For centuries, humanity has marveled at the pyramids of Egypt, attributing their construction to Pharaoh Khufu and his workforce.

Yet, the narrative of who built these monumental structures—and how—has long been a source of intrigue, mystery, and debate.

In a compelling episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Graham Hancock presented evidence that challenges everything mainstream history has told us about the pyramids.

His claim: the pyramids were not the creation of Khufu or any pharaoh of dynastic Egypt, but rather the work of a highly advanced, forgotten civilization whose knowledge surpassed anything recognized in historical accounts.

Graham Hancock is no conventional historian.

Unlike Egyptologists entrenched in academia, Hancock approaches ancient mysteries from a unique perspective.

His career began in journalism, reporting for The Economist, but in the early 1990s, he turned his focus to exploring overlooked aspects of human history.

His questions are both simple and profound: What if human civilization is far older than we believe?

What if the history taught in schools reflects only a small fragment of a far larger story?

Could vital truths about our past have been buried, literally and figuratively, by time, stone, and academic convention?

For more than three decades, Hancock has traveled the globe—from the pyramids of Egypt to the submerged ruins off Japan, from the forests of Indonesia to ancient Central American temples—studying geology, astronomy, ancient languages, and comparative mythology.

His method combines multiple disciplines to detect patterns often missed by traditional researchers.

While many scholars dismiss Hancock as pseudoscientific, he enjoys a substantial following of readers and viewers who admire his willingness to question accepted history.

On the Joe Rogan Experience, Hancock’s theories gain a platform to be explored in depth, allowing audiences to consider evidence that challenges conventional narratives.

Hancock himself is careful not to claim omniscience.

He often emphasizes the gaps in our knowledge, particularly regarding the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Great Pyramid stands as a testament to human achievement.

Its scale, precision, and durability are admired worldwide.

Official history attributes its construction to Khufu around 2500 BCE, claiming it took just over twenty years to complete using limestone blocks, copper tools, wooden sleds, and the labor of thousands.

Yet, Hancock asks an essential question: where is the proof? Ancient Egyptians meticulously documented their history; royal tombs are adorned with inscriptions, prayers, and tributes to divine authority.

Yet the interior of the Great Pyramid offers no such evidence.

The chambers are silent and devoid of decoration, inscriptions, or even burial artifacts.

Even the King’s Chamber, containing an unadorned granite sarcophagus, offers no trace of Khufu’s presence.

The only purported evidence linking Khufu to the pyramid comes from quarry marks—graffiti discovered inside a hidden chamber above the King’s Chamber by Colonel Howard Vyse in 1837.

However, Hancock and other researchers have questioned the reliability of these marks.

Vyse, driven by competition and ambition, used explosives to access the chamber, and no witnesses corroborated his discovery.

Moreover, these marks do not appear on the pyramid’s exterior or in any contemporary records, leaving a troubling gap in the historical record.

This absence of evidence raises the possibility that Khufu may not have built the Great Pyramid at all.

Instead, he may have inherited or repurposed it, much as later pharaohs adapted existing structures.

If this is the case, the pyramid predates dynastic Egypt, implying the existence of an advanced civilization lost to history.

The implications of this idea are staggering, as it challenges the very foundations of our understanding of human civilization.

The construction of the pyramid itself presents puzzles that extend beyond historical records.

The precision achieved in its design remains remarkable even by today’s standards.

The base covers over thirteen acres and is level to within less than an inch.

The stones, some weighing up to fifteen tons, are cut and fitted with such precision that a razor blade cannot pass between them.

Granite blocks weighing up to eighty tons were transported more than 500 miles from Aswan, lifted over 150 feet, and positioned with extreme accuracy.

Yet mainstream explanations propose that these feats were accomplished with copper chisels, wooden sleds, and sheer manpower—tools and techniques many modern engineers consider insufficient for the task.

Even more extraordinary is the pyramid’s alignment.

It is oriented almost perfectly to true north, not magnetic north, with a margin of error of just 0.05 degrees.

Its internal geometry, including the Grand Gallery and King’s Chamber, demonstrates advanced mathematical and engineering knowledge.

The pyramid encodes measurements approximating pi and reflects an understanding of the solar year and the Earth’s curvature, suggesting its design was far more sophisticated than a mere tomb.

