The construction of ancient Egypt鈥檚 oldest known pyramid may have benefited from a water elevator capable of lifting 50 to 100 tonnes of stones at a time.
The suggestion draws upon the fact that the Step Pyramid of Djoser 鈥� built 4500 years ago as the burial place for an Egyptian pharaoh as part of the Saqqara necropolis site 鈥� is near two dry channels, probably once active waterways. These could have supplied rainfall runoff and Nile river water to the pyramid construction site, where a central vertical shaft may have been repeatedly flooded and then drained to raise and lower a floating wooden elevator.
鈥淲e believe the stones were delivered onto the pyramid by the hydraulic lift after being raised in the shaft,鈥� says at Paleotechnic, a private archaeological research institute in France.
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Landreau and his colleagues analysed the hydrology and geology features of the site to show that it could have tapped into between 4 million and 54 million cubic metres of water over 20 to 30 years of pyramid construction. The results have been .
The water could have passed through a nearby rectangular enclosure known as Gisr el-Mudir to filter out grit before flowing into the Deep Trench 鈥� a huge 410-metre-long channel near the Step Pyramid site. That channel may have represented a 鈥済iant subterranean cistern鈥� with several compartments, including one aligned with the central shaft within the pyramid, says at the Grenoble Alpes University in France, a coauthor of the study.
The idea that there was more water available at the Step Pyramid site during antiquity is backed up by some previous scholarship, says at the University of Cambridge. But she cautions about the lack of evidence regarding the possible hydraulic lift technology.
鈥淚f their interpretation is correct, it is surprising that the system did not continue to be used elsewhere and that there are no known drawings of such a system, when so many other engineering solutions and processes are captured so vividly in the wall paintings and reliefs,鈥� says Bunbury.
The study also glosses over how the Step Pyramid was an experimental structure that only gradually increased in height and area during construction, says , formerly at University College London. 鈥淎 much more satisfactory explanation is the generally accepted one that earthworks 鈥� such as ramps 鈥� were used to shift stones quarried onsite or nearby and then removed,鈥� he says.
Still, the researchers say it is worth investigating similar hypotheses for how other structures beyond the Step Pyramid were built. 鈥淓xploring concealed shafts within these pyramids could be a promising avenue for research,鈥� says Piton.
