ATLANTA (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says it’s still his belief the great pyramids Egypt were built by the Biblical figure Joseph to store grain, and not as tombs for pharaohs.

Video posted online Wednesday by Buzzfeed News shows Carson explaining his theory 17 years ago at a Michigan college affiliated with his Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In the video, Carson says: “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain.” He was referring to the Old Testament story of Joseph predicting famine and advising pharaoh to store food.

Carson notes that archeologists say the pyramids were for pharaohs’ graves. But he argues the “hermetically sealed” chambers “would have to be that way” to store grain.

He tells CBS News this week that’s still his belief.