• TWeaK@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      34
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yes lol the people who built the pyramids were generally well paid.

      The crazy thing is we still do things more or less the same way sometimes. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve helped move heavy electrical panels in through a door by rolling them along copper rods.

      • Shard@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        1 year ago

        And then to get it into its final position, we use these fancy things called levers to slowly ease the panels off the rollers and precisely jimmy them till they sit within the square we marked out using chalk or sometimes a rope we dipped in ink.

        Oh how far we’ve come since those primitive days.

    • Kerred@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Okay good I vaguely recall pyramid building but thought slaves had less to do with them than what culture shows

      • finestnothing@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yep! Almost everyone that worked on the pyramids were basically skilled contractors or construction workers

        • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          People are barfing that up a lot lately, but the only reliable source I’ve seen shows that the people who built the pyramids were being paid in bread and beer; that is, they were receiving the necessities of life, not payment.

          Giving slaves the necessities of life and calling it payment to justify the slavery is as old as … well, the pyramids at least.

          • finestnothing@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            But… That’s… What a barter society does? Ancient Egypt didn’t have currency, it was a barter-based society. You don’t have a farm or land to grow your own food? You work for someone else to get food, or resources to trade for food, drinks, shelter, medicine etc. They were also given good cuts of meat and had good barracks/quarters to live in nearby villages while working there. Workers who died were even buried in well stocked tombs near the pyramids which was a place of honor, slaves would likely be put in mass graves, unmarked graves, and/or far from the pyramids.

            What were non-slave workers (working on the pyramids or not) in ancient Egypt paid with if working for good food, drink, and shelter is only for slaves? A currency that didn’t exist? The profound pleasure of working for the pharaoh while having a farm of their own at home for food?

            • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              They were also given good cuts of meat and had good barracks/quarters to live in nearby villages while working there.

              I’d like to see a source for that.

              Workers who died were even buried in well stocked tombs near the pyramids which was a place of honor

              Man that’s even worse than the bread and beer thing. “You’re not slaves because when you die on the job we bury you in a better hole!”

            • Madison420@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              6
              ·
              1 year ago

              Sure. It’s a barter society where one class holds literally all of the power.

              “It’s this deal because I’m a god!” You’re just not gunna argue with a god on earth.

              • mommykink@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                7
                ·
                1 year ago

                it’s a barter society where one class holds literally all the power

                You’re phrasing these like they’re contradictory statements when they’re not incompatible concepts at all.

                  • finestnothing@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    1 year ago

                    Not at all? Yeah one class had most of the political/legal power because they were backed by who everyone believed was the incarnation of their god so it was hard to argue. Do/can you argue with the IRS (or whatever government entity collects taxes for you)? Food/resources/labor were still collected as taxes/tithes to support that class which managed their society, which is basically the same as any society that has currency.