ABSTRACT
Ancient Egypt supplies a wealth of documentation on ancient bureaucracy and administration. Senior figures wielded great power within the system and this allowed for the control and mobilization of labour and materials for grandiose projects, including the building of the Giza pyramids. At the heart of the great exercises in management that arose was the administration of food rations (starting with bread and beer) by means of which labour forces were maintained. Mathematical papyri show how pragmatic solutions were found to sometimes quite complex problems of handling commodities. For the building of the pyramids, the Egyptians relied, in the first instance, on crews or gangs who maintained their own sense of identity and were housed and fed near the construction sites. Conscription rather than slavery (as narrowly defined) was its basis. The chapter ends with a detailed look at the archaeology of the town which served as the work centre for the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.
