forgotten until ancient aliens lauded von daniken as a misunderstood egyptologist genius, which he aint.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Harte


His profile here says he hasn't logged in since January of 2015.

Maybe he's checked in without logging in. I haven't asked. He seems to be aware of some of the stuff posted over here.

Harte

originally posted by: Harte

Maybe he's checked in without logging in. I haven't asked. He seems to be aware of some of the stuff posted over here.

Harte

If you speak to him tell him to come back, his posts were always very good.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Harte

Maybe he's checked in without logging in. I haven't asked. He seems to be aware of some of the stuff posted over here.

Harte

If you speak to him tell him to come back, his posts were always very good.

I'll tell him he's wanted over here. He might pop in then.

Harte