in the period in which you place the construction of the three pyramids of Giza (1896-1716 BC), how many inhabitants did Egypt have? How many people worked on the construction of the pyramids? Did Egypt have a sufficient workforce or did other peoples contribute to the construction of these buildings?
The Giza pyramids appear to have been built without slave labor for the most part. I think they had a cycle of life in Egypt where the Nile flooded for 4 months of the year, and they couldn't farm. So they built temples, and tombs on the high ground outside the river valley during the flood season. That also made it easier to get boats with heavy stones to their destinations.
Abraham was 10 generations from the Flood when he visited, but already 75 years old. And he was a late generation of his own father. So the Giza pyramids were built about 13 to 18 generations after the Flood. People were still living to the age of 180, as Isaac did. So, you probably had 4 generations alive at any given time. As they were living that long child mortality must have been considerably lower.
If the fertility rate was 5 sons per woman, then it is entirely possible that Egypt could have had a population of several million people. That was more than enough to build the pyramids.
Hi Ken,
in the period in which you place the construction of the three pyramids of Giza (1896-1716 BC), how many inhabitants did Egypt have? How many people worked on the construction of the pyramids? Did Egypt have a sufficient workforce or did other peoples contribute to the construction of these buildings?
Thanks for your always very interesting articles!
The Giza pyramids appear to have been built without slave labor for the most part. I think they had a cycle of life in Egypt where the Nile flooded for 4 months of the year, and they couldn't farm. So they built temples, and tombs on the high ground outside the river valley during the flood season. That also made it easier to get boats with heavy stones to their destinations.
Abraham was 10 generations from the Flood when he visited, but already 75 years old. And he was a late generation of his own father. So the Giza pyramids were built about 13 to 18 generations after the Flood. People were still living to the age of 180, as Isaac did. So, you probably had 4 generations alive at any given time. As they were living that long child mortality must have been considerably lower.
If the fertility rate was 5 sons per woman, then it is entirely possible that Egypt could have had a population of several million people. That was more than enough to build the pyramids.