NEW THEORY SUGGESTS HYDRAULIC LIFT SYSTEM IN CONSTRUCTION OF DJOSER’S STEP PYRAMID

Thu 08 August 2024:

The construction of Egypt’s famed pyramids has long puzzled Egyptologists, with the exact methods employed remaining unclear. Recent research proposes that the ancient Egyptians may have utilized a hydraulic lift system for the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest pyramid in Egypt.

Published Monday in the journal PLOS One, the study posits that water played a pivotal role in facilitating the lifting of heavy stones during construction.

“Ancient Egyptians are famous for their pioneering and mastery of hydraulics through canals for irrigation purposes and barges to transport huge stones. This work opens a new line of research: the use of hydraulic force to erect the massive structures built by Pharaohs,” the researchers wrote.

Constructed around 2680 BC for King Djoser of the 3rd dynasty, the Step Pyramid is noted as the oldest significant stone building in Egypt, according to Smithsonian Magazine and Encyclopedia Britannica.

The researchers claim to have found evidence of a water filtration and hydraulic system at the pyramid, which purified water from nearby canals and controlled its flow for practical applications.

Dr. Xavier Landreau from CEA Paleotechnic Institute explained, “A series of compartments dug into the ground outside of the pyramid may have served as a water treatment facility, allowing sediment to settle as water passed through each subsequent compartment. Water may then have been able to flow into the pyramid shafts themselves, where the force of its rise could help carry the building stones.”

Further research is needed to explore how water could have moved through the shafts and the availability of water in the landscape during that era.

However, skepticism persists. Dr. Judith Bunbury, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Cambridge, asserts that while ancient Egyptians used various hydraulic technologies, concrete evidence for a hydraulic lift system is lacking.

“While information from this period is sparse, it is not absent, and it is surprising when so many other details of daily life and technologies are recorded in the Old Kingdom tomb scenes and texts like the Red Sea Scrolls, that this type of device is omitted if it were in use,” she stated.

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Various theories have been proposed over time, suggesting that ramps, levers, cranes, winches, hoists, pivots, or a combination of these may have been employed in the construction process.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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