Engineers propose hydraulic lift for constructing Egypt's oldest pyramid

The construction of Egypt's pyramids, some over 4,000 years old, remains one of history's greatest mysteries, while ancient texts and archaeological evidence confirm the use of scaffolding and mud-brick ramps, a new theory has emerged that challenges traditional views.

For years, Egyptologists have hotly debated how the massive pyramids of ancient Egypt were built more than 4,000 years ago, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

Now, a team of engineers and geologists has proposed a new theory: a hydraulic lift device that would have floated heavy stones up through the middle of Egypt’s oldest pyramid using stored water.

The Step Pyramid, built for Pharaoh Djoser in the 27th century BC, was the tallest structure of its time, standing at about 62 meters (204 feet) tall. The construction methods for this monument, with some stones weighing up to 300 kilograms (661 pounds), have long been a mystery. This new theory, detailed in a study published in the journal PLOS One, offers a fresh perspective on the ancient engineering marvel.

“Many detailed publications have discussed pyramid-building procedures and provided tangible elements, but these usually focus on more recent, better-documented, and smaller pyramids of the Middle and New Kingdoms (1980 to 1075 BC),” said lead author Dr. Xavier Landreau, CEO of Paleotechnic, a research institute in Paris that studies ancient technologies.

“The techniques involved could include ramps, cranes, winches, toggle lifts, hoists, pivots, or a combination of these methods,” he added in an email. “But what about the Old Kingdom pyramids (2675 to 2130 BC), which are much bigger? While human strength and ramps may be the sole construction force for small structures, other techniques may have been used for large pyramids.”

Using an interdisciplinary approach, the new paper was the first to propose a system consistent with the Step Pyramid’s internal architecture, offering a novel insight into how these monumental structures may have been built.

A complex water treatment system utilizing local resources could have powered a water-driven elevator within the pyramid’s internal vertical shaft. According to the study, some type of float mechanism would have lifted the heavy stones up the pyramid’s center.

While this theory presents an “ingenious solution,” it has its skeptics. Many Egyptologists, including Dr. David Jeffreys, a retired senior lecturer in Egyptian archaeology at University College London who was not involved with the study, believe the more widely accepted theory that ancient Egyptians used ramps and haulage devices to place the heavy blocks. Here's what experts are saying about this new theory.

By analyzing data from paleoclimatology (the study of ancient climates) and archaeological findings, the study team suggested that water from ancient streams flowed from the west of the Saqqâra plateau into a system of deep-water trenches and tunnels surrounding the Step Pyramid.

Water would also have flowed into the Gisr el-Mudir — a massive rectangular limestone structure measuring 650 by 350 meters (2,133 feet by 1,148 feet) — which would have functioned as a check dam. Previously thought to be a fortress, celebration arena, or cattle enclosure, this device would control and store water from heavy floods while filtering out sediment and dirt to prevent clogging the water passageways.

The proposed water treatment system would not only manage water during floods but also ensure adequate water quality and quantity for consumption, irrigation, and construction purposes, said study coauthor Dr. Guillaume Piton, a researcher at France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), based at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences of the University Grenoble Alpes.

The authors referenced several prior studies indicating that the Sahara Desert experienced more regular rainfall thousands of years ago than it does today. This would have created a landscape more like a savannah, supporting more plant life than the current arid desert conditions. However, there is debate about the exact timing of these wetter climate conditions.

Dr. Judith Bunbury, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved with the study, suggested that there might have been enough water to support a system like the hydraulic lift. She pointed to past research that found rainwater gutters being built and used in the Old Kingdom, as well as studies showing that birds’ diets at the time included wetland species such as frogs, indicating wetter conditions.

In summary, while the hydraulic lift theory offers an innovative perspective on pyramid construction, it must contend with longstanding ramp theories and the uncertainties surrounding ancient climate conditions in Egypt.

“There’s a fairly widespread belief that it was rainier in the Old Kingdom, especially during the early period when the Step Pyramid was built,” said Dr. Judith Bunbury, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Cambridge.

However, experts debate whether there would have been enough consistent rainfall to fill structures like the "Dry Moat," a large channel surrounding the Step Pyramid and nearby structures. The authors of the study believe this moat collected water to power the hydraulic lift.

Dr. David Jeffreys, a retired senior lecturer in Egyptian archaeology at University College London, pointed out that the Sahara’s greener period likely ended by the beginning of the third millennium BC. He and Dr. Fabian Welc, director of the Institute of Archaeology at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, agree that low rainfall levels at the time would not have been sufficient to sustain the hydraulic lift. Welc added, “The low rainfall would not be able to fill the structures to the extent needed for a hydraulic lift, and furthermore would not be able to keep up with the water loss within the structure’s limestone.”

The study authors acknowledge that it’s unlikely the system was permanently filled with water. They suggest that flash floods might have supplied enough water to support the hydraulic lift during the pyramid’s construction. However, more research is needed to determine the exact amount of rainfall and flooding that occurred during this period.

This isn’t the first time the Nile has been investigated for its role in pyramid construction. A study published in May found a dried-up branch of the river that may have been used to transport limestone blocks to construction sites. There is also evidence that ancient Egyptians used hydraulics on a smaller scale, Jeffreys noted.

Researchers have yet to determine the exact purpose of the vertical shaft within the Step Pyramid of Djoser. While later pyramids, like the Great Pyramid of Giza, have shafts believed to be used for ventilation, the internal shaft of the Step Pyramid could have been intended for lighting or to relieve pressure on the chamber beneath. The Step Pyramid, the first of its kind, started as a mastaba (a flat tomb) and was built up, making its internal features even more enigmatic.

The internal shaft connects to a 200-meter-long underground tunnel that leads to another vertical shaft outside the pyramid. This external shaft might connect to a hypothesized water transportation section of the Dry Moat, referred to as the Deep Trench, but further research is needed.

The internal shaft begins directly below the pyramid near the center, where a granite box with a plug at its base sits. While this box is widely believed to be the burial chamber of King Djoser, the study authors suggest it was built to open and close the hydraulic lift, allowing water to fill the shaft when in use.

As for whether other pyramids were built using this method, Dr. Xavier Landreau, CEO of Paleotechnic and lead author of the study, said further investigation is needed. “It may hold the key to uncovering the mystery of how the largest monoliths, found in pyramids like Khufu or Khephren, were raised. These monoliths weigh tens of tons, making it seemingly impossible for them to be hauled using human labor alone. Conversely, a moderate-sized hydraulic lift can raise 50 to 100 tons. Exploring concealed shafts within these pyramids could be a promising avenue for research,” he added.

Despite the 4,000-year-old mysteries that surround the pyramids and their construction, there is substantial documentation that the ancient Egyptians used technologies such as scaffolding and mud-brick ramps to assist in building various structures. Dr. Judith Bunbury, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Cambridge, pointed out that there is no evidence or depictions of a water-powered lifting device in ancient Egyptian records.

"I think people, even since antiquity, have been inspired by the pyramids as a massive building project,” Bunbury said. “They find it quite difficult to believe that these structures were built by ordinary people at that time, partly because they see it as a long time ago. It’s puzzling that there are so many proposals of technological innovations that were supposedly used and then abandoned when we know they had practical solutions already.”

Bunbury acknowledged that while it’s possible a hydraulic lift device was used, the simplest explanation based on existing knowledge and evidence is more likely. “There’s a sort of Occam’s razor of what’s the simplest thing based on what we already know,” she added.