Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramids
The Great Pyramid of Giza was completed around 2560 BCE. Cleopatra was born in 69 BCE — approximately 2,491 years after the pyramid was built. The Moon landing happened in 1969 CE — approximately 2,038 years after Cleopatra's birth. This means Cleopatra was temporally closer to Neil Armstrong than to the builders of the pyramids. The pyramids are so ancient that they are old to ancient history. They were already 2,500-year-old tourist attractions when Julius Caesar visited Egypt.
Our sense of ancient history compresses dramatically. The world of Ancient Egypt has multiple distinct eras separated by more time than separates us from Ancient Rome.
“Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramids. Ancient history has multiple layers of "ancient."”