Talking Pyramids

Abdel-Halim Noureddin, professor of ancient language at Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology and his team of Egyptologist and Astronomers have come under fire as Zahi Hawass and Ramadan El-Badri slam their finding that the contstruction of the Great Pyramid commenced on the 23rd of August, 2470 BC.

From Al-Ahram Weekly:

“There is not a jot of scientific evidence that can accurately determine the day, or even the season, on which pyramid construction work started,” Ramadan El-Badri, supervisor of the national project for documenting Egypt monuments, told Al-Ahram Weekly. “Ancient Egyptians calculated years in a different way than we do today. Each king has his own chronology, and we do not even know whether they begin with the coronation, or with the completion of the Pharaoh’s first year in office.”

Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, questions Noureddin’s assertions on two grounds. He points out that it is impossible to establish equivalencies between Egyptian months and their Coptic counterparts, let alone the modern 12 months used today. He also says that the actual length of Khufu’s reign has yet to be determined with any accuracy. According to the Turin papyrus King Khufu ruled for 33 years while other archaeological evidence suggests that he was on the throne for 30 or 32 years.

Hawass questions the source of the team’s conviction that construction of the pyramid was related to the timing of the Nile flood. It is based, he says, on suggestions made by Herodotus, a speculation that recent discoveries by American Egyptologist Mark Lehner at the administrative complex on the Giza Plateau has shown to be inaccurate. Lehner has conclusively shown that construction work lasted for the whole year and not only along the inundation season, though the number of workers did indeed increase during the flood.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Giza, Sayed Abdel-Aziz declared that the Giza governorate day should be moved from 21 March to 23 August to coincide with the new finding.

Read the whole story: Happy Clappy Day – Al-Ahram Weekly

Related posts:

1. Exact Date of Great Pyramid Determined Pyramid of Khufu. Stevesheriw. CC By NC It seems that...
2. Ropes, Rods & the Mathematics of the Pyramid Here is another article from Assem Deif, professor of mathematics...
3. Khufu Revered as God This is a story from the archives, appearing in Al-Ahram...
4. Sirius and the Face of the Pyramids A new article by Assem Deif published today in Al-Ahram...
5. Friday Photo: Overseer of the Great Pyramid It’s been a while since I posted a photo of...

Tags: hawass, Khufu