Summary: Researchers have uncovered a potential explanation for how the iconic Step Pyramid of Djoser was built, using a water-lift system.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” – Genesis 11:4 (ESV)
Egypt’s Pioneering Hydraulics
The Step Pyramid of Djoser, located in Saqqara, Egypt on the west bank of the Nile River, is thought to have been built about 4,500 years ago – long before the Biblical patriarchs and roughly a century before the Great Pyramid of Giza. Considered the oldest of the seven monumental pyramids, it was a significant milestone in massive architecture.
The Step Pyramid was built during ancient Egypt’s 3rd Dynasty as a funerary complex for Pharaoh Djoser. Standing at over 200 feet, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world at that time. But researchers have long puzzled over exactly how this colossal structure was built.
Using a transdisciplinary approach, a potential explanation has recently been uncovered for the construction of this iconic pyramid. According to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the pyramid may have been built with the help of an ingenious hydraulic lift system.
The study revealed a dam, along with a system of trenches and tunnels, may have been used to channel water to the construction site where it flowed in and out of two channels underneath the pyramid. A vertical shaft in the pyramid’s center was then used to float a platform that could be raised and lowered, enabling the lifting of large stones.
“Ancient Egyptians are famous for their pioneering and mastery of hydraulics through canals for irrigation purposes and barges to transport huge stones,” said the researchers in the study. “This work opens a new line of research: the use of hydraulic force to erect the massive structures built by pharaohs.”
Revolutionary Construction
The Step Pyramid stands on a limestone plateau in the Saqqara necropolis, 15 miles southwest of Cairo. Its construction was groundbreaking, with the ability to extract and raise millions of stones, before meticulously stacking them with precision.
Imhotep, Vizier and Great Priest of Ra, was the architect of the pyramid complex. Because of his impressive architectural achievement, he was deified by Egyptians in the New Kingdom.
“We see [the Step Pyramid] as a technological prototype,” said study lead author, Dr. Xavier Landreau, of CEA Paleotechnic Institute. “Its architecture is revolutionary, with many innovations, making it a technological precursor to the Cheops pyramid. It is the first to disclose two crucial innovations: a pyramid shape and the exclusive use of fully dressed stones for masonry.”
The knowledge and innovations implemented in the Djoser mortuary complex profoundly influenced future developments and were widely perfected throughout the Old Kingdom’s 3rd and 4th Dynasties.
Remarkable Building Task
“These developments resulted in a substantial increase in the megaliths’ size, leading to pyramids of spectacular dimensions, such as those of the Meidum, Dahshur, and Giza plateaus,” said the researcher in the study.
In less than 150 years, a relatively short time frame on the scale of human history, Egyptians transported and lifted some 25 million tons of stones to build the seven monumental pyramids, the study explained.
This entails a technical and logistical organization capable of carving, moving, and placing about 50 tons of stone blocks per hour on average with the assumption of an annual work schedule of 300 days at a rate of 10 hours a day, meaning 450,000 hours spread over less than 150 years.
“Even if one admits that not every pyramid’s blocks are fitted with millimeter precision, the amount of work accomplished is truly remarkable. Interestingly, the pyramids built later in Egypt tended to be smaller with time and never reached the volume of the Old Kingdom’s monumental structures again,” researchers said.
Many theories suggest that pure human strength, aided by basic mechanical devices like levers and ramps, were used to build the pyramids. “We are skeptical that the largest pyramids were built using only known ramp and lever methods, “ said Landreau. “Our analysis led us to the utilization of water as a means of raising stones.”
Gisr el-Mudir Enclosure
By studying ancient climate and archaeological data, researchers found that the region of the Djoser Step Pyramid had more water available than once believed. Evidence showed that the pyramid was built below a watershed and potentially had access to a significant water supply at the time. Another recent discovery is the existence of a hidden Nile branch in lower Egypt that helps explain the location of the Giza pyramids that are far from water today.
In the paper, researchers demonstrate that a massive, previously unexplained structure close to the pyramid, known as the Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, displays features of a “check dam” designed to trap sediment and water. Measuring over a mile long and almost 50 feet thick, it would have regulated and filtered water while providing protection against torrential floods for the Saqqara plateau below, the study proposed.
The Deep Trench
The Djoser Complex is surrounded by a vast excavation area referred to as the “Dry Moat.” Cut into the bedrock, it measures up to 164 feet wide by 65 feet deep. The entire moat has not been fully uncovered by archaeologists yet, but it is thought to be a continuous, almost two-mile trench that encloses the pyramid complex. Water from the Upper Abusir Lake would have filled this moat making it useful for navigation and material transportation, according to the study.
In the southern part of the moat is a giant rock-cut channel that researchers refer to as the “Deep Trench.” It measures approximately 1,345 feet long, 88 feet deep and 10 feet wide. Previously, the function of this large channel was a mystery, but the study proposed it was used to purify water.
The trench has a series of several compartments which would allow sediment to settle as water passed through each subsequent basin. “We have shown that sediment-free water from the Deep Trench treatment plant would have been introduced into underground conduits beneath the Djoser pyramid,” said the researchers. “These conduits…had remained unexplained until now.”
Volcano-Like Construction
The team uncovered evidence that the internal architecture of the Step Pyramid is consistent with a never-before-reported hydraulic elevator mechanism. Built like a volcano, water carrying building materials could be directed to the central well underneath the pyramid and then raised using filling and draining cycles. Such a system would have minimized the workload of site laborers by enabling large quantities of stone to be lifted vertically with each filling/emptying cycle of the shaft.
“Taken as a whole, the Gisr el-Mudir and the Deep Trench form a unified hydraulic system that enhances water purity and regulates flow for practical uses and vital needs,” Landreau said. “This discovery provides a coherent answer to a question about the construction of the pyramids that has remained unanswered for several centuries.”
“It is almost like a crane on our modern building sites,” he said. “Its position inside the pyramid also offers logistical advantages, as the blocks arrive at the structure’s central axis, allowing for natural, volcano-like construction and making it easy to give the whole thing a pyramid shape.”
New Questions
While the latest findings shed light on a possible construction method, the findings also prompt new questions about the technical knowledge possessed by the architects of these structures, surpassing previous estimations, while also challenging the established historical narrative.
Authentic sources from the working sphere of pyramid architects are currently lacking, leading to no existence of a generally accepted complete model for pyramid construction. “Although many detailed publications dedicated to pyramid-building procedures have [provided] tangible elements, they usually explain more recent, better documented, but also smaller pyramids,” explained Landreau. These techniques could include ramps, cranes, winches, toggle lifts, hoists, pivots, or a combination of them.
Conclusion
Hydraulic lift systems may hold the key to “uncovering the mystery of how the largest monoliths, found in pyramids like Khufu or Kephren, were raised,” the researchers said. “These monoliths weigh tens of tons, making it seemingly impossible for them to be hauled using manpower 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.”
It is certainly intriguing to consider the level of ingenuity in early civilizations. Further study is still required to confirm the hydraulic lift hypothesis. We do know that ancient Egypt was a “hydraulic civilization” skilled in managing irrigation canals and transporting heavy stones over long distances, according to the study. Whether other pyramids were constructed with a similar hydraulic lift mechanism is currently uncertain, but possible. We will have to Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: Step Pyramid Complex Djoser. (credit: Prof. Mortel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
