Ben Carson still believes that the Egyptian pyramids are ancient granaries, and not just any ancient granaries. No, according to Carson, they were built by the Biblical Joseph to store grain to prepare for a famine.
Asked by CBS News about his 1998 comments claiming that, Carson said "It's still my belief, yes."
Carson reiterated to CBS News that "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."
Now, the pyramids may be big, but they are not hollow to allow for storage of giant amounts of grain—say, the amount needed to see Egypt through a seven-year famine. And the pyramids were definitely used to bury royalty, so Carson is arguing that the Egyptians stored their food and their dead in the same place. Ick.
But the Washington Post's Michael E. Miller argues that the way Carson's extended take on Joseph and the pyramid-granaries expresses his identity as a Christian may actually help him with some voters. Miller cites an Iowa poll in which:
... the things [voters] rated most highly were that “he has said he would be guided by his faith in God” (62 percent found that “very favorable”) and that he “approaches issues with common sense” (70 percent “very favorable”).
Critics who focus on Carson’s pyramid quote miss that he called for better science education in the same speech, or that his comments about God, the Big Bang and evolution actually reflect that of most Americans, if not scientists.
Ben Carson: He's ignorant in the same ways we are. It might just be a workable slogan ... although, the pyramids being built for grain storage? Man, I don't know. Seems like you could reject the Big Bang and still find that awfully peculiar.