A 4,500-year-old logbook reveals how workers transported stones for Khufu’s Great Pyramid.
In short: Archaeologists discovered ancient papyri at Wadi el-Jarf that detail the daily operations of a boat crew serving the Egyptian monarchy. This lecture examines these records, which provide a rare, firsthand account of the logistics behind building one of history's most famous monuments.
Unearthed in 2013, the Wadi el-Jarf papyri date to the final years of Khufu’s reign. Among these documents, Papyrus B stands out as a remarkably intact logbook. It chronicles the activities of a specialized team of boatmen tasked with supporting royal institutions near Giza, including the Valley Temple.
The records specifically document the transport of limestone blocks from Tura quarries across the Nile to the pyramid construction site. Pierre Tallet, a professor of Egyptology at the Sorbonne and a veteran of multiple excavations in pharaonic harbours and the Sinai, presents these findings to illustrate the complex travel and trade networks that sustained ancient Egyptian infrastructure.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Spotlight Lecture: Inspector Merer's logbook: Transporting blocks for Khufu’s pyramid
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