Tombs of the Tomb Builders Part 1: The Lost City of the Pyramid Builders - Ep 31

Written By Rachel Roden

In the first part of this two-episode series on the tombs of the tomb builders, host Stephanie Rice journeys beyond the iconic monuments of the Giza Plateau to explore the long-overlooked settlement of the pyramid workers.

Often overshadowed by the Great Pyramids themselves, the massive wall known as Heit el-Ghurab, aka the “Wall of the Crow”, once concealed the remains of a thriving community. Ongoing excavations have revealed barracks, bakeries, administrative buildings, and, most importantly, carefully constructed cemeteries that challenge long-standing myths about enslaved labor or alien technologies.

This episode examines the archaeological evidence for a socially stratified yet respected workforce: laborers buried in modest but well-built tombs, artisans interred higher on the hillside, and even small mastabas and pyramids constructed for workers. Through burial architecture, grave goods, and settlement remains, we uncover a story not of disposable bodies, but of skilled Egyptians who brought their regional traditions with them in life and in death.

Offline Sources Cited:

  • David, A. Rosalie (editor). 1996. The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce. Routledge, London New York.

  • Forshaw, Roger. Trauma Care, Surgery and Remedies in Ancient Egypt: A Reassessment.

  • Lehner, Mark. 2015. Labor and the Pyramids: The Heit El-Ghurab “Workers Town” at Giza. In , pp. 397–522.

  • Lehner, Mark. 2023. Combinatorial Evolution and Heterogeneous Cohabitation at the Giant Pyramids. Journal of Urban Archaeology 8:21–46.

  • Steinkeller, Piotr, and Michael Hudson. 2015. Labor in the Ancient World: A Colloquium Held at Hirschbach (Saxony), April 2005. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies No. volume 5. ISLET, Dresden.

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Rachel Roden
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