How did they build the Great Pyramid of Giza? - Soraya Field Fiorio

1,285,735 views

2022-10-13 ・ TED-Ed


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How did they build the Great Pyramid of Giza? - Soraya Field Fiorio

1,285,735 views ・ 2022-10-13

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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As soon as Pharaoh Khufu ascended the throne circa 2575 BCE,
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work on his eternal resting place began.
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The structure’s architect, Hemiunu,
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determined he would need 20 years to finish the royal tomb.
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But what he could not predict was that this monument would remain
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the world’s tallest manmade structure for over 3,800 years.
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To construct the Great Pyramid,
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Hemiunu would need to dig a 6-and-a-half-kilometer canal,
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quarry enormous amounts of limestone and granite,
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and use kilometers of rope to pull stones into place.
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Today, there are still vigorous debates about the exact methods
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the Egyptians employed.
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But we do know that first Hemiunu needed a construction site.
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The Egyptians spoke of death as going west like the setting sun,
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and the Nile’s west bank had a plateau of bedrock
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that could support the pyramid better than shifting sand.
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In a brilliant timesaving move,
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masons carved the plateau itself to look like the stones
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used for the rest of the pyramid.
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With this level foundation in place, construction could begin.
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The project called for a staggering 25,000 workers,
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but fortunately, Hemiunu had an established labor supply.
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Egyptians were required to perform manual labor for the government
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throughout the year,
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and citizens from across the country came to contribute.
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Workers performed a wide range of tasks,
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from crafting tools and clothes to administrative work
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to back-breaking manual labor.
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But contrary to popular belief, these workers were not enslaved people.
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In fact, these citizens were housed and fed with rations
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better than the average Egyptian could afford.
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To complete the project in 20 years,
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one block of stone would need to be quarried, transported,
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and pushed into place every 3 minutes,
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365 days a year.
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Workers averaged 10-hour days, hauling limestone from two different quarries.
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One was close to the site,
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but its fossil-lined yellow stone was deemed suitable
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only for the pyramid’s interior.
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Stones for the outside were hauled from roughly 13 kilometers away,
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using 9-meter long sleds made from giant cedar trunks.
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When mined from the ground,
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limestone is soft and splits easily into straight lines.
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But after air exposure it hardens,
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requiring wooden mallets and copper chisels to shape.
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The pyramid used over 2 million stones, each weighing up to 80 tons.
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And there was no room for error in how they were shaped.
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Even the smallest inaccuracy at the bottom of the pyramid could result
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in a catastrophic failure at the top.
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Researchers know where the materials used to build the pyramids came from
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and how they were transported,
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but the actual construction process remains mysterious.
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Most experts agree that limestone ramps were used to move the stones into place,
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but there are many theories on the number of ramps and their locations.
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And the pyramid’s exterior is just half the story.
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Since death could come for the pharaoh at any time,
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Hemiunu always needed an accessible burial chamber at the ready,
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so three separate burial chambers were built during construction.
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The last of these, known as the King’s Chamber,
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is a spacious granite room with a soaring ceiling,
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located at the heart of the pyramid.
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it lay on top of an 8.5-meter high passageway called the Grand Gallery,
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which may have been used as an ancient freight elevator
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to move granite up the pyramid’s interior.
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Granite was used for all the pyramid’s support beams.
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Much stronger than limestone, but extremely difficult to shape,
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workers used dolerite rocks as hammers to slowly quarry the stone.
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To ensure the granite beams would be ready when he needed them,
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Hemiunu dispatched 500 workers in the project’s first year
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so that the material would be ready 12 years later.
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Five stories of granite sit atop the King’s Chamber,
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preventing the pyramid from collapsing in on itself.
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Once complete, the entire structure was encased with white limestone,
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polished with sand and stone until it gleamed.
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Finally, a capstone was placed on top.
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Covered with electrum and glimmering like gold,
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this peak shined like a second sun over all of Egypt.
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