The Great Pyramid: The story of the farmers, the god-king and the most astounding structure ever built Here's the story of the Great Pyramid and the people who built it. In the author's telling, the Old Kingdom comes alive: a nation of farmers living on the green edge of a harsh desert with a king who was a god in life and in death. Tens of thousands of farmers left home each year to chisel hard stone without iron tools and move 10-ton blocks up steep grades without the use of a wheel, all to the glory of the Pharaoh.