A revolutionary study indicates that water-powered technology, not massive human labor, could have contributed to the construction of Egypt’s oldest pyramid. The Step Pyramid of Djoser stands at more than 200 feet in Saqqara, and it is older than the Great Pyramids of Giza by decades. It was the first monumental structure entirely carved out of limestone blocks and was constructed over 4,650 years ago.
Until now, scholars were puzzled by how early builders moved millions of heavy stones by using primitive tools. But new research by Dr. Xavier Landreau of the CEA Paleotechnic Institute in France suggests an astounding theory: hydraulic elevators operating with ancient waterworks.
Satellite radar imagery showed watercourses running from a check dam called Gisr el-Mudir. These channels channeled seasonal floodwaters to the pyramid complex. The water, filtered through stepped basins similar to modern treatment plants, went into a rock-cut trench known as the “Dry Moat” that surrounded the pyramid.
The study asserts that this clean, sediment-free water fueled a liquid lift system. Stones could have been floated on barges or sealed sleds, raised from the pyramid’s center with the help of water pressure. A 30-foot column of water could counterbalance the bulk of a block’s weight, allowing workers to move stones into position effortlessly.
This system would do away with the need for the huge ramps that archaeologists have never found. It also explains how the stone sizes grew rapidly—doubled in a generation as the engineering of pyramids developed.
Interestingly, the Step Pyramid’s burial chamber is also empty, and some hypothesize that it served as a pressure vessel for the hydraulic system instead of a royal tomb.
Although not all questions are answered, the findings provide new avenues for exploration. In the event that this is proven, then the application of water-powered technology in the construction of pyramids would be a sensational feat of ancient engineering—one that echoes in the current sustainable design principles.
