1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: and moments in time. If you happen to be an 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: admirer of the early eighties rap and dance music scene 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: in l A, then you may have heard of the 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: Egyptian Lover. Gregory Broussard based his entire musical persona on 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: a kind of mash up of ancient Egypt and synthesizer 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,959 Speaker 1: age living. His lyrics frequently refer to the Nile, as 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: well as gold speakers and water beds. But amid all 12 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: this hip hop Egypt Domania, one particular lyric fragment stands 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: out from the song Egypt Egypt of his debut album 14 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: on the Nile quote, pyramids are also shiny. The women 15 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: here are also cute. The freaks are on the floor 16 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: now dancing to beats that I compute. We, of course, 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: should not spend too much time comparing the Nile King's 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,839 Speaker 1: lyrics here to actual ancient Egyptian history, Yet that first 19 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: line is quite enticing. Pyramids are as shiny, are they Well, 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: maybe not anymore. Without a doubt, the Pyramids of Giza 21 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: are awe inspiring works of human endeavor. The Great Pyramid, 22 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: built in the twenty century b c e. Towers four 23 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: hundred and forty nine point five ft or a hundred 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: and thirty seven ms, and is estimated to contain two 25 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: point three million stone blocks, each waying two point five 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: to fifteen tons. It was the tallest structure in the 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: world for more than four thousand years, and even today 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: it stands taller than such landmarks as the Statue of 29 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: Liberty and Big Ben And the Great Pyramid was once 30 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: even taller thirty one ft or nine point five meters 31 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: taller to be exact. As you can probably guess, this 32 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: is because humans have absconded with materials from the Great 33 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: Pyramid over the millennia. This includes the cap stone or 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: pyramid ian, which has been lost since antiquity, but it 35 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: also entails the white limestone casing that once covered it entirely. Yes, 36 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: the Great Pyramid would not only have been also shiny, 37 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: it would have gleamed with the brilliance of the sun, 38 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: visible from various important ancient sites. The divine brilliance of 39 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: the god Ray would have seen part of the construction itself. 40 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: As Gary Shaw pointed out in a article for Apollo Magazine, 41 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: the ancient Egyptians sourced the casings limestone from the Toura quarries, 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: separate from the source of the pyramids lower quality limestone interior. 43 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: When noted. Islamic traveler and polymath A Latif al Baghdadi 44 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: visited the Great Pyramid during the twelfth century CE, much 45 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 1: of the outer casing was still in place, and he 46 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: described untranslated inscriptions in the casing as well. But in 47 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: time this limestone, too would steadily vanish to be repurposed 48 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: into the works of medieval Cairo. Tune into additional editions 49 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: of the artifact each week hosted by either Joe or myself. 50 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 51 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your 52 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more 53 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 54 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.