This is how the ancient Egyptians would have built the pyramids

The majestic Egyptian pyramids They are testimony to the ingenuity and power of an ancient civilization that, even today, continues to captivate us. But why were the pyramids built in a seemingly inhospitable desert landscape? Now, a new study seems to have solved the old mystery about the location of such emblematic structures: the answer is that, before being such a desert area, The pyramids were built under a branch of the Nile River currently dry and buried under sand and farmland.

How did they transport so many stones?

It is one of the great mysteries of history. According to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 31 structures, including the pyramids of Giza, were at one time near the banks of a river arm buried under sand and silt for thousands of years. This information would solve the great mystery of how the builders of the pyramids were able to transport all that volume of monument material. How were the thousands of tons of stone used in its construction transported there? Even with our modern technology, moving that much stone would be no easy task. .

Sediments from the area indicate that this area was at one time a much more arable region; particularly about 4,700 years ago, when the Nile branched much more than now. It is the same moment in history when the construction of the first pyramids of Egypt began.

“Monumental structures, such as pyramids and temples, would logically be built near major waterways to facilitate the transportation of their building materials and workers,” the authors wrote in their study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. “However, no waterway has been found near Egypt’s largest pyramid field, as the Nile River is located several kilometers away.”

It was really strange to know that more than 30 pyramids were built located along a vertical strip between Giza and Lisht along the edge of the Western Desert, part of the Sahara (including the Great Pyramid of Giza and one of the only Seven Wonders of the ancient world that remains standing), with the Nile River so far away (from our current perspective).

A lost river system

The answer is that it was not that far away, but that the pyramids were actually built along a branch of the river system that was lost over time. Although It’s not a new theoryin the current study evidence has been presented of having actually located the waterway used in the past to transport these large quantities of materials.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied satellite images to find the possible location of an ancient river arm that ran along the foothills of the Western Desert Plateau, very close to the pyramids. Then they used geophysical studies along with sediment core analysis, which allowed them to detect the presence of historical river sediments and ancient water channels hidden under the current terrain. And they found a discovery worth highlighting: a 64-kilometer-long river arm that flowed in the past and subsequently dried up, remaining hidden, buried and forgotten, until now.

And why did this river arm disappear? According to scientists, an accumulation of wind-blown sand, probably related to a major drought that began about 4,200 years ago, played a crucial role in this transformation. This climate change could have contributed to the gradual drying out and eventual concealment of this ancient waterway under layers of sand and soil. As it was, the pyramids of Giza were located on a plateau approximately one kilometer from the river bank. Researchers have proposed that the arm of the river be called “Ahramat”, which means pyramid in Arabic; a river that would have facilitated the transport of enormous blocks of stone and other materials to the works and could also explain why there are so many pyramids concentrated in this strip of desert. The proximity of the river made these areas easily accessible at the time of construction.

But This is not everything. The discovery of the Ahramat branch of the Nile River opens up new and interesting possibilities for archaeological exploration, as other extinct branches of the Nile can be located and potential sites identified for future excavations, which in turn could reveal new treasures hidden along of these ancient river banks.

“Revealing this extinct arm of the Nile can provide a more refined idea of ​​where ancient settlements were possibly located in relation to it and prevent them from being lost to rapid urbanization. This could improve the protection measures of the egyptian cultural heritage”, write the authors.

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