Here in the technological comfort of the modern world, a time 4,500 years in the past may not seem very relevant to daily life. But a previously unknown ancient Egyptian queen named Khentkaus III is sparking conversation about how our civilization could fall into ashes and dust -- just like hers.
That's because her world, which suffered its own doomsday 200 years after her death, was eerily similar to our own: plenty of wealth and strength in a fragile environment altered, and ultimately destroyed, by civilization through climate change.
Is this ancient story a prediction of our own doomsday, a couple centuries in the future? At the very least, the archaeologist examining Queen Khentkaus' tomb and remains, Professor Miroslav Barta, thinks it should provide a cautionary tale, he told CNN.
"If we accept collapse as a fact, we will understand collapses as being a part of the natural course of things, and one of the needed steps in the process leading towards 'resurrection.' Then, we shall be able to do something about it."
