The honor of Egypt’s oldest burial site belongs to Pharaoh Djoser, the ruler who founded the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in the 27th century BCE. Built around 2680 BCE at Saqqara, northwest of the Memphis ruins, Djoser’s six-tiered, four-sided step pyramid stood within a large courtyard filled with decorative ceremonial structures. Ancient Egyptians relied on a variety of tools to build the roughly 205-foot-tall structure, but new research suggests they had at least one previously unknown aid: a hydraulic lift system that utilized a nearby, now-vanished lake.
The evidence was published in the journal Nature on August 5 by an interdisciplinary team from France’s CEA Paleontology Institute. PLOS OneAfter combining satellite imagery, geospatial data analysis, watershed information, and other techniques, the researchers hypothesized that previously unexplained structures near the Step Pyramid likely served as water and sediment-trapping “check dams.” Check dams are ancient engineering structures dating back thousands of years, with a relatively simple design used to intercept and slow the flow of water.
In the case of the Pyramid of Djoser, it appears that the water source flowed through multiple compartments, with sediments settling during the passage through each compartment. After passing through the compartments, some of the water may have flowed into the pyramid shaft, which was constructed to help the builders raise the massive building stones to their desired position. Of particular interest is that the dam at the pyramid may have also served as a water treatment facility, even though many societies did not use check dams for filtration. Moreover, the dam at the Pyramid of Djoser is older than some ancient dams, The oldest example It will take hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years.
To illustrate this concept, the researchers described a simple example of how the ancient Egyptians operated such a hydraulic check dam system. Based on their analysis, the team believes that the lift’s floating platform rose to a maximum height of about 55 feet, but could have been modified to rise even higher using a folding extension structure. After reaching the top of the pyramid, the lift platform could have also acted as a counterweight using a pulley and rope system. Combined with additional construction methods such as ramps and dike systems, the hydraulic lift may have only been used intermittently when sufficient water was available. Nevertheless, the researchers emphasized that the potential existence of a lift fundamentally changes what experts believe the ancient Egyptians could have created.
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“The hydraulic lift mechanism is revolutionary in stone architecture and has no parallels in our civilization,” they wrote in their paper, adding that its utility “would be important beyond the construction of the step pyramid.” Combined with its water-handling capabilities, the architects’ plans would also “reflect the foresight to serve a variety of civilian needs, such as making the Saqqara region suitable for permanent habitation, including agriculture, water use, and long-term shelter.”
The team claims that their discovery raises the possibility that ancient Egyptians may have used similar systems at other Old Kingdom pyramids, or even earlier, but only continued exploration and analysis of these sites will tell us for sure.
