Who Built The Great Pyramid?

Many theories and debates surround who built the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. In some instances, some have argued that enslaved people built the pyramids.

In this clip, British journalist, researcher and writer Graham Hancock disputes this theory, noting that the precision, skill and care with which the Great Pyramid – the largest of all the Egyptian pyramids – was built, could not have been the work of enslaved people or unwilling labourers, but of individuals with ‘love’ for architecture that encompassed excellent knowledge of the earth’s physics.

In other instances, scholars – specifically those from the West – have attempted to argue that this very architectural precision noted by Hancock, means the Great Pyramid could not have been the work of African people, who they viewed through their White supremacist lenses as too primitive and backwards for such incredible feats.

Yet, through thorough empirical research, well-respected scholars like Senegal’s giant, the late Cheikh Anta Diop, demonstrated that all civilisation sprung from Africa and that Ancient Egypt, in particular, is undoubtedly an ancient African civilisation.

Hancock himself believes the Pyramid is the work of an ancient civilisation that was completely wiped off the face of the earth. His reasoning is its meticulous design is impossible to achieve ‘with the knowledge’ and ‘tools’ supposedly available in old Egypt.

Although he does not assign any race to this ‘wiped out’ civilisation, nor directly deny that this civilisation was African, we wonder if this is what he is subtly insinuating, given he has been accused of peddling racist, White supremacist narratives in some of his work and is widely considered a pseudoscientist by the academic world. Let us know in the comments what you think of Hancock’s statements. Do you think it is so hard for many European historians to grasp that Africa was leading the world in innovation and architecture at a point in history?