Hancock draws attention to anomalies in the building techniques and the relative decline of later pyramids.

While the Great Pyramid has endured with remarkable stability, subsequent pyramids crumbled and fell into disrepair.

Why would later builders fail to replicate a structure that was, by comparison, so precise? Hancock argues that the level of skill and knowledge exhibited in the Great Pyramid could not have originated solely from the Old Kingdom Egyptians; instead, it may have been inherited from an earlier, advanced civilization.

Clues supporting this hypothesis extend beyond the pyramids.

The Great Sphinx of Giza, long believed to have been carved around 2500 BCE during Pharaoh Khafre’s reign, may also point to a far older origin.

Dr.Robert Schoch, a geologist, analyzed erosion patterns on the Sphinx and concluded that the deep vertical fissures were caused by heavy rainfall, which Egypt has not experienced for thousands of years.

This suggests that the Sphinx may date back to around 10,500 BCE, implying the existence of a sophisticated civilization far earlier than previously recognized.

The connection between the Sphinx, the pyramids, and the stars further strengthens Hancock’s argument.

Robert Bauval noted that the three main pyramids of Giza correspond to the alignment of Orion’s Belt, including the subtle offset of the smallest pyramid, reflecting the arrangement of the stars in the constellation.

This stellar alignment corresponds to the same period identified by Schoch’s analysis of the Sphinx, around 10,500 BCE, suggesting intentional design rather than coincidence.

Hancock interprets these alignments as evidence that the monuments functioned as a celestial map, a durable message from an advanced society capable of understanding astronomy at an extraordinary level.

Hancock refers to these architects as “magicians of the gods,” a lost civilization whose knowledge of mathematics, geometry, and astronomy was unparalleled.

According to his theory, this civilization perished in a global catastrophe around 12,800 years ago, possibly triggered by a comet impact or rapid climate change during the Younger Dryas period.

Survivors of this civilization may have transmitted their knowledge to emerging societies across the globe, influencing construction, science, and astronomy in regions as distant as Central America, Turkey, and Cambodia.

Pyramids, temples, and other ancient structures worldwide share remarkable architectural and astronomical similarities, supporting Hancock’s idea of a global network of inherited knowledge.

The mystery deepens with modern discoveries that remain unexplored or censored.

In 1993, German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink discovered a sealed stone door inside the Great Pyramid using a small robot, Upuaut-2.

Rather than being allowed to investigate further, Gantenbrink was removed from the project, and the chamber remains unexplored.

In 2017, muon tomography revealed a massive hidden void above the Grand Gallery, yet no subsequent research has been conducted.

Hancock interprets these actions as deliberate suppression, reflecting the reluctance of authorities and mainstream institutions to challenge established historical narratives.

For Hancock, the issue is not simply academic curiosity—it is a call to pursue truth wherever evidence leads, regardless of conventional boundaries.

If the pyramids were not built by dynastic Egyptians, it would require a radical reassessment of human history.

The question is no longer just about dates and construction techniques; it is about identifying the people capable of such extraordinary feats, whose knowledge and skill were lost to time.

Hancock urges open-minded exploration and interdisciplinary research to uncover these hidden truths, emphasizing that curiosity and evidence must take precedence over dogma and tradition.

Ultimately, Hancock’s work compels us to reconsider the story of humanity’s past.

The Great Pyramid is more than a tomb; it is a testament to human ingenuity, astronomical knowledge, and mathematical precision that transcends our current understanding.

Whether or not one accepts Hancock’s conclusions, his research opens the door to the possibility that a lost civilization may have laid the foundations for the achievements we attribute to later, more familiar cultures.

The pyramids—and the Sphinx—stand as enduring monuments to this mysterious, forgotten chapter of human history, inviting us to explore, question, and imagine a past far richer and more complex than we have been taught.

In the end, the mystery of who built the pyramids is more than an archaeological puzzle; it is a challenge to our understanding of civilization itself.

As Hancock emphasizes, the pursuit of knowledge requires courage, curiosity, and the willingness to question even the most deeply held assumptions.

The story of the pyramids may not belong solely to the pharaohs of Egypt, but to a civilization whose achievements have echoed across millennia, waiting for us to rediscover them.