The enigma of the construction of the pyramids of Giza remains unsolved, raising questions about how they were built. For centuries, scientists have undertaken numerous investigations in an effort to unravel the techniques used to build these massive structures in the middle of the desert.
Toward the end of 2023, during the 13th International Congress of Egyptology, a study led by Dr. Eman Ghoneim, the director of the Remote Sensing Research Laboratory at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, revealed a discovery related to the trajectory of the Nile River. This finding could shed light on the enigma of how Egyptian workers transported gigantic limestone stones for the construction of the three most prominent pyramids at Giza: Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinos.
Ghoneim and her team of experts carried out satellite tracking of the route of the Nile River, which was nowhere near the Cairo area. They also conducted geophysical surveys of the area to trace the ancient route of this important waterway.
The researchers suggest that the pyramids at Giza were located at the mouth of this ancient river channel, reducing uncertainties about how these structures were built. "If there are pyramids everywhere in this specific area, there must have been bodies of water in the past that facilitated the transport of rocks and the arrival of large numbers of workers at these sites," explained Eman Ghoneim in an interview with IFLscience.
The Great Pyramid of Egypt, known as Cheops, was commissioned by the Egyptian pharaoh of the same name around 2500 BC. According to National Geographic, it is composed of about 2.3 million limestone blocks, each weighing approximately 2.5 to 15 tons, and originally reached a height of 482 feet.
To this day, it remains an enigma how the builders managed to stack these blocks to reach such a magnificent length.
