Under Mobutu Sese Seko's negligent and plunderous rule, much of the Belgian-built road system was buried under rainforest or destroyed by heavy lorries and lack of maintenance.
And that makes the political landscape of 2015 is fertile ground for a figure like Donald Trump, an outsider businessman who wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
After going about two hundred miles, the travellers at last found themselves on one of those vast plains which extend to the Atlantic, and which nature has made so propitious for laying the iron road.
When the Yankees, swarming out of the hills, came upon them, the Southern troops were waiting for them, entrenched behind breastworks, batteries planted, bayonets gleaming, even as they had been at Dalton.
Among the options discussed behind closed doors were proposals that would allocate anywhere from $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion to border security, none of which could be spent on a wall.
Additionally, the practice of building with external load-bearing walls caused structures to thicken at their bases as they grew taller, reducing floor area on these desirable lower levels.
The deal to end the 35-day partial government shutdown does not include Trump's demand of $5.7 billion to build a wall at the country's southern border with Mexico.
Rubble and stone debris from building other tombs higher on the hill buried the entrance, protecting it from thieves, and it lay untouched for over three thousand years.
The present day regime that is encouraging the building of roads, allowing for easier travel has laid siege to one of the world's most valuable natural resources.
Trees were cleared for cattle, companies drilled for oil and mined the land for minerals and metals, and cities and roads were built through the forest.