For thousands of years, scientists have tried to figure out how the ancient Egyptians could move the massive stone blocks needed to construct their pyramids. But now, a group of researchers has discovered a long-buried 64-kilometer-long river branch hidden under desert and farmland for millennia. The research team has found that the buried river used to flow alongside 31 pyramids in Egypt and also transported giant stone blocks.
The discovery of the river branch, called Khafre, came about when researchers were investigating the pyramid complex of Giza in Egypt and spotted fossilized pollen grains on the surface. These showed that the area had once been covered by a large green grass, indicative of a river flowing nearby. The river was likely used to ferry the two-to-three-ton blocks from a quarry six miles from Giza.
The researchers believe that the waterway could have been used to transport more than 2.3 million blocks of granite and limestone, which would have required around two-and-a-half thousand trucks. They added that this river branch was a vital piece of the puzzle because it provided an alternative to using ships, which would have been very expensive and risky for such an endeavor.
However, a ship wouldn’t have been able to haul the vast blocks independently, as it would have had to lift them onto barges. While a simple machine called a shadoof has been in use for millennia, it couldn’t lift the 2.5-ton blocks that would have been necessary to build the pyramids.
Instead, the researchers propose that the Egyptians made the most of the tributary’s canals connected to the Nile and used them to ferry the stones to their destinations. The canals were narrow and deep, perfect for loading the massive blocks onto rafts, which were then towed by boats downstream to their destination.
The research team, which includes scholars from France, China, and Egypt, published their findings in the journal Science Advances. The team is now looking into the possibility of excavating the entire length of the river branch and testing how it helped the Egyptians build their pyramids. The research team also has a theory of why the pyramids were constructed in a particular order, starting with the largest one at the top and then moving down in size. They believe this arrangement was designed to help the builders get the most out of the waterway, which was a significant factor in their success.