I have written about the great pyramid in the past and some of the possible alternative theories as to the origin of it and its partners on at Giza.

Historians, dreamers and theorists have speculated about their reason for being, what they mean, how they were built and what they symbolize. Depending on who you speak with, they are burial chambers, possible generators of some sort or just plain monuments.They are probably some of the most studied constructions in all history because the closer one examines them, the more questions they generate.On the surface they are a marvel of ancient engineering, an enigma of sorts. There is no definite conclusion on how they were constructed and what their true purpose is. I believe there is more to the meaning of them than meets the eye.What would the remnants of our society appear to represent to humanity two-plus millennia from now? Would our roads still exist? What about our buildings?Perhaps some monuments would remain intact, scattered here and there. I imagine almost anything made of steel or metals would be long gone, rusted away from lack of care.Our roads would be overgrown, buildings possibly decayed to dust from aggressive climbing plants.Yet maybe some of the monuments we built today would remain. What of the Washington Monument, that towering obelisk in the heart of our nation's capital?If we were all gone and it was discovered, what do you think someone might think of it?Or the faces on Mount Rushmore? What would a future civilization make of this? Especially if they find both Mount Rushmore and the carvings on Stone Mountain in Georgia. How would these future explorers rewrite history?Some future archaeologist might conjecture that the Washington Monument was an ancient observatory built to allow observers to be close to the stars.Or is it a monument to some god? Would an archaeologist realize that the monument was nothing more than a memorial to George Washington, the father of our country?That's assuming inscriptions or carvings are still visible.And what of Stone Mountain and Mount Rushmore? While Stone Mountain obviously appears to be soldiers carved on the side of the rock face, would anyone understand their context? Would they know that these three great figures in U.S. history were actually rebels who fought against the United States? They might believe them to be heroes.After all, who would carve three traitors in the side of the mountain face? Strangely enough, in 2,000 years, their names might also be long lost as well. And what of Mount Rushmore and its quartet of faces? Were they leaders of the country? Could they be generals? Or were they gods who were worshipped by the people?One assumes that our history would never be lost. After all, it is written in books, on film, and now we like to believe it is as permanent as this column living forever on the Internet. This sense of eternal permanence is a transient illusion.If a cataclysm occurs, all of this information could be lost forever. Paper decays, computers die, and in the case of global cataclysm, fire, flood or electromagnetic disruptions, electronic information could be lost forever. When that goes, so do the last remnants of the records of our society.For example, take the case of ancient Egypt, which was a rich civilization in culture, art, history and technology.The pyramids are a lasting marvel, the only one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World that still survive.Yet the context that explains the pyramids and the nearby Sphinx are all but gone. We have theories and ideas about what these landmarks were, but no one can state definitively their purpose. Is it possible that if the Library of Alexandria survived, we might have the answer to this mystery?At one time the library of Alexandria was considered one of the largest repositories of knowledge and culture in the world. Said to contain anywhere from 40,000 to 400,000 or a half million scrolls detailing the culture and history of the ancient world, it was destroyed by invading armies.Some sources attributed the destruction to Julius Caesar, who accidentally caused it to burn while setting fire to his ships.Other sources indicate that while portions of the library were damaged through a series of fights and revolts, the main destruction of the library may have occurred after Muslims invaded and conquered Alexandria.Even the fate of this library is in dispute, but some scholars believe many of the contents did survive. According to Wikipedia, the authors conjecture that some of the contents may have been recovered and relocated, but there are no definite conclusions, just speculation.In the end we have to accept that our monuments are as transient as us. While we are here we have context and meaning, but in the end we fade away like dandelion seeds blowing on a gentle breeze.It is said that most of us die three times, the first when we physically depart this plane, the second when those who remember us pass away and the final time when all memory of us is lost, like old photographs without names.Our monuments and all of our civilization's accomplishments suffer the same fate. Like the pyramids of old, our monuments today will also lose context and become enigmas for some future generation. Future mysteries in the sands of time.Till next time …