Contrary to popular belief, the well-known Egyptian Pyramids, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, were not built using slave labor.  In fact, the Great Pyramid was constructed by tens of thousands of skilled workers who worked for a fixed salary.  Typically, slaves were prisoners of war.  Egypt was not engaged in many wars during the construction of the Pyramid, thus there wouldn’t be any POWs to convert into slaves.  The workers felt very blessed to build the Pyramid; each worker felt like he was doing his part to honor the life and death cycles of the pharaohs, thereby perpetuating the glory of Egypt.  I wonder if today’s construction workers get that life-fulfilling feeling after building a new Arby’s.