A team led by Egypt's former Minister of Antiquities finds evidence that the Pyramids were built by skilled workers.
Goodbye to a popular theory: Archaeologists discover who really built Egypt’s Great Pyramids
A study led by renowned Egyptologist and former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass has uncovered previously unseen markings on the Pyramid of Cheops, offering compelling evidence that skilled workers—rather than slaves—built the pyramids, challenging long-held assumptions.
Using advanced imaging technology, the research team discovered inscriptions, flint tools, and other evidence pointing to sophisticated construction methods. Among the inscriptions were titles such as “The Friends of Khufu,” “Overseer of the Pyramid Side,” and “Craftsman,” indicating an organized labor force with defined roles and hierarchy.
The team also uncovered workers’ tombs to the south of the pyramid. “The builders weren’t slaves. If they had been, they would never have been buried in the shadow of the pyramids,” Hawass explained in an interview with Limitless host Matt Beall. “Slaves wouldn’t have prepared tombs for eternity, like the kings and queens did.”
Hawass further noted that his colleague Mark Lehner discovered the remains of a “dormitory town” where the workers lived, complete with a bakery. “The workers would come—some to cut and shape the stones, others to transport them on wooden sleds to the base of the pyramid,” he told the program.
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Following the interview, Beall revealed that he would join Hawass in investigating the so-called “Great Void,” a mysterious chamber above the Grand Gallery of the Pyramid of Cheops, roughly the size of two trucks.
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