Freethought & Rationalism Archive

PJPSYCO · 07-19-2006, 09:32 AM

I was wondering who specifically started the theory that slaves built the pyramids. I have always heard it in reference to Jews (specifically a biblical reference). I was wondering if thats it, and possibly who (which archeologists/culture) started it.

Toto · 07-19-2006, 06:46 PM

Who Built the Pyramids? Not slaves

Quote:

Rooted firmly in the popular imagination is the idea that the pyramids were built by slaves serving a merciless pharaoh. This notion of a vast slave class in Egypt originated in Judeo-Christian tradition and has been popularized by Hollywood productions like Cecil B. De Mille’s The Ten Commandments, in which a captive people labor in the scorching sun beneath the whips of pharaoh’s overseers.

However, it appears that Herodotus also (falsely) reported that the Great Pyramid was built with slave labor Link

Quote:

There are many people who, because of Herodotus, believe that slaves built the great pyramid of Cheops. The purpose of this research paper is to show that during the reign of Cheops, slavery was not a part of Egyptian society.

S.C.Carlson · 07-19-2006, 08:36 PM

Pretty interesting that some scholars are pushing back against the slave labor idea, though I'm not sure that likening them to serfs rather than slaves makes much of a difference.

This quote from the first link is also interesting:

Quote:

The surprises were just beginning. Faunal analyst Richard Redding, of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, identified tremendous quantities of cattle, sheep, and goat bone, "enough to feed several thousand people, even if they ate meat every day," Lehner adds.

No pig bones?

Celsus · 07-19-2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.C.Carlson

No pig bones?

"If the absence of pig bones in an Iron Age archaeological site is taken as diagnostic for the presence of ethnic Israelites, there were a lot more Israelites in the ancient world than we ever suspected. Beginning sometime late in the second millennium BCE in a wide swath from Anatolia to Southern Mesopotamia, from Persia to the Mediterranean, Yahweh's devotees abounded in almost every village and town, swamping the few populations of pork eating non-Israelites still holding out in widely scattered communities."

Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish, "Can Pig Remains be used for Ethnic Diagnosis in the Ancient Near East?".

Sorry, but I love that quote.

Joel

S.C.Carlson · 07-19-2006, 10:05 PM

That's not in Egypt, though. I was wondering about Egyptian practices.

Celsus · 07-20-2006, 11:24 AM

Hesse and Wapnish showed pig remains in Egypt to be extremely rare in the Middle (but beginning from the Old) Kingdom Egypt, largely governed by rainfall/water availability. I think they surveyed Elephantine? You can try Richard (?) Redding for a slightly different slant IIRC, he had a thing about husbandry practices favouring animals other than pigs.

Basic conclusion was that all the Levant, ANE, Egypt, etc. was not really pig-eating during the time (and well after), though considering when the prohibition against pork came about in the Bible (Lev 11/Deut 14) hasn't really concerned Egypt.

Toto · 07-20-2006, 03:36 PM

Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish, "Can Pig Remains Be Used for Ethnic Diagnosis in the Ancient Near East?" in Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, ed. Silberman and Small, 238–70 referenced by Celsus here

07-19-2006, 09:32 AM	#1
PJPSYCO Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rolla, Missouri Posts: 830	Slaves built the pyramids I was wondering who specifically started the theory that slaves built the pyramids. I have always heard it in reference to Jews (specifically a biblical reference). I was wondering if thats it, and possibly who (which archeologists/culture) started it.

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07-19-2006, 10:05 PM	#5
S.C.Carlson Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,307	That's not in Egypt, though. I was wondering about Egyptian practices.

07-20-2006, 11:24 AM	#6
Celsus Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Singapore Posts: 2,875	Hesse and Wapnish showed pig remains in Egypt to be extremely rare in the Middle (but beginning from the Old) Kingdom Egypt, largely governed by rainfall/water availability. I think they surveyed Elephantine? You can try Richard (?) Redding for a slightly different slant IIRC, he had a thing about husbandry practices favouring animals other than pigs. Basic conclusion was that all the Levant, ANE, Egypt, etc. was not really pig-eating during the time (and well after), though considering when the prohibition against pork came about in the Bible (Lev 11/Deut 14) hasn't really concerned Egypt.

07-20-2006, 03:36 PM	#7
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish, "Can Pig Remains Be Used for Ethnic Diagnosis in the Ancient Near East?" in Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, ed. Silberman and Small, 238–70 referenced by Celsus here

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