Workers Village
The Egyptians did have slaves (usually prisoners of war or debtors), but the discovery of the workers village at Giza suggests that the pyramids were built by skilled workers and bureaucrats (who lived there all year long) and farmers (who provided seasonal labour during the inundation when they could not work on their farms). The village is about 300 metres south of the Great Sphinx. A 10 metre high wall named 'The Wall of the Crow' separates the mortuary complex from the village, with access via a huge gateway with a limestone lintel. It is thought that as many as 20,000 people may have lived there.
Archaeologists found thousands of potsherds dating from the time of the pyramids, along with the remains of buildings for the preparation of the food, supplies, building materials and medical services that the workers required. The settlement also boasts the earliest known paved street, complete with a drainage gully, and the earliest known hypostyle hall (a building with a flat ceiling supported by columns).Two intact bakeries were discovered, littered with pots, along with a cat-fish processing chamber and a number of copper-working areas. Fragments of wood and ash were found in each of these chambers, showing that even in this early period, the workers were able to obtain a good supply of precious and rare wood from a distant source. Egypt's bureaucracy was already well developed and efficient.
The worker's life expectancy was between 30 and 35 years, and both men and women suffered from the effects of their heavy labour. However, the workers also had access to fairly high quality medical care. Surgeons apparently conducted brain surgery as well as handling fractures and amputations.
Recently, Lehner discovered a series of mud ramps approximately one meter wide, within a series of colonnaded porches which he has suggested acted as a barracks for temporary workers, sleeping up to 2,000 people at once. Chambers to the rear of the barracks were used for the preparation of food, with remains suggesting the workers ate prime beef, bread and fish, and (of course) drank beer. Lehner also found evidence of a separate workers' town, to the east which he believes was the home of the skilled workers and officials, and what he hopes is the remains of a royal palace or administrative building. Inside the structure he found evidence of weaving and copper-working and a large court with numerous sunken grain stores.