Al-Ahram Weekly, Issue No. 847, June 1, 2007, Page 16/17 

Who built the pyramids with such breathtaking accuracy?

 We may soon, says Jill Kamil, have an answer to the age-old question of who were the Pyramid builders and how the whole enterprise of pyramid-building was planned and controlled.

When the Millennium Project was launched at Giza its aim was two-fold: to find out as much information as possible about the ancient settlement site at the foot of the pyramids for science and posterity, and to protect it from infringement by the expanding community of Nezlet Al-Siman. What has emerged seven years down the line is a huge and wide-ranging operation in which American, British, Dutch, Egyptian, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish and Turkish scholars are working in their specialised fields of expertise while, at the same time, supervising a field school ? four teams of students in total ? each led by an experienced excavator together with an qualified SCA inspector.

In archaeology, times have changed. Where at one time professionals in the discipline were primarily philologists, historians, artists and epigraphers who, in their search for material remains of the ancient Egyptian civilisation, dug and destroyed layers of archaeology, things are different today. The search is for information rather than museum-worthy objects. Multiple layers of complex stratigraphy are being scientifically excavated and analysed ? everything from pottery shards to sealings of mud, from a fish-hook to human to animal remains. Such evidence, in addition to the discovery of long galleries which might have been barracks for a rotating labour force from the countryside, and a village-like town that possibly housed permanent workers and their families, paints a picture of the pyramid-builders which boggles the imagination. 

It all started with a question: Where were the tens of thousands of workers who built the monumental structures at Giza housed? A massive ancient gateway, which came to be known by early travellers as the Wall of the Crow, drew the attention of two figures instrumental in research on the Giza plateau. These were Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and former director of the Giza Plateau who, in 1989-90, discovered the cemetery of the pyramid-builders, and Mark Lehner, director of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP), who in 1991 had found ancient bakeries due south of the Sphinx. Few had previously questioned the purpose of this enigmatic structure, the Wall of the Crow, which has been visible for thousands of years and through which horse-riders from Neslet Al-Siman regularly passed. Whether it was a causeway, a bridge or a tunnel was not clear. However it did pose another question: a gateway to what? It seemed certain that something really big lay to the south, and in 2001 Lehner set workmen to clear a deep layer of sand and debris to the north side of the structure.

It was no easy task. Sand bags were used to hold back the rubble that had accumulated along the sides of the wall, and only when cleared was it realised what an impressive structure it really was. The gate was more than 2.5 metres wide and about seven metres high, and the wall itself was more than 10 metres thick. It is one of the largest gateways of its kind in the world. The roadway passing through it was carefully paved with what appeared to be abraded ceramic fragments, well trampled and worn. It sloped down several metres under the sand to what Lehner suspected might be a buried harbour to the north.

It seemed certain that the fourth-dynasty Egyptians who built the pyramids between 2613 and 2494BC constructed both the wall and the gateway, and that the purpose was to control the flow of people and material from a harbour into what, on further excavation, proved to be a pre-planned settlement area for seasonal workers. The Wall of the Crow was, in fact, an integral part of a production facility. It might also have served a secondary purpose: to protect the site from periodic flash floods. Lehner speculated that the design of the massive wall might have incorporated a symbolic function ? to demarcate the sacred pyramid-temple precinct from the production zone.

It was thus that a major discovery was made during routine excavations at Giza. The Chicago Oriental Institute, Harvard University, and the GPMP unearthed evidence that has revolutionalised our views about how the pyramids were built.

Lehner’s team excavated a street that linked the workers’ town to the pyramid complex and what was labelled the “eastern town with a huge royal building for storage and administration. From an early stage in the work, it seemed certain that it was all part of a vast ancient settlement site with streets, galleries, bakeries and industrial areas, and that it included barracks which could shelter and feed up to 2,000 rotating labourers who worked in shifts following the well-established Egyptian pattern whereby local town and village leaders sent teams from their provinces all over the country to share in great national projects. Bearing in mind that the Old Kingdom settlement continues under Nezlet Al-Siman, and, considered alongside other parts of the settlement not yet excavated, the whole area might have contained as many as  20,000 labourers (an Egyptologist’s estimate), many of  whom would have been in support industries like pottery and cloth manufacture.

