A lost Nile branch once flowed close to Giza, enabling boat transport of pyramid stones. The ancient Diary of Merer describes crews moving fine white limestone from Tura quarries via boats and canals. One theory even proposes buoyant platforms using airtight goat skin bladders and hydraulic shafts working like canal locks to lift stones. No such lifting system has been confirmed inside the pyramid though.
Water and hydraulic lifting theory supported by Nile branch discovery and Merer's diary
EgyptGeneral
Key facts
- Discovery of an ancient Nile branch that once flowed much closer to the Giza plateau during the pyramid-building period, enabling boat transport of stones
- The Diary of Merer, an ancient papyrus found along Egypt's Red Sea coast, describes crews moving fine white limestone from the Tura quarries using boats and canals connected to the Nile
- Egyptian tomb paintings depict workers pouring liquid in front of sledges, and wetting sand reduces friction for moving heavy loads
- The theory proposes buoyant floating platforms using airtight goat skin bladders tied around stone blocks to transport them during the annual Nile flood
- A proposed hydraulic lifting system uses vertical shafts with watertight gates functioning like modern canal locks to raise stones by buoyancy
- No confirmed system of watertight lifting chambers or hydraulic shafts has been discovered inside the Great Pyramid
Site mentioned
Sources
Pierre Tallet Publishes the "Diary or Logbook of Merer" that ...historyofinformation.com
Pierre Tallet's book concerns two of the best preserved papyri (papyrus A and B) found at the harbor of Khufu on the Red Sea coast at Wadi-al- ...
Timekeeping at Akhet Khufu, as shown by the Diary of Mererarxiv.org
by AC Sparavigna · 2024 · Cited by 8 — Diary of Merer (papyri Wadi al-Jarf) allows us to see the Egyptian calendar applied in a logbook. The diary is dated to the 26th year of reign ...
Remaster 06b: The Diary of Mereregyptianhistorypodcast.com
From this period, the Diary of Merer provides unexpected testimony: a record of workers contributing to the Great Pyramid project… Episode ...
Diary of Mereren.wikipedia.org
The Diary of Merer is the name for papyrus logbooks written over 4,500 years ago by Merer, a middle-ranking official with the title inspector (sḥḏ, sehedj).
The Diary of Merer: A 4500-Year-Old Papyrus That Details ...amusingplanet.com
Merer's journal thus chronicles the last known year of Khufu's reign, when the ancient Egyptians were putting finishing touches on the Great ...
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.