I'm begging people to actually educate themselves on how the pyramids were built. They were built by paid workers, but then later, the Greeks saw them and assumed they were built by slaves because that's what the Ancient Greek did with their building projects.

[–] Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 38 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh you're right. Did a quick google search and apparently the Greeks just thought up the slavery thing. Not sure why that narrative was still taught in school. Sequel meme

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The claims that they were built by the slaves or voluntary labor are both wrong. They were built by levied labor. Think a military draft, but you're performing general labor for the state instead of fighting. Yes, those on the work gangs were fed, housed, and paid while there. But they weren't building pyramids of their own free will either. It was still conscripted and forced labor. After their term of service, the workers got to go home. But it was still forced labor.

[–] m0darn@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's pretty much my understanding too, but I'd like to point out that conscripted labor is pretty analogous to a tax. My contemplation on the subject:

I think equitable taxes are good when the revenue is used for things that benefit society.

I don't know how equitably the labour was conscripted.

I don't think enormous pyramids are good for society, but on the other hand I don't know how ancient Egyptian workers would have felt about the topic.

I suspect that the Pharoahs weren't very concerned about how the workers felt about the topic.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

And I'd like to point out that the "proof" that slaves weren't used to build the pyramids is some laborer villages being found and gasp

They got to eat FOOD!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Some of the people that died in accidents were buried on site! By people that thought you'd serve them in the afterlife too! What an honor!

So we know SOME laborers were paid! And they got to eat food! And serve eternally instead of having their bodies dismembered and fed to hogs! For some pyramids!

And a KNOWN slaver culture definitely wouldn't have had some people working on it be slaves and some wouldn't be! As any student of history knows, either everyone's a slave or no one is!

Cue a thousand Redditor "UM AKSHUALLYS!"

[–] m0darn@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah, we know a lot about ancient Egypt, but there's a lot we don't know too.

[–] sweetpotato@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Sauce?

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Is it slave labour if they can choose to strike?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 3 points 1 month ago

Yes, that's called a slave revolt. In that specific case, a couple things of note:

1: You can have both slaves and "free" workers build the same thing.

2: Egypt almost certainly enslaved a large number of war captives from the Sea People invasion

3: That is literally five hundred years after the last pyramid. The Pharaohs moved on to building hidden tombs because it was both cheaper and less of a giant stone monument telling thieves were a rich guy buried some treasure.