Editing Egypt (section)

==Pyramids==
The most iconic aesthetic element of Egypt is, of course, the great stone pyramids. Everybody recognizes these things instantly. They're technically not unique to Egypt, but what is unique is them being built smooth-sided and to a pointed capstone; South American pyramids were flat-topped staircase-flanked temple-complexes. Much like with [[Gladiator]]s, there's a few things about the pyramids that people tend to assume, especially in older fantasy settings, but which aren't actually true. The primary thing is that the pyramids were built with [[slavery|slave labor]]... in fact, this isn't actually the case. The pyramids were built outside of the growing season, by farmers and laborers from the countryside who otherwise had no work, and they were ''paid'' to do the job - some of the oldest Egyptian records are actually details on a strike by pyramid-builders demanding better wages. Still, the idea persists, especially in [[Sword & Sorcery]] or [[Dark Fantasy]] settings, because the image of legions of abused slaves dragging massive stone blocks around whilst people crack whips is a natural fit for darker and edgier fantasy.