London: Egyptian archaeologists claim to
have discovered a new set of tombs which proves that the men
who built the great pyramids, more than 4,000 years ago, were
not slaves -- but paid labourers.
In fact, the thousands of men who built the last
remaining wonder of the ancient world regularly ate meat and
worked three-month rotating shifts; they were also given the
honour of being buried in mud brick tombs within the shadow of
the sacred pyramids they worked on, the archaeologists say.
The tombs date back to the country's fourth dynasty
between 2575 BC and 2467 BC and it was during this time that
the great pyramids were built, the 'Daily Mail' quoted Head of
Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass as saying.
Graves belonging to workers who helped build the
pyramids were first discovered in the area in 1990 but further
discoveries such as this show the workers were paid labourers
rather than slaves.
Hawass said: "These tombs were built beside the King's
pyramid which indicates that these people weren't by any means
slaves. If they were slaves they would not have been able to
build their tombs beside their King's."
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:12