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Curious Cases

The Puzzle of the Pyramids

Curious Cases

BBC

Technology, Science

4.84.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Great Pyramids of Giza are awesome feats of engineering and precision. So who built them - and how? Was it a mysteriously super-advanced civilization now oddly extinct? Was it even aliens? Nah, course not! Rutherford and Fry investigate how these inspiring monuments were really constructed, and learn about the complex civilisation and efficient bureaucracy that made them possible. Professor Sarah Parcak busts the myth that they were built by slaves. In fact, she reveals, it was gangs of well-paid blokes fuelled by the ancient Egyptian equivalent of burgers and beer. And Dr Chris Naunton explains how it was not some mysterious tech, but incredible organisation and teamwork which made it possible to transport massive stone blocks over long distances several thousand years before trucks arrived. Dr Heba Abd El Gawad points out how racism led to bizarre assumptions in the history of archaeology, and how those assumptions linger in contemporary conspiracy theories which refuse to accept that Egyptians could have built the pyramids themselves! Presenters: Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford Contributors: Professor Sarah Parcak, University of Alabama, Dr Chris Naunton, Egyptologist and broadcaster, Dr Heba Abd El Gawad, University College London Producers: Ilan Goodman & Emily Bird

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:05.0

It's yet another episode of the Curious Case of Roderford and Farai.

0:09.0

This week's one.

0:11.0

Quite a few people asked me this question recently, you know?

0:14.0

And I think it might be because there was a certain show that...

0:18.0

On Netflix.

0:19.0

Yes, this is a question about ancient civilizations.

0:22.0

It's slightly outside of our normal comfort zones, but it is evidence-based.

0:26.0

It is. It certainly is.

0:28.0

Yes, we did have a number of questions about the pyramids and how they were built,

0:32.0

including from your mate Murat Russell.

0:35.0

Look, it's an important subject.

0:37.0

It is, here we go.

0:38.0

To Egypt for today's Curious Case and the mystery of the pyramids.

0:48.0

Yes, Russell, age 41, wrote two Curious cases at BBC.co.uk.

0:52.0

He wants to know, how did ancient Egyptians line the pyramids up to face exactly north?

0:57.0

I read this question and thought, pyramids are square.

1:01.0

How are they facing north?

1:03.0

Aren't they facing all directions?

1:05.0

I think it's like the trying corner.

1:07.0

Anyway, let's reveal that later.

1:09.0

Dave Greasley also wrote to us wanting to know more after watching a YouTube

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