Imagine we wanted to make an exact copy of the pyramids in Egypt, the great pyramid specifically.
Never mind building them without machines. Do you think mankind, not just the current residents of Egypt, but do you think in this world there exists the technical know how and political will to even be able to do it?
More like for the glory of pharaons. They have no any purpose useful for civilisation. Say, another megalitic project - Suez canal, at least useful for delivering huge amount of goods from one hemisphere to another. Pyramids, in the best case, is just an archeological curiosity and attraction for tourists.
What could be a motivation to build a copy of pyramid?
Once, one millionare built a giant fiberglass pyramids with all that precise "golden" ratios and even that "direction to the North star" not far from Moscow. You know that energies and all that esoteric stuff. Dude spent millions of dollars. Guess what. They was nothing more than attraction for idlers. Some was disassembled, largest one crushed onto neighbouring ostrich farm during one of hurricanes. Enthusiasm about all that "positive energy" from "golden ratio geometry" dried fast, and not much was spent on further maintenance. Look for it - "Alexander Golod pyramides".
That was some motivated millionare. To build a copy of Great pyramid you will need billion of dollars at minimum. So you need a billion dollar motivation. What could it be?
Nothing except creating a tomb for some elite bastard who obsessed with pharaons glory coming to my mind.
I don't think you really grasp how the pharoah represented the civilization itself. He was both a flag, a monument, a state religion, a war leader, a god king, and intecessor with the rest of the gods. He was that civilization, especially to the peasants who never saw him. Stop thinking like an Athenian or Greek. It's like imagining that because you have $120 dollars in your wallet, you know what it's like to be as rich as Bill Gates.
Could we build a copy of the great pyramid? I'm not sure, even if we could use modern technology to, theoretically, make it easier. And it's only partially due to motivation.
Civilization that didn't leave us any significant legacy except useless pyramids. They f.e. used geometry, obviously, but it was ancient Greeks who bring it to humanity as useful system of knowledge.
Also, their undoubtely unique and developed civilisation eventually failed. Not very succesfull guys.
But for what purpose? There is no any technical problems in that at all. Only financial ones. Name me a single reason for spending billions to build this completely useless thing.
If you think the only legacy of the roughly 3,000 years of Egyptian civilization is the pyramids, then you're sorely mistaken. Even if it was just the pyramids, let me tell you my friend, were man to disappear from the earth tomorrow, the pyramids would be proof of intelligent life on this planet for another 50,000 years.
A single reason? Why would we spend billions to do any great thing when it's all dust and ashes in the long run.
What else could be undoubtedly accounted as ancient Egyptians legacy? Name something we widely use today. It should be easy to do, if I mistaken.
We spend billions to build megalitic projects even right now. Electric grid is providing electricity, railways connect infrastructure, HPPs for producing energy, giant factroies to make goods and so on. A lot of reasons to build megalitic projects for billions.
But what's the use of building a pyramid?