___ Of course if this were really a shot from ancient Egypt the Pyramids would look quite different. Can you find out how? My sister and I took this shot in 1987 and I remember it was very difficult to take a picture without cars, buses and tourists in it!
We may admire the Great Pyramid and think of it as a wonder of the ancient world, but it also demonstrates the great inequality of ancient Egypt: that one man, Khufu, could engage thousands of people to work for him for twenty years or more to make this massive structure. In organised civilisations such as ancient Egypt, there was a clear hierarchy of power. It was a very different community from the ones humans had experienced in the old hunter-gatherer days.
Evidence about the Pyramids
Go to the National Geographic site (see link below) and read about who built the Great Pyramid. Read carefully and thoroughly, then have a go at the Crossword.
National Geographic Site on the Great Pyramid
As you read, try to find the answers to these questions. This will help you ace the crossword!
- Herodotus believed that Khufu used slaves to build the Great Pyramid. Is this true?
- Who is believed to have built the Great Pyramid?
- How have archaeologists worked this out?
- What evidence is there that people who were injured whilst working on the Great Pyramid were cared for?
- What does the graffiti of the workers suggest?
- What were the stones made of?
