The Genius of Ancient Egyptians: Pyramids
Was it common civilians who provided labour for pyramid construction, or slaves were being forced to work under the terror of whip?
Introduction
For millennia, the pyramids of Egypt have been a topic of debate among people. The inquisitive nature of humanity has never stopped people from finding out the secrets of the pyramids made by the great pharaohs of Egypt. Due to its meticulous masonry and hugeness, it became one of the most fascinating wonders of the world. Since the ancient times, many speculations have been made regarding the construction of the pyramids. Historians like Herodotus have proposed descriptions of pyramid building, but none of them could get a plausible idea. Nevertheless, with the help of modern technology, Archaeologists have found out the techniques used by the Egyptian for constructing the pyramids. Egyptian workers have been greatly admired for their remarkable monuments. Besides the question of how the pyramids were built, there is another question: why were the pyramids built. Even though we have deduced the answer, yet it is a captivating question for people.
History of pyramid: emergence, development and decline
The emergence of pyramids is vague but scientists have come up with two antecedents of pyramids: 1.tumuli, 2.mastabas. Tumuli are a mound of earth and stone raised over a grave, and they existed before the rise of Egyptian empire. Mastabas are a kind of tomb, which were built as burial places for the pharaohs after the 1st dynasty. As the time passed, the style of burial places changed and eventually, evolved into the form of pyramids. The first pyramid ever to be built was the step pyramid. It was built during the reign of the pharaoh djoser in 4th dynasty. It was designed by his vizier Imhotep for his burial. Its structure is like a stairway, which is made up of big stones. Though the art of building pyramids had been developed by the third dynasty of Egypt, but the fourth dynasty took it to a whole new level with their craftsmanship. The first smooth-sided pyramid is credited to the first pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, Snefru. He is also associated with building two more pyramids, the medium and the bent pyramid, but the sophistication that the red pyramid shows is incomparable. After his great accomplishment in pyramid building, his son Khufu went even more ahead of him. In Giza he made the biggest pyramid ever built on earth. Furthermore, he built three small pyramids for his queens. After him two more pyramids were built at Giza, first was khafre’s which is the second biggest pyramid and the second was menkaur’s.In addition to the pyramids, there are another kind of monument which shows a great exhibition of skill. Its name is sphinx, which is half human and half lion. However, the construction of pyramids declined by the sixth dynasty; perhaps, due to its resources exhaustion. To raise a building like pyramid, it must have required a large amount of resources, both human and natural. And besides, putting people into such a hazardous and long-term work was a bit difficult. After the small mud-brick made pyramids of the middle kingdom, pyramids were beginning to be built in a large numbers. However, the grandness and size of them decreased. Again, after several centuries, the kingdom of Kush (750 BC-664 BC)-present the Sudan-started the construction of pyramids. This time the number of pyramids increase, but the size decreased tremendously.
Why were they built?
The main objective of pyramids was to provide the dead pharaohs a facility where they can depart to the other world. For example, all Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile River, which is the direction of sunset and therefore associated with the realm of dead. Furthermore, there is a shaft in every pyramid which opens to the constellation star area which Egyptian believed to be the gateway to the heaven. In addition to shaft, there were resources provided to the pharaoh both necessities and luxuries. For instance, foods, clothes, utensils, jewelleries, etc… There was belief that the dead pharaoh would rule in the other world and that is why they were provided with accommodations required for a king.
How were they built?
Construction of pyramids required lifting big stones, which is very difficult to do even in the present times. Scholars have studied for decades to find out the techniques used by the Egyptians to build pyramids. After many endeavors, scholars have finally managed to come up with a hypothesis. The hypothesis says that the Egyptian brought the big stones from near plateau and pulled them with ropes after wetting the sand, which must have diminished the friction. Further, for building the pyramids that high, they must have used the embankment of bricks around the pyramids layout, on which the stones were carried. Besides the method of pyramid building, one more question also arises: who built the pyramids? Were they slaves or skilled workers? Well, According to mark Lehner, a great archaeologist, who has studied the monuments of Egypt for decades, it was skilled workers who worked on building the pyramids. He says the hypothesis that the pyramids were built by slaves who were constantly punished and not given enough food is wrong and furthermore, he also refuted the depiction of pyramid building shown in the Hollywood movies. He proposed that the people who were indulged in pyramid construction were common workers of Egypt, who were behaved normally and provided with sufficient food and accommodation. He also gives reason: the pharaohs of Egypt were god to the people and they owed obligation for them; therefore, they voluntarily worked to pay their obligation to their lord.
Conclusion
Because of human’s curious tendency, they have found the answers to the questions about the pyramids that had been bugging them for centuries. The findings provided a basis for understanding the thinking and life of ancient Egyptians. Like, what did the Egyptians think of death and their leader? What were the techniques of construction? And the like. These findings are very necessary to understand the evolution of human nature. Humans have evolved the way they think and believe. Therefore, things that are thought to be bad were prevalent in distant past.
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