Pyramids are an ancient construction, yet one thing can certainly be said for them: they endure. There are about 100 known pyramids today in Egypt, of which the three best known were built at Giza over 4,000 years ago.
Although many possible purposes for the pyramids have been proposed, most of the evidence suggests they were built as tombs—the smallest, for wealthy individuals; the largest, for the great kings of Egypt. The Great Pyramid at Giza was 481 feet high when it was originally built—about 20 percent of the size of a modern skyscraper. (It has since lost about 30 feet due to erosion). Each side measures about 750 meters feet in length, and is oriented to one of the compass points (north, south, east, west). The pyramid consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. (One source suggests there are enough blocks in the three Great Pyramids to build a 1-foot thick wall completely around France).
Pyramids were not confined to Egypt. Some 200 pyramids were constructed in Nubia (modern Ethiopia) as monuments for their kings and queens. The Mesopotamians also built pyramids, called ziggurats, but because they used mud bricks little remains of them. Mesoamerican peoples built pyramids: the largest of these is the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico. Pyramids have been found in ancient Rome, and there are also some in China.
There is considerable debate over how the Egyptian pyramids were built, and how many people it took. Some (mostly earlier) estimates suggested a workforce of over 100,000, mostly slaves (e.g. the Jews). More recent estimates suggest perhaps fewer than 30,000 were required to built the Great Pyramids, and these were mostly rural Egyptians who worked on the Monuments during the flood season, when they couldn’t work the fields. Whatever the truth of the matter, the pyramids represented a substantial investment of time and manpower.
So what can we learn from pyramids?
Pyramids are carefully engineered to be stable and enduring. To design a pyramid requires a considerable amount of engineering know-how. Every pyramid is carefully designed so each side is equal, the angles on the sides are exact, and each side is oriented to one of the cardinal points of the compass. This requires a significant knowledge of math, geometry, and astronomy.
Pyramids were designed for one particular purpose. One didn’t hold dinner, tupperware or garden parties in a pyramid. They were, essentially, tombs. Egyptians invested time in these monuments so people who lived thousands of years after them would know they were there.
Though not cheap, pyramids are less expensive. They require a substantial amount of time, manpower, and resources to build, as well as some fairly advanced know-how—but not necessarily cutting-edge technology.
Perhaps, rather than constructing a ‘skyscraper’ agency, we should build several ‘pyramids’—moderately large agencies, each with its own particular niche to play. If a typical agency has about 1,000 workers, we would likely need abour 40 to 80 such agencies.
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