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<< Other Photo Pages >> Heit el-Ghurab - Ancient Village or Settlement in Egypt in Lower Egypt (North)

Submitted by Andy B on Friday, 26 April 2013  Page Views: 4720

Multi-periodSite Name: Heit el-Ghurab Alternative Name: the Lost City of the Pyramid Builders
Country: Egypt Region: Lower Egypt (North) Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Cairo
Latitude: 29.972000N  Longitude: 31.137500E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
2 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Heit el-Ghurab
Heit el-Ghurab submitted by Andy B : An image of the OK (Old Kingdom) Corral with the Giza pyramids in the distance. Researchers note that it was large enough to hold 55 cattle with feeding pens. There may also have been areas for slaughter. Image Credit: AERA Inc. (Vote or comment on this photo)
The builders of the famous Giza pyramids in Egypt feasted on food from a massive catering-type operation, the remains of which scientists have discovered at a workers' town near the pyramids. The workers' town is located about 1,300 feet (400 meters) south of the Sphinx, and was used to house workers building the pyramid of pharaoh Menkaure, the third and last pyramid on the Giza plateau.

So far, researchers have discovered a nearby cemetery with bodies of pyramid builders; a corral with possible slaughter areas on the southern edge of workers' town; and piles of animal bones.

Based on animal bone findings, nutritional data, and other discoveries at this workers' town site, the archaeologists estimate that more than 4,000 pounds of meat — from cattle, sheep and goats — were slaughtered every day, on average, to feed the pyramid builders. [See Photos of the Unearthed Giza Pyramid Site]

This meat-rich diet, along with the availability of medical care (the skeletons of some workers show healed bones), would have been an additional lure for ancient Egyptians to work on the pyramids.

"People were taken care of, and they were well fed when they were down there working, so there would have been an attractiveness to that," said Richard Redding, chief research officer at Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA), a group that has been excavating and studying the workers' town site for about 25 years.

Read more at Live Science

Note: Feeding the 10,000 strong Giza workforce but the boss gets the beef
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Nearby Images from Flickr
Sphinx Enclosure
Sphinx Enclosure
Sphinx Enclosure
Sphinx Enclosure
Egypt
Egypt

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 332m NNE 17° Giza Valley Temple* Ancient Temple
 373m N 0° Great Sphinx* Ancient Temple
 814m WNW 302° Khafre's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 917m W 273° Menkaure's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 961m NNW 341° Khufu's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 999m NW 321° Giza Mastaba Cemetery* Pyramid / Mastaba
 1.0km NNW 329° Seschemnofer III. Mastaba* Pyramid / Mastaba
 1.1km NNW 334° Senegemid Mastabas* Chambered Cairn
 1.1km NW 321° Giza Plateau* Pyramid / Mastaba
 5.0km SSE 152° Khaba's Pyramid Pyramid / Mastaba
 9.0km NW 318° Djedefre's Pyramid Pyramid / Mastaba
 9.3km SE 144° Niuserra's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 10.4km SE 143° Sahure's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 10.5km SE 142° Niuserra Sun Temple* Ancient Temple
 10.6km SE 142° Ptah Shepses Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 10.7km SE 144° Neferirkare's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 10.7km SE 143° Neferefra Sun Temple Ancient Temple
 12.1km NE 46° El Zadalek Island Obelisk* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 12.4km NE 48° Museum of Egyptian Antiquities* Museum
 13.0km SSE 146° Serapeum at Sakkara* Ancient Temple
 13.1km SE 145° Knuhmhotep and Niankhkhnum Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.2km SE 146° Ptah Hotep Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.4km SE 143° Mereruka Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.4km SE 143° Kagemni Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.4km SE 144° Userkaf's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
View more nearby sites and additional images

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"Heit el-Ghurab" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Heit el-Ghurab by bat400 on Monday, 03 June 2013
(User Info | Send a Message)
A similar article on the site submitted by coldrum-

"At the workers' town, which was likely occupied for 35 years, researchers have discovered a plethora of animal bones. Although the researchers are still unsure of the exact number of bones, Redding estimates he has identified about 25,000 sheep and goats, 8,000 cattle and 1,000 pig bones, he wrote in a paper published in the book "Proceedings of the 10th Meeting of the ICAZ Working Group 'Archaeozoology of southwest Asia and adjacent Areas'" (Peeters Publishing, 2013).

About 10,000 workers helped build the Menkaure pyramid, with a smaller work force present year-round to cut stones and complete preparation and survey work, the AERA team estimates. This smaller work force would have ramped up for a few months starting around July of each year. "

For more, see This yahoo news link.
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