AncientPages.com - The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most impressive and mysterious constructions of the ancient world.
Many theories have been presented, but the truth is that no-one has been able to solve how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The Great Pyramid of Giza - Image credit: Channel 4
Archaeologists have long disagreed over how the material was transported to Giza, now part of modern-day Cairo, for construction of Pharaoh Khufu's tomb in 2600 BC.
How could people with relatively primitive tools move several hundreds of tons of material from Aswan, 500 miles to the south every day?
Can An Ancient Papyrus Finally Solve One Of Ancient History’s Greatest Mysteries?
Now scientists say they have finally solved one of the greatest ancient mysteries of all time. Apparently, an ancient papyrus, a ceremonial boat and a system of waterworks have revealed the complex infrastructure created by builders to complete the structure.
An ancient papyrus scroll that dates back to 2600 BC has been recently discovered and is the only first hand account of how the pyramid was built. Image credit: Channel 4
The ancient papyrus written by an overseer named Merer was discovered in the seaport Wadi Al-Jarf. According to archaeologist this ancient document provides the only firsthand account on record of how the pyramids were built.
The new evidence shows that thousands of ancient Egyptian workers transported 170,000 tons of limestone along the River Nile in wooden boats built with planks and rope.
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The estimated 2.3 million blocks were dragged through a specially constructed system of canals to an inland port just yards away from the base of the pyramid.
The Importance Of The Khufu Boat
More than sixty years ago, two ancient wooden boats, were discovered in separate carved stone pits located next to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
It has long been debated whether these boats were symbolic solar barks for the king to use in his afterlife, or funeral boats, used to transport Khufu’s funerary equipment to his pyramid.
Over the years, the pharaoh’s boat was variously called as the "Khufu Boat", the "Solar Barque" or simply the Pharaoh Ship
Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty (ruling Egypt between 2609 BC - 2584 BC). With help of 3D laser technology scientists have been able to reconstruct the building process of the Khufu boat.
The Khufu boat and other ancient Egyptian boats were sewn together with loops of rope, and that this technique may have also been used to transport the huge blocks from Aswan.
According to Mark Lehner, an archaeologist and Egyptologist, centuries-lost waterway was discovered underneath the Great Pyramid.
"We've outlined the central canal basin, which we think was the primary delivery area to the foot of the Giza Plateau," he said.
It’s still too early to determine more precisely how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the ancient Egyptians, but scientists are now more than certain the ancient papyrus of Merer will bring them closer to the truth.
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