Egypt tombs suggest pyramids not built by slaves

[D B Campbell]

...I'm afraid that depends on the translated version, Sean.

I was once party to a discussion held by Ben Isaac about whether archaeologists should read Greek and Latin. Certain Romano-British archaeologists in the company claimed that it was sufficient to consult the Penguin edition of an ancient writer. But Isaac argued (quite rightly, in my opinion) that, if the words of an ancient author are to be used in support of an argument, only the original words (as far as we know them) have any credibility.

According to the received Greek text, Herodotus actually wrote: "[1] ... For, having first closed all the holy places, he stopped them from their sacrifices, and then ordered all the Egyptians to work for him. ... [3] They worked distributed into ten myriads of men, each for a period of three months".

Anything extra is just the individual translator's spin.