NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — One of the greatest mysteries of the world remains the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, in particular the Great Pyramid in the city of Giza, known as the Pyramid of Cheops. It was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu between 2509 and 2483 BC.
However, it is still unknown how such huge structures were built without modern technologies. This is reported by History.com.
Part of the secret of the construction was revealed thanks to the deciphered text contained on an ancient papyrus, more than 4500 years old. This ancient Egyptian scroll contained information that helped to reveal some aspects of the technology and methods of building the pyramids that have remained mysterious until now.
An important discovery was made in 2013 by a team of archaeologists from France and Egypt working in a cave in the ancient port of Wadi el-Jarf near the Red Sea. They discovered a unique artifact – hundreds of fragments of papyrus with ancient Egyptian inscriptions, which turned out to be the oldest among all found in the country.
About 800 fragments of various sizes were handed over to Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities. Some of these fragments were presented to the public in a special exhibition at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This discovery opens up new opportunities for studying and understanding ancient Egyptian life and culture.
Fragments of the papyrus contained information regarding accounting reports and ancient financial balance sheets. They reflected funds transferred from the various provinces of Egypt, as well as payments for food and wages.
“The documents testify to the highly effective administrative system of Khufu’s rule,” said the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
The texts found on the papyrus contained information about the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu. One such document is the logbook for the 27th year of Khufu’s reign, which described the construction of the pyramid.
The author of these records was Inspector Merer, who described in detail the work on the pyramid, which was nearing completion, as well as the extraction of limestone in the quarries at Tours on the opposite bank of the Nile.
The original name of the pyramid was mentioned in the diary – “Akhet-Khufu”, which translates as “Horizon of Khufu”. The inspector also noted that Vizier Ankhhaf, Khufu’s brother and “the head of all affairs of the king”, was present and watched the construction.
It is known that the pyramids consisted of granite blocks on the inside and limestone blocks on the outside. Mehrer’s team carried about two hundred blocks a month, and during the floods of the Nile their productivity increased to a thousand blocks a month.
Additional entries from the logbooks contain information about other projects carried out by the same crew of sailors in the same year. Among these projects was the construction of a harbor along the Mediterranean Sea.
It is important to note that the construction of the largest of the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Pyramid, took approximately 23 years. With a height of 139 meters, it remained the tallest structure in the world for almost 4,000 years. The average weight of the 2.3 million blocks required for construction was seven tons.
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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