Zürcher Nachrichten - Pyramids built along long-lost river, scientists discover

EUR -
AED 3.833929
AFN 72.964627
ALL 98.46974
AMD 410.482288
ANG 1.873176
AOA 958.225718
ARS 1067.049356
AUD 1.666857
AWG 1.878875
AZN 1.774753
BAM 1.956192
BBD 2.098621
BDT 124.204899
BGN 1.955601
BHD 0.393707
BIF 3072.916014
BMD 1.043819
BND 1.411583
BOB 7.18244
BRL 6.345171
BSD 1.039408
BTN 88.363714
BWP 14.36588
BYN 3.401482
BYR 20458.857295
BZD 2.089319
CAD 1.499044
CDF 2995.761523
CHF 0.932872
CLF 0.037419
CLP 1032.493641
CNY 7.618524
CNH 7.626712
COP 4582.366506
CRC 524.405125
CUC 1.043819
CUP 27.66121
CVE 110.288166
CZK 25.107024
DJF 185.087104
DKK 7.457963
DOP 63.292688
DZD 140.787225
EGP 53.141149
ERN 15.657289
ETB 129.565873
FJD 2.416861
FKP 0.826686
GBP 0.830192
GEL 2.932544
GGP 0.826686
GHS 15.279063
GIP 0.826686
GMD 75.155158
GNF 8979.80014
GTQ 8.008605
GYD 217.453592
HKD 8.110632
HNL 26.384289
HRK 7.487217
HTG 135.977259
HUF 413.947568
IDR 16892.022536
ILS 3.800124
IMP 0.826686
INR 88.789872
IQD 1361.572948
IRR 43931.739655
ISK 145.100882
JEP 0.826686
JMD 162.6226
JOD 0.740171
JPY 163.472813
KES 134.652506
KGS 90.812117
KHR 4176.837312
KMF 486.550268
KPW 939.436741
KRW 1514.367737
KWD 0.321486
KYD 0.866174
KZT 545.859426
LAK 22749.560501
LBP 93075.658456
LKR 305.161174
LRD 188.647817
LSL 19.135536
LTL 3.082127
LVL 0.631396
LYD 5.107024
MAD 10.460797
MDL 19.144838
MGA 4903.983079
MKD 61.525545
MMK 3390.284206
MNT 3546.897675
MOP 8.320868
MRU 41.336286
MUR 48.913424
MVR 16.053629
MWK 1801.846919
MXN 20.952657
MYR 4.68883
MZN 66.703943
NAD 19.135536
NGN 1614.214134
NIO 38.247667
NOK 11.807501
NPR 141.382342
NZD 1.845201
OMR 0.401881
PAB 1.039408
PEN 3.870376
PGK 4.214845
PHP 61.194942
PKR 289.308896
PLN 4.260197
PYG 8104.624697
QAR 3.78906
RON 4.974944
RSD 116.979037
RUB 107.409252
RWF 1448.890453
SAR 3.92095
SBD 8.750916
SCR 14.556008
SDG 627.860716
SEK 11.499026
SGD 1.414476
SHP 0.826686
SLE 23.801056
SLL 21888.370918
SOS 594.01908
SRD 36.670438
STD 21604.951007
SVC 9.094823
SYP 2622.627433
SZL 19.130835
THB 35.739849
TJS 11.370679
TMT 3.663806
TND 3.311964
TOP 2.444727
TRY 36.745676
TTD 7.054414
TWD 34.11671
TZS 2520.823735
UAH 43.591038
UGX 3812.764328
USD 1.043819
UYU 46.359293
UZS 13400.686375
VES 53.730883
VND 26550.586436
VUV 123.924312
WST 2.883851
XAF 656.088523
XAG 0.035222
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.820974
XDR 0.792859
XOF 656.088523
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.346218
ZAR 19.100702
ZMK 9395.631657
ZMW 28.764766
ZWL 336.109373
  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

Pyramids built along long-lost river, scientists discover
Pyramids built along long-lost river, scientists discover / Photo: Jewel SAMAD - AFP/File

Pyramids built along long-lost river, scientists discover

Scientists have discovered a long-buried branch of the Nile river that once flowed alongside more than 30 pyramids in Egypt, potentially solving the mystery of how ancient Egyptians transported the massive stone blocks to build the famous monuments.

Text size:

The 64-kilometre-long river branch, which ran by the iconic Giza pyramid complex among other wonders, was hidden under desert and farmland for millennia, according to a study revealing the find on Thursday.

The existence of the river would explain why the 31 pyramids were built in a chain along a now inhospitable desert strip in the Nile Valley between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago.

The strip near the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis includes the Great Pyramid of Giza -- the only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world -- as well as the Khafre, Cheops and Mykerinos pyramids.

Archaeologists had long thought that ancient Egyptians must have used a nearby waterway to move the giant materials used to build the pyramids.

"But nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site," lead study author Eman Ghoneim of the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the United States told AFP.

The international team of researchers used radar satellite imagery to map the river branch, which they called Ahramat -- "pyramids" in Arabic.

Radar gave them the "unique ability to penetrate the sand surface and produce images of hidden features including buried rivers and ancient structures," Ghoneim said.

Surveys in the field and cores of sediment from the site confirmed the presence of the river, according to the study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

The once mighty river was increasingly covered in sand, potentially starting during a major drought around 4,200 years ago, the scientists suggested.

- The great pyramid mystery -

The Giza pyramids stood on a plateau roughly a kilometre from the banks of the river.

Many of the pyramids had a "ceremonial raised walkway" which ran alongside the river before ending at the Valley Temples which served as harbours, Ghoneim said.

This indicates that the river played "a key role in the transportation of the enormous building materials and workmen needed for the pyramid's construction," she added.

Exactly how ancient Egyptians managed to build such huge and long-standing structures has been one of history's great mysteries.

These heavy materials, most of which were from the south, "would have been much easier to float down the river" than transport over land, study co-author Suzanne Onstine of the University of Memphis in the US state of Tennessee told AFP.

The banks of the rivers could have been where the funeral entourages of pharaohs were received before their bodies were moved to their "final burial place within the pyramid," she suggested.

The river may also indicate why the pyramids were built in different spots.

"The water's course and its volume changed over time, so fourth dynasty kings had to make different choices than 12th dynasty kings," she said.

"The discovery reminded me about the intimate connection between geography, climate, environment and human behaviour."

A.Senn--NZN