in 357 ad a grand spectacle took place in the heart of the Roman Empire Emperor constantius hauled a massive marvelous Obelisk from one of Egypt's most renowned temples it was 105 ft tall and weighed over 900,000 lb a symbol of divine Authority and Imperial ambition just moving the thing from Egypt to Rome across the Mediterranean required impressive engineering knoow they had to build a custom barge to float the thing over after reaching Italy the monolith was moved up the Tyber River a trip packed with logistical difficulties for everyone involved it was then rolled through the
streets of Rome thousands of laborers pulled it along ropes and pulleys it finally made its way to the circus Maximus where it was lifted up in the Square as part of a big old party celebrating the Imperial power in reach of the great Roman Empire when it went up the citizens gathered around and saw the inscriptions on the sides of the Obelisk cryptic hieroglyphics that they couldn't comprehend they told the story of a guy named Ramsey but who who he was or what he did or when he was alive was anyone's guess in fact like
the Greeks before them the Romans had a pretty limited knowledge of History beyond their own they knew where they came from they traced the foundation of Rome to more than 11th centuries prior they were familiar with events like the Trojan War which according to their calculations occurred four centuries before Rome was founded but everything before Troy's fall lay hidden amidst myths and legends that only gave a few disjointed glimpses into a distant and mostly unknowable past this Obelisk would Mark a turning point As Romans would become some of the first tourists in history flocking to
Egypt to see its wonders and uncover its Secrets the Romans knew their Greek Heritage too and were deeply familiar with the ruins left behind by ancient civilizations throughout the Mediterranean world what they knew was that these ruins were not just stones and structures but rather important relics that represented centuries of history and mythology and stories among them were the mean ruins of Greece whose massive stone walls were so remarkable that they could only be ascribed to mythical creatures like the Cyclops the only being around who had the power to build such things they would stumble
upon ancient ruins during construction projects kind of like how modern-day construction workers stumbled upon ancient Roman ruins for them though these structures were connected to the gods you had tombs uncovered that supposedly belonged to Theus the mythological figure who slay the minor or Numa pompilus the supposed second king of Rome a guy who may be more of a legend than a real person still though the Romans were fascinated with their past and the people who lived before them on the same land that they were now living on but just like today the Romans found other
artifacts and ruins that they couldn't understand one such find took place in the 4th Century BC when Spartan King aesus came across a grave thought to belong to Alini Hercules's mother inside the grave though was a bronze tablet covered with enatic characters whose meaning even the most seasoned Greek Scholars couldn't comprehend so instead said the Spartan King turned towards Egypt he sent it there hoping Egyptian Scholars could decipher it they couldn't though it seems the characters were from another age written by a mysterious people lost to Roman and Egyptian history the Greek and Roman fascination
with Egypt was nothing new it went back to the 7th Century BC when Greek Traders and soldiers first made their way up the Nile River in search of wealth they were attracted by the rich resources available there and Egypt's distinct culture was unlike anything else they'd ever seen before then these early encounters led to ongoing cultural interactions between Greeks and Egyptians Greek Merchants established trading posts in colonies along the Nile Delta the two cultures would be bound together in one way or another for the next millennium Alexander's conquest of Egypt in 332 BC marked a
major turning point it ushered in three centuries of Greek Administration under the toic dynasty during this time Greek was Egypt's second official language it was spoken by people who held high offices those with power and influence Greek Egyptian customs Blended together even more it was during this time that the Great Library of Alexandria emerged as a symbol of this Greek Egyptian Fusion a place where Greek philosophical text sat alongside Egyptian astronomical manuscripts then in 30 BC Augustus officially annexed Egypt after all that Cleopatra and Anthony drama when this happened Egypt Mania kind of took off
in Rome Obelisk started flooding into the Empire and going up in public squares wealthy Romans started decorating their homes with Grand Fresco of the Nile and other Egyptian imagery they even started building pyramid-shaped tombs not to the Grandeur of Egypt's most impressive architectural accomplishment the Pyramids of Giza were hailed as some of the most amazing things in ancient Egypt they captured the imaginations of anyone who saw them they were symbols of the Divine Authority and power of the Pharaohs that had stood for Centuries by the time the Romans came around they'd been sitting there for
