to be fair, this meme is so very old (20-25 years old, possibly older), it probably predates that understanding which is only about 14 years old.
although there has long been the belief that the Ancient Egyptians couldn’t reasonably have built such incredible architectural wonders so long ago without the use of skilled laborers rather than slaves (as widely believed due to myths and legends), it wasn’t really conclusively proven until a number of archeological discoveries were made around 2011-2012, IIRC, which helped give credibility to the theories that the pyramids were, indeed, built by skilled laborers and craftsmen who were paid and/or otherwise compensated fairly for their work.
to be fair, this meme is so very old (20-25 years old, possibly older), it probably predates that understanding which is only about 14 years old.
although there has long been the belief that the Ancient Egyptians couldn’t reasonably have built such incredible architectural wonders so long ago without the use of skilled laborers rather than slaves (as widely believed due to myths and legends), it wasn’t really conclusively proven until a number of archeological discoveries were made around 2011-2012, IIRC, which helped give credibility to the theories that the pyramids were, indeed, built by skilled laborers and craftsmen who were paid and/or otherwise compensated fairly for their work.