The Egyptians Built the Step Pyramid Using a Hydraulic Lift System, New Study Claims

A groundbreaking study has recently shed light on the engineering wonder known as the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Found in Saqqara, just southwest of modern-day Cairo, this ancient structure dates back to 2680 BC. While it’s long been thought that sheer manpower and basic tools did the trick, fresh research now points to a pretty savvy hydraulic lift system (suggesting these ancient builders might have been much more inventive than we once believed).

Reevaluating old ideas

For decades, historians assumed that building the Step Pyramid meant hauling stone blocks on sledges and dragging them up mudbrick ramps. However, this explanation starts to fall apart when you look closely at the pyramid’s unique design. A recent study—published in PLOS ONE and led by Xavier Landreau from the CEA Paleotechnic Institute in France—presents a different take. The team, which included Guillaume Piton, Guillaume Morin, Pascal Bartout, Laurent Touchart, and Christophe Giraud, suggests that a method dubbed “volcano construction” might have been used. In this scenario, water pressure was harnessed to lift hefty stone blocks through the pyramid’s central shafts. (They propose that water redirected from nearby wadis was funneled into the building site, offering a more efficient way of moving massive stones.)

Exploring hydraulic elements

At the heart of this new theory are two major hydraulic features: the Gisr el-Mudir and the “Dry Moat.” The Gisr el-Mudir, once thought to be merely a ceremonial enclosure or unfinished monument, is now seen as a sort of check dam built to trap sediment and floodwaters coming from the Abusir wadi—its capacity is estimated at up to 440,000 cubic meters. Then there’s the Dry Moat, which is essentially a trench with deep, rock-cut compartments. These compartments might have acted like a water treatment system, filtering and storing floodwater before it was directed into the pyramid’s inner workings.

Inside the pyramid, there’s a fascinating setup featuring twin shafts that plunge over 28 meters deep, each equipped with granite boxes sealed by removable plugs. French archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer documented these granite boxes during excavations in the 20th century. They’re surrounded by layers of limestone and alabaster fragments bound by clay mortar, with wooden beams discovered overhead.

Engineering details and underground design

The Step Pyramid complex shows off some remarkable engineering precision. The shaft structures line up perfectly, and the joints between limestone blocks are almost too neat to be a happy accident. Internal tunnels stretch for more than 6.8 kilometers, which hints that these passages were intentionally designed to move water around. A 200-meter tunnel connects the two main shafts, and additional pipes around 80 meters long join eastern shafts with the outer trench. (This intricate underground network is seen as a controlled hydraulic chamber that helped regulate water flow.)

By channeling water into these shafts, it’s believed that the ancients could have lifted stone blocks on floating platforms—a method that stands out as a remarkable example of ancient ingenuity, predating other water-lifting techniques by many centuries.

What it means and future research

Interestingly, even with all its grandeur, no confirmed remains of King Djoser have been found inside the pyramid. The burial chamber is empty, and the galleries around it lack the usual funerary inscriptions or decorative touches. Radiocarbon dating of bones found near the granite box shows they belong to people from later periods. (These details hint that the pyramid’s interior spaces might have been used more for technical and practical purposes—like water management and mechanical lifting—rather than serving as a royal tomb.)

The study suggests that more digs and surveys at Saqqara are needed to further explore the possible connections between the Dry Moat and the pyramid’s inner shafts. As researchers continue to dig into these mysteries, they invite us to take a fresh look at what our ancestors could achieve with the technology of their time.