The lost secrets of Merer

"The Lost Secrets of the Pyramids" is a two-part UK-Canadian documentary released in 2017. It follows several teams of archeologists in Egypt who are studying the Great Pyramid of Giza. Built by Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) 4,500 years ago during the period of Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom, it is the only one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" that is still standing. The enormous structure was intended as the last resting place of the Pharaoh and some other members of the royal court. Why on earth Khufu could convince the Egyptian people to built it for him is, of course, an interesting question! The hypothesis put forward in the documentary is that the ancient Egyptian somehow believed that the Pharaoh (who was seen as divine) controlled the inundations of the Nile, and that the prosperity of the country depended on him. 

A large portion of the docu focuses on the so-called Diary of Merer, the oldest papyrus document ever found. Merer was a prominent foreman responsible for shipping limestone to Giza on his river-going boat. The "diary" is mostly a matter of factly description of Merer´s work. 

And while we might not know *exactly* how the ancient Egyptians built the damn thing, one thing is clear: neither ancient (space) aliens nor Atlantids with supernatural powers were involved. This is obviously proven by the fact that Khufu had an entire town founded at Giza to accommodate the workers, foremen and those feeding them. Also, he had a dam constructed and a canal dug so ships carrying building material could more easily reach the site of the construction works. A new port was also built for the same purpose. Why go through all this trouble if you could just call a UFO and have them do some hypra-cosmic magic?

The archeologists featured believed that the grandiose building project was rational, at least from the viewpoint of the Egyptian elite. It was a way to mobilize resources, centralize society and create an efficient administration. Various provinces of Egypt were more tightly knit together, since the Pharaoh commandeered resources from all over The Two Lands. It also stimulated foreign contacts and trade - much of the wood needed at the construction site was apparently imported from Phoenicia (today Lebanon in the Middle East). Thus, the seemingly crazy project of building the world´s biggest royal tomb in the desert was actually quite smart! And, of course, the pyramid (or rather pyramids - two more were built by later Egyptian rulers) are still around. 

I wonder how much of, say, the Manhattan skyline will still be around in 4,500 years...