"No, by Zoroaster, it is not! Take the Egyptians. Their greatest
monuments, such as the pyramids, were constructed in the earlier
dynasties. Khufu, or Cheops, built the largest at Gizeh. He was the
founder of the 4th Dynasty, about the year 2900 B. C. Twenty-five
dynasties later, and nearly three thousand years, there was no greatly
discernable change in the Egyptian culture."
Girard-Perregaux egged him on gently. "The sole example of your theory
I can think of, offhand."
"Not at all!" Gubelin glared. "The Mayans are a more recent proof.
Their culture goes back to at least 500 B. C. At that time their
glyph-writing was already wide-spread and their cities, eventually
to number in the hundreds, being built. By the time of Christ they
had reached their peak. And they remained there until the coming of
the Spaniards, neither gaining nor losing, in terms of evolution of
society."