If Ancient Civilizations Had Built Huge Prisons

What if massive structures like this had been
 built to cage people for years on end?

Had the pyramids, instead of being resting places for dead kings, been built to confine massive numbers of human beings in crowded cages, I'm sure history would judge Egyptian civilization less favorably. 

Meanwhile, I can't see history judging the extensive use of jails and penitentiaries as evidence of our being an enlightened and just society. While temporary and even prolonged confinement may be necessary in rare cases, our having 2.3 million human beings behind bars in the US--by far the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world--will not make us look good. 

Surely we can come up with better ways than this of responding to problems like addiction, mental illness and criminal behavior.

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"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..." Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)