We Jews have been around long enough now to know that nothing stays the same. One day you’re up, the next down. Where, nowadays, are mighty Greece, Rome, Babylon – and of course – Egypt?

Of course, places with these names still exist, although their inhabitants have a completely different culture than their forebears. On the other hand, it’s interesting to note that the natives of these, and many other historically once important places, see themselves as the spiritual, if not cultural, descendants of their once-mighty ancestors. Considering that all four of these former empires are now parts of countries with little political sway in the world, seeing themselves as modern versions of the ancients is probably good for their self-confidence. Plus, it helps with the tourist trade.

And then there’s us – the nemeses of the ancient empires. We saw them rise and fall, and we’re still here to tell the story. Or, as a wise man once said, they tried to kill us, we won – and now it’s time to eat!

Interestingly, our relationship with these former empires has changed. Nowadays, Israel is swell friends with Greece and Italy, and while Egypt did try a couple of times to repeat old-time Pharaonic bloodbaths in modern times, today things have calmed down enough for the Jews and Egyptians to at least pretend not to be at each others’ throats.

And, while the Jews were enslaved all those years ago to build cities for the Egyptians – the remains of which we see in the Pyramids – today, many Jews, as well as others, are doing there best to save the pyramids – by playing a great, free, on-line game called Luxor (http://zone.msn.com/en/luxor).

Oh how the mighty have fallen! Egypt, which once controlled the known world, is near destruction, under attack by colored spheres, clearly of alien origin (who else would use “spheres” to attack humans?). The spheres are apparently starting with the pyramids of Luxor, and when they’re done there, the next stop will probably be Taba (and you know where they’ll head after that!). So, for the good of our current semi-allies, and in the interest of preserving another example of Jewish genius (after all, nobody else has yet figured out how our ancestors built the things!), it’s incumbent upon us to save the pyramids!

How? By fighting fire with fire – I mean spheres with spheres, which you shoot from your special scarab, aiming to line up like-colored spheres for points and badges. The free on-line version of Luxor (requires Windows 2000 or better, plus Internet Explorer 5 or better), is fast-paced and fun – and if you really get into the Luxor life, you can download the desktop version of the game, with dozens of skill levels and even the chance to win prizes! Of course, we’re doing this to save the pyramids. Not that they’re going to thank us for it or anything!