My understanding is that the human cost of the Ancient Egyptian mausoleum industry is now thought to be relatively modest. The current theory, supported by the recent discovery of workers’ cemeteries, is that the famous monuments were generally built by salaried workers in good health, most likely during the agricultural off-season.
Definitely expensive, granted, but as a status indicator and ceremonial institution they’ve got plenty of company in human behavior.
There’s some controversy over (ETA: the scale of) the Aztec sacrificial complex as well, but since that’s entangled with colonial/anticolonial ideology I’d assume anything you hear about it is biased until proven otherwise.
There is no debate over whether the Aztecs engaged in mass human sacrifice. The main disagreement amongst academics is over the scale. The Aztecs themselves claimed sacrifices of over 40,000 people, but they obviously had good reason to lie (to scare enemies). Spanish and pre-columbian Aztec sources agree that human sacrifice was widespread amongst the Aztecs.
My understanding is that the human cost of the Ancient Egyptian mausoleum industry is now thought to be relatively modest. The current theory, supported by the recent discovery of workers’ cemeteries, is that the famous monuments were generally built by salaried workers in good health, most likely during the agricultural off-season.
Definitely expensive, granted, but as a status indicator and ceremonial institution they’ve got plenty of company in human behavior.
There’s some controversy over (ETA: the scale of) the Aztec sacrificial complex as well, but since that’s entangled with colonial/anticolonial ideology I’d assume anything you hear about it is biased until proven otherwise.
There is no debate over whether the Aztecs engaged in mass human sacrifice. The main disagreement amongst academics is over the scale. The Aztecs themselves claimed sacrifices of over 40,000 people, but they obviously had good reason to lie (to scare enemies). Spanish and pre-columbian Aztec sources agree that human sacrifice was widespread amongst the Aztecs.
You’re quite right; I should have been more explicit. Edited.