Things Lose Their Value If They Are Made Too Easy

Even in the face of universal wisdom, prejudices and cultural barriers can obstruct the path to mutual understanding and progress.

It was getting cold, but even if we had had wood, we wouldn't have dared to light the fire. So we huddled together and talked, offering each other some comfort, sharing our grief over the disappearances of Talma and Enoch, and giving each other some hope as we discussed a vague future; I with Astiza, and Ash with all Egypt.

- The Mamluks are exploiters, it's true, he admitted. We could learn some things from the French scholars, just as they learn from us. But Ethan, Egypt needs to be run by people who live here, not Frankish rosalies.

- Can't there be a collaboration?

- I do not believe. Would Paris want an Arab on the city council, even if the imam had the wisdom of Thoth? Not. It is not in the nature of things. Suppose a god were to come down from heaven with answers to all questions. Would we listen to him or crucify him?

Can you view death as the last and grandest of your tasks, reflecting the importance of the end you mark in a work of art, where the end point adds the deepest meaning to your entire existential journey?

- We all know the answer to this question. So to each man in his place, right Ash?

- And wisdom in its place. I think that's what Enoch was trying to do, to keep the wisdom of Egypt locked away: where it should and as the ancients decided, even if they could make stones levitate or people live forever?

- Things lose their value if they are made too easily. If any nation or man could build a pyramid by magic, then it would be no more out of the ordinary than a hill. And live forever? Anyone with eyes can see that this is against nature. Imagine a world full of old people, a world with few children, a world where there is no hope of progress because every office is filled with venerable elders who have been there before you for centuries. This would not be paradise, it would be a hell of prudence and conservatism, of outdated ideas and worn phrases, of old grudges and unforgotten contempt. Are we afraid of death? Of course. But it is death that gives way to birth, and the cycle of life is as natural as the rise and fall of the Nile. Death is our last task and the greatest of all.

Can the context of a world dominated by the elderly, correlated with the risk of excessive conservatism, be balanced by the vision of a continuous cycle of innovation and revitalization, similar to the perpetuation of the cycle of life?

In the landscape of personal and cultural development, the concept of ancient wisdom, such as that preserved by the ancient Egyptians, reflects a balance between preserving knowledge and adapting to new paradigms. Just as the levitation of stones and the eternity of life are concepts that defy nature, oversimplifying the creative processes, such as building a pyramid by "magic", would diminish their value and uniqueness. Imagining a world dominated by the elderly, we see the risks of excessive conservatism, where outdated ideas block the progress and innovation needed to revitalize society.

Death, though feared, allows for the continuous rejuvenation of society, similar to the fluctuations of the Nile, essential for the regeneration of life. In this context, death is not just a loss, but a task that opens the way to new beginnings, a natural element vital to the perpetuation of the cycle of life and cultural innovation.

In the idea that the eternity of life can be perceived as an impetus to innovation, how do you relate to the concept of death as a natural element, seen through the lens of a visual representation of rebirth?

In my efforts to understand the eternity and wisdom preserved by the Egyptian culture, I faced the same dilemmas as the heroes of classical literature, who had to choose between the desire for immortality and the acceptance of the natural cyclical nature of life and death. Every structure, be it a pyramid or a belief system, loses its relevance if it is exempt from the challenges of change. As in the stories of old men who block progress with their outdated ideas, our world would suffer if it refused to allow the death of old ways of thinking to make way for the birth of new ideas.

Death, with the fear and respect it commands, is central to cultural and personal dynamics; it clears the human landscape of redundancies, allowing evolution and innovation to thrive. In this sense, death is not only an end, but an essential means for regeneration and progress.

Leadership is constituted as a newly paved road, a process of receiving an authentic image on the development of science. where the end is just the beginning of another spiritual and cultural chapter in society.

Things lose their value if they are made too easy, especially when challenging science and the effort required to effect change are essential to cultivating a new perspective on the world and its possibilities for progress.

* Note: Dietrich, William - Napoleon's Pyramids, Nemira Publishing House, 2007