The engineering knowledge required to align it so precisely with the cardinal directions, to build it to such accuracy that the base deviates from level by less than 2.1 centimeters across its entire perimeter, represents planning, measurement, and organizational capability that would not be matched in the ancient world for millennia.

NUE001, depending on exactly when he lived within the wide radiocarbon range, may have been contemporary with the construction of some of the earliest pyramid complexes.

He may have seen the Step Pyramid — or at least known it existed, as the administrative center of the pharaonic state at Memphis would have been known throughout Middle Egypt.

He lived within the reach of the pharaonic system, in a society organized around agricultural surplus, administrative control, and religious obligation.

But he was not at the center of any of this.