Did The Egyptians Forget How To Build Pyramids?

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]The Great Pyramid is one of the most impressive structures on Earth. So, please explain this to me. Why does it look like the Egyptians got worse at building pyramids over time? Because we're taught in school that civilization improves over time.

[00:00:18]Technology advances, engineering gets better, knowledge grows.

[00:00:24]That's the normal pattern throughout history.

[00:00:28]But when it comes to ancient Egypt, the pyramids tell a very different story indeed. Because if the Egyptians mastered pyramid construction early on, then why do later pyramids look like collapsing mud hills?

[00:00:48]If a civilization inherited massive ancient structures, it would make sense that later rulers would try to imitate them. Because imagine standing in front of something like the Great Pyramid thousands of years ago. You'd probably think this wasn't built by ordinary people at all. You'd think this had to be something sacred, something left by the gods on Earth. And if something is believed to be sacred, you preserve it.

[00:01:20]You honor it, and eventually you try to recreate it. Kings copy greatness or damn right try to steal it. And we know that this happened in Egypt. Take Ramesses the Great for example. He would deliberately place his cartouche, which is his name, onto statues and monuments connected to earlier rulers and claim them as his own. And he wasn't the only one. Pharaoh Horemheb did similar things, removing names and taking over monuments connected to earlier rulers.

[00:01:56]Then there was Thutmose the Third, who also targeted Hatshepsut, erasing her name and rebranding parts of her massive building projects. So, the idea of pharaohs attaching themselves to the achievements of the past is not speculation because we know it happened.

[00:02:17]So, ask yourself, if pharaohs were willing to put their name on statues, temples, and mon uments that they didn't build, is it really far-fetched to believe that a pharaoh, in this case Khufu, could have looked up at the Great Pyramid and claimed something that he didn't build? And if later pharaohs saw these monuments as symbols of power, status, and perhaps even something sacred, then of course they would want the same thing. So, what if later rulers attempted to recreate the glory of these earlier monuments and failed? Not because they lacked intelligence, but because they didn't fully understand how the originals had been achieved. Because honestly, when you compare the Great Pyramid to some of these later examples, the gap feels difficult to explain. The ambition remains, the desire remains, but the execution changes dramatically.

[00:03:27]And that possibility becomes even more fascinating when you realize how obsessed ancient Egypt were with the distant past. Even they looked backwards towards earlier ages with reverence.

[00:03:42]Then there's the later explanation.

[00:03:44]Egyptologists usually say the later pyramids got worse because Egypt changed. The huge centralized power of the Old Kingdom weakened. Kings had fewer resources, the economy shifted.

[00:03:59]Later builders often used cheaper materials like mud brick, rubble core, and smaller rough stones instead of the massive limestone blocks used in the earlier monuments. But to me, that still raises questions because even if the materials were cheaper, would the building knowledge and techniques suddenly disappear almost overnight? In other words, [clears throat] even if the pyramid had to be smaller because of limited resources, surely the skill level should still be there to produce something recognizable. So, why does the Great Pyramid still stand today with its precision and alignments whilst people today still scratch their heads wondering exactly how it was achieved compared to the pyramids at Saqqara, which honestly, if you didn't know what you were looking at, you would be forgiven for thinking it was nothing more than a hill. You tell me right now, does the timeline feel backwards to you?

[00:05:05]I mean, what happened here? Did the Egyptians suddenly lose the ability to build pyramids in just a few generations?

[00:05:13]Because the time between the Fourth Dynasty, when the Great Pyramid was said to have been built, [music] and the Fifth Dynasty, where some of these mud hills actually occur, is not as much time between them as you would think.

[00:05:29]Because we're not talking thousands of years here.

[00:05:33]We're talking about roughly a century or so.

[00:05:37]And in the grand timeline of the ancient Egyptians civilization, which was about 3,000 years, that's not a very long period of time at all.

[00:05:49]So, how do you go from one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history to structures that today barely resemble pyramids at all in such a short space of time? Now, [clears throat] let's talk about the elephant in the room, the Great Pyramid itself. Because regardless of what theories you believe, this structure is extraordinary. And standing in front of it really blows the mind. Even modern engineers still debate aspects of how it was built. [music] The truth is, nobody can say with complete certainty exactly how the Great Pyramid was constructed.

[00:06:30]We have plenty of theories, but no concrete proof proving any one of the methods beyond all doubt. The alignment is incredibly precise, the stonework is astonishing. And inside the King's Chamber are granite beams weighing up to 80 tons. Think about that for a second.

