Archaeology & History

Egypt's pyramid builders utilized annual floods, study claims

By T.K. Randall
August 31, 2022 ·  1 comment

The Nile undoubtedly played an important role. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Jerzy Strzelecki The last surviving wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids, which tower high above the Egyptian desert, remain a fascinating and awe-inspiring window into a time long lost to history.

Exactly how the Egyptians managed to build such enormous structures without the benefit of modern technology has long been a topic of heated debate, with archaeologists disagreeing on many fundamental aspects of how such a feat could have been achieved.

Now according to a new study, the builders of the pyramids may have taken advantage of the Nile's annual flooding to help them achieve their goals.

To enable them to transport such huge blocks of stone to the construction site, the workers may have used the raw power of the rising water levels like a hydraulic lift to raise up stone-carrying rafts.A series of canals and harbors would have also helped to facilitate the process.

"To edify the plateau's pyramids, tombs, and temples, it now seems that ancient Egyptian engineers took advantage of the Nile and its annual floods, using an ingenious system of canals and basins that formed a port complex at the foot of the Giza plateau," the study authors wrote.

"However, there is a paucity of environmental evidence regarding when, where, and how these ancient landscapes evolved."

While there is certainly little doubt that the Nile would have played an important role in the building of the pyramids, it's unlikely that everyone in the archaeological community will agree on exactly how it was used and the exact processes involved in transporting the blocks and moving them into place.

Source: Science Alert | Comments (1)

Tags: Pyramids, Egypt