a thousand years Roman tourists maybe some of the earliest tourists in history flocked to the place the concept of oceanum or Leisure Time was becoming popular among the Roman Elite and there was a lot of value placed on so-called self-realization activities like relaxing contemplating the universe and traveling many of them paid locals to help them scale the massive structures and there's still ancient Roman graffiti left by these early tourists etched into the stone both the Greeks and the Romans knew about these massive structures that were burial places for Pharaohs but establishing their actual age proved
difficult historians like Herodotus and diodoros culus tried their best but were off by thousands of years Herodotus for example a guy often known as the father of History estimated that the first pharaohs ruled around 15,000 BC a couple hundred years later thodoris pushed that date back even further writing that the Egyptian Empire could have started as far back as 23,000 BC but when it came to dating the pyramids themselves these same writers were often the other direction estimating that they were a lot younger than they actually were the Great Pyramid was built around 2600 BC
but heras figured it was built over a thousand years later dating it to around 1200 BC or two generations after the Trojan War Doris thought it was even younger dating it to around 900 BC these misconceptions are deeply rooted in a long process of cultural transmission that has broken down over the ages between these two ancient cultures although Greek became a commonly spoken language after Alexander's Conquest only a small group of Egyptian priests had the knowledge required to really read and interpret them over time this specialized knowledge dwindled to the point where by the end
of the 4th Century BC most Egyptians could no longer understand what was written on their own monuments anymore much of the Empire's Rich history also relied on oral traditions and external sources since they no longer had Direct access to Egypt's historical records which were often incomplete or incorrect but some tried their best to preserve the thousands of years of Egyptian history in the 3rd Century BC an Egyptian priest named Mano wrote a detailed account of Egypt and Greek that tried to link the country's ancient past to the present day Greek speaking World his work titled
egyptica or history of Egypt gave a pretty accurate account of the dynasties that ruled over Egypt and a more precise estimate of the ages of the pyramids but instead of heeding mano's work the Greeks instead turned towards Greek historian Herodotus and his Roman successors it was a move that wound up leading to more misunderstanding and more mystery when it came to the pyramids speculation would run wild and rumors would spread ancient hisor torians such as plyy the Elder strabo Herodotus and diodora culus wrote extensively about Egypt's Monumental structures particularly the pyramids and the Sphinx their
accounts reflect a blend of awe curiosity and speculation about the mysterious and controversial aspects of these wonders the grander of the pyramids and other Egyptian monuments captivated the imagination of these writers who often Ponder the means and motivations behind their construction as well as the Legends and myths that surrounded them plyy the Elder in his Natural History highlighted the immense scale and precision of the pyramids noting the massive labor force and resources required to build them he recorded local Legends like the belief that the Sphinx was Hollow and contained the tomb of a lost King
named har he also speculated that the Egyptians may have used magical Technologies to build a pyramids and wrote about the amazing difficulty of piling up all those stones so high later historians would grab a hold of this writing and take it into the realm of Science Fiction levitation and extraterrestrials and all that strabo a Greek geographer ER provided detailed descriptions of the pyramids emphasizing their architectural Precision in alignment with celestial bodies while he did not explicitly discussed their religious significance strabo noted the mystery and awe they inspired suggesting a deeper purpose Beyond more tombs his
observations hinted at possible astronomical connections with the pyramid serving as symbolic links between the Earthly and divine Realms strabo's account reflects the fascination and speculation surrounding the pyramid's purpose and construction highlighting their role as both architectural Marvels and objects of mystery Herodotus and daor culus added to the Intrigue with their accounts of Egypt's wonders Herodotus wrote about the tyrannical Reigns of Pharaoh's kuun cafre describing the construction of the pyramids as a Monumental effort involving vast members of workers he recounted Tales of hidden Chambers and elaborate ferary complexes fueling speculation about the secrets the pyramids might
contain diodora culus echoed those stories and noted the supposed curses that protected the pyramid deterring robbers and adventurers The Legend and controversy of these accounts reflect the enduring Allure of ancient Egypt's monuments and the persistent curiosity they inspired among classical historians