[00:06:50]These stones were quarried, transported, lifted high into the structure, and positioned with incredible accuracy over 4,500 years ago.

[00:07:02]That alone makes the Great Pyramid one of the greatest engineering achievements in history. And I had the absolute pleasure of entering the Great Pyramid only a few weeks before recording this video. And honestly, it had me baffled at just how this thing was built.

[00:07:23]Because as you crawl through these shafts, which by the way were never meant for tourists, because these steps you see today are modern, not ancient, and suddenly pop your head out into the Grand Gallery, and that moment genuinely hits you.

[00:07:42]You're confronted with these enormous stone beams laid with incredible precision stretching up above you. And standing there in person, you're not thinking about the history books. The only thing in your mind is how was this structure built with astonishing precision using 2.3 million blocks of stone. And the structure itself itself aligns to true north within 3/60 of a degree. So, what happened? Did they lose the knowledge somehow? Or is there another possible reason that nobody wants to talk about?

[00:08:26]But we're going to talk about it right here, right now. If the Egyptians could achieve that during the Fourth Dynasty, why do many later pyramids appear dramatically inferior? Now, to be clear, a decline in pyramid quality doesn't automatically prove inheritance, but it does raise a serious question. If later Egyptians had the same knowledge that supposedly created the Great Pyramid, why do they appear to struggle so much to replicate it? Because that's ultimately what led me to consider another possibility. Could the Egyptians have inherited the pyramids that we're told were built in the Fourth Dynasty, but maybe in fact they weren't? And before people immediately dismiss that idea, there are things that I have covered in previous videos that raise questions around the accepted timeline, like the water erosion evidence around the Sphinx and around the surrounding structures, i.e. the Valley Temple.

[00:09:32]Now, whether you agree with that interpretation or not is another conversation entirely, but for me it raises an important question. Could parts of Egypt be older than we think?

[00:09:46]Now, I'm not claiming this as fact, but think about the possibility for a moment and genuinely ask yourself if you think it's possible or not.

[00:09:57]And this is where the story becomes much larger than Egypt.

[00:10:02]Because across the ancient world, we often see something the oldest structures are sometimes the most impressive. Massive megalithic stonework, incredible precision, techniques that later cultures appear to struggle to match. You see it in Peru with the megalithic stonework at sites like Saksaywaman. In fact, all over Peru, you can clearly see different styles of architecture sitting on top of each other. And something that always stood out to me, the most impressive stonework often seems to sit at the bottom.

[00:10:39]Huge blocks fitted together with astonishing precision.

[00:10:44]Then your eyes move upwards, the stone often becomes smaller, rougher, and less complex.

[00:10:51]Now, I'm not saying that proves anything by itself, but it definitely raises questions because if the same culture built everything from top to bottom, why does the quality sometimes appear to change so dramatically?

[00:11:08]Could later cultures have found certain walls already standing and simply built on top of them?

[00:11:18]Then you see the same thing in Egypt.

[00:11:20]Take the Valley Temple for example. I covered this before, but when you stand in front of this structure, you're looking at these blocks weighing over a hundred ton. Massive megalithic stones fitted together with incredible precision.

[00:11:35]And then, in other areas, you see much smaller, rougher stonework appearing alongside. Again, I'm not saying this automatically proves different builders, but my job is to ask the questions and put them to you to make your own minds up for what makes sense to you.

[00:11:57]But it does raise questions because if you keep seeing these highly impressive structures at the foundation of sites followed by smaller, less impressive works appearing later, you start wondering whether you're looking at a different phase of construction or possibly different builders entirely, which brings me back to Saqqara. Walking through Saqqara genuinely changed how I looked at the pyramid story because once you notice the decline, you can't stop noticing it.

[00:12:32]The earlier pyramids feel like masterpieces. The later ones often feel like imitations struggling to reach the same standard. And whether the answer is lost knowledge or just the decline of Egypt like Egyptologists say, or the possibility that later Egyptians inherited the structures from earlier ages, the mystery deserves far more attention than it gets. Because maybe the biggest question isn't how the pyramids were built. Maybe it's why later generations seemed unable to build them in the same way. And honestly, that question might just change everything.

[00:13:17]So you tell me, do you think Egypt simply lost resources and engineering capability over time or were later dynasties attempting to recreate something far older than themselves. Let me know your thoughts below because the deeper you investigate ancient history, the stranger it becomes.

[00:13:36]To be here, I'm guessing you liked the video. So, thank you very much for that.

[00:13:39]But, please hit that like and subscribe button and I will see you in the next