Zahi Hawass had discovered the graves of the pyramid-builders, which laid to rest many legends about who built them. Now he and Lehner were providing the answer to how the royal house organised its pyramid-building infrastructure.

When the enormity of the discovery ? and its importance ? was realised, Lehner set about acquiring funding for an ongoing excavation. This was no easy matter. Money is not difficult to come by when objects of art are discovered, or even inscribed stone that might suggest a tomb or temple below ground. But this part of Giza had yielded little in the way of beautiful art objects or inscriptions. However, the ancient settlement did offer abundant evidence in the form of copper and alabaster work, weaving, pottery loom shuttles and mud loom weights, a tiny copper fish-hook and a fish-net weight. Although not a very inspiring collection for a fund-raising mission, Lehner ? whose affable manner disguises resolve and great strength of character ? nevertheless went on tour in the United States and announced his intention of salvaging and mapping this newly discovered City of the Pyramids. He said he aimed to retrieve information about the lives of the pyramid builders embedded in its ruins, and to throw light on the Great Pyramid Age.

Lehner set up the Ancient Egyptian Research Associates (AERA) and published its newsletter “AERAGRAM”, designed to provide up-to-date information. The response was heartening, and with generous grants coming from the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation, philanthropist David Koch, Peter Norton and others, the Millennium Project 2001 was launched. The newsletter is now being published regularly, in English and Arabic, and describes the progressive clearing, mapping and excavation of the three areas of the town in order to study and analyze material as it comes to light.

In the past there was a delay between excavation and publication in order that questions could be resolved, and conclusions arrived at, before discoveries were made public. In today’s archaeological methodology evidence is presented as it comes to light, and thus questions are posed that still need to be answered. Take, for example, the long colonnaded galleries that were unearthed. What were they? Might they have been massive barracks for workers? They were certainly large enough to accommodate between 40 and 50 individuals, and at first it seemed entirely possible that they were used by a rotating labour force. And perhaps the large house in one block of the barracks, at the eastern end of the galleries, was for the overseer who supervised the teams of workers?

When the vast modern layers of sand and debris had been stripped away, evidence of meat processing and feseekh (salted fish) production were found to the east, west and south of the galleries. Then a large royal storage and administrative complex was unearthed. Seven large mud-brick silos, obviously for the storage of grain, were found in a sunken courtyard 19 metres across. Sure enough, scores of bakeries were found nearby. Perhaps they were part of a whole series that may lie under the modern soccer field of the Sphinx Sports Club football field which was built in 1984.

“Settlement excavation is the most difficult and most subtle,” Lehner says. “For instance, the small mud ‘tokens’, which may represent the special flat and conical bread eaten by the Egyptians, appear to have been used for accounting and administrative purposes. They might relate to fourth-dynasty social order and the organization of work.”

Like today’s cities, the extremely complex and historically important “eastern town” was crowded; there are traces of alleyways between the houses; of household granaries and bins; and of grinding stones for processing grain into flour. No fewer than 5,000 mud sealings were unearthed, some bearing the names of the kings Khafre and Menkaure, the builders of the Second and Third Pyramids, confirming the Old Kingdom date of the settlement.

Egypt’s oldest known hypostyle hall was also found. “Its location suggests that it may originally have functioned as a communal dining facility,” Lehner says. “Animal and fish bones that were found near low troughs and benches that run the length of the floor of the hall may have been droppings from meals. Fragments of pottery bowls, lids and stands for vessels point to food consumption rather than preparation.”

Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner together hypothesised on the workings of a pyramid city and how it was controlled; its housing, food and administration; whether or not the permanent workers and their families lived in the “eastern town”, and whether there might indeed be other storehouses lying beneath the modern soccer field. Would trial pits beyond it reveal another vast archaeological site? In fact it did.

Giza has also provided evidence that pyramid building was planned like a long- term military campaign. A vast army of part-time workers was recruited, and every aspect was taken into account, from what numbers of labourers were required to where and how they were accommodated and how much sustenance they needed. Even their comfort was considered: a shady area was provided where they could comfortably eat their food.

Will there soon be an answer to one of the longest-running questions of all time? 

