Egyptian Pyramids: Scientists Identify the Trick Used in Constructing Massive Pyramids

Researchers have unraveled the mystery of how the heavy pyramid stones were transported in ancient Egypt without modern technology.

How the ancient Egyptians transported the heavy stones to build the iconic Pyramids has baffled the historians for a long time.  

Physicists from the FOM Foundation in collaboration with University of Amsterdam solved this complex mystery as they discovered the clever technique Egyptians employed in moving the massive Pyramid stones by sledge. They claim the Egyptians moistened the sand over which the sledge moved. This method halves the number of workers needed to pull the sledge.

To construct the pyramids huge boulders and statues had to be moved across deserts.  And a sledge was used on which the stones and statues were placed, which was pulled by workers over the sand.

When the sledge is pulled over dry sand a large pile of sand accumulates in front of it making it difficult to pull. But this new study claims that the Egyptians moistened the sand in front of the sledge, which made it easier to pull through. Experiments conducted reveal that using the right quantity of water to dampen the sand nearly halves the pulling force required.

An experiment was conducted in the lab in which a sledge was placed in a tray of sand. The required pulling force and the stiffness of the sand were determined as a function of the amount of water used in sand. The stiffness was determined using a rheometer that indicates the force required to deform a particular volume of sand.

When the sand is moistened capillary bridges arise. They are minute droplets of water that bind the sand grains together.

When correct water is mixed, the wet and moistened desert is twice as stiff as dry sand. On a firm desert it gets easy to glide a sledge because sand does not accumulate in front of the sledge.

"The Egyptians were probably aware of this handy trick. A wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep clearly shows a person standing on the front of the pulled sledge and pouring water over the sand just in front of it," according to the press release.

The behavior of granular material like sand is poorly understood. Other examples of this are asphalt, concrete and coal.  This finding could be used to examine how to optimize the transport and processing of granular materials that currently account for 10 percent of the worldwide energy consumption.

The finding was documented in Physical Review Letters.