THE ORIGIN OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Richard A. Koenigsberg

Civilization begins with the creation of massive, monumental structures requiring the expenditure of vast resources—in the name of a project that serves no practical purpose. Devoted to the proposition that the King would live eternally in his second life, the pyramids had no biological or evolutionary significance.

Human beings became human in flight from their animal nature—as they enacted a gigantic fantasy. This fantasy—the central human fantasy—is that some animals do not entirely die, but live forever.

Pyramid of Khufu
Khufu’s Pyramid, also known as the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt. It was built as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian King Khufu over a 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. The pyramid is 750 feet long on each side, 450 feet high and is composed of 2,300,000 limestone blocks, each averaging 2.5 tons (5000 pounds) in weight.