Every year thousands of tourists flock to Cairo to see the awe-inspiring Pyramids of Giza.
Since their construction nearly 4,000 years ago, the three structures have
been the centerpiece of legend, folklore, and debate. Historians are still hemming
and hawing over how an ancient civilization managed to build these architectural wonders.
But instead of the how, today we’re looking at the who. Estimated at 20,000 strong, the pyramid
workforce was a force to be reckoned with. On Nutty History we’re delving into what life was
like as a pyramid construction worker in ancient Egypt. Before we start chipping away, subscribe to
our channel and leave a comment about what nutty historical time you’d like to hear about next.
Slaves, foreigners, extraterrestrials? For nearly 4,000 years, the rumor has swirled
about who exactly built the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza. Because of their remarkable construction
and engineering, historians and conspiracy theorists alike wondered about the labor force
that accomplished such a feat. And the answer is, drumroll please, the Egyptians! A lot of
Egyptians. The full-time pyramid crew is thought to consist of about 4,000 people. But each year as
the Nile flooded, 16-20,000 seasonal workers came to lend a hand to the handiwork. While
some of these workers were skilled in carpentry, masonry, or architecture, the bulk of the Egyptian
workforce was made up of unskilled laborers who would come for a few months at a time.
Apparently “I don’t know,” wasn’t an excuse to get out of pyramid duty. From carrying water to
measuring stone, there was a job for every Tom Dick or Harry. Despite a workforce of newbs,
Pyramid construction was incredibly precise. Each pyramid is symmetrical, perfectly aligned
with the other pyramids, and astronomically oriented according to the Orion constellation.
They also are functional sun dials and oriented to North, South, East and West. Overachieving much?
The Egyptians demonstrated an advanced division of labor on the pyramid construction sites, with
highly organized job titles and rankings. We’re talking Cleanup crew to Regional Director level
specific. Archeologists discovered at least 25 unique job positions for construction. If you were
highly skilled and important you might get to be an overseer or supervisor responsible for a large
group of men. In an effort to divide and conquer, a gang of workers was split into 2 crews, and then
into 5 tribes. To make it even more confusing, those tribes were divided into…divisions.
Does your head hurt yet? Each division had a hieroglyph to represent them, sort of like a team
name. These divisions named themselves things like “endurance,” “perfection,” and “the drunks.” Every
group project has a slacker, right? Archeologists have found these hieroglyphs carved inside the
pyramids and on foundations, showing different groups leaving their literal mark on history. They
also found these markings on east and west sides of monuments, suggesting that the construction was
turned into a friendly competition between teams of workers. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
Manually building 400 feet tall pyramids wasn’t all fun and games. Examinations of pyramid worker
skeletons show evidence of arthritis, deformed bones, and broken limbs. Accidents were par for
the course, as was strenuous manual labor. These employees were quite literally worked to the bone.
Most had osteophytes – abnormal bone outgrowths caused by chronic heavy labor. Damaged spines and
splintered feet were other common maladies. So much for safe working conditions. These workers
dealt in blood, sweat and probably tears. The pyramid worker village had a hospital, and some
of the broken bones showed evidence of mending, meaning that the workers probably received some
medical treatment for on-the-job-accidents. Still, the average age of death of the pyramid
workers was between 30-35 years old. For comparison, noble life expectancy at the time
was between 50 to 60 years of age. Long live the King, not so much his obedient servants.
Sign us up! Team Drunks weren’t the only workers imbibing on the job. Free beer was a
perk of pyramid-building, with the supervisors and upper management earning the most jugs.
Beer served as nourishment to the laborers, as well as refreshment and reward.
On average, workers earned rations of 4-5 liters of beer per day.
To put that into perspective, that’s about 14 Miller Lites. Now imagine trying to haul
a 5-ton hunk of rock in the desert sun after 14 beers. No wonder there were so many accidents.
Working on the pyramids probably wasn’t optional. It’s generally thought that pyramid construction
was a sort of “tax” that everyone owed, with the King keeping track of how much time each
able-bodied man had contributed. Meanwhile, the skilled workers were paid and kept on staff
full-time. Still, a lot of the evidence suggests that the Egyptians took pride in their work on the
pyramids, and some may have even volunteered. The pyramids themselves were meant for the remains of
deceased pharaohs, so they could rule on in the afterlife as King of the dead. Constructing them
was seen as prosperous to Egypt as a whole, and would ensure the worker’s own afterlife.
In addition to the pyramid worker village, there was also a cemetery on site for workers
and their family members that died. Higher ranking workers received more elaborate tombs, but in
general most of the laborers were buried with bread and beer as provisions for the afterlife.
The burials uncovered suggest a deep respect for the pyramid workers and their contributions,
as the afterlife was seen as the significant next chapter in an ancient Egyptian’s life.
That makes working alongside your own grave a slightly cheerier thought.
Even modern-day engineers aren’t entirely sure how the Egyptians constructed the pyramids.
Some theorize that sleds were used to move stones and ramps created to lift them.
One thing everyone agrees on is that these stones were heavy as hell. These blocks weighed anywhere
from 2 to 9 tons, which means they might weigh more than an elephant. After the stone was
extracted, it had to be transported from the quarry, sometimes across the Nile on a barge,
dragged to site, and eventually lifted into place. Laborers would work in teams to move the stone,
meaning your entire day might be spent dragging a rock through the sand.
It doesn’t sound like the most fulfilling work. Hardcore construction and the hot summer sun
can work up quite the appetite. Pyramid workers were provided with a protein-rich diet of cattle,
sheep, goat, fish, and lentils. No vegan-friendly menu here. To keep up with a very large and
hungry labor force, an estimated 4,000 animals were slaughtered every day.
Pyramid Village was no joke size-wise. That number of livestock required space of 465
square miles – which is about the size of Los Angeles. Not all meats were equal,
and the hierarchy of the work force remained through what food you were served. Beef was
reserved for the higher officials, as a steak dinner was the finest of dining even back then.
The temporary workers at the Pyramids were in for quite a culture shock. Coming from villages
all over Egypt, many of the unskilled laborers lived in small, poor communities. Suddenly,
they’d be called upon by the King for their civic service, collected onto a boat,
and taken to the construction site where they'd come across the massive structures
for the first time and live amongst more people than they’d ever seen in their life.
To many it felt as though they traveled through time to another world. These three-month stints
were almost like an Ancient Egyptian study abroad. The temporary workers could meet people from all
over and develop a camaraderie. For some, the provisions provided were an improvement from their
home life. You could almost call it a vacation, minus the literally back-breaking manual labor.
If you’re picturing the village of pyramid workers as a half-baked shantytown,
think again. The pyramids took between 20 to 30 years to complete,
and full-time laborers and their families made it their home. There were communal sleeping quarters,
dining halls, bakeries, breweries, kitchens and hospitals, making it an impressive city
on its own. Temporary workers more often stayed off-campus, so to speak, camping out in makeshift
sleeping arrangements during the summer and early autumn months. Separating the dozing workers
from the construction site was a 600 feet long massive stone wall, called the Wall of the Crow.
This barrier separated the town of the living from the sacred pyramid site of the dead.
Without a Night’s Watch to protect the wall, this probably made for a pretty spooky campfire story.
So what do you say? Would you sacrifice your current life for your soul in the next one?
Maybe just for the chance to contribute to one of the greatest monuments of all time.
Let us know in the comments how you’d fare as an ancient construction worker,
and let us know what historical lives you’d like to learn about next!