A new documentary by historian Bettany Hughes revealed that Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza was originally white.

Hughes cited the information from a 4,500-year-old journal kept by a man named Merer.

The document was written with hieroglyphs on papyrus.

According to Hughes, the pyramid was built with white limestone carried from 15 miles away and polished to show a white sheen.

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Pick up any postcard of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, and you'll be greeted with an image of a sandy monument that's sometimes even depicted in gold.



However, the true appearance of the oldest and largest of the trio of pyramids in the area was nowhere as warmly-hued when it was built in 2600 B.C.



It was actually pure white, as revealed by historian Bettany Hughes in her new documentary, "The Nile: Egypt's Greatest River."

—The Cup Is Half Full Metal Alchemist (@Jeffrey_of_Troy) March 24, 2019

Hughes cited a 4,500-year-old journal by a man named Merer, which was discovered by French archaeologists in a cave near the Red Sea. Merer's account, written with hieroglyphs on papyrus, described the months he spent working on the majestic pyramid.



Among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza comprised two million casing stones and purportedly took about 20 years to be completed. Thanks to the diary, experts now know that the original stones were polished white, and "would [have] gleamed in the Egyptian Sun," Hughes detailed in the documentary.

Read more: Forget about the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx: I spent a month in Egypt, and the most spectacular site I visited was the ancient city of Thebes

Egypt's Great Pyramid was once white. givaga/Shutterstock

Merer explained that the pristinely white limestone blocks were carried from 15 miles away along the Nile. It would take a day for the stones to be ferried to the destination, he wrote in his journal.

In today's terms, Hughes described the journal's owner as akin to a "project manager" for the pyramid, according to a snippet from the documentary via the Daily Express. Merer had penned "exactly" how the grand structure was built, debunking existing beliefs that it was constructed by aliens.