A study suggests that the Step Pyramid of Djoser may have been built using a hydraulic system that lifted stone blocks, challenging traditional theories.
People, by nature, tend to have concerns and reflections about things in life. Among these thoughts, one has surely arisen at some point about how the Egyptian pyramids were built. Many will think that there is something that is not being told and that they were surely the result of cranes or some other device, while others will simply say that they have always been there.
A new study by scientists could solve this mystery, suggesting that it was not just the result of sweat and stone, but that an ingenious hydraulic system that functioned thousands of years before modern inventions may also have helped.
Until now, all theories pointed to ramps, pulleys and infinite human strength, but this new hypothesis changes everything.
A group of scientists from the French research institute Paleochnic has published a study according to which the Step Pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara could have been built using a hydraulic system, i.e. using water to lift huge blocks of stone. Xabier Landreau, lead author of the study, comments that the blocks of the pyramids show a series of characteristics compatible with a water pressure mechanism.
This study indicates that water flowed into internal wells, creating enough pressure to lift the stones from the centre of the structure upwards.
During this research, the landscape was analysed to see if this would be possible, and everything indicates that it would. To the west of the pyramid is a large stone enclosure known as Gisr el-Mudir. This area may have acted as a dam that retained water and sediment from the Nile tributary.
This system would have included sedimentation and retention tanks, as well as primitive filtration devices. Together with the dam, it appears to have formed an interconnected hydraulic system that not only regulated the flow of water, but also purified it and used it for practical purposes.
How this hydraulic technique worked surrounding the pyramids of Egypt
According to this theory, the stones were raised by pumping water into the vertical well, using its force to lift a float connected to a platform where workers placed the stone blocks. When the water was released, the platform rose and the block slid into place. This was a simple but ingenious device that could replace huge ramps and laborious human effort.
This could mean that the Egyptians were masters of hydraulic technology. However, not all researchers agree. Judith Bunbury, a geoarchaeologist, comments that there are abundant audiovisual and written records of how people lived in this area, but at no point is this device mentioned.
It should be noted that, from a scientific point of view, this hypothesis has no solid evidence. Furthermore, Julia Budka, from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, points out that a weak point of this theory is that it does not have any Egyptologists and that the authors question the original purpose of the pyramid of Zoser as a royal tomb.
