• Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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    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
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      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
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        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
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        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.