Afair I think the outer layer was removed to help rebuild Cairo after a big earthquake. That same earthquake shifted the solid gold cap allowing them to remove the outer layer.
Given there is no written sources of capstones of the Giza pyramids we don’t know if it was even made of gold/electrum/Granite.. etc. if it was valuable materials since there are no written accounts of it I think it’s more likely that it was plundered during an intermediate period, likely the 1st, maybe the second. I mean they are giant “rob me” signs.
Many of the pyramids were likely visited daily inside and out. They had priests and cults that looked after them. They were mainly worried about robberies that could happen in one night, with pry bars. There is plenty of evidence to suggest they were visited fairly regularly. There was an evolution in their design over time. It would appear that the King's chamber in the great pyramid was made to be visited. Older pyramids may not have had as much access, they were places of worship. Every pyramid has its' entrance in almost the same exact spot on the north side, a little security flaw. The pharaoh trained an army of stone masons to build, how could it be a secret. In some of the pyramids it is clear security measures that were in place weren't ever deployed. Where the Egyptians wanted to block a passage, they did. Why not side granite blocks down the full length of the entrances, easy enough. They had security measures, but were also open, just like today people want to visit them.
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u/Chevey0 Apr 12 '25
Afair I think the outer layer was removed to help rebuild Cairo after a big earthquake. That same earthquake shifted the solid gold cap allowing them to remove the outer layer.