HOW DID THE PHARAOHS KNOW SO MUCH?

The rulers of ancient Egypt had an amazing understanding of architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. But how did they acquire this knowledge?

It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to still be standing today, and its creation continues to puzzle us: the Great Pyramid of Giza. Also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, it’s both the oldest and largest of the pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex. It was built over a period of some 20 years in the 26th century BC and remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for another 38 centuries. How could the ancient Egyptians manage to build a 481-foot-high, 6.6-million-ton tomb from more than 2.3 million massive limestone blocks in two decades? And how did they do it with so much precision? The structure has perfect right angles; its base is horizontal and flat to within 0.8 inches, and its slope has a ratio of perimeter to height that equates to 2π (two times pi, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter) to an accuracy within 0.05%. Had the Egyptians mastered the concept of pi 45 centuries ago?

The pyramids are just one of many riddles, because the Egyptians also had astonishing knowledge in other fields: They processed metals and described diseases such as asthma and tetanus and healed with herbal medicines that modern science has shown to be effective. Where did all this knowledge come from?

The problem is that there are not many written records available. How the Egyptians built the pyramids, for example, can only be reconstructed on the basis of the workshops that have been preserved, the buildings themselves, and representations in tombs. The good news is that there is more information available for other areas of knowledge. For instance, the Rhind Papyrus is an important source for Egyptian mathematics. It not only deals with the volume and area of different figures as well as the ratio of height to width in the body of a pyramid, it also reveals that the Egyptians had already calculated an approximation for pi. Nevertheless, the Egyptologist Tanja Pommerening says: “We do not encounter pi as a constant, but rather a sophisticated

algorithmic computing system. The procedures contained therein make it possible to calculate the slopes and heights of pyramids very precisely.”

Pommerening has identified three primary areas of knowledge that were important in ancient Egypt. Point 1: maintaining the cosmos. “Ultimately, the temples, including their texts and rituals, serve this purpose above all others,” says the historian, because existence was always endangered— for example, by the absence of the flooding of the Nile that ensured the fertility of soil. Point 2: the cult of the dead. Here, too, there are numerous writings that show the deceased how to journey to the afterlife unscathed. Papyrus E 32847 details among other things the substances that were used for the mummification ritual. Point 3: medicine. Writings handed down from around 1900 BC contain descriptions of remedies for injuries and illnesses such as tumors.

So how did the Egyptians come by all this knowledge? One possible trail leads to the Nubian Desert: 20 years ago huge complexes with ceremonial sites, strange graves, and an ancient stone circle for marking the summer solstice were found there. Scientists suspect the buildings were built by an unknown prehistoric culture that migrated along the Nile from Central Africa 11,000 years ago. Could Egypt’s knowledge be traced to this culture? It’s one of many remaining mysteries. Or as Egyptologist Zahi Hawass puts it: “I suspect we’ve not yet discovered two-thirds of the pharaohs’ secrets.”