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CAIRO – Egypt displayed on Monday newly discovered tombs more than 4,000 years old and said they belonged to people who worked on the Great Pyramids of Giza, putting the discovery forth as more evidence that slaves did not build the ancient monuments.
Graves of the pyramid builders were first discovered in the area in 1990 when a tourist on horseback stumbled over a wall that later proved to be a tomb. Egypt's archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said that discovery and the latest finds last week show that the workers were paid laborers, rather than the slaves of popular imagination.
Hawass said the builders came from poor Egyptian families from the north and the south, and were respected for their work — so much so that those who died during construction were bestowed the honor of being buried in the tombs near the sacred pyramids of their pharaohs.
Originally posted by moocowman
I do think this is another nail in the coffin of the bible Exodus myth what would be interesting is a comparison of genes with that of jews so the book can be closed once and for all.
The series of modest nine-foot-deep shafts held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders, perfectly preserved by dry desert sand along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers' afterlife.
Originally posted by fraterormus
I also haven't seen anything written since Budge that makes claims to Egyptian Slavery. From what modern archaeology recognizes, the Ancient Egyptians did not keep slaves, with the solitary exception of the Hyskos during the 18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BCE). The Hyskos had enslaved the Egyptians for 40 years, so after the Egyptians overthrew their oppressors they committed the Hyskos to slavery for 40 years to pay for their crimes.
The belief that the Egyptians committed Slavery comes from misinterpreting history based upon Biblical Scholarship rather than upon historical evidence. Because of this, the word Hem (Hm) in Hieroglyphic was mistranslated by Budge to mean "slave" whereas modern scholars have interpreted this word correctly to mean "serf" or "peasant" which may have had less rights than a Pharaoh, Priest or Scribe, but were the equivalent of the common man or woman in today's society.
Hawass told reporters at the site that the find, first announced on Sunday, sheds more light on the lifestyle and origins of the pyramid builders. Most importantly, he said the workers were not recruited from slaves commonly found across Egypt during pharaonic times.
Originally posted by VelvetSplash
I thought it had already been established for a very long time that the pyramids were built by workers and not slaves?
Although, I must admit, I have come across more than a couple of people who were under the impression that Hebrew slaves built them and that this was part of the Exodus story. I have no idea where this silly idea comes from, but it's still rather prevelant, despite the glaringly obvious gap in time between the two events (that is, the accepted time of the pyramids being built, and the guestimate for the Exodus myth).
Amihai Mazar, professor at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that myth stemmed from an erroneous claim by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on a visit to Egypt in 1977, that Jews built the pyramids.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once described the pyramid builders as slaves, creating what Egyptologists say is a myth later propagated by Hollywood films.
Originally posted by Deny Arrogance
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once described the pyramid builders as slaves, creating what Egyptologists say is a myth later propagated by Hollywood films.
Originally posted by VelvetSplash
Although, I must admit, I have come across more than a couple of people who were under the impression that Hebrew slaves built them and that this was part of the Exodus story. I have no idea where this silly idea comes from, but it's still rather prevelant, despite the glaringly obvious gap in time between the two events (that is, the accepted time of the pyramids being built, and the guestimate for the Exodus myth).
Originally posted by VelvetSplash
I thought it had already been established for a very long time that the pyramids were built by workers and not slaves?
Although, I must admit, I have come across more than a couple of people who were under the impression that Hebrew slaves built them and that this was part of the Exodus story. I have no idea where this silly idea comes from, but it's still rather prevelant, despite the glaringly obvious gap in time between the two events (that is, the accepted time of the pyramids being built, and the guestimate for the Exodus myth).
You have to be brain dead to believe that humans built the pyramids.
herefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses.
You have to be brain dead to believe that humans built the pyramids.