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Archaeologists have discovered an ancient ramp system in a 4,500-year-old quarry in Egypt, which could explain how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.
According to researchers at the University of Liverpool and the French Institute for Oriental Archeology in Cairo, the inclined ramp lined with two wooden staircases and poles would probably have been the site of a system of pulleys designed to facilitate the moving huge blocks of stone. Daily mail.
"This system is composed of a central ramp flanked by two stairs pierced with many poles," said Yannis Gourdon, co-project director, in a statement. "By using a sled that carried a block of stone and which was tied with ropes to these wooden posts, the ancient Egyptians were able to pull the quarry's alabaster blocks on very steep slopes of 20% or more."
The old ramps in the Hatnub quarry are steeper than archaeologists thought. Previous calculations had suggested that the ramps could not be steeper than a 10% slope in order to lift the blocks to the required height, which would have required long ridiculous ramps. But using the pole holes, the workers could have moved the stones more forcefully and without dragging the huge blocks behind them.
This 4,500 year old system used to shoot alabaster stones on a steep slope was discovered at Hatnub, a former Egyptian quarry. Photo provided by Yannis Gourdon / French Institute of Oriental Archeology.
The world has long marveled at the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, the last of the seven wonders of the world that still exists. Many archaeologists favor the theory that ramps were used to move the massive stone blocks that make up the pyramids, but the exact nature of such a system has long remained a mystery.
"This ramp dating back to the reign of Khufu (builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World), our research offers the exciting opportunity to better understand the logistics and technologies used to build this amazing building. "Said Roland Enmarch, an Egyptologist who worked on the project, in a statement.
A graph showing how a recently discovered ancient Egyptian ramp system may have contributed to the construction of the pyramids.
Other experts, however, are not so sure. Although the blocks removed from the quarry were about the size of those used to build the pyramids, the site's alabaster is much softer than the hard granite stone of the pyramid.
"It's a bit far-fetched to take an alabaster career and say that's how the pyramids were built because they're not built in alabaster," said Kara Cooney, professor of art and art. Egyptian architecture at the University of California Los Angeles. Historical chain. "The way the ancient Egyptians carved and moved the stone is still very mysterious.
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