this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2026
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[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 minutes ago

Anyone else feel like we should restore it to it's former glory?

[–] khepri@lemmy.world 14 points 6 hours ago

Imagine being the first person to realize that the Empire is dead and you can just fucking climb up there with your buddies and take that gold cap lol.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 28 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (3 children)

It's crazy that even on the centuries old photo on the top, Cairo in the background was already that developed!

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

The pizza hut across the street was probably fire back then

[–] save_the_humans@leminal.space 4 points 8 hours ago

I didn't know they had such nice cameras either. Really ahead of their time those caironians.

[–] Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

This gave me a much needed giggle. Thanks!

[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I think castles in Europe are similar. They used to have plastered, white washed facades. Over time they wore down, giving way to the raw stone look most of us associate with castles.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)
[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 1 points 21 minutes ago

Right! Those white Greek marble busts used to be fully painted. But we only think of them as plain white sculptures.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 hours ago

Remember the Great Pyramid of Giza? This is it today. Feel old yet?

[–] urandom@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

Man, the aliens were sure good at building these

[–] Katrisia@lemmy.today 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

And green/greener lands, as far as I know.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

No but shockingly close. The pyramids were built starting around 2630 BCE. But the African Humid Period ended about 5000-6000 years ago, so about 2974 BCE on the near end.

About 350 years is shockingly close. That's about the length of the Ptolmaic dynasty. That's Isaac Newton being active to today. Not recent by any means, but that's "we still know about this" time scales

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 day ago (12 children)

Bright white casing stones, yes. 50 foot tall gold capstone, no.

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[–] Dookieman12@piefed.social 11 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

I think one of the purposes of the pyramids was to be a sort of ancient beacon. The stone reflected the sun and moonlight, making it pretty tough to get lost. In the days of no GPS or electricity, I'm sure this was of great importance.

Have you ever been playing Minecraft and wandered too far from base before building a bed and just had to abandon that base until you find it by accident later? Imagine that IRL and you can't just build a new base real quick

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

I think one of the purposes of the pyramids was to be a sort of ancient beacon.

Aliens needed to know where to land.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 6 points 12 hours ago

Feels quite secondary to the "I have the biggest" contest that we saw later with cathedrals and now skyscrapers.

[–] webp@mander.xyz 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I think they just wanted to build a giant titty.

[–] itsjustachairmary@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago

The original original Tomb Raider

[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 124 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

These stones were mostly removed from the great pyramid just 700 years ago. After an earthquake people began removing them for a few centuries to build other things until they were all gone. The great pyramid had its casing stones for 85% of its life.

Edit: I highly recommend "history for granite" on youtube.

https://youtube.com/@historyforgranite

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

its amazing how we look at historical constructions and assume thats always how it looked.

You are right, The Pyramids used to be shining white beacons of marble, but the stone was.. "repurposed" for building after the end of the pharos.

Medieval castles too, all anyone sees today are grey, bare rock, dingy, cold, drafty castles.. But when they were new? before photographs and film? They were plastered white, and filled with rugs and tapestries that made them beautiful, stunning, and warm.

[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 7 hours ago

There's quite a few Reconstruction Castles, newly built castles that have tried to be as historically accurate as possible

So you don't have to imagine, you can actually visit a (reconstruction of based on evidence of the time) living piece of ancient history

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[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 2 points 16 hours ago

I see, another wirtual viewer /s

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago (15 children)

They should refurbish them.

Why not? Just because they haven't been yet? Historical significance? Blah, blah blah. I'm sure the people who made them would want it. And I bet it would increase tourism. We take this shit way too seriously.

[–] asmoranomar@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

I would object because of the bureaucracy. It would cost less to make a new one. Then you could do both. And in 5000 years we might get new alien conspiracies about why we have two sets of pyramids in two different time periods.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

The neopyramidal period. For some reason they stopped building pyramids for 4000 years but decided to start again

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