A search for the lost city  

An  all-inclusive field school supported by the American Research Center in Egypt with a USAID grant is heralding a new age for Egyptology and other disciplines   

Mark Lehner, director of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP), realised that the excavation of the vast ancient settlement site at Giza offered him “an opportunity to give back to Egypt something in return for all the years I have enjoyed excavating here.” He envisioned running a rigorous training programme for Egyptian inspectors to guide them in the basics of standard archaeological practice around the world, and today, all over the country, selected SCA inspectors are being trained in the standard practices that are now used for stratigraphic excavation and recording in Britain, France, other European countries, and the United States. 

Lehner’s aim harmonised with the objective of SCA director Zahi Hawass to train Egyptian inspectors in advanced techniques of field archaeology in order, eventually, to make prior training at one of the professional field schools a condition for appointment to join foreign missions. This fits in neatly with the concern of the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) that funds be provided to train Egyptian inspectors. Gerry Scott, ARCE’s recently-appointed director, reacted positively with a USAID grant.

Thus, in collaboration with the SCA, the support of the USAID grant through ARCE, and the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Science, Lehner recruited Mohsen Kamel and Ana Tavares to organise a “hands-on” training course known as the Giza Field School. It works within the impressive area of 230 metres east-west and nearly 300 metres north-south, and the chosen students come from as far afield as Sinai, the Delta cities, Beni Suef in Middle Egypt, and Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt. They are being professionally guided, by a team of 55 archaeologists and specialists, including field instructors. In addition to tending basic skills and techniques, they are guided  in the use of digital equipment and techniques far more advanced than the conventional stratigraphical excavations and recording being carried out elsewhere. Kamel explains:  “Even the basic skills are more advanced, in giving every deposit a discrete number, recording all the stratigrahic relationships (which is to say what came before what), and sampling for all classes of material culture: animal bone, ancient plant remains, pottery, charcoal, chipped stone, and mud sealing fragments.”

 “This joint exercise of archaeology with professional instructors combined with a participating field school has proved a rich and rewarding experience for all,” Lehner says. “Our aim is to train students in the standard practices that are now used for stratigraphic excavation and recording in Britain, France, other European countries, and in the United States. What is being taught is what is required by the SCA,” to which Hawass adds, “Lehner’s special talent combines scholarship with excavation techniques and administrative know-how”.

“In the past, Egyptian inspectors who accompanied foreign archaeological missions did little more than act as facilitators” Hawass says. “They bought supplies and expedited permits, and 95 per cent were ignorant of the mechanics of scientific excavation. Unless you are qualified, know how to identify strata, interpret and deal with material as it comes to light, and know how to record it, you destroy the historical record.”

Aware of the shift from object-finding to field archaeology, Hawass took early steps, following his appointment as secretary-general of the SCA in 2002, to release two of Egypt’s foremost archaeologists, Atiya Radwan and Mansour Boraik, from their SCA duties and send them with a group of students to the field school in New Mexico.

“When they returned, ARCE responded to our needs in providing funds from USAID for further training in Egypt,” he says.

ARCE took the initiative to finance the first schools, at Mit Rahina (Memphis) under Diana Patch, in Fayoum under Willeke Wendrich, at Nabta Playa in Nubia under Fred Wendorf, and in Sinai under some of Egypt’s top archaeologists. Gerry Scott, keen to encourage and continue field schools, arranged USAID financing for the Giza Field School.  “The grant largely contributed to the financing of the first cycle of two years of Mark Lehner’s training school with beginners and specialists at Giza,” Scott says.  

What is emerging from the field training is that Egyptians are gaining a level of proficiency and confidence and will not in the future have to rely on foreigners. The Giza Field School is increasing their numbers, and once they graduate they become eligible, through the SCA, to conduct their own excavations as well as to teach. “This is a great leap in the right direction,” Lehner says. “The school provides ongoing training for the workmen as well as inspectors, all of whom have been integrated with the dig. It is a huge operation, an enormous challenge.”

The Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP) can be measured not only in the size of the exposed ancient settlement but also in the growing number of students in training. “We processed 247 applications and interviewed 190 applicants at the SCA Zamalek headqarters in mid-March 2006,” said Kamel. “On November 16-17, in the middle of the Advanced Field School, we interviewed over 300 applicants for our 2007 Beginners Field School session,  which opened in February 2007- a snowballing interest in professional archaeology.”

Lehner says this is a unique opportunity for students to participate in an ongoing excavation side by side with professionals in our archaeological team. “One of our goals is to integrate the field school into the overall excavation so that we do not have isolated ‘practice’ squares,” he says. “Instead, each team works in a square adjacent to a main excavation area. The students’ results are as important as everyone else’s in helping us understand the site.”

The team members are multi-disciplined. Ceramist Anna Wodzinska has collected, categorised, and studied the Old Kingdom pottery. Together with seven other specialists she is working on a manual of Egyptian pottery from predynastic Fayoum A to modern, a task of immense importance to students. Wodzinska has noted that 70 per cent of the pottery mass at Giza are bread pots. Jessica Kaiser, an osteoarchaeologist, has an enthusiastic and devoted following among the students, is studying the large number of Late Period burials and has prepared a thick binder with tabbed categories for human skeletons.

“This is an opportunity to study the bones of people of modest means who were buried some 2,000 after the site was abandoned by the pyramid builders,” Kaiser says. The skeletal remains were so fragile that they had to be thoroughly documented in situ before an attempt could be made to lift them. “It proved to be too time-consuming, so I managed to computerise the process and now we have the largest collection of scientifically dug low-status burials from the period between 664 and 343BC. It is unique, and our workmen have learned a great deal in the process; they know the Latin names of the different bones, and have helped me label the bone bags and lift and pack the burials.”

Kamel calls it salvage archaeology, a “hands-on”, practical training programme on which the students have proved to be dedicated and very serious. “They have integrated easily with professionals,” he says. “Apart from learning practical skills in mapping and documentation, they have to write weekly reports, prepare general reports at the end of the programme, and attend lectures given by instructors on specific topics. They also give lectures and PowerPoint presentations themselves in order to acquaint other members of the team with what is happening in each area of the excavation. In the advance course, they specialise in ceramics, human osteology, survey, archaeological illustration, or excavation, and attend workshops on these specialisations.

The GPMP is not about monuments or discovery: it is about information. “It is the interdisciplinary approach which provides a rich context for instruction,” Tavares says. “We assume no prior knowledge. We teach students the basics of how to take measurements, lay out grids, and record features by hand.

“The best archaeologists can be trained with very simple digging tools - a tape measure, a compass, and a note-book and a pen,” she adds, “! Mud-brick archaeology ? the medium from which the worker’s settlement was built ? is very fragile. If not recorded on the ground, the information is lost. It’s difficult and time-consuming work and it has to be done meticulously.”

Once the students have passed their field training they themselves will be eligible to give SCA training courses. “This is a tremendous incentive,” Kamel says. “There is no doubt that the experience gained at Giza provides inspectors with a solid foundation for managing other sites around the country.” Indeed, when the first batch of the students were handed a certificate, bearing logos of the SCA, ARCE and AERA at the offices of the American Research Centre in Cairo at the conclusion of the 2005 field season, all expressed the wish to continue the programme.

And so, at the foot of the pyramid plateau at Giza, the parts of the large and complex archaeological jig-saw puzzle that have yet to be joined are being put together. Lehner is directing a vast enterprise that includes some 175 Egyptian and foreign experts, four field school groups excavating in different areas, and a following of devoted students who are confident of becoming competent archaeologists.

“It’s an SCA/ARCE partnership, achieved with the support of The Charles Simonyi Fund for the Arts and Sciences” Lehner says. “We have introduced to Egypt the standard practice as outlined in the MoLAS (Museum of London Archaeological Service) Manual in tandem with regular interdisciplinary GPMP excavations, and the chosen students are working concurrently with the experts. They are an active ? be it vigilantly supervised ? part of the interdisciplinary, long-term project.

One student on his way to work looked out over the expansive site, the assembled crew of workers, foreign colleagues, and his compatriots from all parts of the country and, recalling the heyday of pyramid building, reportedly said: “Just think! All of Egypt is united here! Could it have been so for those who lived 4,500 years ago in the city we are discovering?”