Pyramids weren’t built by slaves, but there’s certainly class warfare going on in other ways. Egypt had a lot of farmers sitting around while the Nile was in its flood stage, and they appear to have paid them to work on monuments. Still, it’s a lot of work to feed the ego of one ruler.
I mean, that isn’t to say the egyptians didn’t have slaves. Just that pyramid building was a job reserved to engineers and scholars rather than unskilled laborers. Evidence suggests they had a meat rich diet, access to medical care, and worked in 3 month shifts. I’d say they were doing better than the great majority of egyptians.
Those were farmers who were not working at the time (due to periodic flooding of the Nile or whatever). I believe they paid their taxes in labor instead of grain, which earned them more money on their harvest. They benefitted from free food and the pharaoh had fewer people milling around with nothing to do (potential revolutionaries).
They weren’t slaves, they were just normal farmers paying their taxes. They could probably just leave if they had to. I seem to remember we have records of their attendance. Some people were not present and the reason is like “drunk” or something.
They weren’t just “dragging heavy bricks” though. They had pulley systems and used many techniques such as boats, sleighs or logs lubricated by animal fat to transport the stones. Obviously still hard work but far from the depiction we see in the media with people being whipped while pushing giant stones uphill.
If I don’t have enough food/money, and I can’t work as a farmer, maybe doing other work in the off season isn’t the worst idea. It’s what my grandfather did. And what do I care if the end result is a stupid monument or whatever as long as the money is good?
Pyramids weren’t built by slaves, but there’s certainly class warfare going on in other ways. Egypt had a lot of farmers sitting around while the Nile was in its flood stage, and they appear to have paid them to work on monuments. Still, it’s a lot of work to feed the ego of one ruler.
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I mean, that isn’t to say the egyptians didn’t have slaves. Just that pyramid building was a job reserved to engineers and scholars rather than unskilled laborers. Evidence suggests they had a meat rich diet, access to medical care, and worked in 3 month shifts. I’d say they were doing better than the great majority of egyptians.
Removed by mod
Those were farmers who were not working at the time (due to periodic flooding of the Nile or whatever). I believe they paid their taxes in labor instead of grain, which earned them more money on their harvest. They benefitted from free food and the pharaoh had fewer people milling around with nothing to do (potential revolutionaries).
They weren’t slaves, they were just normal farmers paying their taxes. They could probably just leave if they had to. I seem to remember we have records of their attendance. Some people were not present and the reason is like “drunk” or something.
They weren’t just “dragging heavy bricks” though. They had pulley systems and used many techniques such as boats, sleighs or logs lubricated by animal fat to transport the stones. Obviously still hard work but far from the depiction we see in the media with people being whipped while pushing giant stones uphill.
Removed by mod
Probably all the same reasons we don’t have 90% of the population doing their own thing now: they’ll starve if they don’t.
Removed by mod
If I don’t have enough food/money, and I can’t work as a farmer, maybe doing other work in the off season isn’t the worst idea. It’s what my grandfather did. And what do I care if the end result is a stupid monument or whatever as long as the money is good?