Mountains of the Pharaohs: The Untold Story of the Pyramid Builders

This is a great book if you want to learn about the history of the Pharaohs and the pyramid builders. The author, Zahi Hawass, is secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. Hawass writes that the pharaohs, initially worshippers of the sun and eventually made sun gods themselves, began constructing these pyramids (which were giant tombs) as soon as they ascended to the throne. There are some really nice facts in the book that I did not know: (a) The Sphinx originally had a beard, and fragments of it are in a museum. It was feared that the head of the Sphinx might fall off, and that the beard had to be restored in order to offer support to the head. But later scientific investigations showed that in fact the head and neck of the Sphinx were the sturdiest parts of the Sphinx. A decision was then taken not to restore the Sphinx's beard! (b) Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were not built by slaves. The burial ground of the pyramid builders was found in the 80's, and it showed that they were common people who ate meat and fish (it was once thought that only the elite ate meat), and took a day off every ten days. (c) Not all Pharaohs were cruel and unjust. Some showed caring to their people, and treated males and females equally. (d) The pyramids were built about 4,000 years ago (the erroneous and popular belief is that they were built over 10,000 years ago). They were not built by extraterrestrials or by the mythical inhabitants of Atlantis. (e) Hawass imagines Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, finding comfort in thinking that "[h]is pyramid was rising rapidly, reaching to the sky and ensuring his eternal life as a god...." (f) Hawass points out that the Great Pyramid of Khufu is the most famous monument in the world, and it has been visited, measured, photographed, and studied by scholars for centuries. (g) Giza was the heart of Egypt for three generations, and it was here that the royal government sat and where the court of the king spent much of its time. (h) Contrary to popular belief, the shape of the pyramid does not prevent dead tissue from rotting. The author actually tested this hypothesis in his office in a miniature pyramid, and the stench produced proved his point. Read this book to correct some misconceptions you might have had about the history of the pyramids!

Excellent reading. This book kept my interest, I couldn't put the book down.