led by geographer Hader Shisha from Aix-Marseille University in FranceThe researchers used what is known asancient clues“. And so they decided that the builders of one of the ancient wonders of the world They may have used a now dry watercourse that flows into the Nile to transport the material.
The researchers recently published the results of their work in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research supports an old theory about the origin of the construction of the pyramids.
The investigation indicated that “Those ancient waterscapes and elevated river levels about 4,500 years ago facilitated the construction of a complex Giza Pyramids”.
Pyramids It is a feat of engineering and architecture that has surprised scientists and specialists for centuries. Surrounded by temples, tombs, and workers’ quarters, it was built on a plateau Giza those limits Cairo.
Commissioned by Pharaoh Khufu in the twenty-sixth century BC. c. The height of the Great Pyramid is 139 meters It is the largest group present in Giza. It consists of 2.3 million stone blocks and Combined mass 5.75 tonsAnd the 16 times more than Royal District Building New Yorkas analyzed CNN. Meanwhile, the other two main pyramids belong to the son of Khufu and Khafre and the grandson of Menkaure.
One aspect that has sparked controversy among scholars is How did the Egyptians mobilize tons of limestone and granite? Necessary for the construction of giant structures. For a long time, the theory spread that they exploited the ancient sections of the Nile to achieve this. Nowadays, the arms of the river are far from the pyramids.
hypothesis “River Resort”As the theory is known, it sees Egyptian engineers They opened a small waterway from the site of the pyramid to the arm of Khufu in the Nile“Along the western edge of the river’s floodplain, and dredged basins to the bed of the watercourse.”
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in this way, “Annual flood waters acted as a hydraulic jack, which allowed them to move huge stone blocks to the construction site,” The researchers note.
So far, this theory has not been able to identify the regions that were actively involved in achieving stone transfer.
Using a combination of techniques, scientists in Aix-Marseille University They concluded that the ancient Egyptians used the Khufu branch to carry out construction.
French researchers used rock layers In the alluvial plain of Giza to estimate water levels thousands of years ago Fossilized pollen grains from clay deposits. The data revealed that the area had high levels of water during epochs Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, between 2700 to 2200 a. C., when the three main pyramids were probably built.
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From the third to fifth dynasties, It is clear that the water branch of Khufu provided a favorable environment for the rise and development of the pyramid construction site, Help masons plan to transport stones and materials by ship,” the research team noted in the study.
Water levels for this arm of the Nile River It started to decline during this period Late EgyptWhich extends between the years 525 and 332 A.D. C. Thus it is evidenced by the presence of oxygen in the teeth and bones of the mummies at that time, which indicates low water consumption, according to the study.
When Alexander the Great invaded Egypt in 332 BC. AD, Khufu’s arm was just a small channel.
In any case, the study concluded the importance of this water course for the construction of the pyramids, since the river was high enough to move the giant stone blocks. The data indicates that they used the Nile and its annual floods to “exploit the plateau region that dominates the floodplains for a monumental building.”
