Most of the limestone for the outer casing came from nearby quarries, just a few miles away. Workers used copper chisels, wooden mallets, and a clever trick involving water. They would pound wooden wedges into cracks in the rock, soak them with water, and let the expanding wood split the stone cleanly.
The massive granite blocks for the King’s Chamber, however, came from Aswan, over 500 miles south. That’s like schlepping a boulder from Los Angeles to San Francisco—but on a river. It took serious logistics, with teams of laborers and dozens of boats working in sync.
Did you know each block weighed between 2 and 15 tons? That’s roughly the weight of a fully loaded pickup truck to a small school bus. No pressure, ancient builders.
