Part 1 of 5 · freeIntroduction
For forty-five centuries, the pyramids of Giza have stood in plain sight. And for almost as long, people have asked who built them. The answers range from romantic daydreams to conspiracy theories: aliens, Atlanteans, a lost civilization. All of them start from the same idea: without modern machines, humans could never have pulled it off.
Yet the pyramids are royal tombs, designed as gateways to the afterlife, where the pharaoh begins his eternal reign. They were planned and executed with a care and precision that matched that purpose. And since the discovery of the papyri of an inspector named Merer, the question of "who" has largely been answered.
The rest is in the Sophia app.The remaining parts, the open-book quiz and the full glossary. Free to start; Premium unlocks everything.
- 2Khufu's building site: two million blocks
- 3Merer's diary and the workers' town
- 4Cattle, beer, dormitories: well-treated workers
- 5A vanished branch of the Nile and a lot of engineering
Open-book quiz8 questions whose answers are in the text.
Glossary7 terms explained in a tap.
30 languagesThe same course, from French to Japanese.
