The honor of Egyptthe oldest necropolis belongs to Pharaoh Djosera ruler who ushered in the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in the 27th century B.C.E. The six-tiered, four-sided Step Pyramid of Djoser, built around 2680 B.C.E. at Saqqara, northwest of the ruins of Memphis, stood amid a large courtyard filled with decorative ceremonial structures. And while the ancient Egyptians relied on a number of tools to build the roughly 205-foot-tall structure, a new study points to at least one previously unknown device: a hydraulic lift system using a nearby, long gone lake.
The evidence was made available on August 5 by an interdisciplinary team from France’s CEA Paleotechnic Institute, writing in the journal PLOS One. After combining satellite imagery, geospatial data analysis, watershed information and other techniques, the researchers hypothesize that a previously unexplained structure near the Step Pyramid likely functioned as a “check dam” to trap water and sediment. Check dams are an ancient engineering structure dating back thousands of years and are relatively simple designs used to interrupt and slow water flows.
In the case of the Pyramid of Djoser, a water source appears to have been channeled through multiple compartments, allowing sediment to settle as it flowed through each successive chamber. After traveling through the compartments, some of the water likely flowed into pyramid shafts that were built to help builders lift enormous building blocks into desired positions. What is particularly interesting is that while many societies did not use check dams for filtration, it appears that the pyramid also served as a water purification plant. Furthermore, the dam at the Pyramid of Djoser is older than some earliest known examples by hundreds, if not thousands of years.
To illustrate the concept, researchers described a simple example of how the ancient Egyptians might have operated such a hydraulic dam system. Based on their analysis, the team believes the elevator’s floating platform rose to a maximum height of about 55 feet, but may have used modifications to reach even higher using collapsible extension structures. After reaching the top of the pyramid, the elevator platform may also have functioned as a counterbalance through the use of pulley-and-rope systems. Combined with additional construction methods like ramps and embankment systems, the hydraulic elevator may have only been used intermittently when sufficient water was available. Still, researchers emphasized that the elevator’s potential existence fundamentally changes what experts believe the ancient Egyptians were capable of creating.
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“The hydraulic lift mechanism appears to be revolutionary for building stone structures and has no parallel in our civilization,” they write in their paper, adding that its utility “is so important that it seems to extend beyond simply building the step pyramid.” Combined with the water purification capabilities, the architects’ planning would also “reflect their foresight in meeting various civic needs,” such as making the Saqqara region hospitable for permanent settlement, including agriculture, access to water, and long-term shelter.
The team says their findings also raise the possibility that ancient Egyptians used similar systems in other Old Kingdom pyramids, and perhaps even earlier. The only way to know for sure, however, is to continue exploring and analyzing these ruins.
