Cette découverte apporte une réponse à la technique à laquelle les anciens Égyptiens ont eu recours pour le transport des matériaux utilisés dans la construction des pyramides.
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The mystery of how the pyramids were built may have finally been solved thanks to the discovery of an ancient branch of the Nile that once flowed through Giza. Hundreds of meters wide, the enormous waterway has long since dried up, but could have provided transportation for the colossal amounts of material and workers needed to construct the iconic landmarks thousands of years ago.
According to the researchers, the clustering of pyramids along the western desert margin of the Nile floodplain indicates that the area may once have been served by a large watercourse capable of supporting ambitious construction projects. Speaking to IFLScience, study author Dr Eman Ghoneim said that “if there are pyramids everywhere in this specific area, there must have been in the past water bodies that carried or facilitated the transportation of rocks and large numbers of workmen to these sites.”
The construction of the Ancient Egyptian pyramids along the Western Desert margin of the Nile floodplain indicates the prior existence of a major waterway that was used by the pharaonic builders of these iconic sites. Today, however, no major river exists in the immediate area, with the Nile being located several kilometers away from all the pyramid sites. Analysis of radar satellite data, supported by geophysical survey and soil coring, has led to the discovery of the Nile’s ancient Ahramat Branch (meaning Pyramids Branch in Arabic) passing adjacent to the chain of pyramids between Faiyum south and Giza north (~ 38 Pyramid structures). The course of this branch, now concealed beneath the aeolian desert sand and the cultivated floodplain, is about 100 km long. Although invisible at ground-level, segments of the Ahramat Branch appear in radar imagery due to radar waves’ ability to penetrate the Earth surface and reveal subsurface terrain. Furthermore, satellite data revealed numerous buried sandy tributaries, feeding into this branch. During the building era of the pyramids, these tributaries would likely have acted as lagoons that hosted harbours to dock and shelter boats away from the busy traffic of the main river course. The orientation of several pyramids’ causeways, perpendicular to the Ahramat Branch and their termination at its bank, imply that this former branch and its tributaries were simultaneously active at the time of the pyramids’ construction during the Old Kingdom and through the Middle Kingdom. This research has produced the first map of the ancient Nile branch in this region, which will enable us to piece together a comprehensive picture of Ancient Egypt’s former waterscape and understand how change in the environment drove human activities in the region.
Sensores espaciales detectan un gigantesco canal oculto que conecta todas las pirámides egipcias.
Un equipo científico ha usado un sistema de radar espacial para revelar una enorme vía de transporte acuático ya desaparecida. El descubrimiento puede resolver uno de los grandes misterios de la civilización egipcia.
