The question of who built the Great Pyramid of Giza is the least debated aspect of its mystery; it is almost universally conceded that the 3rd Century (BCE) ruler Khufu is responsible for its construction. Although they are not extensive, the pieces of evidence associating Khufu's name to the Great Pyramid do make the connection very difficult to refute. As early as the Fifth Century BCE, the Greek historian Herotodus was told by his Egyptian guides that Khufu had built the Pyramid during his twenty-year reign. There are other writings connecting Khufu to the Pyramid, but the most significant evidence is the painted cartouche bearing his name, which was discovered on the side of a block in a chamber high in the pyramid, that had proved inaccessible until blasted open with gun powder.
In consideration of the known evidence, it would seem that any builder of the Great Pyramid besides Khufu at least must have had the same name. The challengers to this conclusion are generally alien theorists or occultists, and often lack familiarity with the existing evidence. Some of these alternative theories do warrant attention though, such as the Edgar Cayce society (ARE), who funded a large-scale carbon dating test on the pyramids conducted by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). The ARE hoped to prove the claim by psychic Cayce that the Great Pyramid was 10,000 years old. Though the study disproved this contention, it did prove that the Pyramid was at least 380 years older than previously suspected.
