Gods aren't real, neither is the soul, nor an afterlife.

Building a big thing because you think it would be neat is not really a waste. It's a big thing, everyone knows it's not strictly necessary, but whether it's for the glorification of your nation or your people or your God doesn't matter so much. If people don't have gods they build big monuments to other stuff.

I don’t believe gods are real, but I can still see the irony of making absolute statements regarding unfalsifiable ideas.

If I die and find my soul being weighed on the scales of Anubis you can say you told me so. What a fool I was to doubt!