Image by Charles Sharpe, via Wikimedia Commons
The compelling but by no means simple question of how the ancient Egyptians built their pyramids has stimulated a variety of theories and speculations, rooted to different degrees in physical reality. Pure human power must have played a major role, and it cannot be ruled out that various simple machines were used. But is it possible that in some cases the machines were less simple than we imagine them to be today? This is proposed in a recently published paper. PLOS One, “On the Possibility of Using Hydraulics to Assist the Construction of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara”
“The Step Pyramid was built around 2680 BC and was part of the burial site of the Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser.” Written by Jennifer Ouellet of Ars Technica“Located in the Saqqara necropolis, it was the first pyramid built and is roughly a ‘proto-pyramid’, originally measuring about 205 feet in height,” compared to the more widely known Great Pyramid of Giza, which was 481 feet tall.
According to Xavier Landreau, lead author of the study and head of the French research institute: Old technologyAfter an extensive survey of “the western watershed of the Saqqara plateau,” his team “discovered structures inside the pyramid that appear to have constituted a dam, water treatment works, and possibly an internal hydraulic lift system that was used to move the heavy limestone rocks.”
Not all Egyptian experts are convinced. Judith Bunbury “There is evidence that the Egyptians were using other kinds of hydraulic technology at that time, but there is no evidence for any kind of hydraulic lift system,” Ouellette said. At Smithsonian.comWill Sullivan summarises other skeptical responses, including from archaeologists at the University of Toronto: Oren Siegel,he” Science News The step pyramid view adopted by Landreau and his colleagues would obviously need more concrete support, so to speak, before it could be accepted by the mainstream, but it is still a lot more plausible than, say, the somehow persistent idea that an advanced extraterrestrial civilization had come to help the ancient Egyptians.
Related Content:
Who built the Egyptian pyramids? New archaeological evidence dispels ancient myths
How were the Great Pyramids of Giza built?: An animated introduction
What did the Great Pyramid of Giza originally look like?
Isaac Newton theorized that Egyptian pyramids revealed the end times: see burnt manuscript from 1680s
How did the Roman aqueducts work?: A look at the most impressive feats of ancient Roman infrastructure
Based in Seoul, Colin MaOnershall Writing and broadcastingHe has written papers on cities, languages, and cultures, and his projects include the Substack newsletter. Books about cities And books A city without a state: Walking through 21st-century Los Angeles. Follow us on Twitter CollinhamOnershall or Facebook.
