axiom

"Look back to learn; look forward to succeed."

the significance of gold

A metal that never corrodes. 

King Tut

“... as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.”

- Howard Carter [1874-1939], Tomb of Tutankhamun [ruled 1332 BC-1323 BC]

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
- Plato

19th century caesar

"Napoleon was a speed eater preferring macaroni and boiled meat."

world's biggest stone building

Great Pyramid of Giza, c. 2575–2465 bce

why the sphinx has a human head

Power under control.

unwashed hands

The Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1800

J.M.W. Turner was regarded by his contemporary critics as a "parvenu who wallowed in the muck."

An earlier reference to Turner here.

Perhaps how the Pyramids were built

Valley of the Kings

“…but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold—everywhere the glint of gold.”
- Howard Carter [1874-1939] upon entering King Tut's tomb in 1922