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Discovery

The puzzle of the pyramids

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2023

⏱️ 29 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!

Contributors: Professor Sarah Parcak, University of Alabama, Dr Chris Naunton, Egyptologist and broadcaster, Dr Heba Abd El Gawad, University College London

Transcript

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0:00.0

Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.

0:03.6

My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.

0:08.1

I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced

0:12.2

pundits and the biggest sport stars.

0:14.3

Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players'

0:18.5

mouths.

0:19.5

But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world.

0:24.9

What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to

0:28.8

dedicated sports fans across the UK.

0:31.2

So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.

0:37.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:42.5

At normal transactions.

0:44.5

It's a kind of cyberadaguna bank.

0:46.5

Ten of millions of dollars.

0:48.5

Something I don't think anybody has seen before.

0:50.6

The cyber criminal group.

0:52.3

From the BBC World Service.

0:54.0

The Lazarus Ice is back for season two.

0:56.2

It was really like in the movies.

0:57.7

Find out more at the end of this podcast.

1:01.9

Hello and welcome to the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry on Discovery for the BBC.

1:07.0

This is the programme where you send us in the queries,

...

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