Scientists Discover Secret Nile Waterway That Proved to Be Pivotal in Building Pyramids in Ancient Egypt

Pyramids have always been an object of fascination in the world. Everything related to the structures from its subject, builders, workers, and technique has been in focus. Recent research has suggested that a now-lost branch of the Nile River was extremely pivotal in the creation of pyramids in Egypt, Popular Mechanics reported.

The pyramids in question were supposedly built near the Nile Valley with the help of the river branch, now termed as Ahramat. Findings regarding the role of Ahramat in pyramid construction have been published in Communications Earth & Environment.

The study considers a clustering of pyramids along the western desert margin of the Nile floodplain as its main focus, IFL Science reported. Researchers through radar satellite imagery and geophysical data of the soil in that strip have concluded that once upon a time a 39-mile branch of the Nile River flew right through that area. 

Dr Eman Ghoneim, Professor at the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, used data collected from space to make this assertion. She began her pursuit considering that "If there are pyramids everywhere in this specific area, there must have been in the past water bodies that carried or facilitated the transportation of rocks and large numbers of workmen to these sites."

Radar waves can penetrate the ground and gather data about the various events that took place in that region. Ghoneim used it to figure out if there were any water bodies flowing through that area over the millennia.

The findings showed her there was an "invisible world of information beneath the surface" where once the now-dried-out branch used to flow, Indy100 reported. She believes that the main function of the branch was to transport materials required to construct the pyramids.

"The length probably was really, really long, but also the width of this branch in some areas was huge. We're talking about half a kilometer or more in terms of width, which is something that is equivalent to today's Nile course width. So it wasn't a small branch. It was a major branch," Ghoneim added.

Ahramat, the defunct waterway ran from Giza to Faiyum. As per experts, the branch supposedly passed through 38 different pyramid sites. Many experts have questioned the assertion that the branch was used for pyramid construction and believe some more evidence is required before making such a conclusion.

Ghoneim points out that pyramid sites were "located exactly at the bank of the branch that we found" and that cannot be a mere coincidence. According to her, there were structures like "valley temples" which acted as ports for workers who took the pyramid materials to their required location.

According to the study's analysis, the branch was active during the Old and Middle Kingdoms (3,700 to 4,700 years ago), IFL Science reported. Pyramids were built in Egypt during this period, which further bolsters the claim that Ahramat was crucial to the building of pyramids in Egypt. 

Researchers hope that their findings help experts in unveiling the mystery of Egyptian towns that over the centuries got lost to history, Indy100 reported. "As branches disappeared, Ancient Egyptian cities and towns also silted up and disappeared, and we have no clue actually where to find them," Ghoneim explained. She believes that analyzing the rivers will give experts a better idea regarding what exactly happened to those establishments.