Editing Great Pyramid of Giza (section)

====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}}