Chronology Shaken: New 'Evidence' Discovered About the Real Builders of the Great Pyramids

A growing body of conflicting evidence is challenging the long-accepted chronology of the Great Pyramid and raising new questions about who might have built it. British author Graham Hancock recently appeared on the American Alchemy podcast, where he argued that geological and astronomical evidence suggests the monument was built not by the pharaoh Khufu 4,500 years ago, but by a lost civilization 12,500 years ago.

"There's no question that parts of the Great Pyramid were completed by the ancient Egyptians," Hancock told podcast host Jesse Michaels. "I'm not trying to take that away from them, but I think they inherited a very ancient tradition and completed a monument that was already standing in its original form on the Giza plateau."

One of Hancock's main arguments concerns the nature of the erosion of the nearby Great Sphinx, arguing that only heavy rainfall could have caused the destruction. More than a thousand years could have resulted in such deep weathering. "There was no rainfall like that on the Giza plateau 4,500 years ago, but there certainly was at the end of the last ice age," he said.

However, renowned Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass has refuted these claims. He told the Daily Mail that he had discovered workers' tombs dating back to the 13th century BC and dismissed the erosion theory, attributing the damage to the Sphinx to thousands of years of wind, not rain.

"If someone built this pyramid 12,000 years ago, aren't you going to leave any evidence at the site to prove it?" Dr Hawass asked.

"My colleague Mark Lehner and I have been excavating at Giza for the past 50 years. Everything we have found so far dates back to the Fourth Dynasty."

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid, built by Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, the Daily Mail reminds. It is one of three pyramids on the Giza plateau, the other two being the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, as well as the Great Sphinx. All are shrouded in mystery due to unclear construction methods, precise astronomical placement and still debated purpose.

Dr. Hawass shared further insights during a July appearance on Matt Beall's Limitless podcast, including details of planned excavations inside the Great Pyramid to search for the lost tomb of Khufu.

Hancock, however, remains unconvinced that any burials were ever carried out inside. "It is well known that no pharaonic burials have ever been found in the Great Pyramid, or for that matter any of the 100 Egyptian pyramids," said Hancock, known for his controversial theories about ancient civilizations.

"It is well known that no pharaoh's tomb has ever been found in the Great Pyramid, or for that matter any of the 100 pyramids in Egypt," he says. "This can partly be explained by tomb looting, but in the case of the Great Pyramid it was completely closed and sealed until the Arab raiders under Caliph Ma'mun broke in. They expected to find great treasures and riches, but instead they found a completely empty building with nothing inside."

Hancock also dismissed the popular belief that the Great Pyramid was built in just 23 years during the reign of Khufu, calling the idea "absurd".

Instead, he suggested that the structure may have taken hundreds, even thousands, of years to build.

To support his theory, Hancock pointed to the massive rock foundations beneath the three pyramids at Giza, naturally existing formations that were leveled before construction. While most archaeologists believe the foundations are natural, Hancock believes the platforms themselves are much older. He linked the structures to a lost era known in Egyptian lore as Zep Tepi, or "the First Time," citing an astronomical alignment between the pyramid platforms and Orion's Belt as it was 12,500 years ago.

"Orion's belt stars were out of alignment 4,500 years ago," he says. "The Great Sphinx faced the sunrise against the backdrop of the constellation Taurus. But in 12,500 BC, it was perfectly aligned with Leo."

Dr Hawass, however, dismissed Hancock's claims as baseless, pointing out that the ancient Egyptians left behind detailed records of the construction of the Great Pyramid. "The Wadi El-Jarf papyri are the diary of an overseer named Merer," he said. "He wrote: 'I am from the Delta. I was hired by Khufu and held the title of inspector, with 40 workers under me.'

The papyri also describe how Merer sent teams to the quarries of Tura to cut fine white limestone, which was then transported on wooden sleds to cargo ships. These ships docked at harbors built in front of each pyramid.

"There are no gaps in Egyptian history that would justify dating the pyramids back 12,000 or 20,000 years," Dr Hawass added. "That era, known as the Epipaleolithic, marked the earliest stages of civilization, too primitive for monuments of this scale."