Actually, according to recent excavations they were not using slave labor. The workers were well housed and fed, and came from all over Egypt for the work. They even left graffiti in the pyramids on their work. Kind of like "upriver stone-cutters rule!" (not exactly what they say, but that's the idea).
Actually, according to recent excavations they were not using slave labor. The workers were well housed and fed, and came from all over Egypt for the work. They even left graffiti in the pyramids on their work. Kind of like "upriver stone-cutters rule!" (not exactly what they say, but that's the idea)There has been an official gov't policy that no slavery existed in ancient Egypt, but that's just nonsense. Of course there was housing for the slaves -- they worked on the project for generations, from the time of Sneferu, through Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, and some lesser-knowns along the way. And even before the true pyramids, large mastabas surrounded (like the Giza pyramids) by large walls were being made, all by slaves.