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Comment by uchi | Hacker News Reader

More time has passed between the building of the ancient pyramids and queen Cleopatra, than queen Cleopatra and now.

I think most people forget that Cleopatra was of Greek ancestry (being a Ptolemy) and a player in the relatively recent classical world.

I think if someone knows anything at all about Cleopatra beyond "something to do with Egypt", they'd know she was a contemporary of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony (thanks to Shakespeare at least), even if they don't know anything about the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The thing I do think a lot of people forget is just how old the Pyramids are. I do know it but often have trouble really putting it into perspective.

Also note the Great Pyramid at Giza was the tallest building in the world for almost 4000 years. And some buildings that later took the title were actually shorter than the Great Pyramid originally was at construction, but the Great Pyramid eroded over the millennia.

I'm going to Orkney in a few weeks - one of the places we are going to visit is Skara Brae:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skara_Brae

I find it amazing that this wee village was roughly 2000 years old when Troy fell.

[The Knap of Howar, also on Orkney is even older: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knap_of_Howar]

Oh definitely. But I named her because she was the last official figurehead with the 'pharaoh' title.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2560–2540 BC, Cleopatra reigned from 51–30 BC.

So - this statement will remain true for another ~446 years.

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