Ancient Egypt civilization

[The SC]

The ENTIRE History of Egypt | Ancient Civilizations Documentary​

 

[r3alist]

LOL, I have seen the usual ancient aliens and amazing technology videos. They are all crap, always exaggerated or outright false, and always explained by modern science.

It's entertaining

How do we explain this

Stonehenge: Central Altar Stone from Scotland not Wales

Stonehenge's famous Altar Stone came from Scotland not Wales as previously thought, new analysis shows.

www.bbc.com

You are hunter gatherer, why bother? Why the specificity?

I am not proposing ancient et, just normal questions to ponder

 

[Developereo]

It's entertaining

How do we explain this

Stonehenge: Central Altar Stone from Scotland not Wales

Stonehenge's famous Altar Stone came from Scotland not Wales as previously thought, new analysis shows.

www.bbc.com

You are hunter gatherer, why bother? Why the specificity?

I am not proposing ancient et, just normal questions to ponder

I don't think Stonehenge people were hunter gatherers: they had a well developed society with cities, religion, and political structure.

Almost every advanced culture of ancient times had an obsession with large stone structures, probably because they symbolized permanence and, therefore, power.

We haven't travelled far: we build skyscrapers to show off our wealth and power.

 

[r3alist]

I don't think Stonehenge people were hunter gatherers: they had a well developed society with cities, religion, and political structure.

Almost every advanced culture of ancient times had an obsession with large stone structures, probably because they symbolized permanence and, therefore, power.

We haven't travelled far: we build skyscrapers to show off our wealth and power.

There always seems to be two camps, one that dismissively thinks it's pre modern grunts putting stones on top of each other, the other camp imagining something more incredible



Sky scrapers serve a notional function and they don't come at the sort of human endeavour that these old buildings did

We cannot superimpose modern thinking and motives to thousands of years back, it won't do.

Why go to this considerable effort,risk and cost to do anything other than survive

 

[Developereo]

There always seems to be two camps, one that dismissively thinks it's pre modern grunts putting stones on top of each other, the other camp imagining something more incredible



Sky scrapers serve a notional function and they don't come at the sort of human endeavour that these old buildings did

We cannot superimpose modern thinking and motives to thousands of years back, it won't do.

Why go to this considerable effort,risk and cost to do anything other than survive

Once again, these were not hunter gatherers scraping by to 'survive' the day. These were all advanced societies with access to massive resources. The megalithic structures they left behind were a civilizational statement about their wealth and power.

The skyscrapers of today serve the same purpose. Nobody 'needs' to build taller and taller skyscrapers. They are a statement of wealth and prestige.

The ancients did it using human labor, we do it using machines. Other than that, they have the same motivation.

P.S. This reminds me of the famous poem Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

We may think we are different from the ancients but we are not. Human nature remains the same.

 

[r3alist]

Once again, these were not hunter gatherers scraping by to 'survive' the day. These were all advanced societies with access to massive resources. The megalithic structures they left behind were a civilizational statement about their wealth and power.

The skyscrapers of today serve the same purpose. Nobody 'needs' to build taller and taller skyscrapers. They are a statement of wealth and prestige.

The ancients did it using human labor, we do it using machines. Other than that, they have the same motivation.

When you said massive resources what does that mean?

Were they able to create surplus in their societies? what technology did they use that enabled surplus of food and labour? I am thinking of stone henge here





A skyscraper is nothing like a civilizational statement in the way these structures were, to say these structures are just to show wealth and power is entirely inadequate, that's just bringing modern thinking to ancient times, contradiction by default

 

[Developereo]

When you said massive resources what does that mean?

It means they were not scrounging for food from day to day as you seem to think.

Were they able to create surplus in their societies? what technology did they use that enabled surplus of food and labour? I am thinking of stone henge here

I don't know the specifics of Stonehenge but the other megaliths in Africa, South America and Asia were built by advanced societies who had plenty of surplus. They had cities, armies, and specialized, well trained professionals in all sorts of trades. They forecasted their consumption cycles, and planned their production cycles.

They were modern in every sense of the word. Except for their level of technology, they were not very different from us.

A skyscraper is nothing like a civilizational statement in the way these structures were

By 'skyscrapers' I am talking about people chasing the tallest building race. Nobody cares about ordinary tall buildings because they are a dime a dozen.

, to say these structures are just to show wealth and power is entirely inadequate, that's just bringing modern thinking to ancient times, contradiction by default

You see a contradiction because you refuse to accept the sociological connection across the ages. The connection is human nature: it doesn't change.

In the old days, they used royal decree or religion to amass the necessary resources, today we use economics, but the underlying motivation behind all of them is a show of prestige and power.

 

[r3alist]

It means they were not scrounging for food from day to day as you seem to think.



I don't know the specifics of Stonehenge but the other megaliths in Africa, South America and Asia were built by advanced societies who had plenty of surplus. They had cities, armies, and specialized, well trained professionals in all sorts of trades. They forecasted their consumption cycles, and planned their production cycles.

They were modern in every sense of the word. Except for their level of technology, they were not very different from us.



By 'skyscrapers' I am talking about people chasing the tallest building race. Nobody cares about ordinary tall buildings because they are a dime a dozen.



You see a contradiction because you refuse to accept the sociological connection across the ages. The connection is human nature: it doesn't change.

In the old days, they used royal decree or religion to amass the necessary resources, today we use economics, but the underlying motivation behind all of them is a show of prestige and power.

Ok, interesting and fair points

I don't know for sure, i just ask the questions