Talk:Great Pyramid of Giza

Construction duration: lead says about 26 years, body cites modern estimate of 27 years

The article's lead and body give two different modern estimates for the duration of the Great Pyramid's construction, and neither is reconciled with the other.

Lead section: "It was built c. 2600 BC over a period of about 26 years."

Body (Workforce section, describing a modern experimental archaeology study): "Burgos extrapolates that about 3,500 quarry-men could have produced the 250 blocks/day needed to complete the Great Pyramid in 27 years."

The lead's "about 26 years" and the body's "27 years" (from modern experimental data) are different figures. Unlike the ancient sources (Herodotus, Diodorus) which cite 20 years — widely understood to be unreliable — both the lead figure and the Burgos figure represent modern scholarly/experimental estimates, yet they disagree by a year.

The article does not explain where the lead's "26 years" comes from or how it relates to the Burgos result of 27 years. Both should be cited explicitly and the lead should note the range of modern estimates (e.g., "approximately 20–27 years by various estimates") rather than asserting a single unattributed figure. Rome (talk) 17:51, 5 May 2026 (UTC)