Editing Great Pyramid of Giza (section)

===Classical antiquity===

====Herodotus====

[[File:Herodotus Massimo Inv124478.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] was one of the first major authors to discuss the Great Pyramid.]]

The [[Classical Greece|ancient Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]], writing in the 5th century BC, is one of the first major authors to mention the pyramid. In the second book of his work ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'', he discusses the history of Egypt and the Great Pyramid. This report was created more than 2000 years after the structure was built, meaning that Herodotus obtained his knowledge mainly from a variety of indirect sources, including officials and priests of low rank, local Egyptians, Greek immigrants, and Herodotus's own interpreters. Accordingly, his explanations present themselves as a mixture of comprehensible descriptions, personal descriptions, erroneous reports, and fantastical legends; as a result, many of the speculative errors and confusions about the monument can be traced back to Herodotus and his work.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=125}}{{sfn|Edwards|1986|pp=990–991}}

Herodotus writes that the Great Pyramid was built by Khufu (Hellenized as Cheops) who, he erroneously relays, ruled after the [[Ramesside Period]] (the [[19th dynasty]] and the [[20th dynasty]]).{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|1933|p=216}} Khufu was a tyrannical king, Herodotus claims, which may explain the Greek's view that such buildings can only come about through cruel exploitation of the people.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=125}} Herodotus states that gangs of 100,000 labourers worked on the building in three-month shifts, taking 20 years to build. In the first ten years a wide causeway was erected, which, according to Herodotus, was almost as impressive as the construction of the pyramids themselves. It measured nearly {{Convert|1|km|mi}} long and {{Convert|20|yards|m|1|abbr=}} wide, and elevated to a height of {{Convert|16|yards|m|1|abbr=}}, consisting of stone polished and carved with figures.<ref name="Herodotus 124">[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.124</ref>

Underground chambers were made on the hill where the pyramids stand. These were intended to be burial places for Khufu himself and were supplied with water by a channel brought in from the Nile.<ref name="Herodotus 124" /> Herodotus later states that at the [[Pyramid of Khafre]] (beside the Great Pyramid) the Nile flows through a built passage to an island in which Khufu is buried.<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.127</ref> [[Zahi Hawass|Hawass]] interprets this to be a reference to the "[[Giza pyramid complex#Shafts|Osiris Shaft]]", which is located at the causeway of Khafre, south of the Great Pyramid.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hawass|first=Zahi|date=2007|title=The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft at Giza|url=http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/476/full/|journal=The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt|volume=1|pages=390}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=kmtsesh|date=2012-02-18|title=The Osiris Shaft: a Giza cenotaph|url=https://ancientneareast.org/2012/02/18/the-osiris-shaft-a-giza-cenotaph/|access-date=2019-10-24|website=Ancient Near East: Just the Facts|language=en|archive-date=24 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824191103/https://ancientneareast.org/2012/02/18/the-osiris-shaft-a-giza-cenotaph/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Herodotus described an inscription on the outside of the pyramid, which, according to his translators, indicated the amount of radishes, garlic and onions that the workers would have eaten while working on the pyramid.<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' 2.125</ref> This could be a note of restoration work that [[Khaemweset]], son of [[Ramesses II|Rameses II]], had carried out. Apparently, Herodotus' companions and interpreters could not read the hieroglyphs or deliberately gave him false information.{{sfn|Haase|2004a|p=127}}

====Diodorus Siculus====
Between 60 and 56 BC, the ancient Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] visited Egypt and later dedicated the first book of his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' to the land, its history, and its monuments, including the Great Pyramid. Diodorus's work was inspired by historians of the past, but he also distanced himself from Herodotus, who Diodorus claims tells marvellous tales and myths.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.69.</ref> Diodorus presumably drew his knowledge from the lost work of [[Hecataeus of Abdera]],{{sfn|Shaw|Bloxam|2021|p=1157}} and like Herodotus, he also places the builder of the pyramid, "Chemmis",<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 63">[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.63.</ref> after Ramses III.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|1933|p=216}} According to his report, neither Chemmis ([[Khufu]]) nor Cephren ([[Khafre]]) were buried in their pyramids, but rather in secret places, for fear that the people ostensibly forced to build the structures would seek out the bodies for revenge.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 64">[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 1.64.</ref> With this assertion, Diodorus strengthened the connection between pyramid building and slavery.{{sfn|Burton|1972|p=189}}

According to Diodorus, the cladding of the pyramid was still in excellent condition at the time, whereas the uppermost part of the pyramid was formed by a platform {{convert|6|royal cubit|m+ft|1|bits (|)|abbr=on|lk=in|disp=x}} high. About the construction of the pyramid he notes that it was built with the help of ramps since no lifting tools had yet been invented. Nothing was left of the ramps, as they were removed after the pyramids were completed. He estimated the number of workers necessary to erect the Great Pyramid at 360,000 and the construction time at 20 years.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 63" /> Similar to Herodotus, Diodorus also claims that the side of the pyramid is inscribed with writing that "[set] forth [the price of] vegetables and purgatives for the workmen there were paid out over sixteen hundred talents."<ref name="Diodorus Siculus 64" />

====Strabo====

The Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian [[Strabo]] visited Egypt around 25 BC, shortly after [[War of Actium|Egypt was annexed by the Romans]]. In his work ''[[Geographica]]'', he argues that the pyramids were the burial place of kings, but he does not mention which king was buried in the structure. Strabo also mentions: "At a moderate height in one of the sides is a stone, which may be taken out; when that is removed, there is an oblique passage to the tomb."<ref name="Strabo 1734">''[[Strabo]]'', ''[[Geographica]]'' 17.1.34.</ref> This statement has generated much speculation, as it suggests that the pyramid could be entered at this time.{{sfn|Petrie|1883|p=217}}

====Pliny the Elder====

[[File:Grande Illustrazione del Lombardo Veneto Vol 3 Plinio Secondo 300dpi.jpg|thumb|upright|During the [[Roman Empire]], [[Pliny the Elder]] argues that "bridges" were used to transport stones to the top of the Great Pyramid.]]

The Roman writer [[Pliny the Elder]], writing in the first century AD, argued that the Great Pyramid had been raised, either "to prevent the lower classes from remaining unoccupied", or as a measure to prevent the pharaoh's riches from falling into the hands of his rivals or successors.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}} Pliny does not speculate as to the pharaoh in question, explicitly noting that "accident [has] consigned to oblivion the names of those who erected such stupendous memorials of their vanity".{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}}

In pondering how the stones could be transported to such a vast height he gives two explanations: That either vast mounds of [[niter|nitre]] and salt were heaped up against the pyramid, which were then melted away with water redirected from the river. Or, that "bridges" were constructed, their bricks afterwards distributed for erecting houses, arguing that the level of the river is too low for canals to bring water up to the pyramid. Pliny also recounts how "in the interior of the largest Pyramid there is a well, eighty-six [[Cubit#Ancient Egyptian royal cubit|cubits]] [{{convert|86|royal cubit|m+ft|1|abbr=on|disp=out}}] deep, which communicates with the river, it is thought". He also describes a method discovered by [[Thales of Miletus]] for ascertaining the pyramid's height by measuring its shadow.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|p=36.16–17}}