Interesting Question??

Question

If you were a slave building the acient pryamids, would you feel any sense of pride when the job was done, or would you be too bitter because you were forced to do the work?

Answer 1

The pyramids took many years to build. I'm not sure any of the slaves lived long enough to be bitter or take pride.

Answer 2

Read Epicetus or take a class in the Making of An Ethnic America. There are many works written by former slaves. You merely have to read them. As for Egyptian slaves, the only ones to write about their times are the Hebrews and they were bitter about it. Perhaps you should ask a Jewish tourist in Egypt, "Hey, what do you think about what your ancestors built?" That might help you out. Probably they will think you are an insensitive idiot, but some, probably the older ones will tell you the truth. The interesting thing about Egyptian monuments is that unlike other famous monuments and works of art, the artist is less known than the worker. Normally, the designer gets all the credit for the job and the workers get forgotten. Not so in Egypt. All you know is who the monument is for and that it was built by slaves. Can't say that about the Sistine Chaple, the Tower of London, or the Brooklyn Bridge for that matter. Hmmm.

Answer 3

You know, probably neither.

First, slaves didn't have any kind of autonomy so they wouldn't necessarily feel that the end result of their labor was something they personally could own. Second, back then in that society there was more "group think" and "class think" than we have now in the Western world, so the job wasn't seen as a JOB so much as it was an idea of the Pharoah's which in turn meant of the Gods because Pharoah = God. Likewise, the role of slave in that schema was to fulfill their duties to the Pharaoh/God so they wouldn't really feel like individuals anyway. No individuality, not sense of individual accomplishment. But part of that means no individual sense of bitterness.

Now I'm not suggesting that EVERY slave felt like this. Individuality seems to be a facet of human nature, that Western Culture, particularly American Society has encouraged.....nonetheless, SOME slaves would have felt bitter and SOME might have felt proud to have worked on such an important project. But I would say MOST would have seen it as just one more day, one more job, one more handful of garlic cloves and bottles of Nile water.

Answer 4

I doubt very much that there were many slaves alive who saw the completion of the pyramids. Most died from dehydration, malnutrition, heat stroke and long hours of brutal work that even I can't imagine.

When the work was completed, I doubt that many slaves had the energy to do more than find a place to collapse and hopefully recover.

On the other hand, any slaves involved in the building of the interior "secret" chambers were killed outright, so that the secret passageways would only be known by the chief engineer. And there are some scholars who believed that they were killed, as well.

Answer 5

The 'slaves', as shown in the movies about the building of the pyramids, are actually very far from the truth as modern day archeology has shown. But, I don't think that is your question. Can a person take pride in a job, even a job they feel is unappreciated/underpaid/unrewarded. I say sure! If you are 'stuck' in a situation, one might as well look for even the smallest of rewards. So, do the best you can while you must...and look for a better job. After all, we are all slaves to the mighty paycheck!

Answer 6

See, if i think from the forced slaves shoes, then i would be surely awe stuck first of all on the sight of the great pyramids, as i had also played a part in the completion of the project. And this very sense of awe,,in your language, this very sense of astonishment and the sense of attainment would be so great that all the physical and mental agony that would be faced by me would dimnish to a pebble. Moreover, i would also have the sense of joy that i would not have to burn my brows anymore.
All this would surpass the sense of bitterness, and i would be left with an overwhelming sense of joy and somewhat pride of its thought.

Answer 7

slaves did not build the pryamids they needed skilled people and they gave there time as a form of tax but they would have felt very proud they where the tallest buildings for 5000 years

Answer 8

You need to read about slavery and study history. You would never ask such a question if you did. Why would anyone care about anything that was responsible for stealing their life, sole, family., any semblance of a life, any pleasure... D'OH!

Moreover, these structures took wayyyyy longer to build than a person's life. And people did not live to be as old as we do.

Be empathetic and understand the situation vicariously. No doubt you will see that is sucks to be a slave.

Answer 9

Acutally, historians are beginning to believe that this work was not performed by slave labor, that the people doing the work did so for the Pharoh (who was god, after all.)


As for the original question, if I put any part of myself into work, then I take pride in a job well done.

Answer 10

Having recognized what slavery truly is, I would have a difficult time being proud of slave work. But if that were my circumstances, I would try to look for the best I could in the situation. Being a part of one of the world's greatest creations might be cool.