Culture · c. 2600–2560 BCE
The Great Pyramid rises
Giza, near Cairo (Egypt)
For the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu, Egyptians built the Great Pyramid at Giza, originally about 146.6 m tall, over roughly 26 years. Excavated workers' camps point to organised, conscripted labour rather than slaves, perhaps 13,000 on average and up to about 40,000 at peak, and the papyrus diary of an official named Merer records limestone being shipped to the site in Khufu's 27th year.
Why it mattered
It was the tallest human-made structure on Earth for more than 3,700 years and shows how far an early state could organise labour, food supply and engineering.
Related
- The world in 3000 BCE: The First Kings chapter
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