Paid workers built the Great Pyramid of Giza, not slaves.

In the 1990s, Dr. Mark Lehner and Dr. Zahi Hawass discovered a city built for pyramid workers. They found thousands of animal bones from cattle, sheep, and goats. This shows the workers ate prime cuts of meat every day. This diet was much better than what a slave or a normal farmer would eat.Scientists also studied the skeletons of the workers. They found evidence of healed broken bones and even brain surgery. This level of medical care was expensive and rare. It shows the workers were valuable to the Egyptian government. They were not treated as disposable labor.The workers were divided into groups with names like 'Friends of Khufu.' Many were farmers who worked on the pyramid when the Nile River flooded their fields. This was a way to pay their taxes through labor. They lived in a massive complex with its own bakeries to feed the large crowds.The worker cemetery has tombs shaped like small pyramids. Being buried near the king was a great honor. Experts believe about 20,000 people worked on the site at once. The idea that slaves built the pyramids was a mistake written by the Greek historian Herodotus much later in history.