Engineers Found Evidence of Hydraulics in an Ancient Pyramid, Solving a 4,500-Year-Old Mystery

See how Egyptian engineers might have used water to shape history’s greatest monuments.

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  • A new study suggests that the first of seven key pyramids in Egypt, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was built using a hydraulic lift.
  • Dated to about 4,500 years ago, this would move up the introduction of major hydraulic systems from previous beliefs.
  • The landscape, waterways, and interior architecture of the pyramid all point to the hydraulic system.

Hydraulic mechanics may have indeed been the driving force behind the construction of ancient Egyptian pyramids.

In a recent preprint paper, scientists concluded that the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, Egypt—believed to be the oldest of the seven monumental pyramids and potentially constructed about 4,500 years ago—offers a remarkable blueprint for hydraulic engineering.

The hydraulic-powered mechanism could have maneuvered the oversized stone blocks forming the pyramid, starting from the ground up. The research team says the Step Pyramid’s internal architecture is consistent with a hydraulic elevation mechanism, something that’s never been reported before at that place or in that time.

By lifting the stones from the interior of the pyramid in what the authors call a “volcano fashion,” the water pressure from the hydraulic system could have pushed the blocks into place. If proved out, this research shows the Egyptians had a powerful understanding of advanced hydraulic systems well before modern scholars believed they did. That begs the question: Was this the first major use of the system, or had it been in play previously?

No matter the answer, pulling it off at the Step Pyramid would have been no easy feat.

The team believes that based on the mapping of nearby watersheds, one of the massive—and yet unexplained—Saqqara structures, known as the Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, has the features of a check dam with the intent to trap sediment and water. The scientists say the topography beyond the dam suggests a possible temporary lake west of the Djoser complex, with water flow surrounding it in a moat-like design

Read More – Engineers Found Evidence of Hydraulics in an Ancient Pyramid, Solving a 4,500-Year-Old Mystery

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