by Zahi Hawass

Many people from all over the world believe that the Great Pyramid of Khufu was built by men from the mythical land of Atlantis.   Others have different theories, involving aliens from outer space, for example.   None of these have any scientific basis.   Therefore, when we sent a robot inside one of the airshafts in the Great Pyramid, I wanted everyone to know that we were not hiding anything.   I have been excavating at Giza with my friend Mark Lehner for the last 20 years, and we have found no evidence at all to prove any of these theories.

On the other hand, we have discovered the tombs of nobles, officials, and priests who served the Egyptian kings of the Old Kingdom.   And we have discovered the tombs and houses of the men and women who built the pyramids for these kings.   These tombs and houses prove that the pyramids were built by Egyptians, not people from a lost civilisation.   In the tombs, we have found the names and titles of many pyramid builders.   The names are Egyptian, and they have titles such as "overseer of the side of the pyramid," and "overseer of the workmen who drag the stones".   Nearby are workmen's barracks, bakeries, a cafeteria, and a huge administrative building.   Up to 55 workmen slept in each barracks, and 11 cows and 33 goats, enough to feed 10,000 workmen, were slaughtered each day.

There was a core of permanent craftsmen and supervisors at Giza.   But the pyramids were built with the support of households from all over Egypt.   Families would send their young people to help with the construction, and in return may have been exempted from paying taxes.   We believe that the temporary workmen were changed every three months.

The workmen rose with the dawn and slept with the sunset.   They worked in ten-day weeks, with one day off, plus holidays.   They worked hard, and their bones show the evidence of physical stress.   But they were also cared for, with emergency medical attention available.   One man even lived for fourteen years after his leg was amputated.

The Pyramids were built by Egyptians.   These men and women must have been proud to be part of their national project, building eternal monuments to their god-kings.

Who built the Pyramids?, The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, September 19, 2005.

Egyptian police have foiled an attempt to smuggle an ancient statue of Pharaoh Rameses II out of Egypt for sale to a foreign museum or private collector.

Security sources said Thursday that thieves found the granite statue in the region of Giza near Cairo in the area of the big pyramids and did not report it to the authorities.

Police were tipped off about the discovery, however, and policemen posing as art merchants convinced the thieves to sell them the statue for 4 million Egyptian pounds ($695,000).

The thieves, who planned to break the statue into several pieces to facilitate smuggling it out of the country, showed the disguised policemen to the place where they had been hiding it.

Rameses II, one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, ruled ancient Egypt for 67 years between 1213 and 1279 B.C., and his statues are found in several parts of the country.

Attempt to smuggle pharaoh's statue foiled, UPI via Washington Times, District of Columbia, USA, September 15, 2005.

cf. Attempt to smuggle pharaoh's statue foiled, UPI via Science Daily, District of Columbia, USA, September 15, 2005.

Amateur Egyptologist Joanne Salvador of Lindenhurst recently acquired, with three partners, a rare and beautiful yellow limestone sculpture of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, who lived about 3,300 years ago.   "We had to follow clues to find this," she says, after learning that a private collector who owned it had died. Salvador majored in psychology and minored in art history at Stony Brook University, but acquired her passion for Egypt, she says, after watching Boris Karloff in the 1932 film " The Mummy" on TV as a child.   "It was my dream to find something.   I'm very lucky."   For one night only, 7-10 p.m. next Friday, the head will be on display at the Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences, Earth & Space Sciences Building, Stony Brook University.   The free "Ancient Egyptian Evening," which Salvador coordinated, includes the display of other artefacts, music and refreshments.   For information, call 631-632-8230.

On the Isle: King Tut to visit Stony Brook, Newsday, USA, September 18, 2005.