Experts: Carson Is Pants On Fire Wrong About Pyramids Being Used For Grain Storage

Ben Carson
(Image by Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.)

Back in 1998, Ben Carson told the graduating class of Andrews University that the ancient Egyptians used the pyramids as giant grain storage facilities. What evidence did he offer to support this? Absolutely none–aside from his “personal theory.” Well, a number of archaeologists have a message for the good doctor–there is overwhelming evidence that the pyramids were tombs, not granaries.

Kristina Killgrove of Forbes wrote that Carson’s remarks triggered “a massive, collective sigh” from her fellow archaeologists–especially when Carson doubled down on his lunacy in an interview with CBS on Wednesday. According to Killgrove, this is because the ancient Egyptians themselves told us how the pyramids were used. Killgrove refers us to “The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts,” a full translation of the carvings on the pyramid walls. The translation of the texts in the pyramid of Unis, the last king of the Fifth Dynasty, makes very clear that his pyramid was not used for grain storage.

Fiona MacDonald of Science Alert lays out a fairly exhaustive list that knocks down any possibility that the pyramids were used to store grain. For one thing, inscriptions in the pyramids tell the pharaohs’ souls how to cross into the afterlife. There is also extensive evidence that people were buried there. Moreover, those hermetically sealed chambers to which Carson referred in 1998 are actually few and far between. Indeed, they were deliberately designed that way in order to foil tomb raiders. Apparently Carson forgets–or more than likely, doesn’t want his supporters to know–that a building has to be accessible in order to be viable for storage.

Besides, we actually know what ancient Egyptian granaries looked like. According to Deborah Sweeney of Tel Aviv University, granaries were dome-shaped and open at the top. Indeed, granaries have a fairly well-established tradition in their own right. Sweeney adds that while grain has actually been found in some pyramids, it was used in burial rituals.

To give you an idea how out to lunch Carson’s grain storage theory is, biblical archaeologist Jodi Magness told The Associated Press that it’s “not an academic topic of debate” that the pyramids were tombs. Indeed, even Carson’s own church is leaving him on an island. A spokesman for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church says that Carson was merely giving “his own interpretation,” not an official SDA position. Put another way, and with apologies to Politifact, Carson isn’t just wrong on this. He’s Pants On Fire wrong.

A lot of people have wondered why Carson gets so many hackles from us. Well, Killgrove puts it far better than any of us could.

“There will always be science deniers, there will always be people swayed by pseudoarchaeology, and there will always be people who believe what they want no matter the facts. It does matter, though, because Carson is vying for the job of representing the United States. So it matters that Carson casually rejects hundreds of years’ worth of research because in denying science, he throws the U.S. back into the past. It matters that he brazenly denies the Egyptian people their rightful history because this marginalizes an entire culture and makes the U.S. look like an ignorant bully.”

Now you understand why the thought of a President Carson unnerves us as much as the thought of a President Trump.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.