--- title: Ben Carson: Pyramids Were Built to Store Grain description: He doesn't think they were tombs for the pharoes canonical: https://time.com/4101242/ben-carson-pyramids-grain/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-05T12:37:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:51.113Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Has A Unique Theory About the Pyramids og:description: He doesn't think they were tombs for the pharoes og:url: https://time.com/4101242/ben-carson-pyramids-grain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt938d1bb1fe1f88d6/69886f88428a9e6fd7ccfee7/carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during a news conference before a campaign event at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., on Oct. 29, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Has A Unique Theory About the Pyramids twitter:description: He doesn't think they were tombs for the pharoes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt938d1bb1fe1f88d6/69886f88428a9e6fd7ccfee7/carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Has A Unique Theory About the Pyramids > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3PLzGzLI.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-10-27. GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson retells his life story_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 5, 2015 12:37 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during a news conference before a campaign event at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., on Oct. 29, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during a news conference before a campaign event at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., on Oct. 29, 2015. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 5, 2015 12:37 PM UTC Archaeologists believe the pyramids in Egypt were built as tombs to pharaohs. But Ben Carson has a different theory about them. In a [1998 commencement speech](http://www.buzzfeed.com/natemcdermott/ben-carson-egyptian-pyramids-built-for-grain-storage-not-by#.pboqOvJnp) Carson gave at Andrews University, a college founded by Seventh-day Adventists, he said, “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.” [CBS asked Carson](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ben-carsons-unusual-theory-about-pyramids/) on Wednesday if he still believes that. “It’s still my belief, yes,” he said. “The pyramids were made in a way that they had hermetically sealed compartments….You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain for a long period of time.” In the Book of Genesis in the Bible, Joseph stores up enough food to feed Egypt and the world during a seven year drought. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4101242/ben-carson-pyramids-grain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4101242/ben-carson-pyramids-grain/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Has A Unique Theory About the Pyramids","datePublished":"2015-11-05T12:37:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:51.113Z","description":"He doesn't think they were tombs for the pharoes","url":"https://time.com/4101242/ben-carson-pyramids-grain/","keywords":["2016 Election","Dr. Benjamin S. 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