“We are skeptical that the largest pyramids were built using only the known ramp and lever method.”
Lifty Heavy
It's no secret that the ancient Egyptians were fairly technologically advanced for their time, but new research suggests that at least one pyramid was built using a surprisingly advanced technology: a hydraulic lift.
As detailed in a new study published in the journal PLOS One, the researchers say they found evidence that the builders of the Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid, used a system of ditches, tunnels and dams to direct water to the construction site, where it was used to raise and lower a floating platform onto which heavy stones could be transported.
“Many theories about pyramid construction suggest that pure human power was used, perhaps with the help of basic mechanical devices such as levers and ramps,” Xavier Landreau, CEO of the Paris-based research institute Paleotechnique and lead author of the study, told Ars Technica. “Our analysis leads to the conclusion that they used water as a means to lift the stones. We are skeptical of the idea that the largest pyramids were built using only known ramps and levers.”
Tunnel Vision
Considered to be Egypt's oldest pyramid, the Step Pyramid was built around 2680 BC, about a century before the Great Pyramid of Giza. Historians believe it was designed by legendary architect Imhotep, who was commissioned by Pharaoh Djoser to build his burial site.
After years of sifting through ancient climate and archaeological data, researchers have found evidence that there was more water around the pyramids than previously thought, shedding new light on several structures in and around the complex, including a vertical shaft in the middle of the step pyramid that researchers now believe may have housed a hydraulic lift.
This shaft may have once received water from a connecting tunnel more than 650 feet long beneath the pyramid, which connected to a network of other tunnels and possibly to the great ditch that still surrounds the pyramids.
This theory may also explain the origins of a nearby stone structure known as Gisr el-Mudir Enclosure, whose purpose has long been a mystery: Researchers speculate that the enclosure may have acted as a “check dam,” retaining water during major floods and filtering sediment to prevent the tunnels from clogging.
Wet Reception
The findings have been controversial among experts, with critics arguing that there could not have been enough steady rainfall to fill the tunnel with enough water.
“Even if this rain flooded the wadi, it would not have been enough to fill the dry trench even slightly,” Fabian Welch, director of the Institute of Archaeology at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland, told CNN. “The water would have quickly drained deep into the rocks by gravity, which is certain (unless it was a biblical flood).”
Egypt's former minister of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, called the study largely fake.
“I have been excavating at Gisr el-Mudir for the past 12 years,” Hawass told IFLScience. “In my excavations, I have not found a single piece of evidence to prove that it was a dam.”
The theory has many drawbacks, and the study authors acknowledge that more research is needed to prove their hunch, but they can at least give kudos for suggesting the idea.
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