A Secret To Building The Pyramids Has Been Discovered

The secret behind the moving of heavy and large stones to construct the Pyramids, the last remaining Ancient World Wonders, has been discovered and revealed by a team of scientists.

The scientists, consisting of physicists from the FOM Foundation and the University of Amsterdam , believe the ancient Egyptians used a ‘clever trick to make it easier to transport heavy pyramids stones by sledge’: wet sand.

 “The Egyptians moistened the sand over which the sledge moved. By using the right quantity of water, they could halve the number of workers needed,” says a statement released by the physicists.

The dampness of the sand from pouring the right amount of water significantly reduced friction and how much force was required to move the huge stones, which, on average, are approximately 2.5 tons in weight.

The physicists explain that wet sand is twice as stiff and firm as dry sand. This, and the fact that the wet sand would not pile up in front of a sledge, allowed the sledge to far more easily glide over the firm desert sand.

An intricate laboratory experiment allowed the scientists to reach this conclusion,which they believe is the most probable reason behind how the large stones were moved.

Figure 1: A large pile of sand accumulates in front of the sledge when this is pulled over dry sand (left). On the wet sand (right) this does not happen.

“The physicists placed a laboratory version of the Egyptian sledge in a tray of sand,” reveals the press release, “They determined both the required pulling force and the stiffness of the sand as a function of the quantity of water in the sand. To determine the stiffness they used a rheometer, which shows how much force is needed to deform a certain volume of sand.”

However, this should not come as a surprise: the experiments should confirm a theory many had suspected. An intricate wall-painting in the tomb of  Djehutihotep, dating back to 1900 BC, portrays a person standing in front of a sledge and pouring water over the sand just in front of it as others pull the sledge.

A large statue is being transported by sledge. A person standing on the front of the sledge wets the sand. Source: Al-Ahram Weekly, 5-11 August 2004, issue 702

This discovery should put to rest claims that aliens or super-humans constructed the Pyramids. Yet beyond revealing one of the world’s oldest secrets, the physicists believe the discovery could even have modern-day impacts.

Click here to read